The Fisher Case

In Salem, Oregon, August 3rd 1974.

Ann Fisher (44), along with two other women, Rose Daniel (40), and Alicia Ferguson (44), who were friends of Mrs Fisher, were found brutally murdered in the home of Ann Fisher, which she shared with her husband, Frank Fisher (46).

They had received griveous wounds, by an unknown murder weapon, which preferably were an axe. The murder weapon was not found at the crime scene. Autopsies concluded that all died due to having their throat chopped. Mrs Fisher's wounds were the most comprehensive, having had her face mutilated beyond recognition and her right arm chopped off, detectives also noted her wedding ring was missing. Victims were estimated to have died between 11PM and 6AM.

Suspicion quickly fell on Frank Fisher, who has been married to Ann Fisher for 15 years. Their marriage was filled with issues, with acquaintances and friends, describing Mr Fisher as domineering and possessive. Neighbors described hearing Mr Fisher shouting and verbally abusing Mrs Fisher at untimely hours, he was also known to get into altercations with neighbors, and people in public.

Ann Fisher was described as a well-meaning and friendly woman, and was friends with many local women, including Rose Daniel and Alicia Ferguson, both of whom she'd met through a knitting club.

However, Mr Fisher's alibi was provided by a close friend of his, Bob Bosch(48), who stated that Mr Fisher had been helping him chopping wood at Bosch's farmhouse, and that he had stayed overnight too. Detectives were intially doubtful of Bosch's testimony, but had no evidence contradicting any of it. Though, an detective looking around the farmhouse, noted that many axes were stored in Bosch's toolshed.

As detectives worked on the case, they came up with another potentional suspect, an 19-year old man named Jon Andersen. Who has reportedly made advances on Mrs Fisher, and was seemingly obsessed with her. One witness described, him standing outside her home, for hours, waiting for Mrs Fisher to come home from work, but running away when he saw her car approaching.

Jon Andersen was taken in for interrogation, but was released due to lack of evidence linking him to the case. One family member came up and provided photographical evidence, that proved he spent the night at a family member's house, on the night of the killings.

As the years went by, no further clues came up, and the case grew cold. Mr Fisher continued living in the house, and died in 1980, after a long battle with lung cancer, he was 52. Neighbors described that he completely withdrew from the outside world after the killings, and never spoke to anyone, not even Bob Bosch.

The Fisher House became known throughout the neighborhood as haunted, due to his bloody history.

An huge breakthrough in the case came up, in November 1989, when Bob Bosch reportedly had made a written deathbed confession, which he given to his adult two grandchildren. In the writing, he revealed that he had lied to the detectives about Frank Fisher's alibi. He described that late into the evening, August 3rd 1974, while he and Frank Fisher were still in the process of chopping wood, Fisher suddenly went up, and left, saying he needed some fresh air, he returned 2 hours later, wearing different clothes. Bosch also wrote that he belived himself, that Ann Fisher wanted a divorce with Frank Fisher, but were too afraid to go through it herself, so she invited two of her friends over, to discuss the divorce proceedings. Bob Bosch died 4 days later.

With Mr Bosch's deathbed confession, detectives concluded that it was most likely Mr Fisher who murdered his wife, Daniel and Ferguson.