Speaker 1: That folks say. It is Thursday, March fifth, and we
Speaker 1: are just getting a breaking update from authorities out in
Speaker 1: Utah that the man who had a whole community really
Speaker 1: in fear overnight and during the day today after a
Speaker 1: triple homicide has been caught. Welcome to this episode of
Speaker 1: Amy and TJ. Roadse. We did an episode earlier today
Speaker 1: about the community being paralyzed out there. They say they
Speaker 1: got their guy, but man, so many questions.
Speaker 2: I was just going to say, so I know the
Speaker 2: entire area, and we're talking about a huge portion of Utah,
Speaker 2: these southern, eastern, and central areas of Utah. Is how
Speaker 2: it was described to us that sheriff's departments were putting
Speaker 2: people literally on lockdown, or at least asking them to
Speaker 2: stay home and lock their doors, turn their lights on,
Speaker 2: be aware that a man hunt was underway. Sure, we
Speaker 2: can breathe a sigh of relief, but there are so
Speaker 2: many unanswered questions right now. When you hear who this
Speaker 2: guy is, who they caught, it's going to be a
Speaker 2: head scratcher.
Speaker 1: It absolutely is. The age is a head scratcher. Where
Speaker 1: he's from is a head scratcher. While he's there as
Speaker 1: a head scratcher. Did he know anybody there? It's all
Speaker 1: a head scratcher. But after three women were found dead
Speaker 1: yesterday in Wayne County in southern Utah, they have now
Speaker 1: caught the suspect and he is twenty two year old
Speaker 1: Ivan Miller. In Rome's Mystery Number one. There, you think, okay,
Speaker 1: it's such a young guy. What's going on? And then
Speaker 1: where he's from. He's not local, No.
Speaker 2: He's from Blakesburg, Iowa, population two hundred and seventy four.
Speaker 2: It's somewhere in between Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. But
Speaker 2: it really is this small town in Iowa. And when
Speaker 2: you see this kid's picture, he's a kid. He is
Speaker 2: a young kid from Iowa. You see when you look
Speaker 2: at this picture and then you hear now what.
Speaker 3: Police believe he did. It's confusing.
Speaker 2: And then to try and even begin to understand why,
Speaker 2: I don't know where you start.
Speaker 1: And they haven't released the manner of death, but they
Speaker 1: did tell us three women. Three women found dead. Two
Speaker 1: of them were hiking together in the area and another
Speaker 1: was found dead at a home that they say it
Speaker 1: was about ten or fifteen miles away. That home is
Speaker 1: where they found They say an elderly woman. An elderly woman,
Speaker 1: a woman in her eighties. The other two there's still
Speaker 1: some discrepancy about the ages, but one he believes in
Speaker 1: the thirties, and then he said sixties before and today
Speaker 1: this press conference said maybe forties. So not sure there.
Speaker 1: But these two women were walking together, these three women
Speaker 1: found in robes. It'd sent the area, not just the
Speaker 1: immediate area, but we're talking about huge portions of that
Speaker 1: state were on alert.
Speaker 2: Correct, because police from the get go, once they knew
Speaker 2: that they had a suspect on a loose, they knew
Speaker 2: they were looking for at least at one point a
Speaker 2: particular vehicle. They knew their suspect had wheels, so they
Speaker 2: knew their suspect could travel far. These are remote areas
Speaker 2: in the Utah Desert, and yes, there isn't high populations
Speaker 2: and there's expansive terrain, so they knew he could be
Speaker 2: in a lot of different places pretty quickly.
Speaker 1: And we should mention that in fact, yes, he was
Speaker 1: found not in the area, actually was caught in southern
Speaker 1: Colorado by way of Arizona. We'll explain that in just
Speaker 1: a second. But we talked about what, Yes, he's off
Speaker 1: the streets, they say, and there's no dangers to the community.
Speaker 1: But robes you ask, first of all, motive, why you're
Speaker 1: trying to understand Is there a connection between the three women? Look,
Speaker 1: the two women hiking together, Yes they're friends, but why
Speaker 1: the third a motive for it all? They've got nothing
Speaker 1: right now?
