Stephan Sterns’ lawyer has “confidential information” + transcripts of 6/15/24 & 6/16/24 jail calls

We should see Stephan Sterns (or at least his case) in court on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025 at 11:15 AM in courtroom 4-F at 2 Courthouse Square, Kissimmee, FL 34741, regarding the Motion to Continue Defense’s Motion to Suppress.

They want this Earth Day hearing because:

On February 6, 2025, the Defense filed three suppression motions challenging this exact evidence.

7. Since filing that motion, the Defense has come in to possession of confidential information that may impact the presentation of evidence at that hearing.

SO WHAT IS THIS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION? WILL IT REMAIN CONFIDENTIAL DURING THE HEARING OR WILL THE JUDGE FORCE HIS LAWYER TO SPILL THE BEANS TO ENSURE SHE’S NOT DELAYING?

IT MUST BE RELATED TO THE STEPHAN’S LAWYER’S ATTEMPTS TO SUPPRESS ALL THE EVIDENCE FOUND FROM THE GOOGLE SEARCH WARRANT, AND SO-CALLED “UNLAWFUL” SEARCHES & SEIZURE OF HIS CELL PHONE.

WHAT MORE COULD THEY HAVE DISCOVERED REGARDING THE WAY LAW ENFORCEMENT OBTAINED HIS PHONE & GOOGLE ACCOUNT INFO?

AS OF THIS WRITING, HIS PRETRIAL HEARING FOR THE VERY NEXT DAY IS STILL ON THE DOCKET FOR 4/23/2025 at 2:00 PM, EVEN AS THE 9:00 AM PRE-TRIAL HEARING HAS BEEN “RESET.”

8. The Defense will not have time to develop this evidence before the currently scheduled Motions to Suppress scheduled for hearing on April 23, 2025.

9. As such, Defense is requesting to continue these hearings to be reset for a later date.

10. That this motion is filed in good faith and not for the purpose of delay.

11. The State objects to this Motion to Continue.

BACK TO DEEP DIVING INTO THE REMAINING BATCH OF PHONE CALLS OUT OF THOSE 13 WE RECEIVED.

AND YOU KNOW WHAT? IN GOING OVER ALL THE CALL LOGS IN MY POSSESSION, I REALIZE THAT COMPARED TO OTHER INMATES, STEPHAN DIDN’T MAKE OF TON OF CALLS FROM THE DAY HE WAS TRANSPORTED TO OSCEOLA JAIL ON MARCH 1, 2024, UNTIL OCTOBER 18, 2024.

IN FACT, WE’LL TALK ABOUT THE LONG 3 MONTHS THAT STEPHAN REPORTEDLY WENT WITHOUT CALLING HIS PARENTS.

Amid much small talk about books, we get some poignant moments in these few calls where Deb directly asks Stephan if he was ever assaulted as a child. We’ll end with Stephan describing the complete mental and emotional breakdown he says he had when he found Maddie’s body — along with his hallucinations in jail.

Is it all a ploy for sympathy or some kind of “not guilty by reason of insanity” attempt? Let’s dive deep…

It is now Saturday, June 15, 2024, when Stephan Sterns decides to call his parents again. The last time he had called them was Friday, June 7, 2024. More than one week has gone by.

What has happened since that last call?

Well, on June 12, 2024, I published the video titled: New 896 pages: Stephan Sterns moved Madeline Soto to trunk, Jennifer Soto used past tense, “disown” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv28KvoClw8

It’s late. The first call attempt is at 9:12 p.m. His account balance is $37 The call doesn’t go thru

He tries again at 9:15 p.m. It keeps going to voicemail

He tries again at 9:17 p.m.

Finally, at 9:19 p.m. on 6/15/24, Stephan gets through to his mom & dad.

“Hello! Hi!” Deb says.

“I have it Deb. I got it!” Chris says, “Stephan? You called, the phone just flashed a call coming in and then it just hung up.”

Stephan: “Oh weird. Yeah, I figured I’d try mom after I tried you 3 times. How you guys doing?”

“What are you up to?”

Stephan: “Not much. I got a late start at calling you so I’m probably only gonna get the 1 call.”

“Where’ve you been all week?” Chris asks.

“I’ve been here,” Stephan says.

“Well, I know that. You couldn’t get access to the phone?”

Stephan: “I’ve been mostly sleeping the days & nights away, I’ve been feeling so tired lately.”

Deb chimes in when Stephan asks again, “How you guys holding up,” and Chris says, “Same old same old.”

But Deb says “No, we’re balls to the wall getting ready because she’s having 8 puppies.”

They joke about Stephan being able to come home and help them with the puppies. Writing a note.

“If we write you a note can you come over and help?” Chris asks.

“Oh, you know that’d be great, right?” Stephan muses. “A little while back some of the nurses and officers were talking to each other like, ‘Let’s just take the day off today’ and I was like ‘Yeah you know guys that’s a great idea. Let’s just take the day off today and come back tomorrow.’”

“That’d be good. They’d save so much money if they put everybody in ankle bracelets and let them go home” Deb quips.

“It’d be counter productive because they want people to suffer.”

Deb: “You’re gonna suffer enough once you go to prison but if you’re just in jail, awaiting trial, I don’t know why you can’t be on an ankle bracelet and come home.”

