william a. young, 44, his son aaron, 14, and robert violette, 76. and his wife , lucille violette. william frank brackett, 48. keith macneir, 64. >> remember them all. that is it for this hour. i am alicia menendez. i'm going to see you back here later tonight, six pm eastern, four "american voices". >> nobody could find her and her phone was off. >> yet to start working worst-case in areas. >> did she jump off the bridge? >> i was just short of

hysterical. >> an entire town banding together to find a beloved teen. >> this is a huge search. 100s of people came. >> a lot of people. >> we had the sheriff's department, got divers. >> this is things you see on tv, not things that happen to you. >> and then, someone said he spotted her. >> i looked at her right in the face just like i'm looking at you right now. that girl is alive. >> but a secret recording could catch one of the town's own, revealing a sinister scheme. >> sara's whole deal was -- >> he explained he studied her movements. >> the plan was to take her money. >> evil, pure evil. >> that is never going to be over. there was something >> there was something wrong on the bridge. it was 2:45 am, december 3rd, 2016.

an old town on the jersey shore called neptune city. it was bitter cold. dark. it was an uber driver who saw the car just sitting there halfway across the bridge. >> 9-1-1, where's the emergency? >> i'm actually on belmar bridge. right after heading down in the middle of the bridge, there is a car that's abandoned. it's off to the side of the road. >> what kind of car is it? >> it kind of looks like an old, beat up light tan colored, like sedan. >> they sent a squad car for a look. the cop got close. it was unlocked. the keys in the ignition. no sign of the driver. two, three feet away was a railing. and beyond it a straight drop of the night blacker inserting out to sea. what happened here? they ran the plates, discovered the car was registered to a 96-year-old lifelong local

resident named the eastern. but she hadn't used her car that day. she'd loaned it to her 19 year old granddaughter, her name, sarah. sarah stern. 1000 miles south at disney world, her dad, mike, was on vacation with his girlfriend, christine. he was awakened by his phone. >> 3:00 in the morning and they just asked is sarah driving an oldsmobile and i said, yeah. going. >> just like that? >> yeah. >> after the call drop, mike called back and got a recount -- so panicked he phoned a nephew who happen to be a neptune first responder. >> he called about ten minutes later saying they found sarah's car up on the bridge. she wasn't in it. >> and then the terror set in. mike and christine jumped in their car and began the 16 hour drive home.

>> god, i can't imagine what the drive back was like. >> it was a lot of crying and thinking and talking -- >> you don't know? >> we were getting calls in from the police department asking questions and i said, i don't know. >> christine drove and mike frantically texted, sarah, what is going on? why is your phone off? call me when you get this message. things happen faster in the small town then a big city. >> police department, hello! anyone home? announce yourself, please. >> officers go through the stern home. it was empty except for sarah's beloved dog, buddy. in his crate. >> michael called me that night, 2:30, 3:00 in the morning to tell me that the car was on a bridge. i -- my thoughts were not good. >> an old friend of the sterns

lived across the street. officers walked over and asked her about sarah. >> what mindset was she in today -- you can see -- did anybody in your family talk to her this morning? today? >> she texted me. she said can i bring some stuff over? it's my mothers. i said, sure. >> is she depressed? is she -- >> i think she's depressed. >> not suicidal in any way, you think? >> i don't know. >> robbyn told the officer sarah had come by the house earlier in the day with her friend lia. knew they left a container of sarah's things with her daughter, carly. so the officers drove over to liam's place to see if he could help. >> you're liam? you've got a second? can i talk to you real quick? >> yeah, no problem, officer. >> it's sarah here by any chance? >> no. >> once it has to be talked to? her >> i was with her today. >> what time?

>> before i went to. get in some light on if that's. okay we want to get through today. >> liam said he hadn't seen sarah since late afternoon. >> as soon as you hear anything, called the neptune city or neptune township police department. >> thank you. >> mike stern had notified -- including sarah's cousins, lindsay, and lauren. barr -- >> instant panic. >> i tried calling her phone, sending her texts, didn't answer which was automatically weird because she was glued to her phone. >> i left the house in my pajamas in my car and race down to where they said they found her car to see if we could find anything. see anything. >> just hours later, they were gathered with most of the family at mike and sarah's house. >> family was there, his sisters, sarah's cousins. there's about 30 to 40 people. >> all kind of frantic? >> all kind of like, what's going on? >> sarah's friends and family, began to imagine all too many things. including robbyn draper's daughter, carly, a lifelong

friend of sarah's. >> i had my mom on the phone crying downstairs and she said that they found sarah's car on the bridge. >> you know the bridge? >> i went down there after it. >> that morning? >> yes. >> did your mind go anywhere at all that she might have jumped off the bridge? >> it was one of the thoughts my head, did she jump off the bridge? i didn't know. >> meanwhile, sarah's father on his agonizing drive north, worried that sarah might have done something terribly fatally rash. >> because you just don't, know the keys were in the car, the car was operational and sarah was missing. >> and it was like two, three feet away from that. the water. >> so mike imagined awful things on his 16 hour drive home. but surely, neither his imagination or any other could stoop so deep as what you're about to see. a case that started on a bridge with the car and ended inside another. >> how are you doing? >> what dark possibilities lie in the human heart?

primed both for loyalty and betrayal. coming up -- >> we didn't know what was going on at that point. so it was kind of a panic. >> where was sarah? maybe there was a simple explanation. everyone knew she wanted to move up north. >> she said she wants to go to canada. >> but if she had done that wouldn't she have told someone? >> very tightly knit community. >> when dateline continues. inez, let me ask you, you're using head and shoulders, right? only when i see flakes. then i switch back to my regular shampoo. you should use it every wash, otherwise the flakes will come back. tiny troy: he's right, you know. is that tiny troy? the ingredients in head and shoulders keep the microbes that cause flakes at bay. microbes, really? they're always on your scalp... little rascals... but good news, there's no itchiness, dryness or flakes down here! i love tiny troy. and his tiny gorgeous hair. he's the best. - make every wash count! - little help please.

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while police officers on the route 35 bridge >> while police officers on the route 25 bridge were trying to make sense of what happened in the early dark of december 3rd, sarah's dad, mike, and his golf and christine were frantically driving up highway 95 from florida.

their minds whirling among dreadful possibilities. >> we didn't know what was going on at that point. so we were in a kind of a panic. >> but to the experts and neptune, the possibilities were limited. >> the fact that we had at the time that we could go on was that there was either possible suicide, that she had jumped off the bridge, or that she just let her car abandoned. those are the facts we had. >> it was hardly surprising that in the little town of neptune city, ed cushion bomb then public safety director knew sarah. >> i knew sarah, she worked at a popular restaurant in neptune city with my daughter. >> well enough to know if she was a suicide risk? >> all i know of sorrow was she was a very nice person, very, bubbly upbeat, never a bad word to say about anybody. >> kind of an instance about her? >> she was very artistic. she was laid back. just the epitome of innocence. >> but jumped from a bridge into the shark river? why would she?

she was happy. on the brink of new possibilities. and neptune city on the jersey shore had always been her safe place. a good place to grow up? >> yeah. i'm happy that i grew up here. >> here, they say the sun gets in your shoes. people state, families come back generations. friendships last whole lifetimes. >> everybody knows each other in neptune. >> it's a very tightly knit community. and if you don't know that person, someone you know is going to know that person. >> and the block with carli, her brother sam, and sarah grew up on was even tighter. a kind of kid heaven. that's sarah with the dark bangs. >> our age gap between all the kids was six years at the most. and we all played together after school. we were the neighborhood gang. we've known sarah our whole life. and she was like my older sister. we were like sisters.

