MADDIE SOTO DEAD: MOM'S BF CLAIMS 'MADDIE STARTED IT'

Summary

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Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

Episode: MADDIE SOTO DEAD: MOM'S BF CLAIMS 'MADDIE STARTED IT'
Date: July 4, 2026

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Episode Overview

Nancy Grace dives into the harrowing case of 13-year-old Madeline "Maddie" Soto, whose murder has shocked the community and exposed a deeply disturbing story of abuse, family dysfunction, and a system that failed to protect her. The episode unpacks newly released investigative details, disturbing police findings, and chilling interviews, centering on the alleged perpetrator, Stephan Stearns—Maddie's mother's boyfriend—and probing the role of Maddie’s mother, Jennifer Soto.

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Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. Maddie’s Disappearance and Timeline

Timestamps:

• [01:15] Initial account of disappearance

• [02:13] Mother’s reaction to Maddie not arriving at school

• Maddie, 13, was last supposed to be dropped off near her school by her mother's live-in boyfriend, Stephan Stearns, but she never arrived.

• Jennifer Soto, her mother, only discovered her daughter's absence after receiving an email from the school.

Quote:
"She was supposed to be dropped off at school. Didn't make it to school."
— Interviewer/Reporter [01:15]
"Didn't make it to school. I went to pick her up from school and never came out.”
— Jennifer Soto [02:15]

2. Early Investigation and Witness Accounts

Timestamps:

• [06:52] Discussion about the drop-off location

• [07:08] Surveillance and discovery of Maddie's body

• Witnesses recall seeing Maddie walking, rifling through her backpack. A neighbor recalls her walking towards school “like any other morning,” but she never makes it.

• Surveillance video later reveals that Maddie was already dead, propped up to look alive in Stearns' car as he disposed of evidence.

Nancy Grace Commentary:
"Her dead body is propped up and buckled into the car." [08:18] "He was throwing out Maddie's backpack and her school laptop. So why is he getting rid of her possessions at 7:30am? That means she's already dead." [13:12]

3. Unfolding Evidence and Crime Scene Details

Timestamps:

• [09:56] Tracking of Stearns’ and Soto’s vehicles

• [15:18] Forensic findings about Maddie’s body

• [18:09] Autopsy results

• Stearns’ actions are mapped via surveillance and vehicle tracking; evidence mounts with a factory reset phone and incriminating forensics.

• The autopsy confirmed Maddie died by strangulation, presenting trauma to her hyoid bone.

• Maddie’s clean socks and the location of her body indicate she was carried and concealed after death.

Quote:
"Autopsy... Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Giles expressed concern over Madeline's hyoid bone in her neck... determined that Madeline Soto died by strangulation."
— Narrator/Investigator [18:09]

4. Chilling Interviews: Gaslighting, Blame, and Deflection

Timestamps:

• [21:33] Jennifer Soto's denial and rationalization

• [24:00] Reflections and changes in her perspective

• [33:04] Stephan Stearns' shifting of blame

• Jennifer Soto expresses disbelief and denial over Stearns’ involvement, mitigating her responsibility despite damning evidence.

• Stearns and his parents attempt to shift blame onto Maddie, her mother, and “lack of boundaries,” with Stearns infamously asserting, "I didn’t start it," and his family alluding to Maddie's supposed role.

Quote:
"I believed the sexual stuff, but I didn't want to believe that he had done anything evil to her."
— Jennifer Soto [21:33]

Quote:
"Well, I didn't start it."
— Stephan Stearns [33:56]
"Okay, you didn't start it, but you participated in it. Which is just as bad as not starting it."
— Stephan Stearns' Father [33:59]

5. Patterns of Abuse and Systemic Failure

Timestamps:

• [12:58] Mother’s decision to have Maddie sleep with Stearns

• [24:55] Investigators pressing Soto on her awareness

• Grace and her guests dig into the family’s unhealthy sleeping arrangements, history of Stearns residing in the house for years, and Jennifer Soto’s disregard for clear warning signs.

• Stearns’ phone contains thousands of incriminating images; investigation uncovers years of sexual exploitation.

Quote:
“She sends her daughter to go sleep with her lover the night before she's dead.”
— Nancy Grace [13:12]

6. Family Dynamics: The Stearns’ Rationalizations

Timestamps:

• [37:29] Blame placed on “lack of boundaries”

• [38:11] Rationalizations and self-justification

• Stephan and his parents fixate on the mother's supposed failings and inconvenience, with zero accountability for predatory behavior.

• Stearns even requests his parents establish a trust fund for his future, post-incarceration.

Quote:
"We didn't have any privacy..."
— Stephan Stearns’ Father [38:11]
"...I don't know if there's any way we might be able to set up some sort of trust fund or something."
— Stephan Stearns’ Father [42:51]

7. Analysis & Forensics Perspective

Timestamps:

• [36:28] Forensic cause of death

• [43:02] Jo Scott Morgan on Stearns’ callousness

• Forensic experts clarify that death was by manual strangulation—“up close, personal, hands wrapped around her neck.”

