Dr. Steven Milner: Lethal Obsession | Murder in Mind | Forensic Files

[siren wailing] [intriguing music] OFFICER EDWARDS: Hi, Officer. Edwards. Hillsboro Police.
Do you know why we're stopping you today? - Yeah, I'm trying to get a hold of this guy that--
I'm following him. [engine whirring] OFFICER EDWARDS: Where are you following him?
- He's a beating [bleep] out of his wife, and I've been trying to talk to him about it.
He's going to kill her and he has told her that he put her in the cistern under the house.
She is going to die and he is going to kill her. [dramatic music] STEPHANIE WINTER: This case is--
it's wild. MICHAEL FULLER: It's a horrible life to live when you're constantly looking over your shoulder.
TANYA FANDRICH (ON RECORDING): No normal person would be out there in the middle of the night.
MAHALEE STREBLOW: This is the work of a narcissist. DR. JULIA SHAW: This is just a mind that is really unraveled.
- No one ever really knows what's going on on the inside. [theme music] [ominous music]
STEPHANIE WINTER: On January 27, the Hillsboro Police Department is alerted to a deceased body in the parking
garage on the Intel Campus. Intel, they're very on top of security issues, so for there to be a body that's deceased in a car
was a surprise to me. When I got there, I got out of my-- my car and the car was parked just a bit in from the stairwell.
[intriguing music] I was told pretty quickly that the cameras surrounding the car
were spray painted. My concern initially was, oh my, are we ever going to be able to figure out who this was?
BRIANNA WHEELER: Oregon City is a suburb of Portland, Oregon. It sits right on the banks of the river.
It's got beautiful vistas. There's so much wild nature in this part of the world.
This is a place where we hike with our dogs. [soft music] DEVIN RIGO: Steve Milner was a well-known veterinarian out
in the Oregon City area and owned his own practice for a couple of decades. BRIANNA WHEELER: He garnered quite a bit of respect
because in Oregon City, in the Northwest, in general, pets are families here, so finding a veterinarian who not only serves
a great part of the community, but is also part of that community who also loves pets,
is considerably valuable. [gentle music] - Milner opened a veterinary clinic when he was very young, right out of veterinary school.
BRIANNA WHEELER: Built it from scratch at the top of the Hill in Oregon City, which is very prestigious.
And one of the first people that he hires is Tanya Fandrich. STEVE MILNER (ON RECORDING): It was in the summer of 2000.
She was going to technician school, and she needed to do an externship and asked to do one in my clinic.
It's the same job as being a nurse, so she supported what I was doing. BRIANNA WHEELER: Tanya Fandrich was kind, gentle,
the type of person that would love to work in a veterinary office. Loved animals.
It seemed like a role that perfectly suited her. Steven Milner was known for being
particularly compassionate. There were stories of him donating to charities in the name of deceased pets, and that's the kind of boss
that he was perceived to be. STEPHANIE WINTER: Steven Milner refers to his practice, Milner Veterinary, as their practice.
His and Tanya's practice. TANYA FANDRICH (ON RECORDING): He would constantly say that the clinic is as much mine
as it is his. We were working six days a week. I would say we were friends at that point in time.
- Stephen Milner had developed this successful professional life, but he didn't have that same level of success
in his romantic life. [soft music] - By 2017, Tanya had been working for Dr. Milner for quite some time,
and they had grown quite close. And Dr. Milner was coming off of a failed second marriage.
TANYA FANDRICH (ON RECORDING): That's when we were commiserating with each other
about what was going on in his life and what was going on in my life. JOHN GERHARD: Kenneth Fandrich and Tanya Fandrich
had been married for quite some time. STEPHANIE WINTER: They lived on a wonderful piece of property
in the Oregon City area. MAHALEE STREBLOW: Kenny was a union pipefitter, blue collar type of guy.
And Kenny worked out of state a lot. He was gone from their home. JOHN GERHARD: For a period of time, he did most of his work
in Washington State around the Seattle area. There had been some suspicion that Kenny Fandrich
had engaged in some infidelity when he was in Washington State. So that led to some marital turmoil.
BRIANNA WHEELER: Because of Kenny's consistent out-of-town work, Tanya found herself quite lonely.
