Edge . Hello and welcome to dateline. When police got word that someone had fallen off a cliff, they werent surprised. The place was known to be dangerous. But even they could not guess that it would take almost 20 years to find out what really happened to a woman out on an evening hike with her husband. Heres chris jansen. Every couple has it. A shared song, a favorite movie, or maybe a special place. Stephen sharp says that for his wife and him jody, this was it. Two rocks forming a lovers chair on the edge of a cliff. That was our spot. We would bring a couple of long chairs, a cooler, and she would bring her work from graduate school. They had been escaping to this magical place for years. Ever since they were newlyweds in a Starter Apartment in new jersey. Up here, the air was fresh and the views seemed limitless. Its sort of framed the trees but you can look down to the right through the view of the George Washington bridge. What they couldnt see from here, of course, was the future. Had they caught even a glimpse of what was to come, surely they would have abandoned this place forever. Stephen enjoji met in the late seventies in georgia. He was in the army, a bookworm who loved the civil war. She taught history. There is was a meeting first of minds. Then hearts. How would you sort of describe those early years . With a loving . Where they exciting . Yes. They were. You know, we were in love. We were just ecstatic. From there, marriage. A house. A son, jonathan in 1983. And how would you describe jody as a mom . She was really devoted. Life is good. And even as the years went by, even with the demands of work and family, steven says he and jody still made time for each other. Like that last summer sunday in september of 1992. Steven says it was supposed to be a date night. It wasnt no idea that would be the most critical day and our life, in our marriage. It was a day like any other day . Yes. He was the plan. Husband and wife or drive into manhattan and go to a comedy club, a light hearted night on the town. But they made a detour here, to the palisades, to their spot. Steven remembers pulling up to this scenic lookout, sitting in the car with jody and sharing the wine cooler. There were other people they are sitting in the cars and we walked up over to the spot where the binoculars were and walked up to this sort of open view. He says they then took a well worn path to those rocks. He said they sat there at as the night while around them holding her as he sat directly in front of him. At some point, something goes terribly wrong . Yes. He says he stood up intending to go back to the car to get wine and a blanket. For whatever reason, jody stood up to. The edge of the rock was at her feet. What was your last glimpse of your wife . Just standing up and, you know, stumbling forward. Jody had gone off the cliff. I didnt know how bad things were, but i was stunned. With did you do . I got down on my stomach and stuck my head over and i just yelled, jody, jody, talk to me. I just yelled down there. But no response. Hes got the flashlight and fled down a motorist who claim here to the Palisades Parkway Police station. Lieutenant walter siri was on duty. Until he came through that door, it was a very quiet night and then all hell broke loose. The frantic man was telling them a woman had fallen from the look out above and that her husband was waiting for help. The Police Called in michael, an experienced climber. I was there as a rescue mission. I thought she was alive. He began to lower himself off the side of the cliff where the womans husband said she had fallen. About ten feet down, he caught sight of allege. The minute i got to that ledge, there was a pars. I think there was two credit cards. On alleged ten feet down . Right. But it was what he didnt see that confused him. There was no sign that the womans body had also hit that ledge or any part of the cliffs. Nothing, no blood, no hair, no clothing, no fibers, no skin. By that point, officer walter syria had arrived up at the look out. Since there was nothing that has been could do to help in the rescue, syria was told to get out of the way and drove him back down to police headquarters. On the way, even recounted the awful moment when his wife disappeared. We were walking and she said for me to go back to the car and get the blanket, and she slept and i didnt see her anymore. As siri and the man arrived to the station, the rescuer made it to the base of the cliff more than 100 feet below the top. He expected to find a wounded woman there, but he didnt. Im saying, shes not here. At the first point, i said maybe this is a hoax. Maybe she never went off the cliff. He and another rescuer began to walk along the base, pointing their flashlights north. Finally, about 30 feet away, the beams landed on something white. It was jody, lying motionless next to a tree. There was a lot of blood on that tree, and the blood was actually draining down the tree. Thats where a severe impact took. Thats where she really, you know. Jody sharp had not survived the fall. It was clear that she had slammed into that tree. As they began to move the body, he noticed something else. She had an owner of an Alcoholic Beverage that emanated from her body. So when you smelled that, did you think maybe she had had too much to drink and fell . That entered my mind, yes. At that moment, Stephen Sharp was sitting in a room at the police station, waiting for someone to tell him what had happened to his wife. He remember was