Mavrick Murder Trial Recap: Day 7, Part 2 and Day 8, Part 1

CALLIE FRYE:

Today is day seven, part two.

The defendant, Mavrick Fisher, was called to the stand and sworn in. The defense attorney representing Mavrick asked him questions for a long time, so I’ll try my best to share a recap of the important pieces of information with you.

Grant went to pick up Mavrick at Mr. Fucci’s house. Grant and Mavrick wanted to go on a camping trip. They stopped by Sacramento, where they hung out with some friends, went ice skating, and slept over at a friend’s house. The following morning, they both drove to Mount Shasta. Grant’s phone had reception, but Mavrick’s phone didn’t due to water damage from a previous boat trip. Mavrick asked Fucci if he could borrow a phone, and Fucci gave him a cheap phone with no cellular data. The phone would only work if it connected to wifi. Mavrick asked Grant to let Lee know that Mavrick would be going to Lee’s ranch on Tuesday morning, on August 21 or 22 of 2019.

They both arrived at Mt. Shasta and went hiking, and they were there for a few hours. Mavrick’s leg was hurting, so he took a few photos and came back down. When Grant was driving, Mavrick didn’t know where he was going and just followed him. Grant didn’t notify Mavrick of the next whereabouts. Mavrick just sat there and enjoyed the scenery.

Grant told him that he was going to take him to the mountains, and Mavrick noticed it was in a very rural area with no people there. They went down many twists and turns, and stopped at a beach. Mavrick didn’t ask much about why Grant planned to drop him off at Lee’s ranch in the next few days.

At one point Grant pulled over and was concerned about brake issues. Mavrick checked and said there was nothing wrong and wondered why Grant thought there were brake issues. They went camping somewhere between Mt. Shasta and the beach at a KOA campground, where they spent the night. The next morning, they drove through the “Avenue of the Giants.” Grant was speeding at 90 miles per hour and flipping the bird at every car that passed. Mavrick ignored Grant’s weird mood. Mavrick was a little worried, but he felt fine because Grant said he would drop Mavrick off at Lee’s.

After that trip and the speeding, they stopped at a campground by a river. Mavrick says he can’t remember the name and wasn’t paying attention. It was Richardson Grove State Park. They arrived and paid the entrance fee of 40 dollars, and checked in. Other people were there at the campground. They arrived there on August 19 at about five in the afternoon. There was still daylight. Grant did all the talking including paying the fee and checking in while Mavrick didn’t do much. After they arrived, Mavrick skipped rocks on the river and Grant was on his phone all the time.

The DA asked Mavrick what he and Grant were talking about, and what their dinner plans were. Mavrick said he and Grant hadn’t eaten at all for two full days. He was asked why he hadn’t asked Grant to pull over for some food. Mavrick said Grant was the boss, and he just left Grant alone. Why was that, the DA asked. Mavrick said he didn’t want to push Grant’s buttons since Grant was in a bad mood. Later, Mavrick wanted to tell Grant the truth and couldn’t keep being passive. Grant was the boss all the time, and Mavrick was tired of always following his lead. Mavrick wanted his own mind, and he told Grant they were done and that after Grant were to drop him off at Lee’s, Mavrick didn’t want to work with him anymore. Mavrick told Grant he wanted him to go away, and that he couldn’t do this anymore. Mavrick wanted to go straight to Lee’s, and he said that we’re done, or something like that. He can’t remember a hundred percent.

