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[Music] [Music] Amy wrote Shadows are created around us whenever something or someone blocks the
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light we are created to live in the light he is calling me out of the darkness turn toward the light and the
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truth truth [Music] truth Amy's Outlet was her journaling she wrote to me about The Bible and
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having faith I believe that her faith was important to her because she lived by her faith she was the salt of the
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earth genuine and loving I found out that Amy had passed in a phone call from our mutual
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friend in the next sentence I found out how she had passed it's not a phone call
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you know you want to get 911 this sign is recorded what's the address of your emergency hi this is Brian Pion I'm at
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in North Road my wife just shot herself can you send me some help all right Brian we'll get him right
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out there okay I remember remember my supervisor telling me we have a death investigation
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in Westfield and it's a police officer's wife that was a rarity to me I had not experienced a case like that she's
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gone God okay are you sure yes yes Brian's role at the Westfield Police Department he was their uh evidence guy
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and the detective hero we both knew Brian he was very well [Applause] respected when you walked in the fan
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house what did you see then I walked into the dining room and that's when I observed the body of
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Amy fion and a pool of blood on the floor with a gunshot to the right side of her
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head I saw the 45 caliber Smith and Wesson firearm on the stairs that led to the Breezeway there was a police radio
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paperwork mail and so forth chairs pushed about and on top of this dining room table you had a peanut butter and
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jelly sandwich intact on a plate you had an empty plate that had some blood smear
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on it what was Brian's demeanor when you arrived he seemed like he was in a State
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of Shock he was looking straight ahead just SN the gun just exploded just so quick
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hesitate at all I'm the only one that could make her that angry I offered her my condolences I
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told Brian that you know that I was going to conduct a thorough investigation that it was going to be by
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the numbers is it standard for the District Attorney's office to be involved in a suicide investigation yes
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part of our duties at the District Attorney's office was to investigate all deaths what can this deceased tell us
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about what happened right before she found herself in that state so I'm taking in everything that I
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can about that scene and I saw the entry wound to her head it didn't seem right in that moment
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how would something like that happen [Music] [Music] it was 1 p.m. on May 8th 2018 when
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massachusett state police detectives arrived at a farmhouse in Westfield 51-year-old Amy fan lay dead in the
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dining room from a single gunshot wound to the head detective Mike MCN Amy was essentially in a pile of blood that was
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beginning to congeal under her left side Amy's husband Brian fion a detective in
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the Westfield Police Department had called 911 minutes earlier reporting that his wife had shot herself the
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dining room rearranged to accommodate medical personnel was in disarray as detectives work to identify clues of
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what may have happened there was a blood spatter around that window frame from that dining room into the Bree way there
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was a pair of glasses that looked like it had some kind of red Brown spatter on it and then there was the bullet
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detectives Brendan OU and Mike Blanchet the actual projectile was in that front enclosed porch area the spenell casing
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was still in the dining room we could see the direction that it traveled through Amy's head
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that round impacted that dresser came to AR rest right around there in the Breezeway Brian was sitting in a chair
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with his back to the wall and he's with the chief of police from the Westfield Police Department who's talking with him
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everyone was in a State of shock everyone including Amy's brother Eric Hansen who told detectives that he had
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just finished playing disc golf behind the house when he heard Bran's cry for help and that's when he walked walked
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into the house saw Amy on the floor a gun next to her and Brian holding Amy's hand so he picked up the gun himself and
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moved it out of Brian's reach because he was worried about Brian's state of mind
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having just lost his wife yes what kind of gun was used it was a Smith the Wesson uh MMP 45 Brian fanon's Duty
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weapon did that give you any pause that it was Brian Fan's weapon yes it gave me
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pause this point I know that I'm going to really do a detailed investigation to avoid conflict of
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interest otou said he decided that his unit the Massachusetts State Police would be the sole investigators and he
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wanted to get Brian away from the house to get a statement I asked if he would accompany me to the massachusett state
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police barracks in Russell and I took a tape recorded statement from him Tuesday
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May 8th it's 2:41 p.m. I'm with Brian fan Brian um you understand and I got a recorder on right now
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yes Brian told detective otou that he left his office at the Westfield police station around 11:45 a.m. and drove to
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North Road to meet his wife who was on her way home to prepare their lunch well she making butter and jelly sandwiches
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Brian said that when he arrived they continued an argument from the night prior an argument that had gotten pretty
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heated that evening oh when you say heated I guess well just uh I don't know she just uh was very
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angry okay what was your argument about um I'm retiring soon we're discussing what each of us expects retirement to
