Veronica Hess told a Lancaster County jury Thursday that her home and her car were broken into before her mother was brutally murdered in 2007.

Bill Frank, the man with whom she was having an affair, broke into her home through a bedroom window using a credit card, Mrs. Hess told jurors. Frank testified Wednesday about the affair and said he had nothing to do with Barbara Fritchman's death.

Mrs. Hess broke down Thursday as she explained that she had been cheating with Frank on her husband, Shannon Hess, who is on trial in Fritchman's slaying.

Prosecutors allege Shannon Hess killed Fritchman because his mother-in-law favored Frank.

On Thursday, Mrs. Hess said that wasn't the case. She said that her mother and her husband got along "fine," and that her mother disapproved of the affair with Frank.

"My mom didn't like (Frank)," said Mrs. Hess, a dark-haired woman, slight in stature. "She said he was too old."

Those statements contradicted what she told police hours after the Nov. 23, 2007, homicide in Willow Street, prosecutors said.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Fetterman asked Mrs. Hess to recall the many statements she made to police. In those interviews, she said that her mother and her husband didn't get along.

Mrs. Hess also contradicted previous police testimony about her actions on the day of the killing. Police said she pushed her husband away as he tried to console her at the crime scene; Mrs. Hess said Thursday that the couple were hugging.

Wearing her wedding band, she cried during most of her 2½ hours of testimony. She glanced twice at her husband when she first took the stand, and he responded with a slight smile. Emotionless during the first three days of the trial, Shannon Hess occasionally wiped tears from his eyes during his wife's testimony.

Defense attorney Alan Goldberg asked Mrs. Hess about the time Frank allegedly broke into her home at 53 E. Boehms Road in 2006 and the multiple times that her car was broken into just before the killing.

Fetterman countered that Shannon Hess had found evidence of his wife's affair in her car. Previous testimony indicated he didn't have a key to his wife's vehicle. Also, the assistant district attorney said Frank was doing home renovations for the Hesses at the time of the alleged break-in.

Later, Goldberg asked Mrs. Hess if Fritchman's move into the couple's home in summer 2007 had strained her relationship with Frank.

"Did Bill have a problem with the time you spent with Barb?" Goldberg asked.

"Yes," Mrs. Hess replied.

"Did Barb eat into your available time?" Goldberg asked.

She again responded, "Yes."

Some of Frank's co-workers testified Wednesday that he was at a job site in Maytown on Nov. 23, 2007. Those witnesses said they arrived at the site about noon and Frank already was there.

Shannon Hess called 911 and reported his mother-in-law's death at 1:30 p.m. that day. Prosecutors allege he was the only one home with Fritchman after his wife left for work at 9:30 a.m.

Fetterman pressed Mrs. Hess on why her statements to police differed from her testimony.

"Your memory seems to have improved over the last year and a half," Fetterman said.

He argued that Mrs. Hess may have changed her story because she needs Shannon and his family. Mrs. Hess now lives with her in-laws in Holtwood, she testified. They care for her two children while she works at Tanger Outlet Center. Her job pays $8.15 per hour, so Mrs. Hess relies on her in-laws for support, Fetterman argued.

"You have nowhere else to go, do you?" Fetterman asked. She didn't answer.

Fetterman then asked Mrs. Hess if having her in-laws' support makes her life easier, and she responded it does.

Testimony before Judge Jeffery D. Wright is expected to continue this morning.

E-mail: bhambright@lnpnews.com