he was a fairly decent, you know, fairly decent parent. reporter: it was only after detectives told him his dad had just been arrested that the son turned on his father. she on his father. 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 jonathan, not his dad, who was motivated by greed. if steven scharf was convicted, his son would get all that insurance money. whoops the money go to? it goes to me. in the end the lawyer called steven scharf s son a spoiled brat. that sounds like some spoiled kid. who was not a credible witness.
defense, what had torn at the heart of steven scharf was the testimony of his son, jonathan. i remember her showing me her bruises. he painted his father as a brute and possibly a killer. i never hit jody. it made me sick to my stomach. the young man wasn t 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. it was only after detectives told him had dad a had just been arrested that the son turned on his father. 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
i did not. i didn t hurt jody. i didn t push her. i didn t cause her death. i didn t kill my wife. we talked to steven scharf at the bergen koubtter geagain ber jail. he and his wife say they paid a high price for something he didn t do. our daughter is 2 1/2 and still never been held by her father. because we don t have contact visits. it s not just a tragedy for jody, it s a tranlg dgedy for j. it s a tragedy for my wife, it s a tragedy for my daughter. and for myself. still he decided not to take the stand in his own defense. but told dateline that what he first said years ago about his wife s death was the truth. i wish it didn t happen. i wish we had gone to the comedy club. i m innocent.
his father and lie? the defense lawyer said it was jonathan, not his dad, who was motivated by greed. if steven scharf was convicted, his son would get all that insurance money. who does the money go to? it goes to me. in the end, the lawyer called steven s son a spoiled brat. sounds like some spoiled kid. who was not a credible witness. in closing, he insisted that this wasn t a murder case, just a sad story about a woman who tumbled drunkenly to her death. this case iss an accident, nothing more, nothing less. soon it would be in the hands of a jury are. coming up it was a light bulb, you couldn t help but think that s interesting. the jurors speak. what would they decide?
but had the jury gotten that same message? when they walked in to that deliberating room for the first time, some jurors in fact planned to vote not guilty. there wasn t enough evidence for me. that s what it was. others were thinking ghiuilt. it was several things. it was no one thing had made up my mind. but jurors went back and forth over the evidence and here s what they came to believe. that jody 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 husband knowing that your wife was drinking, would you bring her there? the jurors deliberated three days before deciding whether steven scharf should be found guilty or not guilty of a single count of murder. on the charge of murder of jody guilty. guilty.