somebody has to speak for tara and that was our job. the macomb county prosecutor, erik smith, never for a minute believed grant s story he and tara had a fight about her traveling so much. it was about sex. it was about stephen grant wanting to replace his wife with his au pair. something that was really telling in this entire case, the first thing he did after murdering his wife was pick up the cell phone and text the au pair saying, you owe me a kiss. the judge wouldn t permit cameras in the courtroom as the prosecutor argued their case for premeditati premeditation, a requirement for grant to be sent to prison without the possibility of parole. he introduced evidence. there were grant s recent steamy e-mails to the old flame all but asking for a fresh hook-up. then, him changing erotic targets from the former girlfriend to the chirp s au pair, verena, the german teen
portraying tara not as a one-dimensional career woman, but a loving mother who successfully balanced both work and family. she was family driven, career driven woman. and the more stephen grant appeared on the news playing for sympathy, the more divided public opinion became about him. he was a victim or he was evil. and there really wasn t much in between. along the way, his poor me image as the spouse possibly cheated on took a big hit. an old girlfriend of grant leaked recent e-mails she received from stephen two weeks before tara went missing. not so subtle come-ons like, i m still in need of some excitement in my day, wink, wink. i just think of marriage vows like speed limits. sometimes you have to break them. meanwhile, the agency that placed the young au pair in the grant home became so uncomfortable with one of its girls being in the midst of a publicly messy domestic situation, it pulled verena, the
grant signed a written version of his confession, but the case wasn t over. because grant later pleaded not guilty to the charge of first-degree murder. he was going to trial for strangling and dismembering his wife, but stephen grant wasn t down for the count yet. not by a long shot. coming up there s not an ounce of remorse. in all honesty, i saw an animal would justice be served? new details tumble out in court. it was about sex. it was about stephen grant wanting to replace his wife with his au pair. as a blockbuster witness takes the stand. when the valentine s day mystery continues. [ venus ] what are they doing to stufy?
fresh out of high school. and in a moment of high theater, they called a blockbuster witness, verena, now a brunette. people flew over to germany to try to track this woman down. she was having nothing of it. we really thought she would just keep her distance. set the scene, amber. we had no cameras, of course. i saw her just shoot these looks at him. they were scowls. it seemed like she was really there to say, you messed me up for some time. and i m here to make sure you get what s coming to you. verena in a confident voice, recounted how her employer became suddenly flirtatious at the end of january, stealing kisses, actually exposing himself to her until finally the night before tara is murdered, he gets her into his bed. no one can ever tell me that it s a coincidence that the night before he murders his wife, he has sexual relations with his au pair. the defense throughout, meanwhile, answered the accusation by asking, where are the signs that grant plotted out this c
other than, tara s dead. tara s dead. stephen grant had simply walked away from his home before detective kozlowski had discovered the torso. now a day later, the investigators were getting some good clues on his whereabouts. information pinging off cell phone towers told them the cell phone grant was using was headed north. they d learned he was in a yellow dodge dakota truck borrowed from an unsuspecting friend. then a thoroughly unexpected and enormous break. the detective s desk phone rang. i recognized it right away as being an international call. at the other end was a voice saying this is verena durkas. verena, the grants former au pair, calling from her home in germany. she was crying. i had the sense to reach for my recorder and record the conversation. everything he said was a lie and i believed everything. and for the next 30 minutes, what a story she had to tell.