Last Call - Someone They Knew with Tamron Hall

[Music] is it fair to say that ashley did not leave that parking lot alive her attacker was waiting in the shadows she was jealous of chad if i told my dad what she was doing to me then she would do worse investigation i didn't feel was complete because we didn't get the other person somebody wanted to hurt ashley biggs [Music] the heartbreak of a broken family a loss of power and control volatile personalities and a ruthless manipulator the anger and resentment builds as a powder keg of domestic violence is about to explode that's what was happening outside the city of akron ohio when someone hidden in the darkness finally lit the fuse we're a bedroom community in new franklin people out here live and they drive into akron or cleveland to work 15 000 people maybe it's not like a city even though we're our city everybody in the communities know each other ashley biggs was one in a million if you met her once you'd never forget her ashley was the kindest most gentle soul you could ever meet she loved everyone there was not a mean bone in ashley's body ashley as a young girl liked to go out and do stuff with her friends then she also enrolled in the army in october of 07. my son chad and ashley met on a double date roller skating they dated i think they had their ups and downs ashley kind of bounced back and forth between males and female partners chad and ashley were never married she was young around 18 when she had gc and just not ready to be in the role of mother she was retired from the u.s army and she was working as a pizza delivery person for one of the bigger pizza franchise joints in the greater akron ohio area wednesday june 21st 2012 the night's going to start off like a normal shift it's going to be busy there's plenty of orders coming in the pizzas are hot they get a call at 11 50 p.m for a delivery in order to go out to a business address located on turkey foot lake road with specific instructions for the driver to take the pizza around to the back of the business this will be ashley's last run of the night with this late hour and little to no cars on the road the late night crew expects ashley to return rather quickly she's not returned and the crew is becoming concerned and the manager is the one that places the call i was called in the evening by supervisor they had a missing female by the name of ashley biggs that she delivered a pizza to a local business that was closed down she did that and then she never returned back to the pizza delivery relatively quickly the deputies are on scene they're going to go where the delivery was scheduled for when we showed up the original seats there was evidence that there was a struggle there they don't find ashley they don't find her vehicle what they do find is a large amount of blood on the pavement they also find skid marks you could tell that somebody had been lifted up and put into a vehicle and that vehicle driven away [Music] when you're arriving on scene as an investigator what you are seeing and what your experience is telling you is that something very personal happened here the police find cash at the scene so this will be an indicator to them that this wasn't some kind of botched robbery this looks like we have a situation where it's personally motivated ashley was targeted everything that's taken place up to this point is deliberate and planned somebody wanted to hurt ashley biggs they found her body inside of her car in a cornfield in wayne county when they arrive on the scene an officer approaches the vehicle you can see through the window that there is a female wearing a pizza franchise shirt she was laid down in the back seat face up in her vehicle she was zip tied from her legs all the way to the top of her arms there are some kind of taser wires coming off of this individual ashley's blood was on the passenger side dashboard which indicated somebody else was driving that vehicle most likely told me someone obviously had to do this and drag her up into that car they tased her beat her and strangled her with the industrial zip cords placed her in the back seat of her vehicle using her own vehicle to transport the body it was a very violent death i'll never forget that night i was actually a third shift caregiver at a nursing facility and a friend from our group called me to let me know that ashley was missing i think i probably paced a hole in my work floor just trying to keep myself moving i didn't want to believe it but i knew that what we had always suspected had finally come to fruition it is shocking you never want to believe that the worst can happen until it does regardless of how much you prepare for something or how seated you think you are for it when that hits you're shell shocked you're always going to look to somebody that they know because that's often where they find the killer ashley chose to live her life as a lesbian he felt that it was sick he made many threats [Music] investigators on the scene quickly deduced that what happened in that darkened parking lot was deeply personal it doesn't take long for them to come up with a prime suspect and get hot on his trail police immediately identify at the ambush scene that this is probably a personally motivated attack that somebody set this girl up for one information we learned about it from ashley's friends there was a pretty bad relationship between chad cobb and ashley that made us think that there was something wrong there that you know it could have been him so that's why we kind of zeroed in on him first they learned that she's been in this contentious and costly custody battle with her ex-boyfriend chad cop chad is a dad first and foremost he loved his kids chad didn't date a whole lot his main concern was raising gc and the winner of both seven he met erica subsequently they had two more children together they did get married erica had once told me that she was jealous of chad and gc's relationship erica knew this going into the relationship that they had a nice bond and she didn't like that bond [Music] ashley did talk to me about the relationship between her and chad and it was very tumultuous he from the get-go was not kind to her he was physically emotionally abusive we saw her demise coming and he made it very clear that if she ever tried to take their daughter