Page 18 - Stephen S News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Night? stephen's new wife says the prosecution has it all wrong. >> my husband is not capable. that's not the man he is. my husband is sweet, kind, loving, considerate. >> reporter: the defense was ready to show how stephen scharf, far from villain, was the real victim in this story. coming up -- >> they destroyed the crime scene area. >> reporter: new questions about the evidence and was there another reason why a son might implicate his dad? >> who does the money go to? >> it goes to me. >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. oh! oh! ♪ ozempic®! ♪ (vo) people with type 2 diabetes are e...

>> reporter: 18 years after a night that ended in his wife's death off a cliff, stephen scharf stood accused of murder by the state of new jersey. through it all, one thing he wants you to know is this -- he would never have laid a hand on his beloved jody -- never. stephen, did you kill your wife jody? >> i did not hurt jody. i did not. >> reporter: did you throw her off the palisades -- >> i did not. i did not. i didn't hurt jody. i didn't push her. i didn't cause her to get hurt. i didn't kill my wife. >> reporter: we talked to stephen scharf at the bergen county jail where he was held for ...

September 8, 1992. less than two weeks later, she was dead at the base of the palisades. the timing made him more eager to talk to the widower scharf. there was a sit-down with mr. scharf. he's consented to talk, right? >> yes. >> reporter: two days after his wife's death, stephen was freely answering detectives' questions. yes, he told them. he and his wife were talking divorce as they had sometimes done during their tempestuous marriage. it was true. there were other women. >> he said there was an open marriage. he said he had been with 50 to 60 women. >> reporter: she was okay with it, acco...

His arrest in 2008. he and his wife tina say they have paid a high price for something he didn't do. >> our daughter is two and a half and has never been held by her father because we don't have contact visits. >> it's not just a tragedy for jody. it's a tragedy for john. it's a tragedy for my wife. for my daughter. and for myself. >> reporter: still, he decided not to take the stand in his own defense. but told "dateline" that what he first said years ago about his wife's death was the truth. >> i wish it didn't happen. wish we had gone to the comedy club. but i -- i'm innocent. >> reporter: ...

Tree. that's where severe impact took. that's where she really -- >> reporter: jody scharf had not survived the fall. it was clear she had slammed into that tree. as he began to move the body he noticed something else. >> she had the odor of alcoholic beverage that emanated from her body. >> reporter: when you smelled that did you think maybe she had too much to drink and fell? >> that entered my mind, yes. >> reporter: at that moment, stephen scharf was sitting in a room at the police station, waiting for someone to tell him what happened to his wife. do you remember what's going through your...