Tara Grant: Secrets in Washington Township // 591

Summary

Podcast Summary: Going West: True Crime Episode 591 – “Tara Grant: Secrets in Washington Township” Originally aired: March 17, 2026 Hosts: Daphne Woolsoncroft & Heath Merryman

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Daphne and Heath revisit the haunting and heartbreaking 2007 case of Tara Grant—a devoted mother and successful businesswoman in Michigan who vanished after a late-night argument with her husband, Stephen Grant. What began as a missing person inquiry escalated into a notorious murder investigation marked by lies, obsession, and Stephen’s shocking confessions. The hosts break down how jealousy, infidelity, and power dynamics culminated in a brutal and senseless act.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

Tara’s Background and Marriage

• Tara Grant was an accomplished businesswoman, athletic, family-centered, and passionate about providing for her loved ones (04:11–07:22).
• She met Stephen at Michigan State; they married soon after graduation. Stephen was “sweet talking and charming,” initially supportive (05:33).
• The Grants settled in Washington Township, Michigan, had two children, and Tara’s high-powered job required regular work trips to Puerto Rico (06:49–07:09).
• Stephen stayed home, working part-time for his dad but mainly managing the household and children (07:22).
• To manage their busy lives, they hired several au pairs over time—the latest being 19-year-old Verena from Germany (08:30–09:29).

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The Disappearance

• Friday, February 9, 2007: Tara returned from a work trip. She and Stephen had a heated argument about her frequent absences; Stephen claims Tara left in a black town car late that night (09:29–10:13).

• Verena, the au pair, returned home later and found Stephen emotionally volatile, saying Tara “left” after their fight (10:13–11:23).

• Over the weekend, Stephen left voicemails for Tara, growing agitated and accusatory, upset she wasn’t contacting him or the kids (11:59–12:18).

  “Tara, next time I call you, pick up your phone. It’s absolute bullshit that you wouldn’t call me or your kids… Traveling this much is not right.” – Stephen Grant voicemail, paraphrased by Daphne (12:18)

• Tara was reported missing five days later, on Valentine’s Day. Stephen admitted to police that he may have “waited too long” to call (14:37).

• Her family, notably her sister Alicia, was shocked—Tara wouldn’t ditch her kids or vanish without contact (15:13–15:20).

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Stephen’s Behavior Raises Eyebrows

• Stephen presented himself as a concerned husband to police and media but became obsessed with media coverage and controlling the narrative (17:43–18:50).

• He gave frequent interviews, sometimes with his lawyer, sometimes not—calling one local journalist “20 times a day,” focusing on how he appeared on TV (18:05–19:20).

  “He even asked Hank [the reporter] if he looked okay on television—if his optics would be favorable if he got a haircut or bought new clothes for TV.” – Daphne (19:20)

• Publicly, Stephen shifted blame to Tara, portraying her as an absentee, work-obsessed mother, frustratingly absent from family life (20:37–20:57).

• He started telling people, including police, that Tara had likely run off or was having an affair, though evidence contradicted this (16:34–16:39, 21:10).

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Signs of a Troubled Marriage

• Emails to Stephen’s ex-girlfriend Dina Hardy revealed he suspected Tara of cheating and that he himself longed to “hold you again, taste you again” (22:50–23:13).
• Stephen confided, “I don’t care about being married” and suggested affairs wouldn’t bother his conscience (23:24).
• Au pairs reported creepy behavior—one said Stephen watched her through a hole in the wall (24:15–24:28).

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Projection and Hypocrisy

• Despite accusing Tara of infidelity (over old emails), Stephen himself had:

  • Emailed exes explicitly
  • Engaged sexually with the 19-year-old au pair, Verena (30:58–31:31; 32:39–33:16)
  • Leered at young women in his home (24:15–24:21)

  “Basically this guy is the projection king. Everything that he accuses Tara of doing, he’s doing himself.” – Teeth (31:31)

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The Investigation Unravels

Discovery of Evidence

• Feb 28: A neighbor walking her dog in Stoney Creek Park found a bloody ziplock bag with latex gloves, metal shards, and human blood (35:46–36:54).
• Police searched the Grant home; in the garage, they found a green tub with Tara’s dismembered torso (38:19–39:00).
• Stephen fled during the search, supposedly “walking the dog,” but never returned—prompting a state-wide manhunt (37:24–39:28).
• Metal shavings in evidence matched those at Stephen’s father’s tool & die shop, which became another key crime scene (39:28–40:00).

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Stephen Confesses

• Found in hiding after days on the run—shoeless, frostbitten, and despondent in a Michigan state park (43:18).

• After medical treatment, he told police everything: The fatal confrontation with Tara began with a fight over her work schedule and ended with him strangling her after she threatened to divorce him and take the kids (44:00–45:28).

• He attempted to cover up the murder:

  • Dismembered Tara at his father’s shop
  • Spread remains throughout the park using his children’s sled
  • Hid the torso at home, intending further disposal (46:12–50:12)

• Stephen’s failure to properly hide evidence led directly to his arrest.

  “He likened the sound of her body hitting the floor to the sound of watermelon hitting cement.” – Daphne (46:52)

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Aftermath and Legal Proceedings

• Stephen was charged with first-degree murder and mutilation of a corpse; he pleaded guilty only to mutilation, fighting the murder charge despite his confession (51:09–51:28).
• Jury convicted him of second-degree murder; sentenced to 50 years in prison (51:28–52:00).
• Tara’s children, adopted by her sister Alicia, struggled but found support in family and therapy; they now advocate against domestic violence (52:00–53:06).
• Stephen’s father, devastated, died by suicide just months after the trial (53:09–54:20).

