Still Missing NJ - Sarah Stern, 19, Neptune City, 2 Dec 2016 *Arrests* #2

A couple of Tweets from the last 24 hours:

“We are live outside the Monmouth County Court House where opening statements are scheduled to begin shortly in the trial of Liam Mcatasney, charged with killing Sarah Stern in December 2016. #NJMornings @News12NJ @CarissaLawson @KristinaBehr”
Jim Murdoch News12NJ on Twitter

“Two years ago, Sarah Stern was killed, thrown off a bridge by her friends, authorities say. Now one will stand trial nj-ne.ws/lpGar1i”
NJ.com on Twitter

Such a beautiful, talented young woman gone too soon:

(Courtesy of Missing: Sarah Stern)

Pure evil ...:

(Courtesy of Two years ago, cops say Sarah Stern was killed, thrown from bridge by her friends. Now one will stand trial.)

 

Sarah Stern Murder Trial Set To Start

 

Reading the following sent chills down my spine.

“He laughed and said, ‘I thought I was going to get about $100,000 and got $8,000,’ McAtasney allegedly told Curry, according to Doyle. ‘He laughed as he said, ‘I don’t even feel any different.' ... It’s the reality of Sarah’s last days, as directed and acted out by this defendant.’

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Doyle said McAtasney first pitched Curry, an experienced horror filmmaker, his idea of killing Stern on Thanksgiving night. Curry realized it came to fruition, Doyle said, after he read about Stern’s disappearance on Facebook.

‘It wasn’t a movie. It wasn’t a joke,’ Doyle said. ‘It was actually what he planned to do.’

McAtasney’s attorney, Carlos Diaz-Cobo, said his client made up the entire story because he was trying to impress Curry.

‘The statement to Anthony Curry is not a confession,’ Diaz-Cobo said. ‘It’s an elaborate lie, it’s an audition. It’s a script. It’s not true. ... A young, immature boy decided he was going to use this unfortunate disappearance and make up this story.’

Diaz-Cobo maintained in his opening statement that his client is innocent, and said the jury will hear from a witness who claims to have saw Stern after it was reported that she was went missing.’”

 

“Sarah Stern murder: ‘The type of money somebody would kill for’”

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That's how Liam McAtasney described the cash his childhood friend, Sarah Stern, had discovered in a shoebox in a secondary home her family used primarily for storage, McAtasney's former roommate told a jury Wednesday.

And that is exactly what prosecutors and the former roommate, Preston Taylor, allege McAtasney did to Stern.

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Taylor said he was working at Clancy's Tavern in Neptune one night when McAtasney came in with some friends and started talking about the money.

McAtasney told the group, ‘It's the type of money that somebody would kill for,’ Taylor testified.

Everyone else was silent, and the pair never spoke about it in public again, he said.

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On Dec. 2, 2016, McAtasney contacted Taylor via Snapchat, a social media platform in which messages disappear after they are read. In the message, McAtasney informed Taylor he was at the bank with Stern. Taylor said he took that to mean McAtasney was about to carry out the plan.

McAtansey later came home and told Taylor he had killed Stern, Taylor said. McAtasney was ‘frantic,’ Taylor said, not so much because Stern was dead, but because he had left his phone at her house.

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Earlier today, McAtasney's defense attorney dropped a short-lived bombshell in his opening remarks at the trial.

Defense attorney Carlos Diaz-Cobo told jurors they will hear from a witness who will testify that on the day of Stern’s disappearance, “that he saw a person on that bridge, that he saw Sarah Stern walking away from that vehicle.”

After a defiant objection from prosecutors and a sidebar outside the earshot the jury, the defense attorney walked back his statement.

‘He saw someone who appeared to be Sarah Stern,’ Diaz-Cobo said.”

Prior to that, Meghan Doyle, assistant Monmouth County prosecutor, assured the jury Stern is no longer alilve, despite that her body has never surfaced.

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Sarah Stern murder: 'The type of money somebody would kill for'

 

“During his own opening remarks Wednesday, McAtasney’s attorney Carlos Diaz-Cobo indicated that the defense’s arguments could center on the fact that Stern’s body was never found.

A witness will testify to seeing someone on the bridge the night of the alleged murder who looked like Stern, Diaz-Cobo said.

Diaz-Cobo also implied that Stern’s allegedly ‘strained’ relationship with her father could have played a role in her disappearance. The attorney claimed Stern’s father may have been verbally abusive and asserted Stern had talked about going to Canada

‘The entire trial, you will be asking, ‘Something’s not right. Something is missing,’ Diaz-Cobo said.’”

Give me a break ...!

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/loc...9512.html?amp=y#click=https://t.co/RpG32qlZA0

 

Sarah Stern murder: Day one of trial (picture gallery)

 

This is the worst I’ve read so far. Praying for Sarah’s dad tonight:

“He stuffed a scarf down her throat‘ - Trial begins for man accused of killing childhood friend”

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McAtasney’s friend and roommate Preston Taylor has pleaded guilty for his role in the murder. He admitted to helping McAtasney allegedly throw Stern’s body off the Route 35 Bridge into the river. He is considered to be the prosecution’s star witness.

‘You don't have to like him to believe him. You don't have to like him to think he's credible,’ Doyle told the jury.

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Taylor also described how McAtasney allegedly killed Stern once he had her alone.

‘He went into detail about how he killed her. Said that he strangled her. That it took quite a while for her to actually stop breathing - about a half-hour. And in the process, she peed herself, she vomited. When she started throwing up he stuffed a scarf down her throat. She said his name a couple times,’ Taylor said.

Defense attorney Carlos Diaz Cobo says that McAtasney made up the entire story because he wanted to impress a friend who was an experienced horror movie maker.

Cobo is expected to cross-examine Taylor Thursday morning.

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‘He stuffed a scarf down her throat’ – Trial begins for man accused of killing childhood friend