$100,000. Reward Still Stands In Genesee County Murder Case

Six years, no resolution
$100,000. Reward Offer Still Stands
Widow of murder victim still anxious, unsettled

By Scott DeSmit sdesmit@batavianews.com
batavia news.com

Lisa Fickel said she still finds herself as anxious and unsettled on the sixth anniversary of her husband’s murder as she did when the first year had passed.

The Oct. 30 stabbing death of a woman in the Wal-Mart parking lt only made it worse, she said.

‘‘I am so angered by the Wal-Mart murder,’’ said Fickel, who today marks six years since her husband was senselessly shot to death outside their home on Burns Road in Oakfield. ‘‘It has made so many awful members resurface — the sights, smells, sounds.’’

Kathleen Byham, 45, was stabbed to death as she approached her car after shopping at the store the night of Oct. 30. Unlike Fickel’s case, a person has been charged with the stabbing.

No one has ever been charged with Fickel’s murder, though police do have a person of interest.

Steven P. Rebert, 46, who lived in Oakfield at the time of Fickel’s murder, was arrested last year and charged with murdering an elderly couple in Pennsylvania, where Rebert was living.

Rebert is charged with criminal homicide for the April 12, 2010, murders of Wayne and Vicky Shugar of Brockway, Pa.

Jefferson County District Attorney Jeffrey Burkett is seeking the death penalty against Rebert, who was named a suspect in Fickel’s murder and also the 2007 slaying of Kevin Smith of Shelby. Police investigating the Shugar murders found evidence on Rebert’s computer that revealed he conducted searches regarding both men’s murders. More...