“Sarah Stern murder: Victim told friend she was moving to Canada with accused killer”
KATHLEEN HOPKINS | ASBURY PARK PRESS | 8 minutes ago
“FREEHOLD - Sarah Stern told a lifelong friend
on the day she went missing that she was going
to move to Canada with Liam McAtasney, the
childhood friend now on trial for her murder,
according to testimony on Thursday.
But Stern on past occasions said she was going to move to different places, Florida, Canada or California, and never did, Carly Draper told the jury weighing McAtasney's fate.
So, Draper said she didn't believe Stern this time.
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Stern came to Draper's house on Ridge Terrace in Neptune City with McAtasney during the day on Dec. 2, 2016 to drop off a cardboard box and a bin of items she was cleaning out of her own house, Draper said.
‘She told me she was moving to Liam's apartment in Canada,'’ Draper said.
‘Who actually said that?’ asked Christopher Decker, an assistant Monmouth County prosecutor.
‘Sarah,’ the witness replied.
Stern that day told Draper about money she found in a second house that her family owned.
‘She said that she found $20,000 in a safe in a house that they had in Avon,’ Draper testified.
Stern also shared her thoughts about her father that day, the childhood friend said.
‘She said, 'I lost all respect for my father,’ Draper said, adding that McAtasney chimed in, ‘Well, who hasn't?'
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McAtasney's former roommate, Preston Taylor, testified Wednesday that McAtasney convinced Stern to take the money out of a safe-deposit box at the bank so that they could take a trip or move to either Canada or California.
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‘She seemed very happy and excited because she thought she was going to Canada,’ Draper said.
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Stern's aunt told the jury she saw her niece that same day, but Stern never mentioned to her that she was moving or that it would be the last time she would ever see her.
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McAtasney, usually stoic, dabbed at tears while listening to the testimony of Laura Carmody, a waitress and former co-worker of his at Brennan's Steakhouse in Neptune City. Carmody described McAtasney as an ‘excellent’ employee.
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Carmody's testimony apparently was offered by prosecutors to corroborate Taylor's story that McAtasney had lost his phone the day he said he killed Stern, and that he had come home several times that day to look for it.
Carmody said McAtasney came in that day, ready to start his shift, and then realized he didn't have his phone, so he went to his car to look for it.
‘He had said he was helping a friend move furniture in the afternoon, and that's when he might have lost it,’ Carmody testified.
She said McAtasney was scheduled to work the following day, but never returned to work after closing up the restaurant that night.
Taylor testified Wednesday that McAtasney told him he planned to quit his job after pulling off the robbery.
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Sarah Stern murder: Victim told friend she was moving to Canada with accused killer
