Melisa Gregory
Steven Fisher
Melisa Gregory, 17
Steven Fisher, 20
Copper Dollar Ranch
Newton, IA
Jasper County
Case # 8301119
March 3, 1983
Steven Fisher and girlfriend Melisa Gregory were found bludgeoned to death at the Copper Dollar Ranch northwest of Newton, Iowa, in Jasper County on March 3, 1983. The attack’s sheer brutality initially led police to believe the pair had been shot in their heads.
Courtesy photo WHO-TV Channel 13, Des Moines“Just the amount of blood… I don’t think the people who reported it realized that somebody could be injured that badly without being shot or something,” Jasper County Sheriff Mike Balmer told WHO-TV Channel 13‘s Aaron Brilbeck for an update on the case that aired May 6, 2011. “I think that’s the original reason it came out as a gunshot case till we got there and actually looked at the scene and realized … these people had been bludgeoned to death.”
The Copper Dollar Ranch — located at West 48th Street North about a quarter-mile north of Hwy F36 West and about four miles northwest of Newton — was a horse ranch where Harold Snedeker and Alan Shad, both of Newton, raised quarter horses and Appaloosas.
[The late] foreman Jeff Illingworth arrived at the ranch shortly before 8 a.m. on March 3 and discovered the body of Steven Fisher, who also worked at the ranch, lying face down on the ground near the barn and a camper, wearing only blue jeans and covered in blood.
Illingworth immediately checked inside the trailer, where he discovered Melisa Gregory’s body. Illingworth ran to a neighboring home and contacted authorities.
Illingworth and the homeowner then returned to the ranch to wait for law enforcement officials. Illingworth’s brother was married to Fisher’s sister, and the two were close friends.
Courtesy photo WHO-TVAuthorities confirmed the identity of the victims through dental records and fingerprints, and autopsy reports stated that both Fisher and Gregory died from massive head injuries.
According to a Newton Daily News article written by Mandi Lamb and published on March 3, 2008, Melisa’s mother, Ida Reynolds, and sister, Lisa Gregory, said they learned through television news reports that a couple had been killed at the Copper Dollar Ranch, and Melisa’s brother Scott said he heard the news through a friend’s brother before any were informed of Melisa’s death by investigators.
At the time of his death, Fisher was still married to Terri Supino and the couple had two young children, though Fisher and Supino had been separated for several months prior to the homicides. Fisher and Gregory had been dating during those months.
Courtesy photo WHO-TV Channel 13Jasper County Attorney Steve Johnson acknowledged there was some known drug activity in the area, but said he personally believed the murders were “up close and personal.”
Police and the Jasper County Sheriff’s office agreed that they didn’t believe drugs were a factor, and were certain the attack wasn’t random.
An FBI profiler profiled the case, said Balmer, who worked as a deputy when the crime occurred. “It was definitely a crime of passion. Someone that was angry,” he said.
Balmer told Channel 13 they followed up on dozens of leads but met nothing but dead ends.
“We were able to track and trace the victims’ travels that night … what they’d done, what they’d seen, who they talked to,” he said.
Courtesy photo WHO-TV Channel 13Gregory’s family members — who also met with Brilbeck for WHO TV’s May 2011 story — said Melisa was funny and warm, loved animals and her family. Twenty-eight years after her murder, her brother Scott and sister Lisa still had trouble talking about what happened.
“She would have loved being around my girls, and my sister’s boys,” Lisa said. “She missed out on having a family of her own.”
The girls’ little sister, Tanna, is the spitting image of Melisa, said Lisa Gregory.
Courtesy photo WHO-TV Channel 13The family wants anyone who knows what happened to come forward to give not just the family some peace, but closure to the killer as well.
“It’s like, how can they live with themselves 24/7 for what they’ve done?” said Melisa’s brother, Scott Gregory.
Steven Fisher’s mother, Thelma Fisher, died just a few months before WHO TV’s story aired, but Sheriff Balmer said the murder bothered her throughout her whole life. “Every day she thought about her son,” he said.
Back in September 2009, Fisher’s estranged wife Terri Supino announced her plans to write a book about the unsolved murders. WHO-TV made several attempts to contact her for their story but received no response.
Courtesy photo WHO-TV“You know it’s gonna come down to an interview and someone admitting what they did,” said Balmer. “Someone’s conscience is gonna get the best of them. Someone may be terminally ill at some point in their life. But this office is never gonna give this case up.”
Steven Fisher was survived by his mother, Thelma Fisher of Newton (now deceased); his wife Terri Supino and their two young children; two brothers, Ron and Billy Fisher of Newton; and a sister, Darlene Illingworth of Newton.
Melisa Gregory’s survivors included her mother, Ida Reynolds; two brothers, Scott Gregory and Travis Reynolds of Newton; and two sisters, Lisa Gregory and Tanna Reynolds of Newton.
WHO-TV Channel 13′s Aaron Brilbeck reports on the March 3, 1983 unsolved double homicide of Steven Fisher and Melisa Gregory. Air Date: May 6, 2011
From Jan. 20, 2007: Cold Case Victim’s Mom Has Renewed Hope
A KCCI-TV interview with the late Thelma Fisher
Copyright 2012 Iowa Cold Cases, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
WHO-TV 13 made several attempts to contact Terri Supino? Really, that is funny. No one ever attempted to contact her, not to mention she isn’t hard to find. The Jasper county Sherrifs department knows exactly where to find her. Her entire family lives in Newton. You guys are ridiculous.
I grew up in Newton, I was only three when this happend but I remember hearing about it years later as I grew up. Such an awful thing and very scary and strange that something like this would happen in small town, close knit Newton. I feel so so sad for both families, I cant even imagine what they must feel every day not knowing and not having any answers.