Brush Prairie resident Troy Fisher, convicted Tuesday of his father’s August 2011 murder, will continue to represent himself in his punishment phase.
Fisher’s sentencing has been scheduled for 2:30 p.m. June 6.
Clark County Superior Court Judge Barbara Johnson held a hearing Friday to schedule the sentencing and hear from Fisher about whether he wants an attorney to help him through the sentencing process.
Fisher, 43, struggled to defend himself in his murder trial May 22 through Monday. On the fifth day of the trial, he told Johnson he needed an attorney, after previously insisting he would defend himself. His defense case lasted an hour, compared with four days of testimony for the prosecution.
However, after meeting Thursday with Bob Yoseph, who as Fisher’s standby attorney answered the defendant’s procedural questions during trial, Fisher announced Friday he would continue to be pro se, or represent himself. He didn’t explain why he made that decision.
Fisher faces a minimum of 25 years in prison for the murder of his 67-year-old father, Edward “Bud” Fisher, whom Fisher lived with.
He was convicted of first-degree murder with a firearm enhancement and an aggravating circumstance, which was lack of remorse. The aggravating circumstance allows the judge to sentence Fisher to more time than the state’s standard range, which is 25 to nearly 32 years, with the firearm enhancement.
Fisher defended himself against charges that he shot his father twice on Aug. 7, 2011, at their Brush Prairie home and then stole several thousand dollars from the victim’s two bank accounts. He confessed to the shooting in a Sept. 19, 2011, recorded interview with Clark County sheriff’s detectives.
Bud Fisher’s body has never been found. Troy Fisher claimed he cremated his dad’s body in a trash pile in the yard, according to the recorded interview. A forensic anthropologist, however, testified there was no sign of a body in the burn scar, where the cremation was reported to have happened. She also testified an open fire likely wouldn’t have been hot enough to burn a body to ashes.
Fisher also told detectives he disposed of bloodied carpet from the home in rural Amboy, according to the recorded interview. A detective found the carpet, and tests found the blood belonged to Bud Fisher, according to a forensic scientist.
