Post Mortem | Murder in a Parking Garage

the mysterious death of Kenneth Bandrich.

“He was found murdered inside a parking garage on January 27th, 2023 in Hillsboro, Oregon.”

In police review the security footage from that garage, they noticed a masked man spray painting the cameras wearing a disguise to obscure his identity. But incredibly, as we're going to discuss, they were still able to find the killer. So joining me now to discuss this is 48 hours correspondent Natalie Morales, it's a fascinating case thanks for joining us again Natalie.

Sure is fascinating, good to be with you Anne Marie. As usual reminder to everyone if you haven't already listened to this episode of 48 hours, head on over to your podcast feed, you'll find it just below this one, listen to the hour, and then come on back for this conversation, all right, let's get into it. The victim here is Kenneth Bandrich, he also went by Kenny and investigators discovered his

body in the driver seat of his car in a parking garage run by the tech company Intel. The garage is located on this massive campus, very large campus of one of Intel's production facilities.

“This is where he's been working as a contract pipe fitter.”

Now you actually went to the garage, and I just want to get a sense of just how big is the garage? What was it like there? How many cameras are we talking about? Was it like finding a needle in a haystack?

You know, this was actually almost the opposite of a needle in a haystack when you think about it.

And this is a huge tech company Intel, we're talking in the make or of all those incredible

super speedy chips that we all use on our computers, but this is an area, the garage, especially where there are loads of security cameras all the way inside the garage, as well as on the campus, 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 very interesting choice and place to commit a murder Intel security staff told investigators that a month earlier, the

security cameras had been spray painted. It was investigated as just sort of criminal mischief.

“But do you investigate or think that maybe this was a dry run?”

And I'm also curious, I don't know if you know this or not, Ali, but was it the same security cameras or different ones? I imagine there's, you know, there are many probably hundreds. Well, you know, it seems that Stephen Milner had been plotting this for a while, according to investigators.

I mean, they do believe it was a test run and the cameras that he's spray painted were the cameras that he then spray painted a month later in the act of killing Kenny Fandrich. They did notice it, they filed a suspicious activity report, as you said, but they couldn't pinpoint exactly who it was at the time. You see in the hour, the security footage, I mean, almost all of it is blacked out except

for the probably the most crucial camera, right?

There's one camera where he spray paints almost all of it. There's probably like one tenth at the top where you can actually see what's happening. But because of that, little slip-up investigators were able to identify what they believe was the scene of the murder, right? It's this maroon minivan.

Yeah, you know, that one tenth of a slip-up, as you said, was huge for the investigators because with that, they were able to see that maroon minivan just kind of making its way through the parking garage. Now, keep in mind as well, though, that they did have other security cameras all the way through.

The maroon minivan was making its way up, it was tracked throughout with other cameras that had not all been spray painted.

That said, though, they were never really able to see the driver or to identify, you know,

the killer in the garage. They needed to do all the police work to connect all those dots. So, you know, what was really fascinating about covering this case is, you see, this is a real police procedural. I mean, this shows you how well the police built their case from the minute.

They had just that little sliver of video that they could see when you say connect all of the other dots. I guess when you have, it seems like you have a little bit to work with. Everything is incredibly important. And so in this video where you can like see the person, just a little bit, but he's almost

completely covered. The only bit of skin that you can really see is right above his forehead.

I had to tell you, looking at that, that was something that I did not notice. I didn't even like consider it as a like a defining feature. I just maybe like the mask was pushing his head down, his skin down.

That would not have jumped out at me, but it became crucial.

Oh, it became huge that forehead crease was such an identifying characteristic. Now, this was from the video from the security cameras a month before in that test run case, that they were able to see a little bit more of that mysterious person behind the mask. And that crinkle in the forehead, it turns out that's a genetic trait. I don't know if, you know, since viewing the hour, if you started looking at people, but

I know when I'm an airport or when I'm, you know, out and about, I start noticing that. And it's very rare that you see that forehead crinkle. So it was definitely something that was a huge break in the case when it came to trying to identify the suspect. I had no idea that was a genetic trait.

Now you're like making me think about my forehead, but as we've been both talks up there. So it's not quite lately. It's just a way. Exactly. All right.

So this turns out to be sort of a critical clue.

And the Hillsboro police immediately focus on Kenny Pantry's wife, Tanya. It's not completely surprising. I mean, if you are 48 hours fan, you know, often this spouse is sort of the person that investigators focus on, but it's also about access, knowing his schedule, knowing where he is.

There's only going to be a handful of people who know that information. So inevitably, that's where investigators are going to start.

“Now, I think maybe some people might see the video of Tanya and think that her demeanors”

may be a little cool. Maybe suspicious. I didn't get that. I thought she seemed adequately, you know, concerned.

But why did police ultimately rule her out?

As you said, people do look at the partner or the spouse, the person closest to the victim. Tanya is there on the scene, even before the responding officer arrived, that arouses some suspicion. However, as Tanya tells that officer, she said, my husband has a stalker and Tanya revealed that she had had a relationship with Steven Milner and they had had an affair that it

had ended years prior. But that Steven Milner was still actively stalking Kenneth Fandridge and also keeping track of her. So she had said many times, leave us alone, and she had also reported that to police. Let's talk about Steven Milner.

