Man sought in connection to murder could be returned to Yuma next week

The man being held in custody in El Centro in connection with the murder of a Foothills resident could soon find himself behind bars in a Yuma jail.

According to Capt. Eben Bratcher of the Yuma County Sheriff's Office, 46-year-old Thomas Jacob Fisher II should be extradited back to Yuma sometime next week.

"We don't exactly know what day yet, though," Bratcher said of Fisher, who is currently being held in the Imperial County jail.

An arrest warrant was issued for Fisher on Dec. 27, and the Yuma County Attorney's Office sent extradition documents to California.

Upon his return to Arizona, Fisher will face prosecution on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of his stepfather, 64-year-old Carl Ray Brown.

Brown was found dead on Dec. 21 in the garage of his home in the 1500 block of South Dawn Drive. An autopsy disclosed Brown had died of massive head and chest injuries, YCSO said.

The warrant, which was issued against Fisher by the Yuma Justice Court at the request of the county attorney's office, also set a $2.7 million bond.

Bratcher explained that when suspects are arrested in California and facing extradition to another state, they go through a court hearing process.

That court hearing is called an identification hearing to determine that the person is actually the one Arizona wants extradited back to the state.

The time it takes to complete the process varies, depending on whether the person being sought agrees to extradition or challenges it. Bratcher said he did not know which Fisher did.

Fisher turned himself in on Dec. 29 to a Border Patrol agent in the Imperial Sand Dunes, and the agent turned him over to the Imperial County Sheriff's Office.

Fisher, who had been living with Brown and Brown's wife, was implicated in the killing by evidence found at the scene, YCSO said.

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James Gilbert can be reached at

jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.