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Teeth: “Yeah, we got a real big piece of shit in today's case.” (02:01)
• Daphne (on Stephen's performative grief): “He was eager to center himself in the harrowing quest to find his wife… he seemed to actually enjoy being front-facing in terms of the search efforts.” (18:08)
• Teeth (on Stephen's hypocrisy): “You little freak. What are you doing?” (24:18)
• Daphne (on the aftermath): “It makes me so sad to think about the fact that somebody as amazing as Tara was married to this absolute loser.” (50:12)
• Teeth: “Weak, pathetic man.” (50:44)

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Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------| | 04:11 | Introduction to Tara’s early life, education, and marriage| | 09:29 | Tara returns and the inciting argument | | 14:37 | Missing person report filed | | 17:43 | Stephen’s media obsession and suspicious behavior | | 22:50 | Revelation of Stephen’s emails to ex-girlfriend | | 24:15 | Au pair reports voyeurism | | 30:58 | Summary of Stephen’s affair with Verena, the au pair | | 35:46 | First physical evidence (bloody bag) discovered | | 39:00 | Tara’s torso found | | 43:18 | Stephen found and arrested | | 45:28 | Stephen’s confession—detailed account of murder | | 51:09 | Legal proceedings/trial outcome | | 53:09 | Suicide of Stephen’s father |

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Conclusion

Daphne and Heath drive home the tragic theme: Tara was a vibrant woman stifled by a jealous, possessive, and ultimately dangerous spouse. The episode is a study in projection, fragile masculinity, and the ripple effects of domestic violence. The hosts' tone is sometimes darkly humorous and pointedly critical, particularly towards Stephen’s manipulations and failures, but always compassionate when remembering Tara and advocating for her children.

Final note: Tara’s family and children continue to honor her memory through advocacy against domestic violence, refusing any further contact with Stephen Grant.

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For more true crime episodes like this, follow Going West: True Crime.

Transcript

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[Teeth]

What is going on? True crime fans, I'm your host, Teeth.

[Daphne]

And I'm your host, Daphne, and you're

[Teeth]

listening to Going West.

[Daphne]

Hello everybody. Hope you're doing well. Big shout out to Melissa and Susan for recommending today's case. This one is gonna have you like face palming.

[Teeth]

Yeah, we got a real big piece of shit in today's case.

[Daphne]

Yeah. And we posted like a video about it on our socials. We've been doing that more and we've been telling you guys, but we also just did some really fun true crime trivia over the weekend and throughout this week so far. And honestly, that was so much fun. We're not gonna put it in an episode, but Keith and I filmed like a true crime trivia where I asked him a few questions about Going west episodes and he asked me a few

[Teeth]

questions and somehow we actually had one of the same for each other and we didn't even know, which is crazy. But yeah, definitely go check that out. We post it on our social media accounts, so on Instagram, oingwestpodcast, on TikTok, and then as well as Facebook. Also really quick, wanna remind you guys that our merch is available. You can pick it [e-mail] that's where you can find all of those items. And they are so comfortable.

[Daphne]

Yeah, we have a few tier, a couple T shirts, we have a couple sweatshirts, sweatpants. It's all so amazing. It's really been fun to see which ones you guys like the best. Like that blue shirt is our best seller, which I'm not surprised because it's so comfortable, it's stylish, it's. I mean, that's the one I wear the most, I think, other than the brown sweatshirt, crewneck sweatshirt. That was also really comfy. It's all comfy and high quality. So check it out. And without further ado.

[Teeth]

All right guys, this is episode 591 of Going West. So let's get into it.

[Narrator]

Sa.

[Daphne]

In February of 2007, a 34 year old mother of two left in the middle of the night for a work trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico, but would never make it to her destination. Her husband reported her missing, having last seen her getting into a black town car bound for the airport. It would take weeks of media speculation and community suspicion to bring her home. And the chilling truth was finally revealed. This is the murder of Tara Grant. Tara Lynn De Trump was born on June 28, 1972 to parents Mary and Gerald and grew up alongside a younger sister named Alicia. The family resided in Perkins, Michigan, which is a tiny town in the upper peninsula of Michigan near the shores of Lake Michigan. Tara was athletic and outdoorsy from a young age and grew up cheerleading, playing basketball and running track. She also loved riding horses and raised animals for the state fair. And after graduating from high school in 1990, she attended community college in nearby Escanaba before transferring to Michigan State University where she graduated with a degree in business administration. It was there that she met her future husband, Stephen Grant, and they were married shortly after she completed her studies. Now, Stephen was sweet talking and charming, but ultimately Tara fell for how he showed up for her. Like, for example, while she was in school, her grandfather passed away, so she went home for the memorial, of course, and Stephen turned up at the funeral to surprise her. Attending the services by her side and meeting her family and offering her comfort. And the two were basically inseparable after that. People agreed that their personalities were super complimentary with their matching Playful and adventurous sides. Now, almost immediately upon graduating college, Tara was offered a job with the Washington Group International, which is a multibillion dollar construction and engineering firm based in Boise, Idaho. She worked her way up through the ranks of the company until she became one of her boss's favorite and most trusted employees.

[Teeth]

Yeah, she was doing really, really well with this company and moving up quick.

[Daphne]

Yeah, actually she was promoted to operations manager. And before her disappearance, she was helping to spearhead a project in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which meant she made almost weekly trips to the island. So she was a busy professional.

[Teeth]

Yeah, busy gal.

[Daphne]

And she really valued being the breadwinner and providing for her family. And she was treasured by her co workers of all ranks. So she was so incredibly happy in her career.