from him he would hunt her down after their split ashley chose to live her life in a gay community as a lesbian he didn't like that she was dating women and he didn't like that there was the idea of having their daughter around that when ashley did have visitation with gc there were times ashley would pick her up and there would be multiple females in the vehicle he felt that it was sick he made many threats he told her that she would never get their daughter that she would be dead before she touched her and that she didn't have the right to be a part of their daughter's life chad had spent money on the attorney wasn't really getting anywhere it was just tearing the rest of the family apart it would appear to me that chad cobb was looking for a way for this custody dispute to end he didn't want to spend any more money or time on this issue ashley biggs from what we can see coming out of the courts she had to be afraid of chad cobb she took out several restraining orders against him at one point he put a gps tracker supposedly on her car to kind of track her whereabouts and things like that so that kind of spiked us up to say let's try to find him they find her vehicle but it's also less than three miles from chad cobb's home they find chad cobb out hiding in the woods covered in blood they catch him red-handed he was hiding behind his grandfather's garage he had got out and wandered into the woods he was wearing full camouflage gear a hunting knife had a taser duct tape strips were on his clothes zip ties everything he needed pretty much as an assault kit i just don't think it was thought through while well and i think he panicked and left all that stuff lay there and kind of it kind of gave it to us on a silver platter at that point we arrested chad that day kind of turned himself in he didn't have anywhere to go it takes a little bit of time for chad cobb to confess to killing ashley biggs he was not very cooperative following his arrest but he's going to be indicted by a grand jury who is going to let him know that he's going to be facing the death penalty and now he's willing to talk he ended up pleading and taking a plea to it he confessed to the crime most of the time when we are looking at a case where a man kills his wife ex-wife or ex-girlfriend they make an arrest he confesses to the murder lock him up for life that's the end of the story not here not in this case investigation i didn't feel was complete because we didn't get the other person cold-heartedly we believed that there was a female involved and that somebody else helped him by making the phone call [Music] chad cobb is almost immediately arrested pleads guilty and is sentenced to life in prison for the violent murder of ashley biggs but veteran police investigators strongly believe he didn't act alone the problem for them is they don't have proof and while chad cobb sits in prison year after year he's still not talking [Music] when you talk about getting the whole story even when we have a killer that confesses to an attack and a murder you have seasoned detectives who have this nagging nagging feeling that you know what we may have got our guy but we don't have the whole complete story here there's something else going on investigation i didn't feel was complete because we didn't get the other person cold hardly we believed that there was a female involved we were thinking definitely that somebody else helped him by making the phone call and most likely obviously driving him there because he couldn't have drove both cars out the person that placed the call for that pizza that night that ultimately sealed the fate of ashley biggs it was a female voice on the phone the call didn't come from chat cop naturally the detectives are going to suspect his wife erica cobb [Music] when i came in contact with her at the house first thing erica said was she didn't want to talk to us out with an attorney most people i would say would be concerned a little for somebody who's missing she had no emotions didn't want to talk about it because that kind of steered me to believe she was involved from the get-go a detective is going to want to know why when they found chad cobb out running around hiding in the woods why his wife and children are in an suv that's hiding behind a garage on his grandparents property why is his wife in such close proximity to him the murder victim and her vehicle and the ambush site there would be days where i would just go out and follow her to see where she would go to she ended up going to one of her husband's best friend's houses erica moves on very quickly chad cobb he's put away lock him up he's going away for life but erica very quickly she has christopher michael stefanko chad cobb's best friend move into the house with her and the kids she got really friendly with chad's best friend she was pregnant before chad ever got sentenced not too long after that we have a divorce and we have erica getting married and at some point it becomes difficult for chad to see any of his kids it seems like he had a lot of love for these kids and losing them and not being able to see them was the final straw for chad cobb oh yeah he was pissed chad has always been there for his kids he was allowed to by the courts to be able to see them erica chose not to and and cut him out chad ended up talking to us he said that she had her part to do he had his part to do he lets the detectives know hey my ex-wife erica she was involved in this chad cobb told us that erica was the one who made the phone call to order the pizza in that evening she had just as much to do with it as he did even though he is the one who physically killed her there was also a recording a recording that was made by chad cobb's mother i put a recorder out we talked for a few hours and then she had stated that she made the phone call to deliver the pizza [Applause] [Music] you [Music] know looking over your shoulder every second every time that's what got erica stefanko arrested the proof that she made that phone call erica stefanko stands accused of luring a pizza delivery driver into a trap that ended her life chad's mother she had a recording that erica confessed to making this phone call and that helped us it wasn't enough to give us what we wanted do you think by being here that you're helping your dad get out of