2 jurors dismissed in Sarah Stern trial in New Jersey after Facebook post
BELMAR, New Jersey (WABC) -- Two jurors have been dismissed in the Sarah Stern murder trial in New Jersey after one of them posted about the case on Facebook, but the judge denied a defense request for a mistrial.
A post in the juror's name stated" ''Sitting on the jury laughing my a-- off," though she claimed her 15-year-old sister made the post.
The juror also apparently wrote that she looked like Stern and was having nightmares. That juror was charged with contempt of court.
On Thursday, the judge interviewed each juror about what he or she heard from the dismissed juror. A second juror who had contacted the dismissed juror when she didn't show up to court earlier this week was released as a result.
Attorneys for the suspect, Liam McAtasney, were asking for five other jurors to be released and had requested the mistrial.
Twelve jurors and two alternates remain.
McAtasney is accused of strangling 19-year-old Sarah Stern in her Neptune City home before disposing of her body in the Shark River in Belmar.
Last week, the jury heard a chilling, grisly confession recorded by one of McAtasney's friends.
Anthony Curry, an amateur filmmaker, came forward to authorities in January 2017, about a month after the murder. He testified that McAtasney had approached him the previous Thanksgiving with his plan to kill Stern and steal money left to her when her mother had passed away.
After Stern's disappearance, Curry went to police, who had him contact McAtasney and arrange a face to face meeting. It is a secret video recording set up in Curry's car, McAtasney allegedly admitted in graphic detail choking Stern for a half an hour, stealing her safe and throwing her body off the bridge with accomplice Preston Taylor's help.
Taylor has pleaded guilty and already testified against McAtasney.
In the alleged confession, McAtasney describes Stern going into convulsion and taking a half hour to die. Most of the details are too disturbing to print.
While the video confession was being played, Stern's father sat in the courtroom being consoled by family members as he trembled and cried.
Related: Dad of New Jersey teen allegedly killed by classmate testifies at trial
Prosecutors allege that McAtasney killed Stern over roughly $8,000 that was in her home. He apparently thought he was going to get $100,000 but was mistaken about the amount of cash, Assistant Prosecutor Meghan Doyle previously told jurors.
Stern was last seen at her home on the night of December 2, 2016. Hours later, her unoccupied vehicle was found on the Route 35 Bridge over the Shark River Inlet with the keys still in the ignition. Her body has never been found.
Authorities believe McAtasney dumped the body with the help of Taylor, who was Stern's former prom date and McAtasney's roommate at the time.
He said McAtasney told him Stern had the "type of money somebody would kill for" and that the plan was to get her drunk and take the money left to her by her mother, who had died while they were all in high school.
McAtasney has denied everything. If convicted. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
----------
