Hannah Banana

A vibrant and cherished young woman, Hannah E. “Hannah Banana” Fischer was known for her love of art and a personality that was always full of life. The 21-year-old white female was a 2013 graduate of Montpelier High School, where she was active in student council, volleyball, basketball, and track. A resident of Montpelier, Ohio, she was attending Northwest State Community College with plans to work in human services. Her family and friends remembered her as a comical and funny person who was deeply loved.

On February 9, 2016, Hannah’s life was tragically cut short. Her body was discovered just before 5 p.m. inside her apartment at 119 W. Perry Street in Paulding, Ohio. Family members of her boyfriend, Frank H. Tracy Jr., had gone looking for him and were let into the apartment by a handyman, where they found Hannah deceased. An autopsy later determined she had died from a gunshot wound to the head.

The Paulding Police Department, assisted by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, began an immediate homicide investigation. Initially, suspicion fell upon 47-year-old Frank Tracy Jr., who was romantically involved with Hannah. A murder warrant was issued for his arrest, and a manhunt was launched, with the U.S. Marshals Service offering a reward for information leading to his capture. The search for Tracy took a shocking turn on March 15, 2016, when his body was discovered by a mushroom hunter in the rural Rochester Cemetery in Paulding County. He had also been killed by a gunshot wound to the head, and his death was ruled a homicide, changing the complexion of the entire investigation.

Investigators from the Paulding County Sheriff's Office and the Paulding Police Department soon pieced together evidence, including witness statements and the recovery of the murder weapon. They determined that both Hannah and Frank had been murdered inside a Jeep Compass that was found behind the apartment complex on the day Hannah’s body was discovered. This led them to a new suspect. On March 25, 2016, authorities announced a warrant for the arrest of Bradley R. Gillespie, a 42-year-old from Defiance, Ohio, for the murders of both Hannah Fischer and Frank Tracy Jr. Gillespie was already in custody at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio on unrelated drug and theft charges.

In September 2016, Bradley Gillespie stood trial. Prosecutors argued he staged the crime scene to make it appear as if Tracy had killed Hannah. After just over three hours of deliberation, the jury found Gillespie guilty of two counts of murder with firearm specifications. In November 2016, a judge sentenced him to two consecutive 15-year-to-life prison terms. During the emotional sentencing hearing, Hannah’s mother, Lori Wheeler, spoke of her shattered life, saying, “If I want to talk to my daughter I have to speak to a piece of marble.” Frank Tracy’s brother, Adam, called Gillespie a “monster” who had taken everything from their family. Gillespie maintained his innocence but lost an appeal in 2017.

The case took one final, dramatic turn years later. In May 2023, Bradley Gillespie, then 50, escaped from the Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution in Lima by hiding in a trash container with another inmate. After a multi-day, multi-state manhunt, his fellow escapee was captured. On May 28, 2023, Gillespie's body was found in the Ohio River in Henderson, Kentucky. An autopsy determined his cause of death was drowning. As of June 2023, the tragic and complex case that began with the death of Hannah Fischer was closed.