Receipts for goods and services, coupled with the testimony of two men who had dealings with Ralph Fisher on Jan. 15, 2001, show Fisher couldn't have killed Kathy Vroman, his defense attorney says.

The fate of Ralph Fredderick "Fred" Fisher, 47, of Goshen, is now in the hands of the jury. The defense rested this morning, and closing arguments were under way as of press time. The case was expected to go to the jury by lunchtime today.

Ralph Fisher is accused of killing Vroman, 48, of Milford Jan. 15, 2001, inside the Country Car Co., a Milford business owned by his son, Jason Fisher. Originally, Jason Fisher, 24, of Millersburg, was charged with Vroman's murder. However, in December, Jason Fisher turned the focus of the investigation on his father when he implicated Ralph Fisher as the shooter. Jason Fisher spent 10 months in the Kosciusko County Jail before accusing his father of the murder. He has since been released from incarceration, pending trial, but said Wednesday that the murder charge is to be dismissed in exchange for his testimony.

The murder investigation resulted in the arrests of the Fishers; William Vroman; Lawrence Grant of Shipshewana; and George Aldrich of Etna Green. The latter three were convicted of burglary and theft charges in connection with a December 2000 theft of more than $100,000 worth of vehicles from Rice Ford in Warsaw. Authorities have said Kathy Vroman's death was connected to an auto theft ring. Grant also was convicted of unlawful movement of a body. Jason Fisher still faces charges of burglary and theft from the Rice Ford incident.

Ralph Fisher was originally charged with assisting a criminal and unlawful movement of a body and later with conspiracy to obstruct justice. All of those charges were subsequently dismissed.

According to testimony offered Thursday afternoon by Anthony Byers, an employee of Ralph Fisher and an occupant of his home, he and Ralph Fisher were together in Elkhart County most of the morning on Jan. 15, 2001, except for a short period of time when Ralph Fisher returned a rented auger north of Goshen. Byers said Ralph Fisher dropped him at home about 1 p.m. that day, a time frame established to be after the time Kathy Vroman was killed.

Byers said he helped clear snow at the Ralph Fisher residence between 7 and 8 a.m. on the day in question and Ralph Fisher was at home at the time. The two men then left together and went to Ralph Fisher's business, RAF Enterprises Inc. in Goshen, where Byers moved snow in the parking lot while Ralph Fisher went inside. Two former RAF employees confirmed that Ralph Fisher was at the business that morning.

At one point, Byers said he saw Ralph Fisher leave, driving his vehicle and pulling a trailer on which there was an auger. He returned 30 to 40 minutes later without the auger, which Byers said he assumed was taken back to Nations Rent in Elkhart. They then loaded the skid loader onto the trailer and headed to Burkholder Repair in rural Elkhart, where the equipment was due back by noon. En route to make that return, a stop was made to fill the skid loader with diesel fuel. A credit card receipt produced by Ralph Fisher's wife, Ramona Fisher, shows a purchase made on Jan. 15, 2001, but the fuel receipt, which likely had the time of purchase printed on it, was not available.

Byers estimated the time of arrival at Burkholder Repair about 12:15 p.m. after a 30-minute drive on slushy roads.

Levi Burkholder, owner of Burkholder Repair, identified an invoice from his business and told jurors the date on the document was the date in which the equipment was returned - Jan. 15, 2001 - and indicated a notation on the invoice of a telephone call to request the skid loader be kept a half-day more than planned. Burkholder said Byers kept his promise to return the equipment around noon, but he wasn't sure of the exact time that Byers and Ralph Fisher, who paid for the rental by check, arrived.

Byers said a telephone call from County Car Co. rang in on Ralph Fisher's cellular telephone as they pulled into the driveway at home. He said he knew where the call was coming from because he saw the number on the telephone's caller identification.

Grant, who is serving a prison term, testified Thursday that he didn't see Ralph Fisher at the Milford business until the evening of Jan. 15, 2001 - after Kathy Vroman was dead.

"He told me that he did it, that he shot Kathy," Grant testified about Jason Fisher. "He told me that I was going to help him clean up the mess and, if I didn't, he would kill me and my family."

