More details begin to emerge as two have been charged with the killing of Neptune City, NJ teen Sarah Stern. One of those charged in the death is beginning to talk and has confessed that the duo left the body of their childhood friend under a bush for hours before dumping her into the Shark River, and that the one charged with the slaying planned it for more than six months, authorities said Tuesday.
After the confession on Feb. 1, Preston Taylor led investigators to two buried safes at Shark River Park and Sandy Hook, one containing cash and one containing pieces of Stern’s clothing.
The surprising details came after a lengthy detention hearing before Superior Court Judge David Bauman at the Monmouth County Superior Court.
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- Preston Taylor (Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office)
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- Liam McAtasney (Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office)
Taylor’s friend and roommate, Liam McAtasney, is accused of strangling Stern on Dec. 2 before robbing her of thousands of dollars and then recruiting Taylor to go to the house and hide her body before they threw Stern from the Route 35 bridge in Belmar, prosecutors said.
Both 19-year-olds are from Neptune City and grew up with Stern, whose body has not been recovered. McAtasney has a detention hearing set for next week.
NJ.com reports:
Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Meghan Doyle said Tuesday that eight hours after the killing, the duo put Stern’s body in the front seat of her car and McAtasney drove the vehicle to the Route 35 bridge about a mile away. Taylor followed in his car and helped McAtasney dump her body over the side of the bridge and into the Shark River, Doyle said.
Doyle said McAtasney planned the attack on Stern for at least six months. She said Taylor was in on the plot later because McAtasney, in a phone call to Taylor the night of the killing, told his roommate he was about to execute the plan.
“I’m at the bank. I’m going to do it now. I’m going to take her out,” Doyle said McAtasney told Taylor.
He called back later saying, “Dude, I did it,” Doyle said.
In that conversation, McAtasney asked Taylor to go to Stern’s house and hide her body as well as look for his cell phone that he left there, Doyle said.
Taylor went to Stern’s house, found her body and hid her in bushes in the backyard, where she remained for eight hours, Doyle said. Taylor left without finding McAtasney’s phone, she said.
Taylor called McAtasney at work at a local restaurant and reported that he moved her body but couldn’t find McAtasney’s phone, Doyle said.
That led to a second trip back to Stern’s house for Taylor, this time with McAtasney, Doyle said. This was to take the money and Stern’s body, she said. Taylor’s job was to be the lookout “and make sure everything was good,” she said.
She said they threw her body over a fence before putting her in the front seat of her car. Taylor, driving his car, agreed to meet McAtasney at the bridge, where he helped McAtasney throw her body over the side, Doyle said.
