A man accused of murdering three women at random in Utah callously claimed the killings needed to happen, prosecutors said.
Ivan Miller, 22, is accused of carrying out the murders on Wednesday afternoon near the beautiful Capitol Reef National Park, about three hours south of Salt Lake City.
Miller allegedly first shot a woman in her 80s in the back of the head while she watched television in her Lyman home in order to steal her Buick.
He later approached two women at the Cockscomb Trail, shooting them both before stabbing the older woman multiple times in the heart and taking their Subaru.
Miller, of Blakesburg, Iowa, did not have any connections to the victims or the area, according to Wayne County prosecutors.
He confessed to the killings and said they ‘had to be done’ even though he said he did not like committing them, prosecutors said.
Miller alleged he was stranded in Utah without a car after crashing into an elk and selling his damaged truck to a tow company.
He claimed to have killed the women so he could steal their vehicles and credit cards, then return home to Iowa.
Ivan Miller, 22, was charged with three counts of aggravated murder. He allegedly murdered three women at random in southern Utah on Wednesday
The killings happened near Capitol Reef National Park. Miller said he stayed at a hotel in Loa for multiple days beforehand
Miller was arrested near Pagosa Springs, Colorado, early on Thursday with a knife and a .45 caliber pistol.
He was charged with three counts of aggravated murder in connection to the women’s deaths. The victims have not been named by police.
Charging documents said Miller claimed to have stayed at a hotel in Loa – about three hours south of Salt Lake City – for several days before the killings.
After allegedly murdering the elderly woman, Miller said he ‘cleaned up the scene the best he could,’ according to the legal filing obtained by KSL.
He left her in the basement after dragging her around the home and then stole her vehicle.
However, Miller ‘did not like the car’ and started looking for a different one, per the court documents.
After parking the Buick, he allegedly spotted a younger woman and an older woman getting out of a white Subaru.
The female hikers were friends in their 30s and 60s, officials said.
Miller, of Blakesburg, Iowa, told investigators that he was stranded in Utah after having crashing and selling his car. He allegedly said the murders ‘had to be done’
The elderly victim’s Lyman home has been cordoned off by police, who are still gathering evidence about Miller’s alleged murder spree
Miller approached the pair and shot the younger woman in the chest, according to prosecutors.
He then shot her older companion twice, but she kept moving. Miller subsequently ‘stabbed her multiple times in the heart,’ prosecutors claimed.
After allegedly murdering the female hikers, he dragged both of them to a ditch and stole their car.
‘Miller said that he took their credit cards and used the older woman’s card to buy gas,’ the court documents said. ‘Miller said that his intent was to get back to Iowa.’
The women’s husbands alerted law enforcement when they went to search for them after they failed to return home.
Investigators found the initial elderly victim’s abandoned Buick nearby, which helped them identify her.
Police traced the vehicle to her brick home in Lyman, which was cordoned off by law enforcement while investigators continue gathering evidence.
Prosecutors claimed Miller initially stole the woman’s Buick before deciding that he wanted a different car, killing two female hikers and taking their Subaru
Locals remembered the women allegedly murdered by Miller by hanging pink ribbons from a fence on Thursday
License plate readers and vehicle tracking services were used to follow Miller from Utah through northern Arizona and into Pagosa Springs.
Miller had abandoned his stolen car there and was located after a short search, per the Utah Highway Patrol.
The accused killer is set to make his first court appearance on Friday afternoon in Archuleta County and is expected to be extradited to Utah after that.
He was already scheduled to appear in an Iowa courtroom that same day on charges of theft, burglary, marijuana possession and being ineligible to carry a gun.
That case stemmed from an incident in December when Miller was found inside a cabin at Lake Wapello State Park in Davis County, Iowa, with a fully loaded bolt–action rifle and a fully loaded Diamondback AR–10 .308.
Miller told the park ranger who discovered him that he had picked the cabin’s lock a few days earlier to be somewhere warm.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Colorado Public Defender’s Office, which is representing Miller, for comment.