• Prof. Jo Scott Morgan highlights Stearns’ lack of empathy and objectification of Maddie as "disposable."

Quote:
“He just views her as something that is disposable. And as we found out, she was kind of tossed away like rubbish, wasn’t she?”
— Jo Scott Morgan [43:57]

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

• "He needs a little cheese to go with that wine."
  — Nancy Grace on Stearns complaining in jail [17:05]

• "She was murdered and hidden behind a row of bamboo, very thick. Her items were thrown into a dumpster…"
  — Nancy Grace [07:08]

• "He ugly cried in front of the camera too. So he was fake. Stop crying."
  — Jennifer Soto [24:02]

• "These times, I'm not a morning person."
  — Stephan Stearns, caught lying about his timeline [09:23]

• "Do we really know Stefan? Can we honestly say we really know?"
  — Stearns' Father [29:55]

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Significant Timestamps

• [01:15 - 02:28] — Establishment of Maddie’s disappearance
• [07:08 - 08:59] — Surveillance reveals Maddie's body; Stearns’ car timeline
• [13:12] — Theory: Maddie likely killed night before; disposal of evidence begins early morning
• [18:09] — Autopsy results confirm strangulation
• [21:33 - 24:29] — Jennifer Soto’s denial, investigators’ skepticism
• [33:56 - 34:42] — Stearns' “I didn’t start it” defense
• [36:28 - 36:35] — Forensic conclusion: strangulation
• [42:32 - 43:57] — Stearns’ narcissism, trust fund request, and analysis of character

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Tone and Style

Nancy Grace’s tone is direct, outraged, and prosecutorial, emphasizing the preventable aspects of Maddie’s death and the failure of adults around her. The discussions are raw, disturbing, and emotionally charged, featuring candid guest analysis, harrowing quotes from family and suspects, and a relentless focus on victim advocacy and justice.

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Conclusion

This episode exposes the tragedy of Maddie Soto’s murder—not merely a brutal crime, but the result of years of neglect, boundary failures, and systemic blindness. Nancy Grace rigorously scrutinizes every aspect: the cover-ups, rationalizations, and the chillingly callous mindset of the accused and those surrounding him. The episode is a call to vigilance, accountability, and remembrance of Maddie—“not disposable,” a message hammered home in the chilling final remarks.

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Transcript

[Nancy Grace]

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[Nancy Grace]

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

She was supposed to be dropped off at school. Didn't make it to school.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

Didn't make it to school.

[Witness/Neighbor]

Was walking in that direction. She was rifling through her backpack.

[Nancy Grace]

Little Maddie Soto, just 13, is found. Just dumped. Dumped.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

I sent them to sleep upstairs so that I could get a good night's sleep.

[Nancy Grace]

Years of sex abuse by mommies live

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

in He's a pedophile.

[Hannah McKenzie (Fox 35 Reporter)]

35,000 videos and photos.

[Nancy Grace]

He's a predator.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

I believed the sexual stuff, but I didn't want to believe that he had done anything evil to her.

[Nancy Grace]

Letting the fox and the hen house. What was she thinking?

[Narrator/Investigator]

Madeline is 13 years old. She has been missing since 8:30 on Monday morning when mom's boyfriend dropped her off near Hunter's Creek Middle School.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

So she was supposed to be dropped off at school. Didn't make it to school.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

Didn't make it to school. I went to pick her up from school today and never came out.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

They.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

They announced it over the speaker and I'm just like, maybe she walked here because sometimes she'll walk here to this office. I came here. Nothing. I went back to the school.

[Nancy Grace]

They were closed.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

I got a notice, an email from the school saying she was absent. But I also messaged her teacher and he looked at her entire attendance today and saw that she was completely not at school today either. Okay, so she never made it.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Okay, what's her name?

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

Madeline. M A D E L I N

[Interviewer/Reporter]

E M A D E L I N E I N E Last name Soto. S O T O S O T O. Yeah.

[Shannon Butler (Investigative Reporter)]

Stop it, stop it.

[Nancy Grace]

I know it's your natural reaction to look at the person speaking. That would be Maddie's mother speaking. The guy that hands over the cell phone is the live in. I just want to. Around his neck. How dare he even stand there like that. I'm going to go to a very special guest joining us. It's Terracina Niles. This is a very dear member of the family related to Maddie Soto's bio dad, wife Teresina. Thank you for being with us. I really appreciate it. You know, in the last days, I've been reading all the new headlines and we went further and got. There's a 900 page document that I have been, you know, wading through. I've got to tell you, it just made my heart stop. And I understand that you and Maddie's bio dad are reeling at the new information. Which aspect of the new information just released is the most concerning to you?

[Terracina Niles (Family Member)]

I think the biggest aspect has been the timelines that, you know, we weren't. You're ready to hear, but you're never ready to hear. And so seeing those kind of layout and I have seen quite a bit from social media and it's just. It's just devastating. And the description of how she was found and just things of that nature just, you're never ready to hear something like that.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

What was she last seen wearing?

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

Green hoodie.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Green hoodie.

[Witness/Neighbor]

White Crocs.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

White Crocs.

[Witness/Neighbor]

I drive blue or black pants?

