Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - 'Friend' murders HS Jr. prom date, throws her body off bridge for 'wad of cash' [Cops]

Episode Date: January 29, 2019

The trial of accused murdered Liam McAtasney is under way in the killing of 19-year-old Sarah Stern, a New Jersey woman he allegedly robbed of $8,000 -- believing she had $100,000 in her New Jersey home. Prosecutors say Stern's former prom date helped McAtasney dump her body off a bridge and into the Shark River. The men them left her car running to make it look like Stern committed suicide. Nancy Grace looks at the case with a panel of experts including private investigator J.T. Tipton -- founder of Cinco Peso Security and Investigations in Texas,  psychologist Caryn Stark,  Atlanta prosecutor Kenya Johnson, and Crime Stories reporter John Lemley. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Hi, my name is Lisa Toma, and I am an aunt of Savannah Spurlock. I am posting from Ohio today as family is scattered around the country praying and leaning in together this day 11 that we're missing Savannah. We wanted to say thank you to all of you who've been praying so fervently for Savannah's safety, that she would return safely to her babies,

to her family, her mother and father. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for those who help search, those who've been doing all they can. We thank you. The family is having a hard time, but we're leaning into each other. We're leaning into God and we know that he is so big. He is so big and he can do miracles and we're believing and we're hoping that she is safe and sound and we are choosing to keep Hope alive.

We also want to thank the Richmond, Kentucky Police Department who have been working literally nonstop to bring Savannah home. Where is Savannah Spurlock? That is her Aunt Lisa Toma begging for help on Facebook. And according to Savannah's mother, somebody knows something. Straight out to John Limley, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Let's start at the beginning. Tell me about Savannah's disappearance. Well, in the final days of 2018, Savannah Spurlock had a big transition in her life. She went from being a mother of two to being a mother of four. In December, she gave birth to twin boys.

The infant's father is Savannah's ex-boyfriend, a guy named Shaq Smith, with whom she also had her first two children. Now, on the night of January 4th, this is a Thursday night, just a couple of weeks after giving birth to her latest two, the twins, she decides she wants a night out on the town and heads to a bar called The Other Bar, a night spot right there on the edge of the University of Kentucky campus. Sometime between 2.45 and 3 a.m., Savannah makes a FaceTime call to her mom to let her know that she's leaving the bar with a couple of guys and that she'll be home in a few hours by the time the sun comes up. And Nancy, that's the last contact anyone has had with Savannah. We are talking about a missing mother. Police looking for her right now. Her mother saying somebody knows something about the disappearance. Now, what can you tell me

about her daughter, her children? The children are with their grandmother right now. They're both toddlers. And of course, they're looking for their mom, and the twins now, these newborns, have been at least three or four weeks now without their mom. Savannah Spurlock disappears seemingly into thin air. Now, at the same time, a new photo has been released of the 22-year-old taken just before she disappeared, just before she was reported missing, straight out to Kenya Johnson, felony prosecutor in the Atlanta jurisdiction. What do you make of it, Kenya?

So there's definitely got to be more to this story. Twitterverse has been very judgmental, but no matter what the circumstances are as to how a person lived their life, no one deserves to be kidnapped or murdered or injured in any way. And so she disappeared with two guys. For a judge to sign a warrant and for police to search a home means that there's some pretty compelling evidence that creates a connection and the police are searching for a more deeper connection to associate her disappearance with someone. Take a listen to the aunt.

Waiting is hard. Not knowing answers to questions is hard. When you're a stranger and you're passionate about this story, when you're living it and breathing it, it can be crippling. To know every phone call might be the one. Every text message might be the one. But I'm so grateful that they are working and they're protecting the case. And they can't tell us anything. And I would rather that and her come home safe. If you know anything, we beg you, come forward and call the Richmond, Kentucky Police Department. If you heard something, if you saw something,

I don't care how small it was, what if that one thing is the piece of the puzzle that they're missing? What if you hold the key to bringing her home? This person who is someone's daughter, someone's mother, someone's sister, someone's niece, someone's best friend. We urge you to share your story. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Please keep posting your positive thoughts and your positive prayers. We are going to continue to hope that we see Savannah safe and sound soon. Thank you.

