Accused Killerâ€™s Wife Speaks Openly About Her Husband

The wife of the accused killer of a Bixby woman speaks out. Steven Thacker's wife Trena talked openly Thursday about her marriage to him and the events that transpired the day Laci Hill was murdered.

Thursday, December 30th 1999, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

The wife of the accused killer of a Bixby woman speaks out. Steven Thacker's wife Trena talked openly Thursday about her marriage to him and the events that transpired the day Laci Hill was murdered.

The search for Steven Thacker goes on in Missouri. Investigators are checking every car going in and coming out of a wooded area north of Springfield where police think Thacker might be hiding. Thursday, the Mayes County District Attorney officially charged Thacker with first degree murder. This was in addition to the charge he already faces of possession of stolen credit cards. Also on Thursday, the Tulsa County Medical Examiner released a preliminary report explaining how Hill died. The report lists the cause of death as stab wounds to the chest.

Mrs. Thacker lived with her husband in a simple home on the edge of Chouteau. They married in August of this year, after meeting in early summer. She described this past week as humiliating. First, she learned her husband was wanted when she saw surveillance video of him on television. Now she knows she's married to an accused murderer. â€œI want everyone to know that it wasn't us that did this,â€ she said. â€œSteve is sick. He's got a sick mind. His mind isn't right, and it's not us. We're victims, too.

Mrs. Thacker was with her husband when authorities say he used Hill's credit card.
She says he didn't have money, but had an explanation for his spending spree. â€œHe said that his mother had wired him some money,â€ she explained. â€œThat's what he told me and I believed him. He also said that he had Christmas on layaway and that he just wanted to surprise my children and me. He didn't tell us what it was because he wanted it to be a surprise for the holidays," she continued.

Authorities believe Thacker killed Hill last Thursday, then used her credit cards to buy Christmas presents. He was with his wife and family on Christmas Day. â€œHe spent Christmas with me and my family at my parents home like nothing has ever happened, like he had done nothing wrong,â€ Mrs. Thacker said. â€œIt shocks my whole family and me. And knowing that her body was up there on that hill and he just set there in the house with us like all he did was maybe kill an animalâ€¦to take a life like that it's awful.â€

Thacker's wife says he comes from a good family in Florida. And though she knew he was an ex-con, she didn't know he had served time so recently. He was released from prison in May. â€œI really felt that he really wanted to change, that he wanted to move on and have a better life,â€ she explained. â€œHe led me to believe that's what he wanted too. He said that my children and I meant more to him than anything in this world and he was so lucky to have me and my kids,â€ she recalled.

As for the on-going manhunt for her husband, Mrs. Thacker isn't sure what to hope for.
â€œIt would just make it a lot easier if he's dead or if he kills himself,â€ she said. â€œMaybe I'm just being selfish. I hope that he does come back, so I can ask him â€˜why did you do this?â€™ â€œLook at what you put me and my kids through. All that I have done for him and have given to him was more than what anyone has ever given to him,â€ she explained. â€œHe's just thrown it all away by killing an innocent, beautiful lady and wrecking her families lives. It's devastating,â€ she continued.

Mrs. Thacker says she last saw her husband Monday night, just after authorities believe he learned he was wanted in the Hill investigation. Thacker told her he was going to look for a lost wallet. â€œHe thought he had left it at Wal-Mart at the register,â€
she remembered. â€œHe said, â€œI'll be right back.â€ I said, â€œGood luck.â€ He turned and looked at me funny. Then I said, â€œI hope you find your wallet.â€ That night was the last time I saw him.

Mrs. Thacker was questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and cleared of any wrongdoing. She turned in her husband, after seeing close-up surveillance video of him on television. She plans to divorce him as soon as possible.