going through your mind at that point . How badly is she hurt . Where is she . Why isnt she calling back to me . And thats when an officer walks into the room and broke the news to steven. Jody was gone. I dont even remember who came in and told me. And what was your reaction . Denial. It was, you know, how could this, how could this happen . That question would haunt him and many others. And it would take years for the answers to finally come. Coming up. He was rubbing his eyes to make it look like he was crying. You thought he was faking tears . Absolutely. Curious behavior puts a husband under the microscope. When dateline continues. Trelegy for copd. Birds flyin high, you know how i feel. Breeze drifting on by you know how i feel. Its a new dawn. If youve been taking copd sitting down, its time to make a stand. Start a new day with trelegy. No oncedaily Copd Medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. With three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves Lung Function. It also helps prevent future flareups. Trelegy wont replace a Rescue Inhaler for sudden breathing problems. Tell your doctor if you have a Heart Condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Do not take trelegy more than prescribed. Trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. Call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. Take a stand and start a new day with trelegy. Ask your doctor about oncedaily trelegy. And save at trelegy. Com. Anything your wild child does pampers cruisers 360 fit can too ask your doctor about oncedaily trelegy. With a stretchy waistband and adaptive 360 fit so they can move the way they were born to [music] Born To Be Wild pampers cruisers 360 fit age before beauty . Why not both . Visibly diminish wrinkled skin in. Crepe corrector lotion. Only from gold bond. Botanica by air wick is crafted with natural and responsibly sourced ingredients. Preserving nature is important. So, together with World Wildlife fund, were giving back by reseeding Native Wildflowers and grasslands. Learn more at airwick. Us. Its so busted, you cant use this part of the screen. Definitely cracked every phone ive owned. You broke your phone. So verizon broke the rules. For the first time ever, new and current customers can trade in their old and damaged phones for up to 800 off our best 5g phones. My phone is old. Very old. Old, cracked, water damaged, doesnt matter. Im ready for something new. Now, trade up to the 5g network you deserve, with the 5g phone you want. Because at verizon, the network is just the beginning. It was the worst night of his life. And now stephen sharif, the Early Morning hours of September 21st 1992 head to tell his tenyearold son jonathan that his mother was dead. I said come on jonathan, we need to take a walk. And i told him in He Mediately Burst into tears. And i cried. I cried like a baby. I wasnt ashamed. He remembers his distraught sons reaction but little else from those dark hours. Were you sleeping . Were you eating . Drinking . You are drinking . I lost my wife, my son lost his mom. There is plenty of sympathy among family and friends to be sure. For the man newly widowed, with a small child to resign his own. His wife had died in a freak accident, off a cliff of all places. How could that happen . And thats exactly what police who are there the night of jodys death, wanted to know to. Right away, i got a feeling there was something definitely wrong. It nagda a Rescuer Ichael Chiofi why were duties person alleged, just feet where her husband said she fallen. Where is she . She should be . Here are part of her should be here. Thats the first thing that came to . You either she should be here or pocketbook should be down here with her. And it wasnt fitting. In another thought dawned on him. If jody had tumbled, why headache she hit the side of the cliffs . There was no blood or hair anywhere on the rocks. In the location of duties body seemed off to chiofi. , way off. She was like 30 or 40 feet away from us to the north. A person who falls off a cliff usually, theyre going to go south. Are there going to go right down. She should have been right down, where i got off the ropes, thats where she shouldve been. Someone else was scratching his head that night for different reasons. It had to do with stevens behavior while the search was underway. Officer walter surrey, was surprised even was willing to leave, the look out, as researchers were still looking for jody. Did he give any indication i dont want to leave. My wife could be down there. Now. None at all. Siri says he couldnt believe how willing the Stephen Sharp got into his control car. I tell you if it was my wife, or girlfriend, whoever they would have had to prime you way from that scene, if it was still at the top of the cliff. He was willingly got into his patrol car. Without a word. Stranger still is how come the husband seemed. When the officer Heard Stephen describe how his wife had fallen, he made a mental note. There was no emotion in. None at all. It was like he was reading a script. David kurdia, you will, maybe hes in shock . No. Ive seen people who have lost loved ones, ive never seen anybody act that way. But it was a particular moment later inside the station house, that really caught his attention. He asked if he could get a drink in the water fountain. He was looking like over his shoulder at me and splashing water up on his face, and then rubbing his eyes to make it look like he was crying. You thought he was