During the investigation, a number of puzzling discoveries emerged. The firearm involved in the incident turned out to be Brian Fanion's official service weapon. Additionally, there was an absence of gunshot residue on Amy's head, a peculiar observation in cases of self-inflicted gunshot wounds. The circumstances of that morning in the dining room left many questions unanswered.
Exploring the evidence in the upcoming episode "The Detective's Wife," "48 Hours" correspondent Nikki Battiste delves into the case. The episode is set to air on Saturday, May 4 at 10/9c on CBS and will be available for streaming on Paramount +.
To gather more information, Detective Brendan O'Toole escorted Brian Fanion to the State Police barracks in Russell, Massachusetts, for a detailed account of the events leading to his wife's tragic demise. Following the interview, O'Toole requested Fanion to surrender his phone for data extraction. Fanion agreed but with a stipulation.
"I turned off the recorder and that's when Brian told me … 'you're going to see some things on there and it's not what it appears to be,'" O'Toole told "48 Hours."
Investigators would discover thousands of deleted text messages between Brian Fanion and a woman named Corrine Knowles, known as Cori. Brian Fanion had told O'Toole he and Knowles were just friends, but the text messages conveyed that the relationship had become something more.
On May 17, three days after Amy Fanion's wake, O'Toole and Detective Mike Blanchette confronted Brian Fanion about his relationship with Knowles as well as the lack of gunshot residue found on Amy Fanion's wound.
"I mean, there's no doubt she was shot … but the question is, from what distance," O'Toole asked Fanion.
Within a week, investigators seized all of Fanion's electronics, including his office computer and laptop at the Westfield Police Department. When Detective Tom Forest from the Cyber Crime Unit examined the computer's hard drive, it revealed peculiar web searches and online activity he considered notable to the investigation. The online activity began about three months before Amy Fanion's death, around the time Brian Fanion and Knowles' friendship turned flirtatious.
"… it's only when this affair starts up … that all of these incriminating searches start to appear," Hampden County Assistant District Attorney Mary Sandstrom told "48 Hours."
The Curious Online Searches of Brian Fanion
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Household Poisons and Radiation
On the morning of Feb. 12, Brian Fanion searched for information on "household poisons," "dangerous sources of radiation," "worst sources of radiation," and "common prescription overdoses." He visited various web pages such as "9 Surprising Sources of Radiation in Your Home," "Carbon Monoxide: The Invisible Killer," and "Common and dangerous poisons."
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Preparation for a Young Niece
During the trial, Fanion's defense attorney Jeffrey Brown argued that the searches were related to potential hazards in their 200-year-old house as they were preparing to have a young niece stay with them.
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Exploring Relationships
In March 2018, Fanion started researching his potential lover, Cori Knowles. As their relationship progressed, he even searched for information on having an affair without sex.
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Concerns About Divorce and Infidelity
By April 17, Fanion began looking into divorce laws in Massachusetts, particularly regarding pension rights after divorce. His inquiries into infidelity continued with searches like "My perfect affair – how I'm getting away with it" and "Emotional Infidelity: Worse Than A Sexual Affair?"
He wasn't assigned to any active investigations in April and May of 2018 … that would necessitate looking up gunshot residue," Sandstrom shared with "48 Hours." "Nobody in the Westfield Police Department does gunshot residue testing."
On May 7, 2018, the day before Amy Fanion was shot dead, Fanion repeatedly searched how to remove frequent contacts from his phone. At his trial, Fanion's defense argued that he was in the process of getting a new phone and wanted to know how to erase data from his current one. Sandstrom prosecuted the case.
"Now, the defendant suggests that he did these searches because he's in the process of getting a new phone right before his wife's demise," Sandstrom told the jury. "But he's not looking to delete all data off of his phone … he's searching how to delete the frequently contacted list because he doesn't want evidence of his relationship with Corrine being discovered by the state police."
Fanion's trial for the murder of Amy Fanion began on Feb. 23, 2023. Sandstrom's first witness was Amy Fanion's sister, Anna Hansen. Hansen testified that after Amy's death, Brian Fanion confided that he was concerned about some searches he had made.
"I inquired about his search history, and he mentioned looking up how to stage a murder as a suicide," Hansen recounted during his testimony. However, Detective Tom Forest, during cross-examination by the defense, admitted to not finding any evidence of such searches.
On the morning of May 8, 2018, while Brian Fanion was still at his workplace, he conducted a search for "massachusetts medical examiner offices" and explored a website detailing the units within the Massachusetts State Police forensics section.
In her closing statements, Sandstrom argued that Brian Fanion was premeditating his wife's murder that morning. "He was researching the units that would be involved... after he had committed the crime. The evidence presented in this trial convincingly shows that the defendant was aware of his intentions to harm Amy Fanion when he left the Westfield Police Department at 11:47 a.m. on May 8th."
Brian Fanion's defense team contended that Amy Fanion struggled with anger issues and severe anxiety. Following Amy's death, numerous members of her family signed a letter supporting Brian's innocence, asserting their belief that Amy had taken her own life. Despite being called as prosecution witnesses, several members of Amy Fanion's family testified in favor of Brian Fanion's defense.
Following a month-long trial, the jury rendered a verdict of guilty for Brian Fanion on the charge of first-degree murder of Amy Fanion. He received a life sentence in prison. His conviction is currently being appealed.