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

I think black shorts.

[Witness/Neighbor]

Black shorts.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Yeah, black shorts.

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

Okay, Black shorts.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

All right. Do you know she has, like, friends in the area?

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

She does, but she doesn't know where they live.

[Nancy Grace]

I want to go out to Shannon Butler. He was an investigative reporter, WFTV 9 in Florida. Shannon, thank you so much for being with us. I gotta tell you, this new release of documents and information, this with the backdrop of the boyfriend, Stephen Stern's being charged with at least 60 sex counts on children, be it taking videos, pictures, molesting, the whole shebang. And look, the mom did not murder the daughter. He did, according to police. But, wow, I can't help but feel blame toward mommy.

[Shannon Butler (Investigative Reporter)]

Yeah, I think everybody. I mean, we have been following this case for months and we have had so many people call and email and say, what are they going to do about Jen Soto? We still have that piece of the timeline that we don't know yet of what happened between when she sent her daughter up to bed. To sleep with Stefan Stearns and then in the morning when he was seen with her inside that car.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Does she have like Apple Watch?

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

She's got a device. The only device she's got on her

[Nancy Grace]

right now is her.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Her school laptop. Is that trackable?

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

I don't think so.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

I don't think so. Did she like, have any places that you guys know that she'll be? Usually be at any friend's house. Any places that, like, she likes to hang out typically?

[Jo Scott Morgan (Forensics Professor)]

No.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

No, she got dropped off. She was like, so she's embarrassed by this car. So she didn't want to be dropped off at school. She wanted me dropped off like half a block away so she can walk. She's in the face, but yeah, he dropped her off half a block away and drove away.

[Witness/Neighbor]

Okay.

[Nancy Grace]

Did she ever go to school though?

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

No. We called school.

[Witness/Neighbor]

She was walking in that direction. She was rifling through her backpack, just looking for something. I thought maybe she was just looking for headphones before she caught her walking on. Yeah, but she was just kind of, you know, shambling over in that direction. Looked the same as any other morning.

[Nancy Grace]

Yeah, that's not true. He did not drop her off at Peace United Methodist Church because she didn't want to be seen with parents or because she was embarrassed of the car. She was murdered and hidden behind a row of bamboo, very thick. Her items were thrown into a dumpster, including her backpack and her school issued computer. And he, Stephan Sterns, was spotted at that dumpster. A male called in with a tip describing his vehicle and that he was outside the vehicle with a tire iron. Listen to this.

[Narrator/Investigator]

Investigators believe the female seen at 7:36am in the surveillance video in the front passenger seat of Stephen Stern's vehicle is Madeline Soto's dead body, propped up and buckled into the seat to appear as a living person. But closer inspection of the video shows her head leaning toward her shoulder with her mouth open. Sterns is caught on surveillance video again at 8:19am when he is seen entering the front security gate of the neighborhood with a female in the same position as the surveillance video captured at 7:36am

[Nancy Grace]

to Shannon Butler joining me WFTV. Her dead body is propped up and buckled into the car. Did I get that right? Shannon Butler? Yeah.

[Shannon Butler (Investigative Reporter)]

And that was part of his story, Right? So he goes in and out of that apartment complex, which they did in the morning on the way to school. So that way if any of the neighbors or anything saw him drive out, it wouldn't be unusual for Madeline to be buckled into the seat or what he said to us and to investigators is that she slept on the way to school. And she was asleep. I mean, according to investigators, buckled that seatbelt and let her sit there, leaned over. It's just unbelievable, really.

[Nancy Grace]

I want you to hear the boyfriend, Stefan Stern, speaking to police. And what a wild story he gives. Reminds me a little bit of top mom Casey Anthony. Her story kept changing and changing and getting bigger and bigger and bigger of a lie. Same here. Listen, at 8:10, your car is seen going southbound at this intersection.

[Witness/Neighbor]

So meaning going toward kissimmee. I had forgotten something. I had forgotten my gate clicker. I'm sorry. I forgot I had gone back to the house real quick after we left because I forgot my gate clicker. I actually had to go through the front gate and use my parking pass to grab my clicker. So it was the wrong time. I'm sorry, I. Like I said, I was guesstimating. These times. I'm not a morning person.

[Narrator/Investigator]

Investigators release information about Stefan Stearns in tracking the silver Lincoln he was driving. But now detectives say they tracked another vehicle, A white Nissan owned by Maddie's mother Jennifer, making an identical trip as was made in the Lincoln from the apartment to where Maddie's body was found. Detectives don't get a clean look at the driver, but the Nissan was driven from the apartment to the body in the middle of the night, 12 hours after Stearns was seen driving his Lincoln to the same area.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay, straight out to Shannon butler joining us. What can you tell me about mommy's car going to the location where Maddie's body is ultimately found?

[Shannon Butler (Investigative Reporter)]

The running theory is that it was Seth and Stearns that went back to the alleged scene of that crime. But there is so much speculation and doubt surrounding Madeline Soto's mother that it's hard for people not to question whether or not she was behind the wheel and went back down to that same location where Madeline stto's body was. Could it have been Jen Soto?