faking . Tears absolutely. Absolutely. A death scene where the pieces didnt connect. A husband who appeared nonchalant. From a cops point of view, things were adding up and not in stevens favor. Not just one thing. It was the totality of the circumstances. Everything. Every little thing was clicking in my mind, and im saying to myself, this isnt right. Something is wrong here. Gut instinct is one thing. But evidence is quite another. People handle terrible events in different ways. The police are paid to be suspicious. Maybe their view of stephen was to john decide. There really was nothing to indicate that jodys fall was anything but an accident. A few months later, the ruling was in. The county Medical Examiner concluded the manner of judys death could not be determined. An accident was as likely as anything else. Case closed. Or was it . The suspicions grow. Was there a weapon at this romantic rendezvous . Coming up. You have your wine, cheese, crackers, claw hammer. Red flags are going. Up they reached the top of the poll by that point. When dateline continues. When dateline continues when dateline continues table relapses. All these other things too. It can all add up. Kesimpta is a oncemonthly athome injection. That may help you put these Rms Challenges in their place. Kesimpta was proven superior at reducing the rate of relapses, active lesions, and slowing disability progression vs aubagio. Dont take kesimpta if you have hepatitis b, and tell your doctor if you have had it, as it could come back. Kesimpta can cause serious side effects, including infections. While no cases of pml were reported in rms clinical trials, it could happen. Tell your doctor if you had or plan to have vaccines, or if you are or plan to become pregnant. Kesimpta may cause a decrease in some types of antibodies. The most common side effects are upper respiratory tract infection, headache, and injection reactions. Ready for an athome treatment with dramatic results . Its time to ask your doctor about kesimpta. Smooth driving pays off. Saving is easy when youre in good hands. Allstate. Click or call for a quote today. Youd never want Leftover Onion Residue or any food residue on any of your surfaces. But thats what you could be doing if youre cleaning with a used dishcloth, even after youve rinsed it. So, switch to a fresh sheet of bounty for a more hygienic clean. Unlike used dishcloths that can carry and redistribute residue, bounty keeps your surfaces cleaner. Because better hygiene begins with bounty. Bounty, the quicker picker upper. Stay restless with the icon that does the same. The rx, crafted by lexus. Lease the 2021 rx 350 for 439 a month for 36 months. Experience amazing, at your lexus dealer. 43look, if your wirelesss. Carrier was a guy youd leave him tomorrow. Not very flexible. Not great at saving. You deserve better. Xfinity mobile. Now they have unlimited for just 30 a month. 30. And theyre number one in customer satisfaction. His number. Delete it. Im deleting it. So, break free from the big three. Xfinity internet customers, switch to Xfinity Mobile and get unlimited with 5g included for 30 Journeys Death on these cliffs on the nations fastest, most reliable network. Had been a horrible accident. Her husband said so. In the Medical Examiner was not arguing with him. But to texans have a kind of six cents about cases it was telling james line im, something sinister had just happened. You dont think this was overall accident . No. There wasnt any smoking gun, really. Just something dark he thought he could read between between the lines in the police notes he reviewed the day after jodys death. He did not react like somebody who had just lost his weight should have reacted. And so the detective moved his investigation from the physical evidence to the less tangible clues. He quickly learned from jodys friends, that this was a couple, not in love, but in crisis. The subject was not wine and roses on those clips. It was divorce. She was going to go through with it. Yes. Absolutely. Jodys lifelong friend marion, told detectives that jody had been determined to take her tenyearold son jonathan and leave her husband. She was convinced stephen had been cheating on her. She couldnt prove anything, but women called the house. And sometimes they call and hang up on her. In fact, Detective Lineman learned jody had served her husband divorced papers on september 8th, 1992. Less than two weeks later, she was dead at the base of the palisades. The timing made him even more eager to talk to the winner. There is a sit down with mr. Sharp. Hes consented to top, right . Yes. Two days after his wife staff, stephen was really answering detective questions. Yes, he told them, he and his wife were talking divorce as they had sometimes done during their tempestuous marriage. And it was true. There were other women. He told us they had an open marriage. They were seeing different people. He actually said he had been with lake 50 to 60 women. She was okay with, according to . Him according to, him. Yes but he told detectives he and jody had become unhappy with their free love lifestyle. So they came to this romantic if treacherous spot, to recommit to each other, stephen set. To kiss and make up. The spot where they went is not a spot where you would go to reconcile with anybody. Detectives were not buying the story for another reason. They had found something suspicious inside sharps car. A bag filled with items youd expect for a romantic picnic, and when you would not, a