Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - 9 Shocking Details Unveiled in Maddie Soto Murder

Episode Date: May 20, 2024

New information about the disappearance of Maddie Soto have been released in a police interview of her mother's boyfriend and documents released by the state attorney in Osceola County, Florida. Maddie vanished on February 26. Detectives interviewed Stephan Sterns the next day about what he claimed happened the morning Maddie disappeared. Documents also detail the reaction of Maddie's mother when confronted with photos showing Sterns allegedly sexually abusing Maddie. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy outlines the key moments in Sterns' police interview in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you’ve used Incognito mode in Google’s Chrome browser, find out if you have a claim in a few clicks by visiting https://www.incognitoclaims.com/crimefix/?v=cf2Host: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.

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in his own words, telling police about the day that Maddie disappeared. I'm sorry I'm not being more help. I'm not a morning person. I was half asleep as it was. We're also learning what Maddie's mom told detectives after finding out about alleged sexual abuse. Thanks for joining me for Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Stefan Stearns is now charged with the murder of Maddie Soto. Maddie's mom reported her missing back on the evening of February 26th after she didn't come out of the school. Stearns was the sometimes live-in boyfriend of Maddie's mother, Jen Soto.

Both of them spoke to police that night. Stearns was the last person to see Maddie alive, claiming he dropped her off for school at a church that morning. Stearns spoke to police the next day on February 27th, and it was audio recorded. Woke up around 7, 7.15, somewhere around there, which is an early start for us, but we had talked about getting McDonald's breakfast beforehand, so we wanted to make good time. We did make good time. We got out the door maybe 7.30ish, 7.45ish maybe, got over to that area. She was asleep in the car most of the time, just snoozing until we got there. We got to McDonald's. We're close to McDonald's. I said, do you still want it?

Wasn't interested in the McDonald's anymore, so we continued on. This is a law and crime legal alert. Google Incognito tracked users browsing data without their knowledge. Mass Tort Alliance, one of our legal sponsors, is helping users file for compensation because of Google users' privacy issues through their incognito browser. If you've used Google incognito anytime since 2016, you can start your claim in less than 10 questions at incognitoclaims slash crimefix. Stern said he then dropped off Maddie down the street from her school, not at the school. She's got this phase that she's been into lately where she's very particular about what car she's seen getting out of in front of the school. She prefers her mom's car, but my cars are,

I guess, kind of hooties. I get it. It's an image thing. um that was sometime probably between 8 20 and 8 40 ish somewhere in there it was along the stretch of the road that um on the right side that has all the communities on it before you get to the overpass you could see the overpass from where it was so it was on that side on that stretch of road and that's where i dropped her off. She said she was going to go wait for her friends. She was going to go find them and hang out and wait for her friends. And I asked if that was going to be okay. She said, yeah, it's fine. Kids get dropped off early enough as it is. It's not totally unusual for that to happen. It's just not usually that early that I drop her off. I do school runs every once in a while for her. I said, okay, let her out.

Have a good day. Love you. Thanks. Love you too. And I turned around and was driving away and was watching her in my rearview mirror to make sure that she was going where she was supposed to go. She was moving in that direction, but she was rummaging

around in her backpack or something. What I assumed was probably headphones or something like that, but find out later that she forgot her phone here, so she may have been rummaging for her phone. But she was still kind of making her way towards that direction, so it looked okay. Looked like any other day, and I just continued on. That last little bit of information is very important because the sheriff of Orange County said after Stearns was arrested and charged with sex crimes involving Maddie, that video showed Stearns tossing Maddie's backpack into a dumpster at the apartment complex where they lived the morning that she disappeared. We have video evidence that shows Stefan Stearns discarding items in a dumpster in that apartment complex in Kissimmee at 735 on Monday, February 26th. Detectives later recovered Madeline's

backpack and her school-issued laptop from that dumpster. Now back to that interview with Stearns on February 27th. The detective seemed surprised by the location where Stearns said he dropped Maddie off that morning. And you can tell they were looking at a map while talking with him. Where's the church? Is this the church here? Yep, that's the church. Okay, so we weren't up to the church yet. So we were pulled onto here and then we pulled maybe about halfway up here, and I dropped her off somewhere in this area here.