Another thing we are learning is that in the morning hours, Savannah Spurlock FaceTimed from the driver's seat of a car with three other occupants and said she would be home shortly. To John Lindley, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, what about them? Who are they? Well, they're also seen, there are two guys that are seen in a surveillance video as well as, in fact, just a few minutes before she made that FaceTime call. She is arm in arm with a gentleman, and then there is a guy right in front of them walking just ahead of them. And then during that phone call, that FaceTime call, Ellen Spurlock, that is Savannah's mom, said that, of course, we've already mentioned that

Savannah said she'd be home in a few hours. And Savannah was in a moving vehicle with the male driving and a male and female in the back seat. They were talking very loudly. In fact, Ellen said she could hardly understand what her daughter was saying during that FaceTime call. This is a young Kentucky mom with newborn twin infants. They are only a few weeks old.

And mommy was finally going out for the first time since giving birth and disappears into thin air. If you have information, go to 859-624-4776. Repeat, 859-624-4776. I want to pause and thank our partner making our program today possible. It's Blink. You know, they're two very different instant replays. Instant replays during the big game this Sunday and instant replays you get on your smartphone of someone encroaching in and around your home. I mean breaking in. Blink cameras are the ultimate goal line defense. They're motion activated. When your Blink camera detects something suspicious,

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BlinkProtect.com slash defense. BlinkProtect.com slash defense. Thank you, Blink, for being our partner. Tim Taylor was once a friend of Sarah Stern, classmates at Neptune High School and junior prom dates. Now he stands in handcuffs after admitting involvement in her murder. He was also aware that his roommate, the co-defendant in this case, had planned out the execution of this little girl for at least six months.

Prosecutors say Taylor first denied knowing anything, later admitting to moving Stern's body twice after his friend and roommate Liam McIntasney allegedly strangled her on December 2nd. Moving her first from her home and then eight hours later from the family's backyard into her car where the duo drove her to the Belmar Bridge and dumped her body in the Shark River. Today, Judge Bauman ruled that Taylor will remain in jail for pretrial detention, no bail, after his defense pushed to have him home under his father's watch. Today, Judge Bauman ruled that Taylor will remain in jail for pretrial detention, no bail, after his defense pushed to have him home under his father's watch. The father took surprising actions after his son was questioned by police. He took everything back to the heart of his lessons.

He washed and folded everything and put his room back together the way it was. Therein lies the court's concern and decision to detain. Removing everything. Washing everything. Washing everything. It was just a very interesting process of work. New evidence. Taylor led police to where he buried two safes containing money and Stern's clothing in Sandy Hook and Shark River Park

Motive is something that will get into trial But I will point out the fact that at least one of the defendants is charged with with felony murder So you can infer what you will from that the felony murder the allegation of felony is that it's a robbery That occurred in the course of a murder for two months Michael Stern held on to hope that his daughter would be found organizing search parties that Taylor and McIntasney were a part of. Taylor later told police he did so to deflect suspicion.

I can't believe that somebody who's supposed to be their best friend has planned something like this. The search is ongoing for Stern's remains in the hopes of giving her family some closure. You are hearing our friends at CBS Channel 2 overwhelming for this family. I'm so distraught. Think of a mother and a father out forming their own search parties, trying to find their daughter.

This, as we learned, a 21-year-old man suspected of murdering his childhood friend, his junior prom date, for her $100,000 inheritance. Oh, I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Joining me in all-star panel, JT, Tipton Private Investigator and founder of Cinco Peso Security and Investigations in Texas, Karen Stark, psychologist.

You can find her at karenstark.com. Kenya Johnson, veteran felony prosecutor in the Atlanta jurisdiction. And joining me, CrimeOnline.com, investigative reporter, John Limley. You can find this and every other breaking crime news at CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, John Limley. You can find this and every other breaking crime news at CrimeOnline.com. John Limley, his junior prom date. Do I have this wrong, John? Just to get some money, they break into the home, take her out of the family home, kill her, leave her body in the backyard, then go out and get the body for the second time, and what, throw it into a river? Just start at the beginning, John Limley. Well, the victim, Nancy, in this case is Sarah Stern, a 2015 graduate of Neptune High School. That's about midway through the state of New Jersey,