[Nancy Grace]

There are several 60 charges against the live in Stephan Sterns, Many of them sex battery on a child. And I'm wondering if they're not getting a lot of that from his phone. Of course. He said that morning he did a massive factory reset. Wow, that's quite the coincidence, is it not that he does a factory reset on his phone the moment she goes missing? On what are the sex battery on a child charges predicated?

[Shannon Butler (Investigative Reporter)]

I think they knew the minute he reset that phone that they needed to get to that phone when they downloaded it. There was horrific, horrific images. 1700 images on that phone. That was at the moment they realized, you know, something was, was terribly wrong here.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

We were all going to sleep together in the same bed. But I needed some good sleep and I had not. I got a new job recently. I haven't been well rested. I needed some sleep. So I asked, hey, can you guys go to the guest bedroom upstairs? I knew he was gonna get her ready. I sent them upstairs and I went to bed.

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

Foreign.

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[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

I got a new job recently. I haven't been well rested. I needed some sleep. So I asked, hey, can you guys go to the guest bedroom upstairs? I knew he was going to get her ready. I sent them upstairs and I went to bed.

[Nancy Grace]

She sends her daughter to go sleep with her lover the night before she's dead. If you look at the timeline. Can we just talk about that one moment? Because I have a theory that Maddie was murdered by Stephan Stern the night before. Because we've got him the next morning, 7, 7:30am he's already throwing out Maddie's backpack and her school laptop. So why is he getting rid of her possessions at 7:30am that means she's already dead at 7:30am she's killed in the night. And Mommy. What? Just slept all the way through it. I mean, analyze the timeline for me. Shannon Butler.

[Shannon Butler (Investigative Reporter)]

We know for a fact at 7:30 that she was in fact dead. That is what the Orange County Sheriff's Office believed. The original investigators on this case. But those hours in the night, that's where all the questions is. They believe she was killed, but they don't know exactly what time. And it seems the medical examiner can't figure that out either. But they do know that in those hours before 7:30 and after they went to bed, something happened there. The mother never woke up. She didn't see her daughter before she went to school. And because of that, that is why it's so hard to pinpoint an exact time. She told the original responding deputy that she did see her in the morning, get ready for school.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

You said when you Woke up around 9, you left your house at 9:30 for your doctor's appointment. And Stefan hadn't come home yet. And then he called you at 10?

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

At like, 10:15.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Yeah, 10:15. Ish.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

Yeah. She didn't want McDonald's that he came home. I think he had accidentally left his phone at home.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Yeah.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

So he was just letting me know because I had. I had called him multiple times. He was just returning my call, going, I'm so sorry. I left the phone at home. I went to the vape store. I waited there for a little bit. Nothing. Nobody was there.

[Crime Scene Analyst]

When Madeline's body was removed from underneath the dry grass and hay, Detectives were able to immediately identify her by a mole she has on her cheek. Her body shows signs of decomposition to one side of her face and her hands. Madeline is wearing a green hoodie. With the hoodie covering the top of her head. Blue jeans and white socks. The police report notes that Madeline's socks were clean, indicating she did walk anywhere, or the socks would have dirt on the bottom. Someone carried Madeline to the place she was found.

[Nancy Grace]

Shannon Butler joining us from WFTV 9. Where was she found?

[Shannon Butler (Investigative Reporter)]

So this is a ranch in rural Osceola County. That area of Florida has, you know, big cattle ranches, orange groves, things like that. Along that side of road. Remember, he got a flat tire, so he had to pull over and change that flat tire. Right in that area, there was one of those big ranches. But you can't get on the ranch because there was a big fence around it. So the only thing he could do, police say, was to toss her over. And when the detectives got out there, when they were searching, looking in that area, they called the rancher, said, hey, can you let us on the property? Says, no problem. Right down the street. I'll be right there. And when they came in, she was actually the first time they looked. They didn't see see her because she was kind of behind, like, bales of hay. And so they had to. When they got through, they walked around, and they could see that she was laying there in that wooded area.

[Narrator/Investigator]

Stefan Stearns was arrested while the search for Meline was ongoing. When Orange county sheriff's office found disturbing evidence on Stern's phone. Stearns turns his phone over to the police to aid in the search for Madeline. And tells them he accidentally did a factory reset on his phone the day Madeline vanished.

[Nancy Grace]

I gotta show you this video we found of him in the back seat of the Patrol cruiser where he's whining. Listen to this guy whine. He needs a little cheese to go with that wine.

[Witness/Neighbor]

Listen, there was like a degree or two lower than it should have been.

[Interviewer/Prosecutor]

Wow.

[Witness/Neighbor]

Could regulate sleeping on bare metal. The first night I was on a concrete floor with a roll of toilet paper for Villa and nothing else, begging for a blanket or a pad to sleep on for like two days.

