00:00:18
So, Lieutenant Lynn, tell me about, you know, getting the call that night and what did you get exactly as far as the
00:00:24
call? The caller's information uh stated that this will be the parking garage where his the victim's phone was
00:00:32
located. >> So this is the parking garage right here. >> This is the parking garage to my left.
00:00:46
Yes. >> And what level was the car parked then? >> Uh the the car was parked on the second
00:00:52
level. So like right about there. >> Yeah, it's right. You can kind of see it right behind these traffic lights
00:00:59
essentially. So when I entered the garage, I saw a black on the Civic. I saw a body, a person sitting in the
00:01:09
driver's seat. At first I thought it was this person taking a nap, but because the position
00:01:18
of their head, I could see there's some discoloration around the neck area. So I
00:01:23
decided to knock on the window. There was no response. So I radioed. He was likely deceased.
00:01:30
>> This is one of the intel campuses we have in the city. This is one of their several parking garages. They have
00:01:36
surveillance cameras throughout the garage. I took a closer look and that's when I
00:01:43
realized they were painted. >> Like dripping paint still like it dripped. >> Looked like it was a spray paint.
00:01:54
We locked down the garage and I request detective response. He had been identified as Kenneth
00:02:03
Fandrich and he was a contractor at Intel >> doing union pipe fitting. >> He looked like he had passed peacefully.
00:02:09
His hands were placed in his lab. We thought that that was strange. But are you operating as if this is a homicide,
00:02:16
possibly murder already? >> Oh, we always do. Yeah. That night we actually had a patrol
00:02:23
officer in the intel command center where they have all their hundreds and cameras. They kept texting me little
00:02:29
clips. All a sudden we have some random person we have no idea who it is that's going
00:02:36
around spray painting about a half a dozen or so cameras in this parking garage.
00:02:41
>> Look at him just coming around the corner like that. >> He's obviously in disguise. He's wearing
00:02:46
a black mask covering most of his face. the the safety glasses and then the hard
00:02:51
hat. So, obviously, he's trying to conceal his identity. >> He does a a pretty good job of spray
00:02:59
painting. Really kind of obscuring enough of the camera. You see a lot of movement happening. All of a sudden,
00:03:04
>> then you see a lot of lights. >> A lot of lights flashing. >> Yes. What's going on in there during
00:03:08
that? When you see those lights flashing, >> that's when the person is murdering
00:03:13
Kenneth. So it was really initially like this big who done it for us a big mystery.
00:03:23
>> I mean had you ever seen anything like like that? >> Not in not in real life. No.
00:03:29
>> This was straight out of the movies. How would you two characterize this case
00:04:26
when you first got it? What did you think? You know, I just thought that it's a wild case. Detectives Stephanie
00:04:33
Winter and Deon Rigo of the Hillsboro, Oregon Police Department had never encountered a crime scene like the one
00:04:40
they encountered in January 2023. >> It was in the evening after 9. >> So, we all got a page on our department
00:04:52
cell phones saying that there was death at Intel. Intel, the giant tech company known for its innovative computer chips,
00:05:00
had several large production facilities in Hillsboro, Oregon, outside Portland. >> It didn't make sense. He looked like he
00:05:08
had passed peacefully. There was minimal blood within the car. >> The deceased was Kenneth Kenny Fandrich,
00:05:17
age 56, a contract pipe fitter at the plant. His wife Tanya had reported him missing when he was late getting home.
00:05:27
Like many couples, they shared their locations on their phones. Tanya tracked him to the intel parking lot.
00:05:35
>> What's not sure right now? >> She was already there at the garage when police arrived with body cameras
00:05:42
rolling. >> We're going to have minutes. We're going to He's here in the garage somewhere.
00:05:48
A short time later, she learned that her husband was dead. The Hillsboro Police Mobile Command post
00:05:59
was stationed at the scene, and that was where detectives first talked to Tanya.
00:06:05
>> That night, you you brought Tanya Vandrich right in here. What does she seem like to you?
00:06:10
>> She was very monotone in the way she was speaking. >> Detective Diana Mesh was first to
00:06:16
interview Tanya. She seemed very out of her body, like she didn't react as as much as you would think somebody would,
00:06:27
but I had to kind of pull a lot of the answers out of her. >> Detective Mesh learned more about why
00:06:35
Tanya had been at the scene. >> She told me that they had some issues in the past with their marriage. Now they
00:06:43
would check in on each other more often. Do alarm bells sort of go off here? >> Yeah, there was some suspicion. We
00:06:49
always look at the people closest to the disease, >> but Mesh knew better than to draw
00:06:54
conclusions right away. >> Everybody griefs differently. It just was different than other victims I've seen.
00:07:05
>> There was a lot to process for Tanya and investigators. The scene did not appear violent. his
00:07:12
lunch bag, his lunch, his keys, his phone, all sat neatly next to him in the passenger seat. My first thought was,
00:07:20
"How are we going to figure this out?" >> Their first clues would come from those
00:07:24
surveillance cameras. >> So, he will pop up right here uh next to that column that we're seeing
00:07:33
right here in the in the corner. She kind of waits for her camera and then just pops up.
00:07:42
>> The detectives discovered a man wearing a hard hat and red mirror tinted glasses
00:07:47
had actually spray painted those cameras around 7 a.m. earlier that same day. His
00:07:53
movements undetected by intel security. >> I want to say about six or seven cameras.
00:08:00
But there were also cameras that had not been sprayed and investigators locked in
00:08:06
on images of a vehicle they believed belonged to the suspect. >> Looking at early afternoon now and then
00:08:13
we see this maroon van come in the parking garage and no front plate on the car.
00:08:24
>> It was an older maroon colored Dodge van. They tracked the van's movements. camera by camera before it disappeared
00:08:33
under a layer of blue spray paint. Moments later, they could just make out the van pulling into a parking spot.
00:08:42
>> So, right here, you can see that the van is this shadow right in here. >> Okay. Right.
00:08:48
>> And then this vehicle right here is actually Kenneth Vander's black Honda Civic. It was 3:21 p.m.
00:08:56
just after Kenny had finished his shift. Here he is on video walking back through
00:09:02
the garage. And then very hard to see behind the blue spray paint. You can see a little bit of movement
00:09:12
right here in the in the thing. And that is Kenneth walking back to his car. You
00:09:17
just kind of have to watch the kind of shadows essentially what's going on between the two vehicles. You start
00:09:24
seeing the headlights flash a couple times, like you know, somebody be unlocking their car.
