Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - 3 Shocking Details in Update on Teen's Murder Investigation

Episode Date: March 23, 2024

It's been a month since Florida teen Maddie Soto disappeared and was later found dead. Her mother's boyfriend, Stefan Sterns, is in jail facing more than 60 child sex crimes charges. Some of those charges involve allegations that Sterns molested Maddie. This week, Kissimmee Police updated the public on the status of the investigation into Maddie's murder. Sterns has been labeled the prime suspect. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy talks with "True Crime with the Sarge" host Joe Giacalone and lawyer Tim Jansen about the new details in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show that delves into the biggest stories in crime. Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5CRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoAudio Editing - Brad MaybeGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@LawandCrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Madeline's story has touched the hearts of many. Rest assured, our department is diligently working on the investigation. Nearly a month after Maddie Soto vanished, her body was found in her mother's live-in boyfriend was named the prime suspect in her death and disappearance. But still, no one has been charged in her murder. We have three disturbing revelations from the police chief's latest update on Maddie's case. Thanks for joining me for Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Maddie Soto had just celebrated her 13th birthday when she

disappeared last month. The man who was essentially her stepfather, Stefan Stearns, has been called the prime suspect in her disappearance and death. He's in jail on a number of sex charges, more than 60 of them involving a minor. We know that at least some of those involve Maddie. Kissimmee's police chief held a news conference this week, and when it was scheduled, I think everyone was expecting an announcement that charges would be filed in Maddie's murder. But that didn't happen. Here's police chief Betty Holland. Death investigations are complex.

Tasks like forensic analysis and thorough interviews are crucial and require careful attention. It is vital to address these misconceptions in the pursuit of justice while preserving the integrity to the case. Now, one thing that I think was pretty interesting that came out of this that Chief Holland said, she said everyone close to Maddie has been interviewed and cooperated except for Stefan Stearns.

Stearns initially talked to police and handed over his phone, but then requested a lawyer and hasn't spoken since. There have been questions about whether or not Maddie's mother, Jen Soto, knew about the abuse her daughter was enduring. Chief Holland said Jen Soto has been interviewed and has cooperated with the investigation, but wouldn't say any more. Each person interviewed is treated as involved until proven otherwise. This is a standard protocol to ensure all the facts are uncovered. Chief Holland also said there's no rush and they want to get

this right while seeking justice for Maddie. There's no rush because Stefan Stearns isn't going anywhere. He's in jail in Osceola County on those dozens of sex charges. There were other revelations that we'll get to as well during that press conference. So what does all of this mean? Joining me to discuss this are two people who've been following the Maddie Soto case very closely. Joe Giacalone is host of True Crime with the Sarge on YouTube. He's also a retired cold case sergeant. And Tim Jansen is an attorney in the Tallahassee area, also a former federal prosecutor. Joe, I'll start with you. I texted you when we found out this press conference was happening. I think that you thought, like I

thought, that a murder charge might be coming. That's not what happened. So what was your take on this press conference by the police chief? Yes, I was waiting for that murder charge to drop. I thought that's what it was going to be about, but unfortunately it wasn't. But you know what? A lot of people say that the police need to be more transparent. They need to have open communication. And then they come out with a presser that really provides no new information. So they're complaining that the police, why bother having a press conference if you're not going to give us new information?

So the police can't win in certain circumstances. But I think there are a couple of little tidbits that you can take away from this presser. But, you know, listen, they are investigating this and they're doing their due diligence. And I'd like to see that. And don't rush for anybody. Let's talk about those tidbits. One thing that stood out to me, Tim Jansen, is the fact that they're still waiting on the ME's report. So they may have a preliminary cause of death, but they're still waiting on the ME's report. So they may have a preliminary cause of death, but they're not releasing that just yet. So they may be waiting