but it's still part of metropolitan New York. Sarah was a budding artist there from Neptune City Township. The woman was last seen alive in early December of 2016. In the early hours of the following day, this is the 3rd of December, her 1994 Oldsmobile 88 that she usually drove was found abandoned, the keys still in it, on top of the... Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, stop right there. Stop right there. That just gave me a shiver down my spine. Karen Stark, psychologist, creator of karenstark.com. When you hear the car is found abandoned, you know, the parents are waiting for her to come home and they can't find her, can't find her, can't find her. You heard the reporter at CBS Channel 2 stating that they were hopeful she was coming back. Then you find the car abandoned. And I know that you're picturing it right now, Nancy, because I can't think of how,

once you know that there's a car, obviously you begin to suspect that she's not alive. And what could be worse than have a child precede you in death? It's just everything is out of order and parents never recover from that kind of trauma. And I mean, you lived through a lot of this with me, Karen Stark, trying to start my life over again after my fiance was murdered. And it was a really long process. You and I in commercial breaks would sit on the set at Court TV when we weren't watching the trial and talk about how you start a life over again. And JT Tipton, private investigator, founder of Cinco Peso Security and Investigations in Texas. JT, you deal with all sorts of cases. I thought I knew all about pain, grieving, suffering when my fiance was murdered,

but now that I have the twins, I cannot imagine what these parents are going through. JT Tipton, have you dealt with parents trying to find their children? It's a, that's a very difficult situation to be in. I'm a father of four, and I can't imagine what it would be like to lose one of my children under any circumstances, much less one such as violent as this. I've also dealt with death in the past. My brother passed away about eight years ago, and we searched for him for weeks until we were able to find him. So it's an arduous process, and it really, really grinds on your soul. alive that they may still be alive. I mean, Kenya Johnson, felony prosecutor in Atlanta, you know, that's, I was there 10 years. That's one of the murder capitals of the world. You deal with victims' families all the time and without a body. I mean, here we have evidence that it took them half an hour to strangle Savannah Spurlock, and they finally did it by stuffing a scarf down her throat.

But until the parents actually see the body, they're in limbo, Kenya Johnson. Absolutely, and the fear is that someone is convicted for murder, and then the body shows up. And of course, the conviction would be overturned. But you do hold that hope until that conviction comes and you just realize. Wait, why would a conviction be overturned just because the body shows up? I mean, if the person is still alive, then of course, it would be overturned. But OK, so if the person shows up yeah well in in this case you know you're absolutely right Kenya in this case John Limley crimeonline.com investigative reporter

we understand that one person one purpose pled guilty and which one has not? Liam McTasney, a former high school classmate, is accused of strangling her during that long planned robbery. He has, he's charged with murder, felony, murder, robbery, desecrating human remains, conspiracy to desecrate human remains. Now, let me get this straight, John Lindley. McIntasney described to Taylor how he murdered her, how he murdered the girl. And what he said, correct me if I'm wrong, because you've been watching the trial very carefully, that it took him a really long time to make her stop breathing. He strangled her for half an hour. That he was laughing because in the process,

she, quote, peed herself and vomited. And when she started throwing up, this, all I can say is a monster that looks like a human. When she started throwing up, he stuffed a scarf down her throat. And she said his name a couple of times. Do I have that right, John Limley? That's right, and it's all over a wad of cash that he found in a shoebox of hers, along with a note from her late mother, who had died when she was in high school. Hi, Nancy Grace here. Have you ever Googled yourself, your neighbors, somebody at work, a crush? 57% of Americans admit to keeping an eye on their own online reputation. 46% admit to using the Internet to look up somebody from their past.

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your children, consider using Truthfinder. What you find may astound you. Go to truthfinder.com forward slash Nancy right away to start searching. Truthfinder.com forward slash Nancy right away to start searching. Truthfinder.com forward slash Nancy. Truthfinder.com forward slash Nancy. Find the truth. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. It's a type of money someone would kill for. Those words from an alleged accomplice in the murder of his childhood friend, Sarah Stern.

The trial started today with Preston Taylor revealing what his friend, who's accused of strangling Stern, told him after Stern discovered large sums of money in her family's New Jersey home. Our Anthony Johnson live in Freehold with more. Anthony? It was cold, it was callous, and it was calculating. That is the best way to describe the testimony from the prosecution's star witness today, gripping testimony taking place all day. He's already admitted his role in this plot to kill the victim simply to steal her money. Preston Taylor says he and the suspect

Liam McIntasney had planned and executed the crime because they believe Sarah Stern had been left $100,000 by her mom who died when the victim was in high school. Taylor said he and McIntosh talked about getting their hands on that money. McIntosh is accused of committing the murder in Sarah Stern's house and dumping her body in the bathroom. Taylor saw the victim's body after going to Sarah's house to look for the suspect's phone and to move her lifeless corpse. How did you know she was dead? She was, her house was closed. She was pale.

