Ivan Miller, 22, of Iowa, has been arrested for the three murders that took place in Utah. According to officials, he has been charged with three counts of first-degree aggravated murder.
Miller was taken into custody in Colorado, 350 miles from where the bodies of three women were found.
A public defender will represent him in court on Friday in Archuleta County, Colorado.
Dewey and Graves were an aunt and niece who went on a hike together. Their bodies were discovered by a trailhead outside of Torrey by their husbands, who became concerned when the women did not return from their hike, according to Lt. Cameron Roden of the Utah Highway Patrol.
Oldroyd’s vehicle was discovered at the trailhead, and her body was discovered when deputies went to her home, Roden said.
The Victims and Why They Were Killed
The three victims were identified as Margaret Oldroyd, 86; Linda Dewey, 65; and Natalie Graves, 34, according to the Utah Department of Public Safety.
After he was arrested, Miller told detectives he spent the night in Oldroyd’s back shed and snuck into her house while she was away, according to an indictment filed Thursday. Miller said he “waited for her behind a door and shot her in the back of the head… while she was sitting down to watch television.”
He cleaned up the scene before dragging her body to a cellar under the shed. Then, Miller stole the 86-year-old woman’s Buick Regal and drove to the trailhead. He told investigators, “he did not like the car and wanted to find a different vehicle.”
Once Miller was at the trailhead, he saw Dewey and Graves step out of a white Subaru and shot both of them. He stabbed one of the women in the chest a few times because she was still moving after he shot her.
Then, Miller dragged their bodies to a ditch where their husbands found them.
Miller left the Buick Regal he had stolen from Oldroyd and drove off in the white Subaru. He also admittedly stole the women’s credit cards and used one of them to pay for gas.
The Investigation
Detectives used a network of license plate scanners to track the Subaru “through southern Utah into northern Arizona and eventually into Colorado,” states Roden.
“Colorado law enforcement located the vehicle abandoned in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and after a brief search, took the individual into custody without incident,” Utah DPS announced on Thursday.
Additionally, one of the husbands tracked the vehicle’s location with an app that monitored the key fob. On Wednesday, around 9 p.m., the key fob appeared to be in Farmington, New Mexico, two hours southwest of where the killer was taken into custody.
When he was arrested, Miller had a handgun and a large knife in his possession, according to Pagosa Springs Police.
Miller said he killed the three women because he needed money. The indictment states, “Miller confessed that it ‘had to be done’ but he did not like to do it.”
Iowa to Utah
Miller lived in Blakesburg, Iowa. Two and a half weeks ago, he set out on a cross-country trip, according to his brother, who spoke with The New York Times.
The brothers remained in contact during the trip, and the killer crashed his truck after hitting an elk. The brother, concerned about how he was traveling around, offered to bring him back to Iowa. Miller declined the offer.
The killer told officials he was staying at a hotel in the area for a few days after hitting the elk, which he sold to a tow truck company.
Sources:
AP News: Man charged in Utah killings wanted victims’ cars and money to get home…
CNN: How a multistate manhunt led to suspect accused of killing 3 Utah
Featured Image Courtesy of tzejen’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
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