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 c
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
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 hadn t 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
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 the 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 a group here. here, they say the sun gets in your shoes. people state, families count back generations. friendships last whole lifetimes. everybody knows each other and neptune. it s a very tightly knit
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?