The DA asked Mavrick how Grant responded to that, and Mavrick said Grant didn’t respond well. How did he appear? At first, he looked like he lost something, and later had a poker face and was tense. Did Grant say something? Grant told Mavrick “You can’t do it without me. I know what to do. You don’t.” Grant tried to convince Mavrick that Mavrick couldn’t do it alone. What was Grant’s tone? Grant kept telling Mavrick no as if he was his boss. They discussed this for five minutes, and during the altercation, Mavrick kept looking down and was avoiding seeing Grant’s signs. He could catch a little bit of what Grant was saying, but he kept looking at his own hands. At twilight, when it was still blue out, Grant and Mavrick parted ways. Later Mavrick wasn’t feeling good, so he laid down in the tent in a sleeping bag. There still wasn’t any food. Later, Mavrick felt the tent moving and the breeze. He could tell someone was opening the zipper, and he could identify Grant’s silhouette because he was so skinny. Grant didn’t open the entrance fully, only halfway. Grant slowly entered the tent, crouching. Mavrick laid down on his back, and the tent was dark inside but he could see Grant’s figure. Mavrick pretended to be asleep when Grant entered the tent. When he was inside, Grant was able to stand up, but not fully. Grant looked at Mavrick for about 30 seconds and Mavrick felt very nervous. That wasn’t Grant’s typical behavior. Usually, when Grant entered the tent, he’d go straight to bed and lie down. This time, he was looking down on Mavrick. Grant jumped towards Mavrick. He dived towards Mavrick’s upper half and threw a punch on Mavrick, and Mavrick held up his arms and felt a cold sharp metal object slice his pinky finger. It happened too fast. Mavrick said his body instantly reacted and moved on its own. His body knew what to do. He grabbed and pulled Grant down on the ground on Mavrick’s left side, and Mavrick said it wasn’t that hard because Grant was underweight at only 125 pounds for a six-foot man. Mavrick said it was pretty easy to grab and pull Grant down to the ground, to his left side. He couldn’t see Grant’s face because it was too dark. Mavrick quickly grabbed a rock that was placed outside the tents on top of where the stakes would usually be. Grant started to get up, but he was on his fours. Mavrick demonstrated what it looked like for the jurors by using four water bottles to represent the tent and acted it out in the courtroom. Mavrick said he threw the rock down multiple times and the last one hit a soft part of his head and he didn’t realize the rock had gone through Grant’s head. Grant’s body was shaking. The DA asked Mavrick what his emotions were at the time and if they had changed, and Mavrick said “Big time”. Mavrick said he felt two emotions at once - for one, he felt relieved that he wasn’t dead, and secondly, he said “Oh man, I’m in deep trouble”. Mavrick felt speechless. He put the rock on the floor and looked at Grant. Grant was still breathing, and his head was bleeding really badly. Mavrick tried to wrap Grant’s head with a white sheet to stop the bleeding. He was asked how he found a white sheet, and Mavrick said he couldn’t remember - it was just already there. He said if he had been sleeping, he could have been dead. The DA asked him what his thoughts were during that physical altercation with Grant. Mavrick said there was no room for thought. His body took over for him and moved on its own. What were his emotions during this? He said there was a lot of fear, for sure. He said his body was shaking. After Grant died, Mavrick almost peed in his pants. His body and his stomach were cramped, and his heart was beating so hard. He said he never felt that way before in his whole life. How did he know Grant had died? Did Mavrick try to touch the body and was he unresponsive? Grant stopped shaking, and he stopped breathing. Mavrick assumed Grant was dead maybe one minute afterwards. He wrapped Grant’s head completely except for the nose and mouth areas. There was blood in the corner. After Grant stopped moving, what did Mavrick do? Mavrick said he just wanted to get away and get out of this place, and go straight to someone he could feel safe with. Who was that? Lee. Mavrick wanted to go straight to Lee’s home. Why didn’t he call for help from the people in the campground? He said there was no one around and it was very dark, in the middle of the night, and everything was far away and no one was around. Why didn’t he go to the highway and wave for help? Mavrick said he thought Lee was nearby, and he wanted to go straight to Lee’s home. He thought Lee’s place was right there, and Mavrick was not from the area. He didn’t know how far it was to Lee’s. How did he go to Lee’s home? Mavrick said he put Grant in Mavrick’s sleeping bag, put it in the car, cleaned the tent, looked for the key and found it in Grant’s jacket outside, cleaned some more, and found the knife in the tent. He put the knife in the car. He found Grant’s phone and wallet, and put it in the glove box. He said he was in a rush. The judge said it was time to end the questioning and that the questioning would continue tomorrow.

