Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Killers Amongst Us: 19-year-old artistic beauty disappears after car found abandoned on bridge. What happened to Sarah Stern? (Part 5)

Episode Date: June 16, 2020

19-year-old Sarah Stern, a New Jersey woman disappears. Police find her abandoned car on a bridge with the keys inside. Did she jump off the bridge, committing suicide? Was she kidnapped? Surveillance video has police honing in on a suspect, but then a phone call turns into a smoking gun. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Hi guys, Nancy Grace here. Welcome back to Killers Amongst Us, a production of iHeart Media and Crime Online. Sarah Stern, her car found abandoned late at night on a remote bridge in New Jersey. What you'll hear in this episode is shocking. Undercover video comes to light. With us again, Sarah's dad, Michael Stern, who has fought so much pain to get through this investigation. Also with me, local reporter on the story from the get-go, Alex Napoliello. With me also, lead detective on the case, Brian Weisbrot, Monmouth County

prosecutor, Christopher Grimiccioni. Also with us, renowned LA psychoanalyst, Dr. Bethany Marshall. Right now, police working under the theory Sarah did not commit suicide or just run off. That will quickly become apparent as police get a call from a local teen who offers up a suspect on a silver platter. But is it real? Let's pick up the story right now. What's the extent of your relationship? Let's pick up the story right now. Sarah's friends and family portray her as this happy-go-lucky girl that never had any reason to say she would hurt herself or hurt someone else. But Liam portrays a different picture. Does she ever talk about, like, the guys or anything like that?

No, she has been known to obsess over girls in the past, though. He talks about an ex-girlfriend of his, Maggie, who Sarah became obsessed with. During his interview with detectives, Liam also asks them this question. Nancy Grace, killers amongst us. Liam McIntasney smiling in Sarah and Michael's face, but what's he doing the rest of the time? Preston Taylor, I can't get a read on Preston Taylor. He seems like the sidekick to Liam McIntasney. So to Detective Brian Weisbrot, you leave with a very uneasy feeling, bad, a bad feeling after you speak to Preston Taylor. Why? Well, there were certainly red flags that raised our suspicion, but we really didn't have anything directly in front of us at that point. And our efforts were focused on trying to talk to as many people as we could in an effort to find her. Joining me, Alex Napoliello, crime and court reporter for NJ.com and Star-Ledger.

Alex, how many times have we seen a case or you've covered a case where you just know somebody did it. Let's just take Scott Peterson, for example. Okay. We all knew he did it, but there has to be proof. And then sometimes you're wrong and you get a complete curve ball. Have you ever felt that feeling that, you know, somebody did it? There's just not proof? Yeah, I don't, you know, it's just a feeling you get sometimes when you're covering these cases from the start, something just doesn't seem right. And although the answer may not be right there in front of you from the beginning, it's just a feeling in the back of your head, you start to look at maybe family members or people close to the victims, and they start showing strange behaviors, acting strange, maybe not showing the emotions that one would expect

them to show. And you kind of just know that something's not right. And you know, Christopher Grimiccioni, veteran prosecutor, defense attorneys will tell you till they're blue in the face. That doesn't prove anything. And you know what? They're right and they're wrong. Not anything tangible. But humans, the human species is thousands and thousands and thousands of years old. And we have instincts. Instincts we can't even identify.

Like when the hair goes up on the back of your neck or you get chill chill bumps, or you have a feeling that something's wrong, but you don't know why. We call it gut feelings, but it's not a gut feeling. It's based on something you're noticing, maybe something imperceptible. What do you make of these two stories? Nancy, I think it's precisely that. There are certain things that as humans, there's certain common sense and understanding of regular and routine things in life that just made Detective Weissbrot pause and say, something's not right here. And ultimately, made jurors feel the same way. So you're right. I mean, there's certain hunches, call it what you will. It's a sense, like a sixth sense of sort that causes you to maybe look at another investigative step or maybe go in a particular

different direction. And speaking of a different direction, months pass, tick, tock, tick, tock, every day until this case is solved. Makes it harder to find out what happened. Where is teen girl Sarah Stern? Every minute that passes, witnesses disappear. Witnesses pass away. Witnesses go on the lam. Evidence is destroyed. Evidence is lost.

