stephen and jennifer got married in august 2006. stephen s family remembers how happy everyone seemed the day of the wedding, especially stephen. he was ecstatic, had a big old smile, eyes shining. it was an outdoors wedding. it was really a nice wedding. they threw petals on the sidewalk. she was smiling ear to ear. her family made several comments about how they were happy they had such a wonderful son-in-law and he was going to be part of their family. the whole family raved about stephen and alex. the whole family, that is, except jennifer s uncle ed. he says he didn t approve of the whirlwind romance. he didn t like that stalker steve became the one so quickly. he did not attend the wedding.
is she shot? no, he s shot. i need an ambulance for my grandmother. it was a confusing 911 call. jennifer wanted an ambulance for her grandmother shirley skinner. as for her estranged husband stephen, jennifer implied to the dispatcher he had been shot to protect her family. he come after her and pushed her out of the way and then he tried to come after sydney and i. oh, god. what happened to your grandmother? i think she might she s having heart trouble. please come and help us. what s your name? jennifer watkins. okay. i ll get a hold of the ambulance, all right? yes. ashland police chief jim birdsell was called to the scene. about 5:50 i got a phone call from 911 advising me there had been a domestic in town at 11 horseshoe drive, saying the
she could, and she gave him full custody of her. that says a lot about him as a dad. yes. stephen was responsible, and that says that he was determined to be part of his children s life. when alex was 2, stephen moved her to virginia to live with him full time. he made sure she was in a good day care. there was always times when he had to make sure he run out and got her at the right time. did he complain he didn t have freedom? absolutely not. he was content with that. but stephen also wanted a wife. when his coast guard service ended, he returned home, living in a house behind his parents and got a job with the state. about a year later stephen noticed an attractive woman whose office shared a parking lot with his. he was really excited. he felt like i found what i ve been looking for in life. that woman was jennifer webster who had grown up around the corner from stephen s friend brandy. she was very tall and just
from close families, and they were both interested in growing a family. the budding relationship appeared so simple at first. but how well did they really know each other? they couldn t know it yet, but the couple was in for rockier times ahead. we continue with the mystery on horseshoe drive. that s it. there s your horse. there he is. in the heart of an illinois farm belt, a new relationship was growing very fast. it seemed stephen and jennifer began dating one day and became a committed couple the next. making it a happy threesome, stephen s daughter from a previous relationship, alex. stephen often captured family moments with photos and family videos. his family says he thought jennifer would make the perfect wife and mother. he felt like she wants to cook with us, she loves alex. she treats alex like she s her mother.
the woman to complete his life. yes. the family he was looking for. yes. if stephen was happy, his mother had her doubts about the girl from that tight-knit family. i didn t feel like she really wanted to be part of our family, and that was from the very beginning i felt that way. stephen s dad took a more positive view. i just thought it was going to be a good fit for him. i thought jennifer would be real good for both of them. they presented a pretty good picture. was your son in love? yes. stephen began spending much of his time with alex, jennifer and her family. he was thrilled that the family seemed to embrace him and his daughter, as his sister ashleigh remembers. that was number one. he wanted to make sure they enjoyed kids and would get along with alex, too. not only was she nice and interacting with him and alex and basically the perfect mother, but their family was accepting alex and welcoming both of them with open arms. it was crucial to stephen t