EXCLUSIVE 

A university student who strangled his teen girlfriend to death because he believed she was a demon has been using Tinder while being held in a forensic facility.

Jordan Brodie Miller was jailed for 20 years after being found guilty of murdering 18-year-old Emerald Wardle at Metford in the NSW Hunter Valley in June 2020.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal Miller recently set up a Tinder profile, as well as opening an Instagram account where he stated: ‘Happy to be here’.  

Miller had taken half an LSD tablet 11 days before he strangled his teenage partner, who he claimed had been ‘trying to suck the life out of me’.

The key issue at Miller’s Supreme Court trial was whether he killed Ms Wardle during a drug-induced psychosis or was experiencing symptoms of undiagnosed schizophrenia.

Miller was sentenced to a minimum 13 years in prison in October 2022 after a jury rejected the defence he had acted under a mental impairment.

In April this year the Court of Criminal Appeal squashed the conviction after accepting that while in custody Miller had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.   

Jordan Brodie Miller, who strangled his teen girlfriend Emerald Wardle to death  has been looking for love on Tinder while being held in a forensic facility. They are pictured together

Having unanimously found Miller was not criminally responsible for Ms 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 Remand and Reception Centre at Silverwater in early September and became a forensic patient.

Since then, the now 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 having supervised leave in the community. 

Women in the Orange district who use the dating app say they have found Miller’s profile and matched with him. 

Several warnings have been posted on Facebook noticeboards alerting others about the killer’s presence on Tinder. 

‘He is actively talking to girls while he is in a mental hospital for [killing] his last girlfriend,’ one post reads.

‘Extremely concerning that he is on social media looking for girls already after what he [has previously] done.’

A woman wrote under the warning post: ‘I matched with him then I read this so unmatched so thank you.’ 

Daily Mail Australia can reveal Miller recently set up a Tinder profile as well as opening an Instagram account where he states: ‘Happy to be here’. One of his profiles is pictured

One of Ms Wardle’s relatives said learning Miller was on Tinder had been ‘a whirlwind of emotion for us’.

She would be writing to state politicians ‘to ask for information on behalf of all Em’s family as to how this is allowed and to enquire if any of Jordan’s conditions have been breached’.

Daily Mail Australia understands Western NSW Local Health District, which is responsible for Bloomfield Hospital, has removed Miller’s access to Tinder.

A spokesman said the department was unable to comment on individual cases but issued a brief statement which referred to Ms Wardle. 

‘The Western NSW Local Health District extends our deepest condolences to the victim’s family and friends,’ the spokesman 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 of forensic patients.’

Daily Mail Australia understands any day leave entitlements Miller had from Bloomfield Hospital have been rescinded. 

Miller had been a regular cannabis smoker from 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 at Metford in the NSW Hunter Valley in June 2020. They are pictured

When police arrived at the house where the young woman lay dead he told them: ‘If you walk inside and go into the bathroom, it’s in there, the demon.’

Miller always admitted strangling Ms Wardle but pleaded not guilty to murder at his trial, claiming he had been in a psychotic state and had no intention of harming her. 

A letter Miller wrote to the court and Ms Wardle’s family was cited as showing he was remorseful.

‘I want it to be known that in my sound mind I would never have done anything like this,’ Miller wrote.

‘I loved Emerald so much.’ 

Justice Richard Cavanagh said in his sentencing remarks that Miller had believed he was cursed and needed to kill either himself or Ms Wardle to be free from the hex.

‘This was his first episode of psychosis, although these effects were only temporary they were acting upon him at the time he killed Ms Wardle,’ Justice Cavanagh said.

Ms Wardle’s mother Tania Simshauser delivered a victim impact statement in which she said Miller was the real monster, not her daughter. 

Ms Wardle’s mother Tania Simshauser delivered a victim impact statement in which she said Miller was the real monster, not her daughter. Ms Wardle is pictured

‘She was not a demon. She was an innocent young woman who was born my daughter but became my very best friend,’ Ms Simshauser said.

‘I, however, will forever live with demons in my mind. As I approach sleep every night I am haunted with demons.

‘As a mother, I know my baby girl died feeling terrified and alone and that is a demon that will stay with me forever.’

Almost two years later the Court of Criminal Appeal ruled the evidence was all ‘one way’ that Miller’s actions were due to undiagnosed schizophrenia.

‘The court is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the applicant had a “mental health impairment”, as defined, namely schizophrenia, at the time he carried out the act of killing Ms Wardle,’ the court’s three judges found.

‘Although he knew the nature and quality of his acts in causing the death of Ms Wardle, he did not know the act was wrong because of his psychotic delusion at the time.’

Having overturned Miller’s prison sentence the court expressed its sympathy to Ms Wardle’s family.

‘The court acknowledges that the loss of Emerald Wardle has caused enormous pain to her family from which they will never recover,’ the judges wrote.