Witness: Forest woman feared husband would kill her [The News and Advance, Lynchburg, Va.]

Mar. 24--Updated 1:37 p.m.

Bedford Circuit Judge James Updike ruled statements relating to fear that Jocelyn Earnest may have had of her estranged husband will be admitted into evidence.

Before the court broke for lunch, Marcy Shepherd, the woman who claimed to be Jocelyn Earnest's secret new love, said that Earnest worried that her estranged husband would kill her and Shepherd if he discovered their relationship. The jury had been sent out before Shepherd gave that testimony but not before she said that Jocelyn Earnest had "expressed fear to me."

Earnest's husband, Wesley Earnest, is on trial for murder and a firearms charge, accused of killing his wife and making it look like a suicide. Shepherd was a friend, co-worker and--according to her testimony--love interest of Jocelyn Earnest's.

"In this situation, the fact that the threats were made is significant," Updike said of Shepherd's testimony. "Whether it's true is irrelevant."

Updike ruled the statements admissible for the limited purpose of proving why Shepherd was worried about Jocelyn Earnest, but not in relation to the guilt or innocence of Wesley Earnest.

Updated 12:40 p.m.

Court has recessed as Bedford Circuit Judge James Updike considers whether to allow testimony from Marcy Shepherd about Jocelyn Earnest's fear of her estranged husband.

Shepherd was a friend and co-worker of Earnest, who was found dead in December 2007 in her Forest home. Earnest's husband, 39-year-old Wesley Earnest, is on trial accused of murdering his wife and making her death look like a suicide.

Jurors were sent out of the courtroom just after Shepherd testified that she was worried about Jocelyn Earnest because she had "expressed fear to me."

Without the jury present, she went on to say that there were times when riding together that Jocelyn would gasp when coming around the final curve to the house. When asked why, Jocelyn Earnest told her that was the moment that she feared her husband would be at the house.

"She told me that if he heard anything or knew anything, he'd have to kill us both," Shepherd said.

Earlier she had been cross-examined by defense attorney Joey Sanzone about text message conversations between the two.

Shepherd's Blackberry was confiscated by deputies two days after the discovery of Jocelyn Earnest's body and analyzed. Sanzone questioned her about why responses from Jocelyn Earnest to Shepherd were not stored in her phone when other statements indicate their presence.

Sanzone questioned Shepherd about whether Jocelyn Earnest's text of "There?" and her reply of "y" for yes could have been referring to someone at the house.

He also questioned Shepherd's decision to go to Genworth Financial, where she and Earnest worked, to drop off Jocelyn Earnest's Christmas present. He noted that computers hooked to printers were readily available and asked her about how fast she can type a note of less than 100 words.

Genworth records show Shepherd was in the building for about three minutes.

The jury has been sent to lunch while attorneys argue over the admissibility of Shepherd's testimony about Jocelyn Earnest's fear.

--Carrie J. Sidener

Updated 11:25 a.m.

An attorney for Wesley Earnest, accused of murdering his estranged wife, Jocelyn, is cross-examining Marcy Shepherd, a friend and co-worker of Jocelyn Earnest.

Sanzone asked about the individual times when text messages between Shepherd and Earnest were sent, and Shepherd replied she didn't know when each message was sent.

When Sanzone asked if there was a reason Shepherd and Jocelyn Earnest texted 13 times in one night, Shepherd replied, "I didn't need a reason."

Shepherd denied she and Jocelyn Earnest were talking about a friend, Maysa Munsey, in those text messages.

Sanzone questioned Shepherd's reason for going to the office the night Jocelyn died. Shepherd said she didn't want to leave Jocelyn Earnest's present wrapped and around the house for her children to ask about it.

Sanzone questioned the timing of the trip to the office--after 9 p.m. Shepherd said it was a convenient time. Sanzone said it was around the time Shepherd would put her kids to bed.

Sanzone said there are text messages missing from Shepherd's BlackBerry. He said it is possible Shepherd deleted text messages before handing her phone over to police.

--WSLS

Updated 10:36 a.m.

Marcy Shepherd began to quietly sob as a photograph of the woman she considered her romantic interest was displayed on a large television at the front of the courtroom.

The photograph showed Jocelyn Earnest lying with her feet to the camera, wearing jeans, a sweater and a jacket. Blood trailed from her head and a gun lay at her side.

Shepherd testified Wednesday morning in the murder case against Wesley Earnest, Jocelyn Earnest's 39-year-old estranged husband, who is accused of staging his wife's death to make it look like a suicide.

Shepherd testified the photograph showed her friend just as Shepherd found her around 11 a.m. on Dec. 20, 2007.

Shepherd told the court that she and Jocelyn Earnest began working together in August 2005 and developed a friendship.

"I started feeling something more and I asked her if she felt the same way and she said 'no,'" Shepherd said. "I said 'OK, We'll just be friends.'"

Shepherd said Jocelyn Earnest later kissed her, but the two weren't sure what to do about their feelings since they were both still married. Shepherd testified that she had told her husband about her feelings for her friend.

"Jocelyn was a wonderful person that so many people aspired to be like," Shepherd said. "I was one of those people. She was professional, friendly, smart and good at her job. There was a lot to respect."

On Dec. 19, 2007, Shepherd was on vacation and ran errands. She purchased yard lighting as a present for Jocelyn Earnest and took it to her office that night. She also went to CVS and bought various things.

She stopped by Jocelyn Earnest's house because the two had made loose plans to see each other that night and Shepherd hadn't heard from Earnest.

The house was dark. Jocelyn Earnest's car was in the driveway. Shepherd knocked on the door but there was no answer.

The next morning, Shepherd testified, she became worried after Earnest did not come to work.

She went to the house around 11 a.m. and used a spare key to get into the house after getting the security code from a mutual friend, Meysa Munsey.

As she entered the house, Shepherd was hit with a wall of heat, she testified. Looking below her fogged-up glasses, she saw the body of Jocelyn Earnest.

--Carrie J. Sidener

Earlier:

The murder trial of a former local school administrator accused of staging his estranged wife's death to appear to be a suicide has resumed this morning.

Wesley Earnest, 39, is accused of murder and a firearms charge in the death of his wife, Jocelyn Earnest, whose body was found in her Forest home in December 2007.

This morning, Marcy Shepherd, a friend and co-worker of Jocelyn Earnest, testified she discovered Earnest's body.

Shepherd said she was attracted to Jocelyn Earnest but that Earnest told her she did not feel the same. Shepherd has previously said she had a relationship with Earnest that Earnest's family knew nothing about.

--WSLS

To see more of The News & Advance, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.newsadvance.com.

Copyright (c) 2010, The News and Advance, Lynchburg, Va.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.