Stephan: “Because…suffer.”

Deb: “Suffer. Okay. Well we suffer right along with you.”

Stephan says, “Yep. Yep. If I went home that would be too tempting for me to ‘do something’ and not go to trial …so they want to make sure they have their eyes on me at all times.”

I guess he’s claiming he would end his own life. Once again he’s taunting mom & dad with suicide.

Deb seems to ask, “Well then why isn’t Jenn in a place where she’s suffering?”

Stephan says, “You know, I wouldn’t waste too much energy harboring any kind of a grudge or hard feeling against her. She’s suffering too in her own way.”

Deb says, “Not as much as you are, sweetheart.”

Stephan: “Well you know she lost her daughter. Her whole word was turned upside down, too.”

“And you lost a wonderful person that you loved, too,” Deb tells Stephan about Maddie.

Deb has got to know by now that Stephan was caught on video moving Maddie’s body.

Stephan: “Yep, yep. That’s right. Everyone’s world got turned upside-down by this. No one is having a good time here. Just remember that.”

Deb: “Has she tried to call you or have you called her?”

Stephan: “No, no. In fact I’m under a strict no-contact order until at least the trial. I’m legally not supposed to contact her at all. I thinks that’s pretty much standard operating procedure.”

Stephan lets out a big sigh and says, “I’m almost glad you guys aren’t able to visit me or haven’t come to visit me because I feel like if you were to see my face you’d be a lot more concerned.”

He swiftly changes the subject from Jenn and brings it back to his woe-is-me self. “Why? Did somebody beat you up?” Deb asks.

Stephan: “No, it’s hard to get beat up in isolation. But I am very thin and my eyes are sunken in and I’ve got dark circles under my eyes and I look like hell.”

Deb: “I’m sorry honey, so sorry.”

Stephan: “Yeah, just very drawn and emaciated looking. Even the social worker said — they came to visit me on Monday and said it looked like I’d lost some more weight. I have no idea how much I weigh now but I can see myself getting slimmer.”

Chris: “How the funds holding up?”

Stephan: “Well I saw that you put $30 in there the last Friday that we talked; I hadn’t made any orders since then, though so I just got the ? today and saw that. So as of today there was $16 left. But I did need to make an order so actually if you get a chance I need you to drop about 50 bucks or so in there if you can.”

Chris: “All right.”

No “thanks, dad,” from Stephan’s mouth.

Stephan: “I ordered a butt-load more coffee, a few more hard candies, some saltines, but I need to get some hygiene items as well so I got some dandruff shampoo and some wash cloths.”

“Okay. Did you get the books yet?” Deb asks.

“No. Dad, were you ever able to follow up with the people in the mailroom and find out what was going on?”

Chris says, “Yeah we found out that the address that was given to us was the wrong address. So now we have the correct address so now we’re trying to shake down where the order is so that we can get those books returned and order new book for you.”

Stephan is angry about the mix up with the wrong address in the pamphlet.

Stephan: “Really? Damn, what the hell? It was in the inmate handbook! I guess they need to update this stupid inmate handbook. So what, do you have to send the books to this actual address at the jail?”

Chris: “Yep.”

Stephan: “Wonderful.”

Deb: “And they had already returned the Kota book. So I guess whoever at the other Osceola — “

Chris: “No, no, no. Remember, we ordered the books? That was the last book I returned. Because I took it to Staples.”

Deb: “Gotcha.”

Stephan: “So I guess once you get the books to this address, they should get thru then?”

Chris: Yeah.

Stephan: “Well it’s a good thing we figured that out I guess. I don’t know why they haven’t updated this stupid handbook.”

Deb: Me either.

Stephan: That’s pretty silly. They’re handing everybody this thing and it’s got the wrong information.

Deb: I found a file folder that had your operative report from Irvine when they did your kidney so we’re giving that to your attorney. Hospital, I still don’t have anything on but apparently since there was a lawsuit and since it was finished, Rebecca or somebody can go through the Sarasota County Clerk’s Office to get that complete transcript of that. They need to jump on that and do that. I’ve got this operative report here when you were looking in the Navy.”

Well, the Sarasota County Clerk’s Office only gave me 4 pages of Stephan’s lawsuit when the truck ran over him, just docket listings, and that’s all they had left. So I don’t know how much more info Deb got about this lawsuit to help bolster his TBI claims.

Stephan: Yeah. All right.

Deb: And I found your original high school diploma.

Stephan: Cool beans —

Deb: And your original birth certificate. You now have 3 here at the house for you.

Stephan makes some unintelligible joke and Deb laughs.

Chris: I just made the deposit for you.

Stephan: Ok, thank you. I appreciate that. I got some more root beer barrels in that order. I got some starlight mints. I also ordered some butterscotch just to change it up a little bit.

Deb: Oh, I love butterscotch.

Stephan: “Yeah, I figured the old man candies are the ones that don’t sell out the fastest.

Chris: Old man candies?

