RUNAWAY GROOM—Ron Peterson Jr

True Murder: The Most Shocking Killers

Dan Zupansky

True Crime, News Commentary, Documentary, News, Society & Culture

4 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 24 November 2025

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Good-hearted country boy Petie Miller vanishes without a trace two days before his wedding in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley in 1983. Some speculate it’s a case of cold feet, but investigators suspect cold-blooded murder. The bride’s stepfather, a violent career criminal named Charlie Almond, is the prime suspect. Circumstantial evidence suggests that Almond killed Miller and successfully disposed of the body. But with no witnesses, no forensic evidence, and no body, Almond is allowed to walk free. Meanwhile, Miller’s father never stops seeking answers about what happened to his son. For three decades, he tirelessly pushes the investigation forward, imploring the authorities to keep his son’s case file open. Finally, thirty-two years later in 2015, new witnesses emerge and Almond, now an octogenarian, is charged with first-degree murder. Chances of a guilty verdict seem slim, but special prosecutor Phil Figura, known in courtrooms as the “Dragonslayer,” is determined to bring justice. Can Figura win a conviction in the oldest, coldest “no body” murder trial in United States history?
Bestselling true crime author Ron Peterson, Jr. was provided exclusive access to the police case file to research this compelling story, interviewing over fifty sources, including family members of both Petie Miller and Charlie Almond, and working closely with prosecutor Phil Figura and lead investigator Aaron LeVeck.
In a case where justice seems impossible, could the truth finally prevail—or will a killer once again slip away? RUNAWAY GROOM: Cold Feet—or Cold-Blooded Murder?—Ron Peterson Jr.

Transcript

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0:00.8	There's no better feeling than waking up surrounded by comfort.
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0:23.6	The Home of Your Kind of Cozy, Denelm. The Home of Homes
0:29.6	There's no better feeling than waking up surrounded by comfort.
0:34.6	From D'NELM, the home of your kind of cozy.
0:38.3	Keep the heat where you want it with our range of thermal curtains and cuddly hot water bottles.
0:44.3	Discover hundreds of snug ways to style up your space at your local Dunelm
0:50.3	or online with free click and collect in as little as two hours.
0:57.6	The home of your kind of cozy, Den Elm.
0:59.7	The Home of Homes.
1:15.3	You are now listening to True Murder, the most shocking killers in true crime history and the authors that have written about them.
1:20.7	Gacy, Bundy, Domer, The Nightstalker, BTK.
1:27.4	Every week, another fascinating author talking about the most shocking and infamous killers in true crime history. True murder, with your host, journalist and author, Dan Zupansky.
1:33.3	Good evening.
1:39.3	Good-hearted country boy, Pedy Miller, vanishes without a trace two days before his wedding in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley in 1983.
1:52.0	Some speculate it's a case of cold feet, but investigators suspect cold-blooded murder.
1:59.0	The bride's stepfather, a violent career criminal named Charlie
2:02.6	Almond, is the prime suspect. Circumstantial evidence suggests that Almond killed Miller
2:08.6	and successfully disposed of the body. But with no witnesses, no forensic evidence, and no body,
2:16.6	Almond is allowed to walk free.
	...

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