OH v. Erica Stefanko: Pizza Delivery Murder Trial

Posted at 7:10 PM, November 24, 2020 and last updated 4:20 PM, July 21, 2023

SUMMIT COUNTY, Ohio (Court TV) — After more than 14 hours of deliberations, a jury of 12 found Erica Stefanko guilty of aggravated murder in the death of Domino’s Pizza delivery driver.

Erica Stefanko, formally Erica Lyon, was convicted in the death of 25-year-old Ashley Biggs. At the time of the killing, the victim shared a child with Stefanko’s then-husband, Chad Cobb. Cobb is serving a life sentence following his conviction in the death of Biggs. But even then, authorities maintained they were investigating who may have helped him.

New Franklin Police say Biggs was lured to her death in June 2012 by a fake pizza delivery call placed by Stefanko. When Biggs arrived at the delivery address, a closed business, she was attacked by Cobb and strangled with a four-foot-long zip tie. Her body was found in the backseat of her car abandoned in a cornfield.

Investigators believe the murder was the result of an ongoing child custody dispute between Cobb and Biggs, a U.S. Army veteran.

DAILY TRIAL UPDATES

DAY 8

  • The jury has found Erica Stefanko Guilty of the top count of aggravated murder, as well as murder (with purpose). She was found not guilty of aggravated murder (felony), murder (felony murder), kidnapping and aggravated robbery.

DAY 7

  • The jury, consisting of six men and six women, concluded a second day of deliberations—which lasted just over nine hours—without reaching a verdict.
  • The judge and a member of her staff were seen wheeling in a large white dry-erase board into the courtroom after the jurors left. (It’s not clear if jurors requested the board.)
  • Jurors will resume their deliberations at 9:00 AM Wednesday.

DAY 6

  • Prosecutors give their final argument, urging jurors to focus on the defendant’s own words to find her complicit in the murder of Ashley Biggs.
  • Defense Attorney Kerry O’Brien, in his closing, attacked the audio recording, suggesting it was part of a plot by Chad and his mother to implicate Stefanko in the murder.
  • In the rebuttal, Brian LoPrinzi said Stefanko and Cobb had a plan to kill Biggs all along, because he said they talked about keeping her skull
  • Jurors deliberated for less than 2 hours before asking to be excused for the evening.
    • The jury requested a copy of the jury instructions and a transcript of the call, which was not provided because it is not part of the evidence

DAY 5

  • Erica Stefanko changed her mind about testifying Friday afternoon after telling the court before the lunch break—and in pretrial hearings—that she would take the stand.
  • The defense rested Friday afternoon after calling one witness, Mike Stefanko, Stefanko’s husband and Chad Cobb’s childhood friend.
  • The state rests Friday morning after calling lead case detective Michael Hitchings as its last witness.
  • After the evidence was closed, the judge denied the defense’s motion for judgment of acquittal after asking the state for more arguments on the aggravated robbery charge.

DAY 4

  • Ashley Biggs’ bruised face is barely recognizable in crime scene photos shown to the jury
  • Photos from the search of the Cobb-Stefanko home show items used to kill Ashley Biggs.
  • The medical examiner says the ligature around Biggs’ neck caused the fatal injury.
  • Forensic scientist testifies that duct tape found on pieces of evidence – including the cable used to strangle Ashley Biggs — matches a roll of duct tape found in a backpack on Chad Cobb’s property.
  • Covid-19 scares threaten to derail trial twice in one day.

DAY 3

  • Chad Cobb denies killing ex-girlfriend Ashley Biggs or plotting with the defendant to kill Biggs, despite pleading guilty to 10 counts in 2013 for Biggs’ death, including aggravated murder.
  • The 15-year-old daughter of Chad Cobb and Ashley Biggs takes the stand, recalls hearing Stefanko place a pizza delivery order using a false name
  • Chad Cobb’s friend and supporter, Mary Brinkman, describes a 2012 dinner conversation in which Stefanko allegedly said she dropped Cobb off at the crime scene, waited for him, and then accompanied him to a cornfield where he left Biggs’ car with her body inside.
  • Brinkman says Stefanko admitted to defecating on Biggs’ grave for “all the shit she put us through.”
  • Domino’s manager describes taking an order for a pepperoni pizza for a woman named Jen to address where Cobb says Biggs was killed

DAY 2

  • Chad Cobb testifies against his ex-wife from Richland Correctional Institute, where he is serving a life sentence for Biggs’ murder.
  • The jury hears a recorded conversation between the defendant and her former mother-in-law, Cindee Cobb.
  • Cindee Cobb says the defendant was abusive toward Cobb and Biggs’ daughter, and once fed her food contaminated with “fecal matter.”
  • The defendant clutches a photo of her children as she listens to testimony

DAY 1