Mavrick Murder Trial, Day 4 Recap (Monday Nov 2)

Today is the fourth day of the murder trial California vs Mr. Mavrick Fisher, who is accused of murdering Mr. Grant Whittaker. I showed up at court and the audience consisted of just me and another person that was a witness advocate. It was only the two of us present in the audience. The judge called four different witnesses today, including Andrea Mapes, Detective Brandon Head, Paige McCarville, and Detective Kreutzer. Andrea Mapes is responsible for nine state parks including Richardson Grove State Park, where Grant and Mavrick stayed.

Also, several staff that she supervised were called to testify to explain the documentation process. It was said that they must keep a record of people who want to stay and sleep at the campgrounds from documenting their license plate number and identification information. Also, people who pay to stay there will receive a sticker that must be on their window, and that sticker will include the lot number they’re staying at. The staff present will also sign their name, and there will be three copies in three different colors of that information. The staff explained that in court. Grant’s grandmother and other family members called them, so they went to lot number 80 with a sergeant and several detectives to search the area and collect evidence.

Next, Detective Brandon Head from Humboldt County, where Richardson Grove State Park is located, was called to testify.

He was asked to explain what he did there, and he explained that upon observation the fence seemed suspicious with blood on it, so a blood sample was collected. He also observed the rocks. There was a river in front of the lot, and there were red and brownish drops on the ground. There were a total of about 20 rocks, and two rocks were brought to the lab. One rock was from near lot number 80, and another was from near the river.

Andrea was called back to answer this question - while Grant and Mavrick stayed at lot number 80 from the night of August 19 to 20, were there any people who stayed in that area? She said there had been people staying in lot 78, which was right next to their lot. She was asked who they were, and she replied they were three young women. She was asked if she had questioned those three women and asked if they had seen anything strange. Andrea responded that yes, she had, and those three women said they heard nothing that night and hadn’t heard anything weird.

Later, Paige was called to the seat, and she was asked to explain who she was. She said she and Grant had been together for ten years and she had a Deaf sister who went to the same school as Grant, Maryland School for the Deaf. She explained her mom was Deaf and that she signs ASL fluently. The DA asked her how she communicated with Grant, and she said she was a CODA and fluent in ASL.

The DA asked her about her relationship with Grant and if they had gotten in any fights with Grant and what Grant’s typical behavior is. She said Grant never became physical and she never felt threatened by him.

The DA asked if Grant had ever threatened or hurt others, and she said he never had. She was asked about where they had lived when they were together, and she explained that she lived in Illinois, and San Diego, and then they moved to North California because they wanted to go to school specializing in organic farming. She said they had stayed in Lee’s ranch for a month but left because they didn’t feel safe. The defendant said that Lee claimed they had asked them to leave, and Paige said that wasn’t true and that they had left because they didn’t feel safe. She was asked to elaborate on why she didn’t feel safe, and Paige said that Lee made sexist comments and she felt uncomfortable, plus his wife often yelled at her. She was also asked about Grant’s fights with Lee and Kristin Williams. Paige explained they had gotten in fights, but they moved on and had left on good terms. Detective Kreutzer was called to testify,

and he was asked about when Mavrick was arrested and brought to San Diego from Mexico. Detective Kreutzer and a second detective flew in from Lake County to interview Mavrick. The video recording, unfortunately, was not successful despite them using a nice camera. So an iPhone was used. After they finished the interview, they realized the video had only recorded a few seconds in the beginning. The audio recording spanned two hours. We had to listen to it.

After we went through a part of the recording, Judge Blum decided to put it on hold and finish the rest tomorrow. I will summarize what the audio recording included.

[Sponsored Video from Convo: https://www.convorelay.com/]

I’ll be referring to my notes to make sure I’m sharing accurate information. Someone is saying Maverick needs his handcuffs taken so he can communicate with his hands in ASL. “Oh”. His handcuffs are being taken off.

The detective is telling Mavrick his Miranda rights. The information you share may be used in court. Mavrick is confused. He says he might need a lawyer and asks if he’ll be stuck in prison. His friends have been telling him he should say nothing and stay quiet. “What happened is because of Grant, not me. It happened so fast.” The detective says “I can’t tell you what to decide.” Mavrick tells them to go ahead and question him. Mavrick is crying hard and breathing heavily.