Taylor says he and the suspect had discussed the final moments of Sarah Stern's life. Said that it strangled her. Took quite a while for her to actually stop breathing. Another half hour into the process, and all the while she said his name a couple times. After dragging Sarah's body from her home where she was murdered, the suspects used walkie-talkies to communicate on the bridge where Stern's car was abandoned after she was dumped in the Shark River. When I put her top back up, I put her over, I put her feet over.

Taylor and McIntasney also hid a safe belonging to Sarah Stern, which had some $2,000 inside. They had already taken $7,000 from Sarah's home after her death, but it was far short of the amount they thought they would get. Meanwhile, Taylor, who has already pleaded guilty to this crime, debunked a defense theory that Sarah had committed suicide because of a rocky relationship with her dad. She seemed depressed. She's suicidal.

And he answered no to both of those questions, also adding that the suspect and the victim were planning to take a trip to Canada, and Sarah Stern was looking forward to that trip. As for Liam McIntosh, if he is found guilty of the crime, he will face the rest of his life behind bars with no possibility of parole. As for Taylor, he's already accepted a plea deal up to 10 to 20 years in a state prison. He'll have to serve 85% of that time before he is eligible for parole. You are hearing our friend at ABC 7, that was Anthony Johnson, standing out in the front of the courthouse. It's happening right now. This beautiful girl murdered by her junior high prom date because he thought she had $100,000 in her home that her mom left her. Her mom died when she was little. He had seen some cash and believed it to be a hundred grand. Instead, he found 7,000 in the home and 2,000 in the safe, and they murdered her.

This one guy laughing because she, quote, peed her pants and started vomiting during her murder. I mean, Karen Stark, psychologist at KarenStark.com, she actually said his name over and over while he was killing her. The junior prom, I mean, you look back on junior prom, you look at the pictures and you might have looked a little goofy, but most people hold their junior prom date in a special place. You know, your high school prom, your senior prom, your junior. I still remember mine. I got a yellow dress from Sears and it cost like $22. And I just thought that that was the best thing that had ever happened.

And I remember I was 5'1", and my junior prom date was 6'4". Okay, Gary Brown. And we had the best time ever. Now, see, that's the way I remember a dance that I went to in the eighth grade. This guy, according to the state, remembers it in a way that makes him want to go murder his junior prom date, Karen Starks. See, I can't relate to that thinking, Karen. Well, Nancy, you're a person, a sentient person with real feelings and are reminiscing about a wonderful time. We're talking about somebody who doesn't have the capacity to feel. So she's calling out his name, obviously, in distress, pleading,

and he could care less. It would be the same as if he heard a dog barking in the background. It means nothing to him because he doesn't care. Imagine he's actually willing to kill her over that amount of money. It doesn't even matter how much money. He does his whole plan. And think about with an accomplice, no less. They think it makes sense to take someone's life for whatever reason.

You know, another thing I'm wondering is, is this more personal than just over money? It's actually Jackie Howard here in the studio question. But I got to tell you something, Jackie, people murder for money every day. And it doesn't have to be more. I mean, Kenya Johnson, you've certainly seen crimes over just money. I had a murder over a $5 debt. $5.

No connection. No feelings. That was it. I had a murder that I prosecuted over $10, hit a crack, a 10 rock. I mean, Kenya, it's hard for a lot of people to understand if you don't see it every day, but murders happen over money and much smaller sums of money than a perceived $100,000 inheritance. Absolutely, Nancy. And it's the thought of getting money. Even though they may not know what that amount will be, the thought of getting more than what they had drives people to do crazy things. And when it comes to the 30 minutes that they choked her, imagine the jury or anybody that's listening now,

how long 30 minutes is with this young lady gagging, still breathing and saying his name. It was just a very traumatic experience and no one can be unaffected after hearing the details of this crime. Well, one thing you got to take in account to J.T. Tipton, ace private investigator, founder of Cinco Pesos Security and Investigations there in Texas, the witness, okay, is an accomplice. So you got to take everything he says with a box of salt, not just a dash, but a box of salt, because he's trying to save his own skin. So then what you have to do to corroborate his testimony is you, the prosecutor or the investigator, have to go back and you have to corroborate what he says. For instance, he says, well, then we bear this happened, this happened, this happened.