[piano music] MAHALEE STREBLOW: Milner thought that Tanya was a confidante. STEVE MILNER (ON RECORDING): We were close, just sharing what
was going on in our lives. - I believe that they did perhaps find comfort in each other, so much so
that it did lead to an affair. MAHALEE STREBLOW: The affair began approximately April of 2017.
Around that time, Kenny was drinking more and that was always a point of contention, um,
in the marriage. TANYA FANDRICH (ON RECORDING): He pretty much drank every night.
He fought-- usually it would start because I would try and pour out his booze when he'd had too much,
and that would start the physical pushing and shoving. [ominous music] [car accelerating]
MAHALEE STREBLOW: It wasn't a perfect marriage. There was some violence, verbal and physical, that was mutual.
And Tanya needed somebody to vent to about her marriage. TANYA FANDRICH (ON RECORDING): He came to work and said,
oh, my wife is divorcing me. She moved out this weekend, and I said, huh, well, my husband was in jail this weekend for a DUI.
We kind of laughed and commiserated. STEVE MILNER (ON RECORDING): A little bit after Valentine's Day.
I guess we kind of started flirting a little bit and talking more and more, and eventually I
asked her out to a movie. [intriguing music] DR. JULIA SHAW: There's two things here that stand out to me.
For Steve, the question is, why would he date his employee? That, I think, is a really big power dynamic.
In terms of Tanya, the question is, why would she have an affair? She is in a marriage, but there's
tensions within the relationship that also sometimes manifest as domestic violence.
So I think Tanya feels safe with Steve because he's known as one of the nicest guys in town.
They've worked together for 20 years, and so I think this is someone who she chooses to trust completely.
BRIANNA WHEELER: Dr. Milner saw himself as a heroic figure in Tanya's life because
of the marital difficulties that she had disclosed to him, and also because of Steven Milner's
own essential being as a helper, as a caregiver, as an empathetic person, as someone
who was going to rescue Tanya from this disastrous relationship. TANYA FANDRICH (ON RECORDING): Mr. Milner
knew about the domestic violence, but it wasn't usually the topic of conversation.
[ominous music] JOHN GERHARD: As some time passed, Tanya Fandrich formally ended things with Steven Milner.
TANYA FANDRICH (ON RECORDING): My husband caught me at Milner's house. After that, we never went back to having sex.
JOHN GERHARD: At that time, Kenny was able to get a contractor job with Intel working at that ronler acres
campus as a union pipefitter. - Tanya ultimately chooses her husband, breaks it off with Dr. Milner.
She continues to work for him. TANYA FANDRICH (ON RECORDING): We still work together.
We remained on a friendly basis, but no physicality. BRIANNA WHEELER: Kenny forgives her.
They reconcile. Dr. Milner does not take it well. [soft music] - Even after the relationship ends,
Steve writes Tanya letters. And he writes her quite a few of them, and you can see his emotional state.
You can see sort of his thinking and how it evolves over time through these letters.
MAHALEE STREBLOW: The first letter is very much still a love letter to Tanya. DR. JULIA SHAW: He writes he is consumed by her soul.
That is a really intense thing to write to someone, especially someone whom you've already broken up with.
But I think a lot of people can empathize with that longing of, I didn't want this to end and how do I get it back?
But everything he's writing is from his perspective. It's his feelings. It's, you know, what he wants.
And there's basically nothing about Tanya. [suspenseful music] KERRY DAYNES: I think that as a society,
we're told that this is romantic. This is somebody who is willing to fight for the relationship.
But these letters are bound to cause a problem in her relationship with Kenny. They must make her working life incredibly miserable,
because how do you work in amongst all of these huge expressions of love from your boss, no less?
TANYA FANDRICH (ON RECORDING): It was hard to just even be able to do my job because he was always around.
He was always hanging out in the treatment area, following me around, was always trying to convince me
that he was better, and that I should be with him and not with Kenny. [intriguing music]
- Steven Milner viewed Kenny Fandrich as the barrier for him and Tanya Fandrich to maintain a relationship.
