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"Big Shot" murder trial takes bizarre turn as defendant claims self defense
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The William "Big Shot" Fambro murder trial took a bizarre turn Thursday when Fambro took the stand on his own behalf, saying he shot Teresa Hunter in self- defense because she became angry at him over his recent marriage.
Fambro, 44, said Hunter, 35, hit him in the head with a "weapon" and he "grabbed her arm, wrist area" and took a gun from her, then shot multiple times at her as he was backing away, until the gun ran out of ammunition.
Fambro testified Thursday in the courtroom of Judge Ronald Rice of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court that he has been 100 percent blind since having surgery for a tumor 17 years ago. Fambro said he heard gurgling coming from Hunter that lasted about 15 to 20 seconds after the gunfire stopped.
Fambro and Hunter were living together in an apartment on Lodwick Street Northwest at the time and had been romantically involved earlier in 2015, he said. The shooting took place Oct. 14, 2015, in the Riverview Motel on Parkman Road.
Fambro, who said he had called friend Felecia Staggers a short time earlier to give him a ride from the motel, testified that he reached for his cellphone and found it and ammunition for the gun on the table.
He took those items and his Army bag with him and left the motel to find Staggers, knowing that she had arrived a short time earlier and was probably somewhere outside the motel. Surveillance video shows Staggers knocking on the motel door and Fambro coming to the door and waving her away. Fambro is shown leaving the motel a short time later.
When prompted by David Rouzzo, one of his defense attorneys, Fambro said he shot Hunter because he was “very scared” and thought Hunter would kill him because of her demeanor as she was “shouting and cussing” at him.
Fambro said he told Staggers that he had “just shot Teresa,” and Staggers took it upon herself to stop near the Powerhouse Bar on Mahoning Avenue and throw the gun and ammunition into the Mahoning River. Fambro said he didn’t tell her to do it.
Hunter’s brother, Freddie Washington, said after court Thursday: “Everything [Fambro’s] saying is a just a lie.”
Washington, who is raising his sister’s two children, said his sister would not have acted the way Fambro said she did.
Closing arguments are set for 9 a.m. today.
Fambro’s bombshell testimony set off several rounds of questions from Chris Becker, assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, about why Fambro never told Detective Wayne Mackey of the Warren Police Department any of this during Fambro’s interview Oct. 16, why Fambro took the gun with him, and why it was important to take his Army bag when he left.
Fambro gave several answers – he was in shock and “disoriented” over the confrontation with Hunter, he “didn’t want to get Felecia into trouble,” and he didn’t think the police would view the confrontation with Hunter in the same way it happened.
“I didn’t know what I was going to do with it,” Fambro said of the gun and ammunition.
When Becker pinned Fambro down on the specific time when he and Hunter struggled with the gun – a short time after Staggers arrived – Becker pointed out that another motel guest was seen on the video entering his room at the same time Staggers arrived.
“Wouldn’t you think he would have heard eight shots?” Becker asked. Eight shell casings were recovered. Hunter was hit six times.
“What physical evidence have you brought to substantiate what you’ve said?” Becker asked Fambro.
“I’m blind,” Fambro replied.
“What proof is there that you are blind?” Becker asked. Fambro gave the names of doctors at the Veterans Affairs clinic who treat him.
Fambro testified that he spent four years in the Navy ending in 1993 and receives Social Security and VA benefits.
Fambro had no answer for how the gun that killed Hunter got to the motel room. A woman who has driven Fambro to appointments, stores and the bank testified Wednesday that she thinks Fambro stole it from her the day Fambro helped her to buy it.
Fambro said he has had the nickname “Big Shot” since he was born because he has an uncle four years older than him with the same first and last name, and someone told his mother they thought the baby would someday be “a big shot.”