Jason Fisher of Millersburg will stand trial in Kosciusko County.

Fisher, 22, was before Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed Wednesday afternoon seeking a change of venue in the murder case pending against him.

Fisher's court-appointed attorney, Mike Miner, argued that there has been an abundance of local media publicity that could prejudice his client from receiving a fair and impartial trial. However, Reed denied the motion for a change of venue, as well as an alternative motion for an out-of-county jury panel.

Fisher is accused of the shooting death of 48-year-old Kathy Vroman of Milford. Vroman's husband, William Vroman, reported her missing on Jan. 15 after she failed to return home from work. Kathy Vroman was employed by Country Car Co. at Milford, a business that was owned by Fisher.

Authorities believe Kathy Vroman was shot at the business and her body was then taken to a remote area in Michigan. Vroman's frozen body was recovered Jan. 26 from a wooded area near Three Rivers, Mich. An autopsy later showed she died as a result of two gunshot wounds to the head.

Fisher's father, Ralph "Fred" Fisher, 46, of Goshen, is also charged in connection with Kathy Vroman's death. Fisher is free on $50,000 bond and faces charges of assisting a criminal and unlawful movement of a body. Ralph Fisher's attorney is seeking for the charges against his client to be dismissed, arguing that although Ralph Fisher allegedly told Jason Fisher how to dispose of a body, he wasn't aware at the time that his son had allegedly murdered someone. The next hearing in Ralph Fisher's case is set for 11 a.m. April 30.

Three other men, including Vroman's husband, face charges in connection with this case.

Officials have speculated that Kathy Vroman's death was related to an auto theft ring, which reportedly included the thefts of more than $100,000 worth of new vehicles from Rice Ford in December.

William Weston Vroman, 32, of Goshen, was charged with burglary in Kosciusko County and also faces unrelated charges of larceny in New York in connection with the alleged embezzlement of funds from the volunteer fire department he served as chief.

George Aldrich, 28, of Etna Green, was charged with burglary and auto theft, and Lawrence Grant, 29, of Shipshewana, faces charges of auto theft, unlawful movement of a body and assisting a criminal.

Grant reportedly helped police break the case after he went to authorities in Florida, where he fled following the alleged murder. Grant also telephoned local police with information about Kathy Vroman's death.

All of those arrested during the murder and auto theft investigations had some connection to Country Car Co., authorities said.

A majority of the 29 newspaper stories presented as evidence that prospective jurors could be tainted came from the South Bend Tribune, which has published at least two stories linking Vroman's death to the 1998 death of an Iowa truck driver. In that case, the man's body was found at an Elkhart County business owned by Ralph Fisher.

A date for Jason Fisher to stand trial has not yet been set. [[In-content Ad]]