Speaker 2: Yeah, from what we understand, correct, he started at the
Speaker 2: older woman's home.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's always started there. But again, I don't know
Speaker 1: why he was there in the first place. They have
Speaker 1: no answers about any of that, and why he went
Speaker 1: from her house over to the trailhead. Also, he said
Speaker 1: he's from Iowa. Why was he in the state? I
Speaker 1: mean the press conference, they were asking why was he there?
Speaker 1: We don't know how did he get here? We don't know.
Speaker 2: Because he stole a vehicle once he started on the move.
Speaker 2: And certainly now that they have his name, you would
Speaker 2: think they would try that would be the first thing
Speaker 2: they would figure out. Where has he been staying, how
Speaker 2: has he traveled to that small town in southern Utah,
Speaker 2: and does he have any connection to the area, Does
Speaker 2: he have family there? Did he go to school around
Speaker 2: the area. It's a pretty big distance and not a
Speaker 2: lot of answers as to why a young man from
Speaker 2: Iowa would be there in the first place and then
Speaker 2: commit these horrific crimes.
Speaker 1: And again, they haven't told us the manner of death here,
Speaker 1: but you could, I mean you just oh my goodness.
Speaker 1: They haven't said anything but a weapon or anything like
Speaker 1: that either. But this was a detail that the the
Speaker 1: sheriff out there did given the press conference, that we
Speaker 1: didn't know about. Right, it's a trail, so you might
Speaker 1: wonder maybe some other hikers were along, and it was
Speaker 1: pretty horrific to hear how the first two women were found.
Speaker 2: Yes, all we were told is that someone found these
Speaker 2: women on the hiking trail. Well, now we know it
Speaker 2: was their husband. So these women apparently were on a
Speaker 2: hike together. They were do back home at a certain time,
Speaker 2: and once they missed that window, the husbands grew concerned
Speaker 2: and they drove out to the trailhead. They knew where
Speaker 2: their wives had been hiking. And so yes, it was
Speaker 2: their own husbands who found them on that trail. And again,
Speaker 2: because we don't know their manner of death, we don't
Speaker 2: know what those poor men came upon, but that had
Speaker 2: to be you know, you think about it, maybe they
Speaker 2: got lost, maybe they're in trouble. Maybe would you would
Speaker 2: your mind go to that place as you're on this
Speaker 2: trail looking for your wife, to think that you could
Speaker 2: possibly actually stumble upon or find worst case scenario.
Speaker 1: And they did, And the husbands were the one that
Speaker 1: ones that first alerted police that any thing was going
Speaker 1: on that started all of this. So the police get
Speaker 1: there and they're investigating robes, and while they're there at
Speaker 1: the trailhead, they see a vehicle that they found suspicious,
Speaker 1: and it's that vehicle that ends up tracing back to
Speaker 1: the home where authorities go and then find this elderly
Speaker 1: woman dead as well. So this is how this all started.
Speaker 1: But then they go back and they trade Even though
Speaker 1: they found the two women first, that's not the order
Speaker 1: of the crime according to police at least.
Speaker 2: Yes, they believe that for whatever reason, this young man,
Speaker 2: Ivan Miller, went to the old woman's house and killed
Speaker 2: her first in her home, correct inside her home. Then
Speaker 2: he took her car to the trailhead. So why, if
Speaker 2: you know, you're trying to figure out why he would
Speaker 2: do this, why wouldn't he just get away or go
Speaker 2: somewhere else. No, he goes for a hike and then
Speaker 2: on that trailhead he kills the two women, two women,
Speaker 2: and then leaves.
Speaker 3: The older woman's car at the trailhead.
Speaker 2: That's how police connected that dot and then took another vehicle.
Speaker 2: And it was police ability through technology to track him
Speaker 2: all the way to Colorado.
Speaker 1: D Where is he what exactly is he doing? Where
Speaker 1: is he going? But yeah, he took one of the
Speaker 1: women's vehicles that police say he had just murdered. So
Speaker 1: that technology is amazing. But these cameras, these traffic cameras
Speaker 1: tracked him, these license plate readers tracked him from southern
Speaker 1: Utah said he drove into Arizona. They continued to track
Speaker 1: that car until they got into southern Colorado, where they
Speaker 1: were able to track it down. They said they found it.
