Chasing Down the Zombie Hunter: The True Story of a Small-Town Accountant, an Elite Group of Detectives, and Arizona's Most Terrifying Cold Case

The stranger-than-fiction story of the terrifying "Zombie Hunter" whose brutal crimes nearly went unsolved until an unconventional detective and his team solved the mystery of a real-life monster hiding in plain sight.

Bryan Miller aka The Zombie Hunter, was a cavalier character juxtaposed as a single parent of a teenage daughter. He sported Steampunk attire, wielded a gatling gun at Comic Con conventions, and rode around in a custom fitted police looking car with green lights on the top and the "The Zombie Hunter '' detailed on the side. While his outward appearance and interests were a bit eccentric, little did people know, he was a real-life killer and predator that had been terrorizing the Phoenix area since 1992.

Chasing Down the Zombie Hunter is the extraordinary, detailed inside story of how a small-town ex-CPA, Detective Troy Hillman, and an elite team of detectives--hounded by the press, a frustrated and frightened public, and their own doubts and exhaustion--solved a double murder that had haunted the Valley of the Sun for more than twenty years. The initial details were already chilling--the brutal murder of two women, found headless, who were assaulted while riding their bikes along a well-known canal bike path--but with his inside-perspective, Hillman reveals how the initial headlines only scratch the surface.

Besides giving the families of Angela Brosso and Melanie Bernas closure and justice, Detective Hillman's groundbreaking methods and his familial DNA case set the precedent for cold cases like The Golden State Killer. Chasing Down the Zombie Hunter reveals how evidence that was already in possession of the police turned out to be the key to catching the killer--once they new how to look at it.

From frustrations and heartbreak to bizarre twists and incredible breakthroughs, Detective Hillman takes true crime devotees through every facet of how, against all odds, the suspect was found and arrested. Chasing Down the Zombie Hunter is a testament to the fact that no matter how old the case, there is always hope for justice...if you know where to look.

Author: Troy A. Hillman
Publisher: Pegasus Crime
Published: 10/07/2025
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 9.20h x 5.90w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9781639369676


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 08/25/2025

About the Author
Troy Hillman is an ex-CPA turned detective. In 1997, Troy left his career as a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner to become a police officer with the Phoenix Police Department. Eventually, his passion for "cold case" victims and zeal for hunting the most elusive of serial killers led him to become a detective, and he spent more than ten years of his career in law enforcement working with an elite cold case homicide team that solved hundreds of murders dating back as far as the 1970s. In his twenty-four-year law enforcement career, Troy received numerous honors and now serves as a speaker and homicide expert consultant. A camping, fishing, and hiking enthusiast, Troy lives in the Greater Phoenix area with his wife, two daughters, and a boxer named Barnabus.