BEDFORD COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — A Pennsylvania woman is accused of hiring a man to burn down a house where her estranged wife was staying with family.
Heather Ann Dibert, 43, of Duncansville, is facing 32 felony charges and seven misdemeanors for allegedly hiring 34-year-old Zachery Sellers to burn down the home her estranged wife was staying at with five others.
According to a criminal complaint filed by Pennsylvania State Police Wednesday, Dibert allegedly gave Sellers money and drugs to come to Napier Township and burn down the home just after midnight on Oct. 28. Police said while this was happening, Dibert was setting up an alibi by traveling to a strip club in West Virginia.
Detectives said that they were able to track both Dibert and Sellers via their phone locations the 24 hours leading up to the arson and into the next morning.
According to the complaint, Dibert had ventured to the area of her estranged wife’s home before cellphone data showed she made her way to Lewistown, located about 112 miles away.
The data also showed that her phone and Sellers’ phone were both in Lewiston before Dibert traveled back down to the area of the estranged wife’s home, according to the complaint.
From there, detectives said the phones split up just a few hours before the 12:15 a.m. arson, noting that Dibert made her way to Martinsburg, West Virginia, and had searched for “Club Lust,” suggesting she was trying to be far away from the home. Cellphone data showed she came back to Blair County just after 4 a.m., according to the complaint.
Sellers’ phone information showed that he hung out around the area of the home until around midnight before going back to the home and allegedly setting the porch on fire. His phone showed he then made his way to Breezewood and back home to Lewistown just after 4 a.m.
Police noted that the family was able to extinguish the fire that night with minor damage done to the porch, vinyl siding and items on the porch.
Sellers was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police-Lewistown on Tuesday, Dec. 12, and allegedly admitted that Dibert offered him drugs and money to burn the house down.
According to his account in the complaint, he realized there were people in the home including children and that’s when Dibert told him, “Kill them all.”
Police said that the duo had no communication with each other prior to Oct. 18, the day Dibert was charged with terroristic threats after allegedly threatening to kill her estranged wife’s father.
Police also noted that Dibert was arrested on Nov. 17 for violating a “protection from abuse” order her wife had against her. Dibert is facing several charges, including but not limited to conspiring to commit murder, criminal solicitation of aggravated assault, criminal solicitation of homicide and conspiracy of aggravated arson.
Sellers is facing similar charges, however, his are not “conspiracy” charges. There are a total of 32 charges for him, including attempted homicide.
Dibert’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 20. According to court dockets, Sellers has not yet been arraigned.