Ned Fisher biography

Ned Harold Fisher, 31, was born to Wayne and Christine Fisher in Memphis, Tennessee. Ned became Wayne's favorite almost immediately, and "the little man" was given the run of the house.

Engaging, energetic, and outgoing, Ned was a stark contrast to his older, shyer brother, Joel. From the first day of school, classmates appreciated Ned's willingness to jump off the top of the jungle gym and his speed at playing tag, and teachers also noticed his powerful personality.

But all those positive qualities came with more than a few negative characteristics. "Ned never did his homework, was a disruption in class, and didn't put forth one ounce of energy," said teacher Nell Johnson. "But he could charm you. Just when you were ready to give up on him, he'd convince you that he would do better. And then he'd go right back to his old ways."

As charming as teachers found him, they also became concerned that his behavior might suggest more than simply an overactive child.

"He started acting out, especially after his father left home," says sixth grade teacher Brenda Williams. "I had heard about a change in him, that he got more menacing, and then when he showed up in class, it was true." Ned began getting into fights with other students and taking things from their desks.

By the time he was in high school, Ned had used up most of the goodwill that his personality could draw out of his teachers. "He was really a troubled kid by that time," says school counselor Robert Burke. "He wasn't just a kid who couldn't sit still. He was showing signs of some very real adjustment and personality challenges."

Anyone on the faculty who still thought the young man could turn things around lost that optimism when Ned got into a fight with his older brother, Joel, in the school cafeteria.

"It was brutal," says custodian Ronald Hampton. "He was beating on Joel with a plastic tray, smacked him right in the face. I mean, me and my brother used to fight, but not like that. This was dangerous."

Ned bounced around between after-school detention, in-school detention, suspension, and every other program the school system had to offer. He flunked his freshman year and performed poorly his sophomore year. Eventually, as soon as he was old enough, Ned quit school.

"You know, even those of us who always held out hope for him, if we were honest with ourselves, we'd have to admit we were glad to see him gone," said teacher Gina Tubbs. "He had just become such a disruption—and a threat to the safety of the other students."

Juvenile criminal records are difficult to obtain, but law enforcement sources say Ned had a police record by his late teens. He had sporadic manual labor jobs around Pontotoc and Tupelo. Many of his supervisors and colleagues described his work as sloppy and erratic, but he managed to keep a roof over his head.

When he was 21, Ned was arrested in Batesville, Mississippi, for petty larceny. His record also shows arrests for passing bad checks and breaking and entering. Two years later, he moved to Oxford and picked up odd jobs, including construction, dishwashing, and timber work.

Ned and his father started a pest control and extermination company when Ned was 27.

Since opening the business, Ned's life seems to have been quiet and stable. No police records or negative credit records are on file for him from that time to the present.

He dates, but not seriously nor prolifically enough to attract any attention. His spending habits appear consistent with his income, and aside from his continued estrangement from his brother and mother, nothing in his life seems out of the ordinary.