A 22-year-old man from Iowa has been arrested in connection with the murders of three women in Utah, telling police the killings 'had to be done' as he needed money to return home. Ivan Miller faces three counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of Margaret Oldroyd, 86, Linda Dewey, 65, and Natalie Graves, 34, according to court documents.
The victims were unrelated to Miller, who is said to have admitted to the crimes. Police allege that after hitting an elk with his truck and selling it, Miller stayed in a shed on Oldroyd's property in Lyman, then entered her home and shot her as she watched television. He then drove her Buick to a trailhead near Capitol Reef National Park, where he encountered Dewey and Graves preparing for a hike. He shot both women and dragged their bodies to a dry creek bed.
The investigation began when the husbands of Dewey and Graves reported them missing. A Bureau of Land Management ranger found their bodies and later discovered Oldroyd's Buick concealed under a tree. Deputies then found Oldroyd's body under a shed at her home. The victims' vehicles led police across three states, with the Subaru eventually located in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Miller was arrested nearby, carrying a pistol and the victims' cards and ID.
In an interview, Miller said he had been on a cross-country road trip and that the killings were necessary to obtain money to get back to Iowa. A brother told the New York Times that Miller had significant mental health issues. Earlier this year, Miller had been released on bail in Iowa after being arrested for allegedly breaking into a cabin in a state park.
The killings have shocked Wayne County, where residents have tied pink ribbons to trees and signposts in memory of the three women. 'It was just so hard for us to believe. It was just so shocking,' said Burke Torgerson, mayor of Lyman and a relative of Oldroyd. 'What would make a young man do something like that – just randomly?'