Today is day eight, and Mavrick was back on the stand with the defense attorney questioning him. How did Mavrick access Grant’s phone? Mavrick said he didn’t know Grant’s passcode, but he had seen Grant’s pattern of entering it and that’s how he knew how to enter Grant’s phone. In that area, Grant’s phone had reception. Why didn’t he call the police? Mavrick said he couldn’t talk and couldn’t call. Why didn’t he use Grant’s phone to contact people to get help? Mavrick said at that time, he was not thinking about using Grant’s phone. He left in a hurry. Later, he realized he didn’t know how to get to Lee’s ranch so he got Grant’s phone for the GPS.

Mavrick said back at the tent, he wrapped Grant’s head with a sheet after he assumed Grant was dead. He took the rock and walked to the river where he threw the rock in, and then he started cleaning up. He put Grant in Mavrick’s sleeping bag because Grant’s sleeping bag was rectangular and wouldn’t fit. Mavrick’s sleeping bag was bigger and could cover the full body. It was a mummy sleeping bag and could fit. He zipped it shut. Grant was light in weight so Mavrick could easily lift Grant’s body.

Mavrick wanted to hold on and back up a little bit. He apologized and said he was wrong. Before he brought Grant’s body in the car, he searched for the car key and found it, then he opened the car and brought Grant’s body in the car. Why didn’t he leave the tent and body there and just take off? Mavrick said he didn’t know and bent his head down. He just wanted to go straight to Lee. He had no idea what he was thinking. He brought Grant’s body in the car and left. Mavrick wanted to ask Lee for help and advice on what to do. So, he went to Lee’s for help, right? Mavrick said “Yes, big time”. Lee was the only person nearby that he knew and felt safe with. After he put Grant in the car, what did he do? Mavrick said he cleaned the tent and just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He was in a hurry, and he found a plastic tote bag where he packed everything. He wasn’t paying attention to what he was putting in the bag, and he said it was pretty fast and took about five minutes before he left and got on the road, and then he realized that he didn’t know where to go so he pulled over and took Grant’s phone because he wasn’t from the area. He used Grant’s phone to use Google Maps and put down Lee’s address. He realized it was much further than he thought, like two hours or something. Mavrick did stop for gas when the car was almost out of gas, plus there was a bathroom outside of the gas station he used to tend to his finger which was bleeding badly. He used toilet paper to wrap his finger with, then he filled the tank with gas. After that he drove straight to Lee’s.

When he arrived at about four in the morning, the gate was closed. Mavrick said he didn’t feel well and hadn’t slept. He fell asleep while Grant’s body was in the backseat. At about 9 in the morning, someone was leaving and the gates opened, so he finally was able to enter. During that five hour wait, did he not think to call someone? He said no, and that he just wanted to wait for Lee. After he went in, he drove halfway up the hill and walked down because that area was treacherous. Fortunately, he didn’t have to walk down the full way because Lee’s ATV approached him and Mavrick got in with Lee. They drove to Lee’s place. Mavrick told Lee about the cut on his hand, and Lee helped.

Mavrick told Lee the cut happened from an engine because he didn’t want Lee to ask questions. They messaged back and forth through Facebook messenger after Mavrick was able to connect to wifi with that cheap phone. Why didn’t he tell Lee about Grant? Mavrick said it was a lot harder than he thought. He couldn’t even tell Lee. It took Mavrick a long time to build up the confidence to tell him. Did Lee not ask Mavrick about the car? Lee didn’t know the car belonged to Grant. Later that afternoon, Mavrick was ready to tell Lee about what happened, but Lee jokingly asked him “Where’s the body?” and Mavrick was confused and came up with a cover story. He said that Grant went to Los Angeles.

