Appeals court affirms conviction in Oneida County murder case

The third district court of appeals in Wausau has affirmed the first-degree intentional homicide conviction of a Rhinelander man who was sentenced to life in prison for executing his former girlfriend on a local roadside in the summer of 2021.
The three-judge panel announced its decision on May 6, noting that Christopher Terrell Anderson’s appellate attorney, Roberta Heckes, had filed a “no-merit report” that the defendant did not contest. The court also conducted an independent review of the record and concluded that “there are no arguably meritorious issues for appeal” in the case.
The body of 26-year-old Hannah R. Miller was found on the side of River Bend Road on the morning of June 30, 2021. She was shot four times, once in the chest, twice in the back, and once in the back of head.
Two citizen witnesses reported having seen Miller standing with a black man by a white SUV at the scene of the crime minutes before the shooting, the appeals court noted in its summary of the case. One of those witnesses identified the man as Anderson, after first seeing a photograph of Anderson that law enforcement had released to the media and then having an officer show the same photograph to her. Other witnesses reported that Miller had previously reported multiple instances of violence by Anderson and said that she was afraid of him. The two had been in a relationship and had a young child together.
“Anderson moved to suppress the witness’s identification as impermissibly suggestive because the witness was only shown a single photograph,” the summary continues. “The circuit court denied the motion following a hearing, concluding that the identification procedure was confirmatory rather than suggestive. Anderson then pled guilty in exchange for the state’s agreement to recommend release to extended supervision after 40 years’ confinement, with Anderson free to argue for release eligibility between 30 and 40 years. The circuit court accepted Anderson’s plea after conducting a plea colloquy, reviewing Anderson’s signed plea questionnaire, and ascertaining that there was a factual basis to support the plea. The circuit court subsequently held a sentencing hearing, at which it heard from the parties as well as from friends and relatives of the victim. After discussing the severity of the offense in depth and noting that Anderson had acted as a ‘brutal, ruthless, coldblooded’ assassin after terrorizing the victim for years, the court determined that Anderson would not be eligible for release to extended supervision.”

The no-merit report submitted by Heckes addresses the suppression motion, the validity of the plea and sentence, and the assistance of Anderson’s trial counsel, the court added.
“Upon reviewing the record, we agree with appellate counsel’s conclusion that Anderson has no arguably meritorious basis to challenge the suppression ruling, the plea, the sentence, or his trial counsel’s performance,” the judges wrote. “The circumstances of this case do not show an impermissibly suggestive identification. The circuit court conducted an adequate plea colloquy, and Anderson has never asserted that he misunderstood the charge or his rights. The court had discretion to deny supervised release, and it reasonably explained why it did so. Trial counsel took reasonable steps on Anderson’s behalf. Our independent review of the record discloses no other potential issues for appeal.”
The order ends with the judges concluding that any further appellate proceedings would be “wholly frivolous”.
Anderson’s co-defendant, Seth Wakefield, now 29, pled no contest to one count of second-degree reckless homicide (as party to the crime). He was accused of helping Anderson plan the crime. In September 2022, he was sentenced to 5 ½ years incarceration and 6 ½ years extended supervision with credit for 431 days already served.
To this point, he has not filed any type of appellate action related to his conviction.
According to Department of Corrections records, Wakefield is due to be released from incarceration, to begin serving the extended supervision portion of his sentence, on Dec. 25, 2026. The extended supervision portion of his sentence is scheduled to end in June 2033.
With his conviction affirmed, Anderson will spend the rest of his life in the Green Bay Correctional Institution.