Do you have a best friend? Do you share everything with them...fun times, secrets, food...money? How well do you feel you know your best friend? Do you have 100% trust in them? What happens if they break that trust?
Unfortunately, we will never hear Sarah Stern's side of the story. Is she dead? Is she just missing? Did she run off to live a life as someone else? There's no way to know for sure as there is no body...and no one has heard from Sarah since December 2, 2016.
On the morning of December 3, 2016, on a bridge between Neptune and Belmar, New Jersey, a 1994 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight was found abandoned, with the keys still in the ignition. The car was found to have belonged to Sarah's grandmother and it is the car that Sarah used often.
From first appearances, it was felt to be a suicide as the car had not been broken into and there were no signs of a struggle. The river below was searched by dive teams and no body was found. For that area, that was not unexpected as the river had fast-moving currents and she most likely would have been swept out to sea. There was no sign of Sarah. What happened to Sarah?
Who is Sarah Stern? She was a 19-year-old studying art and TV production at Brookdale Community College. She was a New Jersey native who was best friends since a young age with Liam McAtasney and Preston Taylor. They hung out with each other all the time since they were little kids and Sarah called them her "besties". Sarah even went to prom with Preston Taylor.
Shortly after her disappearance, her "bestie", Liam, stated support of the suicide theory. “I just know she’s been trying to get away, been telling me she’s moving to Canada,” McAtasney told police at the time, according to the Asbury Park Press.
Police stated that Liam told them Sarah had tried to take her life before. Her mother died from cancer a few years earlier and Liam claimed Sarah had been arguing with her dad recently. Liam also stated that Sarah had every reason to want to end things. Is this true? I have no idea...but it makes me wonder why Liam jumped straight into those type of remarks. Most of us would think that our best friend knows us the best, but what happens when that best friend isn't who you thought they were?
A week after her disappearance, Sarah's dad, Michael Stern put together a search party. Liam and Preston joined in on the search for Sarah.
Two months later, the disappearance of Sarah Stern took a sudden turn. In February 2017, police arrested...yep...you guessed it...Sarah's best friend, Liam McAtasney. What led them to arresting Liam? A detailed recorded confession by someone he thought he could trust...Karma's a bitch, Liam. In that confession, Liam discussed in detail how he strangled Sarah over the course of 30 minutes. Yes, you read that correctly. He let his best friend struggle for 30 minutes. If you truly think about it...how long does 30 minutes feel? My guess is in that situation, it feels like eternity. I can't imagine the horrible fear, pain, and suffering.
Now I will introduce you to Anthony Curry, a 21-year-old who was good friends with Liam. They attended high school together. Curry and McAtasney both loved movies and Liam would often give Anthony ideas about films he (Anthony) should make.
In late November 2016, days before Sarah's disappearance, Anthony said that Liam told him a strange story. "He told me about this idea he had to kill this girl ... that he was going to strangle her and throw her over the bridge with his friend,”
If I may interject for a moment (which I can because it's my blog)...what a dumbass! Yes, I'm talking about Liam. Or maybe I should say "Yay, Liam" for running his mouth. I'm not a professional anything, but I'm guessing there was a bit of narcissism going on there, possibly thinking there was absolutely no way he could get caught. Again...Karma. Sarah trusted Liam and Liam trusted Anthony.
Anthony claimed that he never thought Liam was discussing real life, "I just thought it was a movie," he said.
Anthony also said that when Sarah disappeared and her car was left behind on the bridge that he never thought twice about it. Not until Liam started contacting him on Snapchat asking if police had reached out to him. Anthony then because suspicious.
Still, Anthony did not want to think badly of Liam.
"Somebody who's your good friend, you don't think they would do something like that," he said. But then Curry started to worry about his family. "If somebody is capable of doing that, he could try to hurt my family or somebody I knew ... kid’s wacko,” he said.