[Teeth]

And I gotta say, she wasn't just like a working woman killing it on the job. She did a lot at home too. I mean, she did it all. Tara and Steven settled in Washington Township, Michigan, which is located in macomb county, about 40 minutes north of Detroit. And there they welcomed two children. First a daughter named Lindsey and then a son named Ian. Now, according to her family, she lived for her kids and did everything in her power to help provide for her family. And like I just hinted at, despite her demanding career, she valued balancing working to support her family with being present for her children. So she just wanted to do it all, no matter how hard it could be at times. And when she did have to travel for work, she always made sure that her kids knew how loved they were. Leaving behind heartfelt notes for her young kids and keeping in touch with frequent phone calls and video calls. So you're probably wondering what Stephen was doing during this time. Well, he mostly maintained the role of stay at home father to the Grant kids so that Tara could flourish at work. But he would also kinda help out part time in his dad's tool and die shop in Mount Clemens, Michigan, which is just about 25 minutes southeast of where they lived. And we are going to be talking about that shop today. So in order to ease the strain on both Tara and Steven, they decided to hire a live in awe pair to care for the children and the household tasks. But they ran through quite a few of them because by early 2007, they had had about five au pairs in the home. The most recent placement really just didn't work out. So the Grants really hoped that their next hire, 19 year old Verena Durkus from Germany, would be a better fit. And at first she seemed to really adapt well because Tara and Steven trusted her and the children absolutely adored her. She was the last au pair that the family would have. Because when Tara disappeared, Verena had been with them for just five months.

[Daphne]

On Friday, February 9, 2007, 34 year old Tara returned home to Michigan from a routine work trip to San Juan. Remember, she was doing this like literally every week, which is freaking nuts.

[Teeth]

Yeah, that's crazy.

[Daphne]

But immediately upon returning home, she and her husband Steven got in a big argument when she announced that she would need to return to Puerto Rico the following week. And even a day earlier than she had planned, because obviously she's there a lot. By the way, this is like a non stop four and a half hour flight. Ish.

[Teeth]

Yeah. So she's doing about nine hours total weekly.

[Daphne]

Yeah. And I'm sure somebody out there knows of what that's like. That sounds crazy to me, but I

[Teeth]

know people do it. Yeah, that's so insane.

[Daphne]

And bless your heart. Well, Stephen was really upset by this. Obviously he said that he felt Tara was gone too often. So according to Stephen, Tara then announced that she was leaving immediately. Either right back to Puerto Rico, which would obviously be strange given the fact that she wasn't due back until the following week, or just leaving the house and getting away from him. You know, maybe getting some space. After this argument. He recalled Tara unpacking and then repacking her bags. Then making a phone call, arranging a ride for herself. A black town car pulled up in front of the house around 11:15pm and Tara and her suitcase were ushered away. Now, when this fight happened, Verena, the au pair, was not home. She was actually out having drinks with some friends of her au pair friends. So a short while later, she returned home and remembered that Steven snapped at her at first, but then immediately apologized and just kind of said that he thought that she was Tara. So that's kind of weird.

[Teeth]

Yeah. Strange that she walks through the door and he immediately flips out.

[Daphne]

Yeah. Then he broke down and admitted to Verena that he and his wife had a bad fight that night. Verena was very sympathetic and talked it out with him in the house. And although she didn't usually work weekends, by the way, she pitched in extra that particular weekend in order to make up for Tara's absence. And you know, Tara just left in this town car and so that Steven could run some errands. So that weekend in particular, Verena was working.

[Teeth]

Yeah, she says, I'm gonna pick up the slack because obviously I feel bad for the situation. I'm gonna Help out.

[Daphne]

But this was unusual. Well, that weekend, Stephen placed multiple calls to Tara expressing his concern and hoping that they could talk and reconcile. But he quickly began to grow irritated that she wasn't only shutting him out, but also ignoring their kids. Now, this then blossomed into full blown anger and he started leaving voicemails demanding that she return home to fulfill her household duties, and described feeling abandoned by her. In one, he told her, quote, tara, next time I call you, pick up your phone. It's absolute bullshit that you wouldn't call me or your kids. I know you're mad. I'm mad. Traveling this much is not right. But as the days passed with no word from her, his concerns grew. He began calling around to her family for friends and co workers to ask about her whereabouts. But alarmingly, no one had heard from her. Even her boss and co workers who were in San Juan without her because Tara never made it.

[Teeth]

Yeah, so he's saying she's. She took off. She's explaining that she has to go back to Puerto. Puerto Rico. So she's explaining that she had to go back to Puerto Rico. And now he's saying, well, I haven't heard from her. And then obviously her co workers and her boss haven't heard from her. So this is really alarming. But also I got to say, the fact that you're pissed off when she's the one that's making money for the household, like she's keeping your ass afloat, buddy.

[Daphne]

Yeah, very true, very true.

[Teeth]

And you have the audacity to be like, oh, well, you just, you work too much. It's like, well, if I didn't, we wouldn't pay the fucking bills.

[Daphne]

Yeah. And I mean, obviously it makes sense that he's upset because he wants her to be home. And that's fair. But you're absolutely right. And her career was really important to her. She was doing really big things and surely this wasn't going to last forever.

[Teeth]

And we also talked about the fact that not only did she really care about her career, but she also did so much when she was at home with her kids.

[Daphne]

So true.

[Teeth]

It's not like she was neglecting her kids for her career. That was not the case at all.

[Daphne]

And this was just a project, so I imagine this wasn't gonna go on for too much longer. It's not like, oh, yeah, for the next 20 years, I'm gonna be flying to Puerto Rico every single week. So, yeah, but he's obviously really upset. He's leaving her angry voicemails and saying that he doesn't know where she is.

