Sounak Sengupta
NBC’s ‘Dateline: Over The Edge’ features the murder of Jody Ann Scharf in Bergen County, New Jersey, in late September 1992. While the authorities debated over whether it was an accident or murder for over two decades, they charged her husband with murder in December 2008. He was found guilty but further legal tussles ensued.
Who Is Stephen Scharf?
Stephen Scharf was in the army when he met Jody Ann Scharf in Georgia in the late 70s. He was a former major and a member of the Special Forces. He was a bookworm with a special love for the Civil War while she taught history, and their chemistry clicked instantly. He recalled how deeply they were in love, purchasing a house in Hackettstown, New Jersey, after marriage and having a son, Jonathan. He claimed their romance was alive even after so many years when the couple decided to drive to a Manhattan comedy club on September 20, 1992.
On their way, the married couple took a detour and went to “their place” — a cliffside ledge known as The Lover’s Chair, about 200 yards from a popular Palisades Park picnic lookout area in Bergen County, New Jersey. As they sat intimately at the remote spot, Stephen claimed Jody accidentally fell 120 feet below to death. However, Jody’s family, including Jonathan, and the authorities found his version hard to believe. Jody’s brother and Jonathan claimed she had acrophobia — an intense fear of heights — and would no way sit so near to a cliff’s edge.
The police looked into the couple’s marriage and discovered Stephen had several affairs, though he claimed they had an open marriage. He stated he had broken up with the two women he was seeing on the side and hoped to reconcile with his wife, who had served him divorce papers two weeks ago, alleging abuse and infidelity. Stephen stated their September 20 “date night” was the first step toward reconciliation. He asserted the small jewelry box, containing a chain and gold cross, found while searching his car was also a gift for his wife.
However, the police also found a hammer, which Stephen explained he had mistakenly left after repairing a kitchen drawer. The investigators claimed the hammer was Plan A, with Detective James Lynam explaining that he allegedly decided to push her off the cliff as Plan B. Jonathan told the police how his parents had not been sharing a bedroom lately and how she was allegedly afraid of Stephen, who condemned her drinking. The authorities were further skeptical when Stephen appeared deceptive during a polygraph test.
Stephen Scharf Remains Incarcerated
However, they could not arrest him due to a lack of physical evidence. The case was closed for over a decade after the autopsy determined Jody suffered from injuries consistent with falling. Meanwhile, Stephen remarried in the mid-2000s and had another child with his second wife. He also collected the life insurance payout of $770,650.83 (a $300,000 policy with a $200,000 accidental death benefit plus the accrued interests over the years) in 2003. The authorities reopened the investigation a year later and arrested him in December 2008.
During the April 2011 trial, the coroner testified that his forensic examination — including Jody landing exactly 52 feet out and 30 feet north from the top — pointed to her husband pushing her. Lacking any witnesses, the prosecutors had interviewed five of Jody’s friends and her therapist. All of them and Jonathan, then an adult, testified how she was afraid of her husband and how he tormented her physically and mentally. Physicist Jim Kellinger testified on Stephen’s behalf and argued evidence showed it was either a suicide or confirmed Stephen’s
However, a jury found Stephen guilty of murder on May 24, 2011, and he was sentenced to 30 years to life. During his sentencing, he stated as his voice broke, “I did not kill Jody. I did not… I did not. I did not. I didn’t hurt Jody. I didn’t push her. I didn’t cause her to get hurt. I didn’t kill my wife.” He filed several appeals until New Jersey’s intermediate appellate court reversed his conviction in 2014. The bench ruled Jody’s friends’ testimonies as “highly prejudicial,” which prevented him from getting a fair trial.
The State appealed against the appellate court’s ruling, and the New Jersey Supreme Court reinstated Stephen’s murder conviction in July 2016. Stephen requested another new trial, citing the trial judge did not inform the jurors they could convict on the lesser count of reckless manslaughter. But a court denied his appeal in January 2017. The 72-year-old remains incarcerated at the New Jersey State Prison and will be eligible for parole on December 16, 2038.
Read More: Jody Ann Scharf Murder: How Did She Die? Who Killed Her?
