Morbid - Episode 692: The Murder of Stephanie Scott

Episode Date: July 24, 2025

One week before her wedding, on the Easter Morning in 2015 Stephanie Scott decided to stop by her classroom at Leeton High School to go over her lesson plans and other coverage documents she’d left for the substitute teacher one final time. By midafternoon, her fiancéAaron grew anxious by unanswered calls and texts, and reported her missing with Leeton Police. The Leeton community rallied, coordinating search efforts to this beloved member of their town. Sadly, on April 9th, twenty-four-year-old Vincent Stanford was formally charged with the murder of Stephanie Scott. The arrest of Vincent Stanford came as a surprise to Stephanie’s friends and family, particularly because, as far as anyone could tell, he was little more than a stranger.Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!ReferencesAustralian Associated Press. 2016. Stephanie Scott's killer Vincent Stanford told police he 'went a little nuts'. October 10. Accessed July 12, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/oct/11/stephanie-scotts-killer-vincent-stanford-told-police-he-went-a-little-nuts.Australian Broadcasting Company. 2015. Stephanie Scott: 24-year-old school cleaner kept in custody over murder of teacher from Leeton, NSW. April 8. Accessed July 12, 2023. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-09/man-charged-leeton-schoolteacher-stephanie-scotts-murder/6379516.—. 2016. Stephanie Scott: Cleaner Vincent Stanford pleads guilty to teacher's rape and. July 19. Accessed July 13, 2023. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-20/stephanie-scott-murder-accused-vincent-stanford-pleadsguilty/.—. 2015. Stephanie Scott: Mother of missing teacher from Leeton fears search is 'running out of days'. April 8. Accessed July 12, 2023. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-08/mother-missing-leeton-teacher-stephanie-scott-fears-search/6378256.—. 2015. Stephanie Scott: Police say burned body found in Cocoparra National Park believed to be that of missing teacher. April 10. Accessed July 12, 2023. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-11/stephanie-scott-police-searchers-find-burned-body-near-griffith/6385584.Brooks, Emily. 2016. This is what we know about Stephanie Scott's killer so far. October 12. Accessed July 13, 2023. https://www.huffpost.com/archive/au/entry/this-is-what-we-know-about-stephanie-scotts-killer-so-far_au_5cd41819e4b0ca9b77563363.Fairfax Media. 2015. "'Devastated:' Communities mourning murdered bride-to-be Stephanie Scott." Central Western Daily, April 9.Harris, Janice. 2015. "Tears for Stephanie: Canowindra grieving for 'absolutely wonderful girl'." Central Western Daily, April 9.Harvey-Jenner, Catriona. 2016. Man's chilling google searches before he murdered a bride-to-be have been revealed in court. October 11. Accessed July 13, 2023. https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/news/a46516/murderer-chilling-google-searches-bride-rape-kidnapping/.Levy, Megan. 2015. "'No way it's cold feet!'." Illawarra Mercury, April 8.Partridge, Emma. 2015. "Stephanie Scott's alleged killer not rostered to clean school." Central Western Daily, April 9.Partridge, Emma, and Megan Levy. 2015. "Car found, cleaner charged with murder of Stephanie Scott." Canowindra News, April 9.Patterson, Monique. 2020. United in Grief: The story of Stephanie Scott's Beautiful Life, Tragic Murder, and How Her Death Broke the Heart of Leeton NSW. Milwaukee, WI: Genius Publishing.Pattison, Talia, and Daisy Huntly. 2015. "Have you seen Stephanie Scott." The Irrigator, April 6.Reneker, Tony. 2022. "Stephanie Scott case 'changed' inspector's life." The Irrigator, September 1.Shields, Moyra. 2015. Stephanie Scott: Missing teacher from Leeton in NSW Riverina due to get married on Saturday. April 6. Accessed July 12, 2023. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-07/missing-teacher-from-leeton-nsw-riverina-region-was-due-to-marry/6374992.The Guardian. 2016. Stephanie Scott killer Vincent Stanford sentenced to life for murder. October 12. Accessed July 12, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/oct/13/stephanie-scott-killer-vincent-stanford-sentenced-to-life-for.Stay in the know - wondery.fm/morbid-wondery.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, weirdos. Before we unleash today's macabre mystery, we were wondering, have you ever heard of Wondery Plus? It's like a secret passage to an ad-free lair with early access to episodes. You can join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or in Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You're listening to a morbid network podcast. If you're shopping while working, eating, or even listening to this podcast, then you know and love the thrill of the hunt. But are you getting the thrill of the best deals? Rakuten shoppers do.

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and ad free right now on Wondry Plus. Hey, weirdos, I'm Ash. I'm Elena. Binge all episodes of Flesh and Code early and ad-free right now on Wondry+. It is morbid. I say I'm Elena, but am I? I don't think so. Am I? I don't know. Guess what happened today? So I had to do, so I don't have a Facebook page and I needed a Facebook page for something. So I was going to make like a dummy page. Yeah. But I haven't tried to make a Facebook page in years. I don't know what the fucking entails.

So I went on and I look I put it on my shit And then Facebook is like hey you need to do a selfie video to prove you're human before we can accept your account I was like that's Wild meta, but okay. I did it and it immediately was like whoa Whoa, we don't we don't think you're a human. Back it up. That's so rich coming from the lizard people of all lizard peoples. Mark Zuckerberg doesn't think you're human. He does not think I'm human.

So he literally put a suspension on my account before it was even created because it was like, whoop, step back. You're an alien. So do it again. And then it was like, do you want to appeal? And I was like, I guess, because I need this for this thing. I guess considering I'm a fucking human. Yeah, considering I'm standing here a human.

So I hit appeal and they were like, yeah, we'll let you know within like 48 hours. Within an hour. I get a, um, absolutely not. And it literally says, let me read to you what it, because it's in no uncertain terms. It says, nah, bitch, we know about you and your fake as fuck. I will not be getting this account. Because it's in no uncertain terms. It says, nah, bitch, we know about you and you're fake as fuck. It said, your Facebook account has been permanently disabled. Fuck.

And it says, you requested a review of this decision, but we still found that you suck ass and you're not going to be part of this. And then they said, you can't request another review. And I said, guess what? So don't even try. I didn't want to be on Facebook anyways, you fuck. So I'm not going to request another one. I don't need to.

Not because I can't, because I don't want to. I didn't want to anyways. So I'm not human apparently. And that's going to be my excuse for everything now. It's kind of like a high compliment though, because maybe I thought you were just so gorge-wa. I love that you say that. Cause my initial thought was,

okay, I know I didn't put on makeup yet today, and my hair is a little greasy, but I am a human. Your hair doesn't even look greasy from here. I was like, what a roast. No, I would take that as like, you're so gorgeous that you look like an AI robot. I'm an otherworldly creature.

Yeah, you're a siren. I'm gonna take that. I wouldn't ever let Facebook call me ugly. Yeah, fuck Mark Zuckerberg. Yeah, fuck them all. For not letting me prove my human being status. Yeah. But moral of the story is, I was right.