[Teeth]

So by the time Tara was reported missing, which was on Valentine's Day of 2007, she had already been gone for five whole days. Steven admitted to police upon filing his report that he had probably waited too long, but he claimed that he was sure that she had headed back to san Juan and was just busy working and just avoiding him after that fight,

[Daphne]

which obviously really didn't seem like her style anyway. The fact that her family says she lived for her kids, but she. Right when she gets back, instead of spending time with them, she's like, I'm just gonna. I'm just gonna head out again and then not call them.

[Teeth]

Well, exactly. And her sister maintained that she wasn't usually bound for Puerto Rico until Mondays and that her travel plans were usually pretty concrete. So, alarmed by this very uncharacteristic behavior, Tara's sister Alicia and Alicia's husband Eric, drove in from ohio to aid in the search. When detectives asked about the state of their relationship, Stephen claimed that they were generally happy and that they got along. He brushed off any intimations of his involvement by saying that all couples fight. Law enforcement initiated a cursory search of the family home, but found nothing particularly suspicious or out of the ordinary. And the last time any of her bank cards had been used was at the airport on the evening of Friday, February 9, so shortly after her flight arrived from Puerto Rico. But get this. Her cell phone hadn't made a single call, and her laptop hadn't been used either, which is very strange, considering the fact that Tara supposedly called this car to pick her up that night after arriving home. So during his questioning with police, Steven had grown noticeably paranoid and told the police that Tara was probably shacked up at a hotel with some guy.

[Daphne]

Yeah, that's so Tara.

[Teeth]

That also just makes you look bad, kind of suspicious.

[Daphne]

Yeah, also just makes you look like a dick.

[Teeth]

Yeah, a douchebag. But area hotels and hospitals, they came up empty. And flight records proved that she had not left the state, at least not via the airport, as she supposedly said she was going to. Detectives were unable to find a single car service who could confirm that they actually picked her up that night. So, as a precautionary measure, officers asked Stephen to consent to a polygraph examination, and though he did seem offended by this, he agreed to come in the following day for a test.

[Daphne]

However, by the next day, Stephen had secured a lawyer who advised against him taking the test or offering up too much information to the authorities. You know, as lawyers do.

[Teeth]

And you know, typically I would agree with this and say this is what people should do, but in Steven's case, and just how suspicious everything feels, it's like, I know the reason why you did this.

[Daphne]

Well, yeah. And you don't want him to shut up.

[Teeth]

You.

[Daphne]

We want him to talk.

[Teeth]

Exactly.

[Daphne]

Well, this didn't stop Steven from placing himself, or himself, sorry. At the forefront of the investigation and running his mouth to anybody with a microphone or a notepad. He spoke to the press dozens of times, oftentimes alongside his attorney, David Grimm, but also consented to multiple interviews by himself.

[Teeth]

Yeah, the guy literally could not shut the fuck up about his wife's case.

[Daphne]

He's like fame hungry. So he was eager to center himself in the harrowing quest to find his wife. And if anything, he seemed to actually enjoy being front facing in terms of the search efforts. The more public appearances he made, the more he revealed about the state of his marriage in the months leading up to his wife's disappearance. And it seemed to be in tatters. Stephen began calling local investigative reporter Hank Winchester, who had been providing daily coverage of Tara's case, upwards of 20 times a day and became totally obsessed with controlling the narrative.

[Teeth]

Yeah, and I think, you know, obviously that rubs people the wrong way when you're out there making a spectacle out of it and just like wanting to be in front of the cameras and the fact that you're contacting this reporter, this investigative reporter, 20 times a day.

[Daphne]

Well, it's one thing to want to share your wife's story. Totally understand, of course, but most people who do that are not standing in front of a camera all day. They're out looking for their wives. And so I think everybody's just looking at this like, what are you doing?

[Teeth]

Like. Like you're doing too much.

[Daphne]

Yeah, exactly. I mean, he even asked Hank if he looked okay on television and if he thought his optics would be favorable if he got a haircut or bought new clothes to wear on camera.

[Teeth]

Oh, my God, this guy is just insufferable.

[Daphne]

Well, early on in the investigation, he begged for answers and expressed guilt at Tara having left in the middle of a fight and was devastated for his kids, who, by the way, were 6 and 4 at the time. He offered tearful pleas on the news for any answers about his wife's sudden and very suspicious disappearance. But as the days passed and with the more press interviews he conducted, he seemed to grow increasingly irritated at his wife, showing just how frustrated he was of her, in his eyes, for choosing her career over their family.

[Teeth]

Yeah, which that raises some red flags for people as well, because it's like, you know, instead of being anxious and being worried that your wife is missing, you're starting to flip the script and go, I'm just, I'm just like, she's just gone all the time. Like, why is she gone all the time?

[Daphne]

How does he think that's gonna make him look good? Like you said, he's just making himself look terrible. If you're. You're blaming your wife for being missing.

[Teeth]

That's what I'm saying. The optics are horrible, ya dingus.

[Daphne]

But I wonder if he thought, oh, well, if I make it, if I put the blame on her, then the blame will be taken off me, because how could I be mad at my wife if I killed her?

[Teeth]

He's trying to shift everything.

[Daphne]

And I think that does make sense, especially because he also started sharing publicly that he believed he was the Macomb County Sheriff's department's number one suspect. But police confirmed that he was not yet an official suspect. I think, like, shut it.

