To support the family please use the parole opposition letter language below and send it to the California Board of Parole Hearings. On behalf of the Claes family, we thank you for your support.
Following is the sample parole opposition letter for copy/paste/signature purposes that you can email to: BPH.CorrespondenceUnit@cdcr.ca.gov or mail to:
California Board of Parole Hearings
PO Box 4036
Sacramento, CA 95812-4036
Email: BPH.Correspondenceunit@CDCR.ca.gov
RE: Thomas Donald Miller – CDCR# K-44845
Parole Hearing: October 14, 2026
Dear Chairman and Parole Board Member~
Please DO NOT grant a parole date to convicted murderer, Thomas Donald Miller. On May 16, 1995, Miller, along with a co-defendant, placed Carl Dan Claes, age 14, in a van telling him he was taking him to his stereo system (which Miller had stolen several days earlier from the family’s garage). They drove Carl to a remote area where he was marched down a dirt trail and shot in the back of the head execution-style. Miller and his co-defendant then left the scene, returned and put two more bullets in Carl Dan’s head while he laid unconscious bleeding to death. They took his wallet, his pager and a cross his mother had given to him and then left to eat fast food, all the while Miller was paging friends to brag that he committed a murder.
Miller was convicted of first-degree murder with special circumstance of financial gain, a 10-year gun enhancement for using a stolen gun to murder Carl Dan and was sentenced to Life Without Parole in prison. The conclusion of a Fitness Hearing in juvenile court was that Miller was fit to stand trial as an adult. On a resentencing hearing, based on a new California law,his sentence was changed to 35 years to life. He will have served only 31 years when he is up for parole. The new sentence allows for him to be held for life, but eligible for parole board hearings.
Thomas Miller has committed attempted murder while in prison and participated in multiple prison stabbings. Miller is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang, listed as a hate crime and violent prison gang. K44845 has spent over a decade in the Secured Housing Unit due to his violent behavior. This is not the inmate for juvenile justice reform, but a predator and a sociopath.
There is every reason to believe this murderer still poses a threat to public safety. He has an extensive record of hate, violence and lack of remorse. As a result, justice demands Millerserve his initial full prison term (Life Without Parole). This convicted murderer made a personal choice to assist in the execution of an innocent young boy and must continue to accept the consequences of his actions.
I respectfully request you review this matter and come to the same conclusion that Carl Dan Claes’ family has maintained since his brutal and senseless murder. One cannot help but question, “what kind of a person could murder a young boy for the simple pleasure of doing so?” Today, the only people serving life sentences are those who have lost loved ones to murder.
Please deny parole to convicted murderer, Thomas Donald Miller, for the maximum time allowed by State of California law.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
(NAME/SIGNATURE)