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be Brian said he told Amy that he didn't want to spend his retirement maintaining
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their 200-year-old home which Amy still loved they also discuss their aging dog and his reluctance to get another one
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yeah I don't want to be tied down by a dog she always wants to have a dog I want to travel more than she does
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according to Brian that afternoon during lunch Amy told him she had scheduled them to attend a family memb play on the
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day Brian wanted to attend a disc golf tournament I just said no I don't like that stuff why would you commit me when
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you're without asking that's when according to Brian things soon took a turn for the worst it took i g out of
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the holster and put it on our Hutch because I had to use the bathroom where's the hutch located in the dining
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room Brian said he closed the bathroom door and when he came out Amy had the gun in her hand she has the gun pointed
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up to the right side of her head what did you hear her say I think she said I guess you don't want it's you don't want
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me to around or you don't want to be around me was she seated or she stood up she was standing okay according to Brian
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he was was 4 to 5 ft away when he tried to stop Amy from pulling the trigger tried to get to
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her I almost did the gun just exploded just so quick hesitate at all I just went over
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and I just held her hands she's held her 911 recorded Ryan called 911 yelled out to Amy's brother Eric for help Eric
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uh what is how do you spell your last name Hans h n Eric told detectives that Brian said
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he and Amy had been having a tense argument and she grabbed the GU he just was so
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distraught he say what they were I about no I was just trying to conso him say it's not your fault it's not your fault
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Amy's death had shocked the Westfield Community my name is Stephanie Barry and I'm a reporter for the Republican in
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Springfield Massachusetts Amy's maiden name was Hansen she came from a fairly large family she and her sisters were
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all known as some of the prettiest girls in school some of the smartest and some
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of the nicest it was 1983 when 16-year-old Amy met 19-year-old Brian fion f came from a
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long line of police officers and politicians and in Westfield the fan name was a source of Pride the fion were
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kind of like the kennedies of Westfield they were well regarded Brian and Amy tied the knot in
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1985 and the couple eventually had two children Travis and Victoria Amy's close friend Terry lucardi says Amy loved
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being a stay-at-home mom Amy's Focus was Raising her children she thought that being a parent was the best job in the
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whole world the fion deeply committed to their faith dedicated their lives to God
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and community service with Brian serving as a church Deacon and working as a missionary to build wells in
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Mexico after 30 years of marriage the fans were planning their next phase of life when those plans derailed is there
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any knowledge that Amy fan had any mental health issues or suffered from depression so I I asked Brian and um he
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mentioned um many years earlier when she was having some psychological issues and
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was done medicine for a period of time other than that nothing nothing recent but what Brian did stress was that Amy
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had bouts with anger she had a temper but she hid it well from everyone but me she only
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got that angry when we were alone Midway into the inter interview detective otou
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asked Brian if there were any female friends in his life I have a woman who lives in Pittsfield that I met
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recently I did a mission trip to Mexico and we become good friends what's that lady's name
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Cory does she have the last name or Cory NOS k n o w h yes you guys aren't going to contact
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her are you for detective OU Brian fion admitted friendship with another woman raised
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questions Ryan had told detectives that Karin nolles known as Corey was a fellow
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missionary at a nearby Church the two met in November 2017 on a mission trip in Mexico and a friendship
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developed but it had never gone beyond that an emotional affair he said there was some flirting but he qualified it
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that it wasn't sexual a sexual it was not a his term was it was not a friends with
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benefits at the end of the interview detective otou asked bran to turn over his personal phone I turned off the
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recorder and that's Brian told me is you're going to see some things on there and it's not what it appears to be a red
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flag for you yeah there's several red flags as a an investigator you have to keep an open
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mind within a week of Brian's interview on May 14th 2018 Amy's wake was held Brian planted a tree in nearby
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Stanley Park in his wife's memory [Music] but the investigation into her sudden death was just beginning detectives
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recovered a treasure Trove of deleted text messages from Brian's phone there were just hundreds of texts
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that expanded the relationship that he was having with Cory on May 7th the the day
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before Amy died Brian and Corey exchanged 72 text messages until 9:47 p.m. that evening in one exchange at 9:23 p.m.
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Brian writes good night my love I hope you have wonderful dreams of amazing days and nights to come and Corey
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responds good night my love I will dream of you and all that the future holds for
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us the next morning at 10:30 a.m. Corey texts when can I hold you again to which
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Brian responds not soon enough turning into a very long morning and within an hour or to Amy
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fanan is dead yes for fem part possibly intentionally shot herself police in rout
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Brian has not been entirely truthful to us at this point and so we want to speak
