Most Wanted: Robert William Fisher

"If you leave me, I'll kill you," Many have used this threat to keep a significant other in a relationship for centuries. Some may have even followed through on the threat after a breakup. And there are others who may not have acted in the heat of the moment but put together a plan, and began to methodically ensure the death of a loved one(s).

Robert William Fisher seems to be the latter. During a time of marital strife, he kept telling friends that he could not tolerate his wife leaving him. Which she was telling her girlfriends and other family members she was going to do. It proved to be the perfect storm. Fisher killed his wife, two kids, and blew up the family house. Then he disappeared into the night, never to be found.

Divorce Times Two

Why would Fisher be opposed to divorce in this day and age? His parents divorced in 1976 when he was just 15 years old. His mother ran off, and many who knew him during this time said it changed the way he acted.

Once an open and loving child, Fisher became despondent. No one was allowed to get close to him. When he did allow someone in, he ended up controlling them and driving them away.

Allegedly Fisher once told a coworker that had his mother stuck around, his life would have turned out differently. Maybe he wouldn't have killed his family or created the scenario that allowed that to come to fruition.

Inside And Outside The Marriage

Robert William Fisher bounced from job to job for a while. He was in the Navy, then was a firefighter, a surgical catheter technician, and a respiratory therapist. None of the jobs lasted long for various reasons.

One day, Fisher met his future bride, Mary Jean Cooper. There was no honeymoon period for the couple. Fisher began treating his wife as though she were nothing more than a prop in his life. Every single detail of their lives was decided by Fisher.

The couple had two children. Britney Fisher was born first and her brother Bobby was born two short years later. The elder Fisher treated his children with the same stern dictatorship that he treated his wife.

After the children were born, the relationship between Cooper and Fisher went even further downhill. The argument about money and sex became an everyday occurrence. Fisher confided in coworkers one day that he had gone to a massage parlor and paid a woman to have sex with him. When Cooper found out, she was furious and she decided to leave Fisher for good.

Murder On The Run

After talking with buddies about the possibility that Cooper would leave him, Fisher vowed it would never happen. People who were around him during this time have said he was completely "unhinged." There have been reports that Cooper had visited a divorce attorney but there does not appear to be corroborating evidence, outside of Cooper telling her friends and family she was going to divorce him.

On April 9, 2001, neighbors in their Scottsdale, Arizona neighborhood reported hearing the couple fighting. Hours later, Cooper would be shot in the back of the head. The children would not escape their father's wrath as he slit each of their throats.

As if the brutal way he murdered his family wasn't enough, Fisher caused his house to explode. Anyone within a half of a mile felt the explosion, though many had no idea what had happened. There were other mini-explosions, which authorities attributed to ammunition and paint cans in the house.

It is widely believed Fisher had set the explosion up to bring attention to the murders, and to give himself time to escape. That plan worked.

Most Wanted Bounty

For nearly 20 years, Fisher has evaded FBI and other investigators. His love of the outdoors and hunting is believed to have aided the escape. Many think he went off the grid for a while, then eventually adopted a new identity.

Furthering this theory is the fact that Arizona State Police found Cooper's car and the family dog near Tonto National Forest. A working theory at the time was Fisher committed suicide because of his guilty conscience. It was scrapped as the investigation dragged on.

As Fisher has ascended the FBI's Most Wanted list, the reward for finding has increased. At press time, it was currently $100,000 and had inspired many people to try to track him down.

Many have claimed to have seen him, most of those leads led nowhere. One lady has claimed to have seen security footage of Fisher getting on a plane and is currently tracing his flight and looking at more footage. The FBI's only comment about the case was a Tweet that featured Fisher as one of the most wanted men in the country.