00:09:30
>> Detectives say the headlights on Kenny's Honda flashed as he unlocked his car
00:09:35
with his key fob. That's when they believe the masked man grabbed Fandrich, still holding on to his keys.
00:09:43
>> You see a lot of movement happening all of a sudden. >> Then you see a lot of light. A lot of
00:09:46
light. >> Detectives say that's Kenny desperately pushing his key fob as the mass man
00:09:52
dragged him into that maroon van. >> What do you think that's what's going on in there during that when you see those
00:09:58
lights flashing? >> We think that's when the person in the van is murdering Kenneth.
00:10:06
Detectives say Kenny was killed inside that Maroon Dodge van before the killer staged Kenny's body in his black Honda.
00:10:16
That meant the van itself would be a critical piece of evidence, the actual murder scene.
00:10:22
>> There could have been clothing and who knows what else in that minivan. >> But finding the van would be a
00:10:28
challenge. They couldn't see the license plates or the driver. The results of the autopsy would reveal
00:10:38
Kenny Fandrich had died from blunt and compressive trauma of his neck. His neck had been broken. But who would want to
00:10:47
kill Kenny Fandrich? >> It was really initially like this big who done it for us a big mystery.
00:10:55
>> A mystery they hope might be solved when Intel security staff told investigators
00:11:00
about another incident. Additional video images from the garage recorded a month
00:11:06
earlier. >> We learned that, hey, FYI, we about a month prior, we reported our cameras
00:11:12
being spray painted as well. >> That incident was investigated. >> A criminal mischief call.
00:11:18
>> A criminal mischief call, >> but they never figured out who it was. >> It was a man dressed in a construction
00:11:25
helmet, black glasses, a mask, and we're like, well, that's a clue. Investigators were 100% certain it was
00:11:36
the same person wearing different glasses. And they say these new images revealed an unusual clue.
00:11:44
>> We had this this distinctive forehead crease that we could see in this photo.
00:11:52
>> That little bit of forehead that you see, >> just a little bit of forehead. That's
00:11:56
that's what we got. >> It's a very odd clue right there. >> It is. But for us, it was a big a big
00:12:02
deal. >> And the detectives had one other big deal. Something Tanya Fandrich had told
00:12:10
them the night her husband died. >> Has he has you been having any issues lately?
00:12:17
>> No, but he had a stalker. >> A stalker who had been harassing her husband. And she had proof. A video from
00:12:25
their own home security camera. actually see the person kind of crawl and move around a bit underneath the the trailer
00:12:32
right there. So, this is the carport at the Fandrich's house out in Oregon City.
00:13:05
>> In the early hours of the investigation into the murder of Kenny Fandrich, his
00:13:10
wife Tanya told detectives her husband had a stalker seen here on the couple's home security cameras in their carport.
00:13:20
Here's some sort of utility trailer right here. And you'll notice right under the trailer, you actually see the
00:13:27
person kind of crawl and move around a bit underneath the trailer right there. >> Tanya told detectives the stalker was
00:13:35
her old boss, Steven Milner. Dr. Steven Milner was a wellto-do veterinarian worth millions. She had worked with him
00:13:44
in his clinic as a vette. You ready for your close-up doggies? Huh? Huh? Miley, you ready?
00:13:55
>> Crazy dogs. So, Dr. Milner was how you two met, right? >> Yes. >> Yes. >> We told him about the
00:14:00
>> friends Cheryl Coette and Darlin Robinson were longtime clients of the vet. >> What was he like?
00:14:07
>> He was as a vet. >> He was wonderful. He was very compassionate, caring, kind. He was a
00:14:14
great vet. >> Cheryl even took part in a video Dr. Milner made for his clinic which had
00:14:19
aired on the local news. >> Hi Cheryl. >> Hi Dr. Milner. >> Hey Princess. If I can do an alternative
00:14:26
thing that doesn't require medication, you know, drugs and chemicals, that's really nice.
00:14:30
>> She's a happy girl. >> The kind of vet that get gets down at the level of the dog like on the floor
00:14:36
with them >> on the floor. >> And both Cheryl and Darlin knew Tanya at least by sight. She was there for I
00:14:44
think 19 years and she was the one who would come out and get us to take us back to the room and kind of do the
00:14:52
intake on the animals. Just a sweet, nice lady, very, you know, kind of quiet, but super friendly and very
00:15:01
caring. >> Detectives soon learned about a complicated relationship between Tanya
00:15:07
and Dr. Milner. Tanya told investigators she and Dr. Milner had once had an affair. It began in early 2017.
00:15:17
At the time, Milner was separated. And Tanya said her relationship with Kenny hit a rough patch.
00:15:27
Did you notice any interactions between her and Dr. Milner? >> Just completely professional. It was
00:15:32
just, you know, he comes in, she goes out of the room. >> He was the boss in a way.
00:15:39
>> Yeah. But Darlin thought she noticed something. >> There came a point where my brain just
00:15:44
kind of went, I wonder if there's, you know, something going on, cuz just looks they would give each other.
00:15:51
>> Milner and Tanya tried to keep their affair quiet, say investigators. Milner even gave her a secret name, Kiki.
00:16:00
>> One of the nicknames was Kiki Essex. >> Prosecutor Mahaley Streblo worked on the
00:16:06
case. It's one of those that's like, you know, the name of your first pet and then the
00:16:11
street that you grew up on. >> But the couple's affair was exposed after a few months in July 2017 when
00:16:20
they attended a wedding together. Prosecutor John Ghard. >> There were employees from the veterinary
00:16:26
clinic that were there. >> She was under the impression that Kenneth was out of town for work.
00:16:33
Tanya indicated that they had both been drinking and that they were engaging in more physical intimacy in front of the
00:16:42
employees during that wedding. >> As the night ended, Tanya went home with Dr. Milner.
00:16:48
>> Lo and behold, Kenneth was not out of town for work. >> When Tanya didn't return home that
00:16:53
night, Kenny went to Milner's house >> and that's how they got caught. Kenny didn't confront or make a big
00:17:02
scene at the house. He kind of left the house and then started calling um to try
00:17:07
to figure out what's going on. >> According to Tanya, she ended the affair soon after they were caught.
