Barstow woman pleads not guilty to murder cover up

BARSTOW • A 23-year-old Barstow woman accused of helping her friend cover up the murder of his 30-year-old Barstow girlfriend pleaded not guilty Monday.

Joyce Fransson is facing six felony charges, including unlawful taking or driving of a vehicle and five counts of being an accessory to murder after the fact. The charges stem from the disappearance and murder of Leisa Hurst on Jan. 22.  Jeami Chiapulis, whom police claim also had a relationship with Fransson — and is married as well — accepted a deal and pleaded guilty to the second degree murder of Hurst on Nov. 6.

Police believe Fransson actively participated in concealing Hurst’s murder, according to a Barstow Police Department report. Fransson and Chiapulis abandoned Hurst’s Honda Element with the keys in it and the windows down on Olive Street in Hesperia, where police later recovered it, in an attempt to have it stolen on Jan. 22. The pair then went to Chiapulis’ home where it is believed they picked up Hurst’s body. Fransson is accused of acting as a lookout for Chiapulis while he buried Hurst’s body in the desert near Newberry Springs, according to the report. Chiapulis led authorities to Hurst’s body in the desert on Oct. 8.

Fransson is now being held at the West Valley Detention Center on $300,000 bail. Her next hearing is set for Dec. 8 at the Barstow courthouse.

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(760) 256-4126 or dheldreth@desertdispatch.com