RI RI - Donna Anthony Fisher, 38, Cranston, 5 Dec 1986

morphee

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In 1986, Donna Fisher, age 38, was the victim of an unsolved homicide in the City of Cranston, RI.

A neighbor found Donna unconscious in the upstairs bedroom of her home on Friday, December 5th, just 45 minutes after speaking with her on the phone. She was found on the floor under a quilt wearing only a bra and sweater. She was put on life support, but died three days later.

When Donna's husband reported that the telephone wire in the bedroom had been ripped from the wall, police became suspicious about her death. Originally thought to have died of natural causes, an autopsy revealed that Donna had been strangled.

A Facebook page was recently set up by Cranston PD with Donna's family with more information and some original news clippings: http://www.facebook.com/donna.fisher.7731

Article and video at WPRI.com: http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/crime/police-turn-to-facebook-in-cold-case?ref=scroller&categoryId=10011&status=true

The case is currently being actively re-investigated. If anyone has information about her death, or knowledge about her personal life leading up to her death, please contact Detective Jaime Cahill of the Cranston Police through the Facebook message or by telephone at (401) 477-5041.

It would be wonderful if the Websleuths community can help solve this case!
 
Cranston police hoping social media can crack 29 year cold case

http://wpri.com/2015/12/09/cranston-police-hoping-social-media-can-crack-29-year-cold-case/

Police are are continuing to investigate a cold case – marking the 29-year anniversary of an unsolved death this week.

Donna Fisher was strangled inside of her home back in 1986. She was killed on her 39th birthday and no one has been charged in her murder.

While investigators can’t talk about the specifics of this case, they say they are tracking down every lead.
 
The placement of Donna under a quilt following the assault is indicative of remorse and, along with the lack of bruising and facial injuries, points toward the killer being known to the victim. This person who likely cared about her and perhaps did not intend to commit murder from the outset of the attack.

EDIT:
Because the police originally ruled this a death by natural causes, I'm assuming there was no obvious bruising or injury to the face. This is only an assumption on my part.
 
The covering of the body, lack of extraneous violence, and use of a weapon found at the scene suggest an offender that was not only disorganized but possibly immature as well. How thoroughly did police canvass the neighborhood? Were there any teenage/post-adolescent boys who lived nearby? Were the close friends of Donna's 18-year-old son interviewed? Did any of them go on to have criminal records?
 
No new facts have been released about Donna Fisher's murder on her 39th birthday. Cranston, Rhode Island police, nevertheless, have turned to social media to get the word out with the hope of finally solving this 29-year-old murder.

Cranston Police turn to social media in cold case murder
Posted: Dec 08, 2015 7:57 PM CST - Updated: Dec 08, 2015 8:11 PM CST
By Liz Tufts WLNE-TV

Robert Fisher has just turned 18 when his 38-year-old mother, Donna, was found dead inside their Cranston home in December of 1986.

"It never gets easier, you just learn how to cope with it," says Robert.

Cranston Police first thought she had died from natural causes, but an autopsy revealed she had been strangled.

"We are never going to understand why it happened, we're never going to understand all the details, but we just want to be able to say we know what happened," says Cranston Police Captain Vincent McAteer.

[...]

"29 years later it's still important, just as any other cold case, so if you think you know something, even if its small, please contact us," says McAteer.

Robert, who's an only child, says not a day goes by he doesn't think about his mother.

"Too many milestones have happened… weddings, birthdays, holidays, and you always look into the crowd hoping she's looking back. It's hard sometimes," explains Robert, who says not knowing what happened is preventing him and his entire family from moving on.

"We just want to get her story back out there, even if someone had a conversation with her at one point, maybe it will trigger something and get us some kind of answers for us," he says.


Cranston police hoping social media can crack 29 year cold case
Carl Sisson; Reporting by Susan Campbell
WPRI Eyewitness News
Published: December 9, 2015, 7:35 pm Updated: December 10, 2015, 9:03 am

[...]

