Woodmere woman who dumped lighter fluid in house of ex gets prison

Dawn Ziccardi said it all seemed to happen at once.

She was awakened in the early morning hours of June 24, 2009, because her Havanese dog started having a seizure. When she stood up, she noticed that a liquid - charcoal lighter fluid, she later learned - had been poured around the perimeter of her 5-month-old daughter's crib, which was next to her bed.

Moments later, she recalled Friday, a police officer at the door of her Hewlett Bay Park home told Ziccardi and her fiance, Isaac Hershko, that Hershko's estranged wife, Esther, had just been seen by a neighbor leaving their home. The violent reaction of the dog to the lighter-fluid fumes may have saved her family, Ziccardi now says.

Friday, Nassau County Judge George Peck sentenced Esther Hershko, 50, of Woodmere, to 2 to 6 years in prison on third-degree burglary charges.

"She's serving her time, and we'll move on with our lives," Ziccardi said after the sentencing. She and Isaac Hershko, who both attended the court proceeding, said they agreed to the guilty plea to spare the three children they share the pain of a trial.

Esther Hershko, 50, originally was charged with five counts of attempted murder after the incident because there were five people in the Heron Drive home - Ziccardi, Isaac Hershko, their infant child, the Hershkos' son, 25, and the son's cousin, also 25.

Police said at the time it was unclear if Esther Hershko knew her son and nephew were in the house.

A lawyer for Hershko has said Hershko went to the home of her husband, from whom she had been estranged six years, to confront him over investments.

After pouring lighter fluid in the house, Hershko went outside to look for a match, police said. She was met by police sent after a neighbor called 911 because of suspicious activity, they said. Hershko's sport utility vehicle was found with matches and lighters inside, police said.