The prosecutor of Marshall County is now working with the State Police and the county Sheriff’s Office to close the case concerning the tragic double homicide and officer-involved shooting that took place late last week.
David and Monica Will, 44 and 46 respectively, were murdered during the early-morning hours last Thursday when 25-year-old Cycle Fabrizio shot through a window in the household and busted down the back door of the dwelling on Middle Grave Creek Road. Once two deputies reported to the scene, Fabrizio reportedly fired one of his handguns at the officers, and then a deputy fired a single .223 round and killed the assailant.
Fabrizio held the Wills’ 16-year-old daughter hostage during the brief standoff, and a suicide letter was discovered by the assailant’s father and given to Sgt. Bear Mobley. The letter, according to Mobley, indicated that Fabrizio was not planning to survive his attack on the family.
Marshall County Prosecutor Joe Canestraro is now reviewing the letter, body camera footage, the 911 calls, the autopsy reports by the state Examiner’s Office, all on-scene interviews conducted by detectives, the investigation into the double homicide, and, when completed, the official report by troopers with the State Police.
“There are several things I will be reviewing over the next couple of days,” he explained. “And, as soon as the State Police complete its investigation into the officer-involved shooting, I will review that work, as well. Even though it’s obvious what took place, what I am doing now is all part of the process in a situation like this one.
“It was a busy weekend with a lot of work being done on these cases with the double homicide and the officer-involved shooting, and, at this point, after everything I’ve look at and everything I’ve been told to this point, it looks like it was a good shoot on behalf of the Marshall County deputy,” Canestraro revealed. “Of course, those reviews will take place as soon as possible.”
Along with the 16-year-old daughter, a 14-year-old son also survived the tragic night, and investigators are working with both of the children to piece together exactly what took place.
“I know the autopsies on the two victims have been completed and the causes of death have been determined, so now the investigators for the Sheriff’s Office will determine the order of how everything happened that night at the Will home,” Canestraro said. “It has been reported that the assailant did shoot at one victim through a window, and it’s also been announced that he busted down the locked door to the home before he shot and killed the second victim.
“The detectives will do their due diligence just like they do in any investigation of a crime,” he said. “This is a tragedy in our community and there are a lot of people that have been impacted by this incident. That’s why it’s important for us to take care of this process.”
Although he doesn’t recall a similar incident taking place in Marshall County during his 25-year prosecutorial career – let alone during his lifetime – Canestraro does have experience with reviewing homicides in the Northern Panhandle.
“I’ve been appointed as the special prosecutor in Hancock County for similar cases, and once I’ve completed examining everything, announcements will be made,” the prosecutor said. “If you look back at our history here in Marshall County, we’ve not had a crime similar to this tragedy, and we certainly don’t have a history of homicides taking place here.
“Although it’s very rare, we have had homicides and others events that turned violent, but I don’t remember anything very similar to the events that took place last week. If there is something similar, it was definitely before my time,” Canestraro added. “I’ve been in the prosecutor’s office here in Marshall County since the summer of 2001, and I can’t remember any other officer-involved shooting during that time.”
