The woman recounted how she witnessed her mother being stabbed to death by a 17-year-old girl raised by her family who was having an affair with her victim’s 42-year-old husband.
Megan Zanella, whose mother Lisa Nofel was stabbed 200 times by Sabrina Zunich in November 2012, spoke to HLN Sex and Murder about her mother’s horrific final moments.
Knoefel, who worked as a social worker, was murdered in her home in Willoughby Hills, Ohio after Zunich began sleeping with Knöfel’s husband Kevin.
Kevin told Zunich that he would kill himself if she didn’t kill his wife.
Zanella told HLN: "I heard a scream. I also heard the dog barking and thought, “What the hell is going on downstairs?
“So I went there, and Brina stabbed my mother to death, and I immediately stopped: “Stop getting off her!
“At one point I was on top of her and she pushed me. I immediately go to the office, call 911 and say, “My sister stabbed my mother to death. She will die."
Zanella, who told HLN that she still has trouble sleeping at night, also claimed that a month before her mother’s murder, Zunich threatened her at their home.
“She actually pointed a knife at me when we were in the kitchen and I knew things had gone downhill by then,” she said.
Zunich pleaded guilty to aggravated murder in 2014. She was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years.
Kevin Knofel, aged 42 at the time of the murder, received the same sentence as his adopted daughter after a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to commit aggravated murder and sexual battery.
During Kevin Knoefel’s trial, Zunich testified that he had threatened to kill himself if she did not kill his wife.
Lisa Nofel was a social worker for the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Families and worked for the Sexual Assault Unit, while Kevin worked as a truck driver.
When Sabrina Zunich was 16 years old, she was settled with a couple. Soon after, she and Kevin Nofel began a sexual relationship and discussed several plans to kill Lisa Nofel, including shooting her and making it look like a burglary or finding a hitman.
Zunich said she was manipulated into committing the murder, and Kevin Nofel assured her that she would only receive 25 years in prison if caught.
Zunich testified during her trial that on the night of the murder, she donned a ski mask and fatally stabbed 41-year-old Lisa Knoefel in her bed as she resisted.
Tsunich stabbed her over 150 times with a 10-inch serrated knife.
This did not stop her, although Lisa Knoefel fought and begged her to stop, and Zanella tried to tear Zunich away from her mother and called 911.
Prosecutors said they were unaware of Zunich’s sexual relationship with Kevin Knoefel or that he convinced her to kill Lisa Knoefel until Zunich spoke to them in May 2013—six months after the murder.
During the trial, prosecutors stated that Knöfel wanted to kill his wife in order to collect $750,000 in life insurance. He also wanted to get his wife out of the picture, but feared he would lose custody of their three-year-old daughter if they divorced.
He told Zunich that they could raise his daughter together.
At sentencing, Judge Richard Collins said, “I don’t think there is any doubt that she was manipulated and used by a co-defendant.”
But he said the seriousness of the crime outweighed all factors.
“Aggravated murder is aggravated murder,” Collins said. “But this was not a single act of violence.”
He said that Lisa Knoefel suffered before her death.
“She screamed for help and begged the defendant to stop. She didn’t die right away. I can’t imagine the nature of horror and fear."
At the sentencing, Sabrina said she was remorseful.
“I want to say how sorry I am for all those whom I offended,” she said. “Lisa didn’t deserve what happened to her. I ask forgiveness for me - not for my benefit, but for those who need the healing process to begin. I can’t explain how much remorse I have and how much sadness I feel.”
On Sunday’s upcoming episode, one of the detectives says, “This was definitely the worst crime scene I’ve ever seen in my career.”
