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Killer was sane, second jury finds
By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE © St. Petersburg Times, published September 15, 2000 LARGO -- An appeals court gave Michael Milburn a second chance to prove that he was insane when he took a knife and killed his best friend's ex-wife. Two different juries have now come to the same conclusion: Milburn was a sane and calculating killer during the 1993 attack. A jury deliberated for about three hours on Thursday before convicting Milburn of first-degree murder for the fatal stabbing of Anna Carter, whose last conscious act was saving her daughter from Milburn's attack. Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Lauren Laughlin immediately sentenced Milburn to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years, the maximum sentence at the time of the attack. In 1996, another jury convicted Milburn of the same charge and attempted first-degree murder for an attack on Carter's 8-year-old daughter, Tina. But the 2nd District District Court of Appeal reversed the murder conviction and sent the case back to be tried again, ruling that prosecutors improperly characterized the insanity defense to jurors. The appeals court also said prosecutors improperly told jurors defense lawyers had attempted to hire a psychologist who was an expert witness for the state. Milburn, 42, who looked on calmly as the verdict was announced, later turned to the family of his victim and offered a soft apology: "I hope you forgive me some day." The attempted murder charge was never reversed by the appeals court, and Milburn has already been sentenced to seven years, which he must serve consecutively to his life term. Prosecutors Doug Ellis and Magda McSwain said Carter's killing was the act of revenge. When Milburn's wife, Alina, divorced him, he stalked her and ignored court orders to stay away. On his last visit to see her on May 4, 1993, he discovered that his longtime best friend, David Carter, had moved in with her and the woman's two sons. Ellis said Milburn told Carter, "You're taking my family away from me. How would you like it if I take your family away from you?" Milburn then took a cab from his ex-wife's house in Clearwater to the home of Carter's ex-wife in St. Petersburg. Not suspecting her old friend meant her harm, Anna Carter let him in. While she and her boyfriend were distracted, he went into the room of Carter's 8-year-old girl, Tina, and began stabbing her. But Anna Carter ran into the bedroom and threw herself at Milburn to stop him. But Milburn turned the knife on her. As they lay bleeding, Carter told Tina, "Darling, I love you. We're going to die." Defense lawyers Michael Schwartzberg and Kevin Crowell told jurors Milburn wasn't in his right mind after years of substance abuse and other problems.
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