00:17:14
>> After that, the relationship with Tanya and Steven Milner kind of stopped. >> And that's when Kenny said Dr. Milner
00:17:22
started harassing him. >> When Kenny came to me, he was terrified. Michael Fuller was Kenny's attorney.
00:17:29
>> This stalking issue had basically consumed his life. >> Fuller says Milner started with
00:17:34
harassing calls, then escalated from there. >> Milner literally coming onto his property in the middle of the night,
00:17:41
following him to work, threatening him, those type of things. >> Tanya eventually left Milner's clinic,
00:17:48
but Milner continued to track Kenny. Detectives found plenty of evidence of exactly how he did it. Tanya actually
00:17:57
provided this to us and this is one of the actual tracking devices that Steven Milner had placed on one of their
00:18:04
vehicles. >> Is this the device? >> So this is so this is the device. We believe this to be the battery pack and
00:18:10
where they intend and put it in this case with the magnets and then put it up underneath their vehicle.
00:18:16
In August 2019, roughly 2 years after Tanya said she ended the affair, Kenny applied for an order of protection
00:18:26
against Milner. But detectives would learn the harassment continued and the vets's infatuation with Tanya deepened.
00:18:35
>> He wanted Tanya and he wasn't going to stop. Within days of Kenny Fandrich's death,
00:19:03
investigators set their sights on a suspect, veterinarian Dr. Steven Milner. Detectives learned he was obsessed with
00:19:12
Tanya. There were love notes. >> So, one of them was, "The one absolute rock solid truth is that I love you. I
00:19:21
have never loved anyone that way. I am consumed by your soul." >> He wrote letters like that for years,
00:19:28
even after Tanya had said, "The affair was over." Detectives also learned more about
00:19:37
Tanya's relationship with her husband, Kenny. >> It was a tumultuous relationship.
00:19:43
Alcohol came into play between them. They were often, as you can say, hot and cold. They argued a lot.
00:19:52
>> Kenny had been charged with domestic violence years before, but the charges were not pursued and the couple
00:19:58
reconciled. Then in August 2021, years after Tanya says she ended the affair with Milner, the couple had another
00:20:08
fight. This time she was arrested. >> Why isn't he getting arrested? >> The next day, something surprising
00:20:18
happened. >> Somebody posted her bail. She had $25,000 bail. When she leaves the jail,
00:20:24
Steven Milner's in the parking lot waiting for her. Tanya told investigators she ended up staying with
00:20:29
the doctor for a couple of days before returning to Kenny. She insisted nothing romantic happened. Milner was just
00:20:37
helping her out as a friend. >> To this day, none of us can figure out how Steven Milner actually found out she
00:20:43
had been arrested that night. >> That case was later dismissed and the couple reunited again. But Milner's
00:20:51
campaign of harassment continued. What do you think his end goal was? What did he think he could do? End their
00:21:00
marriage and then end up happily ever after with Tanya? >> Exactly. We think that that's what his
00:21:05
plan was. He wanted Kenneth out of the picture so he could be that white knight to save Tanya.
00:21:14
In March of 2022, just 10 months before Kenny's murder, Milner followed Kenny from Oregon City all the way to
00:21:23
Hillsboro, a 45minute drive. Kenny spotted him and called the police and Milner was pulled over as body
00:21:33
cameras captured the interaction. >> Hi, Officer Edwards Police. Do you know why we're stopping you today? Yeah, I'm
00:21:39
trying to get a hold of this guy that I'm following him. >> The responding officer learned from
00:21:45
dispatch that there was history between the two men. >> What's your role in the whole thing?
00:21:50
>> Uh, she's been a friend of mine for 20 years. >> Milner told police he believed Tanya was
00:21:54
in danger because she had allegedly told him Kenny was abusive. >> I'm the only person who gives a and I'm
00:22:03
not allowed to give. >> So, here's my advice to you. Okay, this is very, very strong advice.
00:22:10
Leave them alone. He wants nothing to do with you. She wants nothing to do with you. If you show up at their house, if
00:22:16
you contact them, anything like that, you're going to go to jail. Go. Thank you.
00:22:21
>> After that traffic stop, Kenny filed for a new order for protection. The original
00:22:27
one had expired years earlier. >> Kenny was absolutely in in fear of his life. And two weeks later, he was so stressed
00:22:37
out he told police he crashed his car. >> My wife and I have been fighting today.
00:22:43
>> Sorry. >> And um I thought she was at her boss's house where I've caught her cheating on
00:22:54
me. >> Sorry. And I was driving over there and he's just like right down the road and
00:23:04
I lost control of my car. I just >> Kenny's attorney says his client had every reason to be stressed out.
00:23:14
>> Kenny told me that Milner said, "Hey, I'm a veterinarian. I've done surgeries
00:23:18
and I have the tools to chop you up into little pieces." In August of 2022, after Kenny found
00:23:25
another tracking device under his car, Milner was criminally charged and was awaiting trial.
00:23:32
>> It was pretty clear to me that Milner was not in his right mind. >> Just a month later, Kenny filed a civil
00:23:38
suit seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars for invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress
00:23:46
allegedly brought on by Milner's stalking, harassment, and trespass. Five months later, Kenny Fandrich was
00:23:57
dead. Just days after the murder, detectives were convinced that Steven Milner was
00:24:06
that man behind the mask. But they needed more evidence. >> We need to get eyes on Steven Milner
00:24:13
because we know there was some sort of violent confrontation. We want to see if he had any injuries.
00:24:19
Not wanting to tip him off, investigators asked him to come in for a check-in about the stalking case.
00:24:25
>> So, we arranged a meeting for Steven to come in to sign some paperwork. Detective Winter was inside at a
00:24:31
reception desk. >> And your goal sitting there at the receptionist desk sort of as an
00:24:36
undercover, right? >> I wanted to see if he had any injury to himself. He walks in, he looks extremely
00:24:42
nervous. >> Another person in the office noticed something. She says, "Hey, he's got
00:24:49
makeup on his face." >> Makeup investigators say Milner used to cover up a scratch on his nose.
