Deceased/Not Found NJ - Sarah Stern, 19, Neptune City, 2 Dec 2016 #3 *Guilty*

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Thank you ALL for the updates!! :)

Here's my update in red:

Friday, Feb. 22nd
*Trial continues (Day 12)-Closing Arguments (@ 9:30am ET) - NJ - Sarah Stern (19) (Dec. 2, 2016, Neptune City; not found) - *Liam McAtasney (21/19 @ time of crime) charged (2/1/17) & indicted (2/2/17) with 1st degree murder, 1st degree robbery, felony murder, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, desecrating human remains (2nd degree), tampering with physical evidence & hindering his own apprehension. Plead not guilty. No bond. DA seeks Life.
Trial started 1/23/19; should last 4 to 6 weeks & will only be on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays.
Skipping over Day 1(1/23/19) thru Day 6 (2/6/19) - reference post #832 here: Still Missing - NJ - Sarah Stern, 19, Neptune City, 2 Dec 2016 *Arrests* #2
Skipping over Day 7 (2/7/19) thru Day 8 (2/12/19) - reference post #962 here - Still Missing - NJ - Sarah Stern, 19, Neptune City, 2 Dec 2016 *Arrests* #2
Skipping over Day 9 (2/14/19) thru Day 11 (2/21/19) - reference post #30 here: Still Missing - NJ - Sarah Stern, 19, Neptune City, 2 Dec 2016 *Arrests* #3
2/22/19 Day 12: Closing arguments. On Monday (2/25), Judge Richard English will charge the jury, reading and explaining each charge McAtasney faces, before jurors begin deliberations.
His accomplice Preston Taylor (19) faces up to 20 years in state prison and is subject to the No Early Release Act. (Was facing up to life in prison on the felony murder charge and 51 years for the additional charges). He pleaded guilty (4/27/17) to 1st degree robbery, 2nd degree conspiracy to commit robbery, 2nd degree distributing or desecrating human remains, 2 counts of 3rd degree hindering apprehension & 4th degree tampering with physical evidence. His sentencing will be adjourned until later in the year, pending McAtasney’s trial. Testified at LMc's trial.
 
283 said:
This clown has a better chance of being a psychic than a filmmaker ... his movie pitch just so happens to include the amount and condition of her currency, the fact that two safes were missing and where exactly they were buried, that her car was backed out of the driveway, that he could delete her from his cell contacts as he would no longer be needing it.. not to mention the fact he frisked the guy he “pitched” the film idea to prior to “confessing”, the key to one safe was in his car, and the other was in his apt, he quit his job the day after stealing all of this money(despite having just moved out of his parents home and into an apt), sterns landline called his cell 4x.. I don’t know a single teenager that knows how to use a landline let alone know anyone’s number to actually dial it- if Sarah was calling him she would have used her cell.
Click to expand...

This guy might as well look into reserving his dining table for life.
 
Last edited:
Feb 23, 2019

FREEHOLD BOROUGH — Jurors are expected to begin deliberations Monday in the trial of a man accused of strangling a former high school classmate and throwing her body off a Jersey Shore bridge more than two years ago.

Monmouth County prosecutors allege that 21-year-old Liam McAtasney strangled 19-year-old Sarah Stern during a December 2016 robbery. He and a friend, prosecutors allege, then dumped her body off the Route 35 bridge in Belmar, leaving her car on the bridge to make it appear that she committed suicide.

Defense attorney Carlos Diaz-Cobo, however, told jurors in his closing argument Friday that there was reasonable doubt that the victim was dead because her body has never been found and a man testified seeing a live woman who looked like Stern in a Bradley Beach alley at 5 a.m. on the day she was reported missing.

"Without a body, there is no murder," Diaz-Cobo said.

Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Decker began his closing argument by saying "Sarah Stern is not in Canada. Sarah Stern did not kill herself. That is ridiculous. ... Sarah Stern, unfortunately, is not with us anymore."
[...]
"Not having a body is not reasonable doubt when you have the two involved saying we killed her, we threw her off the bridge, we took her money," Decker said.

No body, no murder? Waiting for jury's verdict in Sarah Stern trial
 
Defense closes with one last ‘Sarah Stern may not be dead and confession was actually horror film audition’ pitch

Feb 22, 2019

An attorney for Liam McAtasney, the man accused of killing his childhood friend and dumping her body off a bridge in 2016, said there are “mountains of reasonable doubt” that Sarah Stern is not dead.

Prosecutors, on the other hand, say they have the evidence, including a secretly recorded confession from McAtasney and his accomplice admitting to helping dispose of the body, showing McAtasney is guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Stern, 19.

The clashing assessments came during more than four hours of final arguments Friday in McAtasney’s murder trial in Superior Court in Monmouth County.

McAtasney’s fate will now be in the hands of a jury when the panel begins deliberating Monday morning after several weeks of the trial.

