‘I’m sorry for everything.’

Emily Long’s last words to her employer, Derek Fisher, echoed in his mind. These words came just days before a harrowing event shook the serene community of Madbury, New Hampshire.

On the 18th of August, Emily, aged 34, tragically ended the lives of her husband Ryan, 48, and two of their children—Parker, 8, and Emma, 4—before taking her own life in their residence. Their youngest, a three-year-old boy, survived the ordeal.

Loved ones were left reeling, unable to comprehend how the devoted mom could have carried out such an atrocity.

Months earlier, the Long family had been dealt a devastating blow: Ryan was diagnosed with an aggressive, terminal brain tumor.

Close friends revealed that Emily found it difficult to manage the emotional toll of Ryan’s illness. She became increasingly reclusive and started using TikTok as a platform for ‘therapy sessions,’ where she openly shared her sorrow and the challenges their family endured.

“I hope I make the decision before I feel like it’s too late,” Emily mentioned in one of her last postings on August 7, contemplating the need for psychiatric help.

But help never came, or perhaps was never sought. 

In a single, tragic moment, the Long family’s once idyllic existence was shattered, leaving two young lives lost too soon and another child to bear the memory of the past.

Upon hearing the initial reports of the shooting in Madbury, Derek Fisher felt a deep sense of dread. On his television screen, he watched law enforcement officers converge on a quaint suburban road and instantly recognized Emily’s residence.

In that instant, he knew something was terribly wrong.

But Fisher also knew something the rest of the world did not. Behind the image of a devoted wife and mother lay a darker truth: Emily had been stealing from him for years, quietly draining more than half a million dollars from his company while posing as his most trusted employee.

Days before the shootings, Fisher had confronted Emily about the theft, threatening to go to the police.

‘I was in denial,’ Fisher told the Daily Mail. ‘You wonder how someone you trusted so completely, who you had such a good relationship with, could be capable of something like this.’

‘I know she was having a difficult time. But ultimately, I think Emily had a lot of secrets that were too hard for her to deal with.’

Fisher met Emily in 2018 after hiring her as an office manager at Wing-Itz, a small chain of restaurants he owns in New England.

Emily seemed perfect for the job – friendly and proactive, with a background in hospitality and office management.

By 2023, Fisher promoted her to director of operations, entrusting her with handling cash and overseeing company finances while he focused on opening a new branch in Dover.

That project consumed nearly all of Fisher’s time, leaving Emily to steer the ship largely unsupervised.

But Fisher had no reason for concern. Though they rarely socialized outside of work, he said they shared a close professional relationship – one built on trust.

Emily often brought her children to work, where they’d play in the office and chatter about school or their weekend plans.

‘The kids loved their mom,’ Fisher recalled. ‘They were always happy… I never saw any signs of negative behavior out of the children or the family.

‘My experience with Emily was incredibly positive – up until I found out what she was doing.’

Then, in April 2024, came the crushing blow. Emily confided in Fisher that her husband Ryan, hadn’t been feeling well. What began as fatigue soon escalated into something more serious.

Hospital tests in Boston confirmed Ryan had glioblastoma – an aggressive brain tumor – devastating Emily

Fisher said she threw herself into work as a way to cope, describing her job as an ‘outlet’ for normalcy amid the chaos.

In turn, Fisher tried to support her in any way he could, giving her complete flexibility with her hours and assuring her that her job and income would always be safe.

All the while, Fisher was experiencing a quiet turmoil of his own because the business seemed to be bleeding cash.

He was struggling to make payroll and couldn’t understand where the money had gone.

With the walls closing in, he tearfully confided in Emily about the peril the business was facing.

‘I’d be in tears, saying, ‘We’re making money – so where’s it all going?’ But she just brushed it off. She told me not to worry, that things would get better.’

Meanwhile, Emily continued documenting her husband’s health battle on TikTok, posting daily updates for her thousands-strong audience.