BRIANNA WHEELER: On October 16, 2017, Kenny Fandrich received a piece of mail, which he
believed to be from his union. JOHN GERHARD: When they opened up the envelope, they could see that it was a ranting
letter from Steven Milner making accusations. - In the letter, it had a picture of Kenny with a woman
and with a child pretty clearly photoshopped. The letter included a caption saying that the child
in the photo was Kenny's. The Fandriches, unfortunately, were never able to have children of their own,
and that was something that Tanya had shared with Milner. JOHN GERHARD: Steven Milner--
it appeared weaponized and shared details about their relationships to drive a wedge between Kenneth Fandrich and Tanya Fandrich.
STEVE MILNER (ON RECORDING): I still obviously cared for Tanya as a person, and, um, it just seemed
like she was trapped in this-- I was trying to push them over the edge to them breaking up.
- I think the object of this is multiple. This is somebody who wants to have a cathartic rant,
but this is also somebody who wants to throw a bomb into the Fandriches marriage.
And I think that they're hoping that this is shared with Tanya and that it causes some disruption.
BRIANNA WHEELER: This was an affair that had been forgiven. But as of this date, they became acutely aware that it
was much more than that. [ominous music] MAHALEE STREBLOW: It certainly changed the way that the Fandriches operated in their day
to day lives. STEPHANIE WINTER: They have set up cameras at their home to make sure they're alerted to any kind of nefarious activity
on their property. MAHALEE STREBLOW: From October of 2017, we see an escalation in Milner's tactics.
He trespassed onto the property. JOHN GERHARD: The Fandriches were returning home from an evening out and actually
found Steven Milner underneath Kenny Fandrich's vehicle. Not knowing what he was doing, the Fandriches
wound up contacting Clackamas county's bomb squad because they were unsure of what Steven Milner had attached
to Kenny Fandrich's vehicle. - The police that attended to the scene recognized it as a GPS tracker.
When police interviewed Tanya about these events, they seemed to not believe her when
she said that the affair was over, because he was able to convince the police that they
were still having an affair. STEVE MILNER (ON RECORDING): It was a romantic relationship.
I was very afraid of her by then. She seemed to have more bruises. She was, as far as I understood,
trying to leave him. And he could-- he would just keep talking her into not-- she couldn't make that final break.
BRIANNA WHEELER: When he said that he is, in fact, concerned for Tanya's safety and that this is all
in an effort to protect her. STEVE MILNER (ON RECORDING): I was going to try and catch Kenny driving when he got his DUI.
I think he had lost his license and I was trying to get him arrested. DEVIN RIGO: He, in his mind, believes everything
that happened and was completely OK, that he was doing the right thing and he was the only one that could help Tanya.
- So we're well and truly in stalker territory at this point. Psychologists like to put stalkers
into one of five different categories, and in actual fact, Steve Milner seems to fall between two.
So the first category is the rejected stalker. So this is somebody who has had a relationship
with their target in the past. They become absolutely fixated with getting this relationship back.
The second kind of stalker that Steve Milner appears to fit the topology of is the erotomanic stalker, somebody
who is convinced that another person is in love with them, and they become fixated on who is
standing in the way of me and this perfect love that I imagine. - It went so far as Steven Milner showing up
on the Fandrich property during the summer of 2018 and planting a condom inside Kenny Fandrich's vehicle
in hopes that Tanya would believe that, again, Kenny Fandrich was engaging in infidelity.
STEVE MILNER (ON RECORDING): In the beginning, I didn't feel or realize how dangerous he was.
I would say the middle of 2018 is probably when I-- I started getting very concerned about it.
I was trying to push them into breaking up. [suspenseful music] MAHALEE STREBLOW: In June of 2019,
Milner actually comes to the Fandrich residence to confront Kenny. Kenny was upset to see this guy who
had been having an affair with his wife, show up at his house. STEVE MILNER (ON RECORDING): Kenny came out.
He kind of bounced on me, and I just kept backpedaling until I couldn't go any further back.
He seemed very angry. He told me not to chase his wife. And he would cut me into 1,000 pieces if I didn't stop.
So I reached up and kissed his cheek to defuse the situation, and he stepped back.
And that's what I was hoping for. MAHALEE STREBLOW: In an attempt to, in his own words,
de-escalate the situation, he ends up kissing Kenny. KERRY DAYNES: There are lots of indications
here that his mental state is deteriorating. Is there a risk of physical violence here?