>> she was basically family. if i wanted to play catch with someone, i could just ask sarah. >> sarah was always there. she was there at all was kind of amazing. a gift. >> sarah? she was a miracle child. >> the only child of mike stern and his wife carla. >> she didn't think she could have children and finally sarah came along. >> i fell in love with this kid. >> robin, carly and sam's mom, was there from the beginning. >> carly and i raised our kids together. it was amazing. >> they hang out at your place a lot? >> they did. we had a pool. sometimes ten, 12 kids just splashing around for hours and hours. and it was a good time. >> until it wasn't. in 2013, when sarah was just 15 years old, her mom, carla, died after a long struggle with cancer. >> what was it like when her mother died? >> sara was at our house that night. all i remember is sarah hearing her sobbing downstairs.

i didn't know what to do. >> did you know what had happened? >> yes. >> yeah. just, hard and it was sad. >> but sarah managed. instead of turning into her grief, she reached out. got even closer to her grandmother and her dog buddy became her constant companion. >> she loved buddies so much. she really did. >> she grew closer to the classmates at neptune high school. her friend liam, his twin seamus, preston taylor, preston took her to the junior prom, just friends. she also made a different kind of friend. one you wouldn't necessarily expect. after karla's death, mike found christine and fell in love. sarah could see christine was good for her dad and maybe her too. >> i know how sarah felt, i had gone through the same thing she did.

my mom passed away when i was young. it wasn't easy at first. >> no. and maybe that's why sarah so embraced what became a genuine passion. >> i think making art made her mentally escape from that and be creative and could create any kind of happiness she wanted to. >> it was a whole other world for her. >> yeah. >> where sara picked up her talent we still don't know. >> it was a natural thing for her? >> it seemed natural. what she turned out was -- >> it's pretty good stuff. >> really neat stuff. she just started drawing and any medium. >> beautiful images. magical, even. she started going to conventions, to meet online stars and artists. got to meet youtube stars like jenna marbles. >> there was the vidcon convention and she fell in love with toronto. she said she wants to go to canada. >> when she was ready, mike told her. yes, but soon, she said. and then it was that friday

december 2nd when sarah dropped by the drapers house. >> i heard her walk inside and she was calling my mom and saying -- i was the only one home and she said that she had texted my mom that she was leaving a box here and my mom said it was okay. sarah was talking about her dad, how she had lost respect for him. >> did that seem strange for you? >> not really because i knew that they, you know, argued. but i argue with my parents all the time. so it wasn't -- >> it wasn't anything unusual. >> no. >> as carly told us sarah left the bin, then she was gone. running errands, she said, in her grandmother's old car. the very car that uber driver spotted after midnight. abandoned halfway across the route 35 bridge. >> was there anybody inside the vehicle? >> i looked. no. >> the news spread through the early morning. first responders descended on the bridge and the shark river

beneath it. there was a depressing logic to the scene that greeted them. it wouldn't be the first time some desperate soul had taken a final leap. but this was bright, happy, sarah stern. so it couldn't be that, could it? coming up -- police seek help from sara's friends. >> nobody is going to get in any trouble here, trust me. we just have to make sure sarah's all right. >> and the area last images of sorrow just before she disappeared. >> could you tell what her demeanor was? did she seem frightened or anything like that? >> when dateline continues. until, i saw how easily it picked up my hair every time i dried it! only takes a minute. look at that! the heavy duty cloths are extra thick, for amazing trap & lock. even for his hair. wow. and for dust, i love my heavy duty duster. the fluffy fibers trap dust on contact, up high and all around

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just hours after sarah stern's car was found abandoned on the route 35 bridge, 's car was found bound and on the route 35 bridge, the rising sun revealed dozens of first responders searching for her. many braving the frigid waters of the shark river. >> we had the sheriff's

department there. we had divers in the water. plus an aviation unit from state police. >> we had a call at around 5 am to do a search for someone they believed went off the bridge. we had no idea who it was, the general conception was that someone had jumped. >> fred hines was an ems and rescue director. >> we were in there a couple of hours and somebody walked up to me and just said, we're looking for her. i don't know who are looking for and they said sarah stern. which just put a lump in my throat. >> understandable that because -- >> sarah lived two houses away from the family. her father, michael, is a good friend of mine. and all i could think about was how is he going to feel now? >> while the water search was underway, cups in ten we're talking to anyone who might know anything. >> is that -- >> they caught a few of. sarah's friends, preston,,

shaun, liam on a port. >> we just want to make sure she's okay. >> body cams picked up their questions. did sarah just take off? were her palscovering for her? >> no one's getting in any trouble here, trust me. we just gotta make sure sarah's all right and if you have any other information, you can throw data so we can go a little further. >> sara's friend liam confirmed for -- that she had left a bin at the draper house and then he and sarah went for lunch together. meanwhile, back at the end, let the search of the frigid shark river was turning up nothing. as the sunset, it became too cold and dangerous to continue operations and the search was called off for the day. >> i didn't want to go home. i didn't want to try to pass mike's house. i did not have some kind of closure for him. >> but mike and christine were still making their way home from florida. >> we gotta -- left at 3:30 in the morning we got home at seven on saturday night. >> christine and mike arrive to

a packed house. >> we just started putting ideas and things that could've happened. >> how was he doing at that point? >> i think he was in shock. >> yeah. >> mike headed for the bridge. >> what did you first find here? >> we didn't know. >> yeah? >> all unknown. by the time we were back, the dive crews and everybody had already left. so it was night, you can't do much at night. >> by the next morning, the county prosecutor's office was running the missing persons investigation. brian weiss what was the leading detective. >> we were speaking to friends, family members, there was a house across the street from sarah's house that a video security camera that facing her home. >> do you see anything on the video? >> we did. we were able to see her vehicle leave multiple times throughout the day. >> from those surveillance videos, and their interviews,

investigators started to piece together sarah's day. >> she had carried a bin and a box across the street to her neighbor's house. >> that was carly and robbyn draper's house. after that, sara and her friend liam went to lunch at taco bell. the restaurant security cameras had her there at 2:18 pm. later, she stopped by a bank and security cameras indicated that was a little before 3 pm. and the branch manager, an old friend of the stern family, remembered her waving hello. >> can you tell looking at the video what her demeanor was? could she seem frightened or anything like that? >> no, she didn't. she appeared happy, she smiled. she communicated with the staff there who she had known for many years. she had a very nice relationship with the bank manager. and prior to her actually walking out of the bank that day she had indicated that she may be back. >> but after that friendly way, cyrus seemed to have dropped off the planet. the contents of that mysterious bin sarah left at the drapers didn't help investigators at

home. >> it was all just miscellaneous things. halloween decorations, there was some coins from her grandparents. >> like what you put in the bottom drawer in a bureau of personal stuff that you don't know what else to do with? >> right. >> day after day of searching the shark river and the shoreline proved -- the local crime stoppers posted a 5000 dollar reward. >> we had prepared some flyers seeking information in an effort to locate sarah's whereabouts. >> volunteers are helping police today search for beloved missing neptune city teenager. >> so a week after sarah was last seen, her family organized a search and hundreds of people showed up. they walked the beaches and the streets, and the parks of neptune, and belmar, and ocean grove. mike stern was steady, almost stoic. when he talked to files one news -- >> we're just hoping to search

