something sinister had just happened. you didn t think this was a horrible accident? no. there wasn t a smoking gun, really. just something dark that he could read between the lines in the police notes he reviewed the day after jody s death. he did not react like somebody who just lost his wife should have reacted. the detective moved his investigation from the physical evidence to the less tangible clues. he quickly learned from jody s friends that this was a couple not in love but in crisis. the subject wasn t wine and roses on the cliffs, it was divorce. she was going to go through with it, yes. absolutely. jody s long-time friend told detectives that jody had been determined to take her 10-year-old son jonathan and leave her husband. she was convinced steven had been cheating on her. she couldn t prove anything,
on a cold case. dr. michael bodden has determined this couldn t have been an accidental fall. in december of 2008, detectives paid one more visit to steven scharf. they wouldn t tell me what it was for. i had no idea what it was about. it didn t make sense. 16 years after that fatal night on the cliff, police were back and steven scharf was in for a shock. after all these years, you thought it was done. not until they reached behind and hand me this thing, this arrest warrant. reporter: coming up. the case heads into court with a surprise from the stand. steven and jody scharf s only son has some dark secrets to share. did you see that abuse? i did. when dateline continues. you ve got to get in there, like.
so they came to this romantic, if treacherous spot, to recommit to each other steven said. to kiss and make up. the spot where they went, not a spot where you go to reconcile with anybody. detectives weren t buying the story for another reason. they had found something suspicious inside scharf s car. a bag filled with items you would expect for a romantic picnic and one you would not. a hammer. wine, cheese, crackers, opener, claw hammer. i mean, red flags are going off. they reach the top of the pole at that point. did you think that might be a murder weapon. i thought that might have been plan a. he didn t use it. so he went to plan b. which he believes was to push or throw jody off that cliff. so the detective asked steven scharf the obvious. what was the hammer doing in that picnic basket? he told us he fixed a drawer
my mom was driving and my dad was hitting her with the bottom of his fist. i was begging him to stop doing it. he also remembered the last day of his mother s life. he was 10. he said his mother told his father that she didn t want to go out with him alone. she said i wanted to go out with you, i wouldn t be divorcing you. where was the proof that steven had planned to kill jody that night? well, there was the hammer in the picnic basket. but there was also testimony from this woman. one of steven s old girlfriends. i even mentioned to my girlfriend that it was a perfect relationship. terry scofield had been dating steven mofrnnths before death. did he tell you whether or not he was married? actually, he said he was not married. she remembered something strange steven said to her on the beach over that labor day
they had been talking breakup for years. the divorce papers just the latest legal in a growing spat. the prosecution paints a picture of someone who frankly is furious about this divorce. no one person ever indicated that my client was furious over this divorce. they had talked about divorce for years. saying one thing and not following through. though it is true steven scharf did not want a divorce, he says he wanted to give the marriage another chance. and as for that former girlfriend, terry scofield, she recounted steven s mysterious statement just before jody s death. just give me to the end of september and everything will be okay. the stress will be a lot of the stress will be gone. the defense attorney says that was steven s clumsy way of trying to dump his girlfriend.