When police heard someone fell off a cliff they werent surprised. The place was dangerous. Even they couldnt guess it would take 20 years to find out what happened to a woman on an evening hike with her husband. Heres chris jansing. The summer wind every couple has it, a shared song, a Favorite Movie or maybe a special place. Stephen scharf says for him and his wife jody, this was it. Two rocks forming a lovers chair on the edge of a cliff. That was our spot. I bought a couple of lawn chairs, a cooler. Shed bring her work from graduate school. Reporter they had been escaping there for years, since they were newly woods in a starter apartment in new jersey. Up here the air was fresh and the views seemed limitless. Its sort of framed by trees. You could look down to the right and see the view of George Washington bridge. Reporter 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 and jody met in the late 70s in georgia. He was in the army. A bookworm who loved civil war. She taught history. Theirs was first a meeting of minds, then hearts. How would you describe the early years . Were they loving, exciting . Yes. They were you know, we were in love. Ecstatic. Reporter from there, marriage, a house, a son jonathan in 1983. How would you describe jody as a mom . She was really devoted. Reporter life was good. And even as the years went by, even with the demands of work and family, stephen says he and jody still made time for each other. Like that last summer sunday in september of 1992. Stephen says it was supposed to be a date night. It wasnt no idea that that would be the most critical day in our life, in our marriage. It was a day like any other day . Yes. Reporter here was the plan. Husband and wife would drive to manhattan and go to a comedy club, a lighthearted night on the town but they made a detour to the palisades to their spot. Stephen remembers pulling up to the scenic lookout, sitting in the car with jody, sharing a wine cooler. There were other people sitting in their cars. We looked over the spot where the binoculars were and walked up to this open view. Reporter he says they then turned and took a narrow, well worn path to the rocks. They sat there as the night fell around them. He with his back against the rocks, holding her as she sat directly in front of him. At some point, something goes terribly wrong. Yes. Reporter he says he stood up, intending to go back to the car to get wine and a blanket. For whatever reason, jody stood up, too. 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. Reporter jody had gone off the cliff. I didnt know how bad things were, but i was stunned. Reporter what did you do . I got down on my stomach. I stuck my head over and i just yelled. Jody, jody, talk to me. I just yelled down there. Reporter but no response. He grabbed a flashlight and flagged down a motorist who came here to the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police station. Lieutenant walter sery was on duty. Until he was there it was a quiet night and then all hell broke loose. Reporter the frantic man told them a woman fell from the lookout and that her husband was waiting for help. The Police Called in michael chiefy, an experienced climber. I was there as a rescue mission. I thought she was alive. Reporter he began to lower himself off the side of the cliff where the womans husband said shed fallen. Ten feet down he caught sight of a ledge. I observed a purse, two credit cards. Reporter on a ledge ten feet down . Right. Reporter 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 cliff. Nothing. No blood, no hair, clothing, fibers, skin. Reporter by that point, officer walter sery had arrived at the lookout. Since there was nothing the husband could do to help in the rescue, sery was told to get him out of the way and drove him back down to police headquarters. On the way, stephen 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. She slipped and i didnt e see her anymore. Reporter as sery and the man arrived at the station, the rescuer made it to the base of the cliff. More than 100 feet from the top. He expected to find a woman. I said, maybe this is a hoax. Maybe she never went over the cliff. Reporter he and a rescuer began to walk along the base. Finally, 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 the tree. The blood was draining down the tree. Thats where severe impact took. Thats where she really reporter jody scharf had not survived the fall. It was clear she had slammed into that tree. As he began to move the body he noticed something else. She had the odor of alcoholic beverage that emanated from her body. Reporter when you smelled that did you think maybe she had too much to drink and fell . That entered my mind, yes. Reporter at that moment, Stephen Scharf was sitting in a room at the police station, waiting for someone to tell him what happened to his wife. Do you remember whats going through your mind at that point . How badly is she hurt . Where is she . Why isnt she calling back to me. Reporter thats when an officer walked in and broke the news. Jody was gone. I dont remember who told me. Reporter what was your reaction . Denial. How could this happen . Reporter that question would haunt him and many others. 