hammer. You have your wine, cheese, crackers, opener, claw hammer. I mean, red flags are going up. They reached the pole at that point. Did you think it might be a Murder Weapon . Yeah i thought it might have been plan a. He didnt use, it so he went to plan b. Which he believed, was to push or throw jody off that cliff. So detectives asked Stephen Scharf the obvious. What was the hammer doing in that picnic back . He told us he fixed the draw in his kitchen, with the hammer, and he forgot to put it back in the garage. He put it in the bag with the picnic items. It was just convenient. A convening excuse for having that hammer. Detectives asked if they could check out the drawer in the rest of stephens house that night. He agreed. But as it turned out, something potentially far more telling was happening away from the action. And i said look, mr. Sheriff, im near local police department. Ted ehrenberg Ted Ehrenberg was a local officer, told them to keep an eye on stephen that night as detectives come to his house. The officer says he begins talking to stephen about what happened in georgia and steven interrupted him. He finally looks at me and he goes, you dont believe me. And then the officer says he said something that almost knocked him off his feet. I believe i said an accident occurred, and i said wasnt an . Accident and he put his head down any said, no. He believed there was a stunning confession. He ran to tell the other detectives, including Detective Line im. But they had just spent hours grilling the man. We werent getting that feeling, that a reinterview at that point wouldve done anything. The detective still believe they could find Salad Evidence to implicate Stephen Scharf, but they didnt. We took it as far as we could. Go ahead and bend, the cause of death at the time was listed as undetermined. So officially it wasnt a homicide. In time the detectives moved on to other cases. Steven shark moved on. To 14 years after his wifes death he remarried. Tina says hed been a loving, ideal husband. It was like we were to puzzle pieces made for each other where each of us complemented and completed the other person. But even in this happy new life he says he never forgotten about jody. But he might have been surprised to learn that someone else was thinking over to after all these years. Bergen countys prosecutor was eager to visit old case files. Among them an unexplained death here in the clips of the palisades so many years ago. The death of jody charles. It was this renewed push since 2002 to look into cold cases. This man covered the trial for the record newspaper in new jersey. On one hand he says, it didnt seem like the prosecutor had any reason to pursue the cold case. In terms of hard evidence it had nothing new. But the prosecutor did have some one new. A famous name to join the investigation into jodys death. Doctor michael body, in a world renowned Forensic Pathologists who investigated the death of john f. Kennedy and john blue she and testified that the trial of o. J. Simpson. He was about to turn up the heat on a very old case file. Doctor michael baden, has room few the evidence indeterminate could not have been an accidental. Fall in december of 20 1820 detectives people more visit to steven sharp. They wouldnt tell me what it was for. I have no idea what its about. I mean it did make any sense. 16 years after that fatal night on the cliff, police were back, and Stephen Scharf was in for a shock. After all these years, you thought it was done. Not until they reach behind in hand me this thing, this arrest warrant. Coming up, the Case Heads Into Court with a surprise from the stand. Im here for my mother. Steven enjojis only son, has some dark secrets to share. Did you see that . Abuse i did. When dateline continues. When dateline continues when dateline continues ra strength you get fast, 24hour relief in one drop. Make it a pataday with the drop thats right for you. Now without a prescription. Everywhere. man eye contact. Elbow pump. Very nice, andrew. Very nice. Good job. Next, apparently carvana doesnt have any bogus fees. Bogus . now we work hard for those fees. No hundreddollar fuel fee . Pumping gas makes me woozy. Thank you. No 600 doc fee . Ugh, the printing, the organizing. No 200 cleaning fees. Microfiber, that chaps my hands. You know, we should go over there right now and show em how fees are done. vo never pay a dealer fee. With carvana. Ill be right back. With moderate to severe Crohns Disease, i was there, just not always where i needed to be. Is she alright . I hope so. So i talked to my doctor about humira. I learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of Crohns Disease after trying other medications. The majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief in as little as 4 weeks. And many achieved remission that can last. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Be there for you, and them. Ask your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, remission is possible. When a truck hit my car, ask your gastroenterologist about humira. The Insurance Company wasnt fair. I dididt t kn whahatmy c caswa, so i called the barnes firm. Im rich barnes. Its hard for people to k how much their Accident Case is worth. H barnes. T ouour Juryry Aorneneys Hehelpou the Insurance Company getenwasnt fair. Ity y cablele. I didnt know what my case was worth, so i called the barnes firm. Llll theararnes rmrm now the best result possible. Welcome back to dateline, im call one eight hundred, Eight Million craig melvin. Years after jody fell to her death, a new prosecutor reopen the case and brought in a famous Forensic Pathologists to reexamine the evidence. What would he uncover . Here again is christiansen. Whats stuck in his mind in every murder trial, the time is an invisible but crucial player for both sides. 