prison [Music] after years of taking the wrap on his own and stewing in prison chad cobb is fed up he finally implicates his former wife erica stefanko in the killing of ashley biggs she's charged with aggravated murder ladies and gentlemen we will proceed with opening statements the state of ohio does have the burden to prove each element in this case ladies and gentlemen of the jury we are here today to hold this defendant erica cefango accountable for what she did on june 21st 2012. we are here to hold her responsible for the actions she chose to take that day whether you hold erica stefanko accountable as the principal actor or as an accomplice all roads lead to the same place once you see the evidence and the testimony all roads lead to erica stefanko being found guilty this murder of ashley biggs could not have happened if erica sefenko and chad cobb did not work together it was planned together and it was carried out together ladies and gentlemen of the jury the state is confident once you hear the evidence you will find erica stefanko the defendant guilty [Music] this case has its genesis in a custody battle so mr cobb develops in his own mind a plan and that plan is i know how i'm going to make sure i get custody i'm going to eliminate the mother she gets to that parking lot and they're only chad cobb he then stands in front of a judge and admits that he beat and strangled and was guilty of aggravated murder of ashley biggs he never mentions that he has an accessory he never mentions erica stefenko's name after eight years now he's stewing in that prison he wants to get out of prison early he wants his sentence shortened listen to every side of the story and at the end ladies and gentlemen i'm convinced you will find that erika stefenko is not guilty thank you i am dr lisa kohler i am the chief medical examiner for the county of summit so the next slide is going to be evidence of the ligature strangulation there is a photograph that shows the zip tie present around her neck so what is the significance of that there's been some deep trauma to the neck she has injuries around where the ligature is where there are some abrasions which likely are her attempting to dig at the ligature itself and remove it she does have injuries on the backs of her hands which would be what we would classify as a defensive type wound where somebody is trying to fend off another individual were you able to determine which of the findings would have been inconsistent with life the ligature around her neck would be a lethal injury it's going to be very difficult for the defense to put together a good defense that's going to sway a jury the way they want to sway them because the jury is going to see a child on the stand [Laughter] we would call dc dc if you don't mind if you would raise your right hand gc actually had a lot of involvement in this matter her mother was murdered when she was just seven years old and her biological father and her stepmother are the two that were charged with the murder of her mother under ohio law gc meets the definition of victim we did not find out about the abuse that erica was doing until after chad was incarcerated we tried to get gc into counseling early on and that's actually where we found out about the abuse gc wanted to be her gc said you know what i want to testify in person she wanted erikas to thank herself to hear this is how i feel and this is what you did what types of things are we talking about that you're remembering she was mentally abusive and physically and how was she mentally abusive she would tell me that if i told my dad what she was doing to me then she would do worse and you said physically so what was the physical type of abuse i remember she would hold me on the ground and she would hit me and then she also before made me eat dog feces do you know why she made you eat dog feces because she was jealous of my relationship with my father it took a lot of guts for that kid to get up and testify because she was standing in front of erica testimony from child victims in particular it kind of cuts both ways you'll have some jurors that will say oh this is a child they're not fully developed maybe their perceptions aren't clear i don't know if they can remember everything correctly especially in this case with gc being 15 at the time of trial and seven when the incident occurred do you remember your mother's death i remember it happening yes do you remember that there was a custody battle over you i don't remember the custody battle whenever i talk with any of my clients about testifying in in a courtroom i give a lot of the same advice with gc it was just make sure whenever you're asking any questions all you have to do is tell the truth if the answer is i don't remember if that's the truth that's the answer you said you remember when she died do you have any recollections of that night yes do you have a memory of erica making a phone call yes tell us about the phone call i can remember her and i remember hearing it but not seeing it and i know she ordered a pizza and i can remember that she did not use her name do you remember what name she did use no she was there when erica placed the phony pizza order she said not only did my father kill my mother but i was witness to some of the murder plot gc i'm going to ask you a couple i'll say sensitive questions do you know why your dad is in prison yes why is that because he did some not so nice things i'm sorry ma'am because he did some not so nice things if a defense attorney seems to be a little overly aggressive with a victim while they're testifying especially a child victim my spidey senses are tingling so to speak i'm i'm watching for it you are not going to bully my client and you are not going to go after this kid on the stand is it your understanding that he did some not so nice things to your mother yes do you still love your dad yes i do would you like to see him get out of prison soon yeah he's right yes he's my dad this defense attorney did his job but had enough respect for the situation and knowing that going after this kid is not going to help his client in any way do you think by being here that you're helping your dad get out of prison no this isn't his case i'm sorry miss no this isn't his case i don't think the fact that gc was a child testifying was the