RAW UNCUT VIDEO Florida Man Shot by Mother In Law, 66-year-old Cheryl Hepner. Salvatore Miglino, 39, of Boca Raton, is heard yelling in the video.

By Michael Santo on 2011-12-12

An iPhone's video recording capability will doubtless be part of an upcoming attempted murder investigation of an enraged mother-in-law who tried to do away with her grandson’s father.

Divorce battles often become bitter, especially when fortunes and children are at stake, and this one was no exception. Years of tension suddenly turned violent when a father trying to pick up his son for visitation was shot by his mother-in-law. Salvatore Miglino sensed, however, that there might be trouble during the exchange and turned on his iPhone’s audio recording app. He doubtless did not anticipate for the trouble to go this far, judging by the shock in his voice as he is wounded by the Beretta .22 his mother-in-law, Cheryl Hepner, concealed behind a pillow she was ostensibly carrying for her grandson’s visit.

"Oh, no! I can't believe you did that!" a wounded Miglino yells in the iPhone recording. "What are you, crazy? … I can't believe you shot me!"

Miglino was shot in the rib cage and shoulder. Hepner went into the house after shooting him, dialed 911, then claimed to authorities that it was Miglino who came after her with a gun, which she managed to wrestle from him. Presumably, his wounds were supposed to be her self-defense.

The iPhone notwithstanding, Hepner’s plot was poorly planned and even more poorly executed. Investigators said the physical evidence and eyewitness accounts would have probably turned the suspicion back on her anyway. The iPhone recording, however, is definitely a big boost to invvestigators. Even though it is only a voice recording, it paints a dramatic scene on its own.

Hepner met Miglino outside her house, carrying his son's pillow and bag. At the time, his son and wife were getting pizza at a nearby restaurant. Hepner tried to coax Miglino inside the home, authorities said, on the pretext that her ill husband wanted to talk to him. Miglino, however, declined to go inside, instead asking Hepner for the pillow and bag. Hepner then revealed a handgun from behind the pillow, the sheriff's office said. She fired three shots, striking him two to three times.

The wounded Miglino landed on top of Hepner in the front yard as Hepner cursed and told him to get off her. He grabbed the gun and fled in his car.

"This man's lucky to be alive," said sheriff's spokeswoman Dani Moschella. "That audio is chilling: we're hearing what might have been his murder. Luckily, the gun jammed." The Beretta was recovered with a spent and jammed cartridge inside the barrel.

To add insult to injury, Hepner then had the gall to get a restraining order against Miglino the following day. She wrote in court papers that her daughter previously had a restraining order against Miglino. Hepner said he had threatened to kill her and her husband, as well as his wife and son.

An attorney for Miglino said the allegations were untrue – and, perhaps in light of the shooting, part of the preparation in the plot to kill him.

Cheryl Hepner, 66, of Tamarac, Fla., was ordered held without bond Friday, a day after she was arrested on a charge of attempted first-degree murder. That same day, Miglino attended a hearing regarding his son, with whom he expects to be reunited soon.

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What a nasty, meddling MIL! Good thing he had that iphone and had the presence of mind to turn it on! He's so lucky that the gun jammed! I sure hope the judge decides right now that the little boy does not belong in a home where things are resolved in this manner!

I wonder what the real deal is with this nasty divorce.

This is the type of thing that give a MIL a bad name

No lie Slys!!!!!

Granny Who Allegedly Shot Son-in-Law Sought Restraining Order
By MATT GUTMAN, KEVIN DOLAK and SUZANNE YEO | Good Morning America – 11 hours ago

Granny Who Allegedly Shot Son-in-Law Sought Restraining Order (ABC News)

The 66-year-old grandmother who is under arrest after allegedly shooting her son-in-law at point-blank range outside her home in a Florida retirement community sought a restraining order against him the very next morning, according to court documents.

During a pre-scheduled pick up of her grandson, Cheryl Hepner, waited outside her home Dec. 7 with the child's sleepover gear. When the 3-year-old's father, Sal Miglino, arrived she pulled a .22 caliber Beretta handgun from behind the bundle firing three shots, hitting him twice, according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office.
Expecting "something stupid to happen," as Miglino later told a 911 dispatcher, he'd switched his iPhone video camera to record – and captured the entire incident on tape.

Hundreds of pages of court records obtained by ABC News outline the two years of bitter divorce proceedings between Miglino and Hepner's daughter, and include details of a previous restraining order filed against Miglino by Hepner and his estranged wife, as well as the order the mother-in-law sought the next day.

After he was shot, Miglino pounced and wrestled the gun away from Hepner, then drove away while calling for help, according to police. Hepner, too, had called police, but with a different version of events.

The bullets hit Miglino in the shoulder and rib cage. He was treated for his wounds at a local hospital and released.

When she was asked by the 911 dispatcher about whether she or Miglino pulled the gun, Hepner replied: "No, he pulled it on me and he's got it. He drove away," according to an audio recording of the call. Nearly hysterical, Hepner also mentions to the dispatcher that he and her daughter were in "the middle of a horrible divorce."