00:24:57
>> Bingo. You're thinking, "We got our guy." >> I I Yep. At that point, I thought, "This
00:25:02
is him. This is our guy that that did this." >> Moments later, after Milner walked out
00:25:09
the door. >> Hi, sir. I'm Debbie Davis, the sheriff's office. We're being recorded by my
00:25:12
camera, so everything's going to be a viscer. Do you understand that? >> Yes. >> Okay, sounds good. Right now, you're
00:25:16
being detained. >> On January 31st, 2023, four days after Kenny Fandrich was found
00:25:24
dead, Steven Milner was taken into custody and within days charged with seconddegree murder and stalking.
00:25:38
With Milner in custody, detectives Rigo and Winter were quickly able to connect one important clue from those
00:25:45
surveillance camera images. That unusual crease in the masked man's forehead. >> There's that very prominent forehead
00:25:54
crease that I don't He couldn't hide if he tried. There's no amount of makeup hiding that crease.
00:26:01
>> No. >> Do you feel at this point you've got like a pretty solid case? We had a lot
00:26:07
of circumstantial pieces like putting the puzzle together, but we were just at the tip of the iceberg of what we still
00:26:15
need to find out. >> More puzzle pieces would be found in Milner's house. It was shocking that somebody this
00:26:40
successful, a doctor, now suspect in a murder. >> With Dr. Steven Milner now in police
00:26:49
custody, Hillsboro detectives Stephanie Winter and Devon Rigo set out to find evidence that could prove Milner was at
00:26:58
the scene when Kenny Fandrich was murdered. As soon as he's arrested, we're getting
00:27:05
search warrants for his DNA to be taken. Hands >> on your back, please. >> We're getting search warrants for his
00:27:10
house as well. >> And detectives weren't quite prepared for what they found at his home.
00:27:17
>> We found a cardboard cutout behind a mirror of Steven Milner's face placed on
00:27:23
a very oiled, masculine man with a dogpaw tattoo over his heart. Very odd memorabilia to have in your bedroom.
00:27:36
>> Yes, >> I would say so. >> And there was more. >> In the nightstand in Steven's master
00:27:41
bedroom is a bunch of items that we kind of refer to as a shrine to Tanya. There
00:27:49
was a framed picture of Tanya. There were love notes. There were women's underwear. just like very like
00:27:59
personal keepsakes from their relationship together. >> That's more than just collecting a few
00:28:05
love notes and cards, >> especially from someone who hadn't been in a relationship with you for several
00:28:10
years at this time period. >> To build their case, investigators needed to connect the maroon colored
00:28:17
minivan seen in the intel parking garage parked next to Kenny's car to Milner. But as far as investigators could
00:28:26
determine, >> right now you're being detained. >> Milner usually drove the white Toyota
00:28:31
SUV he'd been in when he was arrested. >> Initially, we didn't know what evidence
00:28:38
this car could provide us. >> So, they ordered an FBI forensic analysis of the SUV's computer, hoping
00:28:46
it might provide some clues about Milner's movements before and after Kenny's murder.
00:28:54
So essentially the computer that's in the car retains a lot of information and luckily one of those things is like GPS
00:29:02
data points. >> Where was that bit of information is that a computer that's pulled out on top
00:29:09
there. >> Yeah. So that's part of the front dash and then it was just a little motherboard type thing that had a chip
00:29:14
in it. >> Within weeks they got a call from their digital expert. >> She said, "You guys need to look at the
00:29:19
Home Depot in Oregon City. He's there a lot the day of the murder. >> Home Depot just 15 minutes down the road
00:29:27
from Milner's house. >> How central did this place become in terms of piecing together the evidence
00:29:32
that you had? >> Like this was essentially like center stage of the investigation came into
00:29:37
place. >> The detectives asked Home Depot security personnel if there had been suspicious
00:29:42
activity in the lot recently. Amazingly, they said yes. Two cars, a maroon minivan and a blue
00:29:52
sedan, had been flagged for parking there for long periods of time with only temporary paper license plates.
00:30:01
>> And we learned that there had been a lot of calls created in the past couple months with a suspicious blue car and a
00:30:08
maroon minivan. For the second time in a matter of weeks, parking lot security cameras and
00:30:16
the images they recorded would provide investigators with key clues. In this clip from January 27th, 2023,
00:30:26
the day of Kenny's murder, detectives say you can see Milner's white SUV pull up and park.
00:30:34
Within minutes, the driver, believed to be Steven Milner, gets into the maroon minivan. Another camera then captured
00:30:43
the minivan exiting the parking lot. So, what was he doing with the cars? >> So, essentially, this was like his
00:30:50
staging location. So, he would drive his personal car here and then either pick up the blue sedan or the maroon minivan
00:30:57
and then drive that out to Hillsboro. >> What do you call them? >> Burner cars. >> Burner cars. We have everybody kind of
00:31:04
is more familiar with like a burner phone where you have a phone that's not traced to you but you know you can use
00:31:10
it for what you need get rid of it. Essentially he did the same thing but with a car. Investigators believed
00:31:15
Milner may have been using those burner cars to secretly follow Kenny to work even after law enforcement had told him
00:31:24
to stop. >> You're very close to going to jail today for stalking. Okay. Like very very
00:31:28
close. They also learned Home Depot security cameras had images of the driver of those cars shopping in the
00:31:37
store about a month before Kenny was murdered. >> He parked right in front of Home Depot.
00:31:43
>> He went in and then we saw him come to the selfch checkckout area and he had bought a pair of like safety glasses.
00:31:52
>> Was his face visible in that surveillance? >> It was. Yeah. There was no doubt it was
00:31:58
Steven Milner and those glasses he bought. Detectives say you can see them in his right hand as he exited the
00:32:06
store. The receipt said they had a red mirror tent. Detective Winter had an idea. We just happened to be sitting
00:32:15
near one of the aisles and I was like, I'm going to go see where they sell the glasses. And then a couple boxes down
00:32:22
was a yellow hard hat that looked very similar to the one that he was wearing in all of the intel garage surveillance.
00:32:32
>> The detectives were convinced this was where Milner had gotten his disguise to kill Kenny.
00:32:39
>> You have all of this, but you were missing one big piece of evidence. What was it?