[Nancy Grace]

I love the guy driving the cruiser. Did you see me? He's going as he listens to accused child rapist killer Stephan Sterns whine. It was like a degree or two lower than it should have been. And the deputy goes, wow, I bet he just wants to Stephan Stearns during

[Narrator/Investigator]

autopsy of Madeline Soto, Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Giles expressed concern over Madeline's hyoid bone in her neck. Giles stated the right portion of the bone was not intact, which could possibly be related to her being strangled. The autopsy determined that Meline Stto died by strangulation.

[Interviewer/Questioner]

We can go even worse. She's pregnant.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

That's what questions last night led me to believe. When we started talking about her period,

[Interviewer/Questioner]

I was told that her and her friend, and granted I'm male, never had a period, but that somebody found it weird that they were no longer on the same cycle. Could be different because she's a teenage girl. Could be that she missed your period. Have you ever found a pregnancy test at home that wasn't yours?

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

I have two underneath the kitchen, the bathroom sink, but I haven't seen if there's any.

[Nancy Grace]

Hannah McKenzie joining us, Fox 35. She says that's what questions last night led me to believe when we started talking about her period. Who was talking about her period? Hannah McKenzie.

[Hannah McKenzie (Fox 35 Reporter)]

Before the pregnancy test was even brought up. They were kept asking her about her cycle, about her period. And Jennifer is on camera saying, I tracked her period. I knew when she was on her period. And the detective in the office at the time said, well, did you notice any feminine hygiene products being used in February? And Jennifer kind of sits back for a second and says, no, I didn't realize any feminine hygiene products were being used in February. I didn't notice that.

[Nancy Grace]

Let's look at Maddie's room. Her room was essentially part of the downstairs living room and it was essentially a bed cordoned off by this see through partition there on the bottom level of the home. Those boxers right there belong to Stephan Stern and that's Maddie's bedroom area. Those boxers in her laundry basket were pictured in the videos that were found on his phone. And then in the next photo, you see her bedding, Maddie Soto's bedding, which also appeared in the sex molestation videos on Stephon Stern's home. According to police, that bedding proves happen in the home. So we now know that according to police and the murder happened in the home. We believe this is another room where Stephan Stearns slept on occasion. And we know that the room where he slept with Maddie at her mother's direction had a lock on the door. And I mean, not just the kind that go with the doorknob, full on locks. You are seeing crime scene photos that we obtained from police files. And speaking of mom, Jen Soto's response after Maddie first goes missing. This is what she said when you

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

guys showed me the picture of her. I believe the sexual stuff, but I didn't want to believe that he had done anything evil to her. I'm like, no, what if she. What if he did this stuff? Fine, but what if she's still missing out there? What if somebody took her? I still wanted to believe his. I believed him. I believed his whole story. So I was just like, I kept repeating that part. I'm just like, what if. What if she did get dropped off? What if she got abducted? What if she's missing?

[Nancy Grace]

Okay. Shannon Butler joining me, investigative reporter, WFTV 9. Did I just hear mommy correctly? She says, when you showed me the picture of her, which I think is a euphemism for her boyfriend, her daughter, and videoing it on his cell phone, I think that's the picture that she's talking about. I believe this sexual stuff, but I didn't want to believe he had done anything evil to her.

[Shannon Butler (Investigative Reporter)]

Yeah. And you can hear from that interaction with those deputies, there was a lot of pause that they took even after we talked about this later on about why she didn't quite understand that what was happening there, at least in that interview, was evil and was wrong.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

But that was me assuming that you guys had the wrong guy. I wanted to think he was a good guy still, but clearly he's not. After everything you guys have told me and have shown me, I know he's the worst person on this face of the earth. I started saying to him, like, I think they're focusing in on you. Like, you need to call your dad and I think we need to get you a lawyer. I feel like they're focusing on the wrong person. He kept saying the same thing. He kept repeating what I was repeating, that they're focusing on the wrong person.

[Interviewer/Questioner]

How did he feel when he said he needs a lawyer?

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

He didn't believe me, like, when I told him, like, don't you see? Forensics is closing down the house. They know something or there's something. Like, they know something. Something's happening. They wouldn't be locking down the house this way if. If they didn't have suspicions of something. But in my. I wasn't thinking. I don't know why I wasn't thinking him. Like, I was just like, no, they've got the wrong guy. And he ugly cried in front of the camera, too. So he was fake. Stop crying.

[Nancy Grace]

Are you saying that now or do you.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

I'm saying that now. I didn't think that at the time. At the time, I thought he was truly heartbroken and not that he had done all this to her. I look back at now, I'm just like, he was lying. He was faking. What else has he been lying to me about? I know he's like a master liar manipulator because he's done it to his parents and he's told me and shown

[Interviewer/Reporter]

me

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

the lies he's done to his parents. But I don't know why. I never thought. Not me.

[Interviewer/Questioner]

But you didn't know that then. I didn't then you offered a guy who the police suspected. Suspected of kidnapping, abducting, assisting the disappearing lawyer. And then we don't have to roundtable that you went back to what you just said is the sex stuff is fine.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

It's not fine.

[Interviewer/Questioner]

I know it's an emotional thing, and I know it sucks to hear, but where I'm coming from is it seems like something that you can't hide forever. You guys live in a small space, close quarters. You sleep in the same bed. You guys all talk. You guys all share things. You're an observant person.