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with him again on May 17th 2018 3 days after Amy's wake Brian fan arrived at the
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District Attorney's State Police office for another round of questioning Brian so we just needed to you know clarify
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some things we you know your Miranda right so I'm going to read them up this form the other day you didn't do this
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has something changed so you're not you're not under arrest or any I know that and on that same day across town
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detectives met with Corey nolles to learn more about her involvement with Brian if somebody Wass to say who's Cory
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who are you Cory noes a 48-year-old wife grandmother and member of her Church's choir told detectives that Brian's
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friendship helped her work through a troubled second marriage marage very easy to talk to nothing but affirmation
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and love and I'm here for you but over time their relationship moved from Friendship to
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flirtation that I feel passion for him absolutely by April 16th 2018 5 months into Brian and Corey's relationship
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their texting gave way to something more intimate When Corey visited Brian's house before they left for volunteer
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work was that the first time you were in that you kissed at on that April day the
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16th and then where was that the kitchen I got there before got home Cory told detectives that by late April she
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and Brian were having passionate make out sessions in her [Music] truck Brian left work early met up with
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Corey in Westfield at Stanley Park and and they made out there was some sexual touching but according to Corey Brian
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could not perform more like because I'm still married to to Amy we've seen the text messages and all
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honesty Brian it looks like it's a lot more than a friendship you know I know it escalated and I'm completely
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embarrassed by it ashamed of it shouldn't happen but a lot of people have affairs and
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correct don't kill their wife correct detective otou then asks Brian to go back over his statement of what
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happened beginning at the moment when Brian said he placed his gun on the hutch and went inside the
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bathroom all right so you come out of the bathroom right she's at the table where where just indicate like where
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between the table and the hutch and a chair right there I don't know if she sitting or standing I think she was
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standing I mean shoot I think she was sitting now when we were trying to get these stepbystep details he seemed to be
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wavering so you come out of the bathroom Okay and then what's the first thing that happens I just remember her saying
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that that you obviously don't want he and then detective otou asked Brian to demonstrate what Amy did with the gun
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just remember seeing her hand come up with the gun towards her head yeah so she puts it to the side of her head yes
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okay and and where was the gun when it went off was it in the sink but there is a problem what Brian did not know was
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that a CSI report and Amy's autopsy results had arrived The Gunshot entrance WB was not consistent with a
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self-inflicted wound fair to say it took this case in a whole new Direction yes during the second interview with Brian
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fion detectives otou and Blanchet found themselves facing a challenge that tested their experience as
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investigators this is not a a normal interview for myself and Mike we've done thousands of interviews
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you know we're pretty good at it but it's hard when it's a police officer because he knows exactly how we
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work it was a difficult interview there's a problem straight detectives laid out what they considered to be
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crucial evidence in their investigation there's no indication so whatsoever so far that she
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had a gun close to the side of her head me wrong cuz she did cu I saw and it happen you know how do you say there's
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no indication well I mean that's what that's what you know that's what it's showing you us right
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now the medical examiner listed Amy's manner of death as undetermined in combined with CSI
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findings investigators did not believe that Amy died of a self-inflicted wound I mean there's no doubt she get
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was shot but but the question is from what distance it was right freaking there I'm telling
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you do what you need to but I'm telling you it was right there in Amy's case distance mattered
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this is because with self-inflicted gunshot wounds debris known as gunshot residue is expelled from the firearm and
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leaves a distinct pattern on and inside the wound known as stippling as demonstrated here like Brian you you
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understand like guns and stippling and all that I do and I can't there's none honor Bri there's none honor there has
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to be cuz the gun was there right freaking there there's not hon then they're wrong I'm telling you
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they're they're flat out wrong cuz it was right freaking there the other option is you got pissed and you're a
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foot or few feet away and you shot her in the head when she's sitting eating her sandwich didn't happen didn't happen
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did not happen all right with Fanny 's Affair exposed in CSI reports in hand detectiv suspected F
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had likely shot his wife but they still needed more evidence on May 24th 2018 detectives obtained a search warrant for
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Fan's home and when detectives arrived Brian asked if I was there to arrest him and I told him I wasn't and then he
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asked me if I thought he did it were you surprised he asked you that I was noting
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it I didn't know how to feel and I didn't answer his question detectives took additional
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measurements to analyze the trajectory of the bullet Fan's home electronics were
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confiscated and at the same time his desktop computer and laptop at the Westfield police station were seized for
