Sarah Stern murder trial Day 3: Jurors view police body cam footage of defendant

Jurors on the third day of the Sarah Stern murder trial saw police body camera footage of when officers first spoke to defendant Liam McAtasney, we well as testimony from detectives searching for Stern’s body.

News 12 Staff

Jan 29, 2019, 9:32 PM

Updated 2,084 days ago

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Jurors on the third day of the Sarah Stern murder trial saw police body camera footage of when officers first spoke to defendant Liam McAtasney, we well as testimony from detectives searching for Stern’s body.
Stern’s car was found abandoned on the Route 35 Bridge in December 2016. Detectives testified Tuesday that they were initially investigating a possible suicide case.
Neptune Township Officer Shane Leaming testified about searching under and around the bridge after Stern’s car was found abandoned.
Jurors also viewed body camera footage of when investigators first spoke with McAtasney, not long after Stern was reported missing. McAtasney was the last person to see Stern alive.
Detectives testified that McAtasney told them that Stern wanted to run away to Canada to escape her father and that she has been suicidal in the past.
McAtasney is on trial for allegedly strangling Stern to death and then throwing her body off of the bridge into the Shark River below. Prosecutors say that McAtasney killed Stern in order to steal thousands of dollars that she had recently inherited.
Stern’s body has never been found.
The trial is expected to continue Wednesday.