The Murder of Ashley Biggs
For this case, I watched an episode of American Justice. It’s season 16 episode 9, titled ‘Hiding in Plain Sight.’
A young mother is reported missing after not returning to work.
Background
At the time of her disappearance, Ashley Biggs was only 25 years old. She was the mother of a young daughter, who had been about 6 years old.
Ashley and her ex-boyfriend, Chad Cobb had met when Ashley was 17. A year later, Ashley gave birth to their daughter. The couple moved in together but broke up when their daughter was only a year old.
In 2008, Ashley joined the Army for a brief time and gave Chad full custody of their daughter. Ashley was medically discharged due to having asthma. She was determined to get full custody of her daughter. While she was in the Army, Chad moved, changed his phone number, and began to date someone new.
In 2011, Ashley was granted full custody of their daughter, which angered Chad.
Ashley Biggs
The Disappearance
On June 21, 2012, the New Franklin Police Department in Ohio, received a call about a possible missing person.
The police arrived at a local Domino’s around 1:21 am. The manager was concerned about Ashley Biggs, who worked there as a delivery driver. The call for the last delivery came in at 11:42 pm.
Ashley left a few minutes later to deliver the pizza. The location was about a mile and a half away from the restaurant. But, Ashley never returned.
Ashley’s partner received a phone call from the manager, who was a mutual friend of theirs. She immediately knew something was wrong when she arrived at Domino’s. There were police cars surrounding the area.
The Motive
Ashley’s partner told the police that they needed to look into Chad Cobb. She explained that they had been involved in a lengthy and contentious custody battle.
Around 2 am, the police drove out to the address given for the pizza delivery on W. Turkeyfoot Lake Road. The location was a business that had been closed. It was obvious to the police that no one would’ve ordered a pizza from a closed business. They knew that Ashley had been lured out to a dark road.
In the parking lot, the police found a large pool of blood. There was also loose change scattered around. There was no sign of Ashley, or of her car, a grey-colored Ford Taurus.
The Prime Suspect
By 3:30 am, the police went searching for Chad Cobb.
They learned that he drove a black Lincoln Navigator, and lived about 20 minutes away. Chad was not at his home. They went to the address where the black Lincoln was registered to. It was the home of Chad’s grandparents. His grandparents lived about a half mile from the delivery location.
The police found the black Lincoln parked in the back of the property near a barn. There were 4 children and a woman in the car. Chad was not located at the scene. The woman was Chad’s wife, Erica. One of the children inside was Chad and Ashley’s daughter. Erica had a child from a previous relationship and 2 with Chad.
While the police were at the scene, they heard a noise coming from the woods. Chad was eventually found hiding in the woods.
Chad and Erica were both placed in the back of police cars. Chad was asked about Ashley. He said he couldn’t help them and was not very helpful. Erica wasn’t helpful either and asked for a lawyer.
They were both brought to the police station while the children stayed with Chad’s grandparents.
The Discovery
After it became light out, the police returned to the pizza delivery location. There were drag marks found in the blood. The police also found white paper dots which came from a Taser cartridge.
The police used helicopters and dive teams to search for Ashley’s car.
About 11 hours after Ashley disappeared, the police received a tip. A woman in nearby Wayne County had made a discovery. Her house was located on a hill. She had noticed a shiny object out in a field near her house. A grey-colored Ford Taurus was found. It was Ashley’s car as it had a DC sticker in the window.
The police found the body of a female believed to be Ashley in the backseat of the car. She had zip ties around her neck and other parts of her body. The crime scene was very bloody. The victim had been struck in the head and had multiple lacerations and contusions to her body.
An insulated pizza bag and stickers from Ashley’s deliveries were found stuck to her steering wheel. The sticker from the 11:42 pm delivery was found.
Ashley’s mother, Kimberly was contacted by the police and asked if Ashley had any tattoos. She confirmed that she had 2 stars on the back of each arm and a belly button tattoo. It was confirmed that the victim was Ashley.
The Arrest
The police issued a search warrant at Chad’s house. A backpack was found in the back of the property near a chicken coop. Inside the backpack was a large knife. A Neoprene mask, gloves, a Taser, duct tape, and large industrial-sized zip ties were also found lying out in the open. The same zip ties had been found on Ashley’s body.
Ashley’s family said that she and Chad had issues right after they moved in together. Ashley had become very distant, and Chad became abusive. Ashley’s family had seen bruises on her arms. Ashley’s family stepped in and was concerned. Ashley decided to leave Chad after he had hit her while she had been holding their daughter. Ashley left the for Army but came back. The final straw for Chad seemed to be when Ashley was granted full custody.
