Alicia Ernst Murder – The body of Alicia Ernst, 24, a nurse’s aide at Siena Care in Auburn, was discovered on Walerga Road near Old Walerga Road in rural Roseville. The discovery was made by a Department of Public Works employee.
This case was judged a homicide, but the police soon discovered evidence that the victim’s fingerprints had been removed to prevent definite identification.
The Investigation Discovery crime documentary ‘Deadly Women‘ Season 10 Episode 8 episode, “Suspicious Minds“, describes the terrible murder and the manhunt that ultimately led to the killer’s conviction.
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How Did Alicia Ernst Die?
Teenager Alicia Ernst was outgoing and pleasant. According to Brandon Ernst, Alicia was a people-person who always attracted a significant following. She was beautiful and capable of accomplishing everything she set her mind to.
Almost two years before her terrible demise, Alicia Ernst was employed at the Auburn Siena Care Center. According to her family, she planned on becoming a nurse.
According to the prepared statement, she spent her days caring for hospice patients and was delighted to provide any aid she could. She posted a list of things she wished to do on her wall as a regular reminder and source of motivation.
A Placer County road worker discovered the corpse of Alicia Ernst on March 10, 2008, near the intersection of Old Walerga Road and Baseline Road. Her body was covered in garbage, and an empty bottle of ammonia was present at the scene. The absence of insect activity on Ernst’s body is compatible with using ammonia to clean the body. There was blood found in the ammonia container. In addition, there was a knife-like object with a four-inch blade and a broken triangle-shaped handle, blood-soaked gloves, and a white plastic waste bag with fresh blood.
The forensic pathologist in Placer County, California, confirmed that Ernst had died in the early hours of March 8, 2008, after further research. Several knife wounds to her neck finally proved fatal, although she had also sustained many stab wounds to her head and face. The neck was slashed from left to right, as one would anticipate from an attack with a single-edged blade. Postmortem cuts on Ernst’s fingers were consistent with an attempt to shave them off.
Ernst suffered only minor injuries during the defense. Her additional wounds were consistent with a rear attack, whereas she would have had more defensive wounds if she had been attacked from the side or front. Without being present during the violence, it would be impossible for the pathologist to determine the exact attack angle.
Who Killed Alicia Ernst?
Detectives made progress in the case of Alicia’s murder relatively quickly. They discovered she had spent the night before her death with her boyfriend, Richard Hamman and friend Stephanie Nicole Erends from high school. While initially considered a suspect, investigators learned Alicia and Stephanie had left his house together, effectively ruling him out of any potential investigation. A witness later reported seeing Stephanie appear at their door around 5 am on March 8th wearing bloodied clothes, claiming three men had attacked both of them.
Stephanie persuaded a witness to drive her to her grandmother’s house, falsely telling him she didn’t know where Alicia was. Later that same morning, police located another eyewitness who saw Stephanie and her grandmother trying to free a car around 7:30 am; when questioned, Stephanie claimed they’d been forced off the road by another vehicle – though this contradicted other evidence. When police discovered blood inside Stephanie’s car matching up perfectly with what the witness described as being in her possession, they arrested Stephanie for murdering Alicia.
After being taken into custody, Stephanie confessed to the murder of Alicia Ernst. She claimed they had left Richard’s house together and were sitting in the car when she attacked Alicia with a razor, slashing her head, face, and neck. Stephanie then cut Alicia’s throat to prevent identification; when that failed, she hid the body under some trash before fleeing the scene.
Where Is Killer Stephanie Nicole Erends Now?
Stephanie attempted to retract her confession when the case reached court, alleging that she had killed Alicia out of anger. She testified that Richard had made fun of her before her, and when confronted, Alicia responded nonchalantly. Stephanie claimed she accidentally attacked Alicia with a scraping tool but believed it to be accidental; nevertheless, the jury found otherwise, and Stephanie was found guilty of first-degree murder.
Stephanie was found guilty in 2010 and sentenced to 25 years to life without parole. She resides at Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, California.
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