THIS IS THE SECOND TIME DURING ALL THESE CALLS THAT STEPHAN HAS MENTIONED THE PHRASE “OLD MAN.” FIRST DURING HIS INTERVIEW WITH POLICE HE CALLED HIS PARENTS 2 DEAF OLD PEOPLE YELLING AT EACH OTHER, THEN HE TOLD HIS DAD HE FELT OLD WHEN HE CLAIMED HE NEEDED GLASSES, AND NEVER ENDED UP ORDERING THEM, AS FAR AS I CAN TELL.

Stephan: Yeah root beer barrels, butterscotch, the mint, you know.

Chris: What sells out the fastest?

Stephan: Jolly Ranchers, sour fruit balls, something pops, things like that.

Deb: Lemon drops used to —

Stephan: Of course I put an order for the sour fruit balls just in case they’re back in stock, I’d like to try them out at some point.

Deb: So you know what Jolly Ranchers are right?

Stephan: Oh yes, they’re delicious, which is why I’m bummed I can never freaking get them.

We used to call Jolly Ranches “wine candy” in Chicago.

Chris: They have lemon drops?

Stephan: Yeah, they’ve got like lemon heads/lemon drops. But they’re more expensive.

Chris: You must be pursing your lips when you get those.

Deb laughs.

Stephan: Well, I haven’t gotten any because they’re over $2 for a pack of ‘em.

Deb: Do they have those little box pack or a bag?

Stephan: I’m not sure. I guess I could order them to find out. If I get something, I know I’m getting a better bang for my buck

[IT’S NOT YOUR BUCK.]

Deb: I can’t believe it took you going to jail to learn how to budget.

[Zing!]

Stephan: Yeah, I know, right? Silver linings.

Deb: If there is one.

Stephan: Yeah, it took me going to jail to have some clarity on a lot of shit. Yep, about what’s really most important in life. How cavalier and careless I’ve been with all the people and things and whatnot that I love and enjoy. [He lets out a deep sigh. This is the closest they’ll get to an apology from him.]

Deb says: “Can I ask you a personal question Stephan?”

Stephan: Sure.

Deb: “Did anybody ever abuse you sexually?”

Stephan: “I don’t know about abuse, but I was kind of sexualized early on.”

It’s a great question. Stephan goes with this victimization line of thinking proposed by his mom, who is trying to understand why he would victimize a child.

Deb: By who?

Stephan: Kids in the neighborhood. I had my first French kiss when I was 6 year’s old. Did you know that?

Deb: No.

Stephan: Remember Nick Poland on Saulstars Court?

According to a background report I ran, Stephan may have lived in Saulstars Court in Sarasota, FL, from June 1993 — November 2000, so he would’ve been around 7 at the time.

Deb: Was it him?

Stephan: No it was his sister. Samantha. We were all playing hide and seek and I hid in the closet and she found me and planted one on me and there was her tongue.

Deb: Well she had her mother as a great example.

Stephan: Well, she was also like a year or two older than us so who knows what the hell was going on there.

[I know he’s not trying to equate kisses that happened around age 7 with an 8 or 9-year-old girl with anything similar to why he turned out the way he did.]

Deb: She was just experimenting. Somebody told her about it and she was trying it.

Stephan: And then a lot of kids in the neighborhood running around flashing, girls used to flash me and stuff. It was a weird time. The 90s were a weird time.

Deb: Yeah, it was pretty promiscuous.

[Chris is notably quiet. We know from Deb’s would-be divorce papers what she alleges her husband was doing during the 1990s.]

Stephan: Yeah, even the next-door neighbor Diane used to show me what she had going on, so…

Chris: Who’s Diane?

Deb: In California.

Chris: The old lady next door?

Deb: Her daughter. Her granddaughter.

Chris: Ok.

Stephan sighs.

Deb: “They say sometimes when you — you like children, that you have been an abused child and it was intimated that perhaps we had abused you in some way.”

Stephan: “No you guys never did. Strictly speaking I don’t — I’m not actually into younger people like that. [I think 35,000 CSAM pics say differently] I don’t even like most kids so it’s hard to give a generalize attraction towards any of ‘em.”

[What a weird thing to say.]

“Was it just her or other people as well?” Deb asks.

“I can’t get into specific details but…it was not-not-not a thing with anybody.”

There’s some redacted info right here, likely about Maddie and Jenn.

Deb: All right, we got it.

[I wonder if Stephan pointed blame at Jenn here, claiming she forced Maddie on him or some excuse.]

Stephan: Yeah but I don’t want to get too much into detail for um —

Deb: Yeah, I know.

Stephan: Confirm or deny anything officially. Anything that could be used against me. I mean, I haven’t seen the inside of a courtroom yet. So it would be kind of stupid to be making anything that could be construed as an admission of guilt.”

Deb: “Yeah, I was just wondering who I needed to go ‘Mama Bear’ on if anyone had hurt you as a child.”

Why won’t Deb go “mama bear” on Stephan for hurting Maddie?

Stephan: “No, no unfortunately uh — shit was just weird back in the ’90s. Unfortunately I got exposed to all that stuff pretty early on.”

[It’s like he’s trying to come up with more ways to make himself a victim.]

But none of it was your guys’ fault.

Deb: Well that makes me feel better.

Stephan: Well I hope you feel better. You have nothing to feel bad about in that regard. You might’ve been more heavy on the discipline than I would’ve care for but…

Deb: “Look what I had for an example when I was growing up. I didn’t treat you as bad as my mother treats me, so…And you probably would’ve been a better father?”