Chad was charged with aggravated murder. His bond was set at $1.5 million. At the time of his arrest, no charges were set against his wife, Erica.
On June 22, 2012, Ashley’s autopsy was performed. Ashley’s cause of death was ruled as asphyxiation due to the zip tie ligatures encircling and compressing her neck. She had also suffered from multiple injuries to her scalp, face, and body.
On July 3, Ashley was laid to rest. It was also the last time that Ashley’s family had contact with her daughter. Chad’s mom was granted full custody of her.
Chad Cobb
The Plea Deal
The manager of Domino’s told the police that a woman had made the pizza delivery phone call. The woman had used the name ‘Jen.’
At Chad’s arraignment, he had been told that he would be facing the death penalty due to the brutality of the crime. This seemed to terrify him. Chad pled guilty to 9 charges, including aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, and kidnapping. He was sentenced to life without parole.
After Chad’s conviction, the police were now searching for evidence against Erica. It was believed that she had been the female who had made the pizza delivery call.
The phone number that had been used was from a prepaid cell phone. At Chad’s home, the police had found a receipt from 2 15-minute Aircards. The surveillance footage from Walmart showed Chad, Erica, and their kids in the store. Chad had purchased the cards, and the minutes were added to the phone on June 20.
The Letter
The police didn’t have concrete evidence to arrest Erica for being involved in the murder. Years passed, but the New Franklin police didn’t give up, especially Detective Michael Hitchings.
After 4 years in prison, Chad began to talk. Chad and Erica got a divorce. Erica had a baby with Chad’s best friend. Erica stopped bringing the children to visit Chad. Chad then retaliated and wrote Detective Hitchings a letter.
In the letter, Chad said that Erica had called and ordered the pizza. Erica had used the name ‘Jen,’ in the call. Chad said that Erica was the mastermind, and had driven him to the location that night in the Lincoln Navigator.
Chad also told the police to speak to his mom, Cindee, who had some evidence.
In January 2018, the police sat down with Chad’s mom. Cindee gave them a recording device. The recordings were between her and Erica from 2 years after Ashley was killed.
On the recording, Cindee and Erica discussed the murder. Erica could be heard admitting to setting Ashley up and making the pizza delivery phone call. Erica admitted that Chad had never forced her to do it.
On November 11, 2019, Erica Stefanko was arrested. She was charged with aggravated murder, murder, kidnapping, and aggravated robbery.
The Trial
On November 16, 2020, 1 year after her arrest, Erica’s trial began.
The prosecution focused on the law of complicity. They were both equally guilty of this no matter what their part in it was. Erica’s defense team attacked Chad. They said Chad would’ve said anything to have a chance of an early release from prison.
The recordings of Erica and Cindee were played in court. On the recording, Erica admitted that the motive was the custody battle between Chad and Ashley. Erica also said she didn’t feel bad about what had happened to Ashley.
Chad testified remotely from prison for the prosecution. Chad shocked everyone when he told the court that Erica was actually the one who had strangled Ashley.
On November 18, 2020, Chad and Ashley’s daughter was called to testify. She had been in the car when the phone call for the pizza was made. She had been about 7 years old at the time. She told the court that Erica had not used her real name in that call.
The Conviction
The jury deliberated for 3 days. On November 25, 2020, Erica was found guilty of aggravated murder and murder. She was found not guilty of kidnapping and aggravated robbery.
At her sentencing, Erica asked for leniency because she wanted to be with her family again someday. She was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 30 years.
Other
In July 2022, Erica’s conviction was overturned on the grounds that Chad violated her right to confront him in court due to him testifying remotely. Her case can be retried.
Erica Stefanko
FINAL THOUGHTS
Ashley’s family has obviously been through so much. Ever since Chad has been in their lives, he has made their lives hell. He took away their daughter and grandchild. It’s scary that Erica is out there somewhere living her life. She seems as evil as Chad does. If Erica cared that much about her family then she shouldn’t have taken a mother away from her child. Both of them deserve to rot in prison. Maybe someday the police can find more evidence to put her back where she belongs.
Sources
https://people.com/crime/mom-of-5-charged-with-killing-pizza-delivery-driver/
https://www.courttv.com/news/verdict-overturned-in-pizza-delivery-murder-trial/
https://emmalinaalessandrya.medium.com/she-lured-the-domino-delivery-driver-to-a-trap-544acef2886d