for any personable area with more people than just the local authorities because we just -- it's a big area. >> this was a huge surge. hundreds of people came. >> lot of people, yeah. >> people didn't even know, out of town, up north. >> it was people from -- i think as far as pennsylvania. >> many of sara's friends joined the search. an old classmate, shawn -- >> i remember back in high school and just -- it's shocking. i just hope we can find her. >> her friend liam. >> it's pretty strong so, hopefully we're going to find something today. >> the search for 19-year-old sarah became one of the biggest in the history of the jersey shore. but if sara ended up in the shark river, these locals knew the likely grim outcome -- >> the boating and the fishing community, it's a tight-knit community, everybody knows everybody. we were hoping that if she was out there someplace they'd find

her. but they were -- they kind of understood you're looking for somebody, it might be out of the ocean. >> once that tide starts ripping out, it moves quickly. right out the inlet, correct. >> the massive search turned out no sign of sarah. and weeks went by. so, was she swept out to sea? or was many around town began to think, she must be alive and well and unaware of people looking for her. meaning she was just living her life somewhere else. coming up, a jaw-dropping discovery. >> i didn't know anything about it until december 2nd, 2016. >> that very day. the very last day. >> and the secret in sarah's safety deposit box. >> $25,000 in cash. >> a kid who would have that kind money? >> it's a lot of money. >> when dateline continues.

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our top stories. the israel-hamas war has appeared to escalated into any base. this will pouted cause of the barrage of bombs overnight. israeli forces saying they struck 150 underground targets and killed several hamas terrorists. including a hamas leader who tried to derail tax on october 7th. the suspect needs mass shooting wednesday is dead. authorities say proper car was found with a new self inflicted gunshot wound in a such a where he used to work. 18 people were killed in that shooting spree, including a 14 year old boy. now, back to dateline. now, back to dateline. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> detectives working the sarah stern missing person case in neptune city had nothing but theories on december of 2016. some suspected she simply

walked away from that old car to start a new life. but there was other, more sinister speculation too. >> we still had no clear indication as to what happened to sarah. >> so, theories. maybe she ran away, maybe she was the victim of some kind of crime. or maybe she threw herself off the bridge. but those who knew sarah best, like carly and sam draper, weren't buying the suicide theory. >> she couldn't have jumped off the bridge like that. she asked me to hang out that night. >> their minds kept going back to the last time carlee saw sarah. the afternoon of december 2nd, just before she vanished when she stopped by their house and dropped off those things. >> i looked in the box and it was just like coins and different kind of little trinkets. >> sarah explained she was just cleaning house. but carly could tell sarah had something else to say. >> she seemed really happy when she came over. like really happy. >> like she'd made a decision happy? >> yeah.

>> a big one. sarah said she had decided to leave town. leave neptune behind, strike out for canada. to start her life as an artist. >> it wasn't until that day she told me she was going to move there. >> like was this a sudden change in her decision-making? >> i wouldn't call it sudden because she talked about how much you like canada before. but she didn't say she was moving that day. she said she was moving to canada. and that she found money. >> wait, money? what money? from what she told carley it appeared sarah had not only a reason to leave but the means. >> i didn't know anything about it until december 2nd, 2016. >> that very day. that last day. >> she said that she had found a safe in the house, they had avalon and she told me not to tell anyone. >> sarah told carly she found thousands of dollars that had been hidden in an old house her dad owned in the neighboring town.

a secret, but, of course, carly had to tell the detectives. and they were very interested. >> what did you do? go talk to the banker? >> we did. she had multiple accounts at the bank including a safety deposit box and on the day of her disappearance, she had actually accessed that safety deposit box. >> maybe she is planning to take off and run away and take some money with her? >> absolutely. >> is that what it looked like to you? >> we learned that sarah had come into the money she had found. money so we were interested in knowing what is to do with the bank? unfortunately, there was no cameras capturing her private business. opening the safety deposit box. >> they got a search warrant. >> at which point we had learned what was actually inside. >> which was what? >> $25,250 u.s. cash. >> it was still there when you got there? >> correct. and the money was in poor condition. the money was very brittle. and when you would handle the bills, a lot of times they would just deteriorate in your hand. >> $25,000. a kid who would have that kind of money. >> it's a lot of money. >> where did this money come

from? >> sara's mother had saved this money for sara. >> bit by bit, squirrled it away? >> perhaps. and that siren was at the house looking through some of their belongings. and had come across this money. >> but all of this, a possible decision about leaving quite soon for canada, the found money, all of this was news to mike's turn. >> did you know about that at all? >> no. >> but as he thought about it, said mike, it's hard to make sense. that his late wife would've gradually hidden cash away at his other house which, one day, her daughter could inherit. a gift of sorts. >> my wife she was a saver. >> she would've stuffed it in some secret spot? >> yeah. i wish i had known. >> anyway, he says, sarah must've discovered the money a few months before she vanished. >> it surprises me that that all happened in secret. and she started looking.

>> and it became sarah's secret. >> yeah. >> but the money was still in the bank. would she leave without it? >> after we found that money in her safety deposit box, they told us that she likely did not leave. >> because she would leave that there? >> correct. we had also located her u.s. passport, her social security card, and u.s. and canadian currency inside her bedroom. all those factors put together, sarah stern did not leave. >> cold comfort is sarah's father because that left something much worse. >> mr. stern was down at the docks every day, walking the dogs, walking the shoreline. just wouldn't give up hope. >> we walked along the banks, we circled the entire shark river basin. marshy areas and watched the come currents come in and out, stood on the sand bars and watched tides come in. there are low tides and you would get out there and really see a lot. but then within a couple of

hours, tides come up and maybe six or seven feet. cold, windy. it's slippery along the banks. >> it's not easy work. >> no. >> frustrating. >> yeah. >> you see him out there? >> i did. i did. >> what did you think? >> my heart broke for him, for a father to not know the rep bouts of his daughter, it's devastating. >> and mike stern had no inkling of the sea change about to occur in the search for his missing daughter. coming up -- >> it's shifted from a missing person investigation into a homicide. >> a phone call from another state transforms the case. >> and he's concerned that he had some information on this. what may have happened to sarah. i was shocked. >> when dateline continues. es day so you can get more of what you want. with our lowest price guarantee. this holiday if you find a better price, we'll match it.

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on the jersey shore. organized searches for sarah stern dwindled as the temperature dropped and gradually the story faded from

the new cycle. a 19 year aspiring artist who vanished into thin air. and the authorities were baffled. >> you got to the point where you thought this was just going nowhere? >> we were at a standstill. we were at a dead end. >> with no activity on her social media or her phone, or her bank accounts, and no credible sighting of any sort, the chance that cyrus simply ran away seemed vanishing lee slim. >> the one thing that we knew and that was she likely didn't leave. >> so something bad happened to that girl? >> as we progressed, we began thinking that maybe that was a possibility, absolutely. >> mike and christine kept looking for any strap of a clue. handing out sirens photo to captains heading out to sea. >> was there a moment when you knew you had lost her, that she was gone? >> i never wanted to think that. >> who would? right? >> kylie was still searching, to wanting to believe sarah started over in another place. she messaged sarah every night on instagram.

>> i would just say random things like, if your alive create a fake disney account because she loved disney world, and everything doesn't. i was like create a fake disney account and follow me on it and i'll know you're okay. >> you're just desperate to know. >> yeah. >> what did you get back? >> nothing. >> 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 moved to new york to fulfill a lifelong ambition to make movies. but that night he was very troubled. and when his dad and you heard why, he called detective mike banana.