“Grant tried to kill me with a knife. What happened was self defense. It happened at one in the morning. I thought he was throwing a punch, but he cut my hand. I couldn’t run away because I had surgery on my leg. I grabbed a rock and hit Grant. Grant died.” Mavrick is crying harder now. “We had a fight yesterday in the afternoon. I felt the knife cut my hand, and I realized it was a knife. It was hard to see, it was very dark in the tent at one in the morning.” The detective asked where the rock hit Grant’s body. Mavrick said “I don’t know.” The detective said “Only you can tell me where. The world needs to see your perspective and your side of the story.” Mavrick said “During our fight yesterday afternoon, I told Grant that I didn’t want him to be my business partner because of what happened. I can succeed without you anyway. You can’t succeed. Grant became angry and we fought. We wouldn’t talk to each other. I went in the tent first that night, and there were rocks in the corners of the tent to secure it in place. I think a lawyer should come. Grant had bragged in the past that he could be a murderer and that he had the brain of a killer. I didn’t feel safe at night with him.” The detective asked where the car was parked near the Dollar General store. Mavrick said he didn’t remember where he parked in the lot. It was near Highway 20, but he couldn’t remember which store. “When that happened, I went straight to Lee’s Ranch. I trust Lee. I parked the car at the Lee property for two days. I left the knife by the car door. I left Grant’s things in the car. I didn’t bury Grant’s body. I left it on the ground.” The detective told him he already found the car and Grant’s body. Mavrick said “Oh. That’s all.” The detective asked “How did you and Grant meet?” Mavrick responded “We met in Colorado in either Denver or Boulder. We had the same vision, and we both wanted the Deaf community to come together. So we decided to work together. We searched for property to buy where we wanted to grow a marijuana farm.” The detective asked, “When that happened in the tent, where did the other things go?” Mavrick said he packed everything in a blue tote bag. After what happened, he went straight to Lee’s Ranch but the gate was closed so he couldn’t enter. So he parked and fell asleep. When he woke up the next morning, the gate was open and he went in. He had already told Lee that he would be there at the ranch. “When I arrived, Lee joked ‘Where’s the body?’ and I was shocked, and asked him ‘How did you know?’ I hadn’t told him. Lee told me later I had to move the car, so I followed Lee to that Dollar General store. The day before, Lee wasn’t home, so I took the ATV and took Grant’s body from the car and left it on the ground. After dinner on Friday, I went to the Lake County Sheriff’s office with Michael Fucci. He spoke with the sheriff, the two of them - a man and woman. Nothing happened, and he didn’t care. Then I bought a Greyhound bus ticket to go to Mexico. Before that, I was paranoid. I wasn’t right in my mind. A friend told me I had to go to the police, so I went to the police in Mexico and showed my ID.” The detective asked “Who’s Michael Fucci?” Mavrick said “You can find him on Facebook with his full name. That night I was laying down in the tent, I was faking being asleep because I was scared. I pretended to be asleep. Grant stood in front of me, staring at me, and that’s when the knife cut my hand. I twisted his arm. I’m strong, and he was weak. Then I hit him with the rock several times on his skull. After cleaning, I spotted the knife. He cut my hand with this knife.” The detective asked “Where did that rock go?” Mavrick said he threw it in the river. The detective asked “Where did you put the things in the tote bag?” Mavrick responded “I left it at Lee’s property” and explained where he found that camper. He gave instructions to the detective. The detective asked why he took a picture of himself smiling. Mavrick said “I felt safe. But I was wrong. I felt I was in a safe zone.” The detective asked “What do you mean by that, by feeling safe and being in a safe zone in Mexico?” Mavrick said “I’d rather die in Mexico than the United States. Is the U.S. judicial system legit? I’m not sure. Being in jail for 20 years… My life is in your hands, detective. Please gather the facts. I didn’t kill for selfish reasons. It was self defense.

Grant always smoked pot heavily. My family didn’t like Grant. He smoked in front of my ex-girlfriend Emily and the baby. He would trip my ex-girlfriend while she was holding the baby.” The detective asked Mavrick “Do you smoke pot or drink?” Mavrick said ”No, I’ve only smoked two times in his life. I didn’t like it. With alcohol, I’m intolerant. If I drink alcohol, I will have a seizure.”