Every day counts. Months begin to pass. When, just like Alex Napoliello and I were talking, a curveball. Out of nowhere, believe it or not, a film director? It had been two months. And then? Then a young man in Brooklyn, New York, called his dad back in Neptune City. Said he was desperate for some parental advice.

His name was Anthony Curry. He was 19 years old, a high school classmate of Sarah's, who'd moved to New York to fulfill a lifelong ambition to make movies. But that night, he was very troubled. And when his dad, Eddie, heard why, he called Detective Mike Bonanno. I know the family very well. I've known Anthony since he was young. And Eddie was concerned that he had some information on this, what may have happened to Sarah. I was shocked. Detectives met with Anthony and his dad. The young man told them about a spooky conversation

with a mutual friend of his and Sarah's. It took place on Thanksgiving evening, he said, eight days before Sarah vanished. The friend told Anthony a horrifying tale. About a plan that he had to rob Sarah of her money and to kill her, strangle her, and throw her over the bridge. And how did Anthony take this? Is it a real thing or what? No, he dismissed it. You're hearing from our friends at Dateline NBC. Okay, so now Christopher Grimiccioni, Detective Brian Weisbrot, now you're in a conundrum because here's a kid that shows up who wants to be a film director. He's all about hitting the big time. Do you believe him or do you not believe him?

What about it, Detective? We absolutely believed Anthony Curry. He came across extremely credible. And more importantly, I think what I took out of the interview with him was that his level of, you know, he was very nervous. He was very concerned. He was very concerned about the fact that Liam was attempting to contact him and get in communication with him constantly since Sarah's disappearance. And once we had spoken with him, obviously our first step was to determine how we were going to be able to corroborate the information that Anthony had provided to us.

I don't know how you guys did it, but somehow you get this kid, this Anthony Curry, the aspiring film director, to get wired. Listen. But Anthony did get the guy to agree to meet in person. Maybe he'd open up then. I'll see you Saturday. Bye. The location? This parking area, aside the boardwalk in Bradley Beach. Desolate, in the dead of winter. Investigators wired up Anthony's car.

We do set up the car for audio and video. Was there a little camera in there? There was a camera in there. But if their suspect was a killer, what might he do to Anthony if he suspected a trap? So they knew this was dangerous. They tailed Anthony's car. We had surveillance units on either side. We were monitoring everything live. It was just before midnight when Anthony drove towards the meet point.

Anthony parked, and minutes later, their suspect climbed into the car. What's up, buddy? What's up, buddy? How you doing? How you doing? You want a cigarette? No, I'm good. I quit that shit. It was Liam McIntasney, Sarah's friend. The guy who'd spent the day with her a few hours before she vanished.

Our friend Keith Morrison at Dateline NBC. So now you've got this kid, a teen boy himself, putting his neck on the line. He's got his car wired up. Brilliant Detective Weisbrot and Christopher Grimiccioni prosecutor. How you got him to do it, I don't know. Because if he's telling the truth, he's in a desolate, remote parking lot with a cold-blooded killer, and his car is wired up for sound. Take a listen to this. We went to the bank, she took some money out, not all of her money. We're counting it up, and then she goes to walk out the front door. I took her out, dragged her.

My biggest problem was the dog, and her dog laid there and watched as I killed her. Didn't do anything. Nobody was there? No, nobody was there. Even her dad wasn't there. He was in Florida. Yeah, you said that he was in Florida. Yeah. So, I have to leave. I dropped my phone at Sarah's house. My phone was at Sarah's house. Wait, you left your phone? Yeah, I lost it. I couldn't find it. I had to go to work. I had timed everything out so that... Dude. Strangling someone? I choked her out, dragged her into the back, put it in the bushes, and then I was at work.