Here we have this veterinarian, it's a smart guy, he's popular, he seems sort of pretty normal though. I mean, when they did have the affair, they were kind of eventually sort of blatant about it, right? So that's a little odd for a guy who's, you know, you would think would be concerned about

his professional reputation.

“But did you learn anything more about who he was and his personality?”

We talked a couple of his clients as you saw in the hour, and they say that by all accounts, he was very involved in the community very well-liked, was pretty much a well-known figure in Oregon City where his vet practice was. They also knew Tanya because she worked with him and they had seen their interactions. So they talked about that as well, something in the hour that I was really fascinated

by, I don't know if it kind of hooked other viewers, but that police body cam video where he's being pulled over, right? And he tells the police officer that, you know, Tanya is in danger. Is he just sort of making this up or does he really believe this that this is justifying his behavior when she wants nothing to do with him?

And when he was pulled over for falling Kenny, Miller told police, "Look, I'm the only one who really gives a blank," as he said to the officer at the time, and I'm not allowed to give, you know, a blank. At that point, there had been issues between Tanya and Kenny Fandrich of domestic abuse. Steven Miller really felt like he was the one that could save Tanya from what he felt

could be a dangerous situation for her. Now, the one of the videos that we see in the hour that 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 car after an argument with his wife, and he just looks so sad and heartbroken.

“What more do we know about this marriage and the problems they'd experienced?”

Tanya and Kenny, they had struggled over the years, alcohol typically came into play, according

a he said, she said, "Tanya acknowledged their issues," and as I said, she was very firm

in saying this relationship with Steven Miller happened years ago, it was in her past, and that she and Kenny Fandrich were really trying to work through all those issues and they were stronger than ever as a couple. Welcome back. So Natalie, as you mentioned, investigators really didn't have a lot to go on linking Miller

to Kenny's murder, so they really have to kind of dig in and find this evidence. They go to his house, so I want to ask you, what sort of things did they discover, and

“I definitely want to ask you, what was that with that cardboard cutout in his house?”

Yeah, that was a very odd clue. Miller did have a male roommate who was living with him at the time of his arrest, but investigators when they saw that cardboard cutout, they assumed rightfully so that that was Steven Miller's room because then they opened the drawers, and they see he has this so-called shrine to Tanya with all the love notes and letters that he had kept.

Like even acknowledge those notes and letters, you know, I know you don't want me, there's no refuge or here in this relationship that you want this to be over, but he couldn't get over it. So they felt that Steven Miller seemed like the likely suspect based on all of that, but that said, they still had to make their case, and they had to have solid proof to connect

that this Steven Miller who had this stalking history in past is the guy who was in the

“garage at the time when Kenny Fandrich was killed and to prove that he was the one who”

actually committed the murder. That's the thing, all that extra stuff that perhaps goes to motive, but you need some sort

of solid evidence, so then what ultimately allowed investigators to build their case against

Miller? Well, it really came down to, you know, the good detective work, as we talked about, and following the maroon minivan trail. Steven Miller usually drove a white Toyota SUV, and once they seized the car, investigators were able to analyze the data on the computer within the car, and they noticed that he had

been going to an Oregon City Home Depot. He had been there, in fact, on the day of the murder. So once detectives, Regal and Winter went to that Home Depot, they asked security there if there had been any suspicious activity on the parking lots, turns out the security did notice there had been a couple of cars that had been parking and had gone in and out

of the parking lot a couple of times. Local law enforcement was called and local law enforcement. Then saw these vehicles, they were able to get the wind numbers off of them. These so-called burner cars that Steven Miller was using detectives, Rego and Winter were able to then track down that maroon minivan to a scrapyard, which, as you saw in the

hour, unfortunately, their biggest clue. I mean, they believed the minivan was the murder scene just a week earlier had been crushed. So unfortunately, that big clue that they were hoping for in the minivan was then gone right before their very eyes.

“It still amazed me just how much how often we were all on camera, right?”

This is the first time that I've seen video as investigators sort of watched a key piece

of evidence being destroyed. I'm sure they wanted to kind of like reach into the screen and just plucked that vehicle out. Yeah. Unfortunately, they were a week to late, you know, to get that vehicle.

Had they gotten there a week earlier, they probably could have had that and have gotten all the evidence they needed. That said, they were able to eventually get DNA that was the concrete proof that they needed. Yeah.

And we're going to talk a little bit more about that later. But before we do that, I want to talk to you about the two lead detectives. What was your take on this pair? Oh, yes. Detective Stephanie Winter and Devon Rego, I mean, these are like the dynamic duo of an investigation

team. I really, we all said we're saying they really need their own TV show. I mean, Stephanie is about six foot two or six foot three former college basketball player.

So she was paired up with Devon Rego, who had, you know, a real solid background in working homicides.

And it was a real breakthrough case for both of them because, you know, you don't see

a lot of murders in that area of Hillsborough, Oregon. And here you have this mysterious, such a suspicious case that really came down to, to them chasing all the leads and knowing where to go. And so, finally on January 13, 2025, Stephen Miller goes on trial for stalking and murdering Kenny Fendridge.