>> one of the family very, we'll have known anthony since he was. young he was concerned that he had some information on this. what may have happened to sara. 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? as a real thing, or what? >> no, he dismissed it. he thought it was -- >> this kid was just pitching a movie idea. >> yeah. he completely dismissed it. >> anthony had been making movies since middle school. quite a few of them horror films. so this wasn't as far fetched as it sounds. anthony drove home to brooklyn that thanksgiving night. didn't give the espoused gory movie vision much of a thought. until -- >> he learned from social media what happened to sara. >> and when anthony curry saw

on social media that exactly like in his pals movie, picked sarah's car was on the 35 bridge, he got a bad feeling which turned to alarm when his friend reached out to him for a few days later. >> that message that was sent via snapchat said, i have the police spoken to you? and anthony responded that they had not. it was from that moment that anthony curry believed that he may have had something to do with sara's disappearance. >> what did he do about that snapchat? because they disappear right after you read them. >> they disappear. and if you screenshot a snapchat message, the senators notified that someone just captured a image. >> so you can do that either because it looks like you are going to turn on him, right? >> fortunately, anthony took his digital camera and photographed his telephone depicting that snapchat message. and he had traveled to the police department that night and was able to forward that message to us.

>> all those little clues that didn't fit together, sarah's last conversation with carli, the mysterious old cash, sarah leaving her stuff at the draper 's where we considered in light of anthony curry's story. though the county prosecutors still had questions about anthony. his name was chris creamy joni. >> based on the story that he told us, the question arose, how did he did anything about this when sarah went missing when he heard about it? we had experienced investigators that were on this case that interviewed him. and in doing so, his credibility and veracity is being tested being thoroughly. >> and he passed the test. the prosecutor and detectives decided anthony was credible. and his story was real. >> without anthony, we're not talking to you today. >> and from that moment, everything was different. >> it's shifted from a missing person investigation into a homicide. >> except, the major case squad really had nothing but suspicions. >> and what we had decided was we were going to ask anthony if

he'd be willing to essentially work with us. >> what did he say? >> he agreed. >> so the detectives and listed anthony in their plan. >> was anybody? >> how are you doing? >> he would be their bait in an elaborate and dangerous trap. but what might they capture? they had no idea. >> that's not even the worst part. >> coming up -- >> the approximate time is 6:20 pm. i've placed on electronic recording device on anthony curry. >> but they were about to witness would stun these seasoned detectives. >> it was chilling. we couldn't believe what we were hearing. >> the revelation that would devastate cyrus dead. >> he had literally sucked the life out of me. it's unfathomable. >> when dateline continues.

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acting in horror movies for years. now, anthony curry must have felt like he was living one. >> the approximate time is 6:20 pm. i've placed an electronic recording device on anthony curry. >> anthony had been cast as the lead actor in an elaborate sting. a dangerous ruse grafted to get a mutual friends of his and cyrus turns to implicate himself in her disappearance. >> hey, how you doing? how are you doing? >> the detective scripted of phone call to get the friend talking. the teenage filmmaker would pretend he needed money to replace a broken camera. if his body had gone through with his plan to rob sarah, he should be. flush police recorded the call. >> my camera broke, dog. >> how that happened? >> i dropped it on the shoot. >> it fell into a bucket of blood. >> damn. >> yeah, dude. i have no [bleep] cash to pay for anything. you can spot me some cash from

that girl's money,, right? >> maybe. >> the friend wouldn't say much more. he seemed cautious. >> i don't really want to talk about it right now. >> and what you mean. >> but anthony did get the guy to agree to meet in person. maybe he'd open up there. >> i'll see you friday, then. >> all right. >> 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. >> is there a little cameron there? >> there was a cameron there. >> but if their suspect was a killer, what might be due to anthony fee suspected to trap? so they knew this was dangerous. they tailed anthony's car. >> we were monitoring everything live. >> it was just before midnight when they anthony drove towards the mid point. he could see his hands on the steering wheel. >> so anthony was listening to his music to relax him.

and he was game. ready he wasn't playing. >> anthony parked and minutes later, their suspect climbed into the car. >> what's, good money? >> what's going on, buddy? are you doing? >> won a cigarette? >> i quit them [bleep] >> it was liam at the test. sarah's friend. the guy who had spent the day with a few hours before she vanished. >> what were you doing? >> sitting around. >> and what liam did next horrified the listening detectives. he reached over and search anthony for a wire. >> dude, you can blame me for doing this, all right? i've gotta fill you up, bro. real quick, all right? >> you aregood. >> no disrespect. >> -- down, and we're listening to that in the car. and things became very, very real at that moment. >> and then just as suddenly, the tension broke.

liam stopped searching. explained the cops had been on his tail. >> about what? >> about killing sara. >> anthony said back and listen to liam. the officers hung on every word. >> and not even -- that's not even the worst part. >> it was chilling, i mean -- we looked at each other we couldn't believe what we were hearing. >> it nauseated me. >> then the cops had something else, liam wasn't in this alone. he had an accomplice. >> the two of us -- >> they talked for 20 minutes before liam slipped out into the night. >> it was good talking to you, bro. >> good talking to you, take it easy. >> the detectives of monitoring the appalling conversation. they kept lean under surveillance as warrants were drawn, out and based on what he said to anthony curry in the car. >> you did hear about it? >> they arrested liam. liam who had seemed so helpful when he told police that he had been without that last day.

>> we went to get food today. >> liam who had voluntarily gone downtown to tell detectives about his great friend, sarah. >> but if you do during the day? >> she draws. she watches youtube videos. she walks her dog. >> liam who joined a search for her, who had gone on tv to praise her. >> she's pretty strong, so hopefully we're going to find something today. >> turn around. chris the wall. >> there were different cameras on him this day. >> you're being charged with murder, felony murder. first degree robbery, desecration of human remains. >> the other arrest was every bit as stunning. >> i'll be right with you, okay? >> it was liam's alleged accomplice, 19 year old justin taylor. and if he looks familiar, that's because you probably recognize him from sara's junior prom photo. preston was her date. who were these young men?

accused of these her reffitt crimes. preston and liam, how close were they? >> close friends. they've known each other for several years. they had just recently moved into a house together. >> investigators had two most unlikely murder suspect. liam mcatasney was a college sophomore studying psychology. he worked with sarah summers on the beach but he'd known her and been her friend since first grade. he had no criminal record. and preston taylor, also a college student, economics in political science, a friend of sarah since high school. he worked part-time around his class schedule. with the suspects in custody, what a christian bomb and the detectives had to do now, was very difficult. >> it was at that time that myself, detective westfield, decked of mahoney, met with mike stern at his house and we had to inform him that we now had information of what happened to sara. and there is no easy way to do

that. >> no. but he listened, this man now sentenced to prominence or as they told him his sarah, his only child, had died at the hands of two of her friends. >> i didn't know what to say. i just remember staring at the table and not knowing what to think. >> mike stern was heartsick. >> these protests are driven around, you know they're carpooled -- >> carpooled, church, fire department, events. things at the school. >> suddenly they weren't innocent anymore. >> no. it literally sucked the life out of me. i was in disbelief. it's unfathomable. >> and there was just no indication anywhere, anytime -- >> now. >> that this was looking in there somewhere. >> no.

that's what kind of hurts the most. that that evil can be in there. >> evil? oh yes. and mike stern was only beginning to comprehend the enormity of the chain of events that culminated on that bridge. over the shark river. coming up, after two arrests, an entire town relaying. >> we were struggling with why. >> but the shocks will keep coming, including more from that stomach turning tape. >> it's disgusting. disgusting. >> and an eyewitness who said he saw sarah after she disappeared. >> i caught her eye and she caught my eye. that girls alive. >> when dateline continues.