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. Reporter you thought he was faking tears . Absolutely. Reporter curious behavior puts a husband under the microscope. Here we go. Discover. I like your card, but im absolutely not paying an annual fee. Discover has no annual fees. Really . Yeah. We just dont believe in them. Oh nice. You would not believe how long ive been rehearsing that. No annual fee on any card. Only from discover. And just like you, the further into winter we go, the heavier i get. And while your pants struggle to support the heavier you, your roof struggles to support the heavier me. [laughter] whoo. [crash] and your cutrate insurance might not pay for this. So get allstate, you could save money and be better protected from mayhem like me. Mayhem is everywhere. So get an allstate agent. Are you in good hands . So shark invented duo clean. While deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. Duo clean technology, corded and cordfree. Theres no andplace likargh e rs piles. Im trying. Yippiekiyay. Mom. Reporter it was the worst night of his life. Now Stephen Scharf, in the Early Morning hours of september 21, 1992, had to tell his 10yearold son jonathan his mother was dead. I said, come on, jonathan. We need to take a walk. I told him and he immediately burst into tears and i cried like a baby. I wasnt ashamed. Reporter he remembers his distraught sons reaction, but little else from those dark hours. Were you sleeping . Were you eating . Drinking. Reporter you were drinking. Id lost my wife. My son lost his mom. Reporter there was plenty of sympathy among family and friends, to be sure, for the man newly widowed with a small child to raise on his own. His wife had died in a freak accident, off a cliff of all places. How could that happen . Thats exactly what police who were there the night of jodys death wanted to know, too. Right away, i got a feeling that there was something definitely wrong. Reporter it nagged at the rescuer. Why was jodys purse on the ledge just feet below where her husband said shed fallen. Where is she . She should be here or part of her should be here. Reporter thats the first thing that came to you . Either she should be here or the pocketbook should be down with her. It wasnt fitting. Reporter another thought dawned on him. If jody had tumbled, why hadnt she hit the side of the cliff. There was no blood or hair anywhere on the rocks. And the location of jodys body seemed off way off. She was 30 to 40 feet away from us to the north. A person falls off the cliff, usually they go south or right down. Should have been right down where i got off the ropes. Thats where she should have been. Reporter someone else was scratching his head about that night for different reasons. It had to do with stephens behavior while the search was under way. Officer sery was surprised stephen was willing to leave the lookout as rescuers were still looking for jody. Did he give any indication, i dont want to leave, my wife could be alive down there . Not at all. Reporter sery said he couldnt believe how willingly scharf got into the car. If it was my wife, girlfriend, whoever they would have had to pry me away from the scene. Reporter he willingly got into the patrol car . Without a word said. Reporter stranger still was how calm the husband seemed. When the officer heard stephen describe how his wife had fallen he made a mental note. There was no emotion in it. No emotion. Like he was reading a script. Reporter did it occur to you that he was maybe in shock . No. I have seen people who lost loved ones. I have never seen anybody act that way. Reporter it was a particular moment later, inside the station house that really caught the officers attention. He asked if he could get a drink from the water fountain. He was looking over his shoulder at me, splashing water into his face and rubbing his eyes to make it look like he was crying. Reporter you thought he was faking tears . Absolutely. Absolutely. Reporter 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 stephens favor. Not just one thing. It was like the totality of the circumstances. Everything every little thing was clicking in my mind. Im saying to myself, you know, this isnt right. Somethings wrong here. Reporter 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 too jaundiced. There was really nothing to indicate that jodys fall was anything but an accident. A few months later, the ruling was in. The medical examiner concluded the manner of jody scharfs death could not be determined. An accident was as likely as anything else. Case closed. Or was it . So you didnt think this was a horrible accident . No. Reporter the suspicions grow. Was there a weapon at this romantic rendezvous . You have wine, cheese, crackers and a claw hammer. Red flags are going off, they reached the top of the pole at that point. Lets be honest. Every Insurance Company tells you they can save you money. Save up to 10 when you bundle with esurance. Including me, esurance spokesperson dennis quaid. Hes a pretty good spokesperson. Ehhh. So when i say, drivers who switched from geico to esurance saved an average of 412, you probably wont believe me. Hey, actor lady whose scene was cut. Hi. But you can believe this esurance employee, nancy abraham. Seriously, send her an email and ask her yourself. No emails. No emails. When insurance is affordable, its surprisingly painless. 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Boom. End of story. Talk to your doctor about chantix. Reporter jodys death on these cliffs had been a horrible accident. Her husband said so. And the medical examiner wasnt arguing with him. But detectives have a kind of sixth sense about cases. It was telling james linum something sinister had just happened. So you didnt think this was a horrible accident . No. Reporter there wasnt any smoking gun really. Just something dark he thought he could read between the lines in the police notes he reviewed the day after jodys death. E he didnt react like somebody who had just lost his wife should have reacted. Reporter so the detective moved 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 wasnt wine and roses on those cliffs. It was divorce. She was going to go through with it, yes. Absolutely. Reporter jodys longtime friend told detectives that jody had been determined to take