PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — More than 4 years after Annastasia Hester was stabbed to death in her Gresham apartment, her ex-husband’s current wife pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Angela McCraw-Hester admitted she entered Annastasia’s apartment in the early hours of June 16, 2016 and stabbed her more than 60 times.
Annastasia Hester died at the hospital after she was attacked. She had been able to call 911 for help but was too severely injured to describe her attacker to police.
On October 4, 2017, Gresham detectives arrested Angela Rose McCraw-Hester, the current wife of Annastasia Hester’s ex-husband, Matthew Hester. She was taken into custody in Pocatello, Idaho as detectives searched her home on a warrant.
Previous stories: The murder of Annastasia Hester
The investigation
Investigators determined McCraw-Hester left the home she shared with Matthew in the 12000 block of SE Ramona Street and drove to Annastasia’s ground-floor apartment in Gresham. She then removed either a window-mounted air conditioner and a cinder block to get in and attack Annastasia around 3 a.m.
A bloody boot print was forensically matched to a specific product and retail store, and investigators linked that boot to a purchase McCraw-Hester made in 2015.
Her DNA was also found inside Annastasia’s apartment on the kitchen knife block and surveillance video showed her traveling to and from the apartment.
Matthew Hester is still in custody awaiting trial on conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit murder and hindering prosecution. He was arrested in 2019 in Benton County, Idaho.
Nathaniel Holmes, the brother of Annastasia Hester, provided a victim’s impact statement, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said. In part, it read:
“It goes without saying that the murder of Annastasia Hester has affected her family to a great and severe extent. The emotional and psychological turmoil has been truly devastating. … I won’t grow old with my sister and reminisce. She won’t see her daughter grow up, get married, have kids or be a grandmother.”
Angela McCraw-Hester, 38, is eligible for parole after serving 25.