clincher in the whole thing i think it was just one puzzle piece to help connect the dots of all the other evidence that the prosecution had who does the state wish to call as its next witness call chad cobb is it fair to say that ashley did not leave that parking lot alive that night [Music] the defense claims that all of this is the result of a bitter chad cobb wanting revenge and retribution for his ex-wife erica leaving him and moving on with her life the prosecution calls cobb himself to the stand via remote video from the prison where he is serving a life sentence he tells his side of the story but will the jury believe a convicted killer who does the state wish to call as its next witness call chad cobb chad cobb he testified today from the correctional facility where he is located spending the rest of his life no possibility of parole he was testifying via the internet after that conversation did you stay there at the tree with erica or did one of you leave the tree erica left and walked back over to the lincoln so when she walked over to the lincoln what did she do she made a phone call what did you hear erica say on that phone call i remember her saying somebody else's name and i remember she ordered a pizza where were you when ashley got out of the car i remember i was somewhere on the other side of the parking lot i was approaching and made myself known and how did ashley respond when she saw you there worked up at the end of the day there are three people that know what happened chad cobb knows what happened erica stefanko knows if she was involved or not and the third person is not here to tell us her side of the story is it fair to say that ashley did not leave that parking lot alive that night yes sir that is accurate if i would have cooperated with the state and gave them the information that they saw i don't know what would happen erica because i can't understand why she was able to walk out of the police station the same day that we both were put in there i mean i got caught off to jail and she walked right back into the home of everybody and everything that i love what stays with me about this case is the uncertainty is chad cobb simply upset and angry that his ex-wife moved on with her life and he stuck behind bars for the rest of his does he start bringing all this stuff up then for that reason and that reason only is it fair to say that you and your family still hold out hope of you getting out of prison i would say it's fair to say that is it fair to say that your mother cindy cobb also holds that hope yes sir chad's mother came to us years after we arrested chad in 2018 it was brought to our attention she had a recording that eric confessed to making this phone call and having knowledge of the details and things that nobody else would know about the homicide cindy cobb holds on to this recording for a couple of years chad cobb sits in prison behind bars knowing all this time that his ex-wife who's taken up with his best friend was involved in this murder as well but nobody says anything attorney o'brien how would you like to proceed judge at this point in time we have christopher michael stefenko here what kind of mother is erica stephen an amazing loving and extremely caring mother did chad ever threaten ashley he made a comment that when it was all said and done that he wanted to keep her skull as a trophy chad started slowly with the abuse whether it was tearing her down or you know he'd strike her and then apologize oh i didn't mean to do that i was angry from the time i met her she spoke of her fear of him the early morning hours of june 21st 2012. did you have any contact with chad i spoke with him on the phone between what hours i believe three and five in the morning the sun wasn't even up yet do you remember what chad said to you the uh the very first thing out of his mouth was i stuff attorney the prenzie who do you wish to call we call cindy pop raise your right hand if you swear or affirm the testimony or statement you're about to give shall be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so i'll help you god i do i testified about the phone call which gc stated all along and it's in her counseling records that she overheard erica make the phone call you made a recording yes sir who was there when you made that recording just erica and i where was the recording made in our barn and you set the meeting up chad said this is what we're going to do and this is your part of it and i did exactly what we do if everything [Applause] she's admitting that if everybody would have seen everything the way it went they would both be in prison that was one of her quotes i believe inside this tape [Applause] how could she know that if she didn't know the plan do you know i do not know the answer to that erica walked out of the police station i am told by the prosecutor without even giving a statement i'm thinking she's the mastermind [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so then she tells you after that now gc has a chance at a life correct all this in the context of your son getting ready to give up his rights yes and she's explaining to you how she wasn't gonna let him do that yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] attorney o'brien you may proceed with cross-examination now chad is your only child is that a fair way of putting it correct if chad went to trial and lost a jury could have recommended the death penalty yes sir now chad pled guilty and he was sent to prison soon after he went to prison he filed an appeal even though he just to save his life he pled guilty yes sir this case had its genesis in a fierce custody battle would you not agree yes chad wanted to go to trial wanted to tell the story he didn't want to see this happening to another family but he was also told at that time that his trial had to be closed by a year's anniversary date if it was not all of the children would all be placed up for adoption and none of us would ever see them again so at one point in time he takes responsibility for the murder of ashley biggs and then a short time after he goes to prison he changes his mind i can't speak for his actions is it safe to say that you don't like erica stefenko after what's transpired that'd be fair [Music] [Applause] here you're hoping some way somehow to get chad out of