EXCLUSIVE
A college student who strangled his teenage girlfriend to death because he believed she was a demon has been using Tinder while being held in a forensic centre.
Jordan Brodie Miller was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of murdering 18-year-old Emerald Wardle in Metford, Hunter Valley, New South Wales, in June 2020.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal that Miller recently created a Tinder profile, as well as opening an Instagram account where he declared: “Happy to be here.”
Miller had taken half a tablet of LSD 11 days before strangling his teenage partner, who he claimed had been “trying to take my life”.
The key issue in Miller’s Supreme Court trial was whether he killed Ms Wardle during a drug-induced psychosis or whether she was experiencing symptoms of undiagnosed schizophrenia.
Miller was sentenced to a minimum of 13 years in prison in October 2022 after a jury rejected the defense that he had acted under a mental disability.
In April this year, the Court of Criminal Appeal overturned the conviction after accepting that while in custody Miller had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Jordan Brodie Miller, who strangled his teenage girlfriend Emerald Wardle to death, has been looking for love on Tinder while being held in a forensic centre. They are pictured together
After unanimously determining that Miller was not criminally responsible for Wardle’s death, the court sent his case to the Mental Health Review Tribunal to determine how and where he should be treated.
Miller remained in prison until he was transferred out of the Metropolitan Detention and Reception Center in Silverwater in early September and became a forensic patient.
Since then, the 24-year-old has been held under psychiatric care at Bloomfield Hospital in Orange, in the state’s central west.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal Miller has recently been using Tinder and other social media platforms, as well as being on supervised leave in the community.
Women in Orange County who use the dating app say they found Miller’s profile and matched with him.
Several warnings have been posted on Facebook message boards alerting others to the killer’s presence on Tinder.
“He is actively talking to girls while in a mental hospital for (killing) his last girlfriend,” one post reads.
“It’s extremely concerning that he’s already on social media looking for girls after what he’s done previously.”
One woman wrote beneath the warning post: “I agreed with him and then read this awesome thing so thank you.”
Daily Mail Australia can reveal Miller recently created a Tinder profile and opened an Instagram account where he says: “Happy to be here.” One of their profiles appears in the photo.
One of Wardle’s relatives said finding out Miller was on Tinder had been “a whirlwind of emotions for us.”
She would write to state politicians “to ask for information on behalf of Em’s entire family about how this is allowed and to ask if any of Jordan’s conditions have been violated.”
Daily Mail Australia understands that the Western New South Wales Local Health District, responsible for Bloomfield Hospital, has removed Miller’s access to Tinder.
A spokesperson said the department could not comment on individual cases but issued a brief statement referring to Ms Wardle.
“The Western New South Wales Local Health District extends our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the victim,” the spokesperson said.
‘The safety of the community is paramount.
“WNSWLHD carefully monitors forensic mental health patients and takes immediate and appropriate action, while providing safe care, treatment and supervision to forensic patients.”
Daily Mail Australia understands that all day leave rights Miller had at Bloomfield Hospital have been terminated.
Miller had been a regular cannabis smoker since the age of 14 and before killing Ms Wardle had no history of violence or mental illness.
Jordan Brodie Miller was jailed for 20 years after being found guilty of murdering 18-year-old Emerald Wardle in Metford, in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, in June 2020. Pictured
When the police arrived at the house where the young woman lay dead, they told them: “If you come in and go to the bathroom, the devil is there.”
Miller always admitted strangling Ms Wardle, but pleaded not guilty to murder at trial, claiming he had been in a psychotic state and had no intention of harming her.
A letter Miller wrote to the court and Wardle’s family was cited as a show of contrition.
“I want it to be known that in my right mind I would never have done something like this,” Miller wrote.
“I loved Esmeralda very much.”
Judge Richard Cavanagh said in his sentencing comments that Miller had believed he was cursed and needed to kill himself or Wardle to free himself from the curse.
“This was his first episode of psychosis, although these effects were only temporary, they were acting on him at the time he killed Ms Wardle,” Judge Cavanagh said.
Wardle’s mother, Tania Simshauser, gave a victim impact statement in which she said Miller was the real monster, not her daughter.
Wardle’s mother, Tania Simshauser, gave a victim impact statement in which she said Miller was the real monster, not her daughter. Mrs Wardle appears in the photo.
‘She wasn’t a demon. “She was an innocent young woman who was born my daughter but became my best friend,” said Mrs. Simshauser.
‘I, however, will always live with demons in my mind. Every night as I go to sleep, demons chase me.
“As a mother, I know that my daughter died terrified and alone, and that is a demon that will stay with me forever.”
Almost two years later, the Court of Criminal Appeal ruled that all the evidence was “one-sided” that Miller’s actions were due to undiagnosed schizophrenia.
“The court is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the plaintiff had a ‘mental health impairment’, as defined, namely schizophrenia, at the time he carried out the act of killing Ms Wardle.” concluded the three judges of the court.
“Although he knew the nature and quality of his acts in causing Ms Wardle’s death, he did not know that the act was wrong due to his psychotic delusion at the time.”
After quashing Miller’s prison sentence, the court expressed its solidarity with Ms Wardle’s family.
“The court recognizes that the loss of Emerald Wardle has caused her family enormous pain from which they will never recover,” the judges wrote.