TORREY, Wayne County — An Iowa man who shot and killed three Utah women at random without warning in southern Utah had no prior connection to his victims and no ties to the area, but claimed it “had to be done” to steal their cars, according to prosecutors.
Ivan W. Miller, 22, of Blakesburg, Iowa, was charged in 6th District Court Thursday afternoon with three counts of aggravated murder, a first-degree felony. He is accused of randomly killing three women in Wayne County — including a woman in her 80s at her home in Lyman, and two women who were hiking on the Cockscomb Trail just off state Route 12 between Torrey and Teasdale.
Miller was arrested early Thursday near Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
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.
Brutal killings
Charging documents filed Thursday outline the brutal killings.
Miller 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. Miller admitted that he had killed someone and stole a car,” according to charging documents. The elderly woman’s car was confirmed to be in Loa on Feb. 27.
During a second interview with the FBI in Colorado, he told an agent “that he stayed the night in the back shed at (the elderly woman’s home) after coming to Lyman. Miller advised that he saw a Buick Lesabre at that location and watched the old lady drive away. Miller then entered her home, waited for her behind a door, and shot her in the back of the head with the 1911 (pistol) while she was sitting down watching television,” the charges allege.
“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. 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,” court documents state.
“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,” prosecutors wrote in the charges.
“Miller admitted he dragged both alleged victims at (the trailhead) to a ditch and laid them next to one another. 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,” according to the charges.
“Miller confessed that it ‘had to be done’ but he did not like to do it.”
A park ranger who responded to the trailhead “observed three spent .45 caliber shell casings and a spent 20- gauge shotgun shell near where the bodies were located. (The ranger) noted it appeared the bodies were possibly dragged to where they were laying, which was in a dried-up creek bed,” the charging documents say. He further noted that there were drops of blood on the road leading to where the bodies were found.
The two women killed near the hiking trailhead were found by their husbands, who went looking for them after they failed to return home on time. The men called the police after finding their bodies. Responding officers found the elderly woman’s stolen vehicle nearby and traced it back to her home, where her body was discovered, Roden said.
Court documents indicate that the vehicle was located “concealed under a tree in the area” and that “a live 20-gauge shotgun shell” was found near the vehicle.
When sheriff’s deputies went to the elderly woman’s home, they found more blood in the woman’s “front room and drag marks leading out of the home,” the charges state. The body of the woman was found “in a cellar located under a shed on the property. Deputies advised that it appeared the female was moved using a wheelbarrow.”
Tracking suspected gunman
Multiple agencies, including the FBI, then used technology such as license plate readers and “integrated tracking services” and tracked the car stolen from one of the two women in Torrey through southern Utah, into northern Arizona and eventually into southern Colorado, he said. Charges note that the vehicle was recorded driving through Bicknell, Wayne County, at 10:32 a.m. Wednesday. By 9:13 p.m., it was in Farmington, New Mexico.
That vehicle was then recorded in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, on Thursday and later found abandoned. After a brief search of the area, Miller was located and arrested without incident.
Officers in Colorado were notified Wednesday about 11:10 p.m. that the stolen vehicle wanted in connection with the three killings in Utah was in their area, according to a statement from Pagosa Springs police.
“A Pagosa Springs police officer found the vehicle within the city limits. The vehicle was then abandoned in Centennial Park in the downtown area,” the statement said.
About 2:40 a.m., Miller was located and detained.
“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,” according to police.
Information about whether Miller was located inside a hotel, at a residence or in an outdoor area was not immediately available.
Roden said investigators were questioning Miller in Colorado Thursday in an attempt to learn more about his alleged crimes. Bank cards belonging to the three women were found in Miller’s wallet, the charge state.
“The investigations continue into Thursday morning as members of the Utah State Bureau of Investigation and the Utah Crime Lab process two crime scenes in the Lyman and Torrey area,” the Department of Public Safety announced Thursday. “There are no ongoing threats to the public, and investigators have no outstanding suspects.”
As word of the three deaths spread throughout Wayne County on Wednesday night, the sheriff’s office issued a statement “asking that all residents take extra precautions, keep lights on, keep doors locked, remain home or with others this evening if possible. Multiple law enforcement agencies are currently in the area.” Law enforcement agencies in surrounding counties issued similar messages.
All schools in Wayne County canceled classes for Thursday prior to Miller’s arrest “out of an abundance of caution.” Counselors will be available for students and teachers “when classes resume next week,” according to Torrey city administrators. The Wayne County Courthouse in Loa also announced it would be closed Thursday.
Torrey Mayor Mickey Wright issued a statement and extended his “deepest condolences to the families, friends and loved ones of the victims. This is a heartbreaking moment for our small, close‑knit community.”
“Our community is grieving today,” he said. “I want to acknowledge the professionalism and rapid response of law enforcement during yesterday’s multi‑state search. Their work brought clarity and safety back to our community during an extremely difficult and uncertain day.
“Our community is strong. In the coming days, we will support one another, check on our neighbors, and ensure that those affected by this tragedy are not alone.”
Iowa crimes
Miller was scheduled to appear in an Iowa courtroom on Friday on charges of theft, burglary, marijuana possession and being ineligible to carry a gun, according to court records.
In that case, Miller was found inside a cabin at Lake Wapello State Park in Davis County, Iowa, on Dec, 31, according to court records. A state park ranger who was going to clean the cabin and prepare it for an arriving guest found it unlocked and noticed it looked like someone was living inside, as food and pans were seen, according to court documents.
“I went to check the bedrooms and 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,” the ranger wrote in court documents.
As rangers were investigating, Miller “came to the door, softly knocked, then immediately put his hands in the air and backed away. I stepped outside with Mr. Miller and recognized him from a prior incident. He told me, ‘It’s OK, you can arrest me now,’” the charges state.
Miller claimed he had picked the lock on the cabin a couple of days earlier “so he could get somewhere warm.”
A few months before that, Miller was cited by Alaska wildlife troopers near Bristol Bay for “operating a vessel not equipped with personal flotation devices,” according to a bulletin from the Alaska Department of Public Safety.