It was 1 p.m. on May 8, 2018, when Massachusetts State Police detectives arrived at a farmhouse in Westfield. 51-year-old Amy Fanion lay useless within the eating room from a single gunshot wound to the top.
Amy Fanion’s husband, Brian Fanion, a detective within the Westfield Police Department, had referred to as 911 minutes earlier, reporting that his spouse had shot herself.
Det. Mike McNally: Amy was basically … in a pile of blood that was starting to congeal below her left facet.
The eating room, rearranged to accommodate medical personnel, was in disarray as detectives labored to establish clues of what might have occurred.
Det. Mike McNally: There was a … blood spatter round that window body from that eating room into the breezeway. … There was a pair of glasses that appeared prefer it had some form of red-brown spatter on it.
Hampden County District Attorney’s Office
And then there was the bullet.
Det. Mike Blanchette: The precise projectile … was in that entrance … enclosed porch space. … The spent shell casing was nonetheless within the eating room.
Det. Mike McNally: We may see the path that it traveled, via Amy’s head … that spherical impacted that dresser, got here to a relaxation proper round there within the breezeway.
Det. Brendan O’Toole: Brian was sitting in a chair with his again to the wall and … he is with the chief of police from the Westfield police division, who’s speaking with him. … Everyone was in a state of shock.
Everyone, together with Amy Fanion’s brother, Eric Hansen, who instructed detectives that he had simply completed taking part in disc golf behind the home when he heard Brian Fanion’s cry for assist.
And that is when he walked into the home, noticed Amy Fanion on the ground, a gun subsequent to her, and Brian Fanion holding Amy’s hand.
Det. Mike Blanchette: So he picked up the gun himself and moved it, uh, out of Brian’s attain.
Nikki Battiste: — as a result of he was frightened about Brian’s mind-set having simply misplaced his spouse.
Det. Mike Blanchette: Yes.
Nikki Battiste: What form of gun was used?
Det. Brendan O’Toole: A Smith & Wesson, uh, M&P 45. … Brian Fanion’s responsibility weapon.
Nikki Battiste: That provide you with any pause that it was Brian Fanion’s weapon?
Det. Brendan O’Toole: Yes. It gave me pause … at this level I do know that I’m going to actually do an in depth investigation.
THE INVESTIGATION BEGINS
To keep away from battle of curiosity, O’Toole mentioned he determined that his unit, the Massachusetts State Police, could be the only investigators, and he needed to get Brian Fanion away from the home to get a press release.
Det. Brendan O’Toole: I requested if he would accompany me to the Massachusetts State Police barracks in Russell. … And … I took a uh, tape recorded assertion from him.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE (police assertion): Tuesday May eighth. It’s 2:41 p.m. … I’m with Brian Fanion. Brian, um, do you perceive I obtained a recorder on proper now?
BRIAN FANION: Yes.
Brian Fanion instructed O’Toole that he left his workplace on the Westfield Police Station round 11:45 a.m. and drove to North Road to satisfy his spouse who was on her approach dwelling to arrange their lunch.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE (police assertion): What was she making?
BRIAN FANION: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Brian Fanion mentioned that when he arrived, they continued an argument from the night time prior — an argument that had gotten fairly heated that night.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE (police assertion): When you say heated, I assume what —
BRIAN FANION: Just, uh, I do not know … She simply, uh, was very indignant.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: What was the argument about?
BRIAN FANION: Um, I’m retiring quickly … We have been discussing what every of us expects retirement to be.
Brian Fanion mentioned he instructed Amy that he did not wish to spend his retirement sustaining their 200-year-old dwelling, which Amy nonetheless cherished. They additionally mentioned their getting old canine, and his reluctance to get one other one.
BRIAN FANION (police assertion): I do not wish to be tied down by a canine. … Yeah. … She at all times desires to have a canine. … I wish to journey greater than she does.
According to Brian Fanion, that afternoon, during lunch, Amy Fanion instructed him she had scheduled them to attend a member of the family’s play on the day Brian needed to attend a disc golf match.
BRIAN FANION (police assertion): I simply mentioned, “oh I don’t like that stuff. Why would you commit me when — or without asking?”
That’s when, in response to Brian Fanion, issues quickly took a flip for the more serious.
BRIAN FANION (police assertion): I took my gun out of the holster and put it on our hutch as a result of I had to make use of the toilet.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: Where is the hutch positioned?
BRIAN FANION: In the eating room.
