Neptune City in New Jersey is a town of only 4,900 residents. In 2016, a local teenage girl vanished into thin air. Her abandoned car was discovered at the side of a bridge, prompting speculation that she had ended her own life. This speculation was further exacerbated when one of her close friends came forward to say that she had spoken about suicide in the past. However, it was soon discovered that Sarah had lifted a large amount of money from her bank… Sarah’s family would soon come to learn that this case was not at all what it seemed and an investigation would reveal a fatal betrayal.

Sponsors

JUNE’S JOURNEY – Thank you to June’s Journey for sponsoring this episode! The objective of this murder-mystery game is to find objectives hidden within beautiful scenes. Download for free on the Apple App Store, Google Play or click here: http://onelink.to/ykz5f2

SWANSON HEALTH – Thank you to Swanson Health for sponsoring this episode! Swanson Health has been producing quality vitamins and supplements, foods, health, home and self-care products for over 50 years.

Go to https://www.swansonvitamins.com/ and enter promo code “MORBID20” for 20% off!

Audio Sources

“Alleged video confession in Sarah Stern murder”

“Liam McAtasney murder confession – Sarah Stern”

“Preston Taylor court footage from Liam McAtasney’s murder trial / Sarah Stern 2019”

“Killer in Sarah Stern case sentenced to life in prison”

“Sarah Stern’s father testifies about his last conversations with her”

“Sarah Stern’s birthday marked by father and friends”

“Sarah Stern’s father says “I didn’t think that she was killed”

“20/20 Mar 1 Pt 1: New Jersey town rocked with Sarah Stern’s mysterious disappearance”

“The last time they saw her. Friends of Sarah Stern at Kearny Bank”

“Losing One Of Our Own”

“Sara Stern’s memorial — NJ murder victim remembered”

Sources:

The Star-Ledger, 5 December, 2016 – “N.J. 19-Year-Old Missing After Her Car Was Found Unoccupied on Belmar Bridge”

The Star-Ledger, 7 December, 2016 – “Search Intensified for Missing Neptune City Teen”

The Star-Ledger, 9 December, 2016 – “Family of Missing Woman, 19, Plans Search of Coastal Towns”

The Star-Ledger, 9 December, 2016 – “Father Looks for Answers in Neptune City Teen’s Disappearance”

The Star-Ledger, 10 December, 2016 – “Group Scours Shore Towns in Search for Missing 19-Year-Old”

The Star-Ledger, 2 February, 2017 – “Former Classmate Strangled Teen”

Associated Press, 3 February, 2017 – “Dad: Men Charged in Woman’s Death Were Her Lifelong Friends”

Associated Press, 7 February, 2017 – “Prosecutors: Man Admitted to Dumping Friend’s Body in River”

The Star-Ledger, 7 February, 2017 – “Teen Plotted Sarah Stern Robbery for Months Before Killing”

The Star-Ledger, 11 February, 2017 – “In the YouTube Community, Sarah Stern Was at Her Best”

Associated Press, 14 February, 2017 – “Murder Suspect Watched Friend Die”

The Star-Ledger, 23 February, 2017 – “Friend Stole $7k From Sarah Stern”

The Star-Ledger, 17 March, 2017 – “Stern Homicide Case Set to go Before Grand Jury Next Month”

Associated Press, 24 April, 2017 – “Man Admits Role in Woman’s Death, to Testify Against Friend”

The Star-Ledger, 24 April, 2017 – “Childhood Friend Admits Throwing Sarah Stern’s Body off Bridge”

TAPinto.net, 24 April, 2017 – “Belmar Road 35 Bridge Closed Briefly for Active Police Investigation”

The Star-Ledger, 10 July, 2017 – “Attorney for Man Accused of Killing Sarah Stern: There Will be no Plea Deal”

WIFN – 1330 AM, 17 July, 2017 – “Hundreds Gather to Celebrate the Life of NJ Teen Missing Since December”

The Star-Ledger, 16 September, 2017 – “Change of Venue Requested for Sarah Stern Murder Trial”

Associated Press, 18 September, 2017 – “Judge Won’t Move Murder Case of Man Charged in Woman’s Death”

The Star-Ledger, 2 December, 2017 – “A Year Later, Sarah Stern’s Dad Reflects on Loss”