00:32:44
>> We were at this point still missing the maroon minivan. Why is the minivan so
00:32:49
important? >> Because it's the minivan that we believe was really our main crime scene. We
00:32:57
thought there was going to be forensic evidence in that minivan. So, we really wanted to get that minivan to help
00:33:03
really put the icing on this case. Detective Rigo was laser focused on tracking down that maroon minivan and he
00:33:13
got an incredibly lucky break when those suspicious burner cars had been flagged.
00:33:19
The VIN number was also recorded. Rigo searched it and found out that van had been found abandoned just a few days
00:33:29
after the murder. The highway people had towed it off the side of the I5 in North
00:33:36
Portland. >> It had been dumped there. >> It had been dumped there. So I called the tow company. Hey, do you have this
00:33:41
car? No, sorry. We sold it to a scrap metal company. >> Detective Rigo knew the clock was
00:33:49
ticking to retrieve what he believed was the crime scene and all of the key evidence it held.
00:33:56
So, me and another detective drive as quick as we can to North Portland. >> But they were too late. When he asked
00:34:04
about the minivan, the scrapyard showed Rigo this video. This is that maroon minivan. Police believe Milner drove to
00:34:13
the intel garage to kill Kenny just moments before it was pulverized by the metal jaws of the scrapyard claw. I was
00:34:24
able to watch one of my key pieces of evidence be crushed and taken away >> before your very eyes.
00:34:32
>> Before my very eyes. Exactly a week too late. On January 13th, 2025, Steven Milner
00:34:55
went on trial charged with stalking and murdering Kenny Fandrich. Washington County prosecutors John Ghart
00:35:05
and Mahaley Streblo knew they faced a challenge without that maroon minivan where they believe Steven Milner
00:35:12
murdered Kenny. All the evidence that was inside the van was lost with it. The biggest disappointment for us is
00:35:26
there was likely a lot of forensic evidence. >> But prosecutors had some forensic
00:35:33
evidence they say put Steven Milner at the scene. DNA from swabs taken of Kenny Fandrich's hands.
00:35:43
>> I remember getting an email of the results and immediately opening it and being like,
00:35:50
"Oh my gosh, this is it." Steven Milner's DNA was on Kenneth Vandress's hands. >> Now, you really felt like you had your
00:35:57
case made. >> Yes, because there's no way he could explain away why his DNA would have been
00:36:03
on Kenneth's body. >> Steven Milner would have an explanation for that. To everyone's surprise, Milner
00:36:11
took the stand, admitting he did spray paint the cameras and was in the intel garage waiting for
00:36:19
Kenny. He presented what detectives believed was a far-fetched explanation. He was trying to save Tanya. There were
00:36:28
no cameras in court, but there is audio of Milner telling prosecutor John Ghard why he was in the intel lot that day.
00:36:36
>> I was trying to get him arrested for driving while he was drunk or driving without a license.
00:36:43
>> Why was it your responsibility to enforce traffic laws? I was trying to keep Tanya
00:36:50
from getting killed. >> He had this delusional belief that he needed to protect Tanya Fanrich.
00:36:59
>> The defense case, it seemed to be to kind of get the jury to maybe feel sympathetic to Milner.
00:37:06
And Milner insisted it was Kenny who attacked him. After Kenny spotted Steven Milner inside the maroon minivan,
00:37:16
>> Stephen essentially said, "Well, I knew I was caught, so open the door to kind
00:37:20
of confront him." And then Kenneth attacked me. >> Basically fought for a little bit.
00:37:26
>> There was pushing and shoving. Eventually, I was able to kind of push him up against the car and and then
00:37:34
shove him into the car. Prosecutor John Ghart challenged Milner's self-defense story.
00:37:43
And >> it's that push that causes him to fall into his seat. >> He hit up against the car and then kind
00:37:52
of tripped at the same time. And I kept pushing. >> His testimony just didn't line up with
00:37:57
the physical evidence at the scene. >> To my knowledge, >> bumping your head on a corridor is not
00:38:03
going to break your neck. After 6 hours of deliberations, the jury found Steven Milner guilty of murdering
00:38:13
Kenny Fandrich and multiple stalking charges. Mr. Gart, are the parties prepared for
00:38:21
sentencing? >> Cameras were allowed for Steven Milner's sentencing hearing, which took place on
00:38:27
February 18th, 2025. >> Sir, can you stand up? Tanya, who asked not to be shown on
00:38:37
camera, gave a powerful statement directed at Steven Milner. Prosecutor Mahaley Streblo read us her words.
00:38:49
All you had to do was stop. Hear me clearly when I say you are a vengeful, deceptive, manipulating,
00:38:58
selfserving, aggressive, hateful, lying predator. and all you had to do was stop.
00:39:06
>> Steven Milner was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
00:39:15
Milner did not respond to our request for an interview. >> This case highlights the very worst case
00:39:24
scenario. Take stalking seriously. Kenny's attorney, Michael Fuller, says what happened highlights the limits of
00:39:33
the system that is supposed to protect victims of stalking. >> Kenny called the police. When that
00:39:39
didn't work, he got a lawyer. Kenny did everything he could under the legal system, and it didn't help him at all.
00:39:46
>> After Kenny's death, Fuller filed a wrongful death suit on behalf of Kenny's estate, asking for damages of several
00:39:54
million dollars. Bowler believes Milner made millions from real estate investments and the
00:40:00
sale of his business. >> In the wrongful death case, my goals are to extract as much money as we can out
00:40:06
of Milner. If the estate recovered any money for Kenny, it would go to his wife.
00:40:13
>> For Milner's former veterinary clients, Cheryl and Darlin, it was hard to reconcile the doctor they knew with a
00:40:21
now convicted murderer. I could not believe that it was the same guy. >> I just believe that he ended up going
00:40:31
through some type of psychosis. And I think that at some point he snapped. >> I think it really gets down to like you
00:40:41
never know what anybody is capable of. You never know what monster might be inside.
00:40:48
>> Almost a Dr. Jackekal and Mr. Hyde situation. >> Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, he had
00:40:54
everything to live for. You know, he could do anything he wanted to do. And this is where it ended up. It's real
00:41:04
sad. Welcome back to Postmortem. I'm your host, Ann Marie Green, and today we're
00:41:53
discussing the mysterious death of Kenneth Bandridge. He was found murdered inside a parking garage on January 27th,
00:42:01
2023 in Hillsboro, Oregon. When police reviewed the security footage from that garage, they noticed a masked man spray
00:42:12
painting the cameras wearing a disguise to obscure his identity. But incredibly,
00:42:17
as we're going to discuss, they were still able to find the killer. So, joining me now to discuss this is 48
00:42:25
hours correspondent Natalie Morales. It's a fascinating case. Thanks for joining us again, Natalie.