Anthony contacted police in January 2017 about the conversation he had with Liam back in November 2016, around Thanksgiving. Police set Anthony up with a recording device to see if he could get Liam to confess.
Well, Liam sang like a canary. Even though Sarah's body was never found, that recorded conversation, audio and video, were what the State was able to use in their case against Liam. In the recording, Liam describes strangling Stern. “It took me half an hour to kill her,” he says.
So...are you at the point trying to figure out why Liam would kill his best friend? Maybe love gone wrong? Most people might think some sort of rejection took part in all of this...I certainly did right away. But...the motive turns out to be greed. The great almighty dollar!!! Sarah's mother had left Sarah some money before dying of cancer in 2013.
Liam was under the impression that he would be walking away with $50,000 to $100,000 cash, but all he got his hands on was $10,000. He killed his best friend for $10,000, some of which Liam stated looked "burnt or something" and was not sure if a bank would even take it.
Curry spoke to "20/20" and said that Liam seemed relieved to talk about what happened. “He wanted to tell me. I think he wanted to get it off his chest. For some reason he trusted me,” Curry said.
Liam McAtasney was arrested shortly afterward. Later, he denied that he was talking about Sarah's murder. He claimed he believed he was auditioning for one of Curry's movies.
The arrest came as a shock to Sarah's father, Michael Stern.
"It's a feeling of hurt," Michael told the Asbury Park Press of learning that Sarah's friend had been arrested for killing her. "Emptiness. Just like being knocked over and then kicked. It takes your breath away. It's a horrible feeling. Indescribable. Pain. Suffering."
All of that pain and suffering with not knowing where his daughter's body was...or is yet today...I cannot imagine!
Remember the name Preston Taylor? He was arrested along with Liam, accused of helping Liam dispose of Sarah's body.
Taylor eventually pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery, second-degree conspiracy to commit robbery and second-degree disturbing or desecrating human remains. Preston also agreed to testify against Liam at trial.
Taylor testified that he and Liam took Sarah's body to the bridge in her own car after Liam killed her. At the bridge, they tossed her body over the edge into Shark River, trying to make her death look like a suicide. According to Taylor, Liam planned the robbery and murder for the previous six months after he first heard about the money. Taylor said that they initially planned to just rob her, but eventually both decided the easiest way to get away with stealing the money would be to kill her.
Let me remind you...these two were her best friends since childhood!
Friends and family testified that Sarah was a happy girl. A friend of Sarah's, Carly Draper, testified that Sarah told her she was planning to move to Canada with Liam. Carly didn't really believe her as Sarah had previously spoken about moving all over the country and never had. Another reminder, Sarah was only 19 at the time of her disappearance/death. Not sure exactly when she was to have the time to travel all over the country at that age...but what do I know? Not much, technically. Another thing to think about...if she was to go to Canada with Liam and Sarah is gone and the cash is gone, but Liam is still home...why was he not upset that she left without him? Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmm...
Sarah's aunt, Shirley Longo, testified that she, too, saw Sarah the day she went missing, but she never mentioned wanting to move. And Sarah's cousin, Michelle Bahr, said she was "just happy-go-lucky Sarah" when she saw her two days before she vanished.
According to Taylor, on December 2, 2016, Liam finally carried out the plan. Liam killed her at her home, then called Taylor for help. Liam told Taylor how Sarah had died, stating that Sarah tried to appeal to Liam while he choked her over the course of half an hour. Again, let that sink in. This douchebag continued strangling his "best friend" for half an hour while she probably begged him to stop...all for money.
“In the process, she beat herself, she vomited," Taylor testified. "When she started throwing up, he stuffed a scarf down her throat, and all the while, she said his name a couple times.” Liam's recorded confession states the same. I am not going to post the video, but you can find it on the intranet if you want to.