I had a full night of work, except I left work a couple times, which looks sketchy. But look for my phone, though, which is a reasonable thing to do. You don't look for your phone. Me losing my phone is kind of a good thing, because the cops are like, oh, he's hanging out out there, he lost his phone, he's going back and forth between his house looking for it. I'm hanging out with her. She was, we went to the bank, she took some money out, not all of her money. We're counting it up, and then she goes to walk out the front door i took her out drag her my biggest problem was the dog and her dog

laid there and watched as i killed her didn't do anything nobody was there no nobody was there even her dad wasn't there he was in florida yeah you said that he was yeah so i'd have to leave i dropped my phone at sarah's house my phone was at sarah's house like wait you left your phone yeah i lost it i couldn't find it i had to go to work i had timed everything out so that... Why did you take your phone? You should have left it in the fucking pocket. Dude. What were you doing?

Strangling someone. I choked her out, dragged her into the back, put her in the bathroom. And then I had to go straight to work. So Preston came over, took the body, put it in the bushes. And then I was at work. I had a full, like, night of work, except I left work a couple times, which looks sketchy. They're looking for my phone, though,

which is a reasonable, like, thing to do. You don't look for your phone. Which is kind of, like, me losing my phone is kind of a good thing, because the cops are like, oh, he's hanging out out there. He lost his phone. He's going back and forth between his house looking for it.

Oh, my stars. When I am hearing the so-called best friend, one of the three musketeers, Leah McAtasney, talking about choking Sarah, dad, this beautiful girl girl mocking her dog for watching the murder and doing nothing. That's what he focuses on, the dog and losing his cell phone. It's like Sarah doesn't even count. She's not even a factor in this. Michael Stern, I hate that I had to play that for you to hear the way they regarded Sarah. It was horrible. I didn't see it. I knew a lot of what was on the tape prior to that, but it was really over a year before I got to see it,

and I didn't see it until it was presented to the court at the trial. So it just broke my heart. I've never felt such deep pain before. You know, Michael, I know it sounds crazy to a lot of people, but I've had the chance over all these years, if I wanted to, to delve more deeply into my fiancé's murder, to go to the crime scene. I just can't stand it.

I don't want to read the trial transcript. I don't want to go to that scene because it just opens up everything all over again. I've got a question for you, Detective Weisbrot. When you hear this secret audio recording that the teen boy, Curry, makes, you've got to be reeling in shock just at the callousness. Yeah, absolutely. As you know, Nancy, we were listening live during that conversation.

It was beyond disturbing. It was very difficult to listen to. It was absolutely disgusting the way he spoke about his childhood friend, let alone any human being. Tell me about you listening to it live as it was happening, Detective. It was, again, it was beyond disturbing. It made me sick listening to it, how Liam, Sarah's childhood friend, could talk about her death the way he did, void of any emotion, how anyone could talk about anyone's life, the way he spoke about Sarah's during that conversation. It was truly horrible having to listen to that.

Where were you listening when this recording was going down live in a desolate parking area? So we were in a vehicle just a short distance away from where the actual meeting took place. The conversation happened on the beachfront. It was Ocean Avenue and Bradley Beach, which is right in front of the beach. And we were just on a side street just down the road. Well, it doesn't end there. Listen.

My plan was, for me, I underestimated my own strength and how much of that body would weigh, because I got up on top of the bridge to throw it off. My plan was I was going to throw it off, run over, jump over the divider, and get in the person's car. And I go up, open the door, unhook her, pull her out,

start dragging her to throw her over, and then cars start coming up. I see, like, headlights coming. I try to get her over, and I can't. My leg up. Like, the weight from her body, like, made me fall, and I can't. My leg up. The weight from her body made me fall and my leg went up. So now I'm lifting, my leg's up and there's three cars coming up. So I grab her body.

Dude, I had superhuman strength and I threw it in the car. And I picked it up and her feet were up here and her foot, her head was down there and three cars go by and I'm losing my shit because that easily could have been a cop. And then the police station is like right there. Yeah, yeah. And the person comes over the bridge, goes around and makes a U-turn, comes up behind me.

