Opening statements presented

Prosecutors say a Portland woman was the mastermind behind a murder.

The defense argues she was oblivious to any potential plot.

The prosecution and defense each presented their opening statements and the former began making its case Monday as Esther J. Stephen, 30, Portland, appeared in Jay Circuit Court on Tuesday to stand trial for the Jan. 12, 2020, murder of Shea Briar.

The proceedings were scheduled to resume at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday with the first testimony being a recording of a Jan. 14, 2020, interview of Stephen by Jay County Sheriff’s Office detectives Mitch Sutton and Ben Schwartz.

In his opening statement Tuesday morning, Jay County prosecutor Wes Schemenaur said Stephen, who goes by the nickname “EJ,” told police, “Things would just be easier without him.” (Stephen and Briar shared a child.)

According to probable cause affidavits filed in connection with the case, Stephen and Sheby Hiestand, a 19-year-old rural Portland resident, admitted to police they plotted to kill Briar, 31, over a custody dispute. A third suspect, Hannah Knapke, 19, Fort Recovery, has also been charged with Briar’s murder. Hiestand’s trial is scheduled for August, while Knapke’s is set for September.

Jill Gonzalez, Stephen’s attorney, responded in her opening statement by saying prosecutors have to prove Stephen knowingly and intentionally committed murder. Gonzalez said that was not the case.

“EJ didn’t know what was happening until it happened,” Gonzalez said.

Probable cause affidavits filed in connection with the case say Stephen distracted Briar while Hiestand retrieved a gun and shot him once in the back, resulting in his death.

Schemenaur called nine witnesses to testify in the first of three scheduled murder trials connected to Briar’s shooting death.

Witnesses included the Geneva reserve police officer who was the first to respond to a bridge over Loblolly Creek on county road 125 West, just south of county road 850 North, where Briar was found about 2 a.m. Jan. 12. Two Indiana State Police investigators, an ISP forensic scientist and the forensic pathologist who performed Briar’s autopsy, were also called to the witness stand.

Kristi Sibray, a rural Portland resident who babysat the child Stephen and Briar shared on the night of Briar’s death, testified Stephen and Hiestand had previously met with her a half dozen times to discuss ways they could “get rid of” Briar,” and that Stephen had allegedly put crushed pills in a tea she gave to Briar. Sibray later said she didn’t take those discussions or the alleged incident with pills seriously.

Sibray also testified she babysat for Stephen on the night of the murder not knowing exactly why a babysitter was needed. Sibray said she tried to ask what Stephen was doing during the time she cared for the child but was unable to get a straight answer. She added Stephen later said, “You’ll hear about it in a couple days.”

According to forensic pathologist Dr. Scott Wagner’s autopsy, Briar died of a single gunshot wound to the back. Wagner concluded a bullet — the caliber could not be identified — entered Briar’s back, punctured his aorta and passed through three chambers of his heart. Two metal fragments were discovered in the lining of Briar’s heart.

Indiana State Police Sgt. John Petro, a field support region supervisor and crime scene investigator, testified Tuesday he obtained a .22-caliber rifle while searching Hiestand’s home at 1391 W. 200 North. Stacey Hartman, a forensic scientist in the ISP’s Fort Wayne Regional Laboratory’s forensic firearms identification unit, testified she could not match the bullet fragment to the .22-caliber rifle obtained from underneath what was determined to be Hiestand’s bed.

Stephen was calm entering the courtroom as the trial began. She wiped away the occasional tear and appeared to cry during recess in the afternoon but otherwise sat attentive without showing any other emotion.

The trial, which is scheduled for five days, opened Monday, with jury selection taking most of the day. The process wrapped up about 3 p.m., with Judge Brian Hutchison then calling a recess for the day and scheduling opening statements for Tuesday morning.

Court documents filed in the case allege that Stephen, Hiestand and Knapke picked Briar up at his Portland home with plans to “hang out” and drove Knapke’s vehicle to the road 125 West bridge over Loblolly Creek. There, they say, Stephen distracted Briar to allow Hiestand to retrieve a gun from the vehicle and shoot Briar once in the back. Briar was found on the bridge about 2 a.m. Jan. 12 and died later the same day at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne.

All three women are being held in Jay County Jail without bond, pending their trials.

In Indiana, murder carries a sentence of 45 to 65 years, with an advisory sentence of 55 years.