Authorities allege McAtasney, 21, strangled Stern during a robbery at her home on Dec. 2, 2016, and with the help of his roommate, Preston Taylor, dumped her body off the Route 35 bridge in Belmar. The two then left Stern’s car on the bridge to make it appear as if she committed suicide, according to authorities. Her body was never found.

“There is reasonable doubt that Sarah is dead,” defense attorney Carlos Diaz-Cobo told the jury. “The evidence tells us this. There is reasonable doubt that Sarah was murdered. There is reasonable doubt Sarah was robbed. Because of this, you have to find Liam McAtasney innocent.”
 
Monday, February 25th:
*Trial continues (Day 13)-Jury Deliberations start (Day 1) (@ 9:30am ET) - NJ - Sarah Stern (19) (Dec. 2, 2016, Neptune City; not found) - *Liam McAtasney (21/19 @ time of crime) charged (2/1/17) & indicted (2/2/17) with 1st degree murder, 1st degree robbery, felony murder, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, desecrating human remains (2nd degree), tampering with physical evidence & hindering his own apprehension. Plead not guilty. No bond. DA seeks Life.
Trial started 1/23/19; should last 4 to 6 weeks & will only be on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays.
Skipping over Day 1(1/23/19) thru Day 6 (2/6/19) - reference post #832 here: Still Missing - NJ - Sarah Stern, 19, Neptune City, 2 Dec 2016 *Arrests* #2
Skipping over Day 7 (2/7/19) thru Day 8 (2/12/19) - reference post #962 here - Still Missing - NJ - Sarah Stern, 19, Neptune City, 2 Dec 2016 *Arrests* #2
Skipping over Day 9 (2/14/19) thru Day 11 (2/21/19) - reference post #30 here: Still Missing - NJ - Sarah Stern, 19, Neptune City, 2 Dec 2016 *Arrests* #3
2/22/19 Day 12: Judge gives jury instructions. Closing arguments. On Monday (2/25), Judge Richard English will charge the jury, reading and explaining each charge McAtasney faces, before jurors begin deliberations.
His accomplice Preston Taylor (19) faces up to 20 years in state prison and is subject to the No Early Release Act. (Was facing up to life in prison on the felony murder charge and 51 years for the additional charges). He pleaded guilty (4/27/17) to 1st degree robbery, 2nd degree conspiracy to commit robbery, 2nd degree distributing or desecrating human remains, 2 counts of 3rd degree hindering apprehension & 4th degree tampering with physical evidence. His sentencing will be adjourned until later in the year, pending McAtasney’s trial. Testified at LMc's trial.
 
Sarah Stern's father testifies about his last conversations with her

Feb 5, 2019

"Michael Stern, Sarah's father, took the stand to testify about his conversations with his daughter the last few days before her disappearance."

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Tide expert explains where Sarah Stern's body may have gone

Feb 5, 2019

"Dr. Hugh Roarty, an expert from Rutgers University gave testimony about the flow of the Shark River and tides on the night Sarah Stern disappeared, potentially coming up with answers as to where her body may have ended up."

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Alleged video confession in Sarah Stern murder

Feb 7, 2019

"In a hidden camera recording, Liam McAtasney describes the story to his friend Anthony Curry how he allegedly killed Sarah Stern."


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Asbury Park Press‏Verified account @AsburyParkPress 21h21 hours ago
WATCH: Defense insists 'no body,' no crime #SarahStern

Sarah Stern murder: Defense insists 'no body,' no crime
 
Yep, good morning all. Sending strength and courage to the people arriving at that court this morning. Stormy over here with intermittent power outages but I mean to camp the news outlets for updates as power'll let me!
 

This is mostly just wishful thinking on my part, but I wouldn’t exactly be shocked if the jurors returned a guilty verdict after only a few hours of deliberations. But then you never know what jury will do.

Personally, I would have never imagined the defense would be as terrible as it turned out to be. It was so weak, IMO.

As for the prosecution, I think they did an amazing job, and they had far more evidence than I’d ever expected. Preston’s testimony turned out to be only a small part of it, which worked in their favor, IMO.

Let this ridiculous end already. Sarah’s dad and the rest of the family have been through so much.
 
Yes, I agree - they won't take too long in reaching a GUILTY verdict!

So - it's 9:45am in New Jersey - have they started yet? LOL!

I will predict after lunch, they do have to fill out paperwork & get a free lunch! :)
 
Niner said:
Yes, I agree - they won't take too long in reaching a GUILTY verdict!

So - it's 9:45am in New Jersey - have they started yet? LOL!

I will predict after lunch, they do have to fill out paperwork & get a free lunch! :)
Click to expand...

power just came back so quick check, Ha Niner, we'll see if they DESERVE a free lunch!!

Holding my breath here as well. Peace to the Stern family. Also the McAtasney family, for the horror they are facing this day due to their offspring. I know his parents, I mean I imagine, his parents and sib(s) are in hell also. A different hell than Sarah's family and friends, but a hell all the same :(
 
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