Stephan: There’s no point in getting into that. A while back I would’ve joked, ‘Hey, but I turned out fine’ but I can’t really say that now.

[It’s almost like he is blaming his mom here for the way he turned out.]

Deb laughs. “No, you can’t say that.”

Stephan: “But I’m praying everyday and still holding out hope. Praying to Jesus and asking for His help and His mercy and asking Him to help deliver me from this if it’s possible. To give me the strength to endure it. Get thru it, to continue watching out for Maddie and take care of her.

Deb: There’s no problem with Maddie. She’s in the best place she can be. If not here.

Stephan is picking up pretty quickly on his mother’s admonition that the only way to get to God is thru Jesus, like we heard in previous calls.

ONE MINUTE REMAINING

Stephan: Yep. These things go so fast. Well, I’m not gonna be able to call you again tonight because it’s already really late and by the time the cool-down period is over, it’s gonna be like 10 minutes before the phone system shuts off.

[Besides, Stephan has his money already from daddy]

Deb: Ok, darling, try again.

Stephan: I will call you back tomorrow evening and I’ll try to get an earlier start at it, okay?

Deb: Okay, love you.

Stephan: I love you too Mom Bear. I love you dad.

Chris: Love you too.

Stephan: Okay, I’ll talk to you tomorrow, bye.

The next day, June 16, 2024, Stephan tries calling back at 8:04 p.m.

“Your other account balance is $64.17” “Your account balance is $33.85”

It doesn’t go through so he tries to call back at 8:06 p.m.

And of course he has to repeat “United States of America” louder.

He tries again at 8:09 p.m.

He tries again one minute later, at 8:10 p.m.

Finally, at 8:13 p.m. on 6/16/24, Stephan gets thru.

Stephan: Hey!

Deb: Hi sweetie! Hey!

Chris: “That phone app is not working right so the same number you just called your mother, everything’s the same except my last four 6588. All right, don’t use the other number ’cause it flashes up on the screen and it says I missed the call. I never got a chance to answer it.”

Stephan: So don’t use the jackpot number anymore?

[He’s probably talking about one of his dad’s numbers that begins with 777]

Chris: The jackpot number. Okay, don’t use the jackpot number.

Stephan: Okay, 6588 — Deb jumps in. What were you saying mom?

Deb: I said we’re on puppy watch. She’s in there nesting? In the something box?

Stephan: Oooohhhh. So she’s about to have ‘em?

Deb: Yes, ma’am, sir.

Chris: Anytime.

Deb: We’re ready. We’re ready.

Stephan: Man, I’m jealous.

Deb: I wish you were here.

Stephan: Yeah me too. I love puppy time.

That’s not what Stephan told the cops about those noisy dogs.

Deb: I know baby, I know.

Chris: So we ordered some books for you.

Stephan: You did?

Chris: So we sent them to the new address and obviously we’re chasing the order that’s sitting over there in Seminole but — what’d we get? 6 books?

Deb: Well 4 or 5. We got 2 Michael Crichton’s, I got a Sudoku, and a card something?

Stephan: Can you repeat that? You were breaking up a little bit. Deb keeps talking…

Chris: Okay, did you hear what he just said?

Deb: What?

Chris: Okay, he was talking. Okay, we got 2 Michael Crichton books, we got a card book, we got a Sudoko — okay 4 books. $70 for 4 books? Deb confirms.

All right, so 4 books.

Stephan: Okay, cool. Very nice. [not thanks] Which Michael Crichton books did you get me? Do you remember?

Chris: Was it Sapphire?

Deb: No!

Chris: What’s the one that starts with S?

Stephan: Was it “Sphere”?

Chris: Sphere! Yeah, thank you. And then uh…

Deb: I think we. Did we get Volcano?

Chris: No. I don’t know what you got. Anyway, we got 2 Michael Crichton books, the card game, Sudoku…

Stephan: Okay, great [he sounds half-hearted]

Chris: I think it’s supposed to arrive Tuesday.

Stephan: Okay, very cool. I’ll have to keep an eye out for those then.

Deb: No! No! I got you “Eaters of the Dead”

Stephan: “Eaters of the Dead”! Oh very cool!

Deb: That was a movie. We got 3 Michael Crichton’s. We got “Eaters of the Dead”, “Sphere” and what is it? “Dragon Teeth”!

Stephan: Which one?

Chris: “Dragon Teeth”

Stephan: “Dragon Teeth” oohhhh…I don’t think I read that one yet. What’s that about?

[Neither Deb or Chris answers him.]

Chris: And then there’s “Timeline,” we also got Michael Crichton “Timeline.”

Stephan sounds kind of fake happy as he says, “Oh awesome! You got some good ones!”

Deb: And a thousand Sudoku’s.

Stephan: I think the only other Michael Crichton one I had from my list was Jurassic Park as well so…

[After all those purchases, including the ones that never made it to Stephan for various reasons, his parents don’t get a thank you. They get Stephan hinting at his list and telling them the book they’re missing.]

Chris: Scroll up, Deb. Okay, arriving Tuesday, “Eaters of the Dead” is arriving on the 24th, which is like a week later. And then “Card Game for Travelers?” Deb says yes. Again arriving Tuesday, “Timeline” and Trivia something, so that’s like 5 books.

