Ex-Detective Says Overton Admitted 1970s Poisoning : Trial: Retired county sheriff’s investigator corroborates testimony by ex-wife of Dana

A retired county sheriff’s investigator testified Wednesday that murder defendant Richard K. Overton confessed to sneaking into his ex-wife’s home and poisoning her beverages for three years after their divorce in 1969.

During an extensive interview, Overton admitted that because of his “hostilities” toward his former wife, Dorothy Boyer, he would at times secretly go into her home to abate some of the anger, the retired investigator, Cliff Miller, testified in Superior Court.

Miller said Overton told him that during some of these stealthy visits, he “would eat something (in the house) because that was symbolic” of his animosity toward the woman who had kept his beloved Capistrano Beach home after their divorce.

Miller’s testimony is another link in an evidence chain showing that Overton has a history of poisoning his wives when they displease him, the prosecution contends. The 64-year-old defendant is charged with the Jan. 24, 1988, fatal poisoning of his third wife, Janet L. Overton, 46, who was a trustee of the Capistrano Unified School District.

Prosecutors allege that Overton suspected his wife of having affairs with several men and that he poisoned her because of his jealousy and hatred of her sexual infidelities.

Although Overton’s attorney, Robert D. Chatterton, has not disclosed his defense strategy, he is expected to challenge what role cyanide actually played in Janet Overton’s death.

Miller testified that in the early 1970s, Dorothy Boyer filed a complaint with the Sheriff’s Department, saying her former husband had been sneaking into her house and tainting her food and household goods with poison.

Miller said he and Boyer then “sprung a trap” for Overton.

On three separate occasions in 1973, Miller said, substances in Boyer’s house were tested and found to have been spiked with various chemicals. Overton’s fingerprints were also found on a brand-new coffee can deliberately set on the kitchen counter as part of the “trap,” he testified.

Miller said he confronted Overton with these allegations in June, 1973.

Overton first denied ever going to Boyer’s house without her knowledge, Miller said, but as the interview progressed eventually admitted to being “hostile” toward Boyer for getting the house as part of the divorce settlement.

The former investigator testified that Overton later admitted to lacing Boyer’s milk with selenium, mixing Drano into Boyer’s shampoo and grinding unknown prescription pills into her coffee grounds.

He told Miller that he did this “once every two months for three years,” Miller said.

Boyer corroborated Miller’s testimony earlier this week when she was called to the stand. She testified that as a result of her former husband’s poisonings, she was constantly sick and in pain. Her body, Boyer testified, was covered in reddish-orange tinted blisters during that period.

Boyer testified that she did not press charges against Overton because Miller had told her that her former husband agreed never to do it again and to seek counseling.

Prosecutors allege that Boyer’s illnesses were similar to those suffered by Janet Overton for several years before she died. They contend that the victim was chronically poisoned with an unidentified substance before she was given a fatal dose of cyanide.