I didn't wanna be on Facebook anyway, so. Who does? Who does? So that was my morning. Damn, anything else new in your neck of the woods? What else is new in your neck of the woods? What else is new in my neck of the woods? Um, I'm going To the ghost concert. Oh my god. And so it begins. Yep. The first concert in the United States She's gonna go to two and she's gonna be like it wasn't enough

And I need to go to more cuz we're going to that one and. And then like 11 days later, we're going to the Boston one. Oh my God, I love it. I'll take your kids for both. And I'm very excited. I know they're very excited that they're going to hang out with Titi. They're having a puppy sleepover. I have a new family member named Dolores.

Family member. I have a new family member named my sweet dog, Dolores. Dolores is a queen. Yep, Dolores Catania Sysic. I love her so much. She loves you a queen. Yep, Dolores Catania Sysic. I love her so much. She loves you a lot. She does, we bonded immediately. She loves you and she loves Aiden, my cousin.

She loves her parents, of course. She's the best. I thought having a puppy was gonna be so hard and there are hard things, but that bitch sleeps through the night. I know, I think Drew said we got a pre-programmed one. We literally, he said- I thought that was the best way to describe it. He was like, I think Drew said like we got a pre-programmed one. We literally, he said. I thought that was like the best way to describe it.

He was like, I've had, I think he said three dogs. This is his third. And like, obviously he loves all his dogs, but he said Dolores is the best dog he's ever had. I mean, yeah, she's easy peasy lemon squeezy. And I think she was sent to us because there's like all these weird, like signs that go along with how we adopted her. And I'm not going to share them all because they're like personal. But yeah, yeah, I love her and I'm obsessed with her and she's better than everyone in the world. Yeah. And I think Bailey might have sent her.

Yeah, absolutely. I definitely think that's part of it. I think she had a hand, a paw on it. Yeah. I know because she has Bailey tendencies. She does. And actually, she's doing really well with the cats. We did like slow introductions and, you know, we're still working on it,

but she's getting along with her brothers. She's killing it, really. Yeah, Lux wants to know everything about her. Yeah, Lux is just like, please tell me your life story. He said that to her the other day. I heard it. Yeah, so now I have four livestocks and... Four live animals.

I'm living. We are living over here. We are living in these streets. Yeah, you have anything else? The paperback of The Butcher Game is out. Get it. You can go get it anywhere. Or pre-order it, I should say.

It's not like out, out. You pick the pre-orders available. Yeah, can you be specific? Sorry, I'm not human. I'm new here. Kind of actually very human of you. But yeah, you can you be specific? Sorry, sorry, girl. I'm not human. I'm new here. Kind of actually very human of you. But yeah, you can preorder it. Go to the butcher game dot com or you can preorder it on Amazon.

You can preorder it at Barnes and Noble. Any of the indie bookstores that you like, you can try to preorder it there. All fun. Please do it. It's awesome. The paperback like a lot of you have said to me that you know where that back pocket paperback thing came from, it was Jess Mariano, the first one that comes to mind on Gilmore Girls.

I thought you said just Mariano. And I said who is Mariano? And a lot of people have been tagging me and like videos on TikTok where somebody will talk about putting a paperback in their back pocket. And they're like, see, it happened. I love that a lot.

So yeah, you can put it in your back pocket if you want. And it's worth it. It's small enough that it can go in a bag. It's just real, it's real nice. Hell yeah. It's real nice. I'm team Logan, but I feel he would put that in his pocket too.

I'm 100% team Logan. Always have been, always will be. Retweet. I still got to give just the easy transportation of paperback books. Fact. I'm not saying tinyurl.com slash the butcher in the rent. I know. I'm sorry.

Fake that you didn't get one of those anymore. We just made it easier. I know. But yeah, so get it so that you can be ready for anything else. You can just be ready for everything. You can just be ready for the future. Can we tell them what happened the other night? I think what happened the other night? We were the most connected that we've ever been.

Oh yeah that was wild. The weirdest thing ever. So we spent time apart which was like super weird. Yeah. Not for like it was just because she had family and like I was at home with my dog. Yeah. And I had like a fucking crazy dream. It was like very scary. But within my dream, Elena had come out with a book and it was on the back of something else that I saw. And I was like squinting, trying to see the title. And all I could see, first of all, before I got to the title, all the cover of it was Elena. Like, she looked like a medium.

Like she was like... At a seance table? Yeah, at a seance table. And your arms were just like spread wide, like, come to like a medium. Like, she looked like... At a seance table? Yeah, at a seance table. And your arms were just like spread wide, like, come to the seance table, let me read your future. Which is obviously the cover of whatever book I write next. I know, sorry to spoil it. Yeah, you spoiled it.

I was like, what the fuck? Thanks a lot. Even in my dream, I was like, that's not my sister. But then I was squinting and the title, all I could see that it started with was... So I texted her to like tell her even more about the dream. And right before this, before we talked, I that same day, I had had a conversation in the car with John, where I was talking about what I would want to name a book

that is maybe or may not come out in the future. And it was a book that was going to be one word as a title. And that this that's what happened in my dream. And it was going to begin with a V. Yeah. And it's way too fucking weird. Because I've never discussed this title with anyone I have never said anything. No, I, she had not said this to me at all. And in the dream, it was like one word. Yeah. Which is, and I couldn't see the full word. All I could see so clearly was an... That's a, when she told me this, I was like, this is so fucking weird.

Because I just talked to Jon about this. And then there was a few other weird things like that that happened last week. Yeah. So, you know, no spoilers here. We bleeped over that. But crazy. Yeah. Weird.

It's all I could see. I know. It's so crazy. Yeah. It's like. But crazy, weird. It's all I could see. I know, it's so crazy. Yeah. Like you knew. I know, I do. I know all. Like you knew. Well, I think that's all a bit nasty for right now.

I have a very sad case for us today. But also, a very interesting case. The person who committed this crime is fucking disgusting. And it's just absolutely insane what they did. And it's a good thing that they got caught, because this could have happened many more times, I think. Oh, boy. And it's very sad.

So we're going to be talking today about the murder of Stephanie Scott. Stephanie Scott was born on October 14th, 1985, in Conewindra, New South Wales. She was the fourth of five children born to Robert and Marilyn Scott. In the Scott family, she was said to be the most thoughtful of the children, which also included her two brothers, Gordon and Stuart,

and her sisters, Robin and Kim. Her sister Kim said that Stephanie was always thinking of others and noted all the small things that she would do to make other people smile. Like, she'd send them a text after midnight on their birthday, just to be the first one. Or she'd randomly share pictures of things that made them happy, just to brighten someone's day.

It was probably that thoughtful, caring side of Stephanie's personality that made her want to become a teacher to enrich the lives of young people in the first place. Her father also was a teacher, so I'm sure he inspired her path, too. And after graduating from high school, she applied for and was accepted into the teaching program in the first place. Her father also was a teacher, so I'm sure he inspired her path too. And after graduating from high school, she applied for and was accepted into the teaching program at Charles Stewart University

in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. I said that with a ridiculous accent. But this was one of the nation's more competitive teaching programs. So this was a big deal that she got into this. She was so excited to be setting off on her own, pursuing her own dream of becoming a teacher. But at the same time, she was also very anxious because she was leaving behind her boyfriend of several years, Aaron Woolley. Stephanie and Aaron had actually met in high

school where he was a star athlete, but they didn't really get to know one another until they started working together at a local grocery store. So now faced with the option of breaking up or trying to navigate long distance, they decided on the latter and they weren't going to let the three hour drive between Kanau and Draa and Wagga Wagga stop them from being together. You always hear people say that high school romances aren't going to last and just like you know when long distance enters the chat it's going to get even harder. Blah, blah. But Stephanie and Erin really proved themselves to be the exception.