Stephan: Oh very nice, okay cool! That’s exciting. [Still no thank you, still sounding fake — pause] Did the social worker ever get a chance to send you the list of the books?

Chris: No.

Stephan: That’s fine. If you want, I can give you just a few titles to add to the list once these arrive. If you want to add any other ones…

Chris: All right, go ‘head.

[This guy is unbelievable. After his parents have put money on his books, been brought all this attention and shame for his actions, and wasted money buying him some books that the jail rejected, and figured out the wrong address that the other books were sent to, he doesn’t say thanks but instead gives them additional books to buy him.]

Stephan: The Hobbit, Ready Player One, Jurassic Park and The Howling.

Deb: Oh, that was a good one.

Stephan: Yeah, you remember the movie. That gave me nightmares most of my young life. Back when we lived in Summerport, I read the book on an e-book, and I gotta tell, you the book was way more terrifying. That gave me nightmares.

He’s talking about Summerport Village Pkwy #266, in Windermere, FL. Windermere is a suburb of Orlando with a population of 3,034. Windermere is in Orange County and is one of the best places to live in Florida.

Deb: Wow. Okay.

Stephan: I’ve never had a book give me nightmares before, but I read The Howling, and it gave me nightmares.

[So why would Stephan want to read such a book again, whilst locked up in jail? Does he like nightmares?]

Chris: Well, I won’t be reading that one myself.

Stephan laughs.

Chris: Anything else on this list?

Stephan: Yeah, actually. Let me see here. Dinotopia Lost

Stephan: “I don’t know if you remember but you bought me that book when we lived in Bradenton. And it was my first big book.”

Manatee County: Defendant DEBRA A STERNS Mailing Address:4509 9TH ST W #C19 BRADENTON FL 34207 Female 05/10/1952

Chris: Ok

Deb: What about Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time?

Stephan: I don’t know. I haven’t read that one. I know I like Dinotopia Lost, it’s by Allen Dean Foster. It was a very good book.

Deb reads the Dinotopia titles.

Stephan: Yeah, they’ve got like a whole Dinotopia series. Dinotopia Lost is like a big serious book. Um…The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy…

Deb: I wanna add this to the cart. I won’t use it yet but I want to keep the names. So what’s the next one?

Chris: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Deb: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Stephan: And I think Jaws started as a novel, didn’t it?

[Yes, indeed! I remember reading the novel “The Deep” published in the 1970s and made into a 1977 film, written by Peter Benchley, a thriller about treasure hunting and danger in Bermuda. My dad had a bunch of books in his upstairs closet that I would read.]

Chris: It wasn’t a movie first, it was a book first.

Stephan: Yeah, Jaws. I’ve never read the novel. I’d love to read the novel.

Chris: Ok.

Stephan: Beyond that, I’ve got things like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne.

Chris: You mentioned some Agatha Christie.

Stephan: Yes! Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie and I think she wrote a couple of more in that series with Hercule Poirot as the lead character. So I think it was Murder on the Orient Express and I think she also wrote Death on the Nile and A Haunting in Venice. I know they made movies off of them.

Chris: You want any Tom Swift books?

Stephan: Tom Swift? Yeah, I’m not familiar with those, actually.

Chris laughs and says: I read them as a kid. They were kind of not science fiction, space books. Kind of like pre-Star Trek.

Stephan: Okay, I see. [He ignores his dad’s suggestion, and it’s funny that his dad wants to buy him the books he read as a little boy, as if he’s speaking to a little boy] I’ve got some other classic literature: Treasure Island, Moby Dick, Heart of Darkness.

“Where you gonna keep all these?” Chris asks.

“That’s why we’re starting a little at a time; I don’t have much on the way of storage right now, although the regular cell has some kind of storage footlocker or something,” Stephan sucks on his candy.

Chris: “It’s gonna be kind of tough when it’s moving day and you’ve got all these books.”

Stephan: Yeah, no kidding. Obviously the Crichton ones I definitely want to get those in my hands. We can take the list slow. You don’t have to get ’em all at once. [They don’t have to get them at all!] The Crichton’s are definitely a “must have,” Ready Player One, The Hobbit. You know J.R.R. Tolkien is a “must have.” The Howling. Jaws. We can take ’em slow. If nothing else I can have a few stacks of books up against the wall for now. And most of these aren’t gonna be like super-thick.

“I can give you more if you want but I figure you got a good list to go off of for now,” Stephan says.

Chris: Yeah, we’ve got enough to work with.

I seem to remember Stephan getting in trouble for having all these books piled up, in that same batch of notes where they found the “For Maddie” poem.

Stephan: Anyway. You’re on puppy-watch and what did you eat for dinner tonight?

Chris: We had some so-so baby back ribs I got from Sam’s. They weren’t that good. Didn’t like ‘em.

Stephan: Oh, I see.

Chris: I had a baked potato, then I made some keto brownies. I didn’t like those either.

Deb asks about The Howling Trilogy.

“Oh really? Yeah, go for that! I didn’t know if they had anymore Howling books. I knew of the first one. Yeah, go for the trilogy.” Stephan says.

