Witnesses testify at Fisk murder trial

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Robert Bean tried to get the gun away from the man who police say robbed, then kidnapped, he and his wife, Norma.

"You said you weren't going to shoot her" were among the last words of Robert Bean, according to Kent County Assistant Prosecutor Helen Brinkman.

Brinkman was quoting from a statement given to police by one of the defendants after the Howard City couple were found dead in a northern Kent County gravel pit on October 6, 2008.

Bobby Fisk, who police say helped plan two robberies of the Beans' home, and drive them to the gravel pit before they were shot, faces eight counts, including felony murder, a life offense.

His co-defendant, 28-year-old Timothy Stephan, pleaded guilty to similar charges last year. He was sentenced to life in prison.

During her opening statement, Brinkman said Fisk and Stephan broke into the Beans' home twice that evening. The first time, they were unable to use the couples' stolen ATM card because they did not have the PIN number.

They went back to get it, allegedly kidnapping the couple at gunpoint.

But since they had already tried to get money out of an ATM without the PIN, additional attempts failed. Prosecutors say Stephan and Fisk drove the couple around at gunpoint, eventually ending up in a gravel pit off Beardslee Road.

They took the couple, both 66, out of the van and shot them at close range, according to the prosecutor.

Among the witnesses who testified Wednesday was motorist Dennis Bird. He testified Fisk told him he witnessed a double homicide, but Bird suspected something was not right. He took off, warned another oncoming motorist and called police.

Bird said he passed Stephan before he got to Fisk, but didn't talk to Stephan. He dropped his kids off at school, told them to call the police with the information - he didn't have a cell phone, he said - and went back to find Fisk.

Defense attorney Damien Nunzio asked Bird why he went back to find Fisk if he thought he was a threat. "I felt it was my duty," Bird said.

Another witness, Tim Arntz, was also in the area of the gravel pit that morning and said Fisk tried to wave him down. He said Fisk was all shaken up and told Arntz he had just seen two people murdered. He asked Arntz for a ride to Howard City, but Arntz refused, and then dialed 911.

Tami Sour was another motorist that Fisk tried flagging down. She said Fisk told her he was hitch-hiking , got picked up and into a fight inside the car. He was there was a double murder and the wife got shot.

"He repeatedly said he needed to get out of there. He needed a ride," she testified. Sour's husband made Fisk sit down and wait. Fisk got agitated.

Sour said, "He started going for cars. At one point, he approached a school bus."

Testimony wrapped for the day around 1 p.m.

Stay with 24 Hour News 8 for continuing coverage of the trial. Testimony will resume Thursday at 8:30 a.m. Defense attorney Nunzio said both Fisk and Stephan are on his witness list.