keith morrison (voiceover): february 2017. the two arrests in the mysterious disappearance of sarah stern were big news from the jersey shore to new york city. reporter 1: stunning developments in the search for a missing 19-year-old girl.

the charges two teens now face. keith morrison (voiceover): mike stern was in the county courthouse when they brought in the teens accused of killing his sarah. both pleaded not guilty to murder and six other charges. reporter 2: stern's family being escorted out of the courthouse asking for privacy less than 24 hours after finding out she was dead. keith morrison (voiceover): sarah's family and her friends appeared composed in public, but were in a private hell. they couldn't believe these two could have done this. neither of them had a criminal record. preston taylor, sarah's junior prom date, was a quiet 19-year-old. his roommate and co-defendant, liam mcatasney, was also 19, a tall towhead with an identical twin brother, was easily recognizable around town. lots of neptune city residents knew him from his job as a waiter at a local steakhouse. mike stern had watched both defendants grow up. keith morrison: you must have thought an awful lot about those boys and what they were like when they were in your house, when they hung around with sarah.

they had birthday parties and pool parties. and it seemed like they were normal kids. keith morrison (voiceover): mike, of course, but also the others who had known liam most of his young life were having a very hard time-- how to understand. we were struggling with why. if he was such a friend all these years, there has to be something evil about him that we're missing here. like, you don't just have no criminal record and go to murder. keith morrison (voiceover): carly and sam thought they knew liam and preston, but did they really? keith morrison: what did you think when those two guys were arrested? i couldn't believe it. i was mad. i was angry, honestly. i pulled up to my house, and i went inside. and my dad was just home. i said, is it true? and he said, yes. and i couldn't even-- for days, i couldn't even look over at sarah's house.

keith morrison (voiceover): remember, detectives have been talking to preston and liam since the first days of their missing persons investigation, even invited them down to the station, but not a suspect. but liam didn't tried to hide keith morrison (voiceover): liam had been with sarah the day she was last seen. and in fact, one of sarah's cousins had found liam's phone in sarah's driveway the morning after she went missing, but it didn't signify much. they were often together. and liam didn't try to hide it. it. and even happy to let the search his phone. so cooperative. now, detectives decided that liam statements deserved another look. >> when did you last see sara? >> when i was leaving her house. >> it was benign. >> so, you went back and looked at this thing again? >> absolutely. >> began to see it in a different light? >> absolutely. hindsight is very powerful. and, in hindsight, detectives thought liam's words seemed carefully deviously crafted to

support the idea that sarah had run away. >> what's your relationship with their dad? >> not good. >> when you see not good, what do you mean? >> i know there's a lot of fighting. all the time. she just needed to get to canada. >> and then, there was something liam asked that they just couldn't get out of their heads, now. >> if she, she did jump off the bridge, what are the odds that she's not somewhere all the way out in the ocean by now? >> but even though they saw liam in a new light, now building a murder case was complicated by the fact that sarah's fati had simply vanished. if young sarah did indeed end up in the shark river, it looked less likely by the day she would never be found. and without a body or a funeral, it all felt somehow so unfinished to those who loved sarah, to so many people in neptune city so profoundly disturbed and betrayed and saddened by her loss. so, -- >> we decided to do a

celebration of life. >> and did they ever. in the summer of 2017, seven months or so after sarah banished, they dressed up the neptune city community center. >> two, three main rooms filled from floor to ceiling wall to wall of all sara's arts. >> i think they said there was over 1000 visitors. >> it was as if the whole town skipped the beach that brilliant saturday. set aside the frustrating wait for the trial to begin, at least for one afternoon. >> i recall first meeting aaron kindergarten -- >> to hear sarah eulogized. >> she just loved them so, so much. >> by her friends and family. >> sarah, i will miss you every day and i will always carry you in my heart. >> and teachers.

>> she was just off kind and caring of her mother. she had a smile and an awesome humor and a quick wit like her father. she was just a beautiful combination of both of her parents. >> i never met someone who marches to the beat of her own drum so beautifully and is willing to pick up people along the way to joiner. >> i was overwhelmed. it was kind of a tearful moment, very touching. she touched a lot of people. >> god bless everybody. god bless--. >> bittersweet, exhausted, but hardly preparation for what was coming when liam and preston had their day in court. >> coming up -- at trial, precedent takes the stand. >> i opened the door on the right, and i find sarah laying in that bathroom. >> revealing dark details from a night of her. >> that cannot be easy to

listen to. >> it's kind of like a stake through your heart. >> when dateline continues. but with my moderate-to-severe eczema, it hasn't been easy. now, i'm staying ahead of it. dupixent helps heal your skin from within. so, you can clearer skin and noticeably less itch serious allergic reactions can occur, that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, including blurred vision, joint aches and pains, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. ask your doctor about dupixent lowe's knows you need to save money this holiday so without talking you can get more of what you want. with our lowest price guarantee. this holiday if you find a better price, we'll match it. get more for your home and your family. you got this. we got you. every parent knows when it's time to go into protect mode. adding lysol laundry sanitizer kills 99.9% of illness-causing bacteria detergents leave behind.

clean is good. sanitized is better. the irony was lost on no one in

the irony was lost on no one in neptune city, a place where people like to say everybody neptune city. a place where people like to say everybody knows everybody. now, to they thought they, knew liam mcatasney and preston taylor were being held in county jail, being accused of killing their friend sarah stern. but, what really happened? >> all rise!

>> in january 2019, two years after sarah vanished, mcatasney 21 years old, went on trial for murder. the assistant county meghan doyle and chris tucker felt they had a strong case but not a perfect one. a bo so for all of the evidence you have, you don't know what a jury is going to do with the. the prosecutors expected the defense would try to defend point hard. >> what if he says, during his -- , ladies and gentlemen, there's sarah stern, and we just could envision 14 people in the box looking at the door. well, there is reasonable doubt. >> we didn't have a body. we weren't going to have a body. so, it was just something that we have to try to take advantage of. >> ladies and gentlemen, will sarah stern not be walking through those doors into this courtroom at any point. because this defendant murdered her. >> the prosecution alleged liam

and precedent through stairs falling into the river. early on, remember, people thought maybe sarah to her own life. but no, the prosecution painted a picture of a happy young woman. excited about our future. as did sarah is that, mike. >> were you worried about your daughter? >> no. >> was she depressed? >> no. >> do you think your daughter don't? >> no. >> mike sisters, linda, there is, and described a loving relationship between father and daughter. >> she absolutely loved her father. >> where you were not that her father loved her? >> he absolutely loved her. >> so, what exactly did happen? the shocking answer came from the unlikeliest imaginable source. sara's prom date, preston taylor. >> do you solemnly swear -- >> charged in connection with sara's murder, two years earlier, preston now took the stand for the process -- prosecution. the state had given him a deal that dropped the felony murder charge and in exchange president pleaded guilty for six other charges and agreed to

testify against his good friend liam. christopher mitchell knew was a prosecutor. >> sometimes you have to get dirty. sometimes you have to get in the mud and you have to deal with but people who played a major role in committing a crime in order to be able to prove that crime against other. >> do you know what that cooperation really requires to do? >> complete honesty. >> complete honesty, is that what you said? >> yes. >> is that what he said? >> absolutely. >> and now, in exchange for a reduced sentence, he was about to tell the world what he and liam did to sara stern. president delivered his horrifying story in a cool steady voice. >> did you know her? >> i did. >> were you friends with her? >> yes, we were friends throughout high school. >> it started months before she went missing, he said. after sarah told liam about what she found in the family second home -- >> it was a shull box full of

money. >> did you ask any questions about the money when you first learned about it? >> i asked how much it was, i was told that it was a range of about $100,000. >> preston testified that liam said $100,000 was the kind of money somebody would kill for. >> it started off as plans to either burglarize her house or rob her personally. and overtime the conversation progressed to killing her, to -- in order to obtain the money. >> the crime, he said, was planned. in intricate detail. avoid using cell phones, preston and leah bra walkie talkies. president testified that the two originally planned to kill sara in november. but while liam was at her house suboptimal to her, he learned her money wasn't there. it was in that safety deposit box, at the bank. the one that detectives later discovered had $25,000 in. >> you discussed ways around that problem?

