 Inside the Huron County courtroom in Goderich. Ont. a Superior Court jury is hearing the sordid tale of a plan foiled when the hired hitman turned out to be an undercover police officer. (QMI Agency)
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GODERICH, Ont. - Serrena Benninger gently rocked back and forth in the prisoner's box, waiting for the next question about her lengthy extra-marital affair and the alleged plan to knock off her lover's ex-wife.
On the other side of the courtroom sat her former flame, Tony Terpstra, 40, the co-accused charged with Benninger, 39, with counselling to commit murder and conspiracy to commit murder in a plot worthy of a daytime soap opera.
It's been a little bit Peyton Place, a whole lot of The Young and the Restless, with a side order of Cops inside the Huron County courtroom, where a Superior Court jury is hearing the sordid tale of a plan foiled when the hired hitman turned out to be an undercover police officer.
Jurors, so far, have heard evidence to rival a pulp fiction novel.
She was a teenage bride with a childhood of sexual abuse, locked in an emotionally abusive 22-year marriage.
He was a millionaire concrete business owner in a shaky marital union.
The pair had been carrying on an affair in the Wingham area for five years before the murderous idea was contemplated.
Shelia Terpstra sat quietly in the court with supporters who held her during the toughest testimony.
Terpstra and his wife, Sheila, 41, had a rocky 19-year marriage, with a year-long separation in 2002 because of affairs by both. They reconciled and moved to Wingham.
Around the same time, Terpstra left the family farming business and was bought out by his brothers for $2 million. He worked for another company before he set up a concrete business in Listowel.
Forbidden love bloomed after Terpstra and Benninger hooked up at a stag and doe in June 2004. They carried on a relationship on "sideroads and (at) the occasional house," and on the phone Benninger, said Wedneday during Day 2 of her cross-examination.
They text-messaged often and Benninger said she'd send him photos sometimes by phone and at least once on a camera card, of her dressed in lingerie.
Benniger said her husband, Gerald, didn't suspect her, even though he was controlling and kept tabs on her gas usage and mileage.
In November 2007, Shelia discovered her husband and Benninger naked in their hot tub at the back of the family's house. There was a physical confrontation between the two women involving hair-pulling and pushing.
Benninger was told then, and the next day when Shelia visited her, to leave Terpstra and his family alone.
But the affair continued.
Fast forward to August 2008, when the first signals of a murderous plan were hatched.
The jury has heard Benninger contacted Owen Curtis, 60, about doing "a favour" for her and broached the idea of killing Shelia Terpstra.
Curtis testified he'd eventually go to the London OPP about the conversations. The police began to set up a sting, with Curtis's co-operation.
By February 2008, Benninger met the "hitman" in the parking lot of the Listowel Canadian Tire and told him she had $10,000.
Benninger has testified she got the money from Terpstra and she was only doing what she was told, like a robot.
The hitman testified earlier and described the various contacts with the lovers. There was another meeting in Goderich with Benninger and a meeting with both Benninger and Tersptra in a Kitchener parking lot, all with the hitman wearing a wire and video equipment nearby.
The plan was for Terpstra's wife to be killed in a car accident. There was other talk of killing her at her home. He was given $7,500 with the rest to be paid once the job was done.
Terpstra provided photos of his wife and eventually there were musings about killing her with insulin. And there were discussions about paying the rest of the $15,000 fee.
On March 12, 2008, both were arrested after they were told the deed was done. Benninger was picked up Listowel when she handed over the rest of the $10,000 to the hit ma. Terpstra who working in eastern Ontario, was arrested in Kingston and more money was found in the console of his truck.
Benninger's voice was flat during most of her cross-examination by Terpstra's defence lawyer, David Humphrey, and Huron County Crown attorney Robert Morris, except when challenged on her assertion that her role was nothing more than "gopher" and "messenger."
But she admitted, "it was a dream" to be with Terpstra full-time.
Morris suggested Terpstra's wealth was a strong motivator to eliminate Shelia, who'd get half in a divorce.
Benninger said she never thought about the plot that way.
"I don't care if he was frigging half-assed busted, digging ditches," she said. "I loved him."
She insisted she tried to put off the idea for months. "He pushed me. He said he wanted it," she said.
And she said she told Curtis she didn't want Shelia harmed after Terpstra raised the idea. "I told him to divorce her," she said.
Humphrey challenged her, pointing out that unlike the hitman conversations, those discussions with Curtis weren't taped.
Her conversations with the undercover officer didn't sound like an unenthused participant.
Benninger could be heard laughing heartily when saying the best proof of the job being done would be "just her in a casket . . . the easiest proof you can get."
"He wants her gone, six feet under," she said impassively to the officer at the first meeting.
She made it clear she didn't like Shelia Terpstra calling her a "a capital B," "a cling-on," "demented."
She said Shelia was "milking him" and "it sucks to be her."
"I may have disliked her, but I didn't want anything to happen to her," she told Morris.
The jury reviewed text messages between the pair. Terpstra was working on Wolfe Island in eastern Ontario while the plan was going forward.
It was Benninger who told the hitman some of her own ideas for the wife's death and when they were given a chance to back out, the plan carried on.
"I brought it this far, so I don't think I'm going to squeal or do anything stupid," she told the hitman.
Just days before their arrests, there were texts about how to use insulin to accomplish their goal. Terpstra wrote concerns that he wasn't sure he could trust the hitman.
The jury also heard the final phone calls from the hitman assuring both Terspstra and Benninger the job was "done".
Benninger maintained it was all Terpstra's idea.
"I just did what I was told," Benninger insisted. "I did everything I got called and told to do."
The trial continues Thursday.
