Does a Massachusetts wife's hair holds clues in ex-detective's murder trial? | Forensic Files

this week's 48 Hours involves a highly respected police detective who became a prime suspect in his wife's death Amy
fan was found dead in her massachusett home in May 2018 her husband detective Brian fion told police it was a
self-inflicted gunshot wound but investigators did not believe his story as Nikki batist reports for 48 hours
gunshot residue May hold the answers it was 12:06 p.m. on May 8th 2018 when detective Brian fan dialed 911
my wife just shot herself can you send me some help when Massachusetts state police detectives Brendan otou and Mike
Blanchet arrived they found 51-year-old Amy fion lying dead on the dining room floor according to Brian the couple had
been arguing about his retirement plans and at some point Amy picked up his service weapon I just saw the gun in her
hand and her hand going up and towards her head yeah but investigators did not believe Brian's story I mean there's no
doubt she get was shot but the question is from what distance it was right freaking there I'm
telling you distance mattered because in self-inflicted gunshot wounds gunshot residue is expelled from the firearm
leaving a distinct pattern called stippling on the wound there's none honor Brian there's none honor there has
to be cuz the gun was there right freaking there fion was later arrested and charged with murder but at trial
Alexander Jason AC crime scene analysts called by the defense testify that the lack of gunshot residue was not due to
distance but rather Amy's Hair Amy fion had very dense thick hair that will block The Gunshot residue Amy's Hair was
not tested by crime scene analysts to support his theory he met us at a gun range using a 45 caliber gun and
ammunition identical to what was found at the scene Jason fired a single round into a mound of hair by a ballistic skin
simulant so you just shot a 45 caliber gun 3 in away through hair yes for comparison Jason positioned the gun at
the same distance using identical ammunition and fired into the skin simulant without
hair and I pull this away wow you can see there's a big difference that's incredible all from the hair all from
the hair the hair acted as a filter pretty fascinating and Nikki joins us now Nikki
that is incredibly fascinating uh so were there any fingerprints found on Brian's gun and what about that gunshot
residue so there were partial prints found on the gun but detectives weren't able to identify them however both Brian
and Amy had gunshot residue on their hands but at the crime scene Brian was found holding his wife's hand so it's
you know it could be transferred what do prosecutor say the motive was it's a big
question jica so Brian had a relationship ship with a woman he met on a church mission trip he was very
involved in the church as was she the prosecution says he didn't want to get a divorce because it would have reflected
poorly they were big in the community they've been referred to as the kennedies of this area and she said it
just would have looked too bad but this is a real I don't know I've never seen anything like that so I'm really looking
forward to it's incredible the ballistics in the story is fascinating yeah just in those last 30 seconds my
mind went back and forth he literally said wait I'm confused I thought I had to figure it out tune in Saturday
Saturday night great tease Nikki thank you very much as always you can watch Nikki's full report the detective's wife
on 48 hours tomorrow night at 109 Central right here on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus

Brian Fanion, a former police detective from Westfield, Massachusetts, was found guilty in the shooting death of his wife in their dining room. CBS News correspondent Nikki Battiste revisits the unusual 2018 murder case where a respected detective becomes the suspect in an upcoming episode of "48 Hours."

Each weekday morning, "CBS Mornings" co-hosts Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil and Nate Burleson bring you the latest breaking news, smart conversation and in-depth feature reporting. "CBS Mornings" airs weekdays at 7 a.m. on CBS and stream it at 8 a.m. ET on the CBS News app.

For video licensing inquiries, contact: licensing@veritone.com

Brief Summary

Detective Brian Fion becomes a suspect in his wife's suspicious death, raising questions about gunshot residue and potential motives.

Key points

The Detective's Wife. A respected police detective becomes a prime suspect in his wife's death. What really happened?
Ballistics and Hair Evidence. A crime scene analyst demonstrates how hair can block gunshot residue, complicating the case.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I just saw the gun in her hand.

Detective Brian Fion's account of the incident.

0:50WatchMay 3, 2024

More from 48 Hours

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.