FL - Madeline Soto, 13, Missing Child Alert, 13500 blk Town Loop Blvd, Orlando, 26 Feb 2024 *arrest* #15

[Megnut]

Why did the State acquiesce?

Phone records were in. They could have held the irons to the fire. He pleads guilty and allocates or it's DP. He was in no position to bargain.

(Trial) cost analysis maybe. But that isn't satisfying. Why why why did they let him off easy? He should have been forced to say guilty, say whether he acted alone. Otherwise DP stays.

Maybe everyone is gunshy after Caylee but this was solid.

The State caved.

SS brought NOTHING to the negotiations table.

No contest.

That is not right.

JMO

 

[Skigh]

I feel the same, I feel shorthanded somehow. Lke not that I needed to hear details but I want to know what happened? How she died, why she died. I feel like they get away with no shame/ less shame in what they did when they dont have to say it out loud.

Exactly. He should have been made ,as part of the plea,to admit to exactly what happened the night he murdered her . He should have had to plead guilty to every charge. He should never have been allowed to speak unless it was to look her relatives and friends in the eye and apologise to them for the pain he has caused them.

 

[Leilei]

Remember that the judge told the participants on zoom to have the microphones off. Maybe the judge didn’t want us to hear when LE placed the cuffs on JS. Wishful thinking.

If only, Teche.
I'll wish with you.
IMO.

 

[girlhasnoname]

Whaaaaaaat?
You strangled her to death. Own up to it for goodness sake.

I feel dirty after listening that

I just couldn't listen to that sniveling, whiney, coward of a murderer and all the horribleness. I would have probably thrown my laptop across the room at a minimum. It physically sickens me and brings out a very unhealthy anger and sense of injustice. Poor vulnerable, innocent Madeline.

I can't even begin to start about JS participating by Zoom? Could she have been there in person? This is HER DAUGHTER who was sexually abused from the age of 8 years old, 8, and then murdered by this sick pedophile. Where is she and why is she hiding????

MOO

 

[ttjo]

Exactly. He should have been made ,as part of the plea,to admit to exactly what happened the night he murdered her . He should have had to plead guilty to every charge. He should never have been allowed to speak unless it was to look her relatives and friends in the eye and apologise to them for the pain he has caused them.

I agree, I just dont feel like the family expressing their rage is enough, especially whren they get no response back, I think it can feel even worse.
I know you cannot repair the harm that was caused to them , but something, anything to acknowledge their suffering, their loss, would be better than hearing. I miss her too, I pray shes in heaven. Its almost insulting, like where else would she be ?

 

[Wishbone]

Interesting that SS had a no contest plea to murder. Is he leaving that option open to implicate someone else or inferring an accident? I see that mommy didn't make an appearance or provide a statement. Totally shows how little she cared for her child. Also interesting how one of the women making a statement expounded on how smart MS was. That's not the story we got from her own mother when she pointed out all of MS's deficiencies in various interviews. I have a big question mark when it comes to JS. JMOO

 

[arielilane]

A monster, a coward, through and through. Good riddance, cowardly, b@st@rd!



Stephan Sterns has entered court. He is expected to change his plea to GUILTY in the murder of Maddie Soto.

WATCH: https://youtube.com/live/cECTyM5qIcE


State says they are removing the death penalty due to Stephan Sterns changing his plea to guilty. If anyone ever deserved the DP.....it's this guy, imo.

Stephan Sterns did not plead guilty to the murder of Madeline Soto, he pleaded NO CONTEST, which will bring the same sentence, but it's annoying. :No Contest or nolo contendere is neither admitting nor denying guilt but accepts the consequence.

Stephan Sterns spoke at his sentencing, and it was nauseating. Part of what he said about the little girl he raped and killed... "I have nothing but sorrow for her loss, and I miss her all the time. ....she truly was a joy." Monster.

 

[Megnut]

Turns, churns and burns my stomach that he didn't even have to plead guilty to the charges spelled out and the State didn't even present their case against him, in brief.

Basically he concedes that they have the evidence to convict him but we already knew that.

Then he gets to whine about how much he misses her, that joy is gone. I wish the judge could wipe SS's memory, pull every image and thought of Maddie from his mind. He is no victim. No passive spectator. Like this all just "happened". No, SS, you caused it to happen. Over and over and over.

That he is free to continue to molest her in his mind is just so not okay.

Donate his brain to science. Yesterday.

