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John Ernst, a 60-year-old man having an affair with Carol Kopenkoskey, pleaded guilty to perjury charges in connection with the murder case of Lyle Kopenkoskey. Carol reportedly shot and killed her husband of 40 years in October 2012. Lyle's body was found riddled with bullets in an isolated area along Kiebel Road in Petoskey, Michigan.
In January 2014, Carol pleaded guilty to second-degree murder charges to avoid a harsher sentence after an unexpected witness claimed that she had attempted to hire a hitman to get Lyle murdered. She confessed to shooting him and revealed that her then-boyfriend Ernst helped get rid of the murder weapon.
ID's Black Widows: Kiss, Marry, Kill will revisit the murder and the charges against Carol Kopenkoskey and John Ernst in an upcoming episode titled The Rumor Mill. The episode is slated to air on Thursday, September 22, 2022, at 9.00 pm ET.
Read more about the boyfriend's role in the murder plot.
John Ernst helped Carol Kopenkoskey design the murder
John Ernst was charged with six criminal counts for his alleged involvement in the murder of Lyle Kopenkoskey. Carol Kopenkoskey referred to Ernst in her confessions. She revealed that she had a long-term relationship with him and further claimed that he helped her dispose of the murder weapon on the day of the murder.
After waiving his preliminary examination on six charges of perjury, which carried a possible sentence of up to life in prison, the 59-year-old Levering resident was handed over to circuit court. Ernst was also accused of being an accomplice in the murder, which carries a penalty of up to $10,000 in fines and five years in jail. The allegations that Ernst lied while testifying under oath on August 26, 2013, at a hearing for the Kopenkoskey case led to the perjury claims.
Carol Kopenkoskey admitted to second-degree murder and is currently serving her 18 to 35 years sentence at the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Pittsfield Charter Township, Michigan. Ahead of the sentencing, she admitted to driving across the Mackinac Bridge while Ernst dropped the murder weapon into the lake.
In March 2014, John Ernst entered a guilty plea for two perjury counts. He was served a sentence of 2 to 15 years in jail for the offenses. The penalties will be carried out simultaneously. However, little is known in terms of his current whereabouts. It is likely that John has completed his sentence and has been permanently released.
How did Carol Kopenkosky kill her husband?
On October 2, 2012, Carol Kopenkoskey drove her husband to Kiebel Road near Petoskey, where she fatally shot him. His dead body was found shortly after, riddled with bullet wounds. An autopsy revealed that Lyle was shot five times, indicated by gunshot wounds on the back of his body and a fatal one to the temple. His body was found next to his parked car.
After he failed to arrive at work or at his house, family members alerted the police and an investigation ensued. Authorities also found inciminating evidence in the couple's home, including an empty fire case and several books on how to commit murder and then get away with it. Prosecutors alleged that Carol had been planning to murder her husband for a while.
Find out more about the case on Black Widows: Kiss, Marry, Kill on ID this September 22, 2022.