00:42:29
>> Sure is fascinating. Good to be with you, Anie. As usual, a reminder to everyone. If you
00:42:35
haven't already listened to this episode of 48 Hours, head on over to your podcast feed. You'll find it just below
00:42:42
this one. Listen to the hour and then come on back for this conversation. All right, let's get into it. The victim
00:42:48
here is Kenneth Bandrich. He he also went by Kenny and investigators discovered his body in the driver's seat
00:42:54
of his car in a parking garage run by the tech company Intel. The garage is located on this massive campus, very
00:43:03
large campus of one of Intel's production facilities. This is where he's been working as a contract pipe
00:43:10
fitter. Natalie, you actually went to the garage and I I just want to get a sense of just how big is the garage?
00:43:17
What was it like there? How many cameras are we talking about? Was it like finding a needle in a hay stack?
00:43:24
>> You know, this was actually almost the opposite of a needle in a haystack when
00:43:27
you think about it. I mean, this is an this is a huge tech company, Intel. We're talking the maker of all those uh
00:43:34
incredible super speedy chips that we all use on our computers, but you know, this is an area, the garage especially,
00:43:41
where there are, you know, loads of security cameras all the way inside the garage as well as on the campus. Um,
00:43:49
it's an area that is well covered. There is a lot of security. So obviously the garage of a tech company like Intel is a
00:43:57
very interesting choice and place to commit a murder. Intel security staff told investigators that a month earlier
00:44:05
the security cameras had been spray painted. It was investigated as just sort of criminal mischief.
00:44:11
But do investigators think that maybe this was a a dry run? And I'm also curious. I don't know if you know this
00:44:18
or not, Natalie, but was it the same security cameras or different ones? I imagine there's, you know, there are
00:44:25
many, probably hundreds. Well, you know, it seemed that Steven Milner had been plotting this for a
00:44:32
while. Uh, according to investigators, I mean, they do believe it was a test run.
00:44:38
And the cameras that he spray painted were the cameras that he then spray painted, you know, a month later in the
00:44:44
act of killing Kenny Fandrich. They did notice it. They filed a suspicious activity report as you said, but they
00:44:52
couldn't pinpoint exactly who it was at the time. You see in the hour the security
00:45:00
footage. I mean, almost all of it is blacked out except for the probably the most crucial camera, right? There's one
00:45:07
camera where he spray paints almost all of it. There's probably like one tenth at the top where you can actually see
00:45:15
what's happening. And because of that little slip up, investigators were able to identify what they believe was the
00:45:23
scene of the murder. Right. It's this maroon minivan. >> Yeah. You know, that onetenth of a slip
00:45:28
up, as you said, was huge for the investigators because with that, they were able to see that maroon minivan
00:45:35
just kind of making its way through the parking garage. Now, keep in mind as well, though, that that they did have
00:45:40
other security cameras all the way through. So, as the minivan was making its way up, it was tracked throughout
00:45:47
with other cameras that had not all been spray painted. That said, though, they were never really able to see the driver
00:45:54
or to identify, you know, the killer in the garage. They needed to do all the police work to connect all those dots.
00:46:02
So, you know, what was really fascinating about covering this case is you see this is a real police
00:46:09
procedural. I mean, this shows you how well the police built their case from the minute they had just that little
00:46:15
sliver of video that they could see. When you say connect all of the other dots, I guess when you have it seems
00:46:21
like you have a little bit to work with, everything is incredibly important. And
00:46:27
so in this video where you can like see the person just a little bit, but he's almost completely covered. The only bit
00:46:35
of skin that you can really see is right above his forehead. And so they identify
00:46:41
this crease. I got to tell you, looking at that, that was something that I did not notice. I
00:46:48
didn't even like consider it as like a defining feature. I just thought maybe like the mask was pushing his head his
00:46:54
skin down. That would not have jumped out at me, but it became crucial. Oh, it became huge. That forehead crease was
00:47:02
such an identifying characteristic. Now, this was from the video from the security cameras a month before in that
00:47:10
testr run case that they were able to see a little bit more of that mysterious person behind the mask. And that crinkle
00:47:21
in the forehead, it turns out that's a genetic trait. I don't know if you know since viewing the hour if you've started
00:47:26
looking at people but I know when I'm in airports or when I'm you know out and about I start noticing that and and it's
00:47:32
very rare that you see that forehead crinkle. So um it was definitely something that was a huge break in in
00:47:40
the case when it came to trying to identify the suspect. >> I had no idea that was a genetic trait.
00:47:45
Now you're like making me think about my forehead but there's a wee bit of Botox
00:47:49
up there so it's not crinkling the way you see >> the other way. >> Yeah. Exactly. All right. So, this turns
00:47:55
out to be sort of a critical clue and the Hillsboro police immediately focus on Kenny Fandrich's wife, Tanya. It's
00:48:04
not completely surprising. I mean, if you're a 48 hours span, you know, often the spouse is sort of the person that
00:48:11
investigators focus on, but it's also about access, knowing his schedule, knowing where he is. There's only going
00:48:16
to be a handful of people who know that information. So, inevitably, that's where investigators are going to start.
00:48:23
Now, I think maybe some people might see the video of Tanya and think that her demeanor is maybe a little cool, maybe
00:48:30
suspicious. I I didn't get that. I thought she seemed adequately, you know, concerned. Um, but why did police
00:48:37
ultimately rule her out? As you said, people do look at the partner or the spouse, the person closest to the
00:48:44
victim. Tanya is there on the scene even before the uh responding officer arrived. That arouses some suspicion.
