Brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair and on oxygen, Ralph Freddrick "Fred" Fisher made his first appearance Tuesday in the murder charge filed against him Thursday. A preliminary plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.

Fisher, 47, of Goshen, was taken into custody Saturday, charged with the shooting death of Kathy Vroman, 48, of Milford. After being booked into the Kosciusko County Jail, Fisher complained of chest pain and was taken to Kosciusko Community Hospital. He apparently suffers from high blood pressure and also visited a doctor Tuesday.

Fisher's son, Jason Fisher, 23, of Millersburg, previously was charged with Vroman's murder and remains in custody on that charge.

New evidence presented by Kosciusko County Prosecutor Charles Waggoner includes a statement by Jason Fisher in which Jason claims he found his father, Ralph, standing over Vroman's body holding a gun.

Waggoner declined to comment on the status of the case against Jason Fisher in regard to recent developments in the murder investigation. Waggoner did say that he has spoken with Jason Fisher's court-appointed attorney, Mike Miner.

Jason Fisher has been in custody since his arrest last January. Vroman was reported missing Jan. 15 and her body was found in a wooded area near Three Rivers, Mich., several days later. He was charged in her shooting death, while Fred Fisher was accused of assisting a criminal and unlawful movement of a body. Those charges later were dismissed and Fred Fisher was charged with obstruction of justice. The elder Fisher allegedly helped destroy evidence of the shooting and helped with the removal of Vroman's body from the Country Car Co. in Milford, where authorities believe her murder took place, to the location in Michigan where it was found.

Kathy Vroman was employed by Country Car Co., which Jason Fisher owned.

The new evidence in the case, according to an information document for probable cause filed among court documents, comes from a written statement made by Jason Fisher. The younger Fisher claims his father was the shooter in the case.

According to the statement, Ralph Fisher was arguing with Vroman "... so I decided to go outside and get away from the arguing ..." The statement later continued: "... and went back inside through the garage and in through the breakroom into the lobby where I saw Kathy laying on the floor with her face down and sort of turned away and blood around her head on the floor and my dad was just standing there in front of the door way to my office with a gun in his hand and then he looked up at me and set the gun on the black file cabinet next to Kathy's desk and said I got to go call me on my cell in 5 minutes, and lock the front door behind me."

The statement was made part of the probable cause information submitted to the court and signed by Milford Town Marshal Dave Hobbs, who Waggoner notes is the lead investigator in the case. Hobbs also said he learned that Jason Fisher passed a polygraph examination concerning these matters, according to court documents.

Although Fred Fisher appeared at his initial hearing without an attorney present, he told Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed that he will retain Thomas Leatherman of Goshen as his attorney in this matter. Leatherman is the attorney of record in the other charge pending against Fisher.

Vroman was reported missing on Jan. 15 by her husband, William Vroman. Mr. Vroman and two other men, Lawrence Grant and George Aldrich, were charged with burglary and theft in connection with the December 2000 theft of more than $100,000 worth of vehicles from Rice Ford in Warsaw.

Authorities have said that Vroman's death is linked to an auto theft ring. Jason Fisher was recently charged in connection with the Rice Ford burglary and is awaiting trial for the murder charge, as well as for charges of burglary and theft. The December trial setting in the murder case was continued shortly before it was set to begin due to the new developments in the case. A new trial date has not been set.

The preliminary plea of not guilty becomes a formal plea after 20 days if no changes are made prior to that time, Reed said. A pre-trial conference in the matter is set for 9:30 a.m. Feb. 16 and the omnibus date is set for March 23. [[In-content Ad]]