But as we pointed out, a ton of forensic evidence is lost because that maroon van is crushed. So the prosecution has to work around that. Was that sort of the, I guess that was the biggest hurdle.

“So, of course, when the detective see that key piece of evidence that maroon minivan being”

crushed, they think, well, there goes our key evidence for trial. However, it really came down to the great police work in this case and being able to connect all the dots and they had plenty of surveillance footage, not to mention past orders of protection that prove that Stephen Miller had been stalking Kenny Fendridge and Tanya and that there had been a history there between them.

Yeah. They did have DNA as well, you know, Stephen Miller's DNA was on Kenny Fendridge's hands.

So that was, was crucial as well.

So, of course, Miller has an explanation for that. He did take the stand. There were no cameras in the courtroom, but there is audio. And so we're going to play some of what he had to say to explain why his DNA was there. This was not included in the one hour broadcast. He is speaking with Defense Attorney Amanda Teebo.

He's under direct examination and here's what he had to say. What happened next? I jumped out towards him. What happened next?

“Then he did basically fight for a little bit.”

Okay. Can you describe that fight for me? There was pushing and shoving and I was kind of trying to push him back into his power and he was punching out me. Did you punch Kenny Fendridge?

Me? I don't know. Did you kick him? I didn't kick him. Did you grab onto him?

Yes. What happened next? Eventually I was able to kind of push him up against the car and then shove him into the car. Much force for you using when you were pushing and shoving him, Mr. Miller. Much as I could.

Why? I was scared. It was nerve fighting. What were you scared of?

“He had him that he was going to hurt me.”

That's so interesting to hear and first of all, even to just see him take the stand.

You know, hear Stephen Miller is not denying that he was there. He said I was there. Yes, I was the one who spray painted the cameras. But he claimed he did it all out of self-defense. He said when Miller confronted Kenny, he's like Kenny is the one who attacked me.

He says that he's defending Tanya. I would think a self-defense claim is pretty tough when it's not like Tanya is there. He's seeking out Kenny at his place of work. His whole self-defense defense really didn't make sense. Stephen Miller said that his reasons for being there in the parking garage and for going

after Kenny in that case was because he felt that Kenny Fandridge was a continued threat to Tanya because of the past abusive claims in their relationship. Now, the prosecutor Mahaley Street Blow said that in that testimony did not line up at all with the physical evidence at the scene. It goes against everything that they were able to piece together.

But, you know, I imagine that his defense attorneys thought letting him take the stand and speak to his own defense and reasons for being there, perhaps if he could convince one jury member that, you know, he was the guy who was really just there trying to do a good deed trying to protect Tanya and then that it was, you know, Kenny Fandridge who came after him all he needed to do was to convince one juror.

Clearly, the jury didn't buy his self-defense defense. Robin Miller found guilty of murdering Kenny Fandridge and also found guilty of multiple stalking charges. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.

This is a couple that did everything right.

“They did everything that they were supposed to do and they still were not protected.”

Yes, and that, in fact, is what is so tragic about the case is that there's such a clear history of stalking here and, you know, previously Miller had been criminally charged back in August of 2022 when he had planted another tracking device on Kenny's car, then Kenny filed that civil suit where he was seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages for inflection of emotional distress.

The prosecutor's brought all of this up and Tonya even raised it herself in her victim impact statement.

She looked at Stephen Miller and she said, all you had to do was stop.

“She said that she and her husband, Kenny Fandridge, are doing everything they possibly”

could to try to alert authorities to Stephen Miller's stalking behavior, prosecutors acknowledged the only other thing they possibly could have done because there had been multiple orders of protection already taken out, would be to track Stephen Miller himself. I mean, had authorities been tracking Stephen Miller. They would have seen there's about a 45 minute drive where he's going back and forth

from Oregon City to Hillsborough, tracking Kenny Fandridge and following him as he went to work. How is Tonya doing today? Well, you know, Tonya obviously has experienced a lot of loss in her life. Saying no amount of money will make up for that.

But Kenny's estate has a wrongful death suit against Stephen Miller. If any money is won, Tonya would stand to benefit. Kenny's estate is seeking damages of several millions of dollars and reportedly Stephen Miller sold his veterinary clinic years ago and apparently has an estimated net worth of several million dollars that you can imagine.

She's has to be shattered, she's a victim in this case, she was a stalking victim and then her husband was murdered, so she is a victim on so many sides of this case. Yeah. Absolutely.

You know, you always try to look for the lessons in all of these stories.

“I think if there is a lesson, it's that stalking behavior is not normal, right?”

It's not something to be dismissed and you should take it seriously. Yeah. And certainly, Tonya and Kenny Vandrich did and still it was not enough in this case. No, absolutely not. Natalie, thank you very much.

Thanks for having me, I'm Marie. And to everyone else, follow and listen to post-mortem on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. We're about to go kill some of them and it did look like a one-way ticket experience life on the front lines of infamous US Special Off Forces missions.

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