Madeline Soto: New police interviews with Stephan Sterns, Jennifer Soto from hours after teen went 'missing'
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - New evidence in the Madeline Soto investigation has been released by the Orange County Sheriff's Office, which sheds light on the search for the missing teen in late February.
A large chunk of the evidence, which was obtained by FOX 35 on Wednesday, is interviews that law enforcement conducted with Madeline's mom, Jennifer Soto, and her mom's boyfriend, Stephan Sterns, in the hours after the 13-year-old girl was first reported missing. Sterns was eventually charged with first degree murder in Madeline's death.
Before that, though, and early on into the missing persons investigation, Sterns was arrested and charged with 60 counts of sexual-related crimes, including sexual battery, molestation and possession of child sex abuse material, after he voluntarily turned his phone over to law enforcement. A search of his phone revealed the discovery of graphic photos and videos that authorities said were of the missing teen. The first degree murder charge came down about two months later.
Throughout this investigation, the case has switched hands from the Orange County Sheriff's Office to the Kissimmee Police Department and the State Attorney's Office.
No charges for anyone else in Madeline Soto homicide case at this time, Kissimmee police says
Madeline was first reported missing on Feb. 26 when she didn't make it to school that morning. Sterns was believed to have dropped the teenager off near Hunter's Creek Middle School that morning, but detectives said Madeline was dead before that, possibly for hours.
Madeline Soto (Photo: Jennifer Soto)
Previous documents obtained by FOX 35 revealed that Sterns was seen on traffic cams driving around with a limp body, believed to have been Madeline's, in the front seat of his car early that morning.
Madeline's body was found in rural Osceola County after a week-long search.
To be clear, Sterns is the only person who has been arrested and charged related to Madeline's disappearance and death. Prosecutors and investigators said the case remains open and ongoing, and also alluded to the possibility of uncovered evidence leading to additional charges at a previous press conference.
"Everyone that was close to Madeline is considered suspect until we have proven otherwise," Kissimmee Police Chief Betty Holland said in March.
Homicide Unit Chief Will Jay continued this narrative about others possibly involved in the case at a press conference in April.
"This is not over," he said. "There is an ongoing investigation to uncover more evidence."
The State Attorney's Office said in early June that they intend to seek the death penalty against Sterns.
Several of Sterns' court hearings have been continued. As of right now, Sterns is scheduled to appear in court for a status hearing in mid-October.
LISTEN: New audio evidence released in Madeline Soto case
During the aforementioned search, law enforcement conducted dozens of interviews with not only Sterns and Jennifer Soto, but their family and friends. FOX 35 has been working to comb through the audio files, some of which are upwards of 40 minutes long.
It should be noted that these interviews were conducted before Sterns was charged with sex-related crimes and before Madeline's body was found.
In a nutshell, deputies asked Sterns and Jennifer Soto questions on Feb. 27-28 in an attempt to piece together a timeline leading up to when Madeline went missing. Much of the information divulged in these interviews has previously been reported.
Listen to new audio obtained by FOX 35 in the Madeline Soto case below.
Jennifer Soto interviews:
Stephan Sterns interviews:
New audio: Deputies try to poke holes in Stephan Sterns' whereabouts on morning Madeline Soto went missing
In one interview that was conducted shortly after midnight on Feb. 28, a pair of detectives tried to piece together the timeline of where Sterns said he was after he reportedly dropped off the teen at school.
Keep in mind that this interview was conducted before detectives eventually determined that Madeline was already dead by this time and was never actually dropped off at school that morning.
The detectives appear to have focused on apparent contradictions from Sterns, who said he dropped Madeline off at school and went to a vape shop in the area.
Stephan Sterns chats with deputy on way to jail
New video has been released of Stephan Sterns, the prime suspect in the Madeline Soto case, as he is transported from the Orange County Jail to Osceola County. He's heard chatting with the deputy driving him. They talk about music, cough medicine, and Sterns complains about the sleeping arrangements inside the jail.
"Can you help me explain to (my supervisors), because I don't know the explanation or the answer to this question, OK?" one detective asked Sterns. She was trying to clarify where Sterns was between 8:40 a.m. – when he said he dropped Madeline off at school – and 10 a.m. – when he was seen driving south on John Young Parkway. "So can you help me explain to them why there's such a delay in the time?"
Sterns replied, "No, I can't explain it. I wasn't going anywhere in particular. I wasn't doing anything in particular. Just making my way to the smoke shop, waited for them to open, they did not open, and then I left."
Later on in the conversation, Sterns said the smoke shop was about 15 to 20 minutes from where he was, contradicting his earlier statement that said he was only about 10 minutes away.
"Time is not a strong suit of mine," he said.
"I understand, but I have to be able to explain where you were for an hour and 20 minutes. Does that make sense?" the detective asked. "And right now, I can't explain that."
The detectives continued to grill Sterns about where he was that morning between 8:40 and 10. He maintained that he waited outside a smoke shop that was supposed to open at 10 a.m., but detectives challenged his story, citing surveillance evidence that showed him already on the road at that time. Sterns attributed his confusion to his ADHD, and admitted he wasn't sure about the exact timing.
"Do you have problems with your memory that you can't recall what you did?" one of the detectives asked Sterns.
"Yes, I'm extremely ADHD, I'm sorry. Details start to get fuzzy after a while. The times I'm giving you are my best guesstimates here," Sterns said. "I didn't have my phone with me at the time so I wasn't aware of exactly what time was transpiring."
The detective replied, "There's no time on your car?"
"There probably is, but it's not my car. It's my parents' car," he said.
Detectives also asked Sterns what details he remembers when he reportedly got a flat tire on U.S. 192. He wasn't able to remember what he saw, where he stopped, or any businesses nearby. When asked what he was doing on that street, he said he wanted to look at a game card shop because there was a new trading card game release.
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