They stayed together, and to everybody around them, they actually made it look pretty easy. According to author Monique Patterson, and we'll link her book in the show notes, Stephanie and Erin, quote, spoke often and never complained about the long three hour drive to see each other. So within a month or two of her first semester,

Stephanie's warm and very outgoing personality had won her countless new friends and especially after she joined the women's football team the Tolland Wolves, which if you're listening in America that's soccer. Her coach years later still said that Stephanie lit up a room when she walked into it. He was Stephanie's coach for three seasons and he said Stephanie was always the kind of player who gave her heart and soul on the field and always finished with a smile win or lose. Just a good sport. Her teammates also shared the coach's perspective. A friend, Ruby Scanlon, said she was just beautiful. Everyone loved her. In fact, Stephanie was so beloved by her teammates and even members on other teams too, that in the

years after her unfortunate death, the football clubs in the Wagga Wagga area created Scotty Day after her last name. And on that day, it's a remembrance of her. Julie McLean, the assistant coach and team captain of the Riverina Lions AFL women's team told ABC News, we forged great friendships and have many great memories of her at our club. We wanted to make something positive rather than a sad day. So we wanted to honor her.

Oh, that's really nice that they did that though. It is. Especially creating it like in a positive way. Yeah, and it says a lot about what she meant to them. And just the fact that like not only her own team got together and did that, but members on other teams as well get together. That tells you who she was.

That's huge. So she had a great experience obviously at team got together and did that, but members on other teams as well get together. That tells you who she was. That's huge. So she had a great experience, obviously, at Charles Stewart University. But after graduation, Stephanie was really excited to go home and put that long-distance aspect of her relationship with Aaron behind them. That enthusiasm dwindled a bit when not long after completing her studies, she actually got offered a position teaching English and drama at Leaton High School Which was a three-hour drive from her family and Erin

Again, but this time Erin said you know what? I'm gonna move with you to Leaton like we'll do this together this time because we're both way too excited to yeah Let this go so he found a job there at the local meatpacking plant. ["Wonderful Music"] Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondry's podcast, American Scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in US history, events that have shaped who we are as a country and that continue to define the American experience.

American Scandal tells marquee stories about American politics, like the break-in at the Watergate Hotel, an event that led to the downfall of a president and raised questions about the future of American democracy. We go behind the scenes looking at devastating financial crimes, like the fraud committed at Enron and Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. And we tell stories of complicated public figures like Edward Snowden and Monica Lewinsky, people who found themselves thrust into the spotlight and who spur debates about the future of the country. Follow American Scandal wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app.

Hey, weirdos. We need to tell you about something that has completely blown our minds collectively. There's a new show called Lawless Planet that's uncovering true crime stories so massive, they're affecting the entire planet. Post-Zack Goldbaum is investigating real cases where environmental destruction meets murder, conspiracy, and cover-ups. We're talking about activists who disappear in the Amazon rainforest, whistleblowers who risk everything to expose deadly corporate secrets, and communities being silently poisoned while powerful people profit. What makes these stories truly terrifying? They're happening right now. This isn't history. It's a massive criminal conspiracy unfolding in real

time with consequences that affect us all. Each episode feels like opening a case file into the darkest corners of corporate and government power. Trust us, once you start listening, you will not be able to stop thinking about these stories. Follow Lawless Planet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes of Lawless Planet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Just like she had in pretty much every new endeavor she ever went through, Stephanie wasted no time making new friends at school and she became a very active participant in

her new community. Her co-worker and her friend Owen McLaughlin told reporters Stephanie was involved in so much at school. She loved her sport and her drama and was just an absolutely wonderful girl. Whether she was in the classroom, she was on the field where she coached the school's football team. She wasted no time just establishing herself as a positive force in the school's community.

One of her 12 year old players said, Miss Scott is an amazing and beautiful lady that would just help you out no matter what. Oh, that breaks my heart. I know. So now that they struck out on their own and really established themselves in Leighton, Stephanie and Erin decided to take a celebratory trip to Thailand in 2014. And her sister Kim said, I remember sending her a message saying,

I don't know why I'm sending you this, but I feel like something really special is going to happen. Like talking about the trip. Yeah. Kim's suspicion turned out to be spot on because while they were away in Thailand, Erin proposed one night after dinner. And of course, she accepted.

And in Thailand. I know how romantic. Like what a gorgeous place. Truly. So they got home and Stephanie got right to work planning the wedding. She was so excited. They set their date for April 11th, 2015, just one week after

Easter. The guest list included over a hundred names and she was so excited that she hand wrote and addressed every single invitation because she was just so excited to be planning the wedding and getting married to Aaron. Author Monique Patterson wrote, it was her way of savoring every minute associated with what would be the happiest day of her life. But unfortunately, she was not going to get the opportunity to experience that. By the time the first week of April 2015 arrived, Stephanie was pretty sure she had taken care of every single detail for the upcoming wedding and the honeymoon too that was going to follow.

But still, she was a fastidious worker, and she wanted to make sure that everything was just so. So on the morning of Sunday, April 5th, she decided to stop by her classroom at the high school and go over her lesson plans and her other coverage documents just one last time that she was going to leave for the sub. So Aaron had actually gone to Kanoandra the night before to go to a party, so she texted him that morning and said she was going to school for a few hours, but she was going to be home in time for them to make an 8 p.m. dinner reservation. So on his way back to Leighton that afternoon, Aaron called Stephanie a few times, but every single call went unanswered, and he was texting her and those weren't getting any answered.

So that was weird. He must have been so stressed out. He was stressing out, but at the same time, he kind of assumed, you know, like maybe she got caught up in her work or maybe she met up with a friend and her phone died. Like you don't know. So he was like, I'll just talk to her when I get home. But then he got back home to Leighton a few hours later and there was no sign of Stephanie at the house.

So now he really was getting even more anxious. There's an empty house, unanswered calls, unanswered texts. So he got in his car and he drove over to the school. But at that point, the school was locked and there was no sign of Stephanie or her car anywhere. That's horrifying. So from there, he just started driving around trying to find her. At that point, that's the thing. And like you always, I'm sure, feel like you're going crazy.