Deb: “You can tell it’s a trilogy. $26 for the book.”

Stephan: Is it like one big book?

Deb: Yeah, one big book has 3 stories in it.

Stephan: [creepily] Oh, very nice. Okay. Yeah, that’s good. Also that won’t take up as much space. Yeah! I was hoping they wrote more than one. That’ll definitely give me nightmares.

Deb laughs. “My Pet Werewolf. Stephen King. Cycle of the Werewolf.”

Stephan: Yeah, if you can find highly-rated werewolf books —

Deb: Well they’ve got 4 1/2 stars.

Stephan: Mm, that’s not bad then.

Stephen King is the “king” of horror, Stephan says, so I presume his would be good.

Deb: You would think so. That trilogy didn’t have an “add to cart.” You had to put it on the list. [according to the photos, they ended up getting it] You got Stephen King, Eye for the Dragon.

Stephan: I don’t know what that one is. But if you can only get the first Howling book, that’s fine. If you have to get them individually, that’s fine too.

Deb: Ok

Stephan: As long as I get the first one in my hands, I’ll be somewhat satisfied with that. Now that I know there’s a trilogy, that’s pretty cool.

Deb: Yeah, that one’s available. The Howling. No, no, no. It says The Howling Book and it’s a Library of Dune graphic novel. That’s not what you want.

Stephan: It’s a what?

Deb: It’s a graphic novel. It’s a big comic book. It’s not the book you want.

[This gives Stephan the graphic novel idea like they spoke of before, those Manga books.]

Stephan: Graphic novels sound interesting. I’d love to be able to get some graphic novels in here. I’m just uh…

Deb: Do they let you?

Stephan: Maybe, they might. I talked to a mental health director. She seemed to think that it should be okay as long as it’s not like super offensive. As long as it’s not bound by staples or anything like that. But I would definitely want to have the regular novel first, though.

ONE MINUTE REMAINING.

Deb: I do believe…

Stephan: What?

Chris: She found the book.

Stephan: Ok, I’m gonna call you guys back in about 15 minutes. If I’m able to. You know the drill if not…

Chris: Okay, talk to you soon.

Stephan calls back at 8:44 p.m. on 6/16/24

“Your account balance is $30.70”

SHORT CALL. ABOUT 90 SECONDS.

This call seems to get disconnected early.

Stephan: Hello again.

Deb: Hello! [she always sounds so chipper to hear from him]

Chris: Hello there.

Stephan: Hm, I was just thinking how it’s amazing how many crappy books get turned into movies. Stephen King’s as well. So we were talking, Stephen King has some werewolf books as well?

Deb: Yep.

Stephan: Sounded interesting.

Deb: We won’t send everything at once but listen up, I’m gonna go thru a list of everything I’ve got on here.

Stephan: Ok

Deb: Michael Crichton Eruption. The Dune Saga. 3 of ’em. The Call of the Wild.

Stephan: Oh that’s a good one. That’s classic.

Deb: Moby Dick.

Stephan: Moby Dick. Very good.

Deb: The Hobbit.

Stephan: The Hobbit. Must have.

It by Stephen King. “Ooooh, that one’s gonna give me some nightmares, too, I bet.” [Later, Stephan will direct his parents to removed It from the list.]

Deb laughs. “The Howling.”

Stephan: Yep, very good.

Deb: I’m trying to get the trilogy on that. Stephan King —

The call cuts off.

He calls back at 8:48 PM ON 6/16/24

YOU MAY NOT MAKE CALLS FOR 15 MINUTES.

STERNS SAYS, “ARE YOU F-ING KIDDING ME?”

He tries again at 9:01 p.m.

He finally gets thru at 9:02 p.m. on 6/16/24

Stephan: Hey, I’m sorry about that. I think we got cut off.

Chris: Yeah, the phone said call failed.

Stephan: Stupid phone systems. So we were going down that book list. Did you want to try to go down it again for me?

Deb: I can!

Chris: Yeah, hang on.

Deb: Hang on Stephan. Let me get back to where I was. Ok. It would probably be better just to go to the cart and read ’em out.

Stephan: Yeah, probably.

Deb: I’ve got 26 books in there. At a price of $342, so we’re not sending them all at once.

Stephan: Yeah, no kidding.

Deb: Okay, you’ve already got those that are arriving. How about Nick by Michael Crichton?

Stephan: ok

Deb: Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King.

Stephan: Cycle of the Werewolf

Deb: The Andromeda Strain by Crichton.

Stephan: Ok

Deb: Pirate Latitude by Crichton.

Stephan: Pirate Latitude by Crichton. Crichton’s written a lot of stuff, huh?

Deb: Uh hun. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Says illustrated classic edition with original illustrations.

Stephan: Oh cool! As long as it’s all paperback, right?

Deb: Yes, all paperback. The Dune Saga, 3 books, box set Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune.

Stephan: Hopefully they won’t have a problem with it being a box set. They won’t let me have the box.

Deb: No it’s just called a box set but it’s a um — -IDK what it does. OK. Call of the Wild. Jaws. Moby Dick. The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Stephan: The “Ultimate” Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Nice.

Deb: Eruption. It follows Jurassic Park.

Stephan: Oh really?

Deb: And Congo.

Stephan: Oh! Congo! I forgot about that one!

