Victim seemed happy before being stabbed 72 times

COVINGTON – Eric Schreiber's final night alive involved drinking, dancing and sing-a-longs in the Independence home of Debbie and David Long.

Kid Rock was on regular rotation in the playlist New Year's Eve 2013 in the Long household.

The Longs testified Wednesday they had no indication of the violent conclusion of the party that would end with Schreiber, 39, of Villa Hills, dead from 72 stab wounds.

"It was all happy," Debbie Long said in court Wednesday. "We like listening to Kid Rock. We would sing and dance to it."

The Longs testified as the prosecution continued to present its case in the murder trial against Matthew "Maddie" Smith, 26, a transgender woman from Crescent Springs.

Smith has claimed she was acting in self-defense.

Smith, with arms covered in blood, swept away the bonhomie of the previous evening when she woke Debbie Long up at about 7 a.m. New Year's Day and told her she killed Schreiber, according to testimony Wednesday.

Debbie Long spoke in soft, short, measured statements. Her grim expression showed how the grief from her brother-in-law's violent death weighed on her.

"It was New Year's Eve," she said. "I thought it was a joke."

But when Smith came into her bedroom a second time saying she killed Schreiber, Long said she knew something was wrong.

Independence police found Schreiber dead in the backyard of the Longs' home. He had 72 stab wounds, including 21 to the face. His throat has also been slit, a medical examiner testified.

The defense has claimed Smith stabbed Schreiber in self-defense when Schreiber attempted to sexually assault Smith.

Smith's attorney, Shannon Sexton, questioned Debbie Long about referring to Smith as a "thing" or "it" to the police after the stabbing. He also questioned why David Long didn't tell police until the next day about a threat Smith made a couple of hours before the killing.

David Long said Smith followed him to his truck as he was going to work at about 5 a.m. and told him she could "get rid" of Smith with the solvent acetone. David Long said he didn't remember when he told police what was told to him.

"I thought then it was the alcohol talking," David Long said. "First thing I thought of about acetone was fingernail polish remover."

The trial is scheduled to continue Thursday.