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

For the most part.

[Interviewer/Questioner]

I assume outside of taking medications and going to sleep, it seems very difficult. A lot of grown adults can't hide an affair with somebody who doesn't live with them, let alone somebody who does live with them. So at a certain point, I do believe you became aware of what was going on.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

No.

[Nancy Grace]

After she's been warned to tell the truth, they're giving her immunity. This is what she says.

[Interviewer/Prosecutor]

So now you've broken up with Stephan in December of 2022. Right. He's still paying rent and he's there full time in bedroom number four. Is that where he goes after you break up?

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

No, he stayed in my room for a few months. We'd broken up, but we weren't sure how to discuss it with Maddie. Because it was the beginning, it was the middle of the school year and I didn't want to affect her in any way. So we just played it off. Acted like everything was normal and fine for the first six months. And then eventually she caught on. And then once she did, we admitted to her that we were broken up. And then. Yeah, at that point is when he moved up to bedroom four.

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

Okay.

[Interviewer/Prosecutor]

It's my understanding that it's December of 2022 that you and Stephan kind of break up.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

Yes.

[Interviewer/Prosecutor]

But he still remains in the town home.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

Yes.

[Interviewer/Prosecutor]

Why is that?

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

So even though you're broken up, I still considered him one of my best friends. I wanted to give him the opportunity to live there. And he had just gotten a job at Disney from his Dreamwell.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Okay.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

And I didn't want him to continue to lose that because he had been struggling for a long time to get a job or do anything. His own mental health issues. So I just wanted to give him a chance to like, do something, be. Be something.

[Interviewer/Prosecutor]

Once he moved up to bedroom four, were there instances where Madeline would sleep alone upstairs with him?

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

I'm gonna say I want you to

[Interviewer/Prosecutor]

think carefully before you answer because obviously we've gone through your phone and we've seen all the conversations that you've had with Stefan. So it's called that that's occurring. So I'm giving you the chance to answer the question.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out how many times it's happened.

[On Deck Advertiser]

Okay.

[Nancy Grace]

The night that Jen Soto's condo is searched, she and Stearns have to get out. So where do they go? They go to a hotel along with Stearns parents. Listen, what happens in the middle of the night?

[Stephan Stearns' Mother/Deborah Stearns]

We checked into the rooms. I brought my stuff up, went over and said goodnight and then hit the

[Nancy Grace]

sack after you guys went to your your separate ways. When's the next time you talk to Stefan?

[Stephan Stearns' Mother/Deborah Stearns]

I got up at 6.33hours sleep and went to the office because I figured he would be sleeping in crashed and burned and didn't speak to Jen until 1045 ish. And she called and asked if Stefan was with me. And I said no.

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

Why?

[Stephan Stearns' Mother/Deborah Stearns]

Well, he's not here.

[Nancy Grace]

Here's Stephon Stern's explanation of why he was missing for 300 miles. Okay. That's several hours driving through Florida in the middle of the night. Listen.

[Stephan Stearns' Mother/Deborah Stearns]

Well, he had an energy drink in his hand. He said he got lost. You know, the back rows. Hell, I got lost. And I added QPS Select.

[Nancy Grace]

My partner said we're not here to Waste your time.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

You've been in this line of work before. Did he tell you he was in Northport today?

[Interviewer/Questioner]

I'm assuming he didn't, based on your reaction.

[Nancy Grace]

So what does Stephan Stearns mother, Deborah, have to say when she finds out he showed up at her house 150 miles away in the middle of the night to log onto her wi fi and delete photos? Listen, that mother. You know what? You know what stopped him from getting in the house? He didn't have a garage door opener. The front door lock is not working well, and I had. I had put the lock on the slider. Now, speaking of his walkabout, gone six hours in the middle of the night while Maddie is apparently missing. This is what Stephon Stearns has to say happened that night.

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

Is there some explanation of the. I came up Wednesday morning next to the hotel early in the morning, and is there some explanation why you left and went where you went?

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

I was driving around. I had wanted to grab a few things and get my ducks in a row, kind of prepare myself for whatever was coming, but I couldn't find what I was looking for. And then I ended up just kind of driving around aimlessly.

[Nancy Grace]

You were hearing a video call from behind bars. This is what Father Christopher Stearns has to say.

[Stephan Stearns' Mother/Deborah Stearns]

Look, he spent a lifetime lying to us, and it's just never gotten better. Before I left the house the other night, I turned to my wife and I said, do we really know Stefan? Can we honestly say we really know? And she got really kind of offended, defensive, a little bit. I said, I'm not saying that he did something, but can we honestly say we really know?

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

I've always told him that my biggest fear is that this would turn into a Woody Allen situation where the stepdaughter f or the dad grooms the child and the child turns 18 up. Running away with him, I told him, like, that was my biggest fear, and I don't ever want that happening. Like, you can't do that to me.

[Interviewer/Questioner]

Like, so we go back to 2020. We're looking at a minimum of three and a half years. Three and a half years where I'm sure you guys are sexually active.

[Shannon Butler (Investigative Reporter)]

Yes.