[Teeth]

I know. That's the funniest part, is literally like, he's like, oh, they're, they're really eyeing me. And they're like, dude, we haven't even talked to you. Like, what is wrong with you? Well, what was also strange was that he stopped by a local gas station to pick up newspapers offering day to day coverage of the developments of the investigation. So just like devouring his own words and others in his wife's disappearance. But sadly, at that point in time, many people believed that Tara had left of her own volition. You know, Steven is painting this picture that she's this career over family type person and that she was an absent mother and that she was destroying the family unit by constantly going to Puerto Rico. However, others were beginning to peg Steven for a murderer, wondering if maybe he was just resentful of his wife being the successful breadwinner While he was at home tending to the children as well as the household duties, while Tara's sister Alicia was there supporting her niece and nephew and assisting in the search efforts, she recalled feeling put off and even disturbed by Steven's presence as well as his behavior. And then an ex girlfriend of Steven's named Dena Hardy came forward to both the press and the police with emails that she had received from Stephen shortly before Tara's disappearance, wondering if perhaps they were an indication of what was to come. Now, in one of the emails which they had exchanged on January 25, so about two weeks before Tara vanished, Stephen had complained about Tara's rigorous work schedule and frequent travel. He wrote to Dina, things are not the best around here, and added that he wondered if she was having an affair, saying, I don't know if I trust her. He also told Dina that he missed her writing. I'd really like to be around you, hold you again, taste you again. I love my wife, but it can be tough.

[Daphne]

And let us just remember what we just said about how he's blasting Tara, saying, she's probably shacked up with some guy. Meanwhile, days before she went missing, you're telling your ex you want to taste her again.

[Teeth]

It's projection. It's literally just projection. Well, in another passage, he wrote, I don't care about being married, saying that an affair would be a, quote, no conscience thing. And then he concluded these emails by begging her to give him a call. So, in light of Tara vanishing, this exchange seemed to offer a little bit of context here. Dina also found it strange that he followed up with her to brag about the media's obsession with his wife's case, saying, he kept talking about it. He just really seemed to revel in the attention he was getting. Well, naturally, the au pairs that used to work in the grants home were questioned, and one of them tipped off police that he had been leering at her in her bedroom through a small hole in the wall.

[Daphne]

Hole in the wall is like.

[Teeth]

This is big. Yeah. You little freak. What are you doing?

[Daphne]

Like, you. You made a hole in the wall to spy? Like, this is like, psycho, the movie stuff.

[Teeth]

Yeah, he's desperate.

[Daphne]

Well, Steven's suspicions of Tara's infidelity became a running theme in his conversations with police. Again, he's, look over here. Look over here, deflection king. Like, he even told them that she'd engaged in something that was, quote, pretty close to infidelity.

[Teeth]

Pretty close? What does that even mean?

[Daphne]

Again, look at what you're doing. You're peering at girls through a hole in the wall that work in your house, which is, like, totally unethical. You're talking to your ex, and Tara is doing something pretty close to infidelity. Okay, so two years prior to her disappearance, Tara had exchanged what Stephen believed were flirtatious emails with an old friend. And he counted this as cheating or believed that it could have been an affair going on.

[Teeth]

Yeah, really, the email was just, hey, how are you?

[Daphne]

He claimed that she was too preoccupied with her job title and status and bringing home money than she was to care for her kids, and also accused her of having feelings for her boss, who of course she frequently traveled with and communicated with. In the midst of the publicity surrounding the family, the agency that assigned Verena to the Grant family pulled her from the home because of all the negative attention Stephen had been garnering. And on February 21, one week after Tara was reported missing, Verena was sent back to her family in Germany. So obviously the Macomb County Sheriff's Office was disappointed at this because they wanted her to stay in the area in hopes of gleaning more information from her. She's like literally an inside woman. But Varina, who didn't want to move back home to Germany, maintained covert contact with Steven. And when interviewed by police, Verena initially denied any involvement or inappropriate contact with Stephen. But when pressed, she relented and shared that they'd had a burgeoning sexual relationship when Tara disappeared. Bring everyone together with meals that are simple and rewarding On a Busy weeknight with HelloFresh, you can choose from more than 100 recipes every week, including cuisines from around the world and meals that help you beat the winter blues. Because when dinner tastes this good, nothing hits like home cooking.

[Teeth]

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[Teeth]

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[Daphne]

So again, let's just recap here. Steven doesn't like that Tara sees her boss a lot and says that she emailed an old friend two years earlier and he felt like that was her cheating or almost cheating. Yet he's peering at his employee, if you will, through a wall. He's emailing his ex, saying things as explicit as I wanna taste you again. And he's having a sexual relationship with the 19 year old girl that lives in his house.

[Teeth]

Yeah, basically this guy is the projection king. You know, everything that he accuses Tara of doing, he's doing himself.

[Daphne]

Projection king is a new going west title term.

[Teeth]

Yeah, I mean, we're gonna go forward with that. We talk about so many of these guys that just project so hard. Well, anyway, before that quick break, Daphne told us that surprise, surprise, creepy 37 year old Steven Grant was in a sexual relationship with their au pair, 19 year old Verena. And it wasn't just Verena who claimed this, because deputies had interviewed some of her friends who were fellow au pairs in the community. And multiple women had tipped police off about it. According to Verena, we liked each other more than we should. She claimed that this started out innocent enough chatting and getting to know each other because they spent so much time alone in the house when Tara was traveling. But according to Verena, Steven had always been charming and enjoyed flirting with her.

[Daphne]

Sure he did.

[Teeth]

Yeah. But his come ons really began on February 1, 2007, just over a week before his wife vanished. That day, he told her candidly, you're beautiful. I want to sleep with you.

[Daphne]

Such a little creep.

