Two ruthless ambushes left three women dead in rural Utah – for the sake of stolen cars and credit cards, say police
The red-rock landscapes around Capitol Reef National Park in Utah are known for peaceful hiking trails and quiet rural communities. But this week, that calm was shattered when a man from Iowa allegedly carried out a series of killings across Wayne County – leaving three women dead – all for the sake of stolen cars and credit cards.
Authorities say a 22-year-old man went on a deadly rampage across the community, ambushing an elderly woman inside her home before murdering two other women who were hiking the Cockscomb Trail just off state Route 12 nearby.
Hours later, police say the suspect had fled across state lines in a stolen vehicle, triggering a multi-state manhunt that ended with his arrest in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
Ivan Miller, 22, of Blakesburg, Iowa, who has no known previous connection to the victims, was taken into custody early Thursday in Colorado, and charged with three counts of aggravated murder.
Miller later told investigators that he had “killed someone and stole a car,” according to charging documents filed Thursday and obtained by KSL.
The names of the three women have not yet been released. Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Cameron Roden said they are from “the area” but are not related to each other.
Investigators believe the deadly rampage began at a home in the small Wayne County community of Lyman where a woman who was in her 80s was found dead inside, and her vehicle had been stolen.
Miller later told investigators “that he had hit an elk in Loa, Utah a few days ago, sold his truck to a tow company, and stayed in an area hotel for a few days.”
In search of money and a car to get back to Iowa, Miller allegedly said that he had stayed the night in shed at the elderly woman’s home and saw her leaving in her Buick Lesabre. He waited for her to return, hiding behind a door, and “shot her in the back of the head with the 1911 (pistol) while she was sitting down watching television,” according to the charging documents.
Miller allegedly said he “dragged her to the out building and further down into the basement where he ultimately left her” and that he tried to clean up the scene. He then “grabbed his stuff and took the car, but he did not like the car and wanted to find a different vehicle.”
After that killing, Miller allegedly drove about 15 miles to a trailhead off State Route 12 between Torrey and Teasdale – an area popular with hikers visiting nearby Capitol Reef National Park.
He parked the vehicle near the trailhead where he saw a younger woman and an older woman get out of a white Subaru,” court documents state.
There, police say he killed two women who were hiking together. One victim was in her 30s and the other in her 60s.
“Miller said that he went up to them and shot the younger one in what he thought was the chest and she went down. Miller then shot the other one twice in the body but that she was still moving. Miller then stabbed her multiple times in the heart,” according to the court documents.