And she walked from there to the school? Yeah. That's a pretty long way. It's maybe a block or so, but it's not out of the ordinary for her. She likes to do that sometimes. She likes the cold weather. She was wearing her hoodie. So did you merge into the sidewalk, or did you stop in the middle of the street? I just pulled over to the cold weather. She was wearing her hoodie. So did you merge into the sidewalk or did you stop in the middle of the street?

I just pulled over to the sidewalk there and let her hop out. How often do you drop her off? This might be the fifth or sixth time I've ever done it. Okay. And when you drop her off, where do you normally drop her off at? Normally down the street from the school. She requests that a lot. Like the same area or somewhere else? Especially if it's sometimes in the church parking lot, sometimes just wherever she tells us to let her out, as long as it's close, you know? The detectives then went back to the trip to McDonald's that Stearns had brought up

earlier. make a U-turn? Yeah, I tried to sell her on McDonald's one more time because I was still kind of hungry, but at that point she was also just wanting to get to school. Okay, where did you make that U-turn at? Actually, the school parking lot, not the school parking lot, the church parking lot. I pulled into that, turned around, and pulled back out. Did a U-turn there and went back to the McDonald's.

She still wasn't having it. That's when we came back. See, the McDonald's is on the same town loop or town center. It connects to the same road that the school was on. Yeah, so it's like a straight shot. Then the detectives moved on to what Stearns claimed he did after dropping Maddie off at school. And then after you dropped her off, what did you do?

Stayed, talked to her for a minute, made sure, you know, is it all right that you're going early? Because it was still early. She said, yeah, it's fine. I'm going to hang out, wait for my friends to get there, which she does sometimes, so it didn't sound outrageous or anything. That was it. I told her to have a good day. I loved her. She told me she loved me too. I turned around to leave,

and I was watching her in my rearview mirror, and she looked like she was walking in the right direction. She was rummaging in her bag a little bit like I said but still sort of just shambling in the right direction while she was doing it. So it looked it looked normal. It looked okay. Okay and then what did you do after you left the area? I left to go to the local vape shop because I needed some more vape juice. They weren't quite open yet, so I ended up going back home. Waited about an hour or so,

and then went back and checked the vape shop again. It was open, so I got what I needed there, and came back home. Do you remember what time you came home? The first time was probably right around 10 close to it and then I waited here and went back to the vape shop. Probably finished at the vape shop and came back home again a little after 11. Stearns was then asked about Maddie's mom, Jen Soto. Did he see her when he returned home that first time?

Okay. You said the first time that you hung out with her a little bit, right? Yeah. Was there when you got here at 10? Okay. I think so. She might have been at her blood appointment. Let me double check. I know she had a blood appointment at some point during the day. It's okay. We don't have to ask her right now. Sorry. Everything's a blur.

So she might have been here. She might not have been here. I believe she was here because she was sleeping in as much as she possibly could because she's been messed up with a new work schedule. So she had to be here because she didn't want to sleep in. Okay. I'll double check, but yeah, I believe she was here. And that's another interesting moment here. Stearns said he would double check on whether Jen Soto was sleeping or not. Keep in mind, this was just one day earlier. Stearns then said he left to go to some stores. He visited a Coliseum of Comics store, a couple of Target stores, and House Rules Games. Stearns apparently liked to play video games. The detectives then questioned Stearns about Maddie leaving for school without her cell

phone. Is it normal for her to not have her phone? Unfortunately, she's severely ADHD, as am I and her mother. So it is not uncommon at all in that very, very usual thing for her to forget things. She'd forget her head if it wasn't screwed on and we're forgetful about you know writing her about that we'll remind her and then it will leave our mind and she'll say okay and then it will leave her mind and is she on medication for this stuff normally. She's been staying with her grandparents a lot this week while her mom was working. So she has not been getting her meds a lot. So she was really speechless. Where is mom working at? What changed in her hours that she needs all this? She's

training. So it's not a set schedule yet. The detectives then asked Stearns about other items Maddie would have had with her, including what Maddie's backpack looked like. Does she have any other devices besides that phone? Any other electronics? She had her school laptop with her. Is that still supposed to be with her? Still supposed to be with her, yes. Okay. And what kind of book bag does she carry? A black book bag with like gray, grayish blue hibiscus flowers on it, like a print. Okay. When she leaves in the mornings, does she, what does she usually put her front um either in her backpack or like

her back pocket kind of wherever she just thinks to put it at the time stearns was then asked whether maddie would have just taken off and run away i don't know you've probably been asked already but she's never ran away or been away for longer than a certain amount of time? No, she's very dependent on us. I don't think she'd know what to do if she did run away. She's not the type. She's a good kid. Besides the ADHD issue, diagnosed with anything else?