Yeah. It's like when you like, have you ever, feel like you're going crazy. Yeah. It's like when you, like, have you ever, like, lost somebody that you were with in the supermarket or something, and you're like, oh, my God, like, what if they're not there? And then you're like, no, that's crazy. And then you find that person. And you're like, did I miss something? Like, did they tell me they were going somewhere

and I just didn't hear it or what's going on? Right. Right. So he's driving around. He's like, I'll find her. But he's driving around, he's driving around, he's not finding her. So he realized pretty quickly it was going to? Right. Right. Yeah. So he's driving around. He's like, I'll find her. But he's driving around, he's driving around, he's not finding her. So he realized pretty quickly it was going to be a long shot finding Stephanie this way. So on his way back home, he started calling her family

and her friends to see if they had heard from her, and nobody had heard from her or seen her that day. So he really had nothing left to do. He called the police and reported her missing. Yeah. The next day, while Aaron and Stephanie's parents spoke with the police, the rest of the Scott family took to social media to spread the news about Stephanie's disappearance. The post where they shared that news was shared more than 1,500 times, but somehow failed

to produce any credible leads. None whatsoever. Later that day, Aaron spoke to reporters and asked anybody who might have seen or heard from Stephanie to get in touch with him or someone in the family, the police, anybody. He told reporters, it's really out of character. Someone said they saw her at Woolworths, which is a grocery store, around 1 p.m. on Sunday, but no one has seen or heard anything since. It's so wild when people will think they see someone in these scenarios. Yeah. Like you'll hear these reports later of people being like, Oh, I thought I saw them at this place or this place. Yup.

Yeah. Not always. By that afternoon though, it seemed like the entire Leighton community actually joined in on the search for Stephanie. Like this was all hands on deck kind of thing. Community effort. Yeah. Big community effort.

The high school football team was involved. Aaron and Stephanie's coworkers, Aaron's own touch football team, like anybody who was connected to them was trying to help. But not everybody was convinced that Stephanie had disappeared so much as she'd run away. Obviously it wouldn't be the first time a bride-to-be would run away because of like cold feet or stress or, you know, maybe they feared that they were going to make some kind of mistake by getting married. But Erin was like, No, she didn't run away. We're one week out from our wedding and she's very much looking forward to it.

Well, that's all account was that she was unbelievably excited. There was not one person who said otherwise. He said like, Oh, she seemed like she was a little, no, like it seemed like she was like psyched. She was super psyched. And he said, I've been with her for five years. Her disappearance is out of the blue. It's out of character for her. And he knows.

And he does. And her family knew too. But because they had to start somewhere and obviously because it's unfortunately pretty common for people to have been involved in the disappearance of their spouses and partners, police did initially suspect that maybe Erin had something to do with her disappearance. Which you can understand.

Yeah. Luckily, they actually were able to rule him out pretty quickly. But there was still a segment of the public that remained skeptical of his story. And you know, oh, yeah, armchair detectives, the whole nine. Well, there's you could have every shred of proof. And there's certain people that just don't want to hear it. Exactly. They want their own want to hear it. Exactly. They want their own opinion to be right.

Yep. So looking back on some early suspicions of his own, actually, local journalist Steve Mudd said, It was school holidays, she had a wedding later that week, and being a bit of a cynic, I wondered if maybe she was just taking a little time for herself. There was chatter about it in the newsroom, but when the family really came out as concerned and the hours dragged on and on, it became more and more clear that something sinister had occurred. The shift in the press toward taking the story more seriously seemed to come on the third day without any word from Stephanie, and that was when her parents really started to express

a deep concern that somebody had done something to prevent her from coming home. Her mother, Marilyn, told the press, It's the worst thing I've ever been through. I think today, if we don't find her today, you can't let yourself think about it, but you do. It's cold and we're running out of days. Oh my God, and her poor mother. I can't imagine. I can't fathom this.

No, and just the days are turning, the hours are turning into days. And having to start coming to this realization that there's a real possibility you're not gonna find her, or that you are and it's gonna be the worst case scenario. I truly cannot imagine. But Marilyn Scott also addressed the occasional suggestions that her daughter had run off to avoid her own wedding.

She said everything was pointing toward the wedding and that Stephanie could not have been more excited. Yeah. Her sister Robin also echoed her mother's sentiment and said, "'I spoke to her on Saturday night and she was over the moon. She was so excited. She had been to Griffith that day shopping and getting ready for her honeymoon. Yeah. So it's like, I don't, this doesn't make sense.

No. So by the afternoon of April 8th, those hopeful of finding Stephanie safe were dealt a major blow that would quickly break the case wide open. The friend who had told investigators that they saw Stephanie at the grocery store on Sunday afternoon, the day she went missing, changed their story when they realized that they had the wrong day, and it was actually most likely the day before Saturday that they had seen her. Oh, come on. So that meant that the last time anyone had seen Stephanie was at Leighton High School. But the biggest break in the case

came a few hours later when investigators announced that they had arrested Leighton High School janitor Vincent Stanford in connection with Stephanie's disappearance, which seemed abrupt to everybody. Yeah. And the news of Stanford's arrest was accompanied by the grim news that police had also found Stephanie's car earlier that day.

And it was being treated as one of two crime scenes. The other one being a quote residential property in Leighton. Superintendent Michael Rowan told the press, I can say her vehicle has been located. It was located on a property at Wa Moon earlier today and is presently being secured as a crime scene and will be processed during the day. The next morning, April 9th, 24-year-old Vincent Stanford was formally charged with the murder of Stephanie Scott. Investigators at this point actually still hadn't found her body yet, but they initially started looking into Vincent after finding some holes in his alibi. And when they were able to search his property,

investigators found a, quote, number of items linked to Ms. Scott's death, including a cell phone evidence that contained what they said was photographic evidence, where they discovered photos of what appeared to be a burnt body. Yeah. Oh, this is awful. While investigators interviewed Vincent at the Leighton Police Station, a second set of detectives used a helicopter to locate Stephanie's car, a red Mazda, which they ended up finding in an abandoned wheat field about five miles outside of Leighton.

Inside the car, they found blood stains and additional evidence that 100% suggested foul play. The arrest of Vincent Stanford came as a surprise to Stephanie's friends and family, mostly because as far as anybody could tell, he was a complete stranger to her. Like, she did not have any connection to this man, other than the fact that they worked at the same school. That's scary. Yeah. He had only moved to the area with his mother and his brother just one year earlier.

And the weirdest thing was that neighbors actually reported this family to be a very polite one. They said they were… I hate that. Super polite, kept to themselves, but were pretty normal. One neighbor said they would always say hello in the street, just like everyone does when you live in a tiny town like ours. And another neighbor went as far as describing them as beautiful people. I literally hate that. Yeah.

Because I hate the fact that you can sit there and go, well, I said hi to them every day and they said hi to me. And it just goes to show when something like this happens, it could be anyone. Yeah, you can't tell. No, not at all. Like you can't be like, oh, I bet that person's a serial killer. It's nine times out of 10, you're going to be wrong. You look this guy up, he looks like a pretty normal guy.

If that was my neighbor, I'd be like, oh, hey, what's up? He has a face that you want to punch so hard, he would go flying into the sun. Knowing what you know about him now. Knowing what you know about him now. But if you didn't know, and that was your neighbor. He would just be a random guy on the street. You'd probably just be like, hey. Yeah, you would just be a very normal dude walking down the street. You'd probably just be like, hey. Yeah, you would just be a very normal dude.

You'd have normal interactions. Like, I wouldn't cross the street if I saw him coming or anything like that, you know. Yeah. So after the announcement that Stephanie might have been abducted by someone who worked at the school, Leighton High School officials were quick to distance themselves. And they explained that the school's janitorial staff were contracted through an outside agency. Like, we didn't do it. They said, you can talk to that outside agency.

