New Jersey

Jury to Mull Case of Man Accused of Killing Former Classmate Sarah Stern

Defense attorney Carlos Diaz-Cobo told jurors in his closing argument Friday that there was reasonable doubt that the victim was dead, since her body has never been found

What to Know

  • Jurors are expected to begin deliberations Monday in the trial of a man accused of strangling former high school classmate Sarah Stern
  • Monmouth County prosecutors allege that 21-year-old Liam McAtasney killed 19-year-old Stern during a December 2016 robbery
  • Prosecutors are seeking a first-degree murder conviction. McAtasney chose not to take the stand on his own behalf

Jurors are expected to begin deliberations Monday in the trial of a man accused of strangling a former high school classmate and throwing her body off a New Jersey bridge more than two years ago.

Monmouth County prosecutors allege that 21-year-old Liam McAtasney strangled 19-year-old Sarah Stern during a December 2016 robbery. He and a friend, prosecutors allege, then dumped her body off the Route 35 bridge in Belmar, leaving her car on the bridge to make it appear that she committed suicide.

Defense attorney Carlos Diaz-Cobo, however, told jurors in his closing argument Friday that there was reasonable doubt that the victim was dead, since her body has never been found. "Without a body, there is no murder," he said.

Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Decker began his closing argument by saying "Sarah Stern is not in Canada. Sarah Stern did not kill herself. That is ridiculous. ... Sarah Stern, unfortunately, is not with us anymore."

Decker cited a secretly recorded conversation of the defendant talking about Stern's death with an acquaintance, and also the testimony of the friend who pleaded guilty to charges including robbery and conspiracy and faces 10 to 20 years in prison.

"Not having a body is not reasonable doubt when you have the two involved saying we killed her, we threw her off the bridge, we took her money," Decker said.

The defense called McAtasney's statements in the video a made-up story intended to pitch a film idea to the acquaintance, a horror film maker. "It was a fantasy," Diaz-Cobo said. "It was an audition."

Decker, however, pointed to McAtasney's description of the approximately $8,000 taken from Stern as old in appearance, as if from the 1980s. That money, shown to the jury, was found in a safe buried on Sandy Hook that was recovered by detectives.

"He describes the old money," Decker said. "How would he know what Sarah Stern's money looks like?" The keys for the safe, he said, were found on McAtasney when he was arrested.

Prosecutors are seeking a first-degree murder conviction against McAtasney, who chose not to take the stand on his own behalf.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us