A man accused of killing three women in Utah and stealing their cars and credit cards was already known to police in Iowa: He was arrested there on suspicion of breaking into a cabin about two months prior, court documents show.
Officials released Ivan Miller, 22, without bail back in January on the charges in Iowa, and he vowed to appear for the next court appearance.
But Miller missed the arraignment Friday because he was in jail in southern Colorado after authorities tracked him there in one of the stolen vehicles.
A public defender representing Miller in the Colorado case, Scott Van Zandt, said Friday during a court hearing that his client does not want to speak to police or media.
Meanwhile, out in southern Utah’s starkly beautiful desert country, friends and relatives of the women killed struggled to comprehend what authorities called a crime of “convenience.”
Miller told investigators he stole the cars and credit cards because he needed to get back to Iowa, according to interviews outlined in court documents.
Two bodies at a trailhead, then a third at a home
The husbands of two victims found their wives dead Wednesday near a trailhead after they didn’t return from a desert hike. The body of the third victim — a church-going woman who loved yardwork and kept a tidy yard — was found near her home.
There was no sign that Miller had any connection to the three, said Lt. Cameron Roden of the Utah Highway Patrol.
Miller had been on the move often in recent days if not months. A few days before the killings, Miller hit an elk in the town of Loa.
He sold his pickup truck to the tow company, leaving him without a vehicle. After staying in hotels for a few days, Miller slept in a shed on 86-year-old Margaret Oldroyd’s property in Lyman, Utah, without her knowledge, according to investigators who interviewed Miller.
Oldroyd’s Buick was found Wednesday at a trailhead outside Capitol Reef National Park, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from her house in the rural area of farms and ranches. There, authorities said Miller told them he saw two women get out of a Subaru and killed them before taking their car.
Linda Dewey, 65, and her niece Natalie Graves, 34, were killed and found in a dry creek bed. Their husbands called 911 and waved down a ranger.
“Our family is dealing with the shock of the devastating loss of two members of our family who were bonding over the beauty of a hike in one of their favorite places on earth — cherished by them and the community, considered to be a safe sanctuary,” the family of Dewey and Graves said in a statement. “They were murdered. We cannot comprehend why this happened.”
The family said Dewey was a wife, mother, grandmother, daughter and sister who had extended family and friends worldwide.
“She was loved deeply and loved her family deeply. She was the heart of our family,” their statement said.
The family described Graves, a wife, daughter and sister, as “joy, sunshine and beauty embodied.”
Elderly victim remembered as sweet, with a tidy yard
Police linked the Buick to its owner, Oldroyd, whose body they found in a cellar under the shed on her property.
Next-door neighbor Randy Jones said he was shocked by the death of “the sweetest woman you’d ever meet.” She kept her flowers and lawn watered and neatly manicured, he said.
Oldroyd used to work at a local grocery store stocking shelves, Jones said. And when Jones helped rid her yard of skunks, she would bring him a cake as a thank you.
“Out here in rural counties, we all take care of each other,” Jones said.
Jones said Oldroyd didn’t leave home much in recent years except to attend religious services and get groceries. Now and then, she would visit him and his horses.
Miller stole Oldroyd’s car after shooting her while she watched TV in her home, Wayne County prosecutors allege.
A search across the greater Four Corners region
After finding the bodies, police searched the greater Four Corners region for Miller.
He drove hundreds of miles through Arizona and New Mexico before they caught up with him using license plate readers and vehicle trackers in Pagosa Springs, a Colorado tourist town known for hot spring resorts lining the San Juan River.
Miller told investigators he killed the two hikers because he didn’t like the Buick and wanted a different vehicle, according to court documents.
Miller appeared briefly in court in Colorado for the first time Friday but didn’t speak except to say and spell his name. His lawyer, Van Zandt, said he would fight his client being sent to Utah, where he could face the death penalty.
Wayne County, Utah, Attorney Michael Winn declined to comment Friday on Miller’s plan to fight extradition.
Miller had an arraignment scheduled Friday in Iowa on charges including felony second-degree burglary and misdemeanor theft, marijuana possession and gun possession. Court documents in that case say Miller also faced a related case charging him with illegally hunting on a game refuge, but that case was not found in a statewide search of Iowa online court records. According to a court order dated Jan. 13, he was released without bail on a promise to appear on the charges.
Suspect was free after prior arrest at Iowa state park
Miller had been arrested after rangers entered a cabin at Lake Wapello State Park in Iowa on Dec. 31 to prepare for an upcoming reservation.
They found the front door unlocked, food on the counter, a pan with bacon grease in it on the stove, a container with several marijuana joints and loaded guns, including a bolt-action rifle with a bayonet and an AR-10 with a scope and bipod, according to the arrest affidavit.
The person staying there also brought in a television, Xbox game console and Starlink internet device, suggesting “intent to stay for a long period of time” the affidavit states.
Miller showed up while the rangers were there, knocked softly and soon admitted to breaking into the cabin three days earlier seeking a warm place to stay, according to the affidavit.
The county attorney’s office prosecuting Miller on his Iowa charges declined Friday to answer any questions on the case, including whether Iowa prosecutors would allow Utah officials to first pursue the more serious charges against Miller. The Associated Press left a voicemail Friday for his public defender in the Iowa case.
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This story has been corrected to show that Miller was due in an Iowa court Friday on burglary, theft and other counts and that court documents show he faced a related case accusing him of illegally hunting on a game refuge.
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Slevin reported from Denver, Beck from Omaha, Nebraska, and Gruver from Fort Collins, Colorado. Associated Press writers Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland, and Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona, contributed to this report.
