PLATTE COUNTY, Mo. — A man charged with killing two women from Edgerton said he was high on meth. Clifford D. Miller, 31, said he went to the victims’ home with the intentions of raping a 19-year-old woman.
Miller now faces two counts of first degree murder. Miler was arrested at his girlfriend’s apartment on Sunday morning. He quickly confessed to killing Britny Haarup and Ashley Key.
“My daughters Ashley Lynn Key and Britny Marie Haarup were very wonderful people,” said Paul Haarup.
Haarup said he held out hope until Sunday that his two daughters would be found alive. Investigators found their bodies in a field near Trimble, Mo. after arresting Miller.
“He intended to have sex with Britny,” said Platte Co. Sheriff Richard Andersen. “He had never had sex with her before but he had known her for a while and was attracted to her so he went there for the purpose of having sex.”
Instead, Platte County Sheriff Richard Andersen says Miller was surprised to find Britny’s 22-year-old sister Ashley Key sleeping on the couch when he entered the home on Friday morning. When she confronted him, Miller told detectives he decided to kill her.
“He began to punch her and beat her until she quit moving,” Sheriff Andersen said. “Then he smothered her with a pillow.”
Family members became visibly upset as the sheriff described Britny waking up to find Miller attacking her during Monday morning’s press conference.
Miller was high on meth the whole time and even smoked more meth after committing the murders. He then moved Britny’s five-month-old baby who had been sleeping with her into another bedroom with her 18-month-old sister. Miller told police he then tried to have sex with a dead Britny Haarup but could because it was “too disgusting.”
Then he placed both women’s bodies in a family pick-up truck, stole four guns from the home and drove to a nearby field where he dumped the bodies. Soon, police received tips that Miller had been seen driving the missing truck and was trying to sell the guns.
Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd confirms Miller has been on probation for a DWI conviction. When asked if the murders could’ve been avoided if Miller had been sentenced to prison, Zahnd didn’t say yes or no.
“This man was treated the way the vast majority of DWIs are treated,” Zahnd said.
Zahnd hasn’t decided if he will pursue the death penalty.