And if so, who is at risk? My immediate concern would be for Tanya's safety. But then Kenny is being dragged into it all the time.
JOHN GERHARD: That was the first personal confrontation that Steven Milner had with Kenny Fandrich.
BRIANNA WHEELER: Kenny finally files a protective order against Steven Milner. [intriguing music]
- Unfortunately, as protective orders often do, it was failing the victim. The perpetrator didn't care.
He was ramping up the stalking. DR. JULIA SHAW: And this is where it's interesting to look at these letters
and to see what was going on in Steve's mind. You can really see a shift in how he writes.
Steve is calling Tanya cold and clinically cruel, and he's using, almost weaponizing her--
her name, Mrs. Fandrich, as that is the person who was with Mr. Fandrich and saying that I know Tanya Cherie.
That's who you really are. And so in his mind, he sort of split her into these two people.
But really what he's doing is he's trying to say, no, but the person who loves me is still in there.
The emotions at this point are so high for everybody involved, and I could see how things can escalate further.
BRIANNA WHEELER: There had been multiple instances of stalking, of terrorizing behavior, but the police
were reluctant to take action, and it begs the question of whether it was because of Steven Milner's social standing.
MICHAEL FULLER: He had some cloud in the community. He was successful. He did have encounters with law enforcement.
He seemed to get off with a slap on the wrist. [intriguing music] - Finally, after years of stalking and abuse,
Tanya leaves Milner's veterinary practice. TANYA FANDRICH (ON RECORDING): One day
I just realized if I stay here, he still gets to keep all the control over me. And if I just take my talents somewhere else,
then he loses control. He can't have power over me. - She gets another job at a veterinary practice
in Oregon City, and quickly finds that Steven Milner is not willing to let her go gently.
TANYA FANDRICH (ON RECORDING): He would write me letters and mail me letters to work or leave notes on my car,
typed and handwritten letters. - This isn't just a couple of letters. This has been three years of unwanted attention, three
years of escalating letters. As the letters progress, and I think as his mental state
changes, it gets more toxic. And so by the time he's writing this next letter, he is, quite frankly, kind of a different person.
"I've held my tongue and taken the beating over and over because that is what I do."
That is very different from the "Sweetie. My Cherie. I love you." "I'm sorry I scare you when I hit things.
You are right that it is a sign of lost control. But it is a controlled loss of control."
And even here he says, "All the while I was just there waiting for you, trying to be nice."
I think that trying to be nice, to me, it almost sends a tingle down my spine, where it's this,
how could somebody who is educated and intelligent and should know better, and has been told repeatedly
by the police, by her to stay away, and he still thinks of himself as someone who's just trying to be nice?
And that's where we get to an extreme lack of insight or an extreme lack of empathy.
[ominous music] MAHALEE STREBLOW: The last letter was a 32-page goodbye letter. KERRY DAYNES: He's saying this is the final time
that I will contact you. At this point, I would read these letters and I would be thinking, well, is Steve a danger to himself
or is he a danger to Tanya or Kenny? MAHALEE STREBLOW: He promised her multiple times
throughout that last goodbye letter, that this was the last time that she was going
to see him or hear from him. But ultimately, we know that it wasn't. [suspenseful music]
- On March 2, 2022, early in the morning, Kenneth Fandrich is driving to work at Intel in Hillsboro
from Oregon City. During that drive, he notices a car behind him. And it doesn't matter how fast or
how slow, if he changes lanes, the car continues to follow him. When he gets to Hillsboro, he stops.
And so Kenny gets out of the car and notices it's a white RAV4. And it's Steven Milner who's following him.
MICHAEL FULLER: It's a pretty helpless situation for Kenny. He can't use physical force to stop Milner just
for following him in his car. Kenny ultimately calls the police. STEPHANIE WINTER: An officer with the Hillsboro police
department does a traffic stop on Steven Milner's RAV4 in Hillsboro. OFFICER EDWARDS: Hello.
