Witness: Stephen talked of killing

PORTLAND, Ind. - A mother accused of killing her daughter's father with the help of two other women in January 2020 had talked about killing him before the night he died, according to testimony at her murder trial.

The jury trial of Esther J. Stephen, a former Fort Recovery softball coach, began Tuesday in Jay County Circuit Court. Stephen has been charged with an unspecified felony count of murder in connection with the shooting death of 31-year-old Shea Briar, who was the father of Stephen's young daughter.

During the first day of testimony, Kristi Sibary, who was watching Stephen's child the night of Briar's death, said Stephen previously had discussed killing Briar. That discussion included "mixing pills," she said.

Sibary said she'd never taken the talk seriously. She'd known Stephen was upset about the child custody arrangement she had with Briar but didn't think Stephen would act on her plans.

Sibary said she had never babysat for Stephen before but agreed to watch the daughter on Jan. 11, 2020 - the night of the incident. According to Sibary, Stephen hadn't told her what she planned to do that night, and when Sibary had asked, Stephen had replied with "nothing."

Later that night, Stephen called to say she'd be a bit later than expected to pick up her daughter but would return soon. About 1 a.m., Stephen reportedly came through the back door to pick up her daughter. Stephen was quick to leave, and Sibary said she had retrieved Stephen's daughter and given her to Stephen, who had said she didn't want to track her boots through the house.

Sibary said she'd jokingly asked what kind of mischief Stephen had gotten into, and Stephen again said nothing. Before she left, though, Stephen reportedly told Sibary, "You might hear about it in a couple days."

It wasn't until she went to work on Monday that Sibary reported hearing about the death. When she saw that Briar had been the one killed, she "freaked out" but contacted the police the same day after calming down.

An autopsy determined that Briar had been been shot in his right mid-back, and that the bullet had penetrated his heart. Some scratches were seen on his face, though a medical expert said they could have been caused by a fall to the pavement.

Jay County Sheriff's Detective Ben Swartz said he'd conducted two interviews with Stephen. One interview was on Jan. 12 after officers reportedly took a death notice to Stephen as mother of Briar's child.

In the second interview, Stephen reportedly mentioned Shelby Hiestand, who was the assistant softball coach at Fort Recovery High School when Stephen was head coach, and Hannah Knapke, who had played softball while Stephen was coach. Both women have also been arrested and charged in connection with Briar's death.

John Petro of the Indiana State Police said a search of Hiestand's home had turned up a .22-caliber rifle and 20 cartridges under a bed. A magazine for the weapon was found in the nightstand by the bed.

Stacy Hartman, a state police forensic analyst, testified that a bullet recovered from Briar was a .22-caliber, but she had been unable to match the bullet with the rifle found in Hiestand's home.

While some rifling had been present on the recovered bullet, the components of the bullet were lead, which is soft and easily damaged, Hartman said. The rifle may not have been the one that fired the bullet, but other reasons could have prevented a match - a weapon might not leave distinctive rifling marks on a bullet, she said.

Hartman also concluded the weapon had "functioned as designed," meaning she had been unable to get it to fire without pulling the trigger.

Stephen's trial was set to continue today at 8:30 a.m.