[Interviewer/Questioner]

So for three and a half years, under your care, in your house, not only is he being sexually active with you, he had a sexual relationship.

[Nancy Grace]

Crime stories with Nancy Grace. Straight out to Shannon Butler. Joining us, investigative reporter, WFTV, Channel 9 in Florida, where this happened. Shannon Butler, the those little gulps should have happened when she first thought she had a, quote, Woody Allen Situation between her live in boyfriend, Stephan Stearns and her little girl, then 12.

[Shannon Butler (Investigative Reporter)]

Yeah. Early on in this investigation, when we first talked to investigators right after those interviews, just hours after those interviews, they felt the tears and the anguish was much more about Stephen Stearns and what was going on there than about her daughter. And that always troubled those investigators early on in those interviews there.

[Nancy Grace]

I want you to see new video that we have obtained. The defendant, Stephan Sterns, acting out how Maddie was asleep in his car.

[Witness/Neighbor]

She wasn't saying anything. She was just asleep. She was just reclined in the chair, sleeping. Okay, explain to me like reclining backwards. Yes, thank.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

You.

[Nancy Grace]

All right, go ahead and turn around.

[Jennifer Soto (Mother)]

Face the wall. Put your hands behind your back. Did you get a really good picture of this right here,

[Nancy Grace]

this whole area?

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

Were you expecting these charges?

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

No.

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

The birth charge.

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

Oh, well, okay.

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

So you got blindsided by that.

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

Yeah. Obviously, you know it's not true. You know, I never would have wanted her gone for any reason.

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

So, you know, premeditated first degree is

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

kind of a dick punch.

[Nancy Grace]

I want you to hear the dad asking, how did this whole thing come about? And Stephon Stearns essentially says she started it.

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

Listen, you know, you and I can have a conversation, all of us could have a conversation to understand what, what's taking place, how, how this came about, how, how you arrived here. Because it would help us, help us better understand the situation. Because we're just, we're at a loss for understanding how all this came about. I mean, we're just totally, totally baffled.

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

Well, I didn't start it.

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

Okay, you didn't start it, but you participated in it. Which is just as bad as not starting it.

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

But some woman got on a YouTube thing and said that you weren't even at the party.

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

Pardon me?

[Shannon Butler (Investigative Reporter)]

Yeah, her birthday party.

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

Yeah, I hadn't gotten there yet. I went up there Sunday evening and got there after she was done at her party. Oh, okay. And it was. We were very happy that I was there. We were very happy that this three of us were together. It was shaping up to be a great week and a great visit. You know, there was. There's no reason for anything to happen that happened. I think they do just a mess with me, honestly.

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

This place is filthy and unsanitary in

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

one little thin, scratchy wool blanket, surrounded by crazies all the time.

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

Well, it's not the Ritz.

[Nancy Grace]

Not the Ritz. You're charged with murder, Stefan Stearns. The murder of a 14 year old little girl.

[Witness/Neighbor]

Hello?

[Nancy Grace]

I know you're watching the jailhouse TV on your phone. According to police, thousands of images of 14 year old Maddie Soto were found naked being raped and more. Okay, that's you. And now you're complaining about your mattress going so far as to give the jail a one star review on Yelp. What are you thinking?

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

Just seeing her pale face and blue lips and how ice cold she was and. Just crazy. I'm gonna stay with you. Yeah, that's definitely.

[Witness/Neighbor]

Yeah.

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

I remember seeing my. My brother when he had passed away. And that's the last thing I remember seeing of him. And

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

so, yeah, he knows. Just. You can tell. Yes, you can. My dad. Yeah. It's just when they're gone, really, really, truly gone, it's just there's nothing you can do. There's no coming back.

[Nancy Grace]

Well, you could get the death penalty. You could do that, but. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay with me, an all star panel to make sense of what I'm hearing. And I've got a ton of these jailhouse calls. I don't know if I can even get through them all because each one is a bombshell. This is going to be hard, but. Jo Scott Morgan, Professor, Forensics. One word. What was this girl's cod? Cause of death. One word.

[Jo Scott Morgan (Forensics Professor)]

Yeah, it was strangulation. Nancy, up close and personal with his hands wrapped around her neck.

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

You know, Stefan, I can't help but get the feeling that none of this that was on the phone was a surprise. She was aware that had certain feelings towards me. Yeah, well, then why would you send her in there to sleep with you? She always used to joke about it, you know, call it an Electra complex. Used to joke and say, you better not leave me for my daughter when she's older. Things like that. Laugh about it. And they used to both ogle over me and comment on me and talk about me together and giggle and talk about how nice I looked. And it was. It was not an appropriate situation.

[Nancy Grace]

Now here he seems to blame Maddie's murder on lack of boundaries and poor quote, sleeping arrangements.

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

Listen, you know, always had an issue with boundaries. She never respected any boundaries that I tried to set. You know, he got in arguments on more than one occasion about the sleeping arrangements. So I know would beg her, you know, please make. Go sleep in her own room and said, well, no, it's easier this way for me to wake her up when she's near me.

