'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAMDAwMDAwQEBAQFBQUFBQcHBgYHBwsICQgJCAsRCwwLCwwLEQ8SDw4PEg8bFRMTFRsfGhkaHyYiIiYwLTA+PlQBAwMDAwMDBAQEBAUFBQUFBwcGBgcHCwgJCAkICxELDAsLDAsRDxIPDg8SDxsVExMVGx8aGRofJiIiJjAtMD4+VP/AABEIAAcACgMBIgACEQEDEQH/xABhAAEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABwgQAAIBAwQDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEDBAACBRESEzEHMrEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQFEQACAgIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAwIRAAQSQXH/2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/AJFG8mYDO4gskphyJIZeLI8lbruAtt2nYwho26AHqs9tzsYMvHC32PVw0+UpVVOupNxgCB0Lwk3sZXKvaGf/2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
In October 2008, Robert and Norma Bean, owners of a trucking business and beloved members of the Howard City, Michigan, community, were found shot to death in a gravel pit miles away from their home. Spent shell casings found at the crime scene were linked to a rifle the couple owned and thus started an investigation into the gruesome crime, revealing some shocking details.
Bobby Fisk and Timothy Stephan, two men known to the couple, were connected to the crime after a witness reported seeing one of them at the same gravel pit. It later surfaced that both Fisk and Stephan attempted to to rob the couple before kidnapping them and driving them to the location where they were gunned down with the weapon stolen from their house that same night.
An upcoming episode of Murder in the Heartland on ID will further shed light on Robert and Norma Bean's shooting death. The episode, titled The Gravel Pit Murders, airs at 9:00 pm ET on Monday, April 5.
The synopsis says:
"In Howard City, Michigan, detectives investigate a night of horror that ends with the shooting of beloved couple Robert and Norma Bean in a gravel pit; local tips provide alarming new clues, revealing the shocking timeline of their final hours."
A horrific crime scene, botched robbery, and a few other details about Robert and Norma Bean's double homicide
1) The Beans were found in a blood and tissue-splattered crime scene
The Howard City, Michigan-based elderly couple Robert and Norma Bean, both 66, were found shot to death in a gravel pit near Dick Street NE and Johnson Avenue, some 30 miles away from their home. Reports state that the Beans' faces were blown to an extent where tissue and blood were scattered yards from where their corpses were discovered.
Given that Norma was discovered laying on her back, the medical investigator concluded that she was shot first and dropped backward. But the bullet's entry point to Robert's body, who was found lying facedown next to his wife, indicated that he was shot in the face while "looking directly at the weapon." The couple's phones, a van, and crushed credit cards were also found near their bodies.
2) A shocking revelation about the murder weapon was made
Along with the dead bodies of Robert and Norma Bean and other evidence found at the crime scene, authorities also discovered spent shell casings from a Browning 7mm rifle identical to the one owned by the couple. The firearm was reportedly a gift from Norma to Robert.
3) Two men were identified in the double homicide not long after
According to reports, two men—Timothy Stephan, 28, and Bobby Fisk, 25,—were seen by witnesses that day at the gravel pit. A spectator claimed to have seen the latter sprinting towards his vehicle and yanking the door handle. Authorities quickly discovered a startling sequence of events that resulted in the double homicide of the Beans, leading to the arrest of both men in association with the killings.
4) The suspects attempted to rob the couple that night before shooting Robert and Norma Bean
Timothy Stephan and Bobby Fisk reportedly broke into the Beans' house early on October 6 and took Norma's purse, the Browning 7mm rifle, and some Vicodin pills. Disappointed with the items in the handbag, the pair first consumed the pills with alcohol before returning to the Beans' home and kidnapping the sleeping couple at gunpoint.
They then forced them into a van and drove them around, forcing them to unsuccessfully use their credit and debit cards until their accounts froze. Stephan and Fisk then drove Robert and Norma Bean to the gravel pit where they fatally shot both of them and fled the scene separately.
5) Both Fisk and Stephan were handed life sentences in connection to the killings
Timothy Stephan pleaded guilty to two counts of felony murder in April 2009 and was handed two life sentences without the possibility of parole. Meanwhile, Bobby Fisk went on trial in January 2010 and was convicted of all charges, including first-degree murder, felony murder, kidnapping, house invasion, and felony firearms charges. He received two consecutive life sentences with additional charges.