Deb: I didn’t. I love that. The Howling Trilogy. Dinotopia Lost.

Stephan: [lowering his voice] Very good.

Deb: Eyes of the Dragon. King. Here’s one you forgot: Christine by Stephen King.

Stephan: Oh. Is that the car?

Deb: yeah. [In later emails, Stephan will direct his parents to remove Christine.] The Hobbit. It by Stephen King. Jurassic Park.

Stephan: Yep, must have. Yep.

Deb: And Lost World: Jurassic Park 2.

Stephan: Oh! Was that also by Crichton?

Deb: yeah. And the last one is by Michael Crichton and its prey. P-R-E-Y.

Stephan: P-R-E-Y. Hm, I wonder what that one’s about.

Deb singsongy: I don’t know but we’ll start sending some that maybe you haven’t gotten. They’ll still come. They’re just gonna come a couple at a time.

Stephan: Yep, that’s fine. Definitely the Crichtons and the Hobbit. I didn’t realize how much I realize enjoyed Michael Crichton.

Deb: Well, he’s a very good author.

[Seems like Stephan & his mom bond over books. His dad hasn’t said much]

Stephan: Yeah no kidding

Deb: He really grabs his audience and holds onto them.

Stephan: Yeah, no kidding. He definitely held onto me.

Deb: But I thought Christine would be one that you would go, “Ooo! I forgot.”

Stephan: Yeah I did forget about that one.

Deb: Yeah some of the old stuff. Now I didn’t send you Pet Cemetery because I don’t like that book. I don’t like that story.

Stephan: Yeah the movie was straight up nothing. I’ve heard the book will really fuck with you.

“Pet Sematary” is a 1983 horror novel by Stephen King, later adapted into two films, one in 1989 and another in 2019. The story revolves around the Creed family, who move to a rural Maine town and discover a mysterious burial ground with the power to resurrect the dead, leading to tragic consequences. The story explores the profound grief the Creeds experience after the death of their cat and later their son.

So if Deb lost a child and she loves animals, I can see why she wouldn’t like Pet Cemetery. Hitting too close to home with Maddie’s death as well.

Deb: Yeah, I don’t think we need that. I wish you would ask them if you’re allowed, if it comes from Amazon, any hard candy.

Stephan: I discussed it a little bit with the social worker. Deb talks over him: Because you can’t get it there.

Stephan: It goes thru the commissary company and they probably have a contract, if I had to guess, with the commissary company and if they were to let people get snacks off of Amazon, I assume the commissary company might be a little bitchy about that.

Deb: Okay, never mind then.

Stephan: I mean I’ll ask.

Deb: Well it’s something that the commissary doesn’t stock. That’s different. IDK. Like I was thinking about that coffee-flavored candy that you like.

Stephan: Yeah, I’d love to be able to get coffee candy. There’s a couple of brands that are really good. Kokiko and United are really good brands of coffee candy.

Deb: I know. I took all the ones that were in your room and I put ’em in my room and I’ve been eating one every other day.

Stephan: Oh yeah?

Deb: I like the cappuccino ones that are half-white and half-brown.

Stephan: The cappuccino ones are really good. The kopeko brand. And the regular…ones are really good as well.

Deb: Yep the square one.

Stephan: And the United ones, it’s a little bit of a bolder flavor.

Deb: And I don’t know the Mexican candy. I don’t know the name of it.

Stephan: Riovaldita or something he says.

Deb: Oh well forget that. I still don’t know it. [laughs] Well if it’s something that they do not have and will not have, maybe they will let you get it sent in. Because it is a hard candy. It’s coming straight from the manufacturer.

Stephan: It could be a security issue but I’ll ask.

Deb: Ok. I mean it’s not coming from us. It’s coming from Amazon.

Stephan: I know, I’m aware. It just they’re weird about stuff. I’ll see what they say.

[It’s that mama bear in her that wants to take care of her baby boy]

Deb: Ok, and you’ve got all the toiletries you need?

Stephan: I ordered shampoo and wash cloths off of commissary. I still got toothpaste and deodorant. And I’ve got a toothbrush and all that so. For now I think I probably need to get some lotion or something though. Laying on this mat, my ankles and my elbows are getting just messed up.

Deb: Yeah, probably rubbing.

Stephan: Yeah this friction and my forehead is becoming permanently creased. My worry lines.

Chris: What lines?

Deb: Worry lines.

Chris: Oh.

Stephan: Permanently going across my forehead. It probably doesn’t help that I’m chronically dehydrated as well.

Deb: Are you not drinking enough water?

Stephan: Yeah, I’m probably not drinking enough water because it’s just tap water, so. I try to drink enough but…

Deb: I thought you were able to order those powders from the commissary. Fruit punch or something.

Stephan: That’s money, you know? The stuff that I like to keep in stock is already pricey enough. Good thing to splurge on every once in a while. I try to make sure I have enough coffee because coffee is very comforting. It’s one of the few things that gives me any enjoyment in here. Every time I drink a cup of coffee, it releases a whole bunch of happy chemicals in my brain. My hard candies and my Saltine crackers. It gets expensive if I start going much beyond that stuff.