Yeah, she was tested a while back and had some symptoms of autism, so she's potentially on the spectrum there. Okay. She was officially diagnosed with it when she was younger, and then she was retested and said, well, she shows symptoms of being on the spectrum, but maybe not full-on autistic. In fact, Maddie, according to documents released by police and prosecutors, was constantly in contact with family and friends. Stearns then asked whether there was any news about Maddie's disappearance. Can we have any updates? We literally have like 50 people right now on scene looking. I don't know if there's any updates that this person would be the other detective because he's the one that is in charge of all this.

I don't think I've eaten anything since yesterday. Yeah, I'm sure you guys are worried. This next little bit of information discussed in the interview is interesting. Stearns apparently split his time between his parents' home in Sarasota County and the apartment where Maddie and her mom lived. Maddie's mom would later tell detectives that Stearns hadn't been to their apartment since December. Like, because you lived down south, right? When did you come back up north to help her? I just got here this weekend. Do you remember what day it was? Sunday. Sunday was her birthday party. So yeah, it was the evening after her birthday party Sunday okay do you remember

what time you got here on Sunday um 8 30 ish maybe okay just in time to make sure that she was doing all her nighttime routines waiting for her mom to get home. You live in North Pole, right? Yeah, I split my time between the two places. Is that on Snug Street? Snug Street, yeah. Okay, that makes sense. You have a lot of Snug Street on here. Yeah, I split my time between the two. Is that on Snug Street? Snug Street, yeah. Okay, that makes sense. You have a lot of Snug Street on here.

Yeah, I split my time between the two. And shockingly, when Maddie was, quote, missing, Stearns said he and Maddie's mom didn't leave the apartment complex to look for her. Did you and your wife, when you guys were looking for her, where did you guys look? Me and her stayed local. It was all the rest of the family that mobilized and was beating the bushes. Did you guys drive together or separate? I don't think we drove anywhere when we were looking.

You didn't drive anywhere? Not that I recall. Did you guys go anywhere last night? Was that media? Maybe. I think Fox 35 or something. If it is, let me tell them to use the tape. Okay. I don't recall.

So the rest of the family was out frantically searching for Maddie, but not Stearns or her mom. Then detectives confronted Stearns about his story about the morning Maddie disappeared not matching video evidence. So keep in mind, all of this is still northbound. Okay. Right? You're still northbound on Jung Parkway. So why is your car seen going southbound at 810? I'll show you what location it is. McDonald's is over here. At 810, your car is seen going southbound

at this intersection. So meaning going toward Kissimmee. I had forgotten my gate clicker I'm sorry I forgot I had gone back to the house real quick after we left because I forgot my gate clicker. I actually had to go through the front gate and use my parking pass to grab my clicker. So it was the wrong time. I'm sorry. Like I said, I was guesstimating these times.

I'm not a morning person. Okay. So yes, we'd gone out. How far did you get before you came back down when you realized you forgot your clicker? Nearly all the way to the school. And then we turned around. We had plenty of time to kill, so it was time to go back. I rushed back, got the clicker, and that's when I came back here this way.

So you guys came back here to get your clicker? Correct. So when we look at the cameras in the front, it's going to show you coming back in here with her in the car? Yes, with her in the passenger seat, yes. I know it sounds like we're asking you stupid questions, okay? We just want to verify the times. I'm sorry I'm not being more help. I'm not a morning person.

I was half asleep as it was. Stearns was then questioned about his cell phone. Maddie didn't have her cell phone that morning that she disappeared, and Stearns didn't have his either. The other detective mentioned that you did not have your phone yesterday? Correct. Tell me about that. I left my phone at home in the morning too. I was so busy riding her over to get us out the door on time that I left my phone. She left her phone. We both left our phones. Did you have your phone when you went to the smoke shop? Not the first time after I dropped her off. I was still without it.