STEVE MILNER: Hello. OFFICER EDWARDS: Hi, Officer Edwards. Hillsboro police. Just so you know I have a body worn camera on, so it's on,
a video recording. Do you know why we're stopping you today? STEVE MILNER: Yeah, I'm trying to get a hold of this guy
that-- I'm following him. - OK. Why are you following him? - He's been beating [bleep] out of his
wife and I've been trying to talk to him about it. - Steven tells the officer that he just
learned that Kenneth Fandrich is working at Intel in Hillsboro. OFFICER EDWARDS: Do you think that's wise to be
following around the city? - Well, we'll have a discussion about it. OFFICER EDWARDS: OK.
So what's-- what's your role in the whole thing? - She's been a friend of mine for 20 years.
OFFICER EDWARDS: OK. - And I just want to let him know that I don't want him beating her up anymore. OFFICER EDWARDS: OK.
All right. Do you have weapons in the car? - Nope. OFFICER EDWARDS: OK. Hang tight for me. I'll be right back with you.
STEPHANIE WINTER: The officer then went back to his own patrol car and called Kenneth to get a better understanding of what
was going on between the two. OFFICER EDWARDS: So here's my advice to you, OK? This is very, very strong advice.
Leave them alone. He wants nothing to do with you. She wants nothing to do with you.
I understand there was an affair, all sorts of back history that went on. Because you're very close to going
to jail today for stalking. OK? Like, very, very close. I want to be very, very clear with you, OK?
Leave them alone. - At one point, he looks into the officer's body worn camera. OFFICER EDWARDS: OK?
- On the body camera. He is going to kill her. She is going to die and he is going to kill her.
[intriguing music] KERRY DAYNES: Steve is eventually subject to a bit of reality testing from the police
officer that is long overdue, but he's not willing to hear it. And I think that that is very, very common amongst stalkers.
They feel justified. They feel entitled to behave the way they are. MICHAEL FULLER: The chap from the officers
seem to have no deterrent effect. Milner seemed to go right back to his stalking.
[ominous music] - All of this takes a toll on the Fandrich's marriage, and Kenny's drinking had increased as a result of that.
- On March 28, 2022, Kenneth had been consuming alcohol. He and Tanya were in a fight and Tanya left the home.
Kenneth decided to get in the car and go find Tanya, and he crashed his car. [somber music]
OFFICER 1: What's your name, sir? - Kenneth Fandrige. OFFICER 1: Hey, Ken. Um, is that your car, man?
- Yes, it is. OFFICER 1: OK, were you driving? - Yes, I was. OFFICER 1: OK. What happened?
- I-- my wife and I have been fighting today. OFFICER 1: Sorry. - And, um, I thought she was at her boss's house, where I've
caught her cheating on me. OFFICER 1: Sorry. - I lost control of my car. I just--
OFFICER 1: OK. - I didn't want to go. I didn't want to drive. I didn't want to do any of that.
It's just-- KERRY DAYNES: In this footage, what we are seeing is the impact of stalking.
It's interesting to compare Kenny's demeanor with Steve's demeanor. Steve's demeanor is arrogant, confident, and self-justifying.
And yet we've got Kenny, who clearly is not at a good place in his life. He's certainly not making it better for himself
by drinking and driving. In some ways, he's playing straight into Steve Milner's hands.
[intriguing music] - A little bit of good news was that Kenny was informed by law enforcement that they had apparently
subpoenaed records from the tracking company and were now able to prove that it actually was Milner who
had registered these devices. - In late August of 2022, Steve Milner was arrested and charged with violating
a stalking protective order and unlawful use of a GPS tracking device. MAHALEE STREBLOW: I don't know if it's
a wake up call for Milner, but it's certainly an alarm bell for him. JOHN GERHARD: Steven Milner was released
from the Clackamas County jail pursuant to a release agreement that prohibited him from having
contact with the Fandriches. Tonya Fandrich described it. She and Kenny Fandrich felt more at ease.
KERRY DAYNES: Tanya and Kenny have what to them feels like a peaceful few months.
So they're starting to relax and think that finally, finally he's got the message.
He's backed off. But in actual fact, this period of calm is before the storm. [ominous music]
STEPHANIE WINTER: On January 27, 2023, Tanya Fandrich called in to advise law enforcement that her husband hadn't come home.
TANYA FANDRICH (ON RECORDING): I called him. I couldn't get a hold of him and he always
answered, always took my call. And I was like, that's not right. DEVIN RIGO: She tracks his location on their phones.