Brian Fanion mentioned he closed the toilet door, and when he got here out, Amy Fanion had the gun in her hand.
BRIAN FANION (police assertion): She has the — the gun pointed as much as the proper facet of her head.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: What did you hear her say?
BRIAN FANION: I — I feel she mentioned, I assume you do not need — you do not need me round or you do not wish to be round me.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: Was she seated or —
BRIAN FANION: No. She stood up.
BRENDAN O’TOOLE: She was standing. OK.
According to Brian Fanion, he was 4 to 5 toes away when he tried to cease his spouse from pulling the set off.
BRIAN FANION (police assertion): I attempted to get to her. I nearly did. … The gun simply exploded. … It was simply so fast. She did not hesitate in any respect. … I simply went over, and I simply held her arms. Tried to — simply held her arms (crying).
Brian Fanion referred to as 911 and yelled out to Amy’s brother, Eric Hansen, for assist.
Hansen instructed detectives that Brian Fanion mentioned he and Amy had been having a tense argument.
ERIC HANSEN (police interview): And she grabbed the gun … he simply was so distraught.
DET. MIKE BLANCHETTE: Did he say what they have been arguing about?
ERIC HANSEN: No. I used to be simply making an attempt to console him, say, it is not your fault, it is not your fault.
Amy’s Fanion’s death had shocked the Westfield group.
Stephanie Barry is a reporter for The Republican in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Stephanie Barry: Amy’s maiden title was Hansen. She got here from a reasonably large household … She and her sisters … have been all often called a few of the prettiest women in class, a few of the smartest, and a few of the nicest.
It was 1983 when 16-year-old Amy Hansen met 19-year-old Brian Fanion. Fanion got here from an extended line of law enforcement officials and politicians, and in Westfield, the Fanion title was a supply of pleasure.
Stephanie Barry: The Fanions have been form of just like the Kennedys of Westfield. They have been nicely regarded.
Firtion Adams Funeral Home
Brian and Amy tied the knot in 1985, and the couple ultimately had two youngsters, Travis and Victoria. Amy Fanion’s shut buddy, Teri Licciardi says Amy cherished being a stay-at-home mother.
Teri Licciardi: Amy’s focus was elevating her youngsters. … she thought that being a father or mother was the perfect job in the entire world.
The Fanions, deeply dedicated to their religion, devoted their lives to God and group service, with Brian Fanion serving as a church deacon and dealing as a missionary to construct wells in Mexico.
After 30 years of marriage, the Fanions have been planning their subsequent section of life when these plans derailed.
Nikki Battiste: Is there any information that Amy Fanion had any psychological well being points or suffered from melancholy?
Brendan O’Toole: So, I — I requested Brian … And, um, he talked about, um, a few years earlier … she was having some psychological points, through which she was on medication for a time frame … aside from that, nothing — nothing latest.
But what Brian Fanion did stress was that his spouse had bouts with anger.
BRIAN FANION (police assertion): She had a mood, however she hid it nicely from everybody however me. She solely obtained that indignant once we have been alone.
Midway into the interview, O’Toole requested Brian Fanion if there have been any feminine mates in his life.
BRIAN FANION (police assertion): I’ve a lady who lives in Pittsfield that I met not too long ago, I did a mission journey to Mexico, and we change into good mates.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: What’s that woman’s title?
BRIAN FANION: Cori.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: Does she have a final title or —?
BRIAN FANION: Cori Knowles, Okay-N-O-W-L-E-S. You guys aren’t going to contact her. Are you?
BRIAN FANION’S DELETED TEXTS RAISE SUSPICION
For Detective O’Toole, Brian Fanion’s admitted friendship with one other girl raised questions.
Fanion had instructed detectives that Corrine Knowles, often called Cori, was a fellow missionary at a close-by church. The two met in November 2017 on a mission journey in Mexico, and a friendship developed, however it had by no means gone past that.
Hampden County Superior Court
Nikki Battiste: An emotional affair?
Det. Brendan O’Toole: He mentioned there was some flirting, however he certified it, that it wasn’t —
Nikki Battiste: Sexual?
Det. Brendan O’Toole: — a sexual. It was not a — his time period was it was not a mates with advantages.
At the top of the interview, O’Toole requested Fanion to show over his private cellphone.
Det. Brendan O’Toole: I turned off the recorder and that is when Brian instructed me … He’s like, you are going to see some issues on there and it is not what it seems to be.
Nikki Battiste: Red flag for you?