Investigators later recovered the gun, and found it had jammed. They say that they believe Hepner would have continued firing had the handgun not failed.

"There's no doubt in my mind I mean if she fired three rounds, she clearly would have fired more," Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti told ABC News. "It's a .22 -- luckily he survived those shots, but you have to ask yourself, if it was a higher powered weapon, the outcome might not have been so favorable."

The incident was caught on Miglino's iPhone video camera, and the audio has been key to the investigation of the Wednesday shooting. Fifty-eight seconds into the recording, three gunshots are heard. Then Miglino can be heard saying: "I can't believe you did that. I can't believe you did that … I can't believe you f***ing shot me."
Miglino told the 911 operator that he had his phone recording his visit because "I knew something stupid was going to happen, but we're going through a divorce and trying to settle."

"Mrs. Hepner told authorities that [Miglino] pulled a gun on her so it was in fact the exact opposite of what had happened," Moschella said. "As evidence goes, that was a gem. That absolutely corroborated everything that Mr. Miglino had told detectives."

Hepner was arrested for attempted murder and denied bail following the incident, but her attorney claims that she is innocent and a victim of domestic violence rather than a perpetrator.

Investigators tell ABC News that police now believe Hepner tried to lure her son-in-law inside her home, allegedly to murder him with fewer witnesses present.

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TAMARAC-- Years of tension from an ongoing divorce turned violent when a man trying to pick up his son for visitation was shot by his mother-in-law, officials said.

But Salvatore Miglino caught the alleged attack on his iPhone and gave detectives a recording of his mother-in-law calmly talking to him before suddenly revealing a gun and firing three shots, authorities said. Miglino had begun the recording sensing there would be trouble that Wednesday afternoon.

"Oh, no! I can't believe you did that!" a wounded Miglino shouts in the iPhone recording. "What are you, crazy? … I can't believe you shot me!"

Cheryl Hepner, 66, of Tamarac, was ordered held without bond Friday, a day after she was arrested on a charge of attempted first-degree murder.

Miglino, 39, of Boca Raton, who was shot in his rib cage and shoulder, was treated and released from a hospital. Doctors deemed it safer not to extract two bullets from him.

"I've been doing this for 19 years, and I've never had a client shot," said Miglino's attorney, Andrea R. Gundersen. "The fact that it got to this extreme breaks my heart."

Hepner's attorney, Michael Tenzer, questioned the allegations against Hepner in court Friday.

"It's bizarre to me how a 66-year-old woman without any other, with no priors at all, is going to come out of a house with a gun," Tenzer said. "It's also interesting to note that Mr. Miglino comes to the house expecting a problem."

Miglino married Hepner's daughter, Vicki Miglino, 37, five years ago in Broward County. But after the relationship soured two years ago, his wife moved with their son to her parents' home in the 8600 block of Northwest 57th Court, court records show.

The Miglinos have been in bitter divorce proceedings, and fought over the boy's visitation schedule, records show. But a court order authorizes the husband to take custody of the child every Wednesday night, the Broward County Sheriff's Office said.

Gundersen said Hepner previously had made false statements against her client stemming from visitations. Distrustful, Miglino grabbed his iPhone and tapped the "record" button to start filming as he attempted to pick up his son shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said. He did it as a "protective mechanism," Gundersen said.

Miglino's mother-in-law met him outside her house, carrying his son's pillow and bag. At the time, his son and wife were getting pizza at a nearby restaurant. Hepner encouraged Miglino to go inside the home, authorities said, telling him that her ill husband wanted to talk to him. But Hepner's husband was asleep at the time.

"It does, on the face of it, look as if she attempted to lure him perhaps in the house so there would be no witnesses to a shooting," Broward County Judge John "Jay" Hurley said Friday.

Miglino declined to go inside, instead asking Hepner for the pillow and bag. Hepner then revealed a handgun from behind the pillow, the sheriff's office said. She fired three shots, striking him two to three times, Hurley said, reading from an affidavit.

Miglino landed on top of Hepner in the front yard. The recording did not visually capture the attack, but Miglino is heard shouting in disbelief as Hepner curses and tells him to get off her. He grabbed the gun and fled in his car, Hurley said.

A .22-caliber Beretta was recovered. A spent cartridge was jammed inside the barrel.

"This man's lucky to be alive," sheriff's spokeswoman Dani Moschella said. "That audio is chilling: we're hearing what might have been his murder. Luckily, the gun jammed."

After the attack, Hepner called 911 and told investigators that Miglino had tried to shoot her. She said she knocked the gun from his hand, picked it up and shot him instead. Then Miglino provided the recording, authorities said.

Beyond the recording, investigators gathered physical evidence and witness statements, and interviewed those involved. Such evidence likely would have led investigators to the same conclusion, Moschella said. "But the recording was certainly helpful," she said.

After the shooting, Hepner filed for a restraining order Thursday againt her son-in-law. She wrote in court papers that her daughter previously had a restraining order against Miglino. Hepner said he had threatened to kill her and her husband, as well as his wife and son.