When Grant arrived back at the car lot, Jason Fisher led him to the garage area, where Kathy Vroman's body was already wrapped in a tarp, with an extension cord tied around her legs and wrapped around her upper torso, he said. The upper half of her body was already in the trash can. Jason Fisher previously testified that he was unable to drag the body any further from the lobby than the break room and that he didn't tie the extension cord around Kathy Vroman's legs until Grant got there.

At that point, Grant said, "We stuck her inside the van and we drove to Wal-Mart." Grant said Jason Fisher later told him that he and his wife and mother had to leave town and the three headed to Florida, where the murder investigation began to unfold when Grant contacted authorities with what he knew about Kathy Vroman's death.

Grant said Jason Fisher gave him $500 before he left the area and that he wasn't sure where the money that was wired to them in Tennessee came from. Grant's former common law wife, Judy Holmes, told the court that the money came from Ralph Fisher, whom she called as instructed by Jason Fisher.

During Jason Fisher's testimony on Wednesday, he said Grant would lie because Ralph Fisher paid him.

Grant also testified that Jason Fisher previously made a comment about shooting William Vroman. "I tried to talk him out of it and I thought I had." Holmes referenced the alleged murder plan for both William and Kathy Vroman, saying Jason Fisher wanted to break into their house and shoot them in their sleep.

Many of the defense witnesses were asked about Jason Fisher's obsession with the HBO series "The Sopranos," a drama about a mafia family that "gets rid of snitches." In response to Leatherman's questions, Grant said "The Sopranos" was Jason Fisher's favorite television show and he often dressed like them and wore his hair slicked back. Grant disagreed with an assertion that employees of Country Car Co. were required to watch videotapes of the program at work. He said Jason Fisher brought the tapes in, and those at the business could watch if they wanted to, but they didn't have to. He also said he never saw Jason Fisher continually showing off the gun he kept in his desk or credenza - the location of the weapon was contradicted among several witnesses, some of whom often saw Jason Fisher with the gun and others who didn't.

Brenna Searfoss, Jason Fisher's stepsister, reiterated information to the jury about Jason Fisher telling her he deserved to use his father's credit card. Jason Fisher denied making such a statement during his cross-examination by Leatherman. Waggoner questioned Searfoss about her home ownership and the jurors learned that the house that had been owned by Jason Fisher is currently titled in Searfoss' name. She said paperwork was done by her parents (Ralph and Ramona Fisher) but she doesn't fully understand why.

Ramona Fisher testified she and her husband helped Jason Fisher after he was arrested for Kathy Vroman's murder, including Ramona Fisher cashing in her 401(K) from her previous job to help pay for Jason Fisher's attorney. She said the family also had garage sales and sold personal items to provide money for Jason Fisher's wife to pay household bills.

Additional testimony Thursday, from Thomas Beard of South Bend, indicated the office building at Country Car Co. appeared to be recently cleaned. Beard, a warranty salesman who stopped at the business on Jan. 15, 2001, said he noticed "a very strong smell of disinfectant" when he entered the lobby. "It burned my nose," he said. He said he also noticed the car business seemed to be "unusually tidy" for the type of business it is. Typically, used car lots "have a lot of paperwork and things strewn around" that he didn't see at Country Car Co.

Although he never previously met Jason Fisher, Beard said the man appeared to be nervous and "was sweating profusely." Beard testified he recanted a previous statement to police that he saw a gun in Jason Fisher's pocket during his sales calls that day because he later thought he may have imagined it. He said he contacted authorities about what he saw at the business after viewing a news report about Kathy Vroman's murder and realized he was there on the day that she died.

Waggoner suggested Beard was coached about what his testimony would be, but Beard denied that allegation. He did say he was paid a $25 witness fee to appear in court from out of town.

A private investigator from South Bend, David Jewell, testified this morning that the route of travel Ralph Fisher claims to have taken on Jan. 15, 2001, took 43.9 minutes to drive earlier this month. The route was completed without a trailer and without the snowfall recorded more than a year ago.

Jewell also admitted locating Holmes and securing a place for her to stay, but the property owner testified Holmes only took shelter there for three days in February. [[In-content Ad]]