Det. Brendan O’Toole: Yeah. … There’s a number of pink flags … as a — an investigator … it’s a must to hold an open thoughts.
Within per week of Brian Fanion’s interview, on May 14, 2018, Amy Fanion’s wake was held.
Brian Fanion planted a tree in close by Stanley Park in his wife’s reminiscence, however the investigation into her sudden death was simply starting.
Detectives recovered a treasure trove of deleted textual content messages from Brian Fanion’s cellphone together with these exchanges on May 4 and 5:
MAY 4, 2018:
CORI KNOWLES | 9:42 AM: Mmmmm … To really feel your sizzling breath on my pores and skin!!!
CORI KNOWLES | 9:48 AM: Have I instructed you that I really like being your Angel? …
BRIAN FANION | 9:59 AM: I swear God made you for me …
CORI KNOWLES | 1:11 PM: I so want to listen to your voice … I really like you!!!
BRIAN FANION | 1:19 PM: Amy continues to be paying attention and clingy …
BRIAN FANION | 9:08 PM: Thank You for being you, essentially the most superb girl that I’ve ever recognized.
MAY 5, 2018:
CORI KNOWLES | 4:31 PM: My coronary heart belongs to you…
BRIAN FANION | 4:26 PM: … I’d be misplaced with out you :):):):) I’m eternally yours.
BRIAN FANION | 7:39 PM: I really like you Cori!!!
CORI KNOWLES | 7:43 PM: I really like you a lot Brian!!!!!
Det. Mike Blanchette: There have been simply lots of of texts that expanded on the connection that he was having with Cori.
On May 7, the day earlier than Amy Fanion died, Brian Fanion and Knowles exchanged 72 textual content messages till 9:47 p.m. that night.
In one change at 9:23 p.m., Brian Fanion writes, “Good night my love!!! I hope you have wonderful dreams of amazing days and nights to come:):):):).”
At 10:33 p.m. Knowles responds, “Good night My love … I will dream of you and all that they (sic) future holds for us!”
The subsequent morning at 10:30 a.m., Knowles texts, “When can I hold you again?????”
To which Brian Fanion responds, “… not soon enough. Turning into a very long morning.
Nikki Battiste: And within an hour or two, Amy Fanion is dead.
Det. Mike Blanchette: Yes.
At 12:47 p.m. on May 8, Brian Fanion texts Knowles, “Please do not name or textual content for some time. I’ll name after I can actually unhealthy pray for my household please.”
Det. Brendan O’Toole: Brian has not been entirely truthful to us at this point. And so we want to speak with him again.
Hampden County Superior Court
On May 17, 2018, three days after Amy Fanion’s wake, Brian Fanion arrived on the District Attorney’s State Police Office for an additional spherical of questioning.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE (police interview): So we simply wanted to, you realize, uh, make clear some issues. … you realize your Miranda rights, however I — I’m going to learn them off this way.
BRIAN FANION: Now — the opposite day you did not do that. Has one thing modified?…
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: You’re not, you are not below arrest or something.
BRIAN FANION: Well, I do know that.
And on that very same day, throughout city, detectives met with Cori Knowles to be taught extra about her involvement with Brian Fanion.
DET. MIKE MCNALLY (police interview): If any person was to say, who’s Cori, who’re you?
Cori Knowles, a 48-year-old spouse, grandmother, and member of her church’s choir, instructed detectives that Brian Fanion’s friendship helped her work via a troubled second marriage.
CORI KNOWLES: Brian may be very straightforward to speak to. … nothing however affirmation and love, and I’m right here for you.
But over time, their relationship moved from friendship to flirtation.
CORI KNOWLES (police interview): Did I really feel ardour for him? Absolutely.
By April 16, 2018, 5 months into Brian Fanion and Knowles’ relationship, their texting gave strategy to one thing extra intimate when Knowles visited Fanion’s home earlier than they left for volunteer work.
DET. MIKE MCNALLY (police interview): Was that the primary time you have been intimate that you just kissed, at, on that April day, the sixteenth?
CORI KNOWLES: Yeah.
DET. MIKE MCNALLY (police interview): And then the place was that?
CORI KNOWLES: I wanna say the kitchen. … ‘trigger I obtained there earlier than Amy obtained dwelling.
Knowles instructed detectives that by late April, she and Brian Fanion have been having passionate make-out classes in her truck.
