Detective Devin Rigo knew the clock was ticking as he raced to a metallic scrapyard simply north of Portland, Oregon. Rigo, with the Hillsboro Police Division, had simply realized concerning the discovery of a maroon minivan he believed contained proof linked to the homicide of 56-year-old Kenneth “Kenny” Fandrich, a contract pipe fitter.
On Jan. 27, 2023, Kenny Fandrich was found in a parking storage on the Intel campus in Hillsboro. Police reviewed surveillance digicam photographs and decided that Fandrich had been dragged into the minivan by a masked man. Police believed the killer had damaged Fandrich’s neck and killed him contained in the minivan, earlier than staging his physique again within the driver’s seat of his personal automobile.
From proof discovered on the scene, investigators believed the homicide suspect tried to cowl his crime by spray-painting a number of safety cameras within the parking storage with blue spray paint. Correspondent Natalie Morales covers the investigation into Kenny Fandrich’s homicide and the hunt for the killer in “Murder in the Parking Garage,” now streaming on Paramount+.
Washington County District Legal professional’s Workplace
Quickly after police arrived on the scene, Intel safety personnel offered investigators with recordings from their tons of of safety cameras within the parking storage. Police quickly had photographs of a suspect – carrying a tough hat, tinted glasses and a face masks – spray-painting the safety cameras round Fandrich’s automobile early that morning, to apparently conceal the crime. On the time, the suspect had not been detected by Intel. However when police regarded on the footage, they found that the spray paint did not cowl every little thing the cameras recorded.
Washington County District Legal professional’s Workplace
Police believed that whoever had killed Fandrich waited for him inside that minivan, then attacked Fandrich when he returned to his automobile after his shift. The killer left the storage within the maroon minivan quickly after.
The night time that Fandrich’s physique was discovered, his spouse, Tanya Fandrich, informed investigators Kenny had a stalker: a well-off former veterinarian named Dr. Steven Milner. Tanya Fandrich had labored for Milner at his vet clinic for years, they usually had an affair, which Tanya Fandrich stated was lengthy over. Police discovered that Kenny Fandrich had filed a number of orders for defense towards Milner, and that Milner had been warned by Hillsboro cops to cease following Kenny Fandrich. Simply months earlier than Kenny Fandrich’s homicide, Milner had been caught inserting a monitoring machine on one of many Fandrichs’ autos and was criminally charged. After a number of days of investigation, police arrested Milner and charged him with the homicide of Kenny Fandrich.
As soon as in custody, police have been in a position to join the minivan, and one other automobile, to Milner, who had left them at a Dwelling Depot car parking zone for lengthy intervals of time.
To show the case towards Milner, investigators felt they needed to discover that minivan. “As a result of it is the minivan that we imagine was actually our predominant crime scene …” stated Rigo. “We thought there was going to be forensic proof … in that minivan.”
Rigo and his accomplice, Detective Stephanie Winter, known as the autos “burner vehicles.”
“Everyone sort of is extra conversant in like a burner cellphone …” stated Rigo, “the place you’ve gotten a cellphone that is not … traced to you however, you realize, you should use it for what you want, eliminate it … Basically, he did the identical factor, however with a automobile.”
The maroon minivan had been flagged on the Dwelling Depot car parking zone and the VIN quantity had been recorded. Safety footage confirmed the van leaving the Dwelling Depot car parking zone shortly earlier than Fandrich was murdered.
“We’re sending flyers to each company within the space,” stated Rigo concerning the minivan’s VIN quantity.
Washington County District Legal professional’s Workplace
The primary alert they bought was from the Oregon Division of Transportation. The minivan had been towed off the facet of the busy I-5 freeway in North Portland simply days after Fandrich was murdered. Detectives imagine it had been dumped there by Milner. Rigo known as the tow firm and came upon the minivan had been offered to a scrap metallic firm. That is when he began racing to the scrapyard to see if they may retrieve the minivan, and the important thing crime scene proof it could have held. However he was too late. When Rigo arrived and requested concerning the minivan, he was proven a video of the crime scene being picked up and smashed to items. “I used to be in a position to watch considered one of my key items of proof be crushed and brought away,” stated Rigo, “earlier than my very eyes … precisely every week too late.”
Uncover how the investigation unfolded, and Milner’s protection at trial, on this week’s “48 Hours,” “Homicide within the Parking Storage.”