Donna Fisher was strangled inside of her home back in 1986. She was killed on her 39th birthday and no one has been charged in her murder.

While investigators can’t talk about the specifics of this case, they say they are tracking down every lead.

“She was the greatest person in the world, just a joy to be around,” said her son Robert, when Eyewitness News spoke with him three years ago.

That is when Cranston Police created a Facebook page, to call attention to the cold case. They are now hoping that page generates new leads.

“We’re turning to social media because social media is a phenomenal platform to get the police departments message out for anything,” said Cranston Police Department Capt. Vincent McAteer. “But in this case, we have the ability to reach an incredible amount of people.”
 
Cranston, RI Police Department shared a profile.
December 8 at 7:00am


Good morning Cranston...today is the 29th anniversary of the murder of Donna Fisher, an Edgewood resident that was tragically strangled by an unknown assailant on December 5, 1986, in her home. She passed three days later on December 8th. The Department is asking that anyone with any information about Donna Fisher's death or anyone who may have knowledge about her personal life leading up to her death to please contact Detective Jamie Cahill in the Special Investigations Unit at 401-942-2211, extension 5014.

https://www.facebook.com/cranstonpolice/posts/865980353517056

https://www.facebook.com/donna.fisher.7731
 
Cranston, RI Police Department shared a profile.
December 8 at 7:00am


Good morning Cranston...today is the 29th anniversary of the murder of Donna Fisher, an Edgewood resident that was tragically strangled by an unknown assailant on December 5, 1986, in her home. She passed three days later on December 8th. The Department is asking that anyone with any information about Donna Fisher's death or anyone who may have knowledge about her personal life leading up to her death to please contact Detective Jamie Cahill in the Special Investigations Unit at 401-942-2211, extension 5014.

https://www.facebook.com/cranstonpolice/posts/865980353517056

https://www.facebook.com/donna.fisher.7731
I just wanted to point out that the police report states it was the Edgewood area, but according to Google Maps, it's actually right off Elmwood Avenue, in the Elmwood area. There's a big difference demographically, although now more so than back in the 80's. Elmwood has always had a rep for being a rough area. I agree about looking into the neighborhood residents more, although as far as teens in the neighborhood go, this happened on a Friday morning, so her son and friends should have been at school, her husband was at work. She mentioned she would have to out off her ironing to go shopping. Was it possible someone was there with her at the time of her friend's phone call, and that was what set the perp off to strangle her and rip out the phone lines. Was NE Telephone/ Nynex, now Verizon in the area at the time and were those workers looked into as being in the area performing service? Did the neighbor notice any work vans or vehicles in the area? During those year, the Providence Journal and Evening Bulletin still existed. Has the newspaper delivery person been questioned? Trying to think of anything that may have occurred on a Friday morning in that area back then. Hard to remember what else was going on around there in the '80's to think of who may have been in the area without causing much notice to the neighbors as being out of the ordinary. It's close to a main road that has a lot of industrial sites. It's also pretty close to a highway on ramp. I hope that son of her finds answers and some peace.
 
Cranston murder remains unsolved 30 years later - Dececmber

http://turnto10.com/news/local/police-create-facebook-profile-in-an-attempt-to-crack-unsolved-murder

For Fisher’s family, this week marks three decades without her.

“She was my best friend. She was my confidant,” Bobby Fisher, who is Donna’s son, said. “I could tell her anything. We could talk for hours, and hours, and hours."

Bobby has spent every day since his mother’s death wondering when her killer would be found.

“You hope and it doesn't happen and you wake up the next day and do the same thing all over again,” Bobby said.
 
Still looking for justice for Donna.

Cranston Detective Robert Santagata said he’s confident they will solve the case, but he wouldn’t disclose whether there is DNA evidence that could help lead them to Donna’s killer.