Some things stated in the recording are as follows: “I thought I was going to choke her out in a couple minutes," he says. "She was having a seizure on the floor. I got a shirt and shoved it down her throat so she wouldn’t throw up, and held my finger over her nose and set a timer.” I have no words! He...set...a...timer!!! Liam also states in the recording that the thing he was most concerned about was Sarah's dog. He wasn't worried about killing Sarah...he was worried about the actions of her dog!!! I can't!
Lucky for Liam, he ended up not having to worry about the dog at all. “Her dog lay there and watched as I killed her," he says. "Didn’t do anything.”
When she was finally dead, Taylor said he (not sure if he means himself or Liam) hid her body under a bush, where it stayed for eight hours while Liam went to work. They came back later and loaded her remains into her car and drove to the bridge. He...went...to...work! I cannot wrap my mind around this guy!
Liam was disappointed in the amount of money he found, but said that something was better than nothing. “I didn’t get a lot of money, but I got enough to live comfortably in my house and throw parties all the time,” he says. Again...I have no words. Okay...I have words, I'm just going to do my best to keep them to myself.
The trial was thrown into jeopardy when a juror was tossed from the jury after it was discovered they wrote an inappropriate Facebook post: "Sitting on the jury LMAO [laughing my ass off]," the post read. Yep, there are people out there that actually do things like that. Liam's lawyer tried to go for a mistrial, but the judge threw out that request and the trial moved forward.
For the defense, Liam lawyer, Carlos Diaz-Cobo, raised questions over whether Sarah was indeed dead. The defense called witnesses who said they saw Sarah hours after she'd been allegedly killed. McAtasney himself did not testify.
One of the witnesses for the defense testified that he saw Sarah walking down the street around 5 a.m. on Dec. 3, which would have been after the time prosecutors say she was killed. The witness also added that he later he saw a disabled car on a bridge down the road.
However, investigators said the car in question had been towed from the bridge hours earlier, going against the witness' testimony.
Ultimately, Liam McAtasney was found guilty on all counts, which included first-degree murder, conspiracy, desecrating human remains, tampering with evidence, and more. Liam was sentenced to life in prison with no parole. The verdict brought tears to the eyes of Michael Stern. “The most important thing is to get justice for Sarah,” he told reporters after the decision was announced. “She was a great kid, and this never should have happened liked this. "Sarah's up in heaven," he added. "She's an angel, and she was just a beautiful person. She never had a mean bone in her body." Michael Stern credited Anthony Curry for helping solve the case. "We probably never would have got an answer" to what happened without Curry, said Michael. "... It was a tough decision for him. He didn't have to come forward."
Michael also spoke candidly about the sense of relief he felt when McAtasney was declared guilty. "I didn't hear anything after that [word]," he said. "I don't know what happened. I heard voices talking, but guilty, that's all I needed to hear."
Michael Stern stated that if he were to say anything to Liam, it would be: "You're an evil person. You shouldn't exist on this earth."
In court, according to The Daily Beast, Assistant Prosecutor Meghan Doyle said, “He has no remorse. His tears today are fake and if nothing else, insulting… Maybe he’s scared, maybe he’s sorry he got caught, but there’s no remorse.”
Sarah's body, sadly, has not been located, and that is most likely because it probably drifted out to sea before it could be found, according to NJ.com.
Preston Taylor was charged with aiding McAtasney in concealing the murder and discarding Sarah's remains and sentenced to 18 years.
Sarah Stern, according to her father, enjoyed attending conventions like Comic-Con and Buffer. “She just had a fantastic art teacher in high school, and her talent just blossomed over the last two or three years,” Mr. Stern said. “I would say, had her career continued, she would have become one of the top artists in the world.”
Again I ask...do you have a BFF? How well do you know them? How much do you trust them?
--Audre
Sarah Stern - whyy.org Sarah Stern - ahherald.com
Liam McAtasney - oxygen.com Preston Taylor - nj.com
Sources:
Insideedition.com, March 1, 2019
Heavy.com, Feb 12, 2020
Comments