Associated Press, 3 January, 2018 – “Murder Suspect Made Up Story as Part of Horror Film”

The Star-Ledger, 4 January, 2018 – “What Stern Suspect First Told the Police”

The Star-Ledger, 10 January, 2018 – “Witness Who Helped Break Sarah Stern Killing Case Feared for Life”

The Star-Ledger, 26 March, 2018 –“Without a Plea Deal, Sarah Stern’s Accused Killer Heads to Trial This Fall”

Dayton Daily News, 23 Januaury, 2019 – “Money Somebody Would Kill For”

Hunterdon County Democrat, 24 January, 2019 – “Pair Sought to Rob Sarah Stern of $100k”

The Star-Ledger, 25 January, 2019 – “Defense Calls Star Witness in Stern Slay Trial a Liar Stern”

The Star-Ledger, 30 January, 2019 – “Murder Suspect’s Phone Found at Crime Scene”

South Jersey Times, 6 February, 2019 – “Father Faces Man Charged with his Daughter’s Murder”

The Star-Ledger, 15 February, 2019 – “Judge Allows Stern Trial to Continue”

South Jersey Times, 21 February, 2019 – “Witness: I saw Stern on Day Abandoned Car Was Found”

Associated Press, 23 February, 2019 – “Jury to Mull Case of Man Accused of Killing Former Classmate”

Associated Press, 26 February, 2019 – “Jury Convicts Man of Strangling Former High School Classmate”

The Star-Ledger, 24 March, 2019 – “On Sarah Stern’s Birthday, Friends and Family Visit the Bridge Where She Was Thrown”

Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity is a defence that most killers hope and dream of. It is a defence that can sometimes essentially let a killer get away with murder. If found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity, a killer is sent to a psychiatric hospital where they remain until they are considered sane in the eyes of the law whether that be one year or 40 years. It is the defence that stirs the most controversy because of the struggle to align the law with psychiatric knowledge. In 2012, an insanity defence led to the state of Oklahoma updating their definition of insanity.

Sponsors

R3SET – Thank you to R3SET for sponsoring this episode! It’s well known that stress weakens our immune systems. R3SET are an amazing holistic, science-based supplement, formulated to balance all 3 body systems that manage stress – nervous, endocrine and immune.

Go to https://r3set.com/ and enter promo code “morbidology” for 10% off.

GLOBEIN – Thank you to GlobeIn for sponsoring this episode! GlobeIn is a monthly subscription box of fair trade goods from all across the world. Each artisan box is a curated and themed collection of handmade goods for the home.

Enter promo code “MORBIDOLOGY” for $20 off your first order! https://globein.com/

Swanson Health – Thank you to Swanson Health for sponsoring this episode! Swanson Health has been producing quality vitamins and supplements, foods, health, home and self-care products for over years.

Go to http://swanson.com/ and enter promo code “MORBID20” for 20% off

Podcast Promo: Our Strange Skies

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Sources

McAlester News-Capital & Democrat, 7 December, 2012 – “Asher Man Accused of Murdering Stuart Man”

The Shawnee News-Star, 7 December, 2012 – “Murder Arrest”

The Shawnee News-Star, 8 December, 2012 – “Jailed Without Bond”

McAlester News-Capital & Democrat, 10 December, 2012 – “Generro “G” Sanchez Dies at 18”

The Oklahoman, 11 December, 2012 – “Murder Suspect May Have Targeted Other Students First”

The Oklahoman, 16 December, 2012 – “Accused Killer Was Feared by Dorm Neighbours”

Associated Press, 24 December, 2012 – “Suspected Killer May Have Planned More Violence”

The Oklahoman, 24 December, 2012 – “Affidavit Reveals More Details in Killing of East Central Student”

The Shawnee News-Star, 11 January, 2013 – “Scheduling Delayed for Murder Defendant”

The Oklahoman, 12 April, 2013 – “Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty”

The Shawnee News-Star, 12 April, 2013 – “Asher Murder Defendant Waives Preliminary Hearing”

The Shawnee News-Star, 2 May, 2013 – “Death Penalty Sought”

The Shawnee News-Star, 11 May, 2013 – “Chilling Admission”

The Shawnee News-Star, 20 June, 2013 – “Defendant to Undergo Evaluation”

The Ada Evening News, 6 August, 2014 – “Hearing Delayed for Former ECU Student Accused in 2012 Homicide”

