Inset: Ivan Miller (Archuleta County Sheriff's Office). Background: Capitol Reef National Park (Google Maps).
Officials in Utah have discovered three women dead in the same county and now one man is behind bars, Beehive State law enforcement says.
Ivan Miller, 23, stands accused of one count of carrying a concealed knife and gun, according to the Archuleta County Sheriff's Office.
The incidents occurred on Wednesday at a home and hiking trail in Wayne County, the Utah Department of Public Safety said during a press conference on Thursday morning after the defendant was arrested by police in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
"With the use of LPR Cameras and vehicle tracking methods, law enforcement agencies were able to locate the suspect," the Wayne County Sheriff's Office said in a press release issued later.
The names of the victims have yet to be released, but Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Cameron Roden said they were all from "the area."
The first victim was in her 80s and killed at her home in the tiny town of Lyman, authorities said. The two other victims were in their 30s and 60s and killed along an unspecified hiking trail near Capitol Reef National Park, which is located roughly 15 miles south of Lyman off State Route 12 near the equally small town of Torrey.
Authorities believe each of the victims was killed simply because the defendant wanted to steal their vehicles.
"There's nothing to suggest they were targeted specifically," Roden said during the press conference. "Other than just for convenience."
The victims' manner of death has also yet to be released.
While the timeline of the slayings is not yet complete, law enforcement believes Miller first entered the octogenarian's home, killed her, and stole her car. Then, he allegedly drove to the trailhead where he killed the other two women and stole their vehicle.
The younger women's bodies were found first, Roden said. Around 4:30 p.m., their husbands went looking for them after they did not return home from their hike and called police. Investigators quickly found the older woman's car near the second murder scene and traced it back to her residence, where her body was discovered.
A multi-state and multi-agency manhunt ensued. The FBI used license plate readers and what Roden referred to as "integrated tracking services" to track the second stolen car through southern Utah, northern Arizona, and finally into southern Colorado.
Around 11:10 p.m. Wednesday, local police in the Mile High State were alerted that the car wanted in connection with the killings was in the Pagosa Springs area, according to local law enforcement.
A brief search quickly turned up the second stolen vehicle, previously identified by law enforcement on Facebook as a white 2022 Subaru Outback.
"A Pagosa Springs police officer found the vehicle within the city limits," the police department said in a statement. "The vehicle was then abandoned in Centennial Park in the downtown area."
A few hours later, Miller was found.
"Upon a frisk of Miller, he was found in possession of a concealed handgun and large knife," the police department's statement went on. "Miller was arrested for possession of concealed weapons. A subsequent interview linked Miller to the deaths in Utah."
Miller, who hails from Iowa, has no prior connection to the area, Roden said. It is presently unclear how long the defendant was previously in Utah before the alleged killing spree occurred.
On Thursday, Roden said the investigations at both crime scenes are ongoing and that formal charges are being prepared so the defendant can be extradited to Wayne County.
"Our community is grieving today following the tragic deaths of three women in Wayne County yesterday," Torrey Mayor Mickey Wright said in a statement. "On behalf of the Town of Torrey, I extend my deepest condolences to the families, friends, and loved ones of the victims. This is a heartbreaking moment for our small, close‑knit community."
Late Thursday, Miller was indicted on three counts of aggravated murder.
Each of the victims were allegedly shot to death using .45 caliber bullets, according to the charging document obtained by Law&Crime. One of the victims was also stabbed "multiple times" in the "heart," prosecutors allege. Notably, law enforcement also cited the presence of 20-gauge shotgun shells at both crime scenes.
The defendant for his part, said he only used a handgun and a knife to kill the three women, according to the indictment. He allegedly went on to say he "needed the money" when justifying the killings.
But the indictment contains another dimension to the alleged motive.
"Miller confessed that it 'had to be done' but he did not like to do it," the charging document reads. "Miller described one of his alleged victims as having blue or purple hair, and that they were 'lesbians.' Miller claimed that all of the alleged victims were shot with the 1911 handgun. When asked what he had done with the knife he had used, Miller produced the knife during the interview."
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