>> yeah, liam had conversations with sir. she had been to canada several times. she had been talking about taking troops out there again. liam saw that as an opportunity to convince her to take the money out of the bank. >> and so, on december 2nd, with mike and christine on vacation in florida, sarah did go to the bank to get some of that money. while she was there, preston testified, he got a message from liam. >> he was with sara. they were at the bank and this is the chance -- >> he knew exactly what that meant. >> he had somehow convinced her to take the money out of the safety deposit box and the plan would move forward that night. >> okay. did you say anything back? >> i said to wait until it got daca. >> preston was strangely emotionalism on the stand as he described the murder of his friend. it happened late that afternoon,

he said. liam strangled sir. prosecutors showed the surveillance video of liam leaving the house with a backpack which he said contained some of serious money. and, another video of him arriving at work at that steak house not long afterwards. but liam didn't stay long, a few minutes later, he left. president told the jurors, he was leaving for liam at the house they shared. >> liam comes to the door and he's frantic. he said that he had killed sarah that he lost his phone and ultimately told me he needed me. to go over to sara's house to look for his phone and to move serves body. >> meanwhile, he said, liam went right back to work as if it was in the other day. while he, preston, headed over to sara's house, lined the fence in the backyard, open the back door, he looked for liam's phone but couldn't find it. prosecutors played a tape of president walking detectives through the murder scene. recounting how he moved sarah's body. >> i opened the door on the

right, and find sarah, dead, laying in that back there. >> what did you do? >> i picked up by the shoulders and drugged her outback. took her to the bush's along the side fence. pulled her in, there and covered up with some leaves in some -- >> late that, night president told the jury he and liam propped up sara's body in the passenger seat of her own car and liam drove that car to the returnee -- five bridge, and he followed that car and then he threw body over the ruling. and they left her car there with the key in the ignition. and and drove home. >> what did you do when you got to all the story? >> get, there we both light up a cigarette. we started counting the money. >> sara's money. the total wasn't $100, 000, not 50,000, no. the hall for ending syria's

young life was less than $10,000. of course, after they arrested preston, the detectives asked what happened to it. >> did you tell them where the money was? >> yeah, i told him that it was buried. >> president testified that he and liam buried the money they stole from sara into small saves. one in the woods in a nearby park. the, other 20 miles away on a long abandoned army base. it was a chilling tale. mike and christine sat in court and heard every word. >> that cannot be easy to listen to. >> no. it's kind of like driving a stake through your heart. it hurt. very deeply, my daughter, my only child, she was my world. >> and things were not going to get any easier for mike because the defense was about to present an eyewitness with a remarkable claim. >> there was a girl walking down the street.

>> but not a word of president story could've been true. >> coming up -- >> i said to my son, i thought that is an awfully good-looking girl. to be walking on the street at 5:00 in the morning. >> did someone see sir the day after she disappeared? >> i looked at her, right in the face just like i'm looking at you right now. that girl is alive. >> testimony that could turn the case upside down. when dateline continues. - "best thing i've ever done." that's what freddie told me. - it was the best thing i've ever done, and- - really? - yes, without a doubt! - i don't have any anxiety about money anymore. - great people. different people, that's for sure, and all of them had different reasons for getting a reverse mortgage, but you know what, they all felt the same about two things: they all loved their home,

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preston taylor and liam mcatasney were certainly architec e were suddenly an unlikely pair of murder suspects. , clean-cut, softspoken. never once in trouble. but now preston had taken a deal and the was on trial for killing one of his very best friends for money. >> i developed a relationship with him over the last six or seven months or so. >> this is liam's defense attorney, carlos. was he terrified going into the trial? >> yes. what 20 year old wouldn't be? >> especially scared said the attorney because liam was innocent. he didn't do the awful thing that he'd been accused of. >> once all the evidence is in there will be no other verdict then a not guilty verdict. >> not guilty, the defense

argued, because the evidence would show sarah might have run away from an unhappy home or even taking her own life. to support that the defense presented a different and disturbing take on sara's relationship with her dad. far from happy. the defense called it, volatile. father and daughter fighting constantly. and, the defense suggested it had a profound impact on sarah. liam said as much, the first time he spoke to police the night sarah disappeared. >> what was her mindset last time you talked her? >> i just know she had been trying to get away. she's been telling me she's going to canada. >> trying to get away, okay. canada, has she been real depressed lately? >> her dad is crazy. >> on cross examination, sara's aunt, linda, who became serious

confident after her mom died acknowledged that there was some father daughter friction. >> how would you describe sarah 's relationship with their father in 2016? >> i would say was a little rocky. >> she was packing up her things while her father was away. >> that is correct. >> but she didn't want her father to know that she was packing up her things. >> that is correct. >> if the defense attorney could convince jurors that sarah had a secret urgent plan to get away from her father and moved to canada, then he was on his way to creating reasonable doubt. but, how would he deal with the powerful testimony of preston taylor. the answer, was simple and an emphatic preston is a liar. >> his testimony is untruthful, it's false. it's imagined and erroneous. >> and, just how would the defense attorney backup that claim? preston made it easy for him. >> but you don't always tell the truth, isn't that correct? >> i haven't in the past. >> hoping for leniency after he was arrested, preston told police an elaborate and disturbing story about one of his own relatives. >> you made an accusation against somebody, said that you

were sexually assaulted by that person. >> right. >> and all those details that you gave, they were all false. they were all false, weren't they? >> correct. >> preston had lied to the police about someone close, and committing a serious crime. >> for diaz-cobo, it was a gift to attack preston's credibility. >> we are talking to somebody who was admitted to making up stories, making false accusations against innocent people. >> defense attorney, diaz-cobo, told jurors that precedent story about liam was alive too. a lie that could save him from spending the rest of his life in prison. he figures to point the finger at someone else, let's see if i could turn the attention away from what i did. what i'm responsible for. >>is he responsible for sara's death? >> he may be, that is one of the many questions that arise

from this case, more questions than answers. >> the defense didn't just challenge the states witnesses. diaz-cobo also presented an eyewitness with an astonishing story. >> craig, kevin, -- >> and he wanted to tell the jury all about it. on that cold december morning in 2016, craig was doing what he always did, at 5 am, he drove his son to work, same route, same time every day. >> there was a girl walking down the street. and i said to my son, i, said that is an awfully good-looking girl to be walking on the street at 5:00 in the morning. i remember the things that she had, on she had this leather bomber jacket and like a fluffy collar and she had high heel shoes on. and i looked at her, right in the face, just like i'm looking at you right now. i caught her eye and she caught

my eye and all of a sudden she turned away, turned her head down. >> a construction contractor who lived there for 35 years kept driving. and then -- >> we're going over top of the short river bridge on route 35 and there's a car on the side of the road. and i said that is a bad place to get stuck. >> a few days later, he said he was at a 7/11 and made a startling connection. he saw a poster for a missing woman. it was her. the same woman he had seen walking down the street, sarah stern. >>this is the picture you saw? is this the individual that you saw on december 3rd in the morning? >> i would've identified that person asked that person. yes. >>he told us that seeing sarah