Speaker 1: He wasn't in it, but they searched a nearby area
Speaker 1: and eventually took him into custody without incident. And that
Speaker 1: is it? What sense does this make? The randomness of
Speaker 1: this crime robes this alleged crime. He's the alleged criminal.
Speaker 1: But the randomness of this you said, the husband's thinking
Speaker 1: maybe the wives got lost, or maybe there was an
Speaker 1: accident of some kind. Oh, it was your mind does
Speaker 1: not go to something so random.
Speaker 2: Well especially, look, I know everyone always says things like
Speaker 2: this never happen here. This is such a quiet town,
Speaker 2: this is such a small town. But this actually is
Speaker 2: the exact description of this area in Tory, Utah. I
Speaker 2: looked it up earlier this morning when we were talking
Speaker 2: about this, and it's again a town of.
Speaker 3: What three hundred folks.
Speaker 2: It's in what they call a desert high high area
Speaker 2: where they're like elevation. It's gorgeous, there's hiking, there's fishing,
Speaker 2: people are outdoors. This is an area where you wouldn't
Speaker 2: even lock your doors, where you might leave your car
Speaker 2: keys in your vehicle, where sheriff's deputies were actually telling folks, hey,
Speaker 2: make sure you don't have your car keys in your car.
Speaker 3: That's how safe this area is.
Speaker 2: Typically so yes, I can't imagine anyone was even envisioning
Speaker 2: walking upon and finding their wives murdered on a hiking
Speaker 2: trail in literally the middle of nowhere.
Speaker 1: And the sheriff, we give them credit, he's been thrown
Speaker 1: into a national spotlight to a certain degree. Was Look,
Speaker 1: we see a lot of sheriffs, smaller town sheriffs have
Speaker 1: a lot thrown at them, and I thought this guy
Speaker 1: did a pretty good job of answering as much as
Speaker 1: he could. But it became clear in listening to him.
Speaker 1: And I know it's early in the investigation. They just
Speaker 1: don't know. And I believe and I think robes some
Speaker 1: of the warnings they were given to the community were
Speaker 1: we talked about this. We've done tons of manhunts, and
Speaker 1: you always hear the end armed and dangerous, do not approach.
Speaker 1: That's scary enough. Some of the stuff they were putting
Speaker 1: out was urgent and scary as hell.
Speaker 2: Yes, leave your lights on, don't be alone, try to
Speaker 2: be with other people. Please stay in your home if
Speaker 2: you can, lock your doors. They didn't close schools just
Speaker 2: for today. They closed them for today and tomorrow. They
Speaker 2: said they had counselors at the ready government offices, health clinics.
Speaker 2: You don't just shut down these buildings unless there is
Speaker 2: a serious threat of imminent danger. And that's certainly how
Speaker 2: they made it seem. And you know, to that point,
Speaker 2: investigators have said that these do not appear to be
Speaker 2: target attacks. So if you can't put a motive behind someone,
Speaker 2: if someone isn't going after a specific target or a
Speaker 2: specific victim, that's scary as hell, as rare as it
Speaker 2: is when it does happen. That inability to know who
Speaker 2: and when someone will strike next is just cripple crippling.
Speaker 3: I mean, that's so scary.
Speaker 1: You said, as rare as it is that this happens,
Speaker 1: And as soon as you said it, I thought, my goodness,
Speaker 1: we just covered another story where this happened. Stay here,
Speaker 1: We're back here on NAMY and TJ on this Thursday,
Speaker 1: just getting an update on a breaking new story as
Speaker 1: a story that started our day. It was our first
Speaker 1: episode we put up today talking about a killer on
Speaker 1: the loose in the southern Utah. We're authorities that put
Speaker 1: their community on alert. Several communities, their schools closed, local
Speaker 1: government buildings, told people to lock their doors, keep your
Speaker 1: lights on because there was a killer on the loose.
Speaker 1: After three women were found dead, they say they have
Speaker 1: now found their suspect, a twenty two year old named
Speaker 1: Ivan Miller from Blakesburg, Iowa. They don't know why he
Speaker 1: was in the area, They don't know why he might
Speaker 1: have done this, They don't know what his connections might
Speaker 1: have been to the area. So a lot of questions
Speaker 1: here now. Robes and the scary. One of the scariest
Speaker 1: parts sometimes about crimes like this is just the randomness
Speaker 1: of it. You can't how could you have put yourself
Speaker 1: in a different position, a better position, or a safer position.
Speaker 1: He went out for a hike and somebody who doesn't
Speaker 1: know you just decides to do what. That's awful.
Speaker 2: That's the scariest type of crime because you can't possibly
Speaker 2: change your behavior or anticipate anything, or do anything differently
Speaker 2: to become safer when someone is willing to attack and
Speaker 2: kill someone they don't know for no reason. And right now,
Speaker 2: that is what investigators are trying to figure out what
Speaker 2: could possibly have been Ivan Miller's motive. They did say
Speaker 2: they don't believe that these women were targeted. So far,
Speaker 2: he's only technically been charged with one count of carrying
Speaker 2: a concealed weapon, but clearly they have identified him as
Speaker 2: the suspect in the triple homicide, and so more charges
Speaker 2: are certainly coming and this may be a part of
Speaker 2: their investigation, just trying.
Speaker 3: To get him to talk. Why, why did you want
Speaker 3: to do this?
Speaker 2: You're twenty two years old, you're from a completely different state,
Speaker 2: and after you killed once and you've got someone's vehicle.
Speaker 2: Why wouldn't you just go on and move through?
Speaker 3: Why go and find more victims? That is just frightening.
Speaker 1: And Rose I didn't think about it until this moment,
Speaker 1: but we cover it. Not it was the last year,
Speaker 1: was it not? To a couple stabbed on a hike
Speaker 1: in Arkansas? Daughters with them, and some high school teacher
Speaker 1: was the guy who did it?
Speaker 2: Random?
Speaker 1: Is all get out? They found him later at a
Speaker 1: barber shop. Was it not? And that was another one
Speaker 1: there was. It made no.
Speaker 3: Sense and it still doesn't. Clinton and Kristen Brink.
Speaker 2: This happened at Devil's Den State Park right there in Arkansas.
Speaker 2: And yes they had their two young daughters with them.
Speaker 2: He left them alone. But yes, a random young white guy,
Speaker 2: twenty eight year old teacher Andrew James McGann.
Speaker 3: And there is still no known motive.
Speaker 2: It looks like and police have said, this appears to
Speaker 2: be a random act of violence.
Speaker 1: What do you do, robes? And what do they tell folks?
Speaker 1: And no, excuse me, what do they tell? Women? Go
Speaker 1: with somebody, somebody with you, I have a partner with you.
Speaker 1: And in both of these cases, double death on a
Speaker 1: hike bro in this and we might never know is
Speaker 1: just these some of these stories robes we will we
Speaker 1: just will never know. It makes no sense sometimes, the
Speaker 1: randomness of life.
Speaker 2: And it's a reminder that, yes, there are evil people
Speaker 2: in the world. And I think, having covered crime for
Speaker 2: so many years, the question people always want answered is why.
Speaker 2: Of course they want to know who and know what
Speaker 2: and when, but the why carries so much meaning because
Speaker 2: by knowing the why, maybe you can make sense of
Speaker 2: it or come to peace with it or prevent it.
Speaker 2: But when you don't have the why, I feel like
Speaker 2: that almost is never a satisfying answer. When people, when criminals,
Speaker 2: when murderers, actually do explain it, it doesn't actually make
Speaker 2: things better. But we have that curiosity always and certainly
Speaker 2: I think if anything else, to prevent or to look
Speaker 2: for or to see warning signs, or to just try
Speaker 2: and find a.
Speaker 3: Way to keep those we love safe.
Speaker 2: And this kind of stuff is just scary, especially for
Speaker 2: those of us who love to hike and just to
Speaker 2: feel that peace with nature, and to know that some evil,
Speaker 2: random act is lurking and you don't see it coming.
Speaker 2: It's scary and we're just certainly glad that they have
Speaker 2: their guy. So that is certainly a big update there
Speaker 2: in the massive manhunt in Utah. We will of course
Speaker 2: keep our eye on the situation for those WHYSE if
Speaker 2: they become available, but we thank you for listening to us.
Speaker 3: As always, I made Roebuck alongside T. J. Holmes. We'll
Speaker 3: talk to you soon.