And that agency was Colin Joss and Company. When Colin Joss was contacted for comment, the manager for the company did confirm that Vincent Stanford had been employed with the company since 2014 and had actually, quote, undergone standard criminal checks before he was employed. That's even scarier. Even scarier. The manager also confirmed that he actually wasn't supposed to be scheduled to work at the school that day,

but they weren't able to confirm if he had keys to the school or not. Which like you should know who has keys to a high school. To a school? Yeah. Yeah. Everybody's worst fears though were confirmed a few days later on April 10th,

when the burnt body of a woman was discovered in Coco Para National Park, about 40 miles away from Leighton. Superintendent Rowan said, the investigation is ongoing, but in terms of our searching and things like that, we certainly believe the remains are those of Stephanie. That's awful. He told reporters that they focused their investigation on that area after somebody reported seeing a man throwing something into an irrigation ditch on that Monday evening. In that area, investigators also found an iPad belonging to Leighton High School in the irrigation ditch. And that was not far from the burnt remains.

But basically, that confirmed the body to be Stephanie at that point and then they could do forensic testing. That is horrifying. Yeah. Now after his arrest for Stephanie's murder, Vincent Stanford was held without bail in a jail cell in Leighton where investigators were just trying to piece together what happened on that Easter Sunday at Leighton High School. Because remember, it's Easter Sunday. Damn. She's planning this wedding, she's one week out from the wedding.

And just popping in there to make sure everything's taken care of. That's the thing, making sure her students are going to have what they need while she's gone, that the sub has everything they need. Just being a good colleague, a good teacher. Yeah, just being a good fucking person. So Vincent started working at the school in early March of 2015, in what was supposed to be a temporary position that would have ended a few weeks after his start in March.

Fuck. But for some reason, his contract was extended. Per his contract, he was authorized to do his cleaning before and after school hours, specifically from 3.30 a.m. to 8.30 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 to 6pm, and he was not authorized to be on the property during weekends. Oh shit.

So he never should have been there. He wasn't supposed to be there. No. And despite that, there were times where he quote, was witnessed entering and leaving the girls toilets during school hours, which given his role in the school didn't raise red flags because he's a janitor until after his arrest. But like, are we not, like,

is he only coming out of the girls' bathrooms? Because that should raise a red flag. That's the thing. That should at least, at the very least, somebody should be like, what's going on there? What are you doing there? Like, if it seems weird to you, it's probably weird. Check it out. Just check it out.

Check it out. And had you checked it out, you would have who cares if you offend someone, you offend someone. Who cares? You might've saved someone. You would've realized that he wasn't supposed to be there during those times anyway. Which by no means is this anybody's fault. No.

I'm just saying like. That's why you check things out. That's why. Don't feel stupid just saying something if something seems wrong. That's all I'm saying. You gotta trust your gut. Yeah. ["The Little Mermaid"]

Hey, weirdos. You know Ash and I have covered some seriously dark tales about romance gone really wrong. Oh yeah, there are so many cases where too good to be true turns out to be exactly that. Well, get ready for a love story that's going to blow your minds because this one is happening right now and get this it's hosted by our friends Hannah and Saruti from Red Handed. Meet Travis. He falls head over heels for Lily Rose. She's gorgeous, she's understanding,

and she's literally perfect and she's not human. That's right! Lily Rose is an AI companion, a computer program designed to be Travis's dream woman. And at first, it seems like a perfect relationship. But when Lily Rose's behavior starts getting strange, this love story takes a dark and twisted turn that no one saw coming. Follow Flesh and Code on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and ad-free by joining Wondery Plus. But once the mistaken grocery store sighting had been corrected as having occurred the day before Stephanie disappeared, investigators shifted their focus to the school where she

had last been seen. And working their way through a list of people who would have come into contact with her throughout that day, detectives ended up paying a visit to the home Vincent shared with his mother and his brother, under the guise of just making standard inquiries. He told investigators that he had definitely been at the school that day, but he did not see Stephanie while he was there. So they were like, okay, thank you for your time. They start leaving the house, and suddenly he called after them, and they said with an

odd smirk on his face, he told them, good luck finding her. Oh, fuck this guy. Yeah. Fuck. That right there would have been, I'd be like, wow, so my entire life's mission is to make sure that you never see the light of day again. Pretty much. That would have sealed, I'd be like, wow, so my entire life's mission is to make sure that you never see the light of day again. Pretty much. That would have sealed it for me.

That's pretty much what happened to whoever these investigators were that were there that day. Something about the way he said that and the way his face looked, their spidey senses started to take over. Because that's not him saying, there's a very specific wording there.

Yeah. It's not, I hope you find her. Good luck. Or wishing you the best. It's good luck finding her. Like, I hit her far enough that you won't find her. Exactly. Good luck. Exactly.

That's a taunt. That's exactly what that is. It's a taunt. Fuck. Yeah. And under the circumstances, his comment seemed pretty fucking inappropriate. Yeah. And said in a way that suggested he knew more, but wasn't

planning to ever tell. Yeah, he's saying good luck, guys. And a quick follow-up on his statement to them revealed several quote unquote glaring inconsistencies in his story, including among other things, the fact that he wasn't authorized to be on school property that day. So like why the fuck were you there? As far as anybody could tell by putting himself at the school on the day and time that Stephanie went missing,

he jumped to the top of the list of people who were most likely to have seen her last. Of course. So later that day, a strike force led by Detective Inspector Tim Clark and composed of detectives and uniformed officers went back to his house that same day to interview him further.

He wasn't at home when they arrived, but his mother was, and she voluntarily allowed them in the house, and she gave her written consent allowing them to search the premises. Good. Queen shit. Yeah. Queen shit, because there are so many people

that wouldn't do that. Who would have been like, not my baby boy. But she said, you think you have something? Go ahead and check my house. Yeah, she said, you look. During a search of his bedroom, police found a set of keys matching those reported to have been in Stephanie's possession when she went missing.

And that allowed them to declare the house a crime scene and gave them the power to prevent anyone from leaving the premises. The fact that this fucking loser is going back to his mom's house after doing this shit. I hate this guy. It's so messed up. He went back to his mom's house in her car. Holy shit. Because remember her car was missing when Aaron started driving around looking for it.

Not long after the house was declared a crime scene, Vincent Stanford returned home and agreed to accompany the investigators back to the Leighton police station. He said, sure, I'll answer some of your questions. At the same time, detectives started searching his car, and that's where they found the images of a burnt body among the cell phone pictures in his cell phone. And in the car, they found several spots of what appeared to be blood in the backseat. The fact that he took pictures of her burnt body on his cell phone. Yeah. And just wait for the comment that he has about that. Oh, Lord.

When Tim Clark finally sat down to talk with Vincent, it seemed like he had an answer for everything. He said, no, he maintained he hadn't seen Stephanie on the day she went missing. When they asked about the scratches on his face... That's always a telltale sign. He said, although I just walked into a branch, I was out in the woods.

