Prosecutors seek reduction in sentence for man who was to testify at Ellison trial

Acting federal prosecutor Michael Reap has asked for a reduction of the life sentence currently being served by a man who was set to be a key witness in the murder trial of Max Ellison Jr.

In federal court papers filed Wednesday and provided by Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle, Reap and federal prosecutor James E. Crowe Jr. ask the U.S. District Court of eastern Missouri to reduce Ross Alan Milburn's life without parole sentence, based on his cooperation in the case against Ellison. Milburn was sentenced on drug conspiracy charges in 1983.

Ellison was the prime suspect in the 1979 murder of Deborah Martin. Milburn was Martin's boyfriend at the time of her death, and his cooperation was deemed important to the murder case against Ellison. In the federal court papers, Reap quotes Swingle as calling Milburn's testimony at Ellison's preliminary hearing the linchpin in the case against Ellison.

Ellison died in August while awaiting trial for Martin's murder. Swingle filed paperwork soon afterward to dismiss the case, saying he was confident Martin's killer was dead. Swingle also wrote to Crowe asking for the reduction in Milburn's sentence.

In the paperwork filed with the federal court, Reap said that Martin, in addition to being Milburn's girlfriend, was assisting him in his drug trafficking activities before her death.

During the cold-case investigation into Martin's murder, investigators cleared Milburn of any involvement. His testimony centered on the amount of money missing from a safe that only he and Martin knew the combination of. Evidence linked Ellison to a purchase of deposit certificates worth $80,000 shortly after Martin's death -- money that authorities believe Ellison got from the safe when he allegedly murdered Martin.