Then we bury the safe. Go back. Can you find the safe? If you can find the safe that corroborates part of what he said. He said they dumped the body. The body was in the bathtub. Then they dragged it to the backyard. Then they dragged it from the backyard and threw it over a bridge.

Can you corroborate that? Can you bring out cadaver dogs and find where a dead body was in the backyard? Because it would be such an easy argument for the defense to say, my guy didn't do it. He did it. And he's trying to pin it on my guy. There's no reason you should believe his testimony. That's where they're going to go. So J.T. Tipton, what can police investigators and prosecutors do to support the turncoat,

the rat? Well, absolutely. As an investigator, it's our job, number one, to seek the truth and to find justice for the victims. So we've got to examine his statements. And I'm sure you're familiar with Mark McClish. I'd like to run this accomplice's statements through statement analysis and find out where there's holes or where there's truth and then follow up scientifically. Well, there's another thing to John Limley, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Now, see, you've got one of the accomplices, Taylor, claiming he was promised 30% of the cash, but we know he never saw any of it. The other side, the high school prom date defense, is going to say he's just angry over some money.

That's why he's testifying against my client. He's the one that did it. What do we know, John? What more can you tell me about what role Taylor actually admits he played in Sarah Stern's murder? Well, a bit of background on Preston Taylor. He was Liam McTasney's roommate when Stern went missing. He is expected to tell the jury that McTasney called him on December 2nd to tell him that he had killed Stern and asked him to move her body from her house. Taylor is also expected to testify that he moved Stern's body outside to some bushes and then later returned with Liam to

retrieve the corpse, load it into Stern's own car, and bring it to the bridge where they dumped it into that Shark River Inlet and left her car there to make it look like she had committed suicide. Prosecutors also expected to play a video secretly recorded by an acquaintance of Liam McTasney in which he confesses to the crimes. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Say that again about a confession? Well, there is a video secretly recorded by an acquaintance, maybe a friend, sort of a distant friend of Liam's, in which he confesses to the crimes. Wow. And what do we know what's on that tape? They have not released any details of what's on that tape. It will be interesting to see in that courtroom as if they do indeed play the video. Well, it's another day of searching for

the New Jersey teen believed to have been murdered and then dumped into a river. Two lifelong friends of 19-year-old Sarah Stern are charged in connection with her murder. Authorities say Leah McCatency strangled Stern at her Neptune City home while robbing her in December. Preston Taylor allegedly helped dump her body. The search for her remains is focused on the Shark River Inlet. That from our friends at ABC7. The body still not recovered.

Back to you, John Limley, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. We are talking about the murder of a beautiful young girl, Sarah Stern, by two lifetime friends. One even her junior prom date. John Lindley, what more do we know? Well, we're very interested to hear from the defense in this case because they're expected to focus on the fact that Stern's body was never found. And this creates reasonable doubt that she's even dead or that a murder occurred. A previous attorney who represented the defendant, Liam McIntasney, dismissed his confession to that acquaintance on the secretly recorded video by saying McIntasney was always making up stories to impress people, including that acquaintance, who is an amateur horror filmmaker.

Defendant Liam McIntasney's motion to suppress his statement to AC on January 31st, 2017 is hereby denied. It's further ordered that defendant Liam McIntasney's motion to suppress the electronically recorded phone call, text messages, and snap chats between himself and AC from January 26, 2017 to January 31, 2017, being as hereby denied. You just heard what happened in court when the judge, Richard English, denied the defense motion to keep that taped confession out of evidence so the jury would never hear from it. Wow. Legal maneuver is trying to keep the evidence out. Judge Richard W. English ruling that a taped confession that John Limley is telling us about that Liam McIntasney made to a friend will be admissible during trial.