[Teeth]

Yeah, I hate this guy. So while Tara was away in Puerto Rico that week, he began sending Verena increasingly suggestive emails and texts. Then on the morning of February 7, he dropped his pajama pants in front of her and propositioned her for sex.

[Daphne]

So gross.

[Teeth]

I know. He's terrible. Well, though Verena maintained that they had never actually engaged in sex, she did sleep in his bed that night. Then the following night, she stayed in bed with him again. And this time they had oral sex. And he admitted that he was in love with her. The morning after, which was Friday, February 9, which was the day that Tara was due back from Puerto Rico. Their six year old daughter burst into the room to wake up her father. And Verena was still in bed with Steven. And she actually recalled hiding under the covers until his daughter left the room. That night, while Verena was out with her friends, she remembers that he was texting her and calling her, telling her, you owe me a kiss. Then when she arrived home shortly before midnight, Steven was upset, having allegedly gotten into a fight with Tara. Verena explained, he ran into the dining room and started crying and said that Tara left. He was sitting on the chair crying. He said, again, Tara left. He then told Verena that he needed her and that he wanted to explore their connection, but that they couldn't yet be open about it because of the possibility of public scrutiny and his fear that he would lose custody of his kids. Obviously, he's trying to get ahead of the situation. He's like, well, I know I shouldn't be doing this, so, yeah, don't mention anything, you know, if police talk to you, don't say anything about it. While he also forced her to delete any incriminating text messages as well, Varina explained, he said he didn't want a divorce because his parents had a divorce and he went through hell. He didn't want his kids to go through the same thing. Well, on a hunch, homicide detectives began covertly following Stephen, tracking him during his daily movements. And they noticed that the family spent a lot of time in the sprawling park behind the Grants Home, Stoney Creek Park. So the Macomb County Sheriff's office decided to search the park to see if anything came of it. But despite multiple attempts that included aerial searches, cadaver dog searches, and searches by horseback, there was just no sign of Tara until February 28, 2007, two weeks after she was reported missing.

[Daphne]

A neighbor of the Grants named Sheila Werner was walking through the park with her dog when she found a suspicious looking Ziploc plastic bag discarded in Stoney Creek park near the Mount Vernon picnic area. When she picked it up, blood trickled out of it. So, startled, she brought it home and called the police. Inside this bag, there were latex gloves, shards of metal, and what was determined to be human blood. Operating under the assumption that the discovery must, of course, be related to Tara's disappearance, the Macomb County Sheriff's Office obtained a search warrant for the Grant's house, hoping also to detain Stephen, you know, for an interview. And around 5pm on Friday, March 2, 2007, officers arrived with a search warrant. Steven then attempted to access his vehicle to retrieve his wallet, but wasn't permitted to do so because the cars were part of that active search warrant, which was so smart.

[Teeth]

And you really got to give credit to the investigators here because they're like, nope, nope, you're not going in there. Don't touch a single thing. We're going to look at that car.

[Daphne]

Yeah, luckily, because also, I mean, there would probably be evidence in the vehicle, but then now he has no mode of transportation to flee.

[Teeth]

Yeah, and sometimes we talk about cases where investigators are a little bit loose with, you know, suspects, and they're like, they allow them to do certain things which we will talk about. There's one incident that's coming up here.

[Daphne]

Well, it's actually right here, so. Because, yeah, you're totally right. I mean, they're, they're doing what they can, right? And they're really hoping that they can find something and arrest him. But while they're there, Steven is getting pissed off, and he told police that he needed to walk his dog. And because they can't, you know, arrest him at this point, they have to let him go walk his dog.

[Teeth]

Yeah, there's really nothing that they can do at this very moment.

[Daphne]

But they didn't follow him either. So he took off into the night, hurrying away from the house with his dog. Now, news cameras actually captured him walking away from the house with the family dog in the midst of a snowstorm, looking over his shoulder as if he knew he was about to be caught.

[Teeth]

I gotta take a 85 mile walk with my dog real quick in a snow story.

[Daphne]

Well, get this. Just an hour later, inside the garage, detectives noticed a green plastic tub that they hadn't seen before, which had presumably been placed there since the initial missing persons report was filed on Valentine's Day. Inside the green container were black plastic bags which contained a pair of women's pants and many more metal shavings. Horrifically, as they got deeper into the plastic bag, they came upon a belly

[Teeth]

button that is so horrific because concealed

[Daphne]

inside the bin was Tara's torso, missing her head and limbs, but still wearing her bra and underwear. Meanwhile, of course, Stephen never came home from his walk and had now been missing for over an hour. So Canadian Border Patrol was alerted, since they're. They're so close to Canada and a statewide APB was issued because Stephen was mia.

[Teeth]

Well, while Stephen was on the run, his father, William Grant, offered up his tool and dye shop for processing on a police hunch that the metal shards originated there and that he had used the shop to divide up Tara's body. And sure enough, the metal shavings found in the shop matched those in that plastic bag at the park and the tub in the garage as well. An extensive search was then conducted, focusing again on Stoney Creek Park. And before long, they found a leg which had been dragged from its hiding place and out into the open by a raccoon. All in all, 11 pieces were recovered, though there were believed to be about 14 in total. The remains that couldn't be recovered were believed to have been lost to animal activity. The parts that came in were taken to be autopsied, and a medical examiner found a large bruise on the right side of Tara's face as well as compression injuries to her neck, proving that she had been strangled. While Steven was still at large, his attorney, David Grimm, spoke with police and revealed that he had received several frantic calls from his client in the middle of the night after he left from the home. And David admitted that he feared that his client was going to take his own life. He also contacted his sister Kelly, who immediately reported his whereabouts to the police, saying that she believed he was headed to wilderness state park, which is located near the northernmost tip of the lower peninsula of Michigan. So she's like, yeah, screw that, I'm giving up his position. And by the way, this park had been like a beloved escape for Tara and Steven in the past. Like, they had loved to rent cabins there during the summer. Well, as the gap closed between law enforcement and Steven Grant, Verena also contacted the police, Calling in from Germany to do so. She had received a call from Stephen, and this time he came clean with her, Abandoning the phony cover story he offered up three weeks prior about Tara storming out after a fight. Varina later said, everything he said was a lie. Everything. And I believed it, which is really shocking.

