Mavrick Murder Trial Day 6 Recap, Part 1

CALLIE FRYE:

Today was the sixth day of the murder trial — State of California vs Mr. Mavrick Fisher. He is accused of murdering Mr. Grant Whitaker. I went to the court and they called a total of five witnesses, four deaf and one hearing. The first person on the stand was Reid Rheinsmith, who was best friends with Grant since the fourth grade at the Maryland School for the Deaf. The following year, when Reid was in the fifth grade, he had to move to another school but he remained in touch with Grant online and visited each other in person twice or three times a year. In 2019, Grant stayed at Reid’s home in Colorado. Grant was still trying to figure out what to do with his life and Reid allowed him to stay there while he was figuring out what to do next. The two talked about many different business ideas. They wanted to buy land to start a farming community. Grant was very into farming and wanted to make it happen. Reid was studying masonry and also wanted to make it happen. But after a while, Reid got a court order to go to Virginia and had to leave. Grant couldn’t stay at Reid’s home, so Grant moved on to California. Reid was asked if he had ever met Mavrick. Reid said he didn’t know him personally but saw his vlogs on social media. He met Mavrick when he and Grant visited Reid and stayed at his aunt’s home for one to two weeks. Reid started to get to know Mavrick on a superficial level but was distracted by a personal issue that he had to focus on. After Reid left for Virginia and Mavrick and Grant went to California, Reid and Grant were still in touch on a weekly and monthly basis.

The District Attorney asked whether Reid ever observed Grant get into confrontations with other people. Reid said he’s never seen that happen. The DA asked what it looked like if Grant became upset. Reid said Grant would just make faces. The DA asked if Grant and Reid ever got into fights. Reid said never, that they are BFF’s, but they would occasionally argue over stupid things, but nothing more than that. The DA asked if Reid was ever physically threatened by Grant, and he said no. The DA asked if Grant was a violent or a nonviolent person. Reid said “nonviolent.” The DA asked Reid’s opinion on the relationship between Grant and Mavrick. Reid said he was too focused on his personal issues and did not pay attention to others’ relationships with each other.

The defense attorney asked Reid about his many business plans and whether there was anything specific. Reid said it was about getting land and building a deaf community. The defense attorney tried to get Reid to be specific about his plans, how he would get funding, where he would find the land, if he thought all of that out. Reid gave several answers and said the plans were long-term, that it was a lifetime plan, and that it might come to fruition 300 or 400 years later. He said his goal was to create a “legend.” He said that’s why Grant was studying farming and himself masonry. Reid said Grant wanted land in northern California, but Reid didn’t agree with it because of California’s wildfires and earthquakes. The defense attorney asked whether Grant had the funds ready to buy a land. Reid said no. The question of drugs came up, and it became a bigger topic, about what kind of drugs they used and what kind of equipment they preferred for marijuana, a bong, a pipe, or others. They went into detail, but I’ll shift back. The defense attorney said since Reid only saw Grant two or three times a year, how sure was he that he never saw Grant argue with others? Reid said he observed Grant debating with others, but nothing more than that.

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The second witness was called, Marisa Andrade. She was asked how she knew Grant. Marisa said when she was in the middle school at the Maryland School for the Deaf, she met Grant when he was also a student. Marisa was four years older than Grant. Marisa said after high school, she didn’t see Grant. But in 2016, she met Grant online and they exchanged greetings and asked how they were doing and was able to catch up. They got to reconnect in 2016 and would talk from time to time. That time, Marisa lived in Massachusetts. They communicated via Facebook. After a while, Grant’s grandfather passed away in December 2018. Marisa provided emotional support and Grant also provided support because Marisa was pregnant. They would talk daily, all day long. They talked not only on Facebook, but on Instagram, Snapchat, and they became close. They started to talk about plans for Grant to visit Marisa on July 4th, but it was postponed to August. Grant wanted to visit Marisa on August 20th. Marisa said she remembered that Grant told her that he would split up with Mavrick and go their separate ways. Marisa said Grant said he was no longer working with Mavrick, but she didn’t know that Grant was still working with Mavrick and traveling together. She didn’t know that because she thought they were already split up. The DA asked if she knew or ever met Mavrick, and she said she never met him, but was aware of Mavrick through friends on social media. The DA brought a stack of papers that were printed FB messenger texts between Marisa and Grant. When Marisa read through the papers, her eyes welled up and she started crying. She apologized for being emotional. It was touching to see.

Grant sent Marisa an image of a tent and said that’s where Grant was going to sleep in. Marisa looked at the image (on a projector) that Grant sent her. They were talking back and forth on the evening of August 19th. Grant sent an image of the dark night sky and said it was very dark outside. Grant said he planned to go to Sacramento to get his things from a friend’s home, take a shower, and then head straight for Marisa in southern California, in Riverside County. Grant said he predicted that he would be there during the evening the next day. Marisa said okay, and they continued to exchange messages until Grant said he had to go to sleep because he was tired and had to get up at 5 a.m. Marisa told him to have a safe trip and a good night. The following morning… Marisa said she got a strange iPhone text that said the trip was delayed because the car had brake problems. The defense attorney objected, saying there was no foundation. The judge sustained the defense attorney’s objection and threw out that response.

Marisa said from her texts on August 19th, she did not sense any kind of anger or disappointment from Grant. Marisa said the conversations were normal, that Grant’s timing and style of responses were very normal. Marisa didn’t see anything different. Marisa said Grant was excited and looking forward to seeing her the next day. The following morning, Marisa messaged “Good morning” and filmed her daughter who was two years old, and sent it to Grant. Marisa did not hear anything back and found it strange. At 11:00 in the morning, Marisa received an iPhone text (not FB messenger) and was concerned because of the word, “because.” She said Grant usually spelled out “because” but the text said, “coz.” She looked back through her messages with Grant to see if he ever used the word, “coz” and didn’t see it. Grant usually used the full spelling, “because.” Marisa said she was very concerned and had a feeling that Grant did not send her the text. Marisa went ahead and messaged Mavrick, asking him what was going on, but Mavrick didn’t read it or respond to her. For two days, there was silence from Grant and he never showed up.

The defense attorney showed printouts of texts sent by Grant to Marisa. Grant said, “I won’t give up. I will finish my goals. I will keep pressing on until I reach my goals. I refuse to stop and give up.” The second text said, “In my relationships, I must remain committed. I don’t fuck around. If there is anything fake, you will face death with me” The defense attorney was trying to portray Grant as a dangerous character. Marisa said Grant did send her these texts.

The DA asked Marisa to be clear when Grant said he would part ways with Mavrick. Marisa said it was the last week of July or the first week of August when Grant shared that. The DA asked for a clarification on them parting ways, where would they go? Marisa said Grant wanted to go to Illinois after staying with Marisa for three weeks. Marisa said Grant wanted to spend time with her and meet her daughter and get to know them more, and then go to Illinois because there was a job opportunity with his family, some kind of business. Mavrick would go on to Elko, Nevada, and do something there. The DA asked if Grant was upset about parting ways and Marisa said Grant didn’t feel that way, that Grant wanted to focus on his life and move on.