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Sneak peek: The Detective's Wife
When Massachusetts State Police detectives responded to a reported termination successful Westfield, Massachusetts, connected May 8, 2018, they recovered Amy Fanion dormant connected her eating room level pinch a gunshot coiled to her head. Her husband, Brian Fanion, a Westfield Police detective, had called 911, reporting that Amy Fanion had changeable herself.
At nan scene, detectives made respective discoveries that raised questions. The weapon utilized successful nan shooting was Brian Fanion's work weapon. And location was a deficiency of gunshot residue connected Amy's head, which was different successful a self-inflicted gunshot wound. What had happened successful that eating room that morning? "48 Hours" contributor Nikki Battiste takes a look astatine nan grounds successful "The Detective's Wife," an all-new "48 Hours" airing Saturday, May 4 astatine 10/9c connected CBS and streaming connected Paramount +.
Detective Brendan O'Toole took Brian Fanion to nan State Police barracks successful Russell, Massachusetts, to get his connection of nan events surrounding his wife's abrupt death. At nan extremity of nan interview, O'Toole asked Fanion to move complete his telephone for information extraction. Fanion complied but gave a caveat.
"I turned disconnected nan recorder and that's erstwhile Brian told maine … 'you're going to spot immoderate things connected location and it's not what it appears to be,'" O'Toole told "48 Hours."
Cori Knowles and Brian Fanion
Hampden County Superior Court
Investigators would observe thousands of deleted matter messages betwixt Brian Fanion and a female named Corrine Knowles, known arsenic Cori. Brian Fanion had told O'Toole he and Knowles were conscionable friends, but nan matter messages conveyed that nan narration had go thing more.
On May 17, 3 days aft Amy Fanion's wake, O'Toole and Detective Mike Blanchette confronted Brian Fanion astir his narration pinch Knowles arsenic good arsenic nan deficiency of gunshot residue recovered connected Amy Fanion's wound.
"I mean, there's nary uncertainty she was changeable … but nan mobility is, from what distance," O'Toole asked Fanion.
Brian Fanion is questioned successful a 2nd question and reply pinch detectives from nan Massachusetts State Police connected May 17, 2018.
Hampden County Superior Court
Within a week, investigators seized each of Fanion's electronics, including his agency machine and laptop astatine nan Westfield Police Department. When Detective Tom Forest from nan Cyber Crime Unit examined nan computer's difficult drive, it revealed peculiar web searches and online activity he considered notable to nan investigation. The online activity began astir 3 months earlier Amy Fanion's death, astir nan clip Brian Fanion and Knowles' relationship turned flirtatious.
"… it's only erstwhile this matter starts up … that each of these incriminating searches commencement to appear," Hampden County Assistant District Attorney Mary Sandstrom told "48 Hours."
The first of these inquiries was related to communal family poisons. On nan greeting of Feb. 12, Brian Fanion searched "household poisons," "dangerous sources of radiation," "worst sources of radiation" and "common medicine overdoses." He besides visited web pages titled, "9 Surprising Sources of Radiation successful Your Home;" "Carbon Monoxide: The Invisible Killer;" "Common and vulnerable poisons;" "16 Common Household Items That Could Kill You;" "What Over-the-Counter Medications Can You Overdose From?;" "Which Drug Causes nan Most Deaths Each Year?" and, finally, "Prescription Drugs Linked to Most Fatal Overdoses."
At trial, Brian Fanion's defense lawyer Jeffrey Brown based on that nan Fanions were preparing to person a young niece enactment pinch them and that immoderate of nan websites were related to imaginable hazards their 200-year-old location mightiness pose.
At nan opening of March 2018, Fanion many times Googled his imaginable lover, Cori Knowles. On April 2, arsenic things heated up betwixt Fanion and Knowles, he began questioning nan nuances of affairs, searching "can you person an matter without sex."
Two weeks later, connected April 17, Fanion began researching divorcement laws successful Massachusetts. Several web pages he visited were related to pension authorities aft divorce. Fanion was readying for his upcoming retirement, and according to Knowles successful an question and reply pinch police, he feared losing portion of his pension if he were to divorcement his wife. The pursuing day, Brian Fanion's inquiries into infidelity resumed, visiting web pages titled "My cleanable matter – really I'm getting distant pinch it" and "Emotional Infidelity: Worse Than A Sexual Affair?"
Eleven days earlier Amy Fanion died, connected April 27, Brian Fanion searched "gsr testing" connected his activity computer. That greeting betwixt 9:22 and 9:38 a.m., Brian Fanion visited 5 web pages related to gunshot residue. Among those web pages were "Gunshot Residue Collection: The Decisions that Make aliases Break a Case" and a news study connected YouTube called "What gunshot residue tests show us." Sandstrom told "48 Hours" this had thing to do pinch Brian Fanion's activity astatine nan Westfield Police Department.
"He wasn't assigned to immoderate progressive investigations successful April and May of 2018 … that would necessitate looking up gunshot residue," Sandstrom told "48 Hours." "Nobody successful nan Westfield Police Department does gunshot residue testing."
On May 7, 2018, nan time earlier Amy Fanion was changeable dead, Fanion many times searched really to region predominant contacts from his phone. At his trial, Fanion's defense based on that he was successful nan process of getting a caller telephone and wanted to cognize really to erase information from his existent one. Sandstrom prosecuted nan case.
"Now, nan suspect suggests that he did these searches because he's successful nan process of getting a caller telephone correct earlier his wife's demise," Sandstrom told nan jury. "But he's not looking to delete each information disconnected of his telephone … he's searching really to delete nan often contacted database because he doesn't want grounds of his narration pinch Corrine being discovered by nan authorities police."
Fanion's proceedings for nan execution of Amy Fanion began connected Feb. 23, 2023. Sandstrom's first witnesser was Amy Fanion's sister, Anna Hansen. Hansen testified that aft Amy's death, Brian Fanion confided that he was concerned astir immoderate searches he had made.
"I asked him what that hunt was, and he said really to make a execution look for illustration a suicide," Hansen said connected nan witnesser stand. Under transverse introspection by nan defense, Detective Tom Forest testified that he ne'er recovered immoderate searches related to those terms.
On nan greeting of May 8, 2018, while Brian Fanion was still astatine work, he searched "massachusetts aesculapian examiner offices" and visited a website that listed nan units wrong nan Massachusetts State Police forensics section.
In her closing arguments, Sandstrom stated that that morning, Brian Fanion was preparing for his wife's murder. "He's looking up and researching nan units that will look … aft he's committed this murder. … nan grounds successful this lawsuit proves beyond a reasonable uncertainty that nan suspect knew he was going to execution Amy Fanion erstwhile he near nan Westfield Police Department astatine 11:47 a.m. connected May 8th."
Brian Fanion's defense based on that Amy Fanion had anger issues and suffered from terrible anxiety. After Amy's death, galore members of her family signed a missive successful support of Brian, stating that they were definite Amy had taken her ain life. Several members of Amy Fanion's family took nan stand, and though they were called arsenic witnesses for nan prosecution, their testimonies supported Brian Fanion's defense.
After a month-long trial, nan assemblage recovered Brian Fanion blameworthy of nan first-degree execution of Amy Fanion. He was sentenced to life successful prison. His condemnation is nether appeal.
- In:
- 48 Hours
- Murder
- True Crime
