Authorities said Christopher Milke sealed the exits, took away phones and kept his children in the home for hours after Tammy Leslie was shot.
BEATRICE, Neb. — The most important stretch of the Christopher Milke case lasted from about 1 a.m. to 6:20 a.m. on Sept. 8, 2024, when prosecutors said Tammy Leslie was shot, the couple’s children were trapped inside their home and a daughter finally reached 911 after Milke fell asleep.
That timeline drove the case from the start and remained at the center when Milke, 53, was sentenced March 19 to life in prison for Leslie’s killing. Jurors had already convicted him of first-degree murder and four other felonies, but the hours between the gunfire and the police entry explained why the case was treated not only as a homicide, but also as a kidnapping and false-imprisonment prosecution involving the couple’s own children.
According to court records, the family’s son, then 11, told police he heard four gunshots at about 1 a.m. from his bedroom. He said his father then ordered him into the living room and took his phone. Roughly 30 minutes later, the daughter, then 19, came home and said Milke told her he had killed her mother. Investigators said he took her phone, too. Those details gave prosecutors a minute-by-minute account of what happened after the shooting and why the children could not immediately call anyone. Leslie, 52, was later found in the couple’s bedroom with multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest.
The daughter’s description of the house became another key part of the case. She told police the exits had been sealed, and investigators later said Milke had been screwing the doors shut nightly for about a month because he suspected Leslie of cheating and wanted to stop her from leaving. That allegation shifted the story from a sudden shooting to a pattern of control inside the home. It also explained why officers did not simply tell the children to walk out once the 911 call came in. Authorities instead coordinated a forced entry for after 6 a.m. At about 6:20 a.m., they breached the residence, got both children out safely and arrested Milke, who police said still had a 9 mm pistol on him.
When the case reached trial in Gage County District Court, prosecutors used that overnight sequence to support five felony counts. The jury convicted Milke in February of first-degree murder, use of a firearm to commit a felony, kidnapping, first-degree false imprisonment and tampering with physical evidence. The trial began Feb. 2 and ended with guilty verdicts on Feb. 12. The state’s case was handled with help from the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office, the Gage County Attorney’s Office, the Beatrice Police Department and the Nebraska State Patrol. By the time of sentencing, the state was no longer trying to prove what happened. It was arguing what punishment should follow from a record jurors had already accepted.
The March 19 sentencing hearing added its own sharp moment, but it did not change the story built around the 911 call and the children’s statements. Milke complained that the trial had been unfair and denied that what happened was murder. Judge Rick Schreiner said Milke showed no remorse and warned him to stop interrupting. Schreiner also pointed to one of the statements tied to the evidence, saying Milke had said, “I finally killed somebody.” The judge imposed a mandatory life sentence for first-degree murder, a second life term for kidnapping and additional prison time on the remaining counts, reflecting both the killing itself and the hours the children remained trapped in the house after Leslie died.
The next step, if there is one, is likely to be an appeal rather than another major factual hearing. At the district court level, the case stands with convictions on all five felony counts and a sentence that keeps Milke in prison for life. The overnight call that began the police response remains the clearest line through the case: four shots, two children confined, one daughter waiting for a moment to get help.
Author note: Last updated April 13, 2026.