00:48:54
However, um as Tanya tells the that officer, she said, "My husband has a stalker." And Tanya revealed that she
00:49:03
had had a relationship with Steven Milner and they had had an affair that it had ended years prior, but that
00:49:11
Steven Milner was still actively stalking Kenneth Fandrich and also keeping track of her even though she had
00:49:19
said many times, "Leave us alone." And she had also reported that to police. >> Let's talk about Steven Milner. Um here
00:49:28
we have this veterinarian. He's a smart guy. He's popular. Um, he seems sort of pretty normal, though. I mean, when they
00:49:37
did have the affair, they were kind of eventually sort of blatant about it, right? So, that's a little odd for a guy
00:49:43
who's, you know, you would think would be concerned about his professional reputation. Um, but did you learn
00:49:50
anything more about who he was and his personality? We talked to a couple of his clients as you saw in the hour and
00:49:57
they say that by all accounts, you know, he was very involved in the community, very well-liked,
00:50:05
um was pretty much a a well-known figure in Oregon City where his vet practice was. They also knew Tanya because she
00:50:12
worked with him um and they had seen their interaction. So, they talked about that as well. something in the hour that
00:50:19
I was really fascinated by. I don't know if it kind of hooked other viewers, but
00:50:23
that police body cam video where he's being pulled over, right? And he tells the police officer that, you know, Tanya
00:50:31
is in danger. Is he just sort of making this up or or does he really believe this that this is justifying his
00:50:39
behavior when she wants nothing to do with him? you know, when he was pulled over um for following Kenny, uh Milner
00:50:48
told police, "Look, I'm the only one who really gives a blank," as he said to the
00:50:53
officer at the time, and and I'm not allowed to give, you know, an a blank at that point. There had been issues
00:51:01
between Tanya and Kenny Fandrich of domestic abuse. Steven Milner really felt like he was the one that could save
00:51:09
Tanya from what he felt could be a dangerous situation for her. Now, one of the videos that we see in the hour that
00:51:17
kind of really touched me was it's of Kenny. He's sitting on the back deck. He's really distraught. He's crashed his
00:51:24
car after an argument with his wife and he just looks so sad and heartbroken. What more do we know about this marriage
00:51:34
and the problems they had experienced? >> Tanya and Kenny, they had struggled over
00:51:39
the years. Alcohol typically um came into play according to Tanya when there were these instances of domestic
00:51:47
violence. They became something of a he said she said. Um Tanya acknowledged their issues and as I said she was, you
00:51:56
know, very firm in saying this relationship with Steven Milner happened years ago. It was in her past and that
00:52:04
she and Kenny Fandrich were really trying to work through all those issues and they were stronger than ever as a
00:52:09
couple. Welcome back. So Natalie, as you mentioned, investigators really didn't have a lot to go on linking Milner to
00:52:19
Kenny's murder. So, they really have to kind of dig in and find this evidence at
00:52:24
they go to his house. So, I I want to ask you, what sort of things did they discover? And I definitely want to ask
00:52:30
you, what was up with that cardboard cutout in his house? >> Yeah, that was a very odd clue. Um, you
00:52:37
know, Milner did have a male roommate who was living with him at the time of his arrest, but you know, investigators
00:52:43
when they saw that cardboard cutout, they assumed, rightfully so, that that was um Steven Milner's room because then
00:52:49
they open the drawers and they see he has this so-called shrine to Tanya with all the love notes and letters that he
00:52:56
had kept. He even acknowledged in those notes and letters, you know, I know you don't want me there's no future here in
00:53:03
this relationship that you want this to be over, but he couldn't get over it. So, they felt that Steven Milner seemed
00:53:11
like the likely suspect based on all of that. But that said, they still had to make their case and they had to have
00:53:18
solid proof to connect that this Steven Milner who had this stalking history and
00:53:23
past is the guy who was in the garage at the time when uh Kenny Fandrich was killed and to prove that he was the one
00:53:31
who actually committed the murder. That's the thing. You know, all that extra stuff that perhaps goes to motive,
00:53:37
but you need some sort of solid evidence. So then what ultimately allowed investigators to build their
00:53:43
case against Milner? >> Well, it really came down to, you know, the good detective work as we talked
00:53:49
about and following the maroon minivan trail. So, Steven Milner usually drove a white Toyota SUV and once they seized
00:53:59
the car, investigators were able to analyze the data on the computer within the car and they noticed that he had
00:54:07
been going to an Oregon City Home Depot. Um, he had been there, in fact, on the day of the murder. So once uh detectives
00:54:15
Rigo and Winter went to that Home Depot, they asked uh security there if there had been any suspicious activity on the
00:54:23
parking lots. Turns out the security did notice there had been a couple of cars that had been parking and had gone in
00:54:30
and out of the parking lot a couple of times. Local law enforcement was called and local law enforcement then saw these
00:54:37
vehicles. They were able to get the VIN numbers off of them, these so-called burner cars that Steven Milner was
00:54:43
using. Detectives Rigo and Winter were able to then track down that maroon minivan to a scrapyard which as you saw
00:54:53
in the hour, unfortunately, their biggest clue, I mean, they believe the minivan was the murder scene just a week
00:55:00
earlier had been crushed. So unfortunately that that big clue that they were hoping for in the minivan was
00:55:08
then gone right before their very eyes. It still amazes me just um how much how often we were all on camera, right? But
00:55:16
this is the first time that I've seen video as investigators sort of watched a key piece of evidence being destroyed.
00:55:23
I'm sure they wanted to kind of like reach into the the screen and just pluck that vehicle out.
00:55:30
>> Yeah. Unfortunately, they were a week too late, you know, to get that vehicle.
00:55:34
Had they gotten there a week earlier, they probably could have had that and have gotten all the evidence they
00:55:39
needed. That said, they were able to eventually get DNA that was uh the concrete proof that they needed.
00:55:48
>> Yeah. And we're going to talk a little bit more about that later. But before we
00:55:51
do that, I want to talk to you about the two lead detectives. What was your take
00:55:55
on this pair? >> Oh, yes. Detective uh Stephanie Winter and Deon Regal. I mean, these are like
00:56:00
the dynamic duo of an investigation team. I I really we all said were saying they really need their own TV show. I
00:56:07
mean, Stephanie uh is about 6'2 or 6'3, former college basketball player, and this was actually her first homicide
00:56:17
case that she worked on. So, um she was paired up with with Devon Rigo, um who had, you know, a real solid background
00:56:26
in working homicides. And uh it was a real breakthrough case for for both of them because you know you don't see a
00:56:34
lot of murders in that area of Hillsboro, Oregon. And here you have this mysterious such a suspicious case.
