An Ohio woman who lured a pizza delivery driver to her death has been found guilty of murder.
19News reports that 37-year-old Erica Stefanko (pictured left) was convicted of one count of felony murder and one count of felony aggravated murder. after 14 hours of deliberations by a Summit County jury this week.
According to prosecutors, Stefanko called a Domino’s pizza restaurant in 2012, where her husband’s ex-girlfriend, Ashley Biggs (pictured center), worked. Stefanko knew Biggs would be at work when she made the call and ordered a pizza to a secluded, closed office building in New Franklin.
Biggs, a U.S. Army veteran, brought a large mushroom and pepperoni to the office building, where she was attacked by her ex-husband, Chadd Cobb (pictured center), who shocked her with a Taser before beating and strangling her to death. Cobb then tossed Biggs’ body into the back of his car trunk and dumped her in a cornfield.
Cobb pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison in 2013. Stefanko, still free, continued to talk to Cobb from his prison but never made any incriminating statements about herself.
Prosecutors, however, said that Stefanko was responsible for setting the plan in motion. Authorities followed her for seven years, hoping to find evidence against her. The plan worked when they heard a phone conversation between Stefanko and her mother. Stefanko admitted to her mother that she made the pizza delivery call.
Prosecutors said Stefanko also followed Cobb to the crime scene and helped him hide evidence.
According to the Akron Beacon Journal, Stefanko had already divorced Cobb and married his childhood friend by the time authorities arrested her. The couple had been raising Cobb and Bigg’s 7-year-old daughter together.
The motive of the killing, according to prosecutors, appeared to be a tumultuous custody battle between Cobb and Biggs over their daughter.
Stefanko is scheduled for sentencing in December. Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Erica Stefanko, Ashley Biggs & Chad Combs/Police Handout; Handout]
