Man charged with killing 2 NW Missouri sisters

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A man high on methamphetamine was charged Monday with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of two sisters whose bodies were found in a field in northwest Missouri, an official said.

Clifford B. Miller, 31, was charged in the slayings Friday of 22-year-old Ashley Key and 19-year-old Britny Haarup, Sheriff Richard Anderson said.

The women were killed in Haarup's home in Edgerton, 35 miles north of Kansas City, and their bodies were dumped in a nearby field, Anderson said.

Haarup's fiance, Matt Meyers, discovered the women were missing when he returned home Friday. Meyers is the father of Haarup's 6- and 18-month-old children, whom he found alone but unhurt at home their home

Miller of Trimble, Mo., was high on methamphetamine when he went to Haarup's home Friday with the intent of having sex with her, Anderson said. Miller and Haarup had never had a sexual relationship but he was attracted to her, Anderson said.

Miller didn't know Key was staying with her sister and was surprised to find her sleeping on the couch. When Key confronted him, Miller beat her and then smothered her with a pillow. He then decided he had to also kill Haarup, Anderson said, and hit her on her head while she was sleeping, then smothered her.

Miller put one of the children in another bedroom with the other child and then smoked more methamphetamine before leaving in a pickup truck parked at the house, Anderson said. He later dumped the women's bodies at a farm in Clinton County, where they were discovered Sunday night.

A tip that Miller was trying to sell guns taken from Haarup's home led authorities to him later Sunday. He admitted to the killings and told police where the bodies could be found, the sheriff said.

Miller is being held on a $500,000 cash-only bond.