He was also talking about text messages. JT Tipton, private investigator, founder, Cinco Peso Security and Investigations in Texas. JT, what could the texts reveal? We know they must be very important because the defense is trying to keep them out from the jury. You know, it's a very interesting question. There's no telling exactly what is going to be said in those text messages, though I bet if we go back far enough,

we'll be able to find that there's some sort of a conflict. And usually, as a result of that conflict, it's where we're going to find ourselves in this type of a situation. A lot of folks don't necessarily understand how text messages work, so they have to be pulled from the device themselves, which means that most likely a warrant was issued. And then they did an image of the phone and went through that image to come up with those text messages. You know, to you, Karen Stark, I don't get it. Why can't people stop themselves from texting? Because you know, if the defense is fighting tooth and nail to keep these text messages out they've got to be critical to the case apparently the two guys couldn't help but text each other about the murder and disposing of sarah's body i think that they don't they don't

really understand i think a lot of people don't understand that your pets can be retrieved and actually police can have access to them. It just depends on the situation. I also think, think about this, Nancy, it's two guys. When you don't have, when you have one person, that's something, but two, when you have two, there's always somebody who will talk. It happens. It's like hiring someone to kill someone for you. You know that eventually that person's going to speak up and say something to someone. I want you to take a listen to some of the testimony regarding the last time this witness saw Sarah Stern alive. Sarah was a special kid. Every time she came into the branch, she would come over and give me a hug, a kiss. I've been in my branch for 34 years. A lot of my customers

take in my customers a long time. So I have developed a lot of relationships with people over the years. And Sarah was one of those people you had a relationship with? Absolutely. I had a customer at my desk when Sarah was leaving the bank. And she waited until she saw me. As I said, every time she came in, she'd come over to give me a hug, sometimes give me a kiss. And she waited until I saw her because I had a customer at my desk. And how do you know that?

Because she stood in the door looking towards my desk. And this is another new post. Right, she's looking towards my desk. And the person in new pause. Right, she's looking towards my desk. Right, and the person in that video you recognize? That's Sarah. Play, please. That's where she's waving to me, goodbye. We're looking right now at video they're playing in court

of Sarah very happily walking out, and you hear the bank manager break down in tears describing that moment. He's been taking care of Sarah at their bank for years and years and years. Her mom died when she was a little girl and left her a little bit of money and Stern had just told her next door neighbor and a lifelong friend, Carly Draper, that she found about $20,000 in a shoebox, in a shoebox from her mom who had passed away. And she was going to use that money to move to an apartment in Canada with defendant McIntasney. And that's according to one of her best friends, Carly Draper. Now, Taylor, the co-defendant, takes a stand, and he says that the whole plan to move to Canada was just a trick that McIntasney

came up with to trick Sarah to withdraw the money from the bank. Man, this is a very very in-depth murder plot to john limley crime online.com investigative reporter wow and this is his high school junior prom date a lifelong friend that was calling out his name as he murdered her what more do you know It's been very interesting to read and hear what Preston Taylor has said that the defendant, Liam McTasney, did to hatch the plan and to carry it out. He told Taylor, McTasney told Taylor, that Sarah Stern was in possession of, quote, the type of money someone would kill for. And his plan was to get her drunk and then take the money. Taylor said, as we've mentioned, he was promised a 30 percent cut of the cash, but never saw any of it. Taylor claimed that on one occasion, McTasney tried to carry out the plan

and failed. He went to Stern's house with a six-pack of liquor drink, Mike's Hard Lemonade, to get her drunk, then called Taylor by way of walkie-talkie to come over, grab the cash, but their plan was botched when McTasney learned that Stern put the money in a safe deposit box at a bank. McTasney offered the idea that they all take a trip to Canada and she take the money out for the trip. But he eventually decided to strangle her. And on December 2nd, McTasney contacted Taylor by way of Snapchat, this time saying he was at the bank with Stern and this was a cue for them to execute their plan. McIntasney later came to the home where he and Taylor lived together and said he killed Stern. Again, this is all according to

Preston Taylor. You know, John Limley, I've been searching and searching and researching and researching, trying to determine how significant those text messages are that were the source of a big courtroom blow up. You just hit it. The bank manager says, I blew her a kiss and said, love you. That had that kind of friendship. She had, he had known the mom. He knew the dad. He had known Sarah her whole life. There reminds me of my little hometown in Macon, Georgia, where everybody knows everybody. And she walked out. He broke down crying on the stand, looking at video of her walking out of the bank. And catch this, at that moment, as Limley just reported, prosecutors say, while Stern was in the bank, McIntasney texts or Snapchats Taylor and says, I'm at the bank. I'm going to do it now. I'm going to take her out. You know what? They can both rot in hell. We wait as justice unfolds in a court of law.

Nancy Grace Crime Stories signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.