16 years sometimes it hurts a case. Memories fade, evidence blows off. Witnesses die. But time can also put evidence in a new light. Such was the case in a trial of stephen sheriff, accused of killing his wife nearly two decades ago. There is no statute of limitations on murder. The prosecutor promised the evidence would tell a story as simple as it was brutal. A husband determined to avoid a costly divorce lured his wife to the edge of a cliff and forced her off it. If he has lied, he is guilty. The state marshaled some familiar facts to start its story. Started with a crime scene where the prosecutor said the cliffs showed no sign of an accidental tumble. No debris, no clothing, no blood, no hair, not tissue. And then there was the husband himself. Cool and collected in the back of a police car. I didnt see any motion from him at all, sir. Who later confessed, the prosecutor said, to killing his wife. And then i said, it was an accident . And he said now. But those facts were not where the case ended. The prosecutor argued that they simply set the stage for the real case, a story told by the victims friends, family, and most importantly by a star witness. My opinion is that the manner of death is a homicide. Doctor michael biden, a famous Forensic Pathologists told jurors the crime scene spoke of a murder, not an accident. If a person falls accidentally, the individual will be, you know, within a couple of feet of the base of the building. And that didnt happen in the case of jody sheriff. Her body landed 50 feet out from the top of the cliff and 30 feet to the north. She had to have been propelled from that point. Jody had to have been thrown or pushed to her death, he said, and likely from another spot entirely on those cliffs. He wasnt the only expert who saw it that way. The head and chest injuries are not consistent with someone that tumbles down the cliff face. Doctor Marianne Clayton was the Bergen County Medical Examiner who first ruled the circumstances of jodys death could not be determined. Now on second look, she said, the victims wounds, or lack of them told her something different. Something vital. If jody had tumbled innocently down the palisades, she would have had broken bones everywhere. She did not. There were no visible injuries on the back of mrs. Sheriffs body. But why would stephen have killed his wife . The biggest reason, the prosecutor argued, was that stephen did not want to divorce. He did not want to custody fight. And he didnt want to split assets with jody. And there was yet another motive for stephen, said the prosecutor. A potential payout. Usa a life Insurance Company. An insurance representative testified about a 500,000 Dollar Policy taken out against jody sheriff months before his death. Payable to a primary beneficiary. Can you tell us the policy owner . Steven f scharf. Jody scharf was simply worth more dead than alive. Her friend, marianne, Testified Jody feared steven might be something violent if she pushed for that divorce. Even so, marion said, jody was determined to get away from her husband. She was going to have Divorce Papers served on stephen, and she was very afraid of it. Yet, was stephen violent enough to kill his wife . An unlikely but powerful witness was about to testify against Steven Scharf. Im here for my mother. His own son took the stand against him. Now a businessman, Jonathan Scharf painted his father as an angry, violent man who terrorized his mother. Did you see that abuse . I did. Jonathan scharf said he realized his father had likely killed his mother only after that arrest in 2008. This Video Tape Interview shows henry calling The Dark Past for the first time to police. She got coffee thrown out her a lot. Now in court, he had even more to tell about his childhood. Like the afternoon he sat cowering in the back seat of a car watching his mother suffer. My mom was driving in my dad just hitting her with the bottom of his fist. And i was just like, begging him to stop doing it. He also remember the last day of his mothers life. He was ten and his said his mother told his father that she didnt want to go out with him alone. She said, if i wanted to go out with you, i wouldnt be divorcing you. But where was the proof that stephen had plans to kill jodi that night . Well, there was the hammer in the picnic bag. But there was also testimony from this woman, one of stevens old girlfriends. I even magenta by girlfriend that it was a perfect relationship. Terry scow phil have been dating steven months before dirty sheriffs death. Did mr. Scharf tell you whether or not he was married . Actually, he said he was not married. And she remembered something strange that stephen said to her on the beach over that labor day weekend. He was under a lot of stress. And the stress would be resolved by the end of september. Two weeks later, jody scharf was dead. Terry now sees that cryptic statement in a dreadful light. I was like, oh no the end of september. And then the light buff bulb went off immediately. It also went off for marion. And perhaps the most chilling testimony of the prosecutions case, marion told the jury that when she heard her friend was gone, she immediately