At 5:29 p.m. on April 23, 2018, Knowles texts Brian Fanion, “I can feel your … lips on mine!!!! LOVE that Memory!!!:):):)
At 5:34 p. m., Brian Fanion replies, “… I’m considering of the one together with your legs round my waist … Oh my … “
Det. Mike McNally: Brian left work early, met up with Cori in Westfield at Stanley Park and so they made out … there was, some sexual touching.
But in response to Knowles, Brian Fanion couldn’t carry out.
CORI KNOWLES (police interview): It was extra like as a result of I’m nonetheless married to — to Amy —
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE (police interview): We’ve seen the textual content messages. In all honesty, Brian, it appears prefer it’s much more than a friendship. You know.
BRIAN FANION: I do know it escalated … and I’m utterly embarrassed by it, ashamed of it and should not occur.
Nikki Battiste: But lots of people have affairs and —
Det. Brendan O’Toole: Correct.
Nikki Battiste: — do not kill their spouse.
Det. Brendan O’Toole: Correct.
O’Toole then asks Brian Fanion to return over his assertion of what occurred, starting for the time being when Fanion mentioned he positioned his gun on the hutch and went inside the toilet.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE (police interview): All proper. So, you come out of the toilet, proper, and she or he’s on the desk. Where — the place simply point out like the place —
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: Between the desk and the hutch?
BRIAN FANION: Yeah.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: In — in a chair proper there?
BRIAN FANION: I do not know if she was sitting or standing. I feel she was standing. I imply, um, shoot — I feel she was sitting.
Det. Mike Blanchette: Now, once we have been making an attempt to get these, step-by-step particulars, he gave the impression to be wavering.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: So, you come out of the toilet. OK? … And then what’s the very first thing that occurs?
BRIAN FANION: I simply bear in mind her saying that — that you just clearly don’t need me round.
And then O’Toole asks Brian Fanion to reveal what Amy Fanion did with the gun.
BRIAN FANION: I simply bear in mind seeing her hand provide you with the gun.
DET. MIKE BLANCHETTE: Towards her head?
BRIAN FANION: Yeah.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: So, she places it to the facet of her head?
BRIAN FANION: Yes.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: OK.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: And — and the place was the gun when it went off? Was it in the identical —
BRIAN FANION: Right to her head.
But there’s a downside. What Brian Fanion didn’t know was {that a} CSI report and Amy Fanion’s post-mortem outcomes had arrived.
Det. Brendan O’Toole: … the gunshot entrance wound was not in keeping with a self-inflicted wound.
Nikki Battiste: Fair to say it took this case in a complete new path?
Det. Brendan O’Toole: Yes.
QUESTIONING BRIAN FANION’S STORY
During the second interview with Brian Fanion, O’Toole And Blanchette discovered themselves going through a problem that examined their expertise as investigators.
Det. Brendan O’Toole: This just isn’t a — a standard interview for myself and Mike. We’ve executed 1000’s of interviews. You know, we’re fairly good at it, however it’s onerous when it is a police officer, as a result of he is aware of precisely how we work … it was … a troublesome interview.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE (police interview): There’s an issue. I’ll be straight up …
Detectives laid out with what they thought-about to be essential proof of their investigation.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE (police interview): There’s no indication – by any means, up to now that she had a gun near the facet of her head.
BRIAN FANION: Well, then you definately’re mistaken ‘trigger she did. ‘Cause I noticed it and it occurred.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: You — you realize
BRIAN FANION: How do you say there is no indication?
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: Well, I imply, that is what — that is what, you realize, that is what it is displaying us proper now.
The medical expert listed Amy Fanion’s method of death as undetermined. And mixed with CSI findings, investigators didn’t consider that she died of a self-inflicted wound.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE (police interview): I imply, there is no doubt she — was shot was, however the query is, from what distance?
BRIAN FANION: It was proper freaking there. I’m telling you. . . nicely do what you must however I’m telling you it was proper there.
In Amy’s case, distance mattered. This is as a result of with self-inflicted gunshot wounds, particles, often called gunshot residue, is expelled from the firearm. It leaves a definite sample on and contained in the wound often called stippling.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE (police interview): Like, if Brian, you — you perceive like weapons and stippling and all that stuff?
BRIAN FANION: I do and I am unable to —
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: There’s none on her, Brian. There’s none on her!
BRIAN FANION: There must be ‘trigger the gun was the — proper freaking there!
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: There’s none on her.
BRIAN FANION: Then they’re mistaken. I’m telling you they’re — they’re flat out mistaken, ‘trigger it was proper freaking there.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: The different choice is you bought pissed and you are a foot — or just a few toes away and also you shot her within the head —
BRIAN FANION: No, no.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: — when she’s sitting consuming a peanut butter sandwich.
