FBI's Most Wanted - Robert William Fisher

Fisher and Mary were having marital problems; she was ready to leave him. This could be what set off the future events that would cost Mary and her children their lives. Mary accused Robert of cheating, he’d done it once and she was pretty certain he was doing it again. But this time she wasn’t taking it, there wasn’t any more forgiveness; she was ready to get out. From here we’ll go to a timeline.

April 6th, 2001, it was a normal heat wave of a day in Arizona. Robert was seen by neighbors changing the oil in his prized possession, a 2001 Dodge Ram 2500. He was also seen shopping for insulation for the family’s attic. (Baker, 2001) 

April 9th, 2001 Neighbors hear the Fisher couple arguing terribly, no one is quite sure what the argument was about but sources close the family speculate that the couple was arguing over Robert’s infidelity. "We don't know what it was about," said FBI special agent Robert Caldwell. "Mary was probably getting ready to leave him. Rather than have someone else raise his kids, it was better off to start off a clean slate." (Unknown Author)

Sometime that night or early the next morning, Fisher would systematically wipe out his entire family. I’m speculating here but I’m guessing that he killed his children first by quietly slitting their throats; no loud noises as with the gun, no screaming kids. After both children were killed, he went for Mary and shot her in the back of the head. Police suspect that it was the other way around. They suspect that Fisher shot Mary first (probably because she’d be the biggest threat – neutralize the threat first, then go after the kids), but I’m still not convinced. I’m thinking that the kids would have heard the shot that killed their mother and come running. Why wouldn’t he just shoot them instead of using a knife? Why change weapons when there’s no reason to. The only reason that makes sense is the scenario I presented – that he killed the kids first, and then went after Mary. She probably didn’t even realize that her children were already dead before he shot and killed her.

I’m speculating once again that he snuck up on her. I don’t think that he had her kneel before he shot though that is an option. Perhaps he had her kneel to pray for her soul before he killed her. But I don’t think so. For some reason I just don’t get the feeling that his wife or his children saw their deaths coming, it was a surprise. I don’t think that Fisher would have had the guts to look them in the eye and kill them or to have them know that it was him that was taking their lives. I’m probably way off base, but they’re just observations.  

After his entire family was dead, he poured an accelerant onto the bodies of his family and set a flame (candle or matches) far enough away from a natural gas line (that he broke) so that he enough time to get out of the house before it blew.
Interestingly enough, Fisher didn’t kill the family dog, and didn’t leave it in the house to burn. He loaded the dog up in his wife’s 2000 Toyota 4Runner and left town. No one’s seen him since.

April 20th, 2001, Mary Fishers 2000 Toyota Four Runner and the family dog Blue were found in the Tonto National Forest about 100 miles north of Scottsdale. There was no sign of Fisher. Police initiated an indepth search of the area which included several mazes of caves and some seriously rough terrain. Fisher didn’t clean out any bank accounts before this happened. He had a small amount of money on him (roughly $200)

The spokesman for the police department (Sgt. Doug Dirren) “would not say whether investigators believe Fisher, who did not clean our his bank accounts, committed suicide.” (Baker, 2001) Fisher owned a virtual arsenal of guns, “Fisher owned at least four rifles, one shotgun, one pistol, and three hunting knives. “ (Baker, 2001) Fisher also “had a concealed weapon permit for a .38-caliber revolver which Kuhbander said he habitually carried in a specially made fanny pack.” (Baker, 2001) Law enforcement never found the .38 “neither did they find all the clothing missing from Fisher’s home in the abandoned 4Runner.” (Baker, 2001)