PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Dawson County District Judge Michael Hayworth on Nov. 9 issued a summary order denying the motion to dismiss the case, without elaborating further on his reasoning. However, he left open the door for the defense to address "the circumstances surrounding the clean-up at trial." Defense attorneys did raise the issue at trial, Irigoin said. “They really tried to rehash it at trial and make it an issue, that it really wasn’t,” the county attorney said. “At the very least, I think that the jurors’ verdict in this case is a vindication to show that no wrongdoing took place whatsoever with regard to that deputy.”
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STORY: "Glendive man guilty of killing elderly father," published by The Billings Gazette on December 20, 2018.
GIST: A
Dawson County jury on Wednesday found a Glendive man guilty of killing
his elderly father in their home outside town in October 2017 and then
tampering with the crime scene. Todd
Carlisle Fisher was convicted Wednesday of deliberate homicide and
tampering with physical evidence. The eight-day trial included more than
40 witnesses, and jury deliberations spanned two days.Fisher
had reported his father Wilbur’s death to law enforcement, telling
authorities he had been away from the house for several days and
returned to find his 80-year-old father dead. He claimed there had been a
burglary, though investigators didn’t see signs of a break-in. Todd
and Wilbur Fisher had a rocky relationship, according to court
documents. Todd Fisher was the beneficiary of a $60,000 life insurance
policy and Wilbur Fisher’s will. Deputies arrested him four days after he reported his father’s death. Chief
Medical Examiner for Montana Dr. Robert Kurtzman told jurors Wilbur
Fisher died from a single gunshot wound to the face — near the bridge of
his nose, according to Dawson County Attorney Brett Irigoin. Prosecutors
also called witnesses from Stockman and Wells Fargo banks, who
testified about the father and son’s finances, Irigoin said in a call
after the verdict was returned. Fisher was “more or less broke” and his
father supported him financially, Irigoin said. Fisher had “run up a lot
of credit card debt on his dad’s card” and prosecutors believed it was a
factor in the killing. In August, Todd Fisher's defense attorneys sought to have the case dismissed
after learning that Brett Hoagland, a Dawson County Sheriff's deputy
and a friend and neighbor of the Fishers, had hired a cleaning service
for the home after the killing. The defense argued the
actions of Hoagland, who was also named as a beneficiary in Wilbur
Fisher's will, potentially destroyed evidence that could have been used
to prove Wilbur's death could have been a suicide, or that some other
suspect was responsible. Investigators
acknowledged poor judgment on Hoagland's part, but countered that after
two days of gathering evidence at the home, they had cleared the crime
scene and allowed Todd Fisher to return to the property for a few days
before he was arrested. Dawson County
District Judge Michael Hayworth on Nov. 9 issued a summary order denying
the motion to dismiss the case, without elaborating further on his
reasoning. However, he left open the door for the defense to address
"the circumstances surrounding the clean-up at trial." Defense attorneys did raise the issue at trial, Irigoin said. “They
really tried to rehash it at trial and make it an issue, that it really
wasn’t,” the county attorney said. “At the very least, I think that the
jurors’ verdict in this case is a vindication to show that no
wrongdoing took place whatsoever with regard to that deputy.” Fisher’s defense counsel did not return a request for comment left Wednesday afternoon. Fisher
faces up to life in prison on the homicide charge, with a minimum of 12
years, according to Irigoin. On the tampering charge, he faces a
maximum of 10 years in prison. Irigoin said he had not yet settled on a
sentencing recommendation.. Sentencing is set for March 22."
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this
case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on
developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than
twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the
harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into
pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system.
The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related
to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/