I got it, got my phone and went back to the smoke shop. Detectives said Stearns' phone is a major piece of evidence in this case. They later said they found more than 1,700 images of Maddie on the phone and in a Google Drive that showed Stearns performing sex acts on Maddie or vice versa. Sometimes Maddie was asleep. Stearns was asked about something unusual on his phone that detectives had noticed. And then I also noticed I was checking your call history i noticed that you don't have anything before this morning is that unusual on your phone uh no it's it's a new phone i'm stupid i went to do an update yesterday morning um and i don't know what the fuck pardon me um i don't know what the heck I did, but somehow during the massive OS update, I managed to factory reset my phone and lose all of my contacts, all my information.

What time was that? Do you remember? Oh, sometime while I was hanging out with her. I looked at her and said, what did I just do? She might know better. I don't know what time it was. It was when I was here with... I don't think I have any other questions. Do you, Louis? I don't know where my head was yesterday. It was so far up my backside. That's okay. We understand. In the meantime, while we're waiting for all this to get sorted out, I am going to hold on to

your phone, okay? I'll give it back to you when we're done. Okay. Do you have any questions for us? How long are you going to need my phone? I'm not sure. I'm waiting for my supervisor to call me. My dad. It's just my dad's using that to get ahold of me and get updates.

They can call Jen's phone. So Stearns said he accidentally factory reset his phone the day that Maddie disappeared. There have been a lot of questions about what Maddie's mother, Jen Soto, knew about Maddie's disappearance, if anything. A police report says a detective interviewed Jen Soto and Stearns a day after that audio interview. Jen Soto told detectives that she, Maddie, and Stearns typically slept in the same bed together, but there were times that Stearns and Maddie slept in another bed together if she needed a good night's sleep because of her anxiety.

A detective wrote that he confronted Jen Soto with evidence that Stearns had been sexually abusing Maddie. The document is redacted with names blacked out, but it says that Jen Soto asked to see the image of Stefan and Maddie. I pulled out a printed picture from Stefan's Google Drive that showed Maddie with Stefan's penis in her mouth. Jen said she didn't recognize anything in the picture as if she was in denial. However, she became visibly upset. In interviewing Stefan Stearns, the detectives wrote, Stefan stated that Maddie always needed human contact when going to sleep. Stefan referred to it as snuggling.

As the interview went on, I asked Stefan if Maddie had ever been sexually active with anyone in the past. Stefan stated there was an incident when Maddie was ever been sexually active with anyone in the past. Stefan stated there was an incident when Maddie was much younger. Stefan said that she did something with a phone or camera, but she wasn't scolded for it. Stefan said she was very young when this happened. When detectives asked Stearns about the photos on his drive, he asked whether he should be talking to a lawyer. He was charged a short time later with sex crimes related to Maddie. I want to bring in Tim Jansen. He's a criminal defense attorney, also a former federal prosecutor. He's been following this case very closely. Tim, your first thoughts on this interview with

Stefan Stearns? Well, it's probably an interview he probably shouldn't have given. It gave a lot of leads and it opened up a lot of contradictions in the evidence. And clearly they were able to get his phone, get things on the phone. He locked themselves into positions that is completely contrary to the evidence. So it's very damaging for him. You know, he's talking about how he got her up, you know, wanting to go to McDonald's. There was a lot of focus on this wanting to go to McDonald's. There was a lot of focus on this wanting to go to McDonald's. But in the documents that the prosecutors released in Discovery, they said that there's video footage that shows him leaving the complex that morning. And that Maddie, he said, you know, he tells the cops she was kind of dozed off and snoozing the whole time, but she's slumped over.

So that leads us to believe that she was possibly already dead when he left the complex that morning. But he's talking about wanting to go to McDonald's and, oh, he was going to take her to McDonald's and dropping her off at this church. And it was like really early, but far away from the school. So there's all these like weird little things that he's telling the cops that just don't make sense when talking about dropping a 13-year-old girl off for school. Yeah, technology again is going to convict this guy. The technology at the gate showed her slumping to her left, which would be opposite the car door. Didn't look normal. What kid turns down McDonald's? What kid turns down McDonald's twice?