The two of us throw the body over, and then we wrap. You were hearing best friend Liam McIntasney describing trying to throw this girl's body off a bridge, how cars kept driving by, and he was panicking. He describes it in such detail, but nothing is more chilling than him describing the murder of Sarah Stern. I pretty much hung her. Like, I just, I picked her up and had her just like dangling off the ground and she just pissed herself

and she was in control of her name and had her just like, dangling off the ground, and she just pissed herself. And said my name, and then that was it. And it took me a half an hour to kill her. I thought I was going to be able to choke her out and have her out in like, a couple minutes. I choked her out, and then she was just laying there having a seizure or something. So then I just, I had the, I got a shirt and I just shut it down her throat

so she wouldn't throw up or anything and held my finger over her nose and set a timer. That's the only time I had my phone. And it took me like a half an hour after I hit start. On the timer. This is the thing about, The way he describes in such cold blood about killing this teen girl, Sarah Stern. But why? Why did he do it? 10 grand and this money I don't know if it was burnt or something old money terrible quality

I don't even know if I can put any of it in the bank it looks sketchy it'll look like it's Sarah's money especially if it's a federal investigation if they're looking for the guy who has the old money. Right, because it's probably

like the $100 bills. It's not like the new bills. The $100 bills have changed. And in the end, he actually complains about how little money he ended up getting. To Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Grimiccioni, is it just that simple? They wanted the money? I've questioned myself over and over ever since this case occurred and we were able

to get that video recording. And the only answer I have is I think there's sometimes there's just pure evil in the world. And this is one of those instances. Clearly he had a financial motive. He thought there was going to be money to the tune of a hundred or some thousand dollars. As I understand it, he liked to use that money. He wanted to use that money towards feeding a marijuana habit, but I just, I can't get my arms around this to this day, how somebody could literally choke the life out of one of his dear friends just for money.

To Sarah's dad, Michael Stern, joining us. Michael, it's not like there was a sudden angry argument and he pushed her down the steps. He says it took 30 minutes to choke her. 30 minutes. Every time I hear that, I just get upset. I just can't believe he did it. The pain never ends for me. I try to keep myself together. It's not easy sometimes. You know, I can't believe he did it either.

I can't take in that they, at this young age, it's very rare to see this type of premeditated murder amongst teens. At this young age, after going all the way through school together, the accomplice, Preston Taylor, being the

prom date for Pete's sake, it almost defies everything you think you know about human relations. I mean, Chris Cormicione, county prosecutor, you know, you and I are used to, you know, domestic homicides where typically the man gets angry, kills his wife or his lover, his girlfriend, and you know you're a killer. The killer is known. You're in a relationship. But something like this, people ask me this all the time, but let me ask you, Chris Grimiccioni, how do you do it?

Because this is contrary to everything we think we know about love and friendship. I ask myself that question all the time, Nancy, how you could lie in wait, premeditate and deliberate to take steps to kill a dear friend and then take steps to try to conceal that crime from the police and everyone else. I often wonder if this guy is just a sociopath. We can't find any indicators that would demonstrate that he was raised in any particularly bad environment. We're always trying to figure out what might have caused this. But I come back to the fact that sometimes there's just pure and unadulterated evil in the world. People do heinous and horrible things.

And I wish I had a better explanation for you. It's just completely tragic. This is one of the saddest cases we've seen. I've got to tell you something, Chris. Sometimes I just get overwhelmed, overwhelmed with, I mean, I know that most people are good. I know that most people are good. I know that. But when I hear Michael Stern crying about it, I'm overwhelmed. I feel like a huge tide of just evil washes over me. And of all people, her bestie.

And then there's the prom date, Prest. Okay. I don't know if I've ever seen anyone confess that quickly. I mean, that's really the reality of what happened with Preston Taylor. And then he just goes on for 52 pages or something in a transcript of describing everything that they did. I got home just as he was getting ready to run out the door for work. He was like, dude, I did it. What did you take that to mean? Killed Sarah.

And her body was still at the house. You know, I'm just trying to take in not only the depth of evil of best friend Liam McIntasney, but how he managed to rope in somebody else. I mean, you know, Dr. Daniel Bober, I need a shrink, and I need one now. Bober, if somebody walked up to me and said, hey, let's murder your good friend, your producer, Jackie, all right, because she's got blah, blah, blah, blah. Who in their right mind would say

awesome idea? Who? You know, Nancy, Truman Capote wrote this book, In Cold Blood, which I'm sure you know. And there are just some times when you get two people together and one person is the weaker person who is led by the stronger person. And this is someone who clearly, even before the murder, didn't have any conscience, any remorse, any connection to human beings, or at least, you know, that's what came out in the end. So I think this is who he was from the beginning. And it seems bizarre that he would just do this for money. But I don't think he had a conscience to begin with.