her 10yearold son jonathan and leave her husband. She was convinced stephen had been cheating on her. She couldnt prove anything, but women called the house. Sometimes theyd call and hang up on her. Reporter in fact, linum learned jody had served her husband divorce papers on september 8, 1992. Less than two weeks later, she was dead at the base of the palisades. The timing made him more eager to talk to the widower scharf. There was a sitdown with mr. Scharf. Hes consented to talk, right . Yes. Reporter two days after his wifes death, stephen was freely answering detectives questions. Yes, he told them. He and his wife were talking divorce as they had sometimes done during their tempestuous marriage. It was true. There were other women. He said there was an open marriage. He said he had been with 50 to 60 women. Reporter she was okay with it, according to him. According to him, yeah. Reporter he told detectives she and jody had become unhappy with the free love lifestyle so they came to this romantic, treacherous spot to recommit to one another. To kiss and make up. The spot where they went is not a spot you go to reconcile with anybody. Reporter detectives werent buying the story for another reason. They found something suspicious inside the car. A bag filled with items you would expect for a romantic picnic and one you would not. A hammer. You have wine, cheese, crackers, opener claw hammer. If red flags were going off, they reached the top of the pole at that point . Reporter did you think it was a murder weapon . I thought that might have been plan a. He didnt use it so he went to plan b. Reporter which he believed was to push or throw jody from the cliff. So detectives asked stephen the obvious. What was a hammer doing in the picnic bag . He said he fixed a draw in the kitchen with the hammer. He just forgot to put it back in the garage. He put it in the bag with the picnic items. It was just convenient. It was a convenient excuse for having the hammer. Reporter detectives asked if they could check out the drawer and the rest of stephens house that night. He agreed. But something potentially far more telling was happening away from the action. I said, look, im your local police department. Reporter ted aaronburg was a local officer told to keep an eye on stephen that night as detectives combed through the house. The officer said he began talking to stephen about what happened to jody when stephen interrupted him. He finally looked at me and he goes, you dont believe me. Reporter then the officer says he said something that almost knocked him off his feet. I said, i believe an accident occurred. I said, was it an accident . He put his head down and he said, no. Reporter aaronburg believes that was a stunning confession. He ran to tell the other detectives, including linum but they had spent hours grilling the man. We werent getting the feeling that a reinterview would have done anything. Reporter the detectives still believed they could find solid evidence to implicate stephen, but they didnt. We took it as far as we could go. The cause of death was listed as undetermined. So officially it wasnt a homicide. Reporter in time, the detectives moved on to other cases. Stephen moved on, too. 14 years after his wifes death he remarried. Tina said hes been a loving, ideal husband. It was like we were two puzzle pieces that were made for each other. Each of us complemented and completed the other person. Reporter even in this the happy, new life he says hes never forgotten about jody. But he might have been surprised to learn that someone else was thinking of her, too, after all these years. The county had a new prosecutor and he was eager to revisit old case files. Among them a death on the cliffs of the palisades so many years ago. The death of jody. There is a renewed push since 2002 to look into the cold cases. Reporter marcos covered the case for the record newspaper in new jersey. On one hand he said it didnt seem the prosecutor had reason to pursue the cold case. In terms of hard evidence there was nothing new. Reporter the prosecutor did have someone new. A famous fame to join the investigation into jodys death. Dr. Michael bodden, a world renowned forensic pathologist who investigated the deaths of john f. Kennedy and john belushi and testified at the trial of o. J. Simpson. He was about to turn up the heat on a cold case. Dr. Bodden reviewed the evidence and determined that it could not have been an accidental fall. Reporter in december of 2008, detectives paid one more visit to stephen. They wouldnt tell me what it was for. I had no idea what this was about. It make sense. Reporter 16 years after that fatal night on the cliff, police were back. And stephen was in for a shock. After all these years you thought it was done. Not until they reached behind and handed me this thing. This arrest warrant. Reporter coming up, the case heads into court with a surprise from the stand. Im here for my mother. Reporter stephen and jodys only son has some dark secrets to share. Did you see the abuse . I did. Shaquem get in here. Take your razor, yup. Alright, up and down, never side to side, shaquem. You got it . Come on, get back. Quem, you a second behind your brother, stay focused. Cant nobody beat you, cant nobody beat you. Hard work baby, it gonna pay off. You got this. With the one hundred and fortyfirst pick, the Seattle Seahawks select. Alright, you got it, shaquem. Alright, let me see. This holiday season, families near you need your help. Visit redcross. Org now to donate. phone ringing es offers big button,lized phones. And volumeenhanced phones. Get details on this state program. Visit right now or call during business hours. Connecting people. Uniting the world. 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