on toxicology, which usually takes six to eight weeks. It can even take longer than that, depending on the state. They still don't have the ME's report. They're still sifting through evidence. Sometimes that electronic evidence can take a long time. Also, they said, I thought very interestingly, that people in Maddie's inner circle, everybody's done interviews and they're cooperating. But Stefan Stearns, what does that tell you? Well, it sounds like his lawyer is very sharp. He should not be giving interviews. They found his phone with sexually explicit materials or with charges which he's charged with the me they're trying to i i think they're trying to

determine a time of death and i think they want to then maybe place her could she be placed with her ipad or whatever at the home at the time of death it's going to be tricky because the time of death may go within an hour or so, and she could be on that car or she could be at home. I think if they can place her at home, I think they're going to charge the wife. Really? You think they'll charge Maddie's mom if they can place Maddie at the home at a certain time of day for her time of death? Why do you think that?

Well, first she came out and said we took her to school. Then she changed her story and said he took her to school. Now, if she was dead at the house, and it's a relatively small, small house, and he killed her and had to carry her out, that's a lot more difficult to do without her knowing or being aware of what was happening. There's a lot to get to, but I'm just saying it's a lot more difficult to do without her knowing or being aware of what was happening. There's a lot to get to, but I'm just saying it's a possibility why they're delaying it and why they've said no one is not a suspect. And Joe can tell you, you never know what the evidence is

going to take you. You might have been going down this one road and you go, oh my gosh, we weren't even thinking of that. This all lines up. And now we've got more defendants. Joe, what are your feelings on that? And, you know, Jen Soto, the mother of Maddie, she may be getting a lot of unfair scrutiny. We don't know at this point. I mean, we can't jump to conclusions. But there have been some statements that she has made that have raised some red flags. The police chief said that she has cooperated

and she's given an interview. However, the police chief's not going to come out in that press conference and say, yeah, we're going to charge her before they're going to charge her if they make that decision. So what did the police chief's words tell you when it came to Maddie's mom?

Well, she used the word those, right? So we're going to investigate that and find out, you know, those who are involved in this and basically bring it to justice. So that word generally indicates more than one individual so that they're looking at all of the different people involved. And she said it more than once about the people close to Maddie. And that could be, you know, a whole host of people so the issue that really comes down to is the evidence that they have and I agree the estimated time of death is going to be a real important factor it's not like television where they you know they look at their watch and say oh yeah this person died at 9 22 p.m last night it's not an exact science and there are a

lot of factors that are involved including you, you know, where the body was stored and where the body was ended up in the field. So these are all kind of factors that will kind of throw off that estimated time of death. We know that Maddie had celebrated her birthday the day before. We saw pictures online that had been discussed early on in this case that she had turned 13 days before celebrated her birthday the day um you know the day before she went missing or was reported missing so sometime between that birthday party and the next morning you know sometime after 7 a.m when stefan stearns is seen dumping things in the dumpster, Maddie Soto passed away. She was killed. So that's a critical timeline, Joe. Well, absolutely. And also, too, when you're

talking about inconsistencies, it's about when the mom said the last time she saw her, right? There was one story she said she saw her at night. Next time, the story was the last time she saw her, right? There was one story she said she saw her at night. Next time the story was the last time she saw her was in the morning when she was getting dressed. So there are a lot of inconsistencies that the police have to then comb through. And the fact that you only have three individuals and one of them is no longer able to tell us what happened and one is now under a lawyer, it becomes even more difficult. And that's why they have to work the case, work the evidence,

and put this together. And just a note, too, for the audience, the police department has all the information that they need from the medical examiner. The issue that comes down to is that releasing this or finding out to the public is a whole other story. But they work hand in hand, but they are separate agencies that work these cases. And remember, the ME doesn't work for the police department. It works for the medical examiner. Tim, where do you see this case going? I mean, nobody has ever been mentioned except for Stefan Stearns as a suspect in the death and disappearance of Matty Soto. And the police chief said a couple of times yesterday, there's no rush. I mean,

