The Lyon County Sheriff's Office provided new details about the death of Troy Driver at a press conference on Wednesday.
Deputies say Driver died in his cell last week - and deputies believe he had strangled himself.
He's accused of kidnapping and killing 18-year-old Naomi Irion last year.
During the press conference, the sheriff said that they believe Irion was kidnapped against her will and that subsequent emergency phone pings indicated that her phone was turned off.
Later, after deputies arrested Driver and started examining the truck in the alleged kidnapping, he said investigators learned that Driver replaced the tires with new ones *after local media released photos of the suspect truck. Tthat's when Driver got new tires at the Les Schwab in Winnemucca despite the Fallon Les Schwab having the same tires in stock during the same time. Authorities retrieved the original tires in Winnemucca for evidence.
Irion went missing on March 12th of 2022 from a Walmart parking lot in Fernley.
Her body was found on March 29th, 2022 in a remote part of Churchill County, in an abandoned mine, about 90 minutes away from the alleged kidnapping site. Driver had a lock and key to the site due to recent work at the location.
Afterwards, he drove Irion's Mercury Sable back to Fernley, where then he drove away in his Chevy truck.
Also, during the press conference, the sheriff said that Driver already pre-planned the kill site along with a pre-dug gravesite.
Authorities say the resulting investigation did not show a connection between Driver and Irion.
Authorities showed the above photo of a deck of playing cards stating that in August 2022, Driver placed a suicide note and confession and was hand-delivered to his ex-girlfriend by an inmate who was released from custody. The woman turned the information over to law enforcement.
The sheriff stated that the cards contained notes such as, "There's always been a terrible darkness inside of me" and "guilt is crushing..." It also contained information that said Driver would kill himself rather than pain his family members with his alleged crimes.
After the note was given to law enforcement, the sheriff says Driver was placed on suicide watch and received a mental health evaluation, but Driver was released from suicide watch after that evaluation and returned to his jail cell.
In August 2022, Driver tried his first suicide attempt, then again placed on suicide watch and evaluated by a mental health specialist and eventually returned to his cell.
Then in March 2023, he again attempted suicide with the same results.
On August 6, 2023, they say he successfully committed suicide within his cell within Lyon County Jail.
In response, Irion’s brother, Casey Valley posted this statement on Facebook when Lyon County originally announced Driver's death:
“We got the call a while before the press release.
“I deeply regret that he took the easy way out before the trial, but I have no doubt in my mind given what I have been privy to that he is the perpetrator. A lot of mixed feelings at the moment.”
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7c7rEsKpnm5%2BifK%2Bx1qxmpbGfo3qku9Snq7Jlo52ys7XFn2SgoaaawG6wxK2YoqSVmXq1tcyeo6KmlWK5pq3DoqWgZaSkerW%2BzrJknaqZq7Kzv4ydnJqsmGSus8DInKOel2lnsXl9lGtpZmtkmYZufZCenGZwZ5d%2Fbq2Wmm2ab5aYs3OFw2efraWc