Erica Stefanko admits to making bogus pizza delivery call but not to murder

EDITOR'S NOTE: A VERDICT IS IN. Here is what they decided on Wednesday, Jan. 31

Erica Stefanko admitted during her testimony Monday to making the bogus pizza delivery call that lured Ashley Biggs to where she was killed in 2012.

But Stefanko said she thought Chad Cobb, her husband at the time, planned to plant drugs in Biggs’ car to hurt her chances in a custody dispute. She said she didn’t think Cobb planned to murder Biggs, with whom he had a 7-year-old daughter.

“Was the plan then or at any time to kill Ashley Biggs?” defense attorney Jeff Laybourne asked Stefanko.

“No,” Stefanko said. “Aside from the fact you don’t kill people, it wouldn’t have made any sense.”

Stefanko, who is on trial for the second time for the part she is accused of playing in Biggs’ slaying, testified for the first time as her trial shifted to the defense Monday.

The defense called two witnesses – Mike Stefanko, Chad Cobbs’ former best friend whom Erica married after she divorced Cobb, and Erica.

The attorneys gave closing arguments Tuesday morning, with prosecutors saying Chad Cobb killed Biggs but Stefanko helped him.

“He didn’t do it alone,” Assistant Prosecutor Felicia Easter told jurors. “That is why we’re here. She played her part.”

Laybourne, though, said it would make more sense for Cobb and Stefanko to plan to plant drugs on Biggs to hurt her chances in the custody dispute between Biggs and Cobb than to plot her demise. He said Cobb and Stefanko had tried this once before with marijuana.

“It’s more logical for them to go from marijuana to meth rather than marijuana to murder,” Laybourne said.

The jurors began deliberating about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

What we know about the pizza delivery murder case

Stefanko’s retrial in Summit County Common Pleas Judge Jennifer Towell's courtroom started last week after being delayed twice because of a new jury pool being brought in and prosecutors who were ill.

Stefanko, 41, of Rittman is accused of making a bogus pizza delivery call that lured Ashley Biggs to a New Franklin business where she was killed in June 2012. Biggs, 25, of Jackson Township, was tased, beaten and strangled with a zip tie.

Cobb accepted a plea agreement in 2013 in which he pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and numerous other charges in exchange for not facing the death penalty. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Stefanko was convicted of aggravated murder and murder after a trial in November 2020 that happened at a time when few trials were proceeding because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her conviction was overturned in July 2022 when an appellate court ruled that Chad Cobb should not have been permitted to testify via video.

Stefanko is being retried on the two charges she was convicted of -- aggravated murder and murder.

Stefanko's ex-husband and current husband testify

Chad Cobb, who appeared in court in person, testified during Stefanko’s retrial for more than six hours last week. He said Stefanko shares the blame for Biggs’ slaying.

He said he used a taser on Biggs and severely beat her, but Stefanko put zip ties on Biggs’ neck, hands and feet.

Cobb said he learned when he was in prison that Erica was having an affair with Mike Stefanko, his long-time close friend and employee, and was pregnant with Mike’s child.

Mike Stefanko, 39, Erica’s current husband, said during his testimony Monday that he met Chad Cobb when he was 4 and Chad was 6 and they were best friends.

On the morning after of Biggs’ murder, Stefanko said Cobb tried to call him 15 to 20 times between midnight and 3 a.m. but he was sleeping and missed the calls. When talked to Cobb, Stefanko said Cobb asked him to bring him clean clothes. He said he asked Cobb for more information and he wasn’t willing to provide it, so Stefanko refused.

Stefanko said his relationship with Erica began in November 2012 when she was still married to Chad.

“It wasn’t one of my best moments,” he said. “When you’re in love, you’re in love.”

Stefanko said he and Erica got married in June 2015. He said they are still together and he takes care of their children.

Stefanko details lengths taken during custody dispute

Erica Stefanko testified that she met Cobb in 2006 and they were together for several years before the first of their two children together was born in 2009.

Stefanko said Cobb was “like a general with his troops” in their home. She said he was abusive to her and their children.

Stefanko said Cobb was distraught when Biggs, who had been estranged from her and Cobb's daughter for several years, was granted temporary custody of the girl. She said Cobb hired an attorney and was determined to get his daughter back.

Stefanko said Cobb put a GPS tracker on Biggs’ car, they called police to do well checks on the girl several times and Cobb planted marijuana in Biggs' live-in girlfriend’s car to try to get the couple in trouble.

When this didn’t work, Stefanko said Cobb came up with a new plan to plant meth in Biggs’ car. She said her role was to make a bogus pizza delivery call to lure Biggs to a particular location where Cobb would plant the drugs in her car. Stefanko said she was then supposed to call police so they could pull Biggs over and find the drugs.

Stefanko says she thought the plan was to plant drugs

Stefanko said that’s what she thought they were doing on June 12, 2012, when she parked in a parking lot of a New Franklin business, called Domino’s and used a fake name when she ordered a pepperoni pizza.

Stefanko said Cobb left through the woods to go to the parking lot of a nearby business where the pizza would be delivered and she waited for Cobb’s call, with their four young children in the backseat of their Lincoln Navigator.

Stefanko said Cobb called her after a half hour and told her he had Biggs' car and she needed to meet him at the bridge near his parent’s house in Wayne County. She said she drove there and waited for Cobb and he got into their SUV, with blood on him.

Stefanko said she drove to their nearby home where Cobb showered. She said Cobb then told her they needed to return to the New Franklin business to get Biggs’ phone. She said Cobb drove past, but saw that police were there, and they went to his grandparent’s nearby home where he was later arrested.

“Did you suggest going to the cops?” Laybourne asked.

“No,” Stefanko said. “At this point, I thought we were both in massive amounts of trouble and I didn’t want to lose my kids.”

Laybourne asked Stefanko about the statements she made during the three-hour conversation Cindee Cobb, Chad's mother, recorded in which she referred to the plan related to Biggs.

Stefanko said she was talking about the plan to plant drugs in Biggs’ vehicle and not a plot to kill her. She admitted that she also said she wasn’t sad about Biggs’ death but now is.

Laybourne asked Stefanko if she feels like she has been punished.

“I have been locked up for four years,” she said. “It’s been pretty awful.”

Prosecutor asks Stefanko why jurors should believe her

Assistant Prosecutor Brian LoPrinzi asked Stefanko why the word meth or the plan to plant drugs was never mentioned in her conversation with Cindee Cobb.

“I’ll take your word for it,” responded Stefanko, who said she has heard portions of the conversation played in court.

LoPrinzi said Stefanko knows she can’t be prosecuted for the more minor crimes she admitted to committing during her testimony because the statute of limitations has passed. He said she admitted to these offenses to try to buy credibility with the jury.

“I’m just telling the jury what happened,” Stefanko said.

LoPrinzi pointed out multiple times Stefanko lied or was deceitful and asked why jurors should now believe her.

“You withheld information from police,” LoPrinzi said. “You lied to police to not get in trouble and be able to raise your kids. Today, the same two things are at stake – you raising your kids and you staying out of trouble. You told us those are the times you lie.”

“I wouldn’t categorize it that way,” said Stefanko, who remained calm during the questioning. “There are circumstances in which I do lie.”

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com, 330-996-3705 and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.  

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Erica Stefanko admits to bogus pizza call but not to part in murder