“Donna needs justice,” he said. “How you can wake up every day knowing that you know something about this and go on and live your life like nothing happened is, to me, astonishing, but that’s the choice they make and I’m still out here and I’m going to find them.”
‘I’m going to find them’: Cranston detective determined to solve 34-year-old murder case
 
Robert, I'm so sorry about the loss of your mother, as well as the lack of answers around who did this.

I'm not up on true crime podcasts, but you could try the forum here to see if there are possibilities. It can be a bit quiet in the cold cases at times so I want to be sure you can find the people who might have helpful suggestions here.

I'm going to flag a moderator in case you decide you want to come back and talk more about your mother's case. They can tell you how to become a verified insider, which allows you the ability to discuss things without needing to draw from media sources.

I'm very sorry for the reason you're here, but I hope WS can provide some useful resources.
 
Welcome to Websleuths, fishstix. I am so very sorry to know that your mother's case has gone unsolved all these long years.

If you would like to become Verified in order to post your inside knowledge of your mother's case, we have an explanation of why the process exists and how to apply. It is a very quick and simple process that would likely be completed in 1 or 2 days. The information can be found here. We do hope you will apply.
 
There is a helpful feature of the WS software that some of our members may not be aware of.

Near the top left of this page if you click on the Cold Cases sub-forum it will bring up a listing of cold cases for all states and countries. As you go down that list on the left hand side, here is a little box beside each thread with the state/country abbreviation in it. When you click on that little box, i.e. RI, it will bring up all cases for Rhode Island.

Members may wish to review some of those other RI cases to see if they can spot any similarities to Donna's case.
 
Welcome to Websleuths, fishstix. I am so very sorry to know that your mother's case has gone unsolved all these long years.

If you would like to become Verified in order to post your inside knowledge of your mother's case, we have an explanation of why the process exists and how to apply. It is a very quick and simple process that would likely be completed in 1 or 2 days. The information can be found here. We do hope you will apply.
Thank you very much and I absolutely will become Verified.
 
ADMIN NOTE:

@fishstix has been verified as a family member of Donna Fisher. As a VI, they do not have to provide any links to information they share about this case.

As we always ask, please treat fishstix with respect at all times. If there is something you disagree with, just scroll on by without challenging them or badgering them for information they may not wish to share or are unable to share for whatever reason.

Thank you fishstix for becoming verified and for being here to discuss you mother's case. Thank you also to everyone else who is here to help toward resolution and justice for Donna and her loved ones.
 
My understanding from what I've seen online is that Donna had a settled life, was in her home as opposed to being abducted, and didn't have angry exes or others threatening her. That makes her an outlier among the other cold cases involving women in the 1980s in RI, at least the ones I've found.

Detectives at the time said nothing appeared to be amiss inside the home, aside from two phones that were pulled off the wall, meaning Donna most likely knew the person who ultimately killed her.
‘I’m going to find them’: Cranston detective determined to solve 34-year-old murder case | WPRI.com

I would feel threatened if someone pulled two phones off the wall in my house whether I knew them or not. Isn't that something you would do prior to a murder rather than after? If so, wouldn't she have heard it, been startled in some way? If it was done after, why? That suggests the murderer was worried she could call for help. Wouldn't that mean they knew they were leaving her alive, which feels like a very telling action?

The only known murderer that stuck out to me was Edward Mayrand. He strangled three women in MA/NH/RI in roughly the same time period, but I believe he met each on a date/in a bar/etc instead of a random attack in their home. He doesn't really seem to fit.
 
For the most part she did have a settled life or if she didn't she was able to hide it well. Nothing stood out to me or people that knew her well enough.

There was an ex husband, my biological father, in the "picture" but he was so far removed that he wasn't a big consideration. He was questioned by police and had a strong alibi not to mention that he was living in Colorado at the time.

I'm not sure when the phones lines were pulled but i do know the upstairs phone line wasn't discovered right away by us due to its location.
 

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