ROSEVILLE – Stephanie Nicole Erends lied when she confessed to planning the murder of her longtime friend, Alicia Ernst, her defense attorney said Monday.

“Police kept coming back again and again,” Public Defender Jonathan Richter said.

Her mindset was, “Tell them what they want to hear, and maybe they will leave me alone,” he added.

The claim came as jury selection got under way in the trial of Erends, who prosecutors say is guilty of the first-degree murder of Ernst, 24, on March 8, 2008 on the outskirts of Roseville. She also faces an allegation of lying in wait.

Clad in business attire, Erends, 26, listened with little reaction as both sides presented a brief overview of their version of events to potential jurors. Formal opening statements are slated to begin Monday.

Erends, of Roseville, doesn’t deny being “responsible” for Ernst’s death, Richter said. But his statements made clear the defense planned to challenge the notion that she orchestrated the brutal crime in advance.

“There are a number of different levels of culpability in homicide,” Richter said.

Prior to Richter’s remarks, prosecutor Garen Horst laid out his timeline of the case.

Both Roseville women had been bar-hopping the night Erends drove Ernst to a remote roadway on Old Walerga Road just off Baseline Road, prosecutors allege.

That’s where they say Erends attacked Ernst from behind with a wallpaper tool – while Ernst was still buckled into her seatbelt.

Ernst put up a fight, and at one point had so much of Erends’s hair stuck in her fingernails that Erends had to slice off the locks with the alleged murder weapon, Horst said.

“After killing Alicia, the defendant pulled her out of the vehicle, poured ammonia over the body, poured trash over the body, and she left her there,” Horst said.

Horst said Erends had long been jealous of her friend, and that jealousy was strengthened after she believed that Ernst had slept with her boyfriend.

After initially denying involvement, Erends told police in a purported confession that she planned the crime after Ernst allegedly poured acid down her throat several weeks earlier, Horst said.

But Richter said the statement was “pretty much the only evidence Mr. Horst has to support his theory.”

“That statement is not the truth,” Richter said, but he said: “It was true in certain respects.”

“I am telling you right now, Stephanie Erends is responsible for the death of Alicia Ernst.”

But he said potential jurors will have to look further at the circumstances.

“What exactly happened that morning? What was her state of mind? What led up to it?” he said.

The lack of planning, he said, is proved by the murder weapon.

“Why would someone choose a weapon like this if she had six months to plan it?” he asked.

Erends is expected to take the stand in the trial, which will last through mid-December. The special allegation makes Erends eligible for the death penalty, but prosecutors are not seeking it.