As Ryan’s condition worsened, Emily opened up about the painful realization she would one day be a single parent to three traumatised children.

‘I’m mourning my husband, I’m mourning my marriage, and it’s still there. It’s very confusing,’ she said.

By summer, Fisher’s concerns about his business had turned to alarm. Once the Dover project was finished, he reviewed Wing-Itz’s books and the numbers didn’t make sense.

Business had been steady, yet the accounts were drained. Checks had been written out in Emily’s name and deposited into her own account.

The missing amount totalled more than $660,000 – siphoned from the business over a period of two years.

The discovery stunned Fisher.

‘I couldn’t believe it,’ he said. ‘I’d been in tears about money, and she showed no remorse at all.’

Fisher wanted to believe it was a mistake, a simple bookkeeping error Emily could explain away. But when he asked her to send over copies of her personal bank statements to clear things up, she began to stall.

Days turned into weeks, and each time he asked, she offered another excuse.

Fisher tried to be patient, mindful of Ryan’s condition. But by August, his patience had eroded. He sent an email demanding the records by noon – or he’d call police.

Within hours, Emily handed over the statements, but something seemed off. Pages were missing, numbers didn’t align, and the documents looked crudely patched together.

Fisher took them to the bank for verification, where it was confirmed they’d been doctored.

He made one final plea for Emily to meet him at the bank so he could review her accounts in person.

With that, Emily went ‘sheet white’, he said.

‘She agreed to go, but told me she couldn’t right then because of Ryan. She went white as a ghost, packed her things and rushed out of the restaurant.

‘The way she acted after that was bizarre. She pretended nothing was wrong – but you could see it on her face that something was seriously off.’

They agreed to meet at the bank on August 11, but Emily never showed.

Instead, she sent a text, offering him three options.

‘I can either resign, I could stay working remotely, or you could fire me. I’m okay with any of the decisions you make,’ Emily wrote.

As all this unfolded, Emily began hinting at money troubles on TikTok.

‘I feel sick to my stomach… I can’t do anything until this problem is resolved,’ she said in an August 7 video. ‘You can’t keep ignoring everything and hoping it disappears.’

On August 12, Emily sent Fisher an apologetic message, saying she was sorry for everything, but didn’t specify what.

Six days later, Emily took out a handgun and shot her husband multiple times. She then turned the weapon on two of her children – shooting each once in the head – before killing herself, state autopsy records show.

Their bodies were discovered that night. The sole survivor, three-year-old James, was found nearby, physically unharmed.

In the weeks since, it’s emerged that Emily had faced fraud accusations before.

In 2016, she and a boyfriend were accused of skimming $11,000 from a New Hampshire brewpub. She was later arraigned on forgery charges, but the case was dropped after the restaurant closed, the Boston Globe reported.

Fisher said he was shocked by the scale of Emily’s deceit and believes there may be other victims.

‘Maybe this is a behavior that’s been going on for a very long time, and I was just the grand finale,’ he said.

What Emily did with the $660,000 she stole from Fisher remains unclear.

There’s nothing in Emily or Ryan Long’s financial records to suggest they were in serious financial trouble – though Emily was a confessed shopaholic.

Fisher said he is still trying to come to terms with the tragedy while struggling to reconcile the Emily he thought he knew with the woman unmasked in her final weeks.

‘No one’s given the tools to deal with something like this,’ he said. ‘I was very hurt. My heart ached for the kids and her husband – and on top of all that was the betrayal I felt.

‘This is something I’m going to have to deal with for the rest of my life.’

One thing Fisher is sure of is that Ryan was unaware of his wife’s illicit activities.

And despite almost going bankrupt because of Emily, Fisher told the Daily Mail he isn’t trying to recover his losses.

If any of the stolen funds remain, he wants Emily’s surviving son to have them.

‘That poor child has lost everything,’ he said. ‘He doesn’t deserve this. It’s the right thing to do.’