BEDFORD -- A jury heard opening arguments and testimony Monday during the Bedford County trial of a Duncansville woman accused of hiring a Lewistown man to burn down a home occupied by her estranged wife and family.
Heather Ann Dibert, now 45, faces nearly 40 charges, including 12 felony counts of aggravated arson and conspiracy to commit murder. The charges were filed in December 2023 after a weekslong investigation into the October 2023 fire at a Tulls Hill Road home in Napier Township, Bedford County. The home was occupied by Dibert's estranged wife and family members, including three juveniles, according to court documents.
District Attorney Ashlan Clark said during her opening statement that Dibert's estranged wife was a victim of domestic abuse and manipulation. Clark told the jury that Dibert had a "premeditated plan to hurt" the victim since she had no contact with family and friends for an extended period of time.
After the victim's father received a letter from his daughter asking him for help and the victim was returned to her family, Dibert threatened to kill the victim's father and children, Clark told the jury.
She said that Dibert had plans to burn down the victim's home with three adults and three juveniles sleeping inside.
Defense attorney Mark S. Zearfaus Sr. said Dibert was not responsible for starting the fire since Zachery A. Sellers, now 36, was the one who allegedly set the fire on Oct. 28, 2023.
Dibert allegedly hired Sellers to set fire to the residence with instructions to "kill them all," according to the affidavit of probable cause filed in the case. Jamie Eugenia Beers allegedly drove Sellers to and from the property, the report states.
In court Monday, Zearfaus said the victim's father "hated Dibert because she was married to his daughter." Zearfaus accused the victim's father of not approving of his daughter's lesbian lifestyle choices.
During his testimony, the victim's father denied this allegation, stating that his brother identifies as gay, and that he believes he has a better relationship with him compared to his other brothers.
Earlier in his testimony, the victim's father said he received a letter from his daughter in October 2023, following a year and a half of no contact, asking him to help her leave her abusive relationship with Dibert.
Freedom Township Police Sgt. Nathan Claycomb also testified Monday morning, stating that the victim's father turned the letter in, leading Claycomb to visit Dibert at the couple's residence in East Freedom where he conducted a welfare check. He later took the victim to the police station for more information.
Claycomb said the victim and her father were reunited at the station, but the father said she "did not look like my daughter" since she was wearing clothes "she would never wear." She did not have any visible injuries, Claycomb said.
When the father and victim left the station to enter the father's vehicle, Dibert blocked the car while Dibert's mother parked her car behind her daughter's vehicle, Claycomb testified.
Dibert screamed at the top of her lungs, "are you leaving" and "don't leave with your father," the victim's father testified, while banging against the victim's window.
Dibert then threatened the victim that if she left with her father, "I'm killing you and your children."
Claycomb was seen arresting Dibert against the father's car in a video shown to the jury.
The victim's stepmother also testified Monday, stating that the victim lived at her father's Bedford County residence following their reunion, along with the victim's stepsister and her children.
When the victim's stepmother was watching a movie in the early morning of Oct. 28, 2023, she said she heard a loud noise outside and noticed flickering on the ceiling.
She said she woke up her husband, who used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames while she called 911.
According to the recorded phone call, the stepmother can be heard telling the 911 dispatcher in a shaky voice that "I think I know who did it," adding that they only needed police to arrive on scene.
The next day, the stepmother said the fire marshal found a "cupped" piece of plastic that had clear liquid in the bottom.
State Trooper Matthew Wadsworth was one of the two officers who arrived on the scene that morning, he said. He took pictures of the fire damage, which was located in between two windows surrounded by their deck. The photos were shown to the jury.
The victim's stepmother kept their grandchildren's toys on the deck, and the fire damaged and melted a child's tricycle and picnic table.
Testimony is to continue today. The trial is scheduled to wrap up by Friday.