May 2009 - Madison, WI
Steven Weber shot and killed his wife Francesca on May 16th at her apartment at 5152 Anton Drive
in Fitchburg. Weber fled but was the immediate suspect and a search for him began.
Weber's pickup truck was spotted parked on Bluff Street on May 19th. Madison police used an armored
rescue vehicle to determine no one was in the truck.
Since Weber grew up in the neighborhood, on Sunset Court, it was suspected he would be hiding in
Hoyt or Quarry parks since he knew them well. Madison police called in their SWAT teams in military
camouflage and carrying long-range weapons, as well as federal agents, other area police, a
helicopter and police dogs, to search the wooded area.
For most of the day roads in the area were closed. Residents of homes that bordered the park, as
well as homes in the Harvey, Eugenia, Stevens and Bluff streets area, were barred from leaving or
returning to their homes. A camouflaged sharp-shooter in some bushes near a residence on Bluff
Street yelled at two people walking on the sidewalk to "Go inside!"
Weber's body was found shortly after 7 p.m. within a mile of where his truck was found, in bluffs on the north side of the park with an apparent self-inflicted
gunshot wound. A gun was found near the body.
Steven Weber's brother Greg was on hand and offered to help searchers by calling out to his brother in an area with small caves at the bottom of a cliff that
runs along Bluff Street, but police declined. "If he isn't in this park, he's dead," Greg Weber predicted. "They'll find a corpse. He's got nowhere to go". Greg
Weber said his brother's marriage to Francesca had been tumultuous, stoked by alcohol abuse on both sides.
In addition to Madison police, other agencies involved in the search included Fitchburg, Mount Horeb, UW-Madison police, the Dane County Sheriff, FBI, U.S.
Marshal's Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Steven J. Weber (49)
Francesca Weber (47)
