Surveillance video, witness testimony place ‘Big Shot’ Fambro at murder scene

By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy.com

WARREN

William “Big Shot” Fambro doesn’t see very well, but surveillance video from the Riverview Motel saw everything you would need to convict Fambro of killing Teresa Hunter last Oct. 14, an assistant prosecutor said.

Fambro, 44, of Fourth Street Southwest, is on trial in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, charged with aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm in the death of Hunter, 35, of Hamilton Street Southwest. Judge Ronald Rice is presiding.

Assistant Prosecutor Chris Becker told jurors in opening statements Tuesday they will be provided with the entire surveillance video showing the front door of the motel.

They could watch all 21 hours of it – like Warren police did – and it would show that from the time Fambro and Hunter entered the motel about 2 p.m. Oct. 14 until 11 a.m. Oct. 15, when Hunter was found dead, only Fambro and Hunter came or went through the motel door.

Fambro’s own wife, whom Fambro married eight days before Hunter’s death – identified Fambro as the man leaving the motel about 5 p.m. Oct. 14, Becker said.

But Becker also called several other people to testify Monday, including three women who helped Fambro get to banks and stores over the years because he doesn’t drive.

Several called him “blind,” including Jenica Bennett, who testified that Fambro helped her buy a handgun for her family’s protection a month before Hunter died but says Fambro apparently stole the gun from her.

When Bennett and Fambro returned to her home after buying the gun at a pawn shop Sept. 11, 2015, she placed it on the top of a high cabinet, and Fambro knew where she had put it. Fambro had an Army bag with him, and she realized the gun was gone when she returned home later.

When she confronted Fambro about the gun, he threatened to kill her, she said. “I’ll kill you. Don’t forget, I know where you live,” she alleged Fambro said.

That gun was the murder weapon, Becker told jurors in opening statements.

Detective Wayne Mackey of the Warren Police Department already suspected Fambro of the murder the same day Hunter was found dead of six gunshot wounds. He called Fambro that day, and Fambro came to the police station with his wife the next morning.

In a videotaped interview, Fambro admitted that he had known Hunter for about three years.

But when Mackey told Fambro that high-quality surveillance video from the front of the motel showed him “clear as day” coming out of the room at 5 p.m. Oct. 14, Fambro asked for an attorney.

Also testifying was Felecia Staggers and her daughter, Diondra Staggers, who said Diondra drove Felecia to the motel at 5 p.m. Oct. 14. Diondra dropped off Felecia, who gave Fambro a ride from the motel in Hunter’s car.

The surveillance video appeared to support their statements.

A surveillance video at Jefferson K-8 School on Fifth Street Southwest showed Felecia and Fambro walking from the school after they dropped off Hunter’s car there.

Felecia testified that she threw a plastic bag into the Mahoning River from the Summit Street bridge on the way to the school. The murder weapon was later found by a fisherman under the bridge.

Testimony resumes today.