They share their locations together. So she saw that he was still at work. So she was concerned of why he would still be there.
So she requested that police go to the parking garage and see if they could locate him.
STEPHANIE WINTER: Tanya then decided that she would drive to Hillsboro to try to find Kenneth on her own.
Kenneth drove a black Honda Civic. DEVIN RIGO: Sergeant Linn went to meet with her,
and he just happened to drive into right area of the parking garage and located this vehicle.
STEPHANIE WINTER: Sergeant Linn approached the vehicle, knocked on the window, and the person inside didn't respond.
DEVIN RIGO: It was pretty darkly tinted car. So when he got to the front of the car,
he could see Kenneth unresponsive in his driver's seat. - His head had fallen off of the headrest
and looked to be in a strange posture. - It was obvious that he was deceased in the vehicle.
STEPHANIE WINTER: The manner of his death, really, at that point in time in that
parking garage was a mystery. As far as we could see there wasn't any stab wounds,
there wasn't a gunshot wound, and there wasn't a lot of blood. - They had looked for security cameras
to kind of assess what had kind of had happened. They noticed that the cameras had been spray painted.
Death investigator who responded out to the scene could see some marks on Kenneth's neck.
STEPHANIE WINTER: Officers did provide the death notification to Tanya, who was downstairs, one floor below where
Kenneth was in his car. - Oh my god. No! Oh my god, oh my god. [melancholy music]
[crying] STEPHANIE WINTER: When she got the death notification, she fell to her knees.
- This can't be happening. It can't be happening. This can't be real. It can't be real.
This can't really be happening. OFFICER 2: We're going to have the medical examiner come out
and investigate this, OK? Has he been having any issues lately? - [sobs] No, but he has a stalker.
- That kind of started the ball rolling for our investigation. [tense music] - Steven Milner becomes our number one suspect.
DEVIN RIGO: At this point, Steven really had zero violent history. Really until autopsy, we still hadn't confirmed that there was
actually a homicide or not. STEPHANIE WINTER: During the autopsy, we learned that Kenneth suffered blunt compressive
trauma to his neck. Essentially, he was strangled with such force that it broke his neck.
JOHN GERHARD: It was very quickly developed who the likely suspect was. But we have to prove that the person
is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. [ominous music] - At this point, we had been able to see
some of the security video. - On the morning of January 27, 2023, Kenneth Fandrich arrives to work
and leaves his black Honda Civic. We also see a blue Buick four-door sedan come into the Intel parking lot
at about 5:15 in the morning. At that time, these security cameras were spray-painted
with a blue spray paint. DEVIN RIGO: At this point, we knew that a blue Buick sedan
was involved in spray-painting the cameras about 7:00 in the morning. STEPHANIE WINTER: Then at about 7:30 AM,
that blue Buick was seen leaving the Intel parking garage. And then we see, at about 1:15 in the afternoon,
a maroon dodge minivan arrived to the Intel parking garage. DEVIN RIGO: We just saw the car arrive and back
in directly next to Kenneth Fandrich's vehicle, just waiting. And soon after that, we can see Kenneth leaving work, coming up
the stairs in the parking garage and walking toward his vehicle. STEPHANIE WINTER: So at about 3:22,
we see one flash of yellow lights as if Kenneth is unlocking his car doors, and then a very short time after
that, we see a series of yellow lights flashing from Kenneth's car, assuming that he's pushing the unlock button
on his key fob in a panic. DEVIN RIGO: With being able to review more security video,
it was learned that the blue Buick and that maroon minivan had visited that parking garage many, many times.
It's just kind of get a pattern of life, essentially, for what Kenneth's work schedule was.
STEPHANIE WINTER: To pull off this murder, it had to have taken a lot of planning for months.
DEVIN RIGO: In reviewing the body camera footage from that March 2022 incident, we
could get some good clear pictures of Steven Milner and see-- Steven has a distinctive crease in the middle of his forehead.
And when you look through the Intel security video of the morning of the 27th of January of 2023,
you see that the person spray-painting the cameras also has that very distinct crease inside their forehead.
[tense music] At that time, we decided that we were going to arrest Steven Milner for murder.
