After more than a year of silence, frustration and searching, a suspect was arrested last week and charged with the murder of Mark Fisher ’06.
Antonio Russo, an 18-year-old high school dropout from Brooklyn, was arrested Tuesday, Nov. 23 after a grand jury in Brooklyn indicted him in the Oct. 12, 2003 killing, according to Newsday.
He pleaded not guilty to the second-degree murder, robbery and weapons charges at this arraignment the following day and was ordered to be held without bail.
Police suspect that at least one other man was an accomplice to the killing, according to Newsday.
Fisher’s family spoke to The Mirror about their hopes for the future of the case.
“Hopefully this is just the beginning,” said Nancy Fisher, Mark’s mother. “We hope there are more arrests to follow, we think about three or four arrests in the next week or so.”
According to Newsday, although Russo has denied any involvement in the crime, sources said that he had talked openly on the street about shooting Fisher.
A source told The Associated Press that according to accounts of Russo’s statements, Fisher resisted Russo’s demand for his wallet and the $20 he had withdrawn from an ATM that night.
Friends of Fisher’s from Fairfield express their happiness in this break in the case.
“It was about time they made an arrest,” said Chris Peters ’06. “It’s good they’re moving deeper into the case and that people are going to pay for what they did.”
Russo’s arrest on Tuesday was the first result from the year-long investigation, often stalled by silence of those who were with Fisher in the final hours before he was killed.
“There are other aspects of this homicide that are still under investigation, and for that reason, we can’t give you all the details about how the silence was broken or how our detectives put the pieces of the puzzle together,” said New York Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, according to the New York Times.
Silence marked the bulk of the investigation surrounding the case. Many in the group of friends that attended the Brooklyn house party have retained lawyers. Police have described many as uncooperative, according to the New York Times, speaking with detectives only after they had been tracked down. The friends have denied they have withholding information, telling detectives that all they know is Fisher was alive when they left the party.
Although many of the details surrounding the night of Oct. 12 have not been completely resolved, detectives have pieced together what they believe happened that night.
Fisher was last seen by friends at the Bar Harbour in Manhattan around 2 a.m. on Oct. 12. At this point he left with a group to go to the home of John Guica to attend a party.
According to the timeline given Tuesday, Nov. 23 by Kelly, Russo went with Fisher around 4:30 a.m. to an ATM near Guica’s house where Fisher withdrew $20. Just after 6:30 a.m. Fisher was shot by Russo on a street two blocks from Guica’s house, said Kelly to Newsday.
Fisher’s body was found in front of 150 Argyle Road, wrapped in a blanket. The murder weapon was not found.
Shortly after the killing, Russo appeared to try to change his appearance.
Kelly said that Russo cut the braids he usually wore and left for California a few days after Fisher’s death. He returned to Brooklyn later that month.
Police had been following Russo, and Linda Brown, a friend, told the New York Times he began coming and going from his apartment on Turner Place via the fire escape.
Following his arrest at the apartment he shares with his mother, grandmother and brother, his mother, Evelyn Jennings smiled at reporters and said, “My only comment is that he is innocent, and I want to thank everyone for their support.”
According to officials, the $100,000 reward offered by Fisher’s family and the NYPD will probably go uncollected.
Russo’s next court date is scheduled for Dec. 8, according to the New York Times.
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