Page 8 - Those Cliffs News Today

The base of the building. >> and that didnt happen in the case of jody scharf. her body landed 50 feet out from the top of a cliff, and 30 feet to the north. >> she had to have been propelled from that point. >> jody had to have been thrown or pushed to her death, he said. and likely from another spot entirely on those cliffs. he wasnt the only expert who saw it that way. >> the head and chest injuries are not consist with someone that tumbles down the cliff face. >> dr. marryanne, clayton was t...

>> either she should be here or the pocketbook should be down with her. and it wasnt fitting. >> another thought dawned on him. if jody had tumbled, why hadnt she hit the side of the cliffs? there was no blood or hair anywhere on the rocks. and the location of jodys body seemed off to him. way off. >> she was like 30 to 40 feet away from us to the north. when a person falls off a cliff usually theyre going to go south or right down. right down where the got off the ropes, thats where she should ...

The subject wasnt wine and roses on those cliffs. it was divorce. >> she was going to go through with it, yes. absolutely. >> reporter: jodys longtime friend marion told detectives that skro that jody had been determined to take her son and leave her husband. she was convinced steven had been cheating on her. >> she couldnt prove anything. but women called the house. sometimes they would call and hang up on her. >> reporter: in fact, they learned jody served divorce papers on september 8, 1992. ...

Case, she told the jury that when she heard her friend was gone, she immediately remembered something jody said just weeks earlier. >> she said that during this conversation i have with him, if anything happens to me, you will know who did it. she said, you will know it was him. >> reporter: the prosecutors position was clear, a husband with a motive. the perfect setting. the violent intent to kill his wife. or was there another way of looking at that couple perched high on the cliffs on a summe...

Friends, family and most importantly by a star witness. >> my opinion is that the manner of death is homicide. >> reporter: the doctor, famous forensic pathologist, told jurors of crime scene spoke of a murder, not an accident. >> if a person falls accidentally, the individual will be within a couple of feet of the base of the building. >> reporter: that didnt happen in the case of jody. her body landed 50 feet out from the top of the cliff. and 30 feet to the north. >> she had to have been prop...

Or any part of the cliffs. >> nothing. no blood. no hair. no clothing, no fibers, no skin. >> reporter: by that point, officer walter seary had arrived at the lookout. since there was nothing the husband could do to help in the rescue, seary was told to get him out of the way and drove him back down to police headquarters. on the way, steven recounted the awful moment when his wife disappeared. >> we were walking. she said to go back to the car and get the blanket. she slipped. i didnt see her a...

Off the cliffs. jody had a blood alcohol level of .12. that was over the legal limit. >> equivalent to approximately four average size drinks, wine or beer, something like that. >> reporter: a drunken slip and fall argued the defense. to back that up, the lawyer had his own heavy hitter. famed forensic pathologist dr. wecht. he posted a resume of star-studded investigations as high profile as the prosecutions. only he had a totally different take on how jody died. >> i would call this an acciden...

Into his patrol car. >> i tell you, if it was my wife, girlfriend, whoever, they would have had to pry me away if i was at the top of the cliffs. >> reporter: he got into your patrol car? >> without a word said. >> reporter: stranger still was how calm the husband seemed. when the officer heard steven describe how his wife had fallen, he made a mental note. >> there was no emotion. no emotion at all. like he was reading a script. >> reporter: did it occur to you, maybe he is in shock? >> no. ive...

Find your awesome with xfinity xfi and change the way you wifi. welcome back to "dateline extra." it started out as a romantic date. it ended in tragedy. jody and steve hiked to a favorite spot along the cliffs to take in the view. a short while later, jody fell over the edge and questions about what really happened that night began to mount. >> reporter: it was the worst night of his life. now steven, in the early morning hours of september 21, 1992, had to tell his 10-year-old son jonathan h...

A husband determined to avoid a costly divorce, lured his wife to the edge of a cliff and forced her off it. >> if he has lied, he is guilty. >> reporter: the state marshalled some familiar facts to tell its story, starting with the crime scene where the prosecutor said the cliffs showed no sign of an accidental tumble. >> no debris, no clothing, no blood, no hair, no tissue. >> reporter: then there was the husband himself, cool and collected in the back of a police car. >> i didnt see any emoti...