Former Oregon City veterinarian who killed ex-lover’s husband receives life sentence

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A former Oregon City veterinarian was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday after a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder, stalking and other charges.

Last month, a Washington County jury reached a verdict in the murder trial against Steven Milner, who was accused of stalking and killing another man found dead in the parking garage of a Hillsboro Intel facility in 2023.

Milner was also found guilty of seven counts of violating a court stalking protective order. He previously pleaded not guilty to the charges — including for murder and stalking — and claimed he was acting in self-defense, the Washington County District Attorney’s Office said.

The verdict comes after Hillsboro Police Department said officers responded to a call at the Ronler Acres campus on January 27, 2023, where they found 56-year-old Kenneth Fandrich — an Intel contractor– dead in his vehicle.

According to police, Milner and Fandrich had “a history of problematic interactions between the two.” Their conflict began after Fandrich discovered an affair between his wife and Milner, the Washington County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday — noting “When the woman ended her relationship with Mr. Milner, he became obsessed with her and began stalking her and the victim.”

Court documents claimed Milner, a former animal surgeon, threatened to cut Fandrich’s body into pieces and followed him from his home to a gas station on or around March 1, 2022. The court then issued a stalking protective order against Milner. He is believed to have violated the protective order around April 30, 2022, to place the tracking device on Fandrich’s car, according to court documents.

Prosecutors said Milner purchased two additional cars, one of which was bought under a fake name, to continue stalking Fandrich covertly. He also used “numerous tracking devices” and attached them to the cars of Fandrich and his wife, officials said. Milner also used disguises while stalking Fandrich at the Intel facility and spray-painted security cameras in the parking lot, near where Fandrich was parked, including on the day he was killed, the DA’s office said.

On the day of Fandrich’s murder, the DA’s office said Milner ambushed him in the parking garage and put Fandrich in a chokehold. After killing him, Milner placed Fandrich’s body and belongings in his vehicle to make it appear as if he died from natural causes, authorities said.

However, an autopsy revealed that Fandrich “died from blunt compression trauma to his neck,” according to police, leading to then-55-year-old Milner’s arrest on January 31, 2023, in connection to the murder.