The Ada Evening News, 17 July, 2015 – “Court to Decide Whether ECU Thrill Killer is Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity”

The Oklahoman, 17 July, 2015 – “Admitted Killer Found Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity”

The Ada Evening News, 19 July, 2015 – “Killer Found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity”

The Ada Evening News, 25 Augsut, 2015 – “Murray Hearing Delayed in 2012 ECU Student Homicide”

The Ada Evening News, 24 September, 2015 – “Experts’ Disagreement Prompts Delay of Hearing in Murray Case” 

The Ada Evening News, 14 October, 2015 – “Experts Split on Whether Thrill Killer is Still Dangerous”

The Ada Evening News, 5 November, 2015 – “Experts Agree”

Associated Press, 5 November, 2015 – “Treatment Ordered for Oklahoma Man Declared Insane in Death”

The Ada Evening News, 6 November, 2015 – “Thrill Killer Sent to Asylum”

NBC – 4 KFOR, 1 March, 2016 – “Guilty But Mentally Ill Law Unanimously Moves Forward”

NPR, 3 August, 2016 – “Does a Psychopath Who Kills Get to Use the Insanity Defence?”

The Oklahoman, 15 September, 2016 – “Mother of Thrill Kill Victim Celebrates Small Victory”

The Shawnee News-Star, 11 August, 2017 – “Confessed Killer’s Bid for Freedom Denied”

Audio Sources

“Mother of slain ECU student talks to reporter”

“ECU students say they told police about murder suspect”

“Raw Video: Murder suspect Jerrod Murray talks to KOCO reporter”

“Bill Passes House on Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity Plea Oklahoma”

“Sheriff says teen confesses to killing ECU student”

“Jerrod Murray Full Length Interrogation”

I was listening to Emily’s recent episode on Karina Vetrano and something she said really hit me. She explained how, statistically, female joggers were at a much greater risk of being struck by traffic than they were of being the victim of an assault, yet numbers be damned, the fear of an assault weighed heavier on most runners’ minds. It was tempting to write that fear off as irrational until Emily pointed out that approximately 43% of female runners had been the victim of some sort of harassment while running.

Harassment rarely escalates to assault, but in the moment, a victim has no way of knowing if it will. The victim can suffer the exact same sense of dread and helplessness in either case. If you’ve ever experienced that feeling then you know it can be every bit as painful and traumatizing as a physical injury. So while the numbers might suggest that female runners are more likely to be injured by a passing car than by an assault, the fear of a deranged lunatic hiding in the bushes is rational and valid. Deranged lunatics are out there. And even if they are only capable of physically harming a small number of people, the terror they spread extends far and wide.

The brutal attack on Karina horrified thousands of women around that area of New York City. The story I’m about to tell you had the same effect on a small town in eastern Montana, and the impact is still felt today, eight years after the crime.

On January 8 of 2012, back when old Barney Doyle was young Barney Doyle and working as a patrol officer in a small town in western Montana, my department received an alert for a missing person out of Sidney, Montana. A 43-year-old woman named Sherry Arnold had disappeared sometime the previous day. I am ashamed to admit my initial reaction, but I will share it with you just to give you a sense of what the world was like in that place and time. I assumed she ran off with another man.

I had spent a couple of days in Sidney sometime around the year 2000. It might as well have been any other farm town in rural Montana. Less than 5,000 people lived in the city limits. I don’t think it had a McDonald’s or a Burger King back then, but I do seem to remember a Taco John’s. The social scene revolved around high school sports. Even respectable folks went to the bar on Saturday nights. And everybody knew everybody else’s business. Some people like that way of life, but it isn’t for everyone. More than one desperate soul has abandoned their family and run off on a tryst with a handsome stranger to escape the drudgery of places like Sidney. I assumed Sherry was another one. I could wrap my head around that. It was certainly easier to accept than what actually happened.

I was wrong, and the local news reports quickly painted the picture of what Sherry was really like. Sherry was very happy in Sidney. She was a mother and a wife and math teacher. She was the type of earthly saint capable of marching into a room of rambunctious 12-year-olds every day with the unshakable optimism that children can somehow be taught to solve equations. She had not run away. And by January 9, it was clear that something bad had happened to her.