Then he said he was going, he's giving his timeline. And that's just a coincidence. Both of them left their phones at home. So you couldn't get any geo tracking. That was purposeful. Her iPad or computer, it was probably turned off also. He said she had her backpack, but then Yen Cop saw him dumping a backpack in a

trash. None of his story adds up. He was going the wrong direction. The police did a pretty good job keeping him talking. It wasn't only to the end, he says, he realizes maybe I should get an attorney. So everything before that point is clearly going to be admissible. One thing that i found very curious was the fact that this happened on february 26 that him leaving the apartment complex they say with maddie's body in the vehicle and so he hadn't been at the apartment since december according to the documents so he shows up she had been with her grandparents apparently he shows up that sunday evening at 8 30 at night after her birthday party she had celebrated her 13th birthday because she

had turned 13 days before and then he shows up and sometime i think the window would have to be sometime after 8 30 according to law enforcement and 7 a.m. 7 30 the next morning something happens and Maddie is dead and mom is apparently sleeping in because of a new job according to him so we have a 12 hour or so window maybe 11 10 hour window where Maddie died according to law enforcement so it's it's very curious to me that he shows up all of the sudden right after her birthday party and then the police say that he kills her for whatever reason I don't know if something is supposed to have transpired during that time sexually but he's talking about how you know the mom was sleeping in because she has this new work schedule yeah it seems like what happened he says he went to live with his parents who were He's talking about how, you know, the mom was sleeping in because she has this new work schedule.

Yeah, it seems like what happened. He says he went to live with his parents who were older and complaining about them being deaf and having dogs barking. And maybe what happened, and we're all guessing, speculating, maybe Maddie thought this was over because all those sexual things were earlier when she was younger. Maybe she thought he was gone. And then maybe he shows back up and wants to continue it. And Maddie says, no, I'm going to the cops. I'm 13. We're not doing this anymore. And maybe that's why this transpired.

It's just a guess. But the timing would line up with the facts. Another thing that I found so disturbing was the fact that her mother told law enforcement in an interview the next day, the day after this interview, that they were all sleeping in the same bed together. And then when she needed to sleep by herself because of her anxiety, Stefan and Maddie are sleeping in the same bed together. I mean, and law enforcement says they find videos when she's like eight years old, even 11 years old, of him sexually abusing her. And, I mean, it's just, it's unbelievable to me. It's horrible. And the mother was not a good mother.

She has some responsibility for the sexual problems that happen here. You can't let an 11, 10-year year old sleep with a stepfather in the same bed not knowing not asking her what's going on um i don't know if they have enough to charge the mother with the murder we just don't know we don't that interview we got they tried to show her pictures of his private part and she was in denial, couldn't even do that. So I don't know where they're going to go with charging her with the murder, but clearly she should be charged with something not taking care of her child. Well, she can't lose her child custody because the child's dead, but it's a horrible scenario. No stepmother or father should let a child of the opposite sex sleep in the bed with them.

It shouldn't, not just those two, but not with the three of them. Things happen in the middle of the night. And you shouldn't do that. Absolutely shouldn't do it. No, definitely not. It's just, it's actually really unbelievable. And the fact that he actually tried to blame her saying she had done something with a camera when she was younger or something, and there was something sexual that had happened

and she had done something with a camera. I mean, it's, he was clearly trying to cast some blame on Maddie for some of these photographs that law enforcement said in the documents she could not have taken due to the positioning. Tim Jensen uh i think it's just gonna get worse from here the more that comes out yeah his interview how calm and cool he was right he's a psych he's a psychic man he's a cycle it's terrible what he was doing he was making things up as he goes talking about making u-turns trying to go to the vape shop it wasn't open yet and they said how did you know what time the vape shop opened you didn't have your phone with you nothing added up and when they finally confronted him about going the wrong direction oh he came up with this clicker he's a pathological liar and a murderer

and a sexual deviant and um he should be in prison and if he doesn't get the death penalty he will not hurt another child another person hopefully again yeah and he was not hurt another child, another person, hopefully again. Yeah. And he was not out looking for her, that's for sure. And then couldn't remember anything because he had taken an Ativan, a sedative the night before. This is what he was telling the law enforcement officers. It's stunning. He's pleaded not guilty. He's presumed innocent until proven guilty. But there's a lot of evidence that really does make him look bad. Tim Jansen, thank you so much. Thank you, Anjanette. Good seeing you. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with us. I'll see you back here next time.