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data extraction do you see any signs that Brian fan planned to kill his wife any evidence that points to that
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we see a totality of all the evidence here um we're not the fact finders um we're we're detectives so we we collect
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all this information and then it's going to be presented someone else is going to
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make a determination on that and that's someone would be Hampton County assistant District Attorney Mary
00:23:48
sandstrom new to the homicide division sandrom had arrived in Massachusetts by way of New York is it fair to say you
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were a fish out of water a bit it's always um hard not being from the area in which you prosecute uh it's a
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very small very intimately connected town so yes you're never at an advantage where you don't know everybody by name
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adding to the difficulty Brian fanion is a detective yes and respected very much in in that
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Community as spring gave way to Summer Corey ended her relationship with fan and by early 2019 fan retired from the
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police force the investigation into Amy's death continued we're still trying to get some
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testing done because we want to have as strong a case as possible before we go in before the grand jury and a
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complication in the form of a letter was among the Case Files Amy's family members expressed their unfailing
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support of Brian fion saying we are certain Amy took her own life the letter was signed by Amy's siblings and and
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even her own mother that's got to be tough for you it's an awkward position for a
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prosecutor where your victim family isn't supporting you it was an odd spot to be in an odd spot perhaps but not a
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deterrent on November 6th 2019 17 months after Amy died detectives arrived at Brian Fan's
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door Brian came to the dining room door pretty quickly as I recall it and he said something to the effect of come in
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then Mike Blanchett began to describe to Brian Brian we have an arrest warrant for you police say Brian fion told them
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that his wife shot herself with his gun while he was at home on a lunch break last
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year I remember telling him put your hands behind your back I took out my handcuffs through their investigation
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they only solidifi their suspicion that Brian pulled the trigger he was eating assorted nuts was uh popping some in his
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mouth and as he put his hands behind his back he let him drop to the floor we transported Brian to the Russell State
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Police barracks and he's processed photographed fingerprinted if st's accused of killing
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his wife in what was originally report I assessed a feeling of Despair on Brian's
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face like I can't believe this is happening Stephanie Barry a crime reporter at the
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Republican newspaper recalls the unusual scene that played out 15 miles away in Springfield Massachusetts inside the
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Hampton County Superior Court in early November 2019 there's no one who spent any amount
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of time in Westfield who didn't know who Brian fion was was it was a pretty full
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house and the kind of palpable shock remained throughout the entire proceeding fan who appeared for his
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initial arraignment entered a plea of not guilty and sitting right behind him were members of both Brian's and Amy's
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family I can't think of another instance when I've seen the family of a victim sticking up for the accused murder of
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their loved one and despite the absence of support from members of Amy's family Ada sandstrom continued to build her
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case what was Amy fion like she sounds like a fairy tale giving selfless completely
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dedicated to her family according to sandstrom the night before Amy died she was making a gift
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for an upcoming baby shower that she planned to attend and was texting her daughter Victoria
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did anyone ever say that Amy was ever suicidal she wasn't a person who was ready to die Amy was healthy she was
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happy what do you think Brian Von's motive was he was ready to start a new chapter of his life that did not include
00:28:14
Amy fan he's chosen his life partner in Corey Amy's the only thing standing in the way now and that's always the
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million-dollar question why not divorce he can't divorce Amy for how he's going to be seen in this community divorce is
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public but in his mind murder doesn't have to be the trial started today for a former Westfield police officer who's
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accused of murdering his wife on February 23rd 2023 in what would be Westfield's most publicized case Brian
00:28:46
Fan's trial began he faced a life sentence for the first-degree murder of his wife 48 Hours made several interview
00:28:53
requests to Brian fion his attorney Jeffrey Brown as well as family members of both Amy and Brian but never received
00:29:00
a response this is a big case a lot of attention how are you feeling for any trial you're always nervous and this was
00:29:09
probably the most high-profile case I've ever done opening statements revealed conflicting accounts of the
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circumstances surrounding Amy Fan's death the defendant was a deacon at wyan Union Church and an officer for the
00:29:24
Westfield Police Department the evidence will show that while the defendant was was repulsed by continuing his marriage
00:29:30
with Amy he couldn't divorce her either leaving him trapped and once that evidence is before you I will ask you to
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find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree Von's defense focused on Amy's anger issues and claimed she
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suffered from anxiety Brown alleged that on the day of Amy's death an argument over Brian's retirement plans and his
00:29:55
refusal to attend a family member's play pushed pushed her over the edge in the days before Amy shot herself
00:30:02
Amy was very mad at he had to tread lightly around Amy for fear of setting her off and at the conclusion of the
00:30:11
evidence in this case I'll will ask that you find Brian F not guilty thank you Anna Hansen Amy's
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younger sister was the first witness for the prosecution she was the only family
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member who signed the letter of support that willingly test ified against Brian fion Anna stated that during the
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investigation into Amy's death her brother-in-law confided that he was worried about searches he had conducted
00:30:39
on his computer I asked him what that search was and he said how to make a murder
00:30:44
look like a suicide he specifically said he searched quote how to make a murder look like a suicide those were his exact
00:30:53
words Anna told the jury that when she asked her brother-in-law why he made this search fan told her that Amy asked
00:30:59
him to do it after they watched a CSI show it was a show that Anna questioned if Amy had ever
00:31:07
watched did she ever say that she liked those shows she never shared that with me the prosecution's next witness was
00:31:15
Fan's former lover a divorced Cory nolles now Corey Hasty who told the jury that fion was concerned about ending his
00:31:24
marriage ever talk about what could happen to him if he divorce Amy yes if Amy was to ever leave excuse
00:31:33
me he divorced her that she would take him for everything he's got because he would Yol sustain on retirement at that
00:31:40
point the prosecution called Tom forest from the Cyber crimes unit all of Fan's devices were examined but it was Fan's
00:31:48
office computer that produced some Curious results Forest said fan visited common and dangerous poisons which drug
00:31:57
caused es the most deaths each year 16 common household items that could kill you but it's only when this affair
00:32:05
starts up that all of these incriminating searches start to appear carbon monoxide
00:32:11
The Invisible Killer household poisons common prescription overdoses and 11 days prior to Amy's
00:32:19
death fan used his office computer to view a news report on YouTube called what gunshot residue tests tell us
00:32:28
he wasn't assigned to any active investigations in April and May of 2018 that would necessitate looking up
00:32:33
gunshot residue nobody in the Westfield police department does gunshot residue testing
00:32:39
I was trying to keep a very open mind about what the evidence was going to show but I didn't think that was great
00:32:45
news for Brian fion morning your honor detective John Shrine a ballistic expert and a crucial witness for the
00:32:52
prosecution testified that Amy's wound was not self-inflicted citing the absence of gunshot residue near the
00:33:00
wound coupled with the trajectory of the bullet Shrine concluded that Amy fan was
00:33:05
shot from a downward angle and at a distance of at least 18 in not at close range as fion had
00:33:13
claimed you form an opinion as to whether or not the def firearm was discharged at a distance of 18 in or
00:33:23
greater over 18 in without anything Ving that's correct after 12 days of testimony and
00:33:32
27 Witnesses the prosecution rested but waiting in the wings was a defense poised to introduce a significant
00:33:40
element that could potentially unravel the DA's case any prosecutor who's not worried about a defense probably isn't a
00:33:47
good prosecutor what do you think is the most damning piece of evidence chat now with
00:33:54
the 48 Hours team on Facebook and X [Music] defense attorney Jeffrey Brown whose
00:34:08
client faced life in prison launched a Counterattack when he cross-examined Fan's former lover Corey Hasty according
00:34:18
to this state fanon's Affair was the primary motive for murdering his wife but Hasty admitted to the defense
00:34:27
sense that when she ended their relationship fan didn't try to stop her when ultimately you ended it with Brian his
00:34:38
response was okay isn't that right to my recollection he didn't say to you oh my god I killed Amy for you
00:34:47
and you're leaving me he never said that right correct and what about the websites
00:34:53
detective forest from the Cyber crimes unit said fion visited car oxide The Invisible
00:34:59
Killer common and dangerous poisons 16 common household items that could kill you the defense argued that
00:35:08
some of the websites he visited were related to an aging house an old wood burning stove and the potential hazards
00:35:14
it might pose to a young family member did you know that the fions um were beginning to have a young niece a child
00:35:22
stay in their home during that time frame no I did not but what the defense couldn't reconcile were fan searches
00:35:29
about gunshot residue days before Amy's death and there was Amy's sister Anna the only family member who willingly
00:35:37
testified for the prosecution she claimed that Brian told her he searched how to make a murder
00:35:43
look like a suicide on his computer you didn't find any sites that were searched or visited relating to the
00:35:52
terms how to make a murder look like a suicide isn't that true that is true the defense narrowed its focus and
00:36:02
scrutinized Amy's personality by cross-examining Amy's own mother Patricia Taran did your daughter Amy have a
00:36:14
temper yes a temper according to Amy's sister Holly that would typically be directed
00:36:22
toward her husband well did she snap at Brian in front of you she would I was embarrassed for him you
00:36:32
don't usually talk to your husband kind of in that way maybe you reprend a child
00:36:38
but not a husband but would 's temper lead to an impulsive decision such as grabbing
00:36:47
Fan's gun according to Amy's son Travis it would I could easily picture or Envision
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her her grabbing the gun impulsively to make a point that she picked it up intending to complete a trigger pull and
00:37:07
and and shoot herself but what would explain the lack of gunshot residue on Amy her wound is
00:37:13
consistent with a close-range gunshot wound based Alexander Jason a senior certified crime scene analyst testified
00:37:21
for the defense that's the foundation of the whole prosecution and this whole idea that it had to be 18 inches because
00:37:28
the absence of gunshot residue is not valid Jason says the lack of gunshot residue was not due to distance it was
00:37:37
due to Amy's Hair what could Amy Fan's hair have told us Amy fion had very dense thick hair
00:37:46
that will block The Gunshot residue Jason's research effect of hair on the deposition of gunshot residue was
00:37:54
published by the FBI's forensic science journal in 2004 Jason says there could have been gunshot residue commonly known
00:38:02
as GSR embedded in Amy's Hair the crime scene analyst did not test her hair what they should have done is taken
00:38:11
the hair and then analyze those little specs to see if their gunshot residue or not which was a
00:38:17
mistake Jason's testimony was limited at trial to support his theory he and his daughter Juliana met us at a gun range
00:38:25
in California to demonstrate what may have happened to Amy fion I'm going to fire two times using a 45 caliber gun
00:38:34
and ammunition identical to what was found at the scene Jason fired a single round into a mound of hair backed by a
00:38:41
ballistic skin simulant so you just shot a 45 caliber gun 3 Ines away through hair yes Amy
00:38:49
fion had considerable hair maybe more dense than this where the bullet entered and the hair will act as a filter and
00:38:57
prevent The Gunshot residue from reaching her skin for comparison Jason positioned the gun at the same distance
00:39:04
using identical ammunition and fired into the skin simulant without hair and I pull this away wow you can
00:39:13
see there's a big difference now look at that that's a very clean wound that's a
00:39:18
very dirty wound that's incredible all from the hair all from the hair the hair acted as a filter pretty fascinating
00:39:26
while G believes this scenario is what happened to Amy fion he stopped short of saying whether or not fion killed his
00:39:34
wife that stuff out but what he does believe is that basing the case on the absence of gunshot residue is
00:39:41
wrong and he should not be convicted on that basis that's my bottom line after 40 Witnesses and 15 days of
00:39:53
testimony closing arguments she raised the gun up to her head in a fit of rage and in effect
00:40:01
caused her own death this defendant murdered Amy Fon with deliberate premeditation on March 21st 2023 the
00:40:12
jury got the case and after two days of deliberations the verdict poor person what say you is
00:40:19
the defendant guilty or not guilty guilty guilty of what guilty of what degree of Ryan fion was found guilty of
00:40:29
the first-degree murder of his wife Amy fion and sentenced to life without parole that same
00:40:39
day Brian's side of the aisle just collapsed in sobs these people loved Brian and
00:40:49
sincerely thought that he was innocent for assistant District Attorney Mary sandstrom Fan's conviction was
00:41:02
bittersweet and hard one it's never a victory Amy fan should be here she should be with her daughter
00:41:13
and son and her now grandchildren and she's not and it was all for nothing so that Brian
00:41:24
F could enjoy his life and end [Music] hers a mother disappears evidence points to homicide and she's nowhere to be
00:41:47
found the suspect is gone too leading US Marshals on a Relentless man hunt he was
00:41:52
using the railways to move around hopping trains the chase is on Justice is coming 48 hours Saturday on CBS
00:41:59
streaming on Paramount [Music] [Applause] [Music] plus hello and welcome to post morning
00:42:13
I'm your host anarie green and today we are discussing the case of Amy fion whose husband Brian of Westfield
00:42:20
massachusett police detective was charged with her murder so joining me to give us an inside look at reporting on
00:42:27
this case our 48 Hours producer Marie hegwood and field producer Morgan KY welcome thank you for joining us hi good
00:42:36
to be here hello so listeners you know what I'm going to say if you have not listened or watched the episode the
00:42:43
detective's wife go do that now you can find the full audio right below this episode in your podcast feed and then
00:42:50
you can join us after you've already listened for a deeper dive for everyone else here we go what is so unusual of
00:42:58
course about this case is that Brian is a detective himself how did his colleagues at the Westfield Police
00:43:05
Department react when they first learned that he was being investigated for Amy's
00:43:10
death because he's not just a detective he has been a detective for many years he comes from a prominent family and
00:43:17
he's really well-liked the colleagues were really shocked the colleagues from the Westfield PD they really supported
00:43:24
Brian they actually loved him they they respected him because he comes from a long line of police officers his father
00:43:30
before him was a detective and so the fions had a legacy there you know law-abiding people who um love the
00:43:38
community supported the community and when they heard about this they all came to his house and full force and Stood
00:43:44
Beside him just trying to comfort him and help him get through it yeah even the police chief um who who is now the
00:43:51
mayor of Westfield Massachusetts he ended up testifying and he called Brian his go guy and from the beginning of the
00:43:59
investigation the ones who responded first to the scene of the crime was Westfield PV but Massachusetts State
00:44:07
Police took over the case to avoid a conflict of interest um we heard in the broadcast though that it was actually
00:44:13
really hard for them to interview Brian because he's a detective I mean he knows
00:44:19
how this is going to go down the detectives we spoke to the ones who interviewed Brian they did a really
00:44:25
excellent job they were on top of their game they knew exactly what they were doing going into it let's listen to a
00:44:31
clip from detective otou this is not a a normal interview for myself and Mike we've done thousands
00:44:39
of interviews you know we're pretty good at it but it's hard when it's a police officer because he knows exactly how we
00:44:50
work it was a difficult interview the state police they all talked about how difficult not just because he was a
00:44:57
detective because they knew him he was The Evidence Officer so he would be on scene for a lot of these cases there
00:45:04
picking up evidence so they knew him he was known and like I said the fangs were
00:45:08
well respected they had been around for years in that community and so I think that was also difficult because you you
00:45:14
know you're basically interviewing one of your own oh that's interesting um in the hour we see Brian's interviewed he's
00:45:22
interviewed twice by police and he kind of changed his story a few times so initially the first interview Brian told
00:45:28
the detectives that he saw Amy standing with the gun in her hand in Brian's second interview he changed it to Amy
00:45:36
was sitting and so that was where the detectives noted that there was a flip-flop between whether Amy was
00:45:43
sitting or standing when Brian you know talked about what he saw that day yeah and I mean if he's the evidence
00:45:51
guy he knows how police would think about the evidence that they found at his own
00:45:58
scene the questions that they would ask the things that they would look for Brian tells detective otoul during his
00:46:05
first interview that he and Corey who's a fellow missionary that he met on a trip in Mexico in 2017 that they were
00:46:13
just friends that's it we later find out right that this is not true I want to listen to this neverbe aired clip of
00:46:21
Brian talking to detective otou did this Cor you want to take it to a different level with you Bri or or we
00:46:30
we talked about that and we we had an understanding that that's as far as it's going to go okay okay so Cory talked
00:46:39
about it with you or we we both T from the beginning we said okay this is what it is and just to make sure we were
00:46:47
both on the same page right exactly you know just friends just friends no not a sexual relation I don't want to
00:47:00
put words in your mouth but friend cuz you know what I'm saying you know I don't want not of friends would benefits
00:47:05
okay all right so in case in case people don't know what friends with benefits is
00:47:09
the benefit is usually sex when people are talking about that um it seems like they had never slept together and maybe
00:47:17
that was what made the the big difference for him from what we've what we've learned from um Brian's police
00:47:24
interviews um police interviews with Cory NES the woman who Brian was seeing they never slept together they never had
00:47:32
sex um we do know that they that they kissed we do know that there was some make out sessions in the back of her
00:47:39
truck um and there were thousands of text messages between Brian and Corey that police would find uh deleted from
00:47:48
Brian's phone so were they texting back and forth like throughout the day how long it had been going on it's very
00:47:56
difficult for me to believe that Amy didn't eventually discover the texting because it was so pleni I mean they were
00:48:01
texting every single 10 15 minutes I don't even know how they had time to work because they were texting so much
00:48:09
you know and you could see the relationship evolve through the text I mean the first it was just a it was a
00:48:14
friendship because Brian told Corey that he had women friends like that was his thing he had several women friends and
00:48:19
they would text so having that friendship the way it started wasn't unusual for Brant but it started to
00:48:25
evolve and even when you look at the text you start seeing moments where they was they were starting to flirt and then
00:48:31
at one point he apologizes you know I shouldn't have said certain things to you you know we just need to take it
00:48:36
down a level because I don't want to it to go any anywhere and but then he just kept on texting and she also wanted to
00:48:44
get out of a marriage she was in a marriage so that was kind of the foundation of their text can you help me
00:48:48
I'm dealing with a difficult marriage I'm thinking I should leave what do you think so they were that's how it really
00:48:54
got going in the text message that you guys saw does he talk about his wife I mean he does say some things
00:49:03
about Amy you know um but more of it is you know more flation was it was sexting
00:49:12
were they sexting no okay okay there were just a lot of flirty text there were things there were inuendos but no
00:49:18
no photos or anything explicit um there were some text messages where Brian he'll refer to Amy he'll say something
00:49:26
like um he'll put a sad face and say Amy's being so clingy right now so there are moments when you know it's clear
00:49:34
that he doesn't want to be where he is and I think the also in context was that you know he's trying to sneak and do
00:49:41
things like he wants to go meet her and here's Amy you know won't let him go but
00:49:46
he was really struggling with this because he was on the computer looking up things like is it a sin or his
00:49:51
adultery a sin like he was really struggling with what he was doing with Corey by April of 2018 he started
00:49:59
Googling can you have an affair without sex um he was Googling things about infidelity um he visited
00:50:07
websites like my perfect Affair how I'm getting away with it um emotional infidelity worse than a sexual Affair so
00:50:15
it seems like he was really having this like soul-searching moment of trying to figure out if what he was doing was okay
00:50:22
because this is a man who is a deacon at his church so I think he just was really
00:50:27
struggling just remember that you know Brian and Amy got married basically out of high school they were each other's
00:50:34
first and they come from a religious background where they don't believe in divorce and also adultery so he was
00:50:41
really struggling you know in terms of what he was doing um and so here we have another case right where the big
00:50:47
question is was the victim's death of suicide or was it a homicide I feel like there's been several like that this
00:50:53
season uh the prosecution alleges that that Brian killed Amy but the defense argues that she shot herself in the
00:50:59
midst of an argument one of the biggest questions that we heard from our audience was about The Gunshot residue
00:51:06
and I was wondering that myself do they test Brian Fan's hands for residue so I know 48 Hours viewers always want to
00:51:14
know about the evidence and um in this case the detectives who responded to the scene they did actually have Brian and
00:51:21
Amy's hands uh tested for gunshot residue and both of their hands tested positive her gunshot residue so it was
00:51:28
sort of inconclusive you know it didn't tell them any information about say who was holding the gun but part of the
00:51:34
reason that that might have happened Brian says that he was holding Amy's hand after she was shot and fell to the
00:51:42
ground so there could have been a transfer of gunshot residue we don't know there's another aspect to it which
00:51:47
is not in the show is that he actually did wash his hand so they fingerprinted Amy's thighs or legs you could see where
00:51:55
his hand print was and even her brother who came into the house he testified saying that yes Brian was holding her
00:52:02
hands had his hands on her thighs but once he did that he had blood on his hands that's what that's what was said
00:52:09
we didn't have pictures of that but we do know right before the detectives arrived that he did wash his
00:52:16
hands it seems like with every one of these hours when I say but didn't they test the hands the answer is there's
00:52:23
gunshot residue everywhere and so it's really difficult to determine um you know who was holding
00:52:29
the gun at the time yeah and I think the thing you know the biggest thing was that was there fingerprints on the
00:52:36
trigger because that was a question that you know who pulled the trigger right so
00:52:41
they did test the gun for prints that was another test that was kind of inconclusive because there there there
00:52:48
weren't sufficient prints on the gun to make an identification it's something called friction Ridge detail that they
00:52:55
found on the gun um it's just it's not quite enough to get a fingerprint off of and so they couldn't identify if
00:53:02
anyone's fingerprints were on it but they also tested the gun for DNA and on the gun they found positive profiles for
00:53:09
both Amy and Brian of course it's a gun that's in their house it would even if you know it would stand a reason that
00:53:16
his DNA would be all over it so of course yeah and also Amy's brother Eric as Marie said came into the house he saw
00:53:25
Brian distraught he saw the gun next to him he decided to pick the gun up and move it outside so that Brian might not
00:53:32
hurt himself with the gun and when testing was done on the gun they found an additional minor profile we don't
00:53:39
know whether or not that was Eric Hansen Amy's brother or not but he did pick up
00:53:44
the gun Brian's DNA was found on it Amy's DNA was found on it Eric's also could have possibly been on it but they
00:53:50
couldn't positively identify his DNA right and one thing I just want to say bring up to that you know this not in
00:53:56
the show but that in testimony they talked about the trigger on his gun the weight of the trigger how difficult is
00:54:03
it to pull and for a police officer's gun evidently this was a lighter weight so it was easier to pull the trigger oh
00:54:10
so you know that kind of lends itself a little bit to did she pick the gun up and actually pull that trigger not
00:54:17
realizing how easy it would be to go back we don't know but that was part of the the testimony about the weight of
00:54:23
the trigger wow okay so police actually don't arrest Brian until 17 months after
00:54:29
his first police interview when they finally feel they have enough evidence against him and and one of the biggest
00:54:34
pieces of evidence against Brian was the CSI report and autopsy results that concluded The Gunshot entrance wound was
00:54:43
not consistent with a self-inflicted wound a and there's also no gunshot residue or GSR found on Amy's
00:54:51
head there's also the prosecution talked about stippling and tattooing so when the the gun is fired this particular
00:54:58
residue just sometimes makes a tattoo or a marking around the wound and that wasn't present the defense said that her
00:55:06
hair might have been in the way of that the defense their expert um Alexander Jason he testified that the hair was the
00:55:14
reason there was no gunshot residue on her head so he he says that it you know the reason for the lack of gunshot
00:55:20
residue wasn't distance at which the gun was fired it might have just been because Amy's Hair was was in the way
00:55:26
and it caught all of it but would they did they even test that so that's a really excellent question and that's
00:55:34
something that came up a lot in the trial um no one on the prosecution side did any testing of the hair for gunshot
00:55:43
residue um on the scene there was some looking at the hair looking at the wound at the autopsy um the medical examiner
00:55:53
Dr Robert Welton he um Ed some of Amy's Hair looked at it and sent it away to the crime lab the biggest thing here was
00:56:03
that gunshot residue is light so she was on the ground and by the time they picked her up that gunshot residue could
00:56:10
have fell out of her hair we don't know so the time to test and look in the hair
00:56:14
would be when she was there at the scene that's when her hair should have been collected and bagged um we do have
00:56:20
photographs of some type of residue in her hair we just don't know what it is and just like the expert Alexander Jason
00:56:28
said that we should have tested it on the scene so that was the biggest era in terms of CSI work is not testing Amy's
00:56:35
Hair bagging it right there on the scene welcome back we're going to dig into the trial now and at trial the
00:56:50
prosecution raised a lot of damaging evidence against Brian so I want to ask you guys what stood out the most to you
00:56:58
I think the um the web searches yeah so uh just about 10 days before Amy was shot dead Brian was
00:57:06
making multiple searches for GSR testing um which was pretty strange because at the Westfield Police Department that's
00:57:14
not something that they do so there's not necessarily any reason that he would have been doing these searches or any
00:57:21
justification um he visited a couple of different websites related to GSR testing he watched a couple of YouTube
00:57:28
videos related to GSR testing and what that can tell us so that raised questions for the