remembered something jody just said weeks earlier. She said that during this conversation i have with him, if anything happens to me youll know who did it. She said, youll know it was him. The prosecutors position was clear. A husband with a motive. The perfect setting. The violent intent to kill his wife. Or was there another way of looking at that couple perched high on those cliffs on a summer night . Stevens new wife says the prosecution has it all wrong. My husband is not capable. That is not the man he is. My husband is sweet, kind, loving, considerate. The prosecutor the defense was ready to show how Stephen Sharp, far from flynn was the real victim in this story. Coming up. They destroyed the crime scene area. New questions about the evidence and was there another reason why is sun might implicate his dad . Who does the money go to . It goes to me. When dateline continues. Nues advanced nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer can change everything. But your first treatment could be a chemofree combination of two immunotherapies that works differently. It could mean a chance to live longer. Opdivo plus yervoy is for adults newly diagnosed with nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer that has spread, tests positive for pdl1 and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene. Opdivo plus yervoy is the only fdaapproved combination of two Immunotherapies Opdivo plus yervoy equals. A chance for more starry nights. More sparkly days. More big notes. More small treasures. More family dinners. More private desserts. Opdivo and yervoy can cause your Immune System to harm healthy parts of your body during and after treatment. These problems can be severe and lead to death. See your doctor right away if you have a cough; chest pain; shortness of breath; irregular heartbeat; diarrhea; constipation; severe stomach pain, nausea or vomiting; dizziness; fainting; eye problems; extreme tiredness; changes in appetite, thirst or urine; rash; itching; confusion; memory problems; muscle pain or weakness; joint pain; flushing; or fever. These are not all the possible side effects. Problems can occur together and more often when opdivo is used with yervoy. Tell your doctor about all medical conditions including immune or nervous system problems, if youve had or plan to have an organ or stem cell transplant, or received chest radiation. Heres to a chance for more horizons. A chance to live longer. Ask your doctor about chemofree opdivo plus yervoy. Thank you to all involved in our clinical trials. Facing collagen thats all hype . Tolay collagen peptide 24 with derm recommended peptides. Hydrates better than the 400 cream. For visibly firmer skin. Olay. Face anything nexgard is the flea and tick protection thats 1 with vets. It even prevents the infection that causes lyme disease. Your vet trusts nexgard for her patients and her own dog. Plus, its delicious beef flavor is 1 with dogs. Ask your vet about nexgard. So with your home auto bundle, youll save money and get roundtheclock protection. Sounds great. Sure does. Shouldnt something, you know, wacky be happening right now . We thought people could use a break. Weve all been through a lot this year. That makes sense. Yeah. So. Nows not a good time 3 5ths of nsync. Are you sure . You have us booked all day. Read the room, guys. Yeah. Right . [announcer] meet the ninja foodi air fry oven. Read the room, guys. Yeah. Make familysized meals fast. And because its a ninja foodi, it can do things no other oven can, like flip away. The ninja foodi air fry oven, the oven that crisps and flips away. Losing a tooth didnt stop you but your partial can act like a bacteria magnet, putting natural teeth at risk. New Polident Propartial helps purify your partial and strengthens and protects natural teeth. So, are you gonna lose another tooth . Not on my watch Steven Scharf is not guilty. 18 years after the death of his first wife, more than a decade after the investigation for stole, Stephen Scharf was being called a killer. But his Defense Attorney argued that there was no new evidence in this case. No new eyewitnesses, only new opinions. Talking about the same old facts and circumstances. He said the state was hoping to win a Murder Conviction by painting his client as a terrible husband. That it couldnt prove that he was a killer in 1992, and it couldnt prove it today. My client, Stephen Scharf has been wrongfully charged with her death. And one reason the prosecutor could not prove murder had to do with slimy police work, suggesting you have been like Keystone Comps On The Palisades that fatal night. You never photographed the body before you moved it, did you . No sir. Why didnt he take photographs . They destroyed the crime scene area. They did not even bother to question potential eyewitnesses, he said. Instead, they cleared visitors from the look out. There might have been someone who saw something or heard something. There might have been. Theres a possibility that might have happened. And if police were so suspicious of his client two nights later, the defense said, why didnt they videotape their interview with him . That way, jurors couldve judged Stephen Scharfs supposedly a demeanor for himself. Why didnt you . He wasnt in custody, i dont know. They also argued that the police in misinterpreted with the clients said in his home just hours later. My client never said this wasnt an accident. And as for that hammer that police thought was a weapon the hammer was investigated by the forensic experts. There was nothing found on that hammer. And the defense Attorney Press the Medical Examiner on her flipflop. Undetermined manner of death in 93 now, it was a homicide . Really . Are you trying to say that you are learning from your mistakes on this case . You make all the mistakes, sir. I did the best they could in 1992 documenting what i had observed with mrs. Scharf. The Medical Examiner was helpful to the defense in one critical way, though. She determined that jody had been drunk the night she fell off the cliffs. She had a Blood Alcohol Level of 0. 