That's what they all say. They were like, okay, what were you doing in the woods? And I'm sure you had an answer for that. As for the photos on his phone That's what they all say. They were like, okay, what were you doing in the woods? And I'm sure you had an answer for that. As for the photos on his phone, they had them all wrong. Those came from a website, just a website. Just a website with a burnt body. And the keys in his room, those were his keys.

Yeah. Totally, all the answers. But what wasn't quite so easy to explain away were the large number of photos on his phone of another young woman detectives believed that he had been stalking. Yeah. So he was definitely planning to do this again.

Oh, yeah. Given all the evidence, investigators were pretty sure they had their guy. And with the other photos suggesting he was still a danger to at least one young woman, he was more than a little, or they were more than a little reluctant to release him from custody. Yeah. But police had yet to discover Stephanie's body at little, or they were more than a little reluctant to release him from custody. Yeah. But police had yet to discover Stephanie's body at that point that they were questioning him or her car. While they still would be able to prove or disprove his claims at that time, at that

moment the evidence against him was pretty thin. Holy shit. Yeah. But still, Clark's, Detective Clark's instinct told him Stanford was absolutely responsible for Stephanie's disappearance. So he made the bold decision right there and then to charge him with murder. Inspector Clark. Inspector Clark forever. Inspector Clark.

He just, hell yeah. He was like, no, I know it. He was like, no, I know it. My gut tells me you are the guy. I love Clark. And it turned out that his instincts were pretty fucking good. And his suspicions offord were well-placed. While he was in custody, Vincent made a monitored telephone call to his twin brother in Adelaide,

where he made multiple incriminating statements about having given his brother some of Stephanie's belongings, including her engagement ring. Oh, that's so… oh, that's horrifying. It's awful. Just thinking about that and have... Thinking about her fiance having to hear that information. I can't. Like... I can't even imagine.

Yeah. And investigators learned that the rings had been pawned for $705, but by the time they were able to track down the pawn shop, the jewelry had been melted down so it was never able to be returned to the family. That is fucking devastating. It's truly devastating. I feel awful for that family. It's adding insult to injury.

Holy shit. Yeah. He's a piece of shit. He's a piece of shit. That's awful. By the time Stephanie's remains did end up being found in the National Park on April 10th, Vincent Stanford knew the evidence against him was adding up to something a lot more than just circumstantial, a circumstantial case, and he asked to meet with

Detective Clark where he did finally confess to the murder. According to him, he had quote, absolutely no prior plan to murder Stephanie Scott, and he didn't know her at all. But to him, he had quote, absolutely no prior plan to murder Stephanie Scott and he didn't know her at all. But as soon as he saw her come into the school, he said he was overcome with the desire to kill her. What a fucked up monster. Just out of nowhere. I just saw her and I was overcome with the desire to kill her. You're a fucked up monster and you should be locked away. Oh, just wait. He's super fucked up. It's good that he's locked away because he would have been, he would have done awful,

awful, awful things in addition to this. So Stephanie had finished her work for the day and stopped on her way out of the building to say bye to him and wish him a happy Easter. Oh God. And that was when he grabbed her from behind, covered her mouth, and dragged her into a nearby store room. Um, this is very triggering, so I'm gonna go over it very quickly, like, trigger warning for people.

Once he had subdued her, he sexually assaulted Stephanie and then hit her over the head, punching her as many as 40 times. Holy shit. And then cut her carotid artery with a knife, which caused her to bleed to death. Oh my god. All out of nowhere. That's so fucking violent. All out of completely nowhere. She stopped to wish him a happy Easter before she was leaving. She literally waved to him and

wished him a happy Easter. Yep. And that's what she gets. He grabbed her and did all of that to her. He's a savage animal. Savage animal behavior. Can you understand why women are scared to be? To exist. Around men. A lot of the time, you know what I mean?

I mean, that's terrifying. Of course, yeah. That is the most predatory, scary, animalistic, monstrous behavior I can imagine. You literally are just like courtesy saying, happy Easter, have a good weekend. And he attacks you to the point of punching you 40 times and slicing your carotid artery.

After sexually assaulting you. Just for saying happy Easter. And why would you ever think that somebody like that would exist on school property? Exactly, you think you're safe there. Yeah, everybody's been background checked, this, that, and the other thing. Yeah, why would this guy,

and why would this guy ever have like the means, the motive, the opportunity to do this to me here? He shouldn't have. Holy here. He shouldn't have. Holy shit. He shouldn't have. That was a monster. He wasn't even supposed to be there. That's so scary.

It's horrifying. And the fact that he said he had no prior plan and it just no overwhelming urge is the scariest thing I've ever heard. Oh yeah. Detective Clark asked, he was like, why did you attack her so brutally? And all he had to say was that he quote, went a little nuts when he saw her. Said I just want a little nuts. Just I saw her and I went a little nuts. That's so fucking scary.

Oh, he continued. He said, I just felt like this is a quote, I just felt like I should do it. I don't know. I've had mental problems in the past. Aggression. I think it just came back. Oh, okay. Aggression. That's not being aggressive. That's being a monster. And just being like, I don't know, I think it just came back. You think? Yeah, I would say so. I would say so.

Now, once Stephanie was killed, Stanford took her engagement ring and a ring that she had been given by her parents for her graduation. So it was those two rings that were in Jesus. Which he later mailed to his brother Marcus in South Australia. After loading her into the trunk of her own car, he used the school's pressure washer to clean up the crime scene, drove her car back to his house, where he then sat and had lunch with his mother and brother. This motherfucker just had the most violent, fatal outburst and then drives her car, which also I'm like, Hey, mom and bro, did you wonder where that

car came from? That's the thing. What's that about? What's that about? Because I'm sorry, what the fuck is that about? I'm sure anyone asked. I'm sure they probably did. And he had some explanation. And I think that's why the mom felt weird about why she loved them. And that's why she let them search because like, come on. Yeah, you got to ask. Yeah. Holy shit. So yeah, he had lunch with his mom and brother after that. And then the next day he drove out to Coco Para National Park where he burned Stephanie's body and then left her car in the abandoned field and then just walked back to his house. And that makes sense why his mom probably let them search because he showed up with that car the day before and then all of a sudden he's walking home without that car? Yep. Yeah.

And when Detective Clark asked why Vincent had taken a photo of Stephanie's burned remains, he calmly said, maybe I wanted a souvenir. Maybe I never want to see you free again. Maybe that- Maybe I wanted a souvenir is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard in my life. A souvenir of what you had done. What a piece of shit. Maybe I wanted a souvenir. You could go fuck yourself.

Holy shit. So after his confession, he was obviously evaluated by a forensic psychologist, Anna Robillard, who would prove to be essential to the prosecution's case against him. During his confession and subsequent interviews with police, he provided no real motive for the murder. It's so scary.

Aside from just saying he, quote, went a little nuts. But his evaluations by Rabelard provided insight into a personality that had always, always been headed in the direction of violent crime. So he'd been born in Australia in 1990. He'd been raised primarily by his mother in the Netherlands, and his older brother Luke and his twin brother Marcus lived with him as well. But he reported that he had had violent fantasies as early as seven or eight years old, is when they started. Holy shit.