BRIAN FANION: Didn’t occur.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: Didn’t occur?
BRIAN FANION: Did not occur.
DET. BRENDAN O’TOOLE: Alright.
With Brian Fanion’s affair exposed and CSI experiences in hand, detectives suspected Fanion had seemingly shot his spouse, however they nonetheless wanted extra proof.
On May 24, 2018, detectives obtained a search warrant for Fanion’s dwelling, and when detectives arrived —
Det. Brendan O’Toole: Brian … requested if I used to be there to arrest him. And I instructed him I wasn’t. And then he requested me if I believed he did it.
Nikki Battiste: Were you shocked he requested you that?
Det. Brendan O’Toole: I used to be noting it. I did not know easy methods to really feel … and I did not reply his query.
Detectives took further measurements to research the trajectory of the bullet.
Fanion’s dwelling electronics have been confiscated. And on the identical time, his desktop pc and laptop computer on the Westfield Police Station have been seized for knowledge extraction.
Nikki Battiste: Did you see any indicators that Brian Fanion deliberate to kill his spouse? Any proof that factors to that?
Det. Brendan O’Toole: We see a totality of all of the proof right here. … Um, we’re not the very fact finders. Um, we’re, we’re detectives, so we, we acquire all this data after which … it’ll be introduced … and another person goes to make a willpower on that.
And that somebody could be Hampden County Assistant District Attorney Mary Sandstrom. New to the murder division, Sandstrom had arrived in Massachusetts by means of New York.
Nikki Battiste: Is it honest to say you have been a fish out of water a bit?
Mary Sandstrom (laughs): It’s at all times onerous not being from the realm through which you prosecute. … uh, it is a very small, very intimately linked city. … So, sure, you are by no means the place you do not know all people by title.
Nikki Battiste: Adding to the issue, Brian Fanion is a detective. … And revered.
Mary Sandstrom: Very a lot in — in that group.
As spring gave strategy to summer time, Knowles ended her relationship with Brian Fanion. By early 2019, Fanion retired from the police pressure.
The investigation into Amy Fanion’s death continued.
Mary Sandstrom: We’re nonetheless making an attempt to get some testing executed … as a result of we wanna have a powerful case as potential earlier than we go in earlier than the grand jury.
And a complication within the type of a letter was among the many case recordsdata.
Amy Fanion’s relations expressed their “unfailing support” of Brian Fanion, saying “we are certain Amy took her own life.” The letter was signed by Amy’s siblings, and even her personal mom.
Nikki Battiste: That’s gotta be robust for you.
Mary Sandstrom: It’s an ungainly place for a prosecutor, the place your sufferer household is not supporting you. … It was an odd spot to be in.
An odd spot, maybe, however not a deterrent. On Nov. 6, 2019, 17 months after Amy Fanion died, detectives arrived at Brian Fanion’s door.
Det. Mike McNally: Brian … got here to the eating room door … fairly shortly as I recollect it, and he mentioned one thing to the impact of, are available in. … Then Mike Blanchette started to explain to Brian, “Brian, we have an arrest warrant for you.”
NEWS REPORT|WBTZ: Police say Brian Fanion instructed them that his spouse shot herself with his gun whereas he was at dwelling on a lunch break final 12 months.
Det. Mike McNally: I bear in mind telling him, put your arms behind your again. I took out my handcuffs.
NEWS REPORT: AUDREY RUSSO | WESTERN MASS NEWS: … via their investigation, they solely solidified their suspicion that Brian pulled the set off.
Det. Mike McNally: He was consuming … assorted nuts … simply popping some in his mouth … And as he put his arms behind his again, he allow them to drop to the ground.
Det. Mike McNally: We transported Brian to the Russell State Police barracks. … he is processed. Photographed. Fingerprinted.
NEWS REPORT | CHRIS PISANO | WESTERN MASS NEWS: … stands accused of killing his spouse in what was initially reported as …
Det. Mike McNally: I assessed a sense of despair on Brian’s face, like … I am unable to consider that is taking place.
FORMER DETECTIVE GOES ON TRIAL FOR MURDER
Stephanie Barry, against the law reporter at The Republican newspaper, recollects the weird scene that performed out 15 miles away, in Springfield, Massachusetts, contained in the Hampden County Superior Court in early November 2019.
Stephanie Barry: There’s nobody who spent any period of time in Westfield who did not know who Brian Fanion was.