00:56:42
It really came down to to them chasing all the leads and and knowing where to go. And so finally on January 13th,
00:56:52
2025, Steven Milner goes on trial for stalking and murdering Kenny Fandrich. But as we pointed out, a ton of forensic
00:57:01
evidence is lost because that maroon van is crushed. So the prosecution has to work around that. Was that sort of the I
00:57:09
guess that was the biggest hurdle. So, of course, when the detectives see that key piece of evidence, that maroon
00:57:15
minivan being crushed, they think, well, there goes our key evidence for trial. However, it really came down to the
00:57:22
great police work in this case and being able to connect all the dots. And they had plenty of surveillance footage, not
00:57:28
to mention past orders of protection that proved that Steven Milner had been stalking Kenny Fandrich and Tanya, and
00:57:35
that there had been a history there between them. They did have DNA as well. You know, Steven Milner's DNA was on
00:57:41
Kenny Fandrich's hands, so that was was crucial as well. So, of course, Milner has an explanation for that. He did take
00:57:49
the stand. Um, there were no cameras in the courtroom, but there is audio, and so we're going to play some of what he
00:57:56
had to say to explain why his DNA was there. This was not included in uh the 1-hour broadcast. He is uh speaking with
00:58:06
defense attorney Amanda Thibo. Uh, he's under uh direct examination and here's what he had to say.
00:58:12
>> What happened next? >> I jumped out towards him. >> What happened next? >> Then we
00:58:20
basically fought for a little bit. >> Okay. Describe Can you describe that fight for me?
00:58:26
>> Um, there was pushing and shoving. I was kind of trying to push him back into his
00:58:30
car and he was punching at me. >> Did you punch Kenneth Vandrich? me. I I don't know. Okay.
00:58:39
>> Did you kick him? >> I didn't kick him. >> Did you grab onto him? >> Yes. >> What happened next?
00:58:50
>> Um eventually I was able to kind of push him up against the car and and then shove him into the car.
00:58:58
>> How much force were you using when you were pushing and shoving him, Mr. Miller?
00:59:03
>> As much as I could. Why? >> I was scared. It was It was We were fighting. >> What were you scared of?
00:59:12
>> Him that he was going to hurt me. >> It's so interesting to hear. And first of all, even to just see him take the
00:59:18
stand. Um, you know, here Steven Milner is is not denying that he was there. He said, "I was there. Yes, I was the one
00:59:25
who spray painted the cameras." Um, but he claimed he did it all out of self-defense. and he said when Milner
00:59:33
confronted Kenny, he's like, "Kenny is the one who attacked me." He says that he's defending Tanya.
00:59:40
Um, I would think a self-defense claim is is is pretty tough when I mean, it's not like Tanya's there. He's seeking out
00:59:50
Kenny at his place of work. His whole, you know, self-defense defense really didn't make sense. Stephen Milner said
01:00:00
that his reasons for being there in the parking garage and for going after Kenny
01:00:05
in that case was because he felt that Kenny Fandrich was a continued threat to Tanya because of the past abusive claims
01:00:14
in their relationship. Now the prosecutor Mahale Streblo said that in that testimony did not line up at all
01:00:21
with the physical evidence at the scene. It goes against everything that they were able to piece together. But, you
01:00:28
know, I I imagine that his defense attorney thought letting him take the stand uh and speak to his own defense
01:00:37
and reasons for being there, perhaps if he could convince one jury member that, you know, he was the guy who was really
01:00:46
just there trying to do a good deed, trying to protect Tanya and that it was um, you know, Kenny Fandrich who came
01:00:53
after him. All he needed to do was to convince one juror. Clearly, the jury didn't buy his self-defense defense.
01:01:00
Steven Milner found guilty of murdering uh Kenny Fandrich a and also found guilty of multiple stalking charges. He
01:01:09
was sentenced to life in prison uh with the possibility of parole after 25 years. But I think what's really sort of
01:01:17
tragic about this, this is a couple that did everything right. They did everything that they were supposed to do
01:01:25
and they they still were not protected. >> Yes. And and that in fact is what is so
01:01:30
tragic about the case is that there's such a clear history of stalking here. And you know, previously Milner had been
01:01:37
criminally charged back in August of 2022 when he had planted another tracking device um on Kenny's car. Then
01:01:45
Kenny filed that civil suit where he was seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars
01:01:50
in damages uh for infliction of emotional distress. Prosecutors brought all of this up and and Tanya even raised
01:01:57
it herself in her victim impact statement. She looked at Steven Milner and she said all you had to do was stop.
01:02:05
She said that she and her husband Penny Fandrich are doing everything they possibly could to try to alert
01:02:12
authorities to Stephen Milner's stalking behavior. Prosecutors acknowledged the only other thing they possibly could
01:02:19
have done because there had been multiple orders of protection already taken out would be to track Steven
01:02:26
Milner himself. I mean, had authorities been tracking Stephen Milner, um, they would have seen there's about a 45minute
01:02:34
drive where he's going back and forth from Oregon City to Hillsboro, tracking Kenny Fandrich and following him as he
01:02:42
went to work. How is Tanya doing today? >> Well, you know, Tanya obviously has experienced a lot of loss in her life.
01:02:48
Um, nothing, no amount of money will make up for that. But Kenny's estate has a wrongful death suit against Steven
01:02:55
Milner. any money is won, Tanya would stand to benefit. Um, Kenny's estate is seeking damages of several millions of
01:03:03
dollars and reportedly Steven Milner sold his veterinary clinic um years ago and apparently has an estimated net
01:03:12
worth of several million dollars, but you can imagine she has to be shattered. She's a victim in this case. She was a
01:03:19
stalking victim and then her husband was was murdered. So she is a victim on so many sides of this case.
01:03:26
>> Yeah, absolutely. Um, you know, you always sort of try to look for the lessons in all of these stories. I think
01:03:34
if there is a lesson, it's that stalking behavior is not normal, right? It's not
01:03:41
something to be dismissed and you should take it seriously. >> Yeah. And certainly Tanya and Kenny
01:03:48
Vandrich did and still it was not enough in this case. No, absolutely not. Um, Natalie, thank you very much.
01:03:56
>> Thanks for having me, Emory. >> And to everyone else, follow and listen to Postmortem on the free Odyssey app or
01:04:03
wherever you get your podcasts.