prison is that correct i would hope to one day you're still willing to do just about anything legal to help get him out of prison or at least get his sentence reduced is that a fair thing to say i think any parent would do that going through the trial with erica stefanco hearing the facts seeing the photos there was a lot we had never seen and there were things that we hadn't heard it was like losing ashley all over again it was that gripping feeling of she's really gone [Music] i'm sorry that's my understanding that the jury has reached a verdict [Music] nine years after ashley biggs brutal murder and chad cobb's conviction a jury is now poised to decide whether erica stefanco played a role in the crime or if as the defense claims she's yet another victim of chad cobb's vengeance ladies and gentlemen you've heard all of the testimony and evidence we are now in a place where we will proceed with closing arguments so at this time council will be prepared to proceed ladies and gentlemen of the jury we are here to hold erica cefanco accountable for the actions she chose to take on june 20th through june 21st 2000 and hit 12. now whether you all hold her responsible as the principal or as the accomplice it all leads to the same place all roads leads to erica stefanko being guilty of the crimes charged in the indictment chad could not have committed the murder of ashley biggs by himself she drove chad to the crime scene she knew why it was gonna happen it was that custody battle it was retaliation she made the call that lured ashley big sir that she followed chad to the cornfield she waited at that cornfield for him to dump ashley's body and the car went back to the initial crime scene with him to clean up the evidence and hit with chad at his grandparents house where they actually were caught by the police she committed this murder with chad she was there with him every step of the way from the beginning the planet from the middle the execution and the end the potential cover-up the state is confident that you will find the defendant erica stefanko guilty of all the crimes charged in the indictment thank you very much attorney o'brien thank you ladies and gentlemen one of the supreme court justices of the united states said many years ago that cross-examination was the greatest determiner of the truth that we have in our judicial system what you heard early on in the cross-examination of chad cobb speaks volumes when chad cobb was asked did you and erica plan to kill ashley biggs and what was his answer one word no he didn't hesitate he said no this is the state's witness now i'm not going to pick on a 15 year old but let's talk a little bit about gc right now when this incident happened she's seven years old eight years later comes into this courtroom and describes with unusual detail about this phone call yeah she tells us she was asleep the rest of the time i would submit ladies and gentlemen that children of any age group are susceptible to influence i submit to you that erica stefenko escape boat of chad cobb he wants to use her to get out of prison what's his motive ladies and gentlemen if you haven't thought of it by now it's real simple it's revenge it's my understanding that the jury has reached a verdict [Music] regarding count 15 the jury has found the defendant erica stefanko guilty of the offense of aggravated murder the jury says that erica stefanko is guilty that she was involved in this premeditated murder that resulted in ashley big's death [Music] mr fanko the jury has found you guilty of the charges as articulated on the record the two responsible parties are in prison sure chad cobb can be a loving father how much do you love your daughter when you kill her mother that's where those two bypassed everybody else they didn't care about all or any of these other people they wanted things their way and when they couldn't have it their way they were willing to do anything they could to change that it's a terrible crime anytime somebody loses their life chad does deserve to do time for his part in the crime but also when you look at other incidences where people have lost their lives and what has been done for him to get life without parole i think is harsh when cases like this i say nobody ever wins the dad's in prison for life mom's going there for 30 years the children are with different parents now grandparents but they never get to grow up with their own biological parents now because of the decisions they made so i don't think that's fair to the kids you know that kind of sticks with you gc asked that i share this for uh her part of her story through everything i've chosen the path that is right for me and i have let the people in my life that i know want to be in my life and benefit my future anyone that i choose to have in my life will be by my own choosing i've gone through tragedy and survived to be a strong young person that does my own fact-finding to make my own decisions and has the strength and knowledge to be able to stand on my own two feet i feel safe after experiencing the outcome of erica's sentencing knowing that the world will be one person safer for at least a few decades my father and i both know the tragedy she has caused and there's still a lot to be told i would like for her daughter to know that ashley loved her very much in fact ashley died fighting to be with her she lost her life because she loved her daughter so much if you are being abused there is help no matter how many times that person threatens you and tells you that no one will be there for you there are people who will be and please reach out don't stay silent [Music] because those who remain silent are those who lose their lives [Music] erica stefanco was sentenced to life in prison she is appealing her conviction chad cobb will remain behind bars for the rest of his life some of ashley's friends now work to keep her legacy alive by providing help for those suffering from domestic violence if you're a victim of abuse we urge you to contact the national domestic violence hotline it's completely confidential and they can help you find a way to safety i'm tamarin hall thank you for watching someone they knew [Music] you

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Length: 44min 0sec (2640 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 26 2022