SKOWHEGAN – A last-minute request for a psychological evaluation by Derek Miller, 29, a Bingham man who pleaded guilty last month to kidnapping his estranged wife twice, has postponed his scheduled sentencing in Somerset County Superior Court.

“This is very frustrating, particularly for the victim,” Evert Fowle, Somerset County district attorney, said Monday. “We’ve been ready twice now.”

Miller was expected to be sentenced in April and again on May 6 to 12 years in prison in a plea agreement on charges of terrorizing, violating the conditions of his release and one count of kidnapping. He also pleaded no contest to a second count of kidnapping and criminal threatening.

Police charged Miller in September 2004 of abducting his estranged wife at gunpoint in late August from her Bingham home and sexually assaulting her. Miller threatened the woman not to tell anyone. However, she reported the kidnapping to police.

After the August kidnapping, Miller was arrested and posted bail of $40,000 surety.

Six days later, at 7:30 a.m., a co-worker found the woman’s unoccupied car in the parking lot of the Bingham Health Center on Route 201, where she works. Her purse was inside the vehicle and the car’s engine was running.

A massive manhunt was launched which continued for two days until the woman walked into the police command post in Bingham after fleeing from Miller. Miller was rearrested and has been held since on $5 million bail.

“If there ever was a case where the victim of the crime needs finality, it is this one,” Fowle said.

The Miller case “is one of the most serious cases we will have this year,” he said. But Fowle said he also recognized that in order to forestall any grounds to appeal the case, the judge will want to make sure all avenues are researched.

“It is probably for the best that every conceivable issue is considered,” he said. A new sentencing date likely will be set for early June.