Knapke trial is set for the fall

A new trial date has been set for one of the three women charged with the January 2020 murder of a Portland man.

Jay Circuit Court Judge Brian Hutchison during a hearing Friday scheduled the murder trial for Hannah L. Knapke, 19, Fort Recovery, for Sept. 20 through 24. She, Esther J. Stephen, 30, Portland, and Shelby N. Hiestand, 19, Portland, are charged with the murder of Shea Briar.

A final pretrial conference will be held Sept. 7.

Knapke’s trial was originally scheduled for Feb. 21 through 25. It was canceled in December when Indiana Supreme Court announced it was suspending jury trials statewide until March 1 because of the potential spread of COVID-19.

Stephen’s trial is now scheduled for March 15 through 19. Hiestand’s trial is set for Aug. 9 through 12.

Knapke was arrested Jan. 22, 10 days after Briar, 31, was fatally shot on a bridge in northern Jay County. Stephen and Hiestand had been arrested eight days earlier.

According to documents filed in Jay Circuit Court in connection to the case, Stephen and Hiestand admitted to police that they plotted to kill Briar over a custody dispute. Stephen and Briar shared a child.

The documents provide the following account of Briar’s death:

Stephen, Hiestand and Knapke picked Briar up at his Portland home with plans to “hang out” and then drove in Knapke’s vehicle to the county road 125 West bridge over Loblolly Creek, just south of county road 850 North. Stephen then distracted Briar, allowing Hiestand to retrieve a gun from the vehicle. Hiestand then shot Briar once in the back. Knapke was standing next to Hiestand at the time of the shooting.

Briar was found about 2 a.m. Jan. 12 and transported to Fort Wayne’s Lutheran Hospital, where he died later the same day.

In Indiana, murder carries a sentence of 45 to 65 years.