Stephanie Barry: It was a fairly full home. And the form of palpable shock remained all through the whole continuing.
Hampden District Attorney’s Office
Brian Fanion, who appeared for his preliminary arraignment, entered a plea of not responsible. And sitting proper behind him have been members of each Brian’s and Amy Fanion’s household.
Stephanie Barry: I am unable to consider one other occasion when I’ve seen the household of a sufferer … sticking up for the accused assassin of their cherished one.
And regardless of the absence of help from members of Amy Fanion’s household, ADA Sandstrom continued to construct her case.
Court exhibit
Nikki Battiste: What was Amy Fanion like?
Mary Sandstrom: She appears like a fairytale. … giving, selfless. … utterly devoted to her household.
According to Sandstrom, the night time earlier than Amy Fanion died, she was making a present for an upcoming child bathe that she deliberate to attend, and was texting her daughter, Victoria.
Nikki Battiste: Did anybody ever say that Amy was ever suicidal?
Mary Sandstrom: She wasn’t an individual who was able to die. … Amy was wholesome. She was blissful.
Nikki Battiste: What do you assume Brian Fanion’s motive was?
Mary Sandstrom: He was prepared to start out a brand new chapter of his life that didn’t embrace Amy Fanion. … He’s chosen his life companion in Cori. Amy is the one factor standing in the way in which now.
Nikki Battiste: And that is at all times the million-dollar query. Why not divorce?
Mary Sandstrom: He cannot divorce Amy for a way he’s going … to be seen on this group. … divorce is public. But, in his thoughts, homicide does not should be.
On Feb. 23, 2023 – in what could be Westfield’s most publicized case, Brian Fanion’s trial started. He confronted a life sentence for the first-degree homicide of his spouse.
“48 Hours” made a number of interview requests to Brian Fanion, his legal professional, Jeffrey Brown, in addition to relations of each Amy and Brian, however by no means obtained a response.
Nikki Battiste: This is an enormous case, numerous consideration. … How are you feeling?
Mary Sandstrom: For any trial, you are at all times nervous. And … this was in all probability essentially the most high-profile case I’ve ever executed.
Opening statements revealed conflicting accounts of the circumstances surrounding Amy Fanion’s death.
MARY SANDSTROM (in courtroom): The defendant was a deacon at Wyben Union Church and an officer for the Westfield Police Department … The proof will present that whereas the defendant was repulsed by persevering with his marriage with Amy. He could not divorce her both. … Leaving him trapped. … And as soon as that proof is earlier than you, I’ll ask you to seek out the defendant responsible of homicide within the first diploma.
Brian Fanion’s protection targeted on Amy Fanion’s anger points and claimed she suffered from anxiousness. Brown alleged that on the day of Amy’s death, an argument over Brian’s retirement plans and his refusal to attend a member of the family’s play pushed her over the sting.
JEFFREY BROWN (in courtroom): In the times earlier than Amy shot herself, Amy was very mad at Brian. … You needed to tread frivolously round Amy for concern of setting her off.
JEFFREY BROWN (in courtroom): And on the conclusion of the proof on this case, I’ll ask that we discover Brian Fanion not responsible. Thank you.
Anna Hansen, Amy’s youthful sister, was the primary witness for the prosecution. She was the one member of the family who signed the letter of help that willingly testified towards Brian Fanion.
Pool
Anna Hansen acknowledged that during the investigation into Amy’s death, her brother-in-law confided that he was frightened about searches he had performed on his pc.
ANNA HANSEN (in courtroom): I requested him what that search was, and he mentioned, “how to make a murder look like a suicide.”
MARY SANDSTROM: He particularly mentioned he searched quote “how to make a murder look like a suicide?”
ANNA HANSEN: Those have been his actual phrases.
Anna Hansen instructed the jury that when she requested her brother-in-law why he made this search, Brian Fanion instructed her that Amy requested him to do it after they watched a “CSI” present. It was a present that Anna Hansen questioned if Amy had ever watched.
MARY SANDSTROM (in courtroom): Did she ever state that she favored these reveals?
ANNA HANSEN: She by no means shared that with me.
The prosecution’s subsequent witness was Brian Fanion’s former lover, a divorced Cori Knowles, now Cori Hasty, who instructed the jury that Fanion was involved about ending his marriage.
MARY SANDSTROM (in courtroom): Did the defendant ever discuss what may occur to him if he have been to divorce Amy?
