{"id":62803,"date":"2026-01-02T12:57:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T12:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/indiana-woman-says-tea-laced-with-pills-given-to-ex-fiance-was-a-chemistry-experiment\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T12:57:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T12:57:09","slug":"indiana-woman-says-tea-laced-with-pills-given-to-ex-fiance-was-a-chemistry-experiment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/indiana-woman-says-tea-laced-with-pills-given-to-ex-fiance-was-a-chemistry-experiment\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana woman says tea laced with pills given to ex-fianc\u00e9 was a chemistry experiment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>It was in the early morning hours of Jan. 12, 2020, when 31-year-old Shea Briar was found clinging to life on a rural road in Jay County, Indiana. <\/p>\n<p>Briar was unable to communicate, and first responders were initially unsure of what had happened to him, but when he arrived at the hospital, medical staff discovered a bullet wound in his back. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There was no exit wound \u2026 It was actually in his heart,&#8221; Jay County Sheriff&#8217;s Detective Ben Schwartz told &#8220;48 Hours&#8221; correspondent Anne-Marie Green. &#8220;He \u2026 passed away.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Green reports on the case in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/video\/sneak-peek-coached-to-kill\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">&#8220;Coached to Kill,&#8221;<\/a> an all-new &#8220;48 Hours&#8221; airing Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 at 10\/9c on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.<\/p>\n<p>An investigation was launched, and police soon received a call from a woman named Kristi Sibray.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/01\/02\/5f70ed69-65b4-4198-9277-9b1a485e33d6\/thumbnail\/620x349\/63879fb8e151467aac0369bb9d6c808c\/briar-shae-ej.jpg#\" alt=\"Shea Briar and E.J. Stephen \" height=\"349\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/01\/02\/5f70ed69-65b4-4198-9277-9b1a485e33d6\/thumbnail\/620x349\/63879fb8e151467aac0369bb9d6c808c\/briar-shae-ej.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/01\/02\/5f70ed69-65b4-4198-9277-9b1a485e33d6\/thumbnail\/1240x698\/4bcdc2be939651eb0664544b3ae93fea\/briar-shae-ej.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">Shea Briar, left, and E.J. Stephen\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Sibray was an acquaintance of Briar&#8217;s former fianc\u00e9e, 29-year-old Esther Jane Stephen. Stephen, who went by the name E.J., was a local high school softball coach. She and Briar shared a young daughter together. <\/p>\n<p>Sibray, a former police officer, told detectives that in the months leading up to Briar&#8217;s murder, Stephen came over often and that she was accompanied by her assistant coach, 19-year-old Shelby Hiestand.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/01\/02\/a2cce331-656f-42dc-9486-463d6c37fe46\/thumbnail\/620x349\/4163a9dcd13ba1199fd876142938ce46\/briar-hiestand.jpg#\" alt=\"Shelby Hiestand \" height=\"349\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/01\/02\/a2cce331-656f-42dc-9486-463d6c37fe46\/thumbnail\/620x349\/4163a9dcd13ba1199fd876142938ce46\/briar-hiestand.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/01\/02\/a2cce331-656f-42dc-9486-463d6c37fe46\/thumbnail\/1240x698\/f1fde4c7ed67d8a14a90cbb8e21d2663\/briar-hiestand.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">Shelby Hiestand\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Jay County High School yearbook<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>During those visits, Sibray said Stephen would confide in her about problems she was having with Briar. Stephen and Briar had recently broken off their engagement, and Briar had filed a court petition to establish parenting time for the daughter they shared. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He wanted to provide for her \u2026 and he just really wanted to have some visitation,&#8221; Tracy Hoevel, Briar&#8217;s mother, told &#8220;48 Hours.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>But according to Sibray, Stephen wasn&#8217;t happy about it. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She didn&#8217;t want to share the baby. That was her baby. That was her child,&#8221; Sibray told &#8220;48 Hours.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Sibray told investigators that Stephen would discuss ways to get rid of Briar, but that she didn&#8217;t think anything of it at the time.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just really thought she was venting. I did not think that was for real,&#8221; Sibray told &#8220;48 Hours.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>And Sibray said she had that same mindset when, over time, the conversations grew more detailed \u2014 and various methods were discussed. At one point, Sibray said Stephen and Hiestand told her they put pills in Briar&#8217;s tea.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They crushed up ibuprofen, I believe \u2026 And he did drink the whole glass, but nothing happened to him,&#8221; Sibray told &#8220;48 Hours.&#8221; &#8220;I&#8217;m like, &#8216;are you serious?&#8217; &#8230; I didn&#8217;t even \u2026 believe her. \u2026 Because I just could not see her doing that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But when Sibray learned of Briar&#8217;s murder, she said she immediately viewed all those conversations in a different light. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I felt like I failed because how did I miss this? How did I miss these signs?&#8221; Sibray said. <\/p>\n<p>A day after speaking to Sibray, detectives brought Stephen and Hiestand in for questioning. <\/p>\n<p>After initially denying involvement in Briar&#8217;s murder, they both admitted they took him to that rural road and that Hiestand shot him in the back. <\/p>\n<p>Hiestand told detectives she blacked out then fired the gun at Briar. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/01\/02\/89292b6f-7a63-4fa2-a301-46c11ce8300f\/thumbnail\/620x349\/1af5e35dcd27c6b980cd403a25493fb3\/brian-ej-shelby-combo.jpg#\" alt=\"E.J. Stephen, left and Shelby Hiestand. \" height=\"349\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/01\/02\/89292b6f-7a63-4fa2-a301-46c11ce8300f\/thumbnail\/620x349\/1af5e35dcd27c6b980cd403a25493fb3\/brian-ej-shelby-combo.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/01\/02\/89292b6f-7a63-4fa2-a301-46c11ce8300f\/thumbnail\/1240x698\/2ca62ac6cd30ab6ebd145b9c96a912ef\/brian-ej-shelby-combo.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">E.J. Stephen, left, and Shelby Hiestand after their arrests for the murder of Shea Briar. Both women pleaded not guilty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Jay County Sheriff&#8217;s Office<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>E.J. Stephen and Shelby Hiestand were arrested and charged with murder, but they would both later plead not guilty and when Stephen went on trial, she placed all the blame on Hiestand.<\/p>\n<p>Stephen took the stand and insisted she had no reason to want Briar dead. And as for those pills in Briar&#8217;s drink, Stephen said that it was Hiestand&#8217;s idea and that she only went along with it because she thought it was an innocent chemistry experiment.<\/p>\n<p>What would a jury think?<\/p>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n<\/section>\n<p>  <!-- data-recirc-source=\"queryly\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation \">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">More from CBS News<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"component__item-recirc-block\">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">Go deeper with The Free Press<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n      <!-- tags --><\/p>\n<section class=\"content__tags\">\n<\/section>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/esther-jane-stephen-shea-briar-shelby-hiestand-indiana-death-investigation-48-hours\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was in the early morning hours of Jan. 12, 2020, when 31-year-old Shea Briar was found clinging to life<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[456,790],"class_list":["post-62803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us","tag-48-hours","tag-indiana"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Indiana woman says tea laced with pills given to ex-fianc\u00e9 was a chemistry experiment - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Esther Jane Stephen, a high school softball coach, was arrested in 2020 in the fatal shooting of her former fianc&eacute; Shea Briar in Jay County, Indiana. 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