[Deb says something to Chris, exhales]

Deb: Yeah, well, we’ve got a lot going on here. We’ll keep you up-to-date with that. I think she’s gonna have puppies in the next 12 to 18 hours so.

Stephan: Oh my goodness.

Deb: I wish I could send you a picture of ‘em.

Stephan: Yeah, well

Deb: I think once you get that tablet thing, I think we might be able to send you a picture like that.

Stephan: yeah, actually you can send pictures and they’ll either scan them into the system or you can send ’em to me thru that.

Deb: That’s what I heard.

Stephan: Yeah, you can totally send me pictures and they’ll scan them in electronically.

Deb: Well I don’t know how to send you a picture and have them scan it in unless I send it via email.

Stephan: I think if you send a physical picture they might scan —

Deb: We don’t — nobody takes a physical picture anymore. We all do it on the camera. It goes straight to our computer.

Stephan: Yeah, you can print it out maybe. IDK. I’ll have to ask the mental health people and see how that system works.

Deb: OK. Do that. Are they giving you anything for anxiety and sleep?

Stephan: No. Like I said before, when I got the murder charge I asked them for something for anxiety and they gave me an anti-depressant that also doubles for anxiety and that gave me even worse of a down-spell?

Deb: That gave you worse symptoms?

Chris: Yeah, we already went thru that.

Deb: Oh crap.

Stephan: Yeah, I started feeling extremely panicky. Like an elephant was sitting on my chest and the sky was crushing down on me.

Deb: Okay baby well it can’t be like that?

Stephan: Nope. So I decided I would just take my chances with the depression and anxiety. I guess I’m okay. But lately, well for a while now I’ve been having some mild hallucinations. Like I’ll see random flashes of light while I’m reading my book, while I’m moving thru the words. Each word will jitter out like a morse code flash of light on my hand. And then I’m catching little flickers of movement out of the corner of my eye.

Deb: That could be a visitation from Maddie. You don’t know.

[Or demons visiting Stephan, like Chris Watts’ jail experiences?]

Stephan: IDK. I keep catching movements out of the corner of my eye like just out of the periphery of my vision, like I’m seeing a bug move or something. And I’ll look over and there’s nothing there.

Deb: OK

Stephan: So IDK what the deal is with that. Maybe isolation is starting to mess with me or all the trauma is taking its toll.

Deb: I would imagine it has taken its toll on everyone.

Sterns says, “When she passed away, I suffered a catastrophic mental breakdown at that point. I don’t know if you know that.”

Deb: No I did not.

Stephan: I was literally out of my mind when I was first booked into jail. I was hallucinating. I was hearing things and seeing things very badly. And it took me about a week to come out of that.

Deb: I hope you’re sharing all that with your attorneys.

Stephan: I did and the mental health people knew about it as well because they’re the ones that interview you when you come in, like are you seeing anything? Are you hearing anything? I was like yes, reverberating noises going thru my cell and in my head. I would look at the doors and it looked like the doors were breathing. It took me about a week to come out of that. It took me about another 3 weeks to regain some lucidity in my mind and some clarity again. It took me awhile to come out of that. I don’t think you guys knew that.

Deb: No we did not.

Sterns: I was not in my right mind “after I found her.”

Deb: I’m so sorry. I mean I understand why but

Stephan: Complete mental and emotional breakdown. And then everything that followed was kind of a result of that. I wish I’d handled that passing a lot better but I was not capable of rationale thoughts or actions at that point. I literally was not in my right mind.

[But he doesn’t talk about all the cover-ups and lies after Maddie’s death.]

Deb: Ok, baby. We know what we think happened. So it doesn’t matter.

Stephan: It’s hard to believe we’re halfway thru June already.

Deb: It is, isn’t it?

ONE MINUTE REMAINING

Stephan: May crept by slowly and now June is just flying by.

Deb: Welp, you got a minute.

Stephan: Yeah, this’ll probably be my last call tonight. I’ll call you back within the next couple of days.

Deb: Okay. Hopefully we’ll have news about the puppies by then.

Stephan: I assume you might. You said there’s gonna be 8 of them?

Deb: Yes. Unless she’s hidden one.

Stephan: Who knows? You never know. We always used to play count the spines.

Deb: yeah well I was there when they counted the skulls and that was pretty good count so.

Stephan: well, I love you guys and I’ll talk to you within the next couple of days. Be good and I’ll look out for those books?

Deb: Well when your heart stops beating, so does your opportunity to repent to make your heart right with God while you can, I just read. I like that. Don’t forget that.

Stephan: I do, almost every day.

Deb: I know darling. Ok, I know you’re gonna be gone so, just wanna say I love you and we’re thinking about you.

Stephan: Okay mama bear. Love you dad.

The phone cuts off.

After these June 16, 2024, calls, Stephan would wait nearly 3 months to make calls again. All the way until September 20, 2024, but he wouldn’t get thru. So not until October 18, 2024, would Stephan begin speaking on the phone again.

However, only 3 days later, on June 19, 2024, he would get access to the tablet and begin emailing his parents, so perhaps this was a bit more cost-effective and less confrontational than speaking on the phone as much.

NUMBERS 6:24–26

‘ “The Lord bless you

and keep you;

the Lord make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you;

the Lord turn his face toward you

and give you peace.” ’