[Nancy Grace]

And what is Stephan Sterns response? He says, no one respected my boundaries. And then he blames the whole thing because Jen Soto didn't give him Any privacy. You have got to hear this.

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

We didn't have any privacy and, you know, just didn't have any space to ourselves. And she suggested, well, maybe you should go sleep in bed instead. And it's like, you know, it's like a twin bed and I'm, you know, six plus feet. And that's no, why would I want to do that? Instead sleep in our king size bed. You know, we should have broken up for a long time ago. We were all very happy to be reunited. It had been months since we'd all seen each other. And there's no reason that I would have given all of that up for literally no reason to hurt her and trade it all in for this. No, there isn't. But there's jealousy on the other side too. I mean, she told you, I hope you don't need me for my daughter. That tells me that she was thinking about that for a while.

[Nancy Grace]

We hear Stephan Stearns and mother Deborah Stearns stating Jen Soto have been thinking about this for a long time. They're basically trying to blame Jen Soto for her daughter's murder. Guys, there's more of Stephon Sterns whining, and I haven't even gotten him whining about his mattress and the food. So far he's been blaming Jen Soto for Maddie's death. And we're all angry that Jen Soto allowed a situation where her daughter slept night after night after night with her mooch live in boyfriend. But to blame her for the murder itself is a whole nother thing. And that sounds like what he and his mommy and daddy are cooking up. Remember, the mommy and the daddy not charged with anything. Oh, and I haven't even got to them claiming that he has PTSD because he found the body. I mean, really. But that said, listen to this.

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

I wish I had done the correct thing to begin with. You know, I wish I had run downstairs and shaken her awake and called 911 and all that and deserves a lot. I wish you had too. I wish she had too. Maybe she could have been saved. But I, you know, she was. She was beyond that.

[Nancy Grace]

Listen to the new theory emerge.

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

She was in a different part of the house.

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

Yeah.

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

She wasn't with you?

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

Well, she had gone to be with me earlier in the night, but I left her alone for quite a while.

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

Were you awake when she, when sent her into the room with you?

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

Yeah.

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

And she was fine when she came into your room. What time at night was that?

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

Maybe 11ish or so. I'm not sure.

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

Okay, so she Was fine. So what happened between 11 and whenever you found her?

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

Well, that's the million dollar question, isn't it?

[Nancy Grace]

Oh, the devil is in the details. Stern, please keep talking. Listen to this.

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

Well, I discovered her. In the. In the state that she was in after everything was said and done. So, I mean, I. Obviously I can't get into detail, but no, I was not aware that she was. Had passed on. As you know, I'm up and down throughout the night and I was not in the room the whole time.

[Interviewer/Prosecutor]

Mm.

[Nancy Grace]

So he wasn't aware she was passed on, yet he found her cold to the touch with her lips, blue. Now the dad realizes the story is not gelling.

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

Listen, it's not like you, you know, you just suddenly feel someone's ghost pass away from them, you know, so it's a discovery. Well, I'm assuming that they are treating you for PTSD because you found the body. Not to mention everything else that went along with that. No, not treating you for anything except my blood pressure. Well, they need to do the PTSD because you're not sleeping well. You know, I keep telling myself that I have to maintain my faith. Without faith and trust in God, I have nothing.

[Nancy Grace]

Now listen to this. Does anybody know the meaning of narcissist? Here we hear Stephan Stearns asking his parents to dump money into an account for a trust fund for him. For him after they die.

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

Job prospects are going to be difficult to come by. I might need some sort of resources to help you get back on path immediately until I can work out the income situation.

[Stephan Stearns (Boyfriend)]

Yeah, don't know what that would be, but. Because I don't know, maybe we may be. We may be gone by the time you get out.

[Stephan Stearns' Father]

I don't know. I don't know if there's any way we might be able to set up some sort of trust fund or something.

[Terracina Niles (Family Member)]

Just.

[Nancy Grace]

Scott Morgan, have you seen it all now? Stephan Stearns wants a trust fund set up by mommy and Daddy.

[Jo Scott Morgan (Forensics Professor)]

Yeah. One of the most glaring things is that when his dad actually said, well, we might be gone. Did you hear that? And then he just continues on with this through line of all about him. He didn't pause for a moment and say, well, my God, that's horrible. Please don't say that, dad. That you're going to be gone or that Mama's going to be gone. That's not what it's about. That shows you the level of callousness. And he's doing this to his parents. How much more so? How much more so, Nancy? A 13 year old little girl that he's been victimizing allegedly lo these many years. He's that callous. He's that very callous. He's not genetically connected to her, Nancy. He just views her as something that is disposable. And as we found out, she was kind of tossed away like rubbish, wasn't she?

[Nancy Grace]

Maddie Soto was not disposable. We remember American hero, Deputy Sheriff Kentaras Taylor. Bibb County Sheriffs killed in the line of duty. Survived by grieving fiance, Jamisa children. Killen London Carter. American hero, Deputy Sheriff Kentaras Taylor. Thank you to all of our guests for being with us, but especially to you, Nancy Gray, signing off. I'll see you tomorrow night. And until then, good night, friend. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.