Inmate Name: Rita Jo Nitz
Charge: First degree murder
Sentence: Life in prison
Prison: Dwight Correctional Facility, Illinois

Rita Jo Nitz was born in 1959 in the Midwest. Her father made a living as a truck driver and only saw his children a few days a week. Rita became pregnant at 16 and married her 21-year-old boyfriend Michael Hayward. In 1975, she gave birth to her son Chuckie but the marriage ended five years later when Rita claims she caught Hayward with another woman. Rita married again but divorced three years later when she was 26. In 1986, Rita met and married Richard Nitz, a 33-year-old car mechanic who had spent a few years in prison for burglary. Rita and Richard moved into a trailer in a rural neighborhood on the outskirts of Carbondale Illinois. Within a mile of their home was Crab Orchard Lake, a trysting ground for gay men at night.

Michael Miley was a 23-year-old gay college student who frequently met with friends at Crab Orchard Lake. Michael and his gay twin brother, Mark had been insulted and harassed at the lake by a group of men, and friends stated that Michael sometimes got angry about it. Prosecutors believe that Richard Nitz was the worst of these troublemakers, having been previously arrested for chasing people around Crab Orchard Lake with baseball bats and threatening to kill them because of their sexual orientation.

According to police reports, in May of 1987, Michael Miley’s twin brother Mark was parked at the lake when Richard and two friends attacked people in their cars with baseball bats, breaking headlights and windows. In the meantime, Rita claims, Richard was becoming abusive at home, and in January, 1988 the couple separated, with Richard moving out and Rita having custody of her 12 year old son. She invited her friend, Betty Boyer to move in with her. In March, Rita bought a gun, which she claims was protection from Richard but authorities believe that the couple had reconciled by then, and that Rita was actually with Richard when the gun was purchased. According to Rita’s roommate, Betty Boyer, on April 6th, Michael Miley came up to the Nitz’s house and began arguing with Rita and Richard, with Richard threatening to kill him if he didn’t get off his property. When Miley turned around, Richard allegedly hit him with a baseball bat several times, while Rita jwatched. When Miley was dead, Rita allegedly helped Richard get Miley into the trunk of Miley’s car. Rita adamantly denies Betty’s version of the murder. Police were able to positively link Richard to the murder when a clerk at a mall was able to identify Richard as using Miley’s credit cards after his death. When police questioned Rita, she claimed that she did not know the credit cards belonged to the murder victim. The police found additional evidence linking the Nitz’s to Miley, and the couple was arrested in May 1988. In September of 1988, Richard was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to death. In September 1989, Rita was found guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. She and Richard since divorced and she changed her name back to Brookmyer. She maintains her innocence.