Sherry was reported missing by her husband Gary Arnold. Gary went for a walk early on the morning of January 7, 2012. Sherry was not home when he returned, so Gary assumed that she had gone for her usual morning run. When she didn’t return, Gary got concerned and went out looking for her. Having no success, Gary reported Sherry’s disappearance to the police that day.

I’m going to apologize to Gary right now for what I believed on January 9, 2012. I was certain Gary had done something to Sherry. I didn’t know the man at all, but I had been a cop long enough to understand the law of averages. When a woman suffers violence it is usually at the hands of her significant other. I figured Gary did something to her and was trying to cover his tracks by reporting her missing. Jogging in Montana at 6:30 in the morning in January? It was 10 degrees outside (F not C). Something didn’t add up.

We had plenty of domestic violence in Montana. Again, it was a scenario I could wrap my mind around. Again, I was wrong.

Sherry had indeed gone jogging that morning. Somewhere on Holley Street, known locally as the “truck route,” Sherry had the misfortune of meeting two of the most vile human beings to ever pass through the state of Montana.

In early January of 2012, Lester Waters and Michael Spell left Parachute, Colorado, for the Bakken oil boom taking place in western North Dakota and eastern Montana. Spell and Waters were ostensibly looking for work in the oil fields. In actuality, they were a couple of criminal lowlifes drawn by rivers of cash and drugs flowing through the Bakken.

As Spell would later tell investigators, Spell and Waters got loaded on crack cocaine between Colorado and Montana and Waters told Spell that crack brought “the devil” out in him. In reading the court records it is apparent that the devil himself would be disgusted to be associated with Lester Waters.

Somewhere along the drive, Waters and Spell decided they wanted a woman. In the Karina podcast episode, Emily made a great point about how dangerous it is for women when certain men view them as possessions that they are entitled to. Spell and Waters are that danger incarnate. Spell and Waters concocted a crack-fueled fantasy about kidnapping and killing a woman for their own gratification.

 Sherry was out on her Saturday morning jog when Waters and Spell spotted her. According to Spell, Waters pulled his Ford Explorer to the side of the road in front of her. Spell got out and tackled Sherry then forced her into the Explorer. They used her, killed her and buried her body in a shallow grave outside of Williston, North Dakota.

Spell and Waters were caught within a week because they were high on drugs and not particularly bright (Spell had a diagnosed intellectual disability, although doctors at the state mental hospital believed he was exaggerating and exploiting the condition to help his case in court). Spell told his girlfriend what they had done and the story eventually made it back to the FBI. Waters was caught with a receipt from the shovel they purchased to bury the body. Sherry’s hat and shoe were found where Spell said the abduction took place. Waters eventually confessed and took investigators to Sherry’s body. 

Waters was sentenced to 100 years in prison and Spell was sent to join him for 80 of those.

The Sidney that I saw in 2000 was a different place than it was 2012, owing almost exclusively to the oil drilling in the Bakken shale formation. I visited the place again in about 2015 and didn’t recognize it. I have spent a little time in the Bakken and significant time in the Permian Basin oil fields of West Texas and can’t come up with many nice things to say about either place. The air, ground and water are all heavily polluted from the fracking process. Crime and drugs are rampant. Most of the people who work in the oilfield are decent, hardworking people who have chosen a very difficult job because the pay is fantastic. But it isn’t just oilfield workers who go to the booms. The oilfield also draws plenty of people like Spell and Waters, drawn to the cash and drugs like moths to a flame.

There were plenty of murders in Montana before the oil boom and there have been plenty since that have had nothing to do with the oil fields. But Sherry Arnold’s death felt like something different. The world seemed like a scarier place after Sherry died. If something as innocent and routine as a Saturday morning jog wasn’t safe for a woman like Sherry, what other horrors were waiting out there that we hadn’t considered?

The attack on Karina only killed one person, but it terrorized thousands of others who lived and worked around that area of New York. Similarly, the attack on Sherry Arnold only killed her, but it did irreparable damage to the sense of peace and comfort that people in towns like Sidney once had.

Sources:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/missing-montana-woman-sherry-arnold-beloved-math-teacher/story?id=15323212

https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/crime-and-courts/attorney-oil-patch-murderer-needs-treatment-not-prison/article_864183ff-173e-54fb-abbb-4755ce44d8f1.html

Supreme Court State of Montana v. Michael Keith Spell