A tragic incident unfolded in Utah this week, as a 22-year-old man from Iowa allegedly shot and killed three women in an apparent car theft spree. The suspect, Ivan W. Miller, reportedly told authorities that the killings were necessary to steal the victims’ vehicles.
Miller has been formally charged with three counts of aggravated murder following the deaths of the women in Wayne County, according to a report by KSL. The victims’ names have not been disclosed, but officials revealed that two of the women, one in her 30s and another in her 60s, were fatally shot on the Cockscomb Trail between Torrey and Teasdale. The third victim, a woman in her 80s, was killed in her home in Lyman.
Authorities apprehended the suspect on Thursday in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. They had tracked a vehicle, belonging to one of the victims, as it moved across central and southern Utah, into Arizona, and ultimately to Colorado. The vehicle was found abandoned, leading to Miller’s arrest shortly thereafter, as reported by CrimeOnline.
According to charging documents, Miller claimed he had previously collided with an elk in Loa, Utah, and subsequently sold his truck to a tow company. He reportedly stayed in a local hotel for a few days before confessing to killing someone and stealing a car, as per KSL.
In a subsequent interview with an FBI agent, Miller revealed that he spent a night in a shed behind the home of the 80-year-old victim, watching her leave in her Buick LeSabre. He then entered her home, concealed himself behind a door, and fatally shot her in the head when she returned and was watching television.
In a second interview with an FBI agent, he said he stayed for a night in a shed behind the 80-year-old woman’s home and watched her drive away in a Buick Lesabre. Then, he said, he entered her home, hid behind a door, and shot her in the head when she returned and was watching television.
“Miller said he cleaned up the scene the best he could, dragged her to the out building and further down into the basement where he ultimately left her,” the documents say. “Miller said he grabbed his stuff and took the car, but he did not like the car and wanted to find a different vehicle. Miller said he parked the vehicle near (the trailhead) where he saw a younger woman and an older woman get out of a white Subaru.”
Miller told the agent he went up to the two women and first shot the younger one, then the older one twice, but since she was still moving he “stabbed her multiple times in the heart.”
“Miller admitted he dragged both alleged victims at (the trailhead) to a ditch and laid them next to one another,” prosecutors wrote in the documents. “Miller said he did it because he needed money. Miller said that he took their credit cards and used the older woman’s card to buy gas. Miller said that his intent was to get back to Iowa.”
“Miller confessed that it ‘had to be done’ but he did not like to do it,” the documents said.
The two women at the trail were found by their husbands, who went looking for them when they didn’t come back from their hike. Police who responded to the 911 call then found the other woman’s stolen car nearby and went to her home, finding her body.
The documents say investigators used license plate readers and “integrated tracking services” to track the stolen Subaru. It was spotted in Bicknell, Utah, at about 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday and in Farmington, New Mexico, by 9 p.m. that night.
Authorities in Colorado who notified the vehicle was in their area shortly after 11 p.m.
Early Thursday morning, it was spotted in Pagosa Springs, where it was found abandoned. Officers found Miller after a brief search in the area.
“Upon a frisk of Miller, he was found in possession of a concealed handgun and large knife. Miller was arrested for possession of concealed weapons. A subsequent interview linked Miller to the deaths in Utah,” Pagosa Springs Police said.
Bank cards for all three murder victims were found in Miller’s wallet, charging documents say.
Miller had been scheduled to appear in court on Friday charged with theft, burglary, marijuana possession and being ineligible to carry a gun.
In that case, Miller had picked the lock on a state park cabin in Davis County “so he could get somewhere warm.” A park ranger found “a fully loaded 7.62 x 54 bolt-action rifle with bayonet and a fully loaded Diamondback AR-10 .308 with scope and bipod, along with several loaded magazines and extra ammunition in boxes and loose ammunition in a bag,” court documents said.
Miller remains behind bars in Colorado awaiting extradition to Utah.
