Landlord convicted of peeping settles one lawsuit, faces two more

Background

Iowa City landlord Elwyn Gene Miller was sentenced Feb. 10 to 150 days in jail for spying on six female tenants through peepholes in their apartments in 2012. Miller, 65, was found guilty of six counts of invasion of privacy, a serious misdemeanor. He had originally faced 11 counts.

What's happened since

Miller served 120 days of his sentence, getting 30 days off for good behavior. He was released from the Johnson County Jail July 6 and has two years of probation.

Miller has been listed on the Iowa Sex Offender Register since Feb. 11. He faced three lawsuits related to the peeping.

Ruth LaPointe, Jordan Horton and Elijah McNeish, all former University of Iowa students living in apartments owned by Miller, sued the landlord March 4, 2013. The plaintiffs claimed they suffered 'psychological trauma, inability to sleep at night, paranoia, mistrust of men, medical bills, moving expenses and other out-of-pocket expenses.”

LaPointe, Horton and McNeish settled with Miller in October.

Joseph LaPointe, a Mason City lawyer who filed the suit on behalf of his daughter and her friends, said last week he could not comment on the terms of the deal.

'I can't talk about it because we signed a confidentiality agreement,” he said.

A second lawsuit, filed May 23, 2013, is scheduled for trial Feb. 17.

The plaintiff, called Jane Doe in the suit, said she caught Miller Oct. 31, 2012, peeping through a hole he previously had installed in the ceiling of her shower in her apartment at 639 S. Lucas St. The woman called police that day, leading to Miller's arrest.

Linsie Mairet testified at Miller's trial she was taking a shower Oct. 31, 2012, when she heard noises coming from the ceiling. She looked up and noticed a hole by the vent.

Some cotton balls she previously stuffed in the hole were gone and she could see into the attic.

Mairet got out of the shower and ran to the door, where she looked into the hallway and saw Miller climbing down a ladder from the attic.

Mairet got dressed and confronted her landlord. She reported the incident to police, who discovered similar peepholes in four apartments in that building and two apartments in other buildings.

A third lawsuit was filed Oct. 30 by Emily Dacquisto. She claims Miller spied on her when she lived at 639 S. Lucas in October 2012 and failed to return her damage deposit when she left the apartment.

Miller's company, Tri-Miller LC, still owns the apartments at 639 S. Lucas St. and 1024 E. Burlington St., but new tenants aren't necessarily aware of the peeping incidents.

Stan Laverman, Iowa City's senior housing inspector, got a call from one of these tenants in November.

'They were new tenants who were unaware (of the peeping incidents) until another tenant told them about it,” Laverman said. 'They were young women understandably distressed by it.”

The women asked Laverman and other inspector to check their upper-level apartment to make sure there were no holes. The inspectors did not find any holes or other concerns, Laverman said.

Inspectors did their regular review 1024 E. Burlington St. in November and found nothing irregular, he said.

Laverman recommends prospective tenants look up their landlords on Iowa Courts Online or the Iowa Sex Offender Registry. It also is a good idea to ask property management companies what kind of checks they do of maintenance personnel, he said.