JMO

 

[Cindizzi]

I agree 100% he deserves death.
Jmo

https://twitter.com/x/status/1947350344704659681

 

[Gemmie]

Interesting... all the posts that were brought over from the last thread didn't have my Reactions in this new thread, and I had reacted to 4 pages of them. Hmmm....

 

[CuriousCricket]

SS:

POOOR MEEEEEEEEEE

As if he's not responsible for her absence.

Don't you suppose that is why the prosecution allowed the "no contest" plea? They had him on the photos and abuse. No getting around that.

We've discussed that while they had him on disposing to the body, we knew little to nothing of the evidence that he killed her.

So, my best guess is that IF the murder trial had proceeded, he would have claimed JS killed Maddi that he did not, but helped JS attempt to get away with it.

So, the no contest plea says he realizes the state may have had enough to convict him and he didn't want to risk the death penalty, but he did not have to admit to killing her and my guess is he will never admit that he killed her.

The state was willing to accept "no contest" because at trial he could have insisted JS was guilty and there is not enough evidence the state was positive the jury could convict SS.

I so hate he can continue this charade.

 

[CHEL]

Interesting... all the posts that were brought over from the last thread didn't have my Reactions in this new thread, and I had reacted to 4 pages of them. Hmmm....

..........

 

[vls12345]

Interesting... all the posts that were brought over from the last thread didn't have my Reactions in this new thread, and I had reacted to 4 pages of them. Hmmm....

I don't think reactions to posts are normally carried over with the posts when a new thread starts. Imo.

 

[Megnut]

Revolting that he just carries on. Talking to his parents on the phone, demanding funds for root beer barrels and phone time, adding to his reading list. Failure to launch, failure to human being

He won't make friends in prison so IMO he'll live out his days in segregation, protected from harm in a way Maddie never was.

Aggravating.

JMO

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Sterns pleaded no contest to the first-degree murder charge and guilty to all 20 counts of sex crimes during a plea hearing Monday afternoon.

Florida man sentenced to life for rape, murder of Madeline Soto, his girlfriend's 13-year-old daughter

A Central Florida man was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his girlfriend's 13-year-old daughter, who went missing and was found dead days later.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Megnut]

Did anyone get a breakdown on what he did plead actual 'guilty' to?

I was so upset over the 'no contest' chorus, I missed it.

 

[tlcya]

Sterns pleaded guilty to sex crimes and no contest to murder.
Stephan Sterns pleads guilty to raping Madeline Soto, no contest to murder

Stephan Sterns, the former boyfriend of Soto’s mother, appeared in a Florida courtroom Monday where he pleaded no contest in the death of the teenager and guilty to the 60 sex abuse charges connected to the case.
Stephan Sterns takes plea deal to avoid death penalty over murder of Madeline Soto

While we didn't get to hear the man say the words, he plead guilty to the SA of our girl. And his fellow prisoners will know it/hear about it.

 

[Leilei]

Don't you suppose that is why the prosecution allowed the "no contest" plea? They had him on the photos and abuse. No getting around that.

We've discussed that while they had him on disposing to the body, we knew little to nothing of the evidence that he killed her.

So, my best guess is that IF the murder trial had proceeded, he would have claimed JS killed Maddi that he did not, but helped JS attempt to get away with it.

So, the no contest plea says he realizes the state may have had enough to convict him and he didn't want to risk the death penalty, but he did not have to admit to killing her and my guess is he will never admit that he killed her.

The state was willing to accept "no contest" because at trial he could have insisted JS was guilty and there is not enough evidence the state was positive the jury could convict SS.

I so hate he can continue this charade.

They had him dead to rights on the sexual abuse charges, and just due to how long it was going on and how he documented everything (the pics), he would have gotten LWOP anyway. That's why I don't understand why they allowed him to plead no contest to the murder charge. He would have been in prison anyway, so try the murder case, possibly get evidence of JS being involved along the way, charge her, and send him back to his prison home.
Something spooked the State, IMO.
This is just weird and doesn't feel like justice for Maddie at all.

Of course, it may also have been because they didn't want to bring those photos in to show at trial, which would victimize Maddie all over again - and this evil *censored* would probably enjoy it.

IMO and my heart hurts all over again.

 

[riolove77]

Any time you don't have to risk a jury making the decision for you is a win....I have had cases that I just KNEW were slam dunks, and a jury walked the guy, to my absolute shock and bewilderment. A plea is a guarantee AND comes with a waiver of appeal, so you're DONE. However, they should have made him plea guilty to the murder, not no contest.

 

[Cindizzi]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1947355212018241840