The story of Sarah Stern

Liam McAtasney meticulously plotted the murder of his best friend, Sarah Stern, over a span of six months. His sinister motive was driven by the desire to seize the substantial inheritance left behind by Sarah's mother, who tragically lost her battle with cancer in 2013.

The heinous crime unfolded as Liam orchestrated every detail with calculated precision. However, justice eventually caught up with him, leading to his arrest, along with an accomplice, in connection with Sarah's brutal murder.

Sarah Stern stumbled upon a significant discovery—a shoebox brimming with cash accompanied by a heartfelt message from her late mother. Unbeknownst to her, this fortuitous find would ultimately lead to her tragic demise.

Liam McAtasney, driven by the allure of a potential windfall amounting to as much as $100,000, enlisted the help of Preston Taylor in his nefarious scheme. Initially, their discussions centered around the idea of discreetly pilfering Sarah's newfound wealth. However, as time passed, their conversations took a chilling turn, evolving into a sinister plot to execute Sarah's murder in order to evade detection.

“Ultimately, we decided the best way to go about it was making it look like a suicide,” Preston said.
McAtasney and Taylor planned to kill Sarah Stern. They decided to strangle her and then get rid of her body by throwing it off the Route 35 bridge in Belmar, New Jersey. They also left her car there to make it look like she had taken her own life.

To avoid leaving evidence, McAtasney and Taylor used Snapchat and walkie-talkies to communicate on the night of December 2, 2016, when Sarah died.

In a secret recording arranged by the police and Liam's close friend, disturbing details emerged. Liam even described how he strangled Sarah, revealing the chilling truth of what happened.

McAtasney describes how he killed Stern

“I pretty much hung her, like, I just, I picked her up and I had her like dangling off the ground. She pissed herself, said my name and then that was it. And It took me a half hour to kill her. I thought I was gonna be able to choke her out and have her out in like a couple minutes. I choked her out and she was just laying there having a seizure or something. I got a shirt and I just shoved it down her throat so she wouldn’t throw up and held my finger over her nose and set a timer. That’s the only time I had my phone. And it took me a half hour after I hit start on the timer.”

After killing Sarah Stern, McAtasney left her lifeless body on the toilet and quickly escaped the scene, carrying a backpack filled with a little over $7,000 in cash.

Later on, he returned to her room and stole a safe, which he and Taylor managed to open using a screwdriver. Inside the safe, they found a little over $2,000.

Taylor, who had been acquainted with Stern since their freshman year at Neptune High School and even accompanied her to the junior prom, recalled helping to move her body. They positioned her in her 1994 Oldsmobile, placing her in the passenger seat to make it appear as though she was peacefully sleeping.

At the Route 35 bridge, McAtasney and Taylor got rid of Sarah Stern's body, but sadly, it was never discovered.

Surprisingly, both of them took part in the search operations, pretending to be concerned about finding her. McAtasney even gave an interview to a television reporter during this time.
Two months after the murder, on February 1, 2017, McAtasney and Taylor were apprehended for their roles in Sarah Stern's death.

During the investigation, Taylor confessed to the detectives, disclosing the details of what had transpired and guiding them to the spot where he and McAtasney had buried their own safes containing the money they had taken from Sarah.

In 2017, Taylor admitted guilt for his involvement in Sarah Stern's death and accepted a plea deal. As part of his cooperation with prosecutors, he testified against McAtasney, his former roommate, and was subsequently sentenced to 18 years in prison.

McAtasney, on the other hand, received the most severe punishment available in New Jersey since the abolition of the death penalty in 2007. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.