You know, to Alex Napoliello, crime and court reporter in J.com Star Ledger, Alex, out of the blue, this case was totally stalled. The cops had this bad feeling about McIntasney and Taylor, but it didn't break until some kid out of nowhere pops up who wants to be a film director. For a minute, I'd be worried this was just part of his one of his ideas for a short film, you know? So what did you think when you learn out of nowhere, like a comet, comes Curry? Yeah, I mean, this was clearly the smoking gun. Obviously, prosecutors had evidence.

But to get the suspect on tape confessing to the crime in the detail that Liam McTasney did, I mean, this made everything. And then Preston gets brought up during this conversation, so police are able to quickly go to Preston, get him in a room, get him talking. He confesses to everything. So really, without Anthony Curry, I don't know if prosecutors have as strong of a case as they did here.

Well, I got to tell you something. To Christopher Grimiccioni, Monmouth County Prosecutor and Detective Brian Weisbrot, the detective working this case. You guys were working so hard, but I believe, I believe this was divine intervention. I do. Because without Curry coming forward, just out of left field, this would never have been solved, even with all of your pain-staking investigation. Listen. From 11.45 p.m. to 2.46 a.m., all had faith. Correct.

Tides going out. Tides going out the whole time. Yeah, so it would have taken about 53 minutes to drift from the bridge to the inlet. Okay, so your conclusion based upon that calculation was that it would take 53 minutes for something to drift from the southbound side of the bridge to the exit of the Shark River inlet? Yes. So 53 minutes.

An object dropped in the Shark River and then exiting into the ocean would have traveled 10 kilometers offshore within 24 hours of the latest time period given to me by the prosecutor's office. Based upon your analysis, the conclusion with respect to where the body or where something would drift to was that it would drift. 24 hours, 10 kilometers off the coast. Correct. And that's how many miles? Seven miles.

Seven miles within how many hours? 24 hours. You are hearing expert testimony in court. While McIntasney and Taylor both convicted, Sarah has never been found. To Michael Stern, Sarah's dad, I don't know if you can even put words to this, but how do you cope with the fact that Sarah's remains, Sarah, has never been found. Well, since she went missing, that's all I hoped for, that we could find her,

or at least recover her body. But, you know, I talked to a lot of picture men and boat captains and people that knew the waters and the way the streams, the tidal waters were and the way things went offshore, it just became hopelessness after a while. And I have no closure, and I'll never get closure. It's been two and a half years, and the chances of finding her body have slipped away every day after a week or so.

After all this time, there's just no hope that I'll ever have any closure. It's very sad and disheartening. It hurts every day. To Michael Stern, Sarah's dad, Sarah is everything I would want my child to be. She's not just beautiful on the outside but beautiful on the inside. That didn't just happen, Michael. That comes from a dad

who took over when mom passed away with cancer and raised her to be the beautiful, young, wonderful, brilliant woman she was becoming. I've got a feeling that right now Sarah is listening to us. I just feel it. I hope so. When you talk to Sarah, when you speak out to her, what do you say? Just tell her I miss her every day, how much I love her. And what's your message to parents listening right now? Millions of parents of children of all ages, infancy to teenagers, to children that have grown up and moved away. What are your messages to mom and dad right now? It's just to be very careful who your friends are.

Watch your children. Be careful who they're with find out as much as you can about the people that they're around you just never know and just keep an eye on them because it's it can happen to anybody this is just the most bizarre thing that you know know, I've ever encountered. And even with all the things that have gone on in the world, this is just a totally baffling scenario of how everything took place. And you just have to be careful who's with your children and who's with you because you just never know. And if something seems like it's not right, it probably isn't. And you should really evaluate the people around you and be very cautious. A harsh message, but true.

And I'm taking your words to heart, Michael Stern. Michael Stern, Alex Napoliello, Dr. Daniel Bober, Detective Weissbrot, Christopher Gomiccioni, thank you for being with us. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart podcast