DEPUTY DAVIS: 4 and 5. The place, Sam Boyd. 29-834. DEVIN RIGO: So we had the County Sheriff's Office
initiate a traffic stop and pulled Steven over in his white RAV4. DEPUTY DAVIS: Yeah, if you could roll down the window,
that'd be great. Hi, sir. I'm Deputy Davis with the Sheriff's Office. We're being recorded by my camera,
so everything's going to be recorded. Do you understand that? - Yes. - OK. Sounds good.
Right now you're being detained. We're going to have some investigators come talk to
you, OK? - Steven never seemed surprised to me. - Mr. Milner. - Yes. - Just step out of the vehicle.
Hands behind your back, please. DEVIN RIGO: He never really made any statement at all other
than telling the deputy that he had a sore shoulder, so they put handcuffs on him.
DEPUTY DAVIS: Just take that for a second. STEVEN MILNER: OK. OK. [tense music] DEVIN RIGO: As soon as Milner is arrested,
he gets booked into the Washington County jail. And at that point, the investigation really starts
to dig into more things. We do a search warrant on his home. STEPHANIE WINTER: We located what we called a shrine
to Tanya in Milner's bedroom. It consisted of pictures, of greeting cards that were clearly sent by Tanya, underwear,
candy and all of the sort. DEVIN RIGO: We also do a search warrant for the computer
inside his car. See what kind of information that we can get out of that vehicle.
And we were able to get a download of that data and got some very good GPS points
that helped lead us to the Home Depot in Oregon City. When we started looking at the Home Depot in Oregon City,
we also started looking at suspicious vehicle calls or abandoned vehicle calls involving a blue Buick sedan
and a maroon van. And so we were able to pull video from the Home Depot security cameras
and kind of see that there were movement of those vehicles in the Home Depot parking lot the same days that we knew
that those vehicles were appearing at the Intel parking lot as well. And so in going through all those videos,
we could see, you know, Steven arrive in his white RAV4, which matched the GPS points on his car.
We'd see him move and get into the Buick sedan or the minivan and drive off and arrive back again.
And we lucked out looking at one particular day, where we have the white RAV4 come into the parking lot.
[intriguing music] Steven gets into the blue Buick. And to our surprise, Steven drives the Buick
to the middle of the Home Depot parking lot, and he gets out and walks into the Home Depot, where
we can actually see him as the person that is absolutely driving that blue car. Steven comes into the store.
He goes out of camera, he gets something and goes to the self-checkout stand, pays in cash,
and leaves. And the clothing we see Steven in and Home Depot is the same clothing
we see the person spray-painting in Intel parking lot. So we talked with Home Depot security,
who was able to pull the transaction record for what Steven had bought in that day.
And he was actually purchasing the rainbow-colored safety glasses that he later wore on January 27,
when he spray painted the cameras the morning of the homicide. KERRY DAYNES: I think in Steve Milner's thinking
through of this crime, there's definitely been some interference from his narcissistic personality,
because there's so much wishful thinking about the fact that this true love that he believes he deserves
is going to be coming to him. But he really hasn't considered as much as he thinks he's considered.
He thinks he's got a foolproof plan, but it's actually full of holes. DEVIN RIGO: One of the big, big things came
through several months later. We got results from the Oregon State crime lab that showed Steven Milner's DNA was
on Kenneth Fandrich's hands. You can't argue your way out of your DNA being here.
[suspenseful music] JOHN GERHARD: The defense wanted to characterize Kenneth Fandrich's death as almost
an accident, that there was a confrontation not initiated by Steven Milner, but a confrontation that was
initiated by Kenny Fandrich. STEVE MILNER (ON RECORDING): It happened really quickly.
I was in my van, and I jumped down and he was attacking me. It was a fight. It was crazy and fast.
I absolutely was not intending to kill Kenny Fandrich. JOHN GERHARD: From his perception,
Kenny Fandrich went into this rage and that Steven Milner was only attempting to defend himself,
and that Kenny Fandrich died striking his neck or his head against his own vehicle.
STEVE MILNER (ON RECORDING): While he hit up against the car and started going down, and I shoved him into the car,
I was pushing on him on his chest and I may have pushed on his neck, I don't know.
