Jared Soares The Roanoke Times

Marcy Shepherd, who found the body of Jocelyn Earnest, wipes tears from her face Wednesday while on the stand during the second day of the murder trial of Wesley Earnest. The trial is taking place in Bedford County Circuit Court.

A jury has been selected in the Bedford County murder trial of  Wesley Earnest.

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Previous coverage

• Trial primer: Bedford Co. murder trial set to begin
• Ruling on house fire won't be  speedy
• Former Bedford Co. school official's  trial delayed
• Police hope computer will yield clues  in Forest death
• New trial date picked in murder case  against ex-Chesapeake school official
• Bedford Co. murder suspect Earnest  gets bond
• Details come to light in Bedford  hearing
• Charges filed over '07 killing in  Forest

BEDFORD -- In day two of the murder trial of Wesley Earnest, charged with killing his estranged wife, his attorney accused one of Jocelyn Earnest's closest friends of shooting her.

But as he sought to shift suspicion from his client to Marcy Shepherd on Wednesday, attorney Joseph Sanzone offered no motive for why Shepherd would want to kill the woman she said she loved. He also offered little evidence as he suggested that Shepherd, not Wesley Earnest, killed Jocelyn Earnest.

Shepherd, who worked with Jocelyn Earnest at Genworth Financial in Lynchburg, said she shared a romantic but chaste relationship with the 38-year-old Forest woman. She said she found Jocelyn Earnest dead in Earnest's living room when she went to her Bedford County home on the morning of Dec. 20, 2007, to check up on her.

Investigators found a typewritten suicide note and a .357-caliber revolver next to Earnest's body. In the coming days of the trial, prosecutors are expected to have an expert testify that the lone fingerprint found on the suicide note belonged to Wesley Earnest, an assistant high school principal who was living in Chesapeake in 2007.

Prosecutors contend Earnest drove roughly 200 miles after work on Dec. 19, shot his wife, left a fake suicide note and the revolver, and drove back to Chesapeake in time for work the next day.

But Wednesday in Bedford County Circuit Court, Sanzone used an aggressive line of questioning in an effort to create an alternative to prosecutors' version of events and cast suspicion on Shepherd.

At 7:27 p.m. Dec. 19, 2007, Jocelyn Earnest sent Shepherd a text message that asked simply "There?" Shepherd typed back "Y," meaning yes. Earnest was never heard from again.

Sanzone noted that later that night, Shepherd went to a nearby CVS store and made a few purchases, keeping the receipt as if to establish an alibi. She also went to work, where her entry was recorded by the key-card system.

Sanzone asked Shepherd if she went to work to type up the suicide note. "No," Shepherd replied. She said she went to work to leave a Christmas present in her office.

Sanzone then asked if she took the .357-caliber revolver from Earnest's nightstand and used it to kill her friend. "No," Shepherd replied.

Prosecutors say Jocelyn Earnest didn't own the gun. Investigators found the box that the revolver came in at the Campbell County home of Wesley Earnest's girlfriend.

Prosecutors contend Wesley Earnest owed more than $125,000 and wanted to sell the couple's jointly owned home at Smith Mountain Lake to get out of debt. But if the home had not found a buyer by March 2008, when their divorce would be finalized, the home would be sold for far less than he wanted, according to prosecutors.

On Wednesday, Sanzone asked Shepherd why she accused Wesley Earnest when investigators asked her what happened to Jocelyn Earnest. Shepherd replied that Jocelyn had confided to her that "she was afraid of Wes Earnest."

Investigators scrutinized Shepherd's BlackBerry to view the text messages she had exchanged with Jocelyn Earnest on Dec. 19. Sanzone suggested that Shepherd was reluctant to give it to investigators until she had time to delete incriminating messages. Shepherd said there were no such messages. She said she hesitated to turn the device over only because she wanted to keep it close by overnight because "I was afraid of Wes Earnest."

Also Wednesday, Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Wes Nance introduced the suicide note into evidence. It reads: "Mom, I just can't take it anymore. I've tried so hard to be strong but I just can't continue. The ups and downs are too much to deal with. I keep trying to appear as though I am doing fine but the bad days are so overwhelming and lonely. My new love will never leave the family. Wes has buried us in debt and starting over is too much. I am so sorry Mom. I am so sorry everyone."

Wesley Earnest's defense attorneys, Joseph and Blair Sanzone, noted that Jocelyn Earnest was taking medication for depression. If true, it could undercut testimony from Jocelyn Earnest's friends and family who said she was happy and upbeat.

The trial resumes today.