1 two. That was over the legal limit. Would be a club lint to approximately four average sized drinks, wine or beer, Something Like that. A drunken slip and fall, argued the defense. The back that up, the lawyer had his own heavy hitter. Famed Forensic Pathologists doctor cyril. He posted a resume of star studded investigations to, as highprofile as the prosecutions doctor biden. Only he had a totally different take on how jody scharf died. I would call this an accidental death. And his version, which he demonstrates with all things a teddy bear, she fell off the cliff on to jagged rocks just below causing her mortal wounds. Her body than catapulted. And out goes the body, and hurdles into the air. Into the tree canopy, which then carried her through the abyss and into that distant tree. This is what i think happened to explain those injuries of the chest and over the head. But there was another bubble to burst in the prosecutions case, the motive for murder. Stephen scharf was not a greedy killer, his attorney said. His client never medic lame on that insurance policy. It was only after the money was turned over to the state, years later, he said, that Stephen Scharf even bothered to collect. Would it throw fuel on the fire not to do it . Well, i know i look guilty because i am guilty, id better not make this claim. Youre damned if you do, youre damned if you dont. The other alleged motive, divorce, was flimsy as well he said. Jody and steven had been talking breakup for years. Those Divorce Papers just the latest legal salvo and an ongoing marital spat. The prosecutor paints a picture of someone who frankly is furious about this divorce. No one person ever indicated that my client was furious over this divorce. They had talked about divorce for years. Maybe she was, you know, saying one thing and not following through. Though it is true Steven Scharf did not want a divorce, he said he wanted to give the marriage another chance. And as for that former girlfriend, terry scow field, she recounted stevens mysterious statement just before jodys death. Just give me to the end of september and everything will be okay. A lot of the stress will be gone. The defense Attorney Says that was stevens clumsy way of trying to dump his girlfriends. And speaking of which, he added, those other women did not bother jody at all. She was seeing other people herself. The person on the bottom half in both of those is who . Jody scharf. The Record Keeper of a Dating Service testified that jodys name was on an application. She even checked off the interests shed like to share with a mate. The attorney offered that as proof of stephen enjojis open marriage. But whats really rankled the defense, would head torn at the heart of Stephen Scharf, was the testimony of his son, jonathan. I remember her showing me her bruises. He had painted his father as a brute and possibly a killer. I never hit jody. It made me sick to my stomach. The young man wasnt to be believed, said the lawyer. For one thing, when police interviewed jonathan back in 2008, the young man described his dad as a good guy. He was, you know, fairly decent, you know, fairly decent parent. It was only after detectives told him his dad had just been arrested that the sun turned on his father. She got coffee thrown at her a lot. Before you found out that your dad was arrested, did you lie . Yes. And did you lie more than once . Yes. Why would jonathan turn on his father and lie . The Defense Lawyer said it was johnson, not his dad, who was motivated by greed. If Stephen Scharf was convicted, his son would get all of that insurance money. Whos the money go to . It goes to me. In the end, the lawyer called Steven Scharfs sun a spoiled brat. That sounds like some spoiled kid. Who was not a credible witness. In closing, blinkers insisted that this wasnt a murder case, just a sad story about a woman who tumbled drunkenly to her death. This case is an accident. Nothing more, nothing less. Soon, it would be in the hands of a jury. Coming up. It was the light bulb. You couldnt help but think, thats interesting. The jurors speak. What would they decide . Steven, did you kill your wife, jody . The verdict. When dateline continues. Dateline continues. What can i du with less asthma . With dupixent i can du more. Yardwork. Teamwork. Long walks. Thats how you du more, with dupixent, which helps prevent asthma attacks. Dupixent is not for sudden breathing problems. Its an addontreatment for specific types of moderatetosevere asthma that can improve Lung Function for better breathing in as little as two weeks. And can reduce, or even eliminate, oral steroids. And heres something important. Dupixent can cause serious allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. Get help right away if you have rash, shortness of breath, chest pain, tingling or numbness in your limbs. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection, and dont change or stop your asthma treatments, including steroids, without talking to your doctor. Are you ready to du more with less asthma . Just ask your Asthma Specialist about dupixent. Weve all felt this gap. The distance between what is, and what could be. While hes tapping into his passion, the u. S. Bank mobile app can help you tap your way to your savings goals. Without missing a beat. So, you can feed his passion. Ear plugs not included. U. S. Bank. Well get there together. Stay restless with the icon that does the same. The rx, crafted by lexus. Get 0. 9 Apr Financing on the 2021 rx 350. Experience amazing, at your lexus dealer. The first survivor of alzheimers disease the 2021 rx 350. Is out there. And the Alzheimers Association is going to make it happen. But we wont get there without you. Join the fight with the Alzheimers Association. Look, if your wireless carrier was a guy youd leave him tomorrow. Not very flexible. Not great at saving. You deserve better. Xfinity mobile. Now they have unlimited for just 30 a month. 30. And theyre number one in customer satisfaction. His number. Delete it. Im deleting it. So, break free from the big three. Xfinity internet customers, switch to Xfinity Mobile and get unlimited with 5g included for 30 welcome back to dateline. On the nations fastest, most reliable network. The jury is about to decide the fate of Stephen Scharf. Heres chris jansen with the conclusion of our story. 18 years after a night that ended in his wifes death off a cliff, Stephen Scharf stud Accused Of Murder by the state of new jersey. And through it all, one thing he wants you to know is this. He would never have laid a hand on his beloved jody. Never. Steven, did you kill your wife jody . I did not hurt jody. I did not. Did you throw her off the palisades . No, i did not. I did not. I didnt hurt jody. I didnt push her. I didnt cause her to get hurt. I didnt kill my wife. We talked to Steven Scharf at the Bergen County jail, where he was held for more than two years after his arrest in 2008. He and his wife, tina, say that they have paid a high price for something he didnt do. Our daughter is two and a half and still has never been held by her father because we dont have contact visits. Its not just a tragedy for jody. Its a tragedy for john, its a tragedy for my wife, its a tragedy for my daughter and for myself. Still, he decided not to take the stand in his own defense but told dateline that when he first said years ago about his wifes death was the truth. I wish it didnt happen. I wish we had gone to the comedy club. But i didnt im innocent. But had the jury gotten that same message . When they walked into that deliberating room for the first time, some jurors in fact planned to vote not guilty. There wasnt enough evidence for me. Thats what it was. Others were thinking guilty. It was several things. It was no one thing that made up my mind. The jurors went back and forth over the evidence and here is what they came to believe. That showed it was likely drunk and that her husband knew it. And if that was the case, why would he let her get so close to the edge of a cliff . As the hum husband, knowing that your wife was drinking, would you bring her there . The jurors deliberated three days before deciding whether Stephen Scharf should be found guilty or not guilty of a single count of murder. And the charge of murder of jody and scharf, the verdict is . Guilty. Guilty. Later, the jurors said that what united them was the testimony of jodys friend telling them that jody was terrified of her husband. That possibly she was telling everyone if something haens to me its my husband. And it was another woman in stevens life who also swayed the jury. Terry school field were counting what stephen said to her weeks before jodys death. That his stress would soon be over. That was something that push me towards what we decided in the end. It was a lightbulb. To them, it wasnt jody who slips but her husband, with that menacing statement. They believed it wasnt just a fall from the cliffs, it was a cold blooded execution. Stephen scharf was sentenced to life in prison. He said the jurors condemned him not on the facts but for his and jodys tumultuous open marriage. So you think this was a moral judgment on the part of jurors . Yes. And i suppose some people would say, well, he was punished for his moral weakness but this was a murder trial. But for rescuer michael, its a fitting end to a story thats haunted him since that night on the palisades. This is never left me. Its been years. I went back there myself without people knowing it several times because it bothered me. Something was wrong. For Close Friends like marion, the verdict does not remove the sting of the loss. Im angry that he took the life of a beautiful person. Thats what bothers me the most. That he would do that and think that he was going to get away with it. He wanted the insurance money. He wanted his son. Hed have the house. Hed have whatever he wanted and shed be out of the way. Now, i think that was sad. Thats all for this edition of dateline. Im craig melvin. Thank you for watching. So many young men and women missing. In one detective define them. Theres always a story to them. Theres a story to her too. Shes a young woman, lucky to be alive. For a lot of people, that would be the end of police work. I was not done. And so she searched, as the numbers grew. In families hurt. She says i have some bad news for you. While under a desert sky, a secret waited. The reality is