's picture, in court, during his testimony gave him a chill. >> it was eerie when they put that picture up i said that is it and i couldn't look at it anymore. it was her. >> he was absolutely certain that who he saw, sometime a little after 5:00 in the morning, hours and hours and hours after the state alleged sarah stern was murdered that he saw an individual and that individual was sarah stern. >>and he was just as certain that the car on the bridge was sarah's. it stood out because it was sold and beat up. but, police testified the car was towed off that bridge two hours before that sal was there. >> i saw that car at 5:15 in the morning. there is no doubt about it. i spoke to my son about, it he was in the car with me. he said, absolutely that car was there. >> they said they towed that car away. >> they did not tow that car. >> but, they have a record of

towing the car. >> they better go back and check that record and talk to somebody else because that car was there. >> i think that girls alike, that's what i think. >> a life somewhere. >> somewhere. >> but she hasn't used a credit card, a person who stops using a cell phone, stops using a credit card, stopped using anything that would connect us with this earth, can they be around anywhere? >> what would we say, in a few years down the road when she turns up? >> and you think she will? >> i think she will, that would mean the whole case falls apart. >> the whole murder case, yeah. >> do you believe then that your testimony is actually the bullet that destroys the prosecution's case? >> i don't know what it was, i felt it was my obligation when there was a man, a young man's life at stake spending the rest of his life in jail. >> diaz-cobo had poked holes in the prosecution's story but for the whole case to fall apart, he had to explain away evidence so disturbing it shocked even the most veteran courtroom observers. >> i know you're not a rat but we gotta play it safe. >> coming up --

>> i planned this thing up for like six months. >> jurors see the hidden camera video, liam, loud chilling revelation in his own ice-cold words. >> i picked up and she didn't say my name and then that was it. >> when dateline continues. s my pup py! woman: cancer. it's different in a child. because your child is still growing. charlie: i had 14 rounds of chemo. there's thousands and thousands of kids all over the world who need help. girl: it is my first time having cancer. and it's the very worst. spokesman: saint jude children's research hospital works day after day to find cures and save the lives of children with cancer and other life threatening diseases. woman: it's scary to watch your kid battle

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goli, taste your goals. stories. the israel-hamas war appears to have escalated and entered news phase. israel pounding gaza with a barrage of bombs overnight, israeli forces saying they struck 150 underground targets and killed several hamas terrorists, including the leader that directed the aerial attacks on october the 7th. the suspects in maine's mass shooting on wednesday is dead. authorities say he was found with an apparent self inflicted gunshot wound near a recycling center where used to work. 18 people were killed and shooting spree, including a 14 year old boy. now back to dateline.

dateline liam mcatasney ramrod sat in the courtroom, still, silent. as the detectives and the prosecutors and his own roommate accused him of murdering his friend, sarah stern. sat there while his attorney kept scorn on the story told by his friend, turned prosecution witness preston taylor. >> preston taylor is making this up. he is lying. >> but how would the defense explain him?>> the prosecution s wasn't preston taylor who flipped accomplice, but anthony curry who was about to premier the biggest film of his short career. anthony took the stand, nerves, all but bursting through a skin. >> did you want to be here today? >> no. >> shifting around in his seat,

he told the court about the outrageous story liam mcatasney, told him on thanksgiving night. >> he told me that he was going to sara, she found this money and they were going to counted together and then choke her out and bring her to the bridge, throw her off and make it look like she killed herself. he said it would be like a movie. >> the you think he was two years at that time? >> no. >> but the young filmmaker explain to the jury, when he learned sarah was missing, he and his dad went to the police. >> in his cross-examination, defense attorney diaz-cobo, attacked anthony curry's testimony. all anthony's squirming, it wasn't nerves, no, he was lying. >> your testimony, today sir is that liam told you, prior to december 2nd that he was planning on taking money from sarah? >> yes. >> was anybody with you and my client when he allegedly told

you this? >> no. >> so, the only person that would've hurt it would've been you, correct? >> yes. >> you never recorded that conversation. ? >> no. >> he has a motive for her. he just made national headlines as the horror film maker that's part of this murder case. >> but turning on his best friend for the sake of some good publicity from the national media? what kind of sense does that make? >> crazier things have happened. >> but, as damning as anthony curry's testimony on the stand might sound, it was all only -- and the prosecution's most devastating witness of all. liam mcatasney, himself. >> i planned this thing out for like six months. >> a hushed courtroom, urged the courting with liam talking to anthony in the car parked by the beach. >> i choke her out, drag her. >> the word, disturbing doesn't begin to describe. >> so you just count up --

just without working? >> she was like screaming in? >> here, in anthony's car, liam told the whole sickening story of what he did to sara on december 2nd. they were alone in her house, that afternoon when liam crept up from behind then grabbed her. >> i pretty much hung her, like -- i just, a picked her up and then i had her dangling off the ground. and then she said my name and that was it. it took me half an hour to kill her. i thought it was going to be able to track her out and have her out in like a couple of minutes. that's the only time i had my phone. who and it took me like a half an hour after i hit start. on the timer. >> you heard that right, liam used his phone to time how long it took for sarah to die. she was helpless. not even her faithful buddy

intervened. >> her dog laid there and watched as i killed her. didn't do anything. her [bleep] dog. >> what kind of dog is that? >> yeah, what kind of dog is that. >> and then, the grim aftermath. liam told how preston hid sara 's body in the yard and healthy later went back for it. >> then we take her body out of the bushes and drag it over to her back fence and i crawl, get into her car, and i backup. there's a security camera across the street. so i had to back, i had to act like her. i watched her every time she backed out. she does the same thing, so i backed out. exactly like she did. and drove off. >> did you put her in the truck? >> no, i put in the passenger seat of her own car. >> liam said he drove tears car in the middle of the bridge, preston would follow, pick up -- communicating with the walkie

talkie's. but, as carefully as he planned, he hadn't factored in one thing. >> coming up -- liam's sinister strategy throwing off police. >> that was the whole part of the plan to make me look not guilty. >> and then, maybe the darkest moment of all, liam hinting at an unthinkable motive. >> what are you gonna live some boring life? >> when dateline continues. dry burnt-on stains. old dishwashers. very hard water. new finish ultimate, with cyclesync technology, helps deliver the ultimate clean. ♪ with gold bond... you can age on your own terms. retinol overnight means... the smoothing benefits of retinol. are now for your whole body. plus, fast-working crepe corrector diminishes wrinkled skin in just two days. gold bond. champion your skin. your best defense against erosion and cavities

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county county jersey shore, stunned by the video prosecutors were playing for the jury. liam mcatasney, unaware he was being recorded. described in horrific detail of exactly how he killed sarah stern. now, he turned to how he disposed of her body. with sara's body belted in the passenger seat of our grandmothers mobile, you drove to the crest of the route 35 bridge, over the shark river and encountered a problem. >> i underestimated my own strength and how much a dead body would weigh, because it's dead weight. >> yeah. >> i caught up on top of the bridge to throw her off -- and i go up, open the door, unhook, or pull around, start dragging her to throw her over, and then cars start coming up. i seen headlights coming. i tried to get over, and i can't. >> it was just after midnight, but there was still traffic on the bridge. and liam was outside sara's car,

struggling with her body. he began to panic. >> and three cars go by and i'm l [bleep] losing my [bleep], because that easily could've been a. cop and then -- >> i mean the police station is right there. >> yeah, yeah. and then preston comes over the bridge, the two of us got the body over and then we were out. >> so you needed help? >> i needed help, yeah. >> as he told anthony his story, liam reveled in his belief that sarah's body, dumped off the bridge, was forever lost. >> the body never showed up. >> it's probably frozen. >> it's probably all the way out in the ocean. >> bro, this is like a [bleep] movie. >> but, just as in many crime movies he made critical mistakes. >> i [bleep] dropped my phone at sarah's house. >> you should've left it in your [bleep] pocket. what were you doing?