- Steve Milner testifies in court, which is very unusual, and I think that this is, again, a sign of his arrogance.
So this is somebody so immersed in his own delusion that he believes that he can bring a jury on board
with that. DETECTIVE (ON RECORDING): Where did you swap cars? STEVE MILNER (ON RECORDING): Um, at Sunnyside Hospital.
DETECTIVE (ON RECORDING): Why did you need to do that? STEVE MILNER (ON RECORDING): I was getting rid of the car.
The van. DETECTIVE (ON RECORDING): Why? STEVE MILNER (ON RECORDING): Because I just
drove it to a place where somebody died. DETECTIVE (ON RECORDING): So you were trying to cover
up that you were there. STEVE MILNER (ON RECORDING): Yes. DETECTIVE (ON RECORDING): Even though it was just an accident?
- The ultimate act that is really cruel and incredibly planned is just a further manifestation
of his own wishful thinking. I think he thinks he is saving Tanya, and probably somewhere in the back of his mind
he thinks, if I'm the hero, maybe, maybe she will choose me after all. [intriguing music]
- I attended every day of every hearing throughout the trial. JUDGE ERIK BUCHÉR: All right, there's our 12 jurors.
Go and have a seat. - Waiting for the verdict is probably the most stressful thing in the process of these type of cases.
JUDGE ERIK BUCHÉR: I'm now reading the verdict form. As to count one, murder in the second degree, guilty.
As to count two, stalking, guilty. As to count three, it says guilty. As to count four, it says guilty.
- As soon as that verdict is read, there's just a kind of an internal sigh of relief
that all of the hours and hours that have gone into the investigation, you know,
were worth it. [suspenseful music] MAHALEE STREBLOW: Tanya Fandrich's victim impact
statement was extremely powerful. TANYA FANDRICH (ON RECORDING): For years, you tormented Kenny and me, leaving us as your victims.
Now it is me standing here in front of you, and hear me clearly when I say I have witnessed
your insatiable need to be seen as a hero, which you clearly are not. I will never believe that you thought my life was in danger.
You needed a defense for the savage and brutal way you killed Kenny. I love Kenny.
We weren't perfect, but there was no shortage of love, commitment, and partnership between us.
And you couldn't stand that! I asked, can I pray that the judge gives you the maximum allowable sentence?
JUDGE ERIK BUCHÉR: Sir, can you stand up now, Mr. Milner? I'm sending you to lifetime imprisonment.
MAHALEE STREBLOW: With the violations of the stalking protective order convictions combined,
Milner was sentenced to a minimum of 31 years in prison. [soft piano music] I absolutely think that the jury made
the right decision that day. And obviously, this can't bring Kenny back. But I hope that it brings Tanya some measure of peace.
KERRY DAYNES: We need to take stalking seriously, and we need to take stalking victims seriously.
Tanya is somebody who has tried every avenue to try and stop this man. He's somebody who is so narcissistic that he really
can't believe that what he feels for a woman is not reciprocated by her. Steve Milner may well be in jail for the rest of his life,
but can she truly believe that she'll never hear from him again? And can she truly walk through life and ever feel safe again?
I doubt it. [theme music]

Behind polite smiles, a veterinarian’s obsession with his employee escalates from stalking to a fatal ambush.

Murder in Mind explores the psychological forces that drive people to murder.

Brief Summary

Steven Milner's obsession leads to Kenneth Fandrich's murder after a failed affair with Tanya Fandrich.

Key points

Desperate Plea for Help. A witness reveals that a man is threatening to kill his wife.
Escalation of Stalking. Milner's tactics become more aggressive, leading to a confrontation.
Final Goodbye Letter. Milner writes a 32-page letter, claiming it's the last time he'll contact Tanya.
The Start of a Stalker. Milner's obsession escalates as he follows Kenny Fandrich.
A Dangerous Stalker. Officer Edwards warns of the consequences of stalking, urging the individual to leave the couple alone.
Tragic Discovery. Tanya Fandrich discovers her husband Kenneth unresponsive in his car, leading to a shocking revelation.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

No one ever really knows what's going on on the inside.

Insight into the hidden struggles of individuals.

0:55WatchOct 12, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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