A man accused of killing three women in Utah in order to steal their cars and credit cards was already known to police in Iowa: He had been arrested in that state on suspicion of breaking into a cabin some 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.
Miller is being represented in Colorado by the state public defender’s office. Justin Bogan, who heads the office in the judicial district that covers Pagosa Springs, declined to comment Thursday.
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 had stolen their cars and credit cards because he needed to get back to Iowa, he told investigators in 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 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 Department of Public Safety.
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.
Source: WPLG