>> strangling someone. i couldn't find it, dude. >> still, he bragged to his friends about how clean the. was he not only planned and carried out stairs murder. he also casted himself as a helpful witness in the investigation. >> i had planned sarah's situation for me to be interrogated by the cops. like, that was the whole part of my plan to make me look not guilty. the point of that whole scheme, he, said was about that money he had taken from sara's house. but there was jackpot prize. >> the worst part of it i thought that i was -- 50, ground 100 grand in my pocket. but i didn't even get a quarter of it. >> so you only got like what seven grand? >> something around that. >> for all his scheming, over six months, he only got a money pile of the fun and some weed.

>> i didn't get a lot of money but i had enough money to just be living comfortably in my house. throwing parties all the time. >> liam had revealed so much, maybe too much. and, suddenly, he seemed worried. could he trust anthony to keep quiet? >> i know you're not a rat. but we gotta play it safe. >> or else, he seemed to threaten his friend. >> i don't want preston to think that he has to kill you and take you out because you are the only person that knows because i tried to imply that you might know and he gets really upset. >> so maybe don't tell? >> don't tell him. yeah. but you're the only person besides preston that knows. >> and, then liam got reflected. he seemed to suggest to anthony, it wasn't all about the money.

that he wanted to get something more out of murdering sarah. and after he seemed disappointed. >> i don't feel disappointed, i don't think about it. the only thing you're gonna try these new thing you're gonna change. >> it just doesn't do anything. it's where. >> it's like a movie. >> it's your life, you might as well make it one. >> what, you're gonna live some boring life? >> the story was beyond chilling, the details, appalling. and, liam had delivered it without a hint of remorse. when it was over, people watching in the crowded courtroom were silent, stunned. sara's cousins, lauren and lindsey -- >> that was the worst thing i ever saw in my whole entire life, just listening to him, nonchalantly like it's no big deal. it's somebody's life. >> it was sick, it's just sick. >> it took a while, for carli and some to process what they

had heard from the boy they knew as sara's gun. >> that was disgusting, how could you take someone's life for their money and then not be happy with the money that you kill them for? >> he also wasn't happy that he didn't feel more. >> that ticked me when he said, sometimes you try new things and then expect to feel something and you say he didn't feel anything, and he said, we need to try new things, this killing, someone try new things? >> their father had kept a steady composure throughout the trial. but hearing that tape, he broke into quite sobs. >> i was there, the day when they played that tape. and i kept thinking, what is it like for the poor man? you hadn't heard that before. >> no, i knew some of the

content but i had never heard it from his mouth. i couldn't believe it. evil. pure evil. >> a detailed, cold blooded confession on video what might seem like an open and shut case but surprises were in store. before the jury rendered its verdict. >> coming up -- >> the defense calls a tape pure fiction. >> this is not the first time that liam makes up crazy stories. he wants to be released. he's leonardo dicaprio to anthony kari's martin scorsese. >> and, then the verdict and it's emotional follow-up. >> that hurts -- >> when dateline continues. some people just know that's not gonna fit. those are the people who know to choose allstate. that's not gonna fit. what's that?

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hearing liam mcatasney confessed to murdering his friend sara? >> and it took me half an hour to kill her. >> a lot, as it turned out. liam's attorney took him head on, said that what the jury heard was all made of fantasy and--. liam pitching a horror movie plot to his filmmaking friend, anthony. >> there was no evidence to support what he said on that date, as chilling and as horrifying as it is --

>> so, what was he trying to do? >> i mean impress his friend. for what reason? what did he want out of it. if you recall anthony curry's testimony, he told you that this is not the first time that liam makes up that crazy story, that he does it all the time. >> he did make up things to you when he spoke to, correct? >> sure. >> he does it to impress me. he wants to be in anthony curry's world. he wants to be in his roots. his leonardo dicaprio to anthony curry's martin scorsese. >> in his closing argument, liam's attorney said that preston was making up stories to. all in his effort to cut his plea deal. he said the biggest problem with the prosecution case was simple. that the defenses eyewitness proved. >> -- why? craig hassle tells you that she

was still alive. >> prosecutor, christopher decker wasn't having any of it. >> we talk about mr. head sal, we see sarah wearing heels and that's not sara stern. >> no, she wasn't a goose and turbulence, that was sarah stern. and the eyewitness was wrong about the car to. >> that car was not there. it just wasn't there. he's wrong, i don't know if he's lying, or just, wrong it doesn't matter. he did not see her. >> after a five week, prosecutor decker had the last word. >> sara stern is dead. we this is not a movie, it is not a story, this defendant didn't frame himself for murder. he committed murder. >> there is no doubt that this man killed sara stern. he told you.

>> the jury took its time, as to see a lot of those taking. >> -- >> asked to hear back some of the testimony. and then, finally, word reached the judge. a verdict, the court to be reconvened as liam sat, there motionless, still in the face, as ever. >> how do you find this account as to the defendant liam mcatasney committing the crime of murder by purposefully causing the death of sarah stern. >> guilty. >> guilty of murder. >> and all six other counts, for michael stern who had lost so, much endured so much, even had to watch leon tried to tarnish his relationship with, or the daughter he shares. at least this part was over. >> i waited for that 27 months. >> it must be a complicated feeling. not a phoenix any sense. but when it comes to sarah it's important that, you, no justice be served.

>> four months later, justice was served. liam mcatasney faced the judge, again his reality, in a-scape form. >> i do think that this is a heinous murder, i think that it was done in a matter that -- >> liam was sentenced to life without parole. he has filed an appeal. preston taylor was handed 18 years in prison for his role. defensive attorney john negociated a deal. how can we look at the fact that this girl he liked and was a friend of her, years who he took to the prom for heaven's sake, he could participate -- >> nobody can. and we can't. he's gonna relive his par for the rest of his life. >>what was this case on about? when you see the totality of it? >> i think the money was an excuse and that he just wanted

to kill somebody. >> to me, what the case was about, first and foremost was just the way that he used sarah. >> the consequences of sarah's death will be with a lot of people for a very long time. grief, still very raw. >> no matter how many times or how funny you are, whether you have a good day, you come home and then you'd see your house and just think about it. >> losing a close friend when you're young, you don't ever get over that. >>and the trial may be over but that hurt is never going to be over. >> sara stern's life was taken from her at just 19. but she lived long enough to know the artistic life she wanted to pursue. how would you like sarah to be remembered? how will you remember her? >> as a brilliant artist.

she just loved art. and her art teachers loved her. >> are there times, particular times when she comes into your mind -- >> every day. >> she comes to visit you? >> every day. we talk, i say hello, make sure she is doing okay. she is. her spirit will live forever. beautiful, beautiful kid. >> yep. >> my sarah.. [music playing] >> for lovely robin, the late hello, i'm andrea canning, andfor lovely robin,e."ng: shot was her last. >> she was lying face down, a pool of blood under one side. >> just one tiny clue. >> a piece of foam rr.