Former Elgin resident Edward A. Milka is to be released from state prison Thursday after serving half of his 55-year sentence for the 1997 sexual assault and murder of his 11-year-old niece Brittany Martinez.
Originally sentenced to 75 years after being convicted by a jury in 2000, 49-year-old Milka’s term was reduced by 25 years as a result of the Illinois Supreme Court overturning the prison term in 2004 because Milka was not eligible for enhanced sentencing.
Former FBI agent Beth Mullarkey, who worked on the case and helped the Elgin Police Department with the investigation, said the system can be unfair sometimes and that certainly is the case for Milka, who’s being paroled from Hill Correctional Center in Galesburg.
“(People) don’t always get the sentence they deserve,” Mullarkey said. “He should’ve done the whole time.”
Milka grew up in Elgin, and it’s not known whether he still has family in the city. It’s not known where he will go once released.
Wendi Howlett, Milka’s sister and Brittany’s mother, did not respond to requests for comment. She has consistently maintained her brother’s innocence in the case.
Brittany disappeared on May 8, 1997, the day Howlett took her and some friends to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. The family returned home for dinner, and then Brittany said she was going to Wing Park with her friends.
When Brittany’s stepfather, came home, he said her friends were outside but Brittany wasn’t with them, according to reports. They said Brittany rode her bike to her aunt’s house, but when Wendi Howlett checked with the aunt, she learned Brittany wasn’t there.
The family started searching for her because it was unusual for the girl to not contact her mom or be out alone, Wendi Howlett said when interviewed for in an episode of the TV show “The FBI Files.” Howlett reported her missing that night.
As Elgin police started talking to family, friends and neighbors about the missing girl, they interviewed Milka. He told them he’d seen Brittany about 6 that night when he went to his sister’s house, where Brittany had been visiting, to give his sister a ride to work.
Police and volunteers combed the park and neighborhood looking for the 11-year-old without success. Her bike was later found in the basement of the family’s apartment building.
Mullarkey got involved in the case when the Elgin police asked the FBI for help. The McHenry County sheriff’s office was also involved in the investigation.
“I lived that case every day for several months,” said Mullarkey, who worked for the FBI for 29 years until her retirement in 2016. “It was an unbelievable experience for me.
Milka was one of the last people who saw her alive. According to the TV show, he was defensive when police asked him to come to the station for an interview. He told authorities that he talked to Brittany briefly oustide before going to work, where he remained until about 9 p.m. He joined in the search and at one point stopped to buy cigarettes first, reports said.
But Milka’s alibi didn’t check out — he never went to work nor did he stop at a gas station for cigarettes, officials said.
One of his sisters gave police background on him, including that he had a low IQ, had few friends and never had a girlfriend, according to the TV episode.
Later, Milka voluntarily contacted Elgin police to tell them about a “vision” he had in which Brittany was near Elgin, cold and wet but not breathing, according to police. He said he saw her in an old car with two men near a farmhouse and that the men touched her all over.
Brittany’s body was found nine days after her disappearance in a branch of the Kishwaukee River in McHenry County, about 18 miles from Elgin. Milka’s family had visited the area when he was a child, and the surroundings were similar to what Milka described in his vision.
When he went on trial in McHenry County in 2000, his lawyers said there was no physical evidence linking Milka to the murder and described him as a “moron” who couldn’t have committed a murder, Mullarkey said.
“Nice try, but it doesn’t take a genius to kill someone,” she said. “Simple people can do horrible things,” she said.
Prosecutors said Milka helped Brittany put her bike away in the basement, sexually assaulted her and killed her in the process.
A jury convicted him of the crimes, but Wendi Howlett and other family members continued to defend Milka.
“I not only lost my daughter, I am now losing my brother to something I know he didn’t do,” Wendi Howlett said on the TV show. “I was more stunned and in shock … this can’t be happening. This nightmare has to end somewhere.”
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.