Okla. Man Charged With First Degree Murder, Admits To Dismembering Girlfriend

Prosecutors have charged a Kingfisher man with his girlfriend’s death. 

Two weeks after Steven Stricker’s girlfriend’s remains were found in the couple’s backyard, Stricker was charged with murder and desecration of a human corpse.

According to new court documents, once brought into custody, Stricker told detectives he and Brenda Baber spent the early morning hours of April 2 arguing. He said Baber, his longtime live-in girlfriend, fell into the bathtub, hit her head and died.

Stricker then told officers he checked Baber’s pulse about a minute and a half after she fell, and she was dead.  In a panic, he said, he used a kitchen knife to dismember her in the bathroom of their home.

Read Related Story: Gruesome Details Reported In Murder Of 56-Year-Old Kingfisher Woman

“Maybe an accident, oh my God I really did this, but dismember somebody? And bury them and cover it up? There's something wrong there,” said neighbor Donovan Mitchel.

Stricker told investigators he burned Brenda’s remains in his fireplace and disposed of her ashes in the garbage.

According to a statement from the OSBI, agents from the Crime Scene Unit, an anthropologist from the Oklahoma Office of Chief Medical Examiner and officers from the Kingfisher Police Department worked diligently recovering human remains from the couple's garden.

Police reports stated investigators found more than 100 bone fragments, including a small piece of skull.

Stricker's sister reached out to law enforcement saying her brother called her and admitted to killing his girlfriend, something he threatened before.

“He did say it to me if she took my stuff again, I will kill her, “ said Stricker’s sister Julia Blanchard.

 Investigators said they saw several small cuts and burns on Stricker's hands and arms after arresting him.