He Killed 3 Women for Their Cars, Money

Authorities are continuing to piece together details surrounding a triple homicide in rural Utah in which three women were killed at two separate locations.

The suspect, 22-year-old Ivan Miller, is in custody and told investigators he carried out the killings because he needed money and transportation, according to court documents cited by NBC News. Miller reportedly told authorities that “it had to be done,” though he said he “did not like to do it,” according to the charging documents.

Investigators say the violence began Wednesday in the town of Lyman. According to Fox13, Miller told police he spent Tuesday night sleeping in a shed belonging to 86-year-old Margaret Oldroyd. The following day, after Oldroyd left home to run an errand, Miller allegedly entered her house. When she returned and sat down to watch television, authorities say he shot and killed her. He then took her vehicle, a Buick LeSabre.

Miller later told investigators he wanted a different vehicle. Authorities say he drove Oldroyd’s car to Capitol Reef National Park, where he parked near a trailhead.

There, according to investigators, Miller encountered 65-year-old Linda Dewey and her 34-year-old niece Natalie Graves as they were getting out of their Subaru. Police say Miller shot both women and also stabbed Dewey before stealing their vehicle and credit cards. The women’s husbands later discovered their bodies and contacted authorities.

Investigators tracked a key fob from the stolen Subaru to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, where Miller was arrested around 2:45 a.m. Thursday.

He now faces three counts of aggravated murder, and authorities say there is no indication that any of the victims knew him.

According to the Associated Press, Miller told investigators the events followed an earlier accident in which he struck an elk with his own truck, leaving him stranded without transportation to return to his home in Iowa.

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