[Daphne]

There have been a few other cases that we have covered where a babysitter or the au pair is part of the greater scheme. And she's saying, I didn't know any of this. In fact, I was kept in the dark as well because he manipulated and lied to me.

[Teeth]

Yeah, he was. He was a liar. Well, according to Verena, Tara's death had been an accident that took place after she had slapped him and they had gotten into a physical altercation. She admitted, quote, I wanted to protect him. I believed him. I believed everything he said. The story he told me about Tara leaving, He told me that there's a lot of people in jail who are innocent and he didn't want to be one of them. He wanted me to protect him. So he called Verena to confess everything, and thankfully, she immediately called the police to report this.

[Daphne]

Steven's call came from the same area code as the cabins in northern Michigan, and he had borrowed a yellow pickup truck from a friend to get there. Inside the park, detectives found the abandoned truck. And a single set of footprints in the snow led them to their fugitive. On the morning of Sunday, March 4, 2007, 37 year old Stephen was found hunched under a fallen tree without a coat or shoes on. He had been drinking and he was frostbitten from his overnight stay. Just falling over in the snow.

[Teeth]

Yeah, I mean, at this point, he's like, there's nothing left. I Can do. I might as well just drink myself to death. To death. And freeze to death. Yeah. But they found him before he could do that.

[Daphne]

Insane. Well, in a dramatic rescue, Stephen was removed from the scene in a basket attached to a helicopter, based on the uncertainty of his condition, and brought to a hospital in Petoske, which is a coastal town about 35 miles, or 56 kilometers south of the Wilderness State Park. Now, after he had been tended to, detectives came to greet him in his hospital room, and he told them the entire story. Tara's murder had begun with a fight that started in the bedroom on the evening of Friday, February 9, after she informed him that she would need to return to Puerto Rico a day early alongside her boss, the one that Steven thought she was cheating with. So this pushed Steven over the edge because he was already fed up with Tara's demanding travel schedule and again, already suspicious of that affair. According to Steven, Tara was brushing off his concerns and wouldn't stop what she was doing to talk to him. He then accused her of being an absentee mother and told her that she was prioritizing her work over her family, insisting on getting her attention. He then grabbed her wrist out of frustration and to defend herself, she slapped him. That's when he snapped and shoved her to the ground. According to Stephen, Tara then threatened to take the kids and divorce him, saying something along the lines of, that's it. I'm gonna take the kids. You're gonna be fucking homeless, you piece of shit. Then, in his words, I choked her. At that point, Stephen knew it was too late for him and that Tara would press charges and he would go to jail. So he kept going. Because a murder charge isn't worse than an assault charge. Right, guys?

[Teeth]

Yeah. I mean, this idiot really thought that, oh, my gosh, I did something that was a step over the line, and now I have to just continue it. I have to go all the way, or else I'm totally screwed. And it's like, you're not gonna get away with it, A. And B, you just screwed up. A, everything for your. Like, now you have no future. If you had just stopped and said, you know what? I went too far. I need to walk away now.

[Daphne]

Yeah, I need to get some help.

[Teeth]

Maybe she would have pressed charges. Maybe you would have done some jail time, and then you could have went on with your life, and you guys could have amicably figured out a divorce, but you didn't do that.

[Daphne]

And it gets so much worse, because it's not like he just didn't stop Choking her. He had to do so many other things after that.

[Teeth]

Well, yeah, because as Tara was getting up from the floor, Steven grabbed something nearby, either underwear or a T shirt, and covered her face with it, choking her until she stopped moving. He claimed that he really only panicked when he realized what he had done. And that was the same night that he texted Verena, you owe me a kiss. Which is a message that was believed to be sent around the same time that he killed his wife. Likely showing his true state of mind. He then tied a belt around Tara's neck and dragged her down the stairs to the garage.

[Daphne]

God, that's so aggressive and brutal.

[Teeth]

Yeah. And get this. This is like, really horrific. He said he likened the sound of her body hitting the floor to the sound of watermelon hitting cement. Verena then arrived home immediately after, he stashed Tara's body in the trunk of her own car, which was an Isuzu that was parked in the garage. And Tara was left in that trunk of her car all day on Saturday. Then on Sunday, he visited his father's tool and dye shop, where he divided her up with a hacksaw.

[Daphne]

I mean, to even be able to do that, like, again, it's one thing that you killed her, but to be capable of dragging her body across the house by her neck, by a belt, just before sleeping in bed with a different woman, a 19 year old at that, and then physically cutting her body up. You're a monster.

[Teeth]

Yeah. That just really shows the callousness that he has. The fact that, you know and I know that there are people out there that are capable of. Once they know that, they're in a position of like, oh, shit, like, I did something that I cannot take back.

[Daphne]

I'm going all the way.

[Teeth]

Yeah. He knew that he had to go the full length. He had to try and do all these things, dispose of her body. But I gotta say, you're also an idiot because you left all this evidence, like, in places where it could be found, and then it was.

[Daphne]

It's because most people don't know how to murder somebody and get away with it. So just don't murder. What do we always say? Don't get a divorce. Goddamn.