In her report, Rabelard wrote, he stated he had violent, he has violent thoughts when people cause him stress, and his violent thoughts are usually caused when people interrupt his routine. And in the past, he has been triggered by teachers. What the fuck? It's like, then why did you choose to work at a school? That's, and in the past, he's been triggered by teachers? That should have been like,

but I guess if you don't know about it, it's like, cause he's going to work at a school, you wish that had been noted somewhere in his background. That's the thing. This triggers him. Don't put him in a school with teachers. Right. I don't know what happened here.

In 2003, though, when he was just 13, he was expelled from school after a violent outburst where he attacked a female teacher, knocked her to the ground, and choked her. I'm sorry, this wasn't on his record? 13 years old. I guess he's a minor, but it's like, this wasn't on his record? 13 years old. I guess he's a minor, but it's like that's nowhere in his record?

This incident also resulted in a months long period of hospitalization for him where he was then evaluated by psychiatrists there and diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, which I feel like is just so broad. Yeah, and it's literally being like he's autistic, so he violently attacked this teacher. It's like, I don't really think those two things are connected, my friend. There's way more to that. But until that point, Vincent told Robillard he had thought his violent feelings were normal,

but after his hospitalization, he realized they weren't, so he quote, kept it bottled up. Years after that, he came to understand that his violent thoughts and fantasies were considered abnormal to others, but he was still untroubled by them. He told her, this is just the way I'm arranged. I don't think there's anything I can do to get them away. Wow. He's like, yeah, this is just who I am. So I haven't ever attempted to get better. I'm just going to hurt people when I get angry. He's a sick individual. Like he sounds like he's just like, I'm not gonna diagnose him

because I'm not a psychologist or a psychiatrist, but like he sounds like he's just so dead. Emotion-wise. Like void of humanity. He seems just completely gone. Yeah. Like, cause he's just like, yeah, I don't know. There's just no empathy whatsoever.

Yeah, it's not even like, oh man, I should have done that. It's literally like, oh, it's just no empathy whatsoever. It's not even like, oh man, I should have done that. It's literally like, oh, it's just me. Yeah, I just couldn't stop myself. Deal with it. And why did I have a picture of her body? Maybe I wanted one. Like, it's just so dead. It's so dead and it's a matter of a fact.

It's not even like, it's just so dead. I can't, like the flat affect of it all is so scary. It is very scary. Yeah. Yeah. So when it came to the murder of Stephanie Scott, he was as forthcoming as he had been with detectives, but he didn't offer any straightforward explanation for the killing during his examination. And it was apparent to Rob Willard that he didn't feel any remorse for this murder whatsoever.

And in fact, he said he hardly really remembered anything about it. He said, this was just something I had to do. I couldn't stop myself. You could. It's like, no, you just chose not to. Definitely could have. But in his mind, or at least according to what was said, the violence was simply a means to an end for him, something to relieve like an intense tension and

pressure that would build up inside of him. And then he would just relieve that by attacking somebody. Holy shit. Yeah. Robillard wrote, he stated that he does not anticipate gaining pleasure from harming others, just relief from his own urge to kill. So he gets relief from it. Not, yeah, not pleasure. Pleasure, relief.

So he's not like a sexual sadist per se, I guess? According to his own statements. According to his own statements and her evaluation. Yeah, I was just going to say that's according to how he's presenting. Yes, because to me, I immediately was like, well, he's a sexual status. Well, he did sexually assault her. Exactly. So he obviously did.

I hate saying this, but like, obviously, he got some sort of pleasure from that aside from just relief. Exactly. You know, but I don't know. This is very of pleasure from that aside from just relief. Exactly. You know? But I don't know. This is very interesting. So that's according to one psychologist. And later he claimed he did not enjoy killing Stephanie, but that the murder did stop the

urge to hurt anybody else for several more months. And here's where my problem is, where he sits here and says, I didn't enjoy killing her. What's up with that picture? Yeah. Why did you need a souvenir for something you didn't enjoy? Because if you didn't enjoy it, why would you want to go back to it? And he also said the murder did stop the urge to hurt anybody for several months. I'm like, yeah, you can't, you know that you can't hurt anybody because you're in police custody.

Exactly. Like, obviously there are times where that happens. It's easy to say now. Exactly. That's very easy to say then. In her summary report, Rabelard concluded that Vincent Stanford had quote deeply entrenched structural faults in the personality construct and that he had considerable difficulty Experiencing emotions and forming bonds or social connections with others which yes Yes, but in addition to that she said he also had elevated scores on the sadistic and aggressive

scale, which is a diagnostic tool used to access to assess a person's predisposition toward violent behaviors. Which is scary that he had very high scores on that. On the sadistic scale. Like holy shit. But on the contrary, despite those traits, he scored relatively low on the psychopathy scale. Interesting. Yeah.

According to the report, he, quote, described having one feeling, hatred, which could be a consequence of his perception of exclusion and rejection and the source of a generalized social animosity that may have triggered his angry, unpremeditated, and overwhelming urge to kill the victim. He only felt hatred. That's...

In general. So scary. That people are possibly capable of that. That's really scary that people are just walking around like that. Yeah. And that they could unleash that hatred at any moment. Yeah. So that's the first evaluation that was done. A second evaluation conducted by David Greenberg arrived at similar conclusions,

but Greenberg differed somewhat when it came to Vincent's dangerousness and capacity for violence. Greenberg believed that Vincent most likely had a paraphilic disorder and did derive a sense of sexual pleasure or gratification from his violent fantasies. He said, relative to the general male population, his risk of sexual violence must be regarded

as the highest category. Yeah, because when I heard that other one, I was like, so we're going with not sexual sadist, even though he did sexually assault her? That's the thing. Because there's many killers who will kill and not sexually assault. We've covered so many.

Which it's like that, that like that's what he was kind of describing, but like the problem there was he did. So it's like that didn't line up with what he was saying. So this, this makes a little more sense. It does. And I will say, I'm sure it was probably hard to evaluate him based on the fact that like he did commit one murder and not you don't have you don't have this pathology of of crime scenes that you can analyze yeah because i

feel like that must be a time when you can sit there and say okay this is clearly something he does every time and this is you know he's escalating in this way and this is the patterns of where all this lies and it's like right right now, like you're saying, it's just one scene, one situation. And it's like, but and I'm sure, you know, he sounds like a bullshitter. That's like a dead bullshitter. Exactly. I tend to agree. I mean, like, I'm not a professional in any way whatsoever, but I tend to agree with the guy.

Yeah, to me, it rings more true to me. Yeah. So while Vincent sat in jail undergoing one evaluation after another, detectives in Leighton continued to build their case against him with the understanding that despite his confession, he was still probably going to be going to trial. Now in their investigation, detectives also discovered a considerable amount of evidence that not only confirmed his guilt, but also contradicted several statements he made to the police at the time, and at the same time supported the findings of both psychological evaluations that had been conducted. Among the evidence collected from his home were email receipts for, quote, purchases of Viagra, cleaning products, a training sword and a knife and flexi-cuffs.