00:57:34
prosecution um about why he could have possibly been conducting those searches but the the thing is in terms of what
00:57:41
we've received in terms of evidence we only can see searches on his work computer not at the home computer now
00:57:47
granted it was 10 days before Amy died approximately 10 to 11 days before she died so could he just could be a guy
00:57:54
that just has the worst look you know that he's searching this stuff and all of a sudden now this happens but I
00:58:00
thought that was very damning the day before Amy died he's um searching several times for how to delete
00:58:08
frequently contacted off of his phone and you know of course because he seeing this woman that's extra suspicious and
00:58:15
then the morning that Amy dies he was searching on his work computer about essentially the massachusett state
00:58:22
police units that would be responding to the scene of a Murder that's a very specific search and investigating the
00:58:28
forensics so it's it's it's just odd and there doesn't seem to be any reason connected with his professional life
00:58:34
that he would have been searching that so the prosecutor at trial argued that he was he was researching exactly who he
00:58:42
would be dealing with after he killed his wife so of course we can't talk about this case without talking about
00:58:46
Amy's family when I was watching the broadcast I I was really shocked to hear that they had signed a letter of support
00:58:52
for Brian and they said that they were certain they were certain that Amy took her own life they all stood by Brian at
00:58:59
trial with the exception of course of Amy's sister Anna what was it like listening to their testimony you know it
00:59:07
was really interesting and Anna um Amy's sister initially signed that letter but
00:59:13
by the time the trial came around you know it was 5 years after um Amy's death Anna testified for the prosecution and
00:59:20
she was the only family member who willingly testified for the prosecution nobody else wanted to talk with them um
00:59:26
so it was really interesting to see the things the family had to say on the stand about Amy her own mother testified
00:59:33
um one of her other sisters testified and uh they talked about Amy's character and it wasn't especially flattering to
00:59:43
Amy's character when I looked at the letter I was like oh it must be both families you know just assuming because
00:59:48
it's was a long list of people but it was really her family saying that she had they believed that Brian was
00:59:55
innocent and that that Amy had taken her own life and I think that was really kind of a shock and then even in court
01:00:02
there was the visual element to it because on Brian's side is where everyone sat packed when they testified
01:00:11
Amy's family talked about the Amy look they use that terminology it's the Amy look and the Amy look was basically when
01:00:18
you knew that she wasn't she was dis pleased with something they all got up there and did that and it was kind of
01:00:23
like in unison talking about Amy look there was one thing that the mother just went into great pains didn't make the
01:00:30
show cu the time was that she said that Brian cooked and clean when he came home
01:00:33
from work if I almost felt like the mother was pained when she talked about how Brian was treated by her daughter I
01:00:42
think that was the part that kind of hit me a little bit because it's like you know the victim's own mother you know is
01:00:48
really saying that her daughter was not the best person in terms of how she treated her husband so it's one for them
01:00:56
to say listen we know Amy and she's got a temper on her but then they find out that there's this affair you know maybe
01:01:05
Brian and Corey never slept together but it's clearly a very strong emotional affair that doesn't sway their opinion
01:01:12
of him at all no and in fact after Amy died he went to each family member and had a talk and said listen I'm in love
01:01:20
with this woman and he had a Frank talk with him he it seemed like he went to each family member but particularly Anna
01:01:28
um he talked to her and told her he was in love with Corey and and I think it came across like Brian was planning the
01:01:36
next chapter of his life you know definitely like the prosecutor said with this woman with Corey and he wanted them
01:01:42
to be okay with it in fact you know when Amy had her wake at the Wake was at the
01:01:47
father's house you know they were down in the basement wait who was down in the basement Brian and Cory no he testified
01:01:55
that um she and Brian during Amy's wake at Brian's father's house they were kissing
01:02:01
in the basement wow so despite all the support that he's getting from Amy's family though the jury does convict
01:02:07
Brian of first-degree murder and they sentenced him to life without parole was it surprising to you that the
01:02:14
jury came back with a guilty verdict after hearing all of the testimony in support of Brian from Amy's own family I
01:02:22
thought it was somewhat surprising um part part of the reason for that is there's evidence there but I don't know
01:02:30
for me personally if that evidence completely proves that he's the one who pulled the trigger so that's a
01:02:37
question that came up for me but the jury you know the the jury came to their own conclusion how did the community
01:02:44
react to Brian's sentence so you hear in the show immediately after Brian is sentenced the courtroom erupts with sobs
01:02:54
and gasps um and the people sitting behind Brian it's both his family and Amy's family and they just break down
01:03:02
like they are just blown away by the fact that he was found guilty and that he was sentenced for this crime I talked
01:03:10
to a friend of both Amy and Brian she didn't want to be interviewed on the show um but she told me that so much of
01:03:16
the community still stands behind Brian they love him um and she's part of a church that Amy and Brian were a part of
01:03:25
and that Church stays in contact with the prison where where Brian is housed and they believe in Rehabilitation they
01:03:33
visit with Brian they talk with Brian and they also correspond with other inmates at the prison um and they're in
01:03:39
favor of everybody's Rehabilitation wow I think the thing with Brian and Amy the
01:03:44
family there is that they're very much a religious community you know God is the
01:03:49
center of their life I think in back of my mind I said I really hope that whatever Brian is saying or having them
01:03:56
to believe I hope it is the truth because they definitely do love him and support him MH well we learn at the end
01:04:02
of the hour um that his conviction is under appeal um what what do his prospects
01:04:08
look like though in terms of getting this conviction overturned or getting another trial so that remains to be seen
01:04:14
you know um the you know the the case is under it's under appeal um his appellate
01:04:21
attorney Rosemary's capito um she's a pretty big deal there's a trial on Netflix it's called trial 4 it's about a
01:04:28
wrongful conviction case she spent 10 years uncovering corruption in the Boston police department so I feel like
01:04:36
if there's somebody to help Brian out with this it's her yes definitely her I spoke to her a
01:04:42
few times over the phone she did not make an appearance on our show because Brian they talked and they decided that
01:04:48
she would not but she's a powerful she's a heavy hitter and I think that you know with
01:04:55
her on this case he's got a chance to have his conviction overturned it'll be interesting to watch his things move
01:05:03
forward um Marie Morgan it's great talking to you about this case um you g you gave us so many tidbits that just
01:05:12
filled out the characters you really helped to bring color to this story I really appreciate it thank you so much
01:05:20
for joining us today thank you thanks for having us all right everyone listen you know
01:05:25
what I'm going to say join us next Tuesday for another postmortem and watch 48 hours on Saturdays 109 Central on CBS
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