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The Case of Carl Miller
📻 Episode #583
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Jul 23, 2026
About This Episode
On October 25, 1979, Rabbi David Okunov was robbed and fatally shot while on his way to temple in Brooklyn, New York. Two eyewitnesses described the perpetrator to authorities, and the police's first primary suspect fingered 19-year-old Carl Miller as the gunman. Despite not matching either eyewitness's descriptions, not being picked out of the line-up,…
The Case
On October 25, 1979, Rabbi David Okunov was robbed and fatally shot while on his way to temple in Brooklyn, New York. Two eyewitnesses described the perpetrator to authorities, and the police's first primary suspect fingered 19-year-old Carl Miller as the gunman. Despite not matching either eyewitness's descriptions, not being picked out of the line-up, and no physical evidence tying him to the crime, Carl was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the murder.
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In Their Own Words — transcript excerpts
Short excerpts from the episode's official published transcript, with timestamps — listen from these moments, or read the full transcript via the podcast's own platforms.
00:06:10“Speaker 3: the prominent rabbi and stole the prayer case and read Speaker 3: it to an apartment building. Eventually, NYPD found a young Speaker 3: man named Daryl Brown, who gave several accounts alleging that Speaker 3: a local amateur broxer named Carl Miller had made some Speaker 3: incriminating statements. Carl had an open warrant for assault, was”
00:21:22“Speaker 5: fight within Rockets Island, because that's how it was so Speaker 5: it can be really alled on the person that if Speaker 5: you're not really up to it. And I was the Speaker 5: type of person that I could defend myself, so I Speaker 5: had no problem like that. You just waiting to go”
00:36:32“Speaker 4: had possession of his handgun. And additional information that has Speaker 4: come out about Robert has certainly changed our assessment of him. Specifically, Speaker 4: when he was interviewed by the cru in relation to Speaker 4: Carl's case, they did not know that in the early”
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← #582 Brian Pippitt #584 Tysheem Crocker →
Also on the podcast: #29 Jerry Miller · #290 Carl Williams · #433 Carl Miller