The Fishers were a family of 4 from Scottsdale, Arizona consisting of Mary Fisher, Brittney Fisher, Bobby Fisher, and Robert Fisher. The family made headlines after Robert Fisher murdered his wife and children and blew up their home in 2001. He has been on the run since and was previously on the FBI’s Most Wanted list.
Robert William Fisher was born on April 13, 1961 in Brooklyn, New York. When he was 15, Robert’s parents divorced, leaving him with very bitter feelings. In his early adult life, Robert served in the U.S. Navy, and worked as a firefighter and surgical technician. He was known for being an avid outdoorsman and having excellent hunting skills.
In 1987, Robert married Mary Cooper, and they went on to have 2 children, Brittney Fisher and Robert William Fisher Jr. Robert was described as being very controlling and cruel to his family. He and Mary often argued about things like sex and money. Robert would do harsh things to his family, like spraying Mary with water when he felt like she was talking out of turn, or throwing his crying and fearful children into a lake to teach them how to swim. To some these acts may seem minuscule, but Robert’s controlling attitude made these situations much worse.
Robert’s hunting friends began to notice that he would display some disturbing behaviors as well. In one instance, he began smearing the blood of an elk onto his face after killing it. Another time, he snuck up on a family having a picnic and emptied his gun in the air. Robert also shot and killed a dog at some point, claiming it attacked his dog; however, police believed he set this up to kill the dog. According to some of his friends, Robert talked about committing suicide in 1998 because of the state of his marriage. In December 2000, Robert told several coworkers about an affair he had with a massage therapist, fearing his wife Mary would find out. Neighbors claimed to hear the couple arguing often, with statements such as, “You’re worthless, I could have done so much better. We should divorce.” Weeks before she and her children’s murders, Mary told several friends that she was divorcing Robert.
On April 9, 2001, neighbors reported hearing the couple loudly arguing at around 10 P.M. Approximately 10 hours later, the Fisher house blew up. Neighbors used water hoses to try and keep the flames down until the firefighters arrived. It was noted that Mary’s Toyota 4Runner was missing. Upon arrival, it was believed that the entire Fisher family had perished in the explosion.
Once the fire was put out, only 3 bodies were recovered. The bodies were determined to be that of Mary (38), Brittney (12), and Bobby (10). At first, investigators thought that had died from the explosion. However, autopsy reports determined that Mary was shot in the back of the head, and Brittney and Bobby’s throats were slit from ear to ear. There was no soot found in their lungs, meaning they were killed before the explosion.
Whilst trying to determine what happened to Robert, investigators found footage of Robert at an ATM around 10:43 P.M. withdrawing $280; Mary’s car can be seen in the background of the footage. With this, investigators determined that Robert committed the murders between 9:30 P.M. and 10:15 P.M. When investigating how the explosion started, investigators found that the gas line from the house’s furnace had been pulled, and the accumulated gas was ignited by the lit candle. The time it took for the gas to accumulate and reach the candle gave Robert enough time to flee. It is theorized that Robert murdered his family because he was threatened by Mary’s intention to divorce him, and he didn’t want Brittney and Bobby to go through what he went through as a child. We can all agree that this could have been achieved without him annihilating his entire family.
With the circumstances, Robert Fisher was determined to be the prime suspect in the murders. On April 20, Mary’s car was found in the Tonto National Forest, about 100 miles north of Scottsdale were the family lived. The family’s dog was found hiding outside the car. Police immediately began searching the area, but only checked 1 of several caves in the area. Multiple professional cavers suggested that Robert possibly hid in one of these caves. However, no evidence wad found that suggested Robert may have been in the caves. A couple stated to have seen a man matching Robert’s description walking along a nearby road days before the car was found. An acquaintance of the Fisher family stated that her husband had gone camping with Robert in the around that the car was found before the murders took place. Her husband believed that Robert was scouting the area.
On July 19, the city of Phoenix issued a state arrest warrant charging Fisher with 3 counts of first-degree murder and one count of arson. After no leads or arrests, Robert was declared a fugitive and a federal arrest warrant was issued. On July 29, 2002, Robert became the 475th fugitive to be added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list of fugitives, with a $100,000 reward for information leading to his capture. There were many reports of sightings of Robert, from as close as his neighborhood to as far as South America. On November 3, 2021, Robert was removed from the Ten Most Wanted list, but remains a wanted fugitive.
Many documentaries and theories have been developed as the years have passed since the murders. Some people believe that Robert possibly killed himself sometimes after the murders. Other’s believe that Robert used his outdoor skills to survive the wild, and it possibly living under a new identity. However, unless Robert is found, we might never really known exactly what happened to him. In the coming years I hope some evidence of Robert’s whereabouts are found, pr he is miraculously found, so that Mary, Brittney, and Bobby can get the justice they deserve.
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