Page 8 - Steven Sharp News Today

What was that hammer doing in the picnic bag? >> he told us he fixed a adraer in his kitchen with the hammer and forgot to put it back in the garage. >> detectives asked if they could check out the drawer and the rest of stevens house that night. he agreed. but as it turned out something potentially far more telling was happening away from the action. >> and i said, look, mr. sharp, im your local police department. >> he was told to keep an eye on steven sharp that night as detectives combed thr...

From a cops point of view things were adding up and not in stevens favor. >> not just one thing. it was like the totality of the circumstances. every little thing is clicking in my mind, and im saying to myself, you know, this isnt right, something is wrong here. >> gut instinct is one thing, evidence is another. maybe their view of steven was too jaundiced. there really was nothing to indicate that jodys fall was anything but an accident. a few months later the ruling was in. the burgen county ...

Feet. >> i said was it an accident, and he put his head down and he said no. >> he believed that was a stunning confession. he ran to tell other detectives including linum, but theyd just spent hours grilling the man. the detectives still believed they could find solid evidence to implicate steven sharp, but they didnt. >> we took it as far as the cause of death at that time was listed as undetermined, so officially it wasnt a homicide. >> in time detectives moved onto other cases. steven sharp ...

>> but he willingly got into a patrol car? >> without a word. >> stranger still was how calm steven seem. when the officer heard him describe how his wife had fallen, he made a mental note. >> there was no emotion at all. >> did it occur to you maybe he was in shock. >> no, ive seen people who lost loved ones and ive never seen them act that way. >> but it was a particular moment later that caught his attention. >> he asked if he could get a drink from the water fountain, he was looking over and...

In many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40s. welcome back to "dateline". the jury is about to decide the fate of steven sharp. heres chris jansen with the conclusion to our story. 18 years after a night that ended in his wifes death off a cliff, steven sharp stood accused of murder by the state of new jersey. and through it all, one thing he wants you to know is this. he would never have laid a hand on his beloved jodi. never. >> steven, did you kill your wife,...

And john bu loogsy and testified at the trial of o. j. simpson. he was about to turn up the heat on a very cold case. >> hes reviewed the evidence and has determined this could not have been an accidental fall. >> in december of 2008 detectives paid one more visit to steven sharp. >> they wouldnt tell me what it was for. i had no idea what this buwas about. it didnt make sense. >> 15 years after that fatal night on the cliff, police were back and steven sharp was in for a shock. after all these ...

>> i did not. i did not. i didnt hurt jodi. i didnt push her. i didnt cause her to die. i didnt kill my wife. we talked to steven sharp where he was held for two years after 2008. he and his wife tina said they paid a high price for something he didnt know. >> our daughter is 2 1/2. we dont have contact visits. >> its not just a tragedy for jodi, its a tragedy for john. its a tragedy for my wife. its a tragedy for my daughter. and for myself. >> still, he decided not to take the stand in his o...

Verdict is -- >> guilty. >> guilty. later, jurors said what united them was the testimony of jodis friend, telling them that jodi was terrified of her husband. >> that possibly she was telling everyone if something happens to me, its my husband. >> it was another woman in stevens life who also swayed the jury. terry recalling what steven said to her weeks before jodis death, that his stress would soon be over. >> that was something that pushed me towards what we decided in the end. >> it was the...

>> who was not a credible witness. in closing, he insisted this wasnt a murder case, just a sad story about a woman who tumbled drunkenly to her death. >> this case is an accident. nothing more. nothing less. >> soon it would be in the hands of a jury. >> coming up -- >> it was the light bulb. you couldnt help but think oh, thats interesting. >> the jurors speak. what would they decide? >> steven, did you kill your wife jodi? >> the verdict when "dateline". continues.

>> i did not kill jodi. >> what happened on the cliffs edge? >> hello, and welcome to dateline. when police got notice someone had fallen off a cliff they werent surprised. but even they could not guess it would take almost 20 years to find out what really happened to a woman out on an evening hike with her husband. >> every couple has it, a shared song, a favorite movie or maybe a special place. steven sharp says for him and his wife jodi this was it, two