Ross man who strangled ex-lover pleads guilty to murder

A Ross man who ended his relationship with a married woman and then killed her pleaded guilty Monday morning to murder, authorities said.

Robert Metz, 69, pleaded guilty in front of Common Pleas Judge Thomas Flaherty to one count each of third-degree murder and abuse of a corpse for the June killing of Dolores Miller.

Miller, 56, of Sheraden, was reported missing June 19, two days after she was last seen, according to police. Investigators said Miller’s phone records led them to Metz, who told them he’d been in a relationship with Miller since December 2017.

Metz said in an interview with police that Miller left his Perrytown Place apartment about 4 p.m. June 17 and headed to the Rivers Casino on Pittsburgh’s North Shore, according to the criminal complaint. Police said surveillance footage showed Metz driving Miller’s car into the parking garage and then returning later in his own car, at which point he moved Miller’s car to a different parking spot.

Police went to Metz’s home June 20 and found Miller’s body on the living room floor, according to the complaint. Metz was found alert and conscious in his bathtub, holding a knife and with apparent self-inflected wounds on his arms, wrists and groin.

Metz told police he’d broken off his relationship with Miller because she would not leave her husband, according to the complaint. When she came to his apartment to get her belongings on June 17, he’d strangled her “until blood came out of her mouth.” He admitted that he knew she was dead, and he’d tried to hide her car at the casino and tossed her cell phone into North Park Lake, police said.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 4.

Megan Guza is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Megan at 412-380-8519, mguza@tribweb.com or via Twitter @meganguzaTrib.