we know there's no statute of limitations on murder. He's not going anywhere. The police chief basically said that a couple of times. So they can take their time on this. Obviously, the public wants answers. But do you see Stefan Stearns eventually being charged in Maddie Soto's death? Well, first of all, I think the girl I think Maddie turning 13 was a big thing. Young girls, when they turn 13, they feel like they're an adult now, or at least getting to womanhood. Maybe she felt, I'm not taking this anymore. I'm not going to do this anymore. I'm going to report this. That could be a triggering. As far as who's going to be charged,

they're developing all the evidence they get. The forensics. I don't know if they've executed search warrants on their phones and then geo-tracking on the people. But it's clear the mother may or may not be charged. I don't know. But there's many crimes she may or may not be charged with. Accessory after the fact. You know, disposing of a body.

We don't know yet, but we know her statements were not consistent. Um, everybody talks about her behavior in the interview. Of course, everybody reacts differently. Uh, but the timeline where she was missing and then she called the school many hours later or something, it just rings. Most parents would be running up to the school. They'd be calling and acting a little more aggressive. She was very passive in looking for her daughter that was missing. Allowing this guy to continue to take her to school after we found out all this sexual abuse that's going on.

Something is not correct in the home. Something with the relationship is not correct in the home. Something with the relationship is not correct. And I believe the police are trying to figure out if who's responsible so they can charge, make the appropriate charge. There's no rush. He's not going anywhere. He's looking at, you know, 60 counts of life in prison. So get it. What do they say?

Measure twice, cut once. I think that's what they're doing. She specifically said dotting all of the I's and crossing all of the T's. Joe, you know, there are the sex charges in this case are so horrific. Reading through the complaint, the police chief was asked during the press conference about crimes in this case. And, you know, it was a little hard to hear the context of the question that the reporter was asking, but the police chief said it was isolated to the home. Events surrounding this were isolated to the home. So, you know, there's a lot of redactions in the complaint charging

him with the sex crimes. But does that lead you to believe possibly that all of the sexual crimes that he's charged with are related only to Maddie? You know, we know that he is charged with some sex crimes related to her because some of the documents initially charging him were not redacted, but the 60 counts, the victim's names are redacted. Right. Yeah. The 60 count, they had the victim's name redacted, right? So we can all speculate that it's Maddie. We don't know for sure, of course. But, you know, the video evidence or the photographs that I'm sure the investigators have matched it up to pieces in the house in order for the chief to say that. Right. So that was part of the thing. And actually, one of the reporters did ask. He said it was really low trying to hear it. But one of the reporters did ask was, was Maddie's mom there or in any of the photos or who was holding the camera? So that was, you know, listen, we know that the news media is on top of that and they're looking for certain answers. And the chief dodged those for obvious reasons. Most certainly. And I think, you know, they've been getting inundated. A lot of people were saying, why did they even hold this press

conference? Why did they do this? Well, I can tell you why they did it, at least my perspective. They've been getting inundated every day, probably, with people calling up, media calling up, wanting to know what's going on, Facebook groups, people talking about when are they going to do something with this? I mean, these things can take a lot of time, especially if they do believe more than one person is involved in this case. Joe, I know I, for one, have been reaching out to the police department periodically,

checking in, and they just keep saying, watch for our updates. You know, they won't tell you anything. But there's a lot of heat on this. I mean, a lot of people are demanding answers in this case. Yes, it's because of the age of the child and what has happened to her and how long this has been going on. I mean, this has been going on, unfortunately, for years. So I think people are not only attracted to the case for those reasons, but they're also angry that this could happen to a child, you know, in the home, specifically with parents and a step parent. So I think that's what drives, you know, the true crime community per se. But what they didn't say was about getting inundated with tips that meant nothing, right? That they didn't get any tips that were really confounding the issue of not being able to investigate this.

Like we heard in other cases where the police department is just saying like, okay, enough with the wild theories, right? We want the facts. But I think what they're also looking at in history, when you're dealing with individuals like Stephen Stearns, who have done these heinous acts, is that there could be people within a closed circle that, you know, share these photos with one another or these kinds of things. And I think that's what's taking that time going through that electronic evidence trail and seeing if these pictures went anywhere else and to whom they went to. And I think that's also part of this investigation. I want to play a piece of sound right now from the police chief that I think is really important in this case. And it's about parents talking with their kids and communicating with their children.