Yeah. He's a sexual sadist. Absolutely. 100%. Searches of his computer and internet search history were also very troubling in another ding ding ding moment because they included searches for, among other things, and this is a lot, bride rape, bride kidnapping, and other searches were conducted, quote,

in relation to necrophilia and necro rape, as well as a variety of violent pornographic pictures and knives. Oh, he's 100% getting pleasure out of this. Absolutely. Bride rape? Bride rape. And she happens to be getting married,

and he stole her engagement ring? Yeah. Like, come on. There's a lot to that. What a fucked up monster. Well, that's the thing. It's very, it's in my opinion, it's too coincidental that he said he just saw her that day at school. Didn't know anything about her.

I think he stalked her. I also think that, especially because he was stalking someone else. He was stalking multiple other women actually. It's clear that he was doing this. He just didn't have the pictures of her or whatever. Exactly. Now, perhaps the most disturbing information they learned during the investigation was that prior to Stephanie's murder,

Benson had been stalking, like I just said, multiple girls and young women who, given his search history, were almost definitely intended to be future victims. Among them was a 12-year-old girl... Oh. ...who is referred to as Joanne in court documents. That is not her real name. When investigators searched his computer, they found more than 1, 1800 images of this girl,

along with a quote, book full of details pertaining to her schedule and times when she may be home alone. Get us all in a room alone with this man. Yeah, get us all in a room alone. Uh huh. I want to beat the shit out of him. On a page inside the the book He also had written a list of quotes stupefying drugs including Valium Chloroform nitrous oxide and rohypnol. Yeah, so this whole story of him just being like, yeah, I don't know I just went nuts. I had no plan for it. Go fuck yourself. No, you've been planning for this for years Not a doubt in my get out of here. Not with that. This was not a Momentary because the other thing is like oh you just randomly went to clean the school on a Sunday? No.

You were following her. He was absolutely following her. They also found a quote, and this is absolutely fucking disgusting, a laminated photo of a school dance group that Joanne was a part of. He's a piece of absolute shit. Parents should have been allowed in a room with this man. 100%. Like I just, I can't get over that. There are certain exceptions to the rule and this is one of them. Yeah, and this is one of them. And I will hear nothing else about it. This is one of them where you look the other way.

Later when that evidence was presented in court, he admitted he probably would have abducted and killed her if he hadn't been arrested. And he was just like, yeah, I probably would have done that. Get him gone. Other evidence collected indicated that he had been stalking more women, including a young woman who worked at the local supermarket and another teacher who worked alongside Stephanie. So it's like, if he's stalking another teacher who worked with Stephanie, he's absolutely stalking Stephanie. 100%. And he probably he might have known that she was coming that day. Like ahead of time. Yep, exactly. Not long after he met this teacher, he started to monitor her schedule and record her comings and goings at the school. So between the delays, time spent on the psychological evaluations and requests from the defense for more time to prepare, blah, blah, blah. More than a year passed by the time he was

supposed to be before a judge. And in that time, his twin brother had also been arrested, charged with and pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact. Yeah, because what the fuck? For receiving and selling the stolen jewelry, which only strengthened the prosecution's case against Vincent himself. Because now his brother's going to prison. And the month since his arrest, Vincent Stanford indicated his intent to go to trial. But given all the evidence against him and the full confession, his defense attorneys

determined it was for the best that their client leave guilty. What do you do in wasting everyone's time? And they hoped maybe his cooperation would earn him a reduced sentence. I hope not. No. On July 19th, 2016, he did, in fact, plead guilty to the murder and the aggravated sexual assault of Stephanie Scott. And his sentencing hearing was scheduled for October 11th, 2016. During the sentencing hearing, his attorney argued that his client's diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder and the fact that he cooperated with police should be taken into account when passing the sentence.

You be so for real. He very well. So for real. He very like two things could be true at once. He very well maybe on the spectrum. Absolutely. Two things can be true at once. He very well may be on the spectrum, but there is also a load of other things that are pertinent in this case that have nothing to do with that. It wasn't the autism that made him do this. I can tell you that much. That's wild work.

No. And frankly, how fucking dare that guy. He would try to use that. Come on. No, not in this case. It wasn't that making him do this. No. So Justice Robert Holm acknowledged that under normal circumstances, those things absolutely would have been considered. But he was not convinced that Stanford's diagnosis was a factor in the murder. And he told the defense team, but even if it was, the extent would be minimal. Exactly. It just doesn't work in this circumstance. He said,

The calculating manner in which the offender carried out the various activities following the murder, and to some extent before, indicates he was well capable of making well-considered choices about how to best serve his own interests and achieve his objectives. Exactly. Ultimately, Justice Holm sentenced Vincent Stanford

to 15 years for the aggravated sexual assault and life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Stephanie Scott. According to The Guardian, there were exclaims of yes from the public gallery when the sentence was handed down. If I was there, I would have been one of them. And outside the courtroom, Stephanie's mother told reporters, the past 18 months have been the most difficult and harrowing time. So much has been taken away from us. Stephanie has had everything taken away from her. Stephanie embodied all that is good about humankind. She made a tangible difference to the lives of so many people. Stephanie would want us to resume our lives. We need to be kind to ourselves and let

the music and fun back in. We need to fade from public view to mourn our beautiful girl and work our way through our grief." I just want to hug her. And the day after Stanford was sentenced was to be Stephanie's 28th birthday. She was so young. So young. Her mother said, this should be her 28th birthday, the second one we celebrate without her. We'll be having a cup of tea and a mint slice biscuit at three." Which just like breaks your heart. But it's such a good thing that he's behind bars. But it breaks my heart that the loss of Stephanie's life is what landed him behind bars.

Like it doesn't make it better. It's just so upsetting that no one knew what he was capable of before this happened. That was also very bold of him to say that he would have probably kidnapped and murdered that 12-year-old girl before going into prison forever. Yeah, that was a crazy thing to say. I hope that he's seen the results of that statement. Yeah, I hope that inmates heard that. Yeah. Just because.

I hope, you know. Just because. Just because. It's just a good thing for them to know. I hope, you know. Just because. Just cause. It's just a good thing for them to know. Yeah, that's good. Just, you know, maybe let them see some gen pop action. Yeah. See what happens.

Hierarchies and stuff. Yeah. Let it all shake out how it does. It's such a sad case. It really is. It's awful. I feel so awful for her family. For her beyond day.

This family went through so much. Yeah. Terrible. It's awful. That whole community, really? Cause it seems like that whole community really loved her. And she was such a big part of all of them. Yeah.

Like she was, she was a light in that community for sure. But it's nice that they celebrate her in a way that they think would have made her happy and that even her mom said like, we have to let the music and the fun back in our lives. And cause she would have wanted that. Again, that tells you exactly who she was. Her mom said like, we have to let the music and the fun back in our lives. Because she would have wanted that. Again, that tells you exactly who she was. That people looked at it and said that her own mother sitting there being like, she would

have wanted us to like party. She would have been. Remember her in a happy way. That's the thing. She must have just been the best. But that is the murder of Stephanie Scott by an absolute fucking disgusting piece of wet lettuce. Yeah, truly. We're bringing that back for this one.

Oh yeah. And we appreciate you guys listening. We hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it weird. But not so weird that you're a piece of what lettuce. Yeah, fuck you Vincent. Fuck you Vincent. Fuck you Vincent. I'm going to be a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a

little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a

little bit of a little bit of a If you like morbid, you can listen early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey.