Who Is Ivan Miller? New Details On The Man Raised Amish Charged In Killings Of Three Utah Women

This is not a breaking news story, and many of you have probably heard of it by now. A 22-year-old man named Ivan Miller, who grew up in an Amish family, is charged with murdering three women in a “killing spree” in Utah.

The killings were done seemingly at random, allegedly so he could acquire basic resources like a car and money. Miller was arrested March 5 following a multiple-state manhunt.

According to reports, Miller was not a member of the Amish church, but was described as having been raised Amish. By all reports, he was also a quite disturbed individual.

A new report in the Salt Lake Tribune sheds more light on Miller and his Amish background. Before looking at that, let’s consider the victims, and the question of whether Ivan Miller can be described as Amish.

The Victims

Who were the victims? As initially reported in the Salt Lake Tribune:

Hitting an elk in Loa crushed Ivan Miller’s truck several days ago, investigators say, and left the 22-year-old stranded in southern Utah after he sold it to the company that towed it away.

Out of money after staying in a hotel, prosecutors allege, Miller headed to the tiny nearby town of Lyman, fatally shot Margaret Oldroyd, 86, in her home Wednesday and took her Buick Regal.

Then, because “he did not like the car and wanted to find a different vehicle,” charges against him allege, Miller drove about 15 miles to the Cocks Comb Trailhead and shot Linda Dewey, 65, and her niece Natalie Graves, 34, after they got out of a white Subaru Outback.

These were all people minding their own business, going about their lives, when out of nowhere they were attacked and killed. This type of thing is especially frightening because the victims weren’t involved in anything that might put them in any sort of danger.

Margaret Oldroyd was killed while watching television. Linda Dewey and Natalie Graves were killed while on a hiking trip. These crimes are both terrifying, and disgusting. Miller apparently confessed that the crimes “had to be done”, but that he “did not like to do it.”

Miller was charged with three counts of aggravated murder, and could potentially get the death penalty.

Is Ivan Miller “Amish”?

Before getting into the report, I also want to address one thing as to Ivan Miller’s identity. He’s been described as having “grown up Amish.” It’s worth touching on this because this topic comes up in other instances as well.

One thing to keep in mind. When you see someone in their early 20s described as having grown up Amish, or coming from an Amish community, or having an “Amish background”, that is a space of time where it can be unclear as to whether it’s accurate, or fair, to describe that individual as “Amish”.

We call adult church members “Amish”, and we also call their non-adult-age children “Amish”. But when someone passes the age of 18, and they are not baptized yet, that’s when you get into some gray area as to how to describe them.

Unlike some other faith backgrounds, the Amish choose whether or not to be baptized into the church, typically beginning at around age 18, though it can be a bit earlier than that.

In practice, many if not most Amish-raised young people are deciding to be baptized at around the age of 20, 21, 22. But – and this is important – you can be baptized later into your 20s (or theoretically, at any age).

So during this Rumspringa period, I think you can reasonably still be describedas “Amish” – even if you are technically not yet baptized, especially if you are active in keeping Amish traditions of dress, attending Amish youth group, attending Amish church services, and so on.

But for those young people who, say, get into their 20s and end up putting aside (or, leaving behind) Amish ways for English ones, that’s when I think you can start to think of them as being more “Amish-raised”, or “Amish-background”.

Maybe they have not made a definite decision not to join church, or maybe they have.

But by their lifestyle and other choices, they are starting to separate from their church and culture – especially if they are driving, living away from home in modern settings, and not attending Amish church services, perhaps in favor of a different denomination.

But keep in mind that some Amish young people may in fact get a driver’s license, social media accounts, and “dress English” and so on – but may still live at home with their parents, and attend church with the intention of joining after a year or two. Hence the gray area.

Who is Ivan Miller?

So we now know more about Ivan Miller, in part thanks to a new report in the Salt Lake Tribune by Courtney Tanner. She talks to people from his community, and addresses the identity question here:

Nathan Miller said he grew up with Miller and the two used to get along well and have fun as kids. “Growing up, we were closer,” he said. “He was always curious about everything.”

Miller’s parents, he noted, are Amish and currently live in a community of the faith; the couple did not answer calls for this story.

When reached by The Tribune, a brother of Miller’s asked for time to cope with allegations. “It’s hard to grasp,” he said.

The cousin said Miller had left the Amish religion a few years ago because “he just wanted to experience the outside world.”

But Miller remained reserved, respectful and connected. He led a largely low-profile life, even as his cousin said he started to change.

The article identifies at least one Facebook page associated with Ivan Miller, containing a photo showing a person wearing Amish-style clothing. Other photos show him in various settings wearing non-Amish clothing.

So all things considered it appears that Ivan Miller had made a break with his Amish culture and was living essentially a non-Amish life.

Behavioral Changes and Suspected Mental Issues

And it was a troubled life, by the sound of it. The article opens setting the stage:

Ivan Miller had become increasingly obsessed with end-of-the-world prophecies and frequently fantasized about an apocalypse.

His thoughts appeared more jumbled, too, like he couldn’t figure out how to put words in the right order any more.

He often muttered things that didn’t make sense, even when no one else was in the room, said his cousin Nathan Miller.

For the family, it was like watching a data chart where everyone could see the declining line that plotted Miller’s grip on reality; it got lower by the day, sometimes even by the hour.

“The last few years is when he started acting differently,” Nathan Miller said. “He had weird ideas, some delusional thoughts.”

People close to him noticed behavioral changes and suspected mental health issues:

He said Miller also stopped showering regularly, going days without taking care of his hygiene.

He was already a “loner,” the cousin added, but that made it worse; people who didn’t know Miller didn’t want to be around him. And those he did know were pushed away by his attitude.

The family, the cousin told The Salt Lake Tribune this week, strongly believed that Miller was suffering from a mental health disorder. But he refused to get any kind of treatment in Iowa where he lived, the cousin said, even as a brother begged him to.

“His brother was bending over backward to do everything he could to help him,” the cousin said. “His brother was talking to him about it every day, really trying.”

When it comes to legal issues, Miller was apparently building a track record for himself, having already had unresolved charges against him in other states, including for burglary and theft. He ended up in Utah after apparently taking off on an unexpected road trip.

Miller’s Amish parents have been described as “devastated” and “grieving” for the victims’ families.

Adding My Two Cents

Lastly, I spoke earlier this week with Courtney Tanner for the article, and added my two cents on the Amish in general, as well as the Amish and mental health care. Here’s a bit of that:

Erik Wesner, who runs the news website Amish America that covers the community, said it isn’t uncommon for members of the faith in smaller settlements to move around a lot — for better farming or economic opportunities. …

While there are stereotypes of the Amish — largely based on portrayals in movies and TV — he said many have phones, like Miller’s parents, and communicate with those outside the community.

They are also generally open to mental health treatment, which Wesner said many might not expect. “It’s something that has, in some communities, become more de-stigmatized,” he said.

As I told Courtney, I defer to others on the Amish and mental health topic, but I can say there have been a growing number of facilities devoted to treating mental health for people of a Plain background, and generally growing attention to the issue within Amish society broadly.

It’s unclear by the reporting I’ve read whether Ivan Miller was already exhibiting signs of mental issues while still in an Amish context, or whether those really emerged after he had effectively left an Amish life behind. The comments from his cousin said it started happening in “the last few years”.

Regardless, it is another sad story involving death caused by what appears to be a mentally disturbed person of an Amish background – coming as the main legal portion of the Ruth Miller case has come to a close.

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