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First Posted: 12/16/11 03:36 PM ET
Updated: 12/16/11 06:35 PM ET
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The husband of the Tamarac grandmother arrested for shooting her son-in-law has been charged with accessory after the fact.

Sheldon Hepner, 68, is in custody in a local hospital after allegedly lying about the handgun Cheryl Hepner used to shoot Salvatore Miglino, who captured the entire incident on his iPhone.

Hepner told police he hadn't kept a gun in the couple's house for years, according to the arrest warrant, but investigators say his brother-in-law Harvey Stein tearfully confessed to having provided the .22 caliber Barretta to the Hepners weeks before the shooting so they could defend themselves against Miglino, with whom their daughter was involved in a contentious divorce and custody battle.

Stein loaded the gun, showed the Hepners how to use it, and told them all they had to do was pull the trigger, said BSO spokesperson Dani Moschella, who said charges have not been filed against Stein but the investigation is ongoing.

On December 7, Miglino, 39, arrived at the Hepner's home to pick up his three-year-old son per a court-ordered custody schedule. Expecting Cheryl Hepner to be combative as she met him in the yard with the child's pillow and bag, he hit record on his phone before stepping out of the car.

The phone instead captured Hepner attempting to lure Miglino inside, telling him her husband was dying of cancer. When Miglino declined to enter the house, Moschella said, Hepner pulled a gun from behind her grandson's pillow and fired three shots at her son-in-law, hitting him twice in the ribcage and shoulder.

Hepner told investigators that the incident began when Miglino tried to shoot her, and she knocked the gun from his hand and shot him in self-defense. But when investigators charged the phone and viewed the recording, the 66-year-old was arrested and charged with first degree attempted murder.

Miglino is recovering from his wounds. According to police reports, his estranged wife was at a pizza parlor with the couple's son during the shooting.

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Grandmother Held Without Bond In Son-In-Law Shooting
Cheryl Hepner told police that her estranged son-in-law tried to shoot her, authorities said

By Jeff Burnside | Thursday, Mar 29, 2012 | Updated 5:43 PM EDT

The Tamarac grandmother charged with shooting her estranged son-in-law will remain in jail until her trial, a Broward County judge ruled late Thursday afternoon.

Cheryl Hepner, 66, told police that her son-in-law, Salvatore Miglino, who is divorcing her daughter, tried to shoot her, authorities said.

But Miglino, anticipating problems when he arrived at Hepner's home to pick up his son, was videotaping much of the incident on his iPhone.

"Oh my God!" Miglino is heard on his iPhone video, "I can't believe you f---king shot me!" The shaky video shows Miglino wrestling the gun away from her. He called 911 and told dispatchers he was shot in the shoulder and his side. "I took the gun away from her! She shot me!" he told 911.

At the same time he was giving his version to 911, she was telling another 911 dispatcher: "He’s gonna say that I did this and I didn’t. He’s such a son of a b---h.”

“Listen to me," said the 911 dispatcher to Hepner, "Did he pull the gun on you? Or did you pull the gun on him?” ”No," she said, "He pulled the gun on me. And he’s got it and he drove away.”

She was charged with attempted first degree murder. A judge not only denied her bond but ruled the iPhone video can be admitted as evidence in trial even though it is illegal in Florida to record someone's audio without their consent.

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January 11, 2012

The woman accused of shooting her son-in-law when he arrived to pick up his 3-year-old boy for visitation last month is now a widow.

Cheryl Hepner's husband, Sheldon, 68, died Saturday after a long and untreatable illness, said his attorney, Anthony Alfero. Sheldon Hepner's death came one day after prosecutors decided not to charge him as an accessory after the fact in the shooting of his son-in-law, Salvatore Miglino.

Miglino, 39, was in the middle of a bitter divorce and custody fight with Hepner's daughter when he arrived at the family's home on Dec. 7 to pick up the child. Investigators say Cheryl Hepner, 66, met Miglino outside the home and shot him in the shoulder and in the rib cage.

The growing hostility between Miglino and his wife's family had not reached the point of violence before that incident, but Miglino told investigators he arrived at his in-laws with his iPhone recording the encounter in case things got ugly.

The gunshots can be heard clearly on the recording, followed by Miglino's shocked reaction.

"What are you, crazy?" he said. "I can't believe you shot me!"

Cheryl Hepner pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a charge of attempted first-degree murder. No mention was made in court of her husband's death.

A memo from the State Attorney's Office notes a decision not to prosecute Sheldon Hepner, but sheds little light on why that decision was made. Alfero said his client's declining health likely had nothing to do with it.

Cheryl Hepner's lawyer, Michael Tenzer, said she was told about her husband's death on Saturday by officials at the Broward County jail facility in Pompano Beach, where she is being held without bond. She was then allowed to talk to her daughter on the phone.

"She's deeply saddened by the death of her husband," Tenzer said. "It was not a surprise. It was not sudden."

Cheryl Hepner is due back in court in March.

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