CORI HASTY: Yes. … If Amy was to ever depart — excuse me, or he divorced her, that she would take him for the whole lot that he is obtained. … as a result of he would not be capable of maintain on retirement at that time.
The prosecution referred to as Tom Forest from the Cyber Crime Unit. All of Brian Fanion’s gadgets have been examined, however it was Fanion’s workplace pc that produced some curious outcomes.
Forest mentioned Brian Fanion visited these websites:
DET. TOM FOREST (in courtroom): “Common and dangerous poisons,” … “Which drug causes the most deaths each year? … Sixteen common household items that could kill you.”
DET. TOM FOREST (in courtroom): “Carbon monoxide the invisible killer” … “Household poisons” … “Common prescription overdoses” …
Mary Sandstrom: But it is solely when this affair begins up … that each one of those incriminating searches begin to seem.
And 11 days previous to Amy Fanion’s death, Brian Fanion used his workplace pc to view a information report on YouTube referred to as, “What gunshot residue tests tell us.”
Mary Sandstrom: He wasn’t assigned to any energetic investigations in April and May of 2018. … that will necessitate wanting up gunshot residue. … Nobody within the Westfield Police Department does gunshot residue testing.
Stephanie Barry: I used to be making an attempt to maintain a really open thoughts about what the proof was going to point out. … however I did not assume that was nice information for Brian Fanion.
Detective John Schrijn, a ballistics knowledgeable and an important witness for the prosecution, testified that Amy Fanion’s wound was not self-inflicted.
Citing the absence of gunshot residue close to the wound coupled with the trajectory of the bullet, Schrijn concluded that Amy Fanion was shot from downward angle and at a distance of a minimum of 18 inches — not at shut vary as Brian Fanion had claimed.
MARY SANDSTROM (in courtroom): So, did you type an opinion … as as to whether or not … the defendant’s firearm was discharged at a distance of 18 inches or larger.
DET. JOHN SCHRIJN: Over 18 inches, with out something intervening. That’s appropriate.
After 12 days of testimony and 27 witnesses, the prosecution rested. But ready within the wings was a protection poised to introduce a major factor that might probably unravel the DA’s case.
Mary Sandstrom: Any prosecutor who just isn’t frightened a few protection, in all probability is not an excellent prosecutor.
THE DEFENSE MAKES ITS CASE
Defense legal professional Jeffrey Brown, whose consumer confronted life in jail, launched a counterattack. He cross-examined Brian Fanion’s former lover, Cori Hasty.
According to the state, Brian Fanion’s affair was the first motive for murdering his spouse. But Hasty admitted to the protection that when she ended their relationship, Fanion did not attempt to cease her.
JEFFREY BROWN (in courtroom): When finally you ended it with Brian, his response was, OK, is not that proper?
CORI HASTY: To my recollection.
JEFFREY BROWN: He did not say to you, oh, my God, I killed Amy for you and also you’re leaving me? He by no means mentioned that, proper?
CORI HASTY: Correct.
And what concerning the web sites Det. Forest from the Cyber Crime Unit mentioned Brian Fanion visited?
The protection argued that a few of the web sites he visited have been associated to an getting old home, an outdated wood-burning range, and the potential hazards it’d pose to a younger member of the family.
JEFFREY BROWN (in courtroom): Did you realize that the Fanions, um, have been starting to have a younger niece a toddler keep of their dwelling during that time-frame?
DET. TOM FOREST: No, I didn’t.
But what the protection could not reconcile have been Brian Fanion’s searches about gunshot residue days earlier than his wife’s death.
And there was Amy Fanion’s sister, Anna Hansen, the one member of the family who willingly testified for the prosecution. She claimed that Brian Fanion instructed her he searched “how to make a murder look like a suicide” on his pc.
JEFFREY BROWN (in courtroom): You did not discover any websites that have been searched or visited referring to the phrases, easy methods to make a homicide appear like a suicide, is not that true?
DET. TOM FOREST: That is true.
The protection narrowed its focus and scrutinized Amy Fanion’s persona by cross-examining Amy’s personal mom, Patricia Tarrant.
JEFFREY BROWN (in courtroom): Did your daughter Amy have a mood?
PATRICIA TARRANT: Yes.
A mood, in response to Amy’s sister, Holly Fanion, that will sometimes be directed towards her husband.
JEFFREY BROWN (in courtroom): Well, did she snap at Brian in entrance of you?
HOLLY FANION: She would. … I used to be embarrassed for him. You do not normally discuss to your husband form of in that approach. Maybe you reprimand a toddler, however not a husband.