[Teeth]

I mean, come on. Well, at 3:00am on Monday, February 12, 2007, he drove his wife's Isuzu with her body inside to Stony Creek Park. Using the sled that belonged to his children. He divided up her body parts and distributed them throughout the park. He also claimed that at one point, the sled, like, took off without him. With part of her body on it. And he was forced to chase it down a snowy ridge in order to retrieve the partial remains. Like, I mean, this is just. The debauchery of. This is so moronic.

[Daphne]

A whole new ick.

[Teeth]

He later admitted thinking to himself, quote, I can't believe I got away with it.

[Daphne]

Enjoy it while it lasts, you freak.

[Teeth]

Yeah, well, you didn't, Steven. But when police strategically announced that they would be focusing their search efforts on Stoney Creek park, Stephen began to panic and returned the following day to retrieve and redistribute Tara's remains, including bringing her torso home to the garage in order to find a better burial place for it. On the morning of the search of the park, Stephen dug it up from the snow, threw it over his shoulder, and carried it away from the park. He then drove it to his father's shop, stashing it behind a collection of cardboard boxes in the loft space above the workshop. But then, five days later, paranoia struck again when he worried the smell of decomposition would be too overt. So he placed her torso in a green plastic bin in his garage to await disposal. But police got to it before he could get rid of her completely.

[Daphne]

It makes me so sad just to think about the fact that somebody as amazing as Tara was married to this absolute loser.

[Teeth]

Yeah, I was gonna say he's such a loser.

[Daphne]

Like somebody who would do all of this to her, not only murder her, but drag her down the stairs, aggressively stash her away, cheat on her that night, be going behind her back before this. Be, you know, so unappreciative of how hard she works and who. Who she is, what kind of an amazing person mother and wife she is.

[Teeth]

Yeah. You just think about how much of a weak. A weak man Steven really is. The fact that he really couldn't handle the fact that she was the breadwinner, even though he didn't want to do anything about it. Yeah, he didn't want to step up to the plate, really. And then on top of that, he was just constantly jealous, constantly paranoid that she was cheating and going to leave him, even though he was doing all those things. I mean, just a weak, pathetic man.

[Daphne]

Yeah. She deserved so much better. Well, Stephen was released from the hospital the next day, Monday, March 5, 2007, and charged with first degree murder and mutilation of a corpse. He pleaded guilty to the mutilation charge, but not to the charge of first degree murder.

[Teeth]

Like what?

[Daphne]

Yeah, because probably unsurprisingly, though, he had already signed a written confession. You Know when it came time to enter a plea, he reneged on this, calling it coerced, and instead entered a plea of not guilty. His trial began just 10 months after his arrest on December 7, 2007. His defense attorney attempted to frame it as an accidental murder that had happened in the heat of the moment during a fight. The jury was played all three hours of the chilling interrogation in which he admitted what he had done. And Verena returned to the US to testify against him. In the end, he was found guilty of second degree murder and given 50 years in prison. Well, as you can imagine, their children suffered from PTSD and nightmares in the aftermath of the murder. Tara's sister Alicia and her husband Eric adopted the kids, who took their last name and now refer to them as mom and dad. But they have never forgotten their mother. Her kids, along with the rest of the family, now advocate for victims of domestic violence, including organizing the Tara's Walk memorial fundraiser every year. Both have attended therapy and credit the mental health experts as well as their familial support for keeping them safe and making sure they knew they were loved and cared for. In the aftermath of the horrific crime. They have not kept in touch with their father and don't care to have any contact with him.

[Teeth]

Awesome. Love that. For Stephen, you've got nobody.

[Daphne]

Yeah. Months after the trial on June 13, 2008, Steven's dad, William Grant, called 911 from his home and asked to report a suicide. And when he was asked who the victim of the suicide was, he said that it was himself. As deputies approached minutes later, they heard a shotgun ring out from the garage. William had shot himself and was unconscious but alive. So he was rushed to the hospital, but died from his injuries three hours later. According to those who knew him, he just couldn't get over the heartbreak of learning what his son had done. Meaning really, Steven not only murdered his wife and emotionally destroyed his children, but he killed his dad too.

[Teeth]

Yeah, I mean, this guy is just a human wrecking ball. He's just destroying everything in his path, even the people that care about him and love him the most.

[Daphne]

I do feel really bad for his dad.

[Teeth]

That's horrible because he didn't choose for any of that to happen.

[Daphne]

And in his own shop. Like, how's he gonna look at his store the same way knowing that his daughter in law was mutilated in there?

[Teeth]

It's just terrible.

[Daphne]

As of right now, Steven Grant's earliest possible parole date is March 3, 2057. So if he is ever let out,

[Teeth]

let's Hope he's not.

[Daphne]

Probably won't be. He will be 87 years old. Thank you so much, everybody, for listening to this episode of Going West.

[Teeth]

Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. I mean, I can't believe that monsters like Stephen Grant exist in our world, in our society. Thank God he is exactly where he belongs. And let's hope that he never gets out.

[Daphne]

Yeah, he is horrible. You know, I will say, prison has not been kind to him, on the eyes, at least. So this was him when he was arrested, you know, he was 37. So he looks pretty young.

[Teeth]

Yeah.

[Daphne]

And now what? It's been almost 20 years. And this is him now.

[Teeth]

Oh, he looks like shit.

[Daphne]

Yeah. Yeah. We'll post pictures. Of course, you can see, most importantly, see Tara. So thank you guys so much for tuning in to this episode, and we will see you back here on Friday.

[Teeth]

All right, guys. So for everybody out there in the

[Daphne]

world, don't be a stranger.

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