So let's take a listen to that. My takeaway from this is talk to your children, families, talk to your kids, know that there are agencies out there, the abuse hotline help now, you know, that people can report suspicion to. And I would encourage mothers and fathers to have those conversations with the kids and be aware. Tim, that's a very important part of this case because having open conversations, honest, open conversations with your kids is so important these days, especially when you have other people around your children and having that line of communication and being able to trust what

your children are telling you. You know, there have been so many rumors flying around out here, out in the ether about what Maddie was telling people. That maybe she had told people about this. We don't know if that's true. It could just be internet rumors. But the things that are described are so heinous that this girl endured. It really is important for people to talk to their kids and to listen to them and to tell them, you can tell me anything, no matter how bad it is. It's a conversation I have with my son all the time. I will never be mad at you, no matter what it is. Tell me.

I agree. And I think as parents, we know that kids try to keep things because they don't want to disappoint their parents. The number one thing you should have your kids know, you should not have secrets. You should not have a secret relationship or any kind of secret that you can't tell your mother and your father. This is especially true for stepchildren who are divorced and have a stepfather. This kind of abuse occurs, I find in my practice, much more so when there's a stepfather than a natural father. No child should have a secret with another kid, with a teacher, with an adult. You should be able to tell you. That's the way that they build that trust. You can find out if something's not right. Because they lure these kids in and they get them to a

point of vulnerability, and then the kid's embarrassed. And Because they lure these kids in and they get them to a point of vulnerability. And then the kid's embarrassed. And now they have this secret. And you as a mom or dad may never know. But if you get your kids to make sure you don't have any secrets. One curious thing I'd like to know is during the search, did they find a camera tripod? How was he videoing it? Right?

Was there a tripod in the house? Was there a camera set up in the house? Otherwise, a third party would have had videotaping that depending on the angles and the videos. So I think that's probably what they're looking at also. People don't think about that, but the police are pretty smart. They're taking their time. And the digital forensics usually always catches the fendish. They always get caught. That's definitely. And I think you make very good points there. I mean, some of the things that are described, and they're pretty vivid descriptions of the sex acts involving Maddie and some of the paperwork that was initially filed in this case, it makes you wonder, Joe, was somebody else around when this was happening? But as far as you go, as far as your perspective,

as somebody in law enforcement, having those talks with your kids, I mean, it's invaluable. Yes, and what you guys both said, I agree with 100%, and I would even add or even take it a step further and say kids have to be able to talk to you without any fear of retribution, right? said, I agree with 100%. And I would even add, or even take it a next step further and say that kids have to be able to talk to you without any fear of retribution, right? Like you're going to now invoke your parent discipline on them too. And that's like the real important thing. And I think that's really about the communication when they get to a certain age about basically, you can tell

me anything. And if there's something that you really think is bad, don't worry about it, mom or dad, we're not going to, you know, it's not your fault. It's the other person's fault and then we'll take care of that. So I think that's the way to go in this thing. And listen, cops are skeptical and they will investigate this thing. They will look at every angle. They will look at these photos to look at, like Tim said, about the angles and about who can be holding this. Believe me, they're on top of all of that stuff because we don't believe in coincidences. Right.

Yeah, most definitely. Well, Tim Jansen, Joe Jacqueline, thanks so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. Our pleasure. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with us. We'll see you back here next time.

You can download Crime Fix on Apple, Spotify, Google, and wherever else you get your favorite podcasts and new episodes post each weeknight at 6 Eastern time on Law and Crime's YouTube channel. Daniel Camacho does our video editing. Our head of social media is Bobby Zoki. Our senior director of social media is Vanessa Vine. Savannah Williamson is one of our producers. Diane Kay and Alyssa Fisher book our guests. And Brad Mabey is our audio editor.