The DA asked Mavrick “You killed out of self defense, right?” Mavrick said yes, and if he had been asleep, he could have died. So, why did he make up a story about Grant being in Los Angeles? Mavrick said one day he and Grant were fine, and the next day he killed Grant. It was totally unexpected, and happened instantly with no warning or no preparation. He never, never, never would have thought that Grant would go too far. He thought maybe Grant would punch him or get in a fight with him, but he never thought Grant would go too far.

The DA asked Mavrick about Marisa Andrade’s text about brake issues and if that was him. Mavrick admitted that was him. Why? Because he didn’t want anyone to know. He was popular on social media, and once a rumor starts, it’ll blow up like crazy. He was scared about that. He didn’t tell anyone. Later, he did talk with Emily. How long did he stay at Lee’s? Three or four days. Was Grant’s body still in the car halfway up the hill, in the sleeping bag? Mavrick said yes, he just didn’t want to do anything about the body in the car and just left it there. Grant’s grandmother called Lee multiple times, and Lee told Mavrick that he must park Grant’s car somewhere else. Mavrick said “Ok”. He planned to leave Grant’s body in the car and do nothing about it, but Lee told Mavrick that he needed to drop the car off somewhere.

Mavrick decided to borrow an ATV from Lee, take the body out of the car and in the ATV, and go somewhere to put Grant’s body on the ground. Why did he send a picture to Lee about deli meat in the car? Mavrick said Lee was wondering why it smelt bad in the car, and he had to come up with something and claim it was deli meat so Lee could let it go. When Mavrick connected to the wifi at Fucci’s house with his first phone, was he bombarded with messages? Mavrick said yes, he got a lot of messages from Grant’s friends and Deaf people because he was popular on social media, and rumors had already spread that he killed Grant and that he would go to prison for 25 years.

He got about 100 messages, and he said it was crazy. When he read those messages, he started getting paranoid and walked out of Fucci’s house. Why did he leave? Mavrick felt like the world was against him, and the rumors had already started spreading that he killed Grant on purpose. Why didn’t he go to the police and clearly explain that it was because of self defense? Mavrick said with the threats and scary messages he read, he lost his mind. He walked away. Was he scared of the police? Mavrick said he wasn’t scared of the police, but he was scared of the Deaf community. Messages from Grant’s friends showed that they were very mad. Did he tell anyone about what happened to Grant? Mavrick said he has no idea how the rumors started.

After Mavrick got out of Fucci’s house, what did he do? Mavrick said he hitchhiked. All he could think about was how he wanted to get out of the USA and go to Mexico. Why Mexico? He said he didn’t know, and he just wanted to get away from the Deaf community. It was safer in Mexico, he said. There was a different sign language and a different Deaf community. The DA asked if Mavrick felt personally threatened by the Deaf community and feared for his safety, and Mavrick said “For sure!” and that he felt they might kill him. He said that he felt safer going to Mexico.

During the Greyhound bus trip from Yuba to Mexico, what did he do with his phone? Mavrick said he ignored his phone and didn’t open it at all. He didn’t want to see threatening messages at all. In Mexico, he opened his phone and chatted with people via message. He told Scotty Jackson first, about what happened in the tent with Grant. Scotty was one of the guys Mavrick trusted. Scotty told Mavrick that Mavrick had to turn himself in. Mavrick had contemplated suicide. Mavrick said he wanted to die, and he told Scotty that he would approach Mexican police and act like he had a gun so that they could shoot him. Other friends encouraged him to ignore the others if he was telling the truth about self defense, and Mavrick realized that him fleeing to Mexico was what Grant wanted to do to him. If he fled to Mexico and messed his life up, that was what Grant wanted to do to him. Mavrick gave up and walked north. He approached Mexican police and opened the Notes app on his phone. They started speaking Spanish, but could speak English too, and Mavrick told them that he needed to go back to the USA. The police took Mavrick’s phone to message friends, and later Mavrick confessed to the police that he killed someone in the U.S. and needed to go back. That’s when the police arrested Mavrick.