But would Amy Fanion’s mood result in an impulsive determination reminiscent of grabbing Brian Fanion’s gun? According to Amy’s son Travis Fanion, it might.
TRAVIS FANION (in courtroom): I may simply image or envision her, grabbing the gun impulsively … to make some extent … that she picked it up intending to finish a set off pull and — and shoot herself.
But what would clarify the dearth of gunshot residue on Amy Fanion?
Alexander Jason: Her wound is in keeping with a close-range gunshot wound primarily based …
Alexander Jason, a senior licensed crime scene analyst, testified for the protection.
Alexander Jason: That’s the inspiration of the entire prosecution. … And this complete concept that it needed to be 18 inches due to the absence of gunshot residue just isn’t legitimate.
Jason says the dearth of gunshot residue was not attributable to distance. It was attributable to Amy Fanion’s hair.
Nikki Battiste: What may Amy Fanion’s hair have instructed us?
Alexander Jason: Amy Fanion had very dense, thick hair that can block the gunshot residue.
Jason’s analysis “Effect of Hair on the Deposition of Gunshot Residue” was printed by the FBI’s forensic science journal in 2004.
Jason says there may have been gunshot residue, generally often called GSR, embedded in Amy Fanion’s hair. The crime scene analyst didn’t take a look at her hair.
Alexander Jason: What they need to have executed is taken the hair … after which analyze these little specs to see in the event that they’re gunshot residue or not. … which was a mistake.
Jason’s testimony was restricted at trial, however to help his idea he and his daughter Juliana met “48 Hours” at a gun vary in California to reveal what might have occurred to Amy Fanion.
Alexander Jason: I’m going to fireside two instances.
Using a .45 caliber gun and ammunition an identical to what was discovered on the scene, Jason fired a single spherical into a mound of hair, backed by a ballistic pores and skin simulant.
Nikki Battiste: So, you simply shot a .45 caliber gun, three inches away via hair.
Alexander Jason: Yes.
Alexander Jason: Amy Fanion had appreciable hair, possibly extra dense than this the place the bullet entered … and the hair will act as a filter and stop the gunshot residue from reaching her pores and skin.
For comparability, Jason positioned the gun on the identical distance, utilizing an identical ammunition, and fired into the pores and skin simulant with out hair.
Alexander Jason: And I pull this away.
Nikki Battiste: Wow.
CBS News
Alexander Jason: You can see there’s a massive distinction. … Now, take a look at that. That’s a really clear wound. That’s a really soiled wound.
Nikki Battiste: That’s unimaginable, all from the hair.
Alexander Jason: All from the hair. The hair acted as a filter.
Nikki Battiste: Pretty fascinating.
While Jason believes this situation is what occurred to Amy Fanion, he stops in need of saying whether or not or not Brian Fanion killed his spouse.
Alexander Jason: You see the hair filtered that stuff out.
But what he does consider is that basing the case on the absence of gunshot residue is mistaken.
Alexander Jason: And he shouldn’t be convicted on that foundation. … That’s my backside line.
After 40 witnesses and 15 days of testimony, closing arguments started.
JEFFREY BROWN (in courtroom) She raised the gun as much as her head in a match of rage … and in impact triggered her personal death.
MARY SANDSTROM (in courtroom): This defendant murdered Amy Fanion with deliberate premeditation.
On March 21, 2023, the jury obtained the case. And after two days of deliberations, got here the decision.
Brian Fanion was discovered responsible of the first-degree homicide of his spouse, Amy Fanion, and sentenced to life with out parole that very same day.
Stephanie Barry: Brian’s facet of the aisle simply collapsed in sobs. … these folks love Brian and sincerely thought that he was harmless.
For Assistant District Attorney Mary Sandstrom, Brian Fanion’s conviction was bittersweet and onerous gained.
Mary Sandstrom: It’s by no means a victory. … Amy Fanion must be right here. … She must be together with her daughter and son and her now grandchildren … And she’s not. … And … it was all for nothing … in order that … Brian Fanion … may … take pleasure in his life and finish hers.
Brian Fanion’s conviction is below attraction.
Produced by Marie Hegwood. Morgan Canty is the affiliate producer. Wini Dini, George Baluzy, Greg Kaplan and Chris Crater are the editors. Sara Ely Hulse and Elizabeth Caholo are the event producers. Lourdes Aguiar is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the manager story editor. Judy Tygard is the manager producer.
