Maniac accused of murdering three strangers — including 86-year-old woman — allegedly said they ‘had to be done’

A maniac accused of murdering two female hikers and an 86-year-old woman in remote Utah allegedly told cops the random killing spree “had to be done.”

Ivan Miller, 22, allegedly claimed he slaughtered the three women in Utah’s south-central desert just so he could steal their cars and credit cards because he needed the cash to get back to his home in Iowa, charging documents state.

The suspect, who was nabbed early Thursday in Colorado with a handgun and a large knife, allegedly told cops soon after he was cuffed that he didn’t want to kill the women — but the murders “had to be done.”

The horrifying crime spree kicked off earlier this week when Miller said he struck an elk in a tiny Utah farming town near Capitol Reef National Park and was forced to sell his truck to a towing company.

After spending several nights in a motel, Miller then allegedly broke into 86-year-old Margaret Oldroyd’s home in Lyman and shot her from behind as she was watching TV, prosecutors allege.

He made off with her Buick but later decided he wanted a different vehicle, according to court documents.

Miller allegedly dumped that getaway vehicle at a trailhead roughly 10 miles from the first victim’s home when he spotted two female hikers — Linda Dewey, 65, and Natalie Graves, 34 – getting out of a Subaru.

He shot and stabbed the two women before trying to hide their bodies in a dry creek bed — and then fled with their car, the charging documents state. 

Authorities started probing the sickening ordeal after the husband’s of the two hikers discovered their bodies at the trailhead when the women failed to return home on Wednesday.

Cops later discovered the first victim’s body after running the abandoned Buick’s license plate.

Miller was eventually tracked down in neighboring Colorado after a multi-state search.

Investigators haven’t found a motive for the killings but don’t believe he targeted the women for any reason other than “convenience,” Lt. Cameron Roden of the Utah Department of Public Safety said.

He has been charged with aggravated murder and a slew of other charges.

With Post wires