October 4, 2024 • 5 mins
New details emerging in Maddie Soto's murder lead investigators to believe she may have been pregnant with her mom's boyfriend's child. Husband confesses to killing missing wife.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alard hourly update, breaking crime news Now.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm Sydney Sumner. The Orange County Sheriff's Office is releasing
new information in the murder of thirteen year old Mattie Sodo.
Evidence shows Mattie's stepfather, Stephen Stearns, strapped Mattie's lifeless body
into the passenger seat of his car and dumped her
body in a rural area. Mattie was reported missing when
she never came home from school that day, with Stearn's
(00:24):
claiming he dropped her off about a block from her
middle school that morning. Mattie's friends, however, tell mom Jennifer Soto,
that Maddie wasn't in school at all.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
I think at this point I had called before I
went to the school. I actually called her best friend
and I said, hey, with you, I can't find her.
She didn't walk to the office, and she wasn't at
school when I was to pick her up. She said
she never made it. It's a first second period. And
I'm like, what do you mean I dropped her off
(00:54):
or we dropped off close to school, and she said
she didn't make it the first second period. I said,
please check with the rest of your friends. She did.
She got back to me and said none of them
saw her today. I emailed one of her teachers. Her
teacher texts me her attendants for the whole day and
told me she wasn't in school at all. That's why
(01:17):
I knew something was wrong and I freaked out.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
During the investigation, officers recover hundreds of photos from Stephan
Stearn's cloud storage that show he had been molesting Maddie
for years under her mother's roof, beginning when Mattie was
just nine years old. Before Mattie's body is found, Jennifer
Soto sat down with investigators from the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Soto has shown evidence proving Maddie is not alive. They
(01:42):
also show her photos from Stephan Stearn's phone that removes
all doubt as to what has been going on between
her thirty eight year old boyfriend and his victim, her
thirteen year old daughter.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
I look back at it now, I'm just like he
was lying, he was baking. What else has he been
lying to me about? I know he's like a mastermind manipulator,
because he's done, He's started to his parents and he's
told me and showing me the lies he's done to
his parents, But I don't know why. I never thought
not me.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Jennifer Soto still did not want to believe Stearns was
responsible for Mattie's disappearance and at the time, presume.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Death when you guys showed me the picture of her.
I believe the sexual stuff, but I didn't want to
believe that he had done anything equal to her. I'm like, no,
what if she what if he did this? Stop buying?
But what if she's still missing out there? What if
somebody took her. I still wanted to believe his I
believed him. I believed his whole story. So I was
(02:39):
just like, I kept repeating that part. I'm just like,
what if what if she did I dropped off? What
if she got abducted? What if she's missing.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
During the interview, investigators asked the mother about motivation. Why
would Stearns kill Maddie? Investigators and her mother wonder, is
it possible Maddie was pregnant?
Speaker 4 (02:58):
You can go here worse she's primate.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Thanks, That's what questions last night led me to believe.
When we started talking about.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Her period, I was told that her and her friend
and granted I'm male, never had a period, but that
somebody found it weird that they were no longer in
the same cycle. Could be different because she's a teenage girl.
Could be that she missed her gerry. Have you ever
found a pregnancy test at home that wasn't yours?
Speaker 3 (03:33):
I have two underneath the kitchen the bathroom sink, but
I haven't seen if there's.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Still there or not.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Investigators have not yet confirmed if their theory holds water.
The investigation is still ongoing. For more on Mattie Soto's murder,
tune into Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on Doctor Phil's
Merritt Street Media at six and nine pm Eastern, or
listen to crime stories on your favorite podcast app. More
crime and justice news. After this nown to a missing
(04:03):
person's case that ended in heartbreak, remains found by South
Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents have now been identified as
twenty year old Jessica Barnes. Jessica was reported missing by
her mother more than a month after she was last seen.
Here's Nancy with the details.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Jessica Barnes, twenty leaves the Pendleton, South Carolina home she
shares with her husband and two roommates after an argument
with the husband. She calls her mom, Cecilia Vivara, to
talk about the argument while walking. Cecilia assumes Jessica eventually
went home, but a month later she gets a text
from Jessica that sounds nothing like her daughter. Cecilia reports
(04:43):
Jessica missing and learns no one has seen her since
she left home that morning. August first, Pendleton PDS searched
several locations no leeds.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
DNA testing revealed that remains found weeks earlier in nearby
Pickens County are that of Jessica Barnes. The twenty year
old been strangled. After the discovery, Pendleton police and SLED
agents questioned husband Brandon Barnes and the couple's two roommates,
Kendall Mims and Victoria Tippett. All three eventually confess with
the same story. Brandon Barnes killed his wife when she
(05:14):
returned after their argument, then Mims and Tippett helped Barnes
dispose of the body. Brandon Barnes is now charged with murder,
Tippett and Mims charged his accessories after the fact and
failing to report a crime. For more Crime and Justice news,
be sure to follow the Crime Alert hourly update on
your favorite podcast app with this crime alert. I'm Sidney Sumner.
Crime Alard hourly update, breaking crime news Now.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm Sydney Sumner. The Orange County Sheriff's Office is releasing
new information in the murder of thirteen year old Mattie Sodo.
Evidence shows Mattie's stepfather, Stephen Stearns, strapped Mattie's lifeless body
into the passenger seat of his car and dumped her
body in a rural area. Mattie was reported missing when
she never came home from school that day, with Stearn's
(00:24):
claiming he dropped her off about a block from her
middle school that morning. Mattie's friends, however, tell mom Jennifer Soto,
that Maddie wasn't in school at all.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
I think at this point I had called before I
went to the school. I actually called her best friend
and I said, hey, with you, I can't find her.
She didn't walk to the office, and she wasn't at
school when I was to pick her up. She said
she never made it. It's a first second period. And
I'm like, what do you mean I dropped her off
(00:54):
or we dropped off close to school, and she said
she didn't make it the first second period. I said,
please check with the rest of your friends. She did.
She got back to me and said none of them
saw her today. I emailed one of her teachers. Her
teacher texts me her attendants for the whole day and
told me she wasn't in school at all. That's why
(01:17):
I knew something was wrong and I freaked out.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
During the investigation, officers recover hundreds of photos from Stephan
Stearn's cloud storage that show he had been molesting Maddie
for years under her mother's roof, beginning when Mattie was
just nine years old. Before Mattie's body is found, Jennifer
Soto sat down with investigators from the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Soto has shown evidence proving Maddie is not alive. They
(01:42):
also show her photos from Stephan Stearn's phone that removes
all doubt as to what has been going on between
her thirty eight year old boyfriend and his victim, her
thirteen year old daughter.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
I look back at it now, I'm just like he
was lying, he was baking. What else has he been
lying to me about? I know he's like a mastermind manipulator,
because he's done, He's started to his parents and he's
told me and showing me the lies he's done to
his parents, But I don't know why. I never thought
not me.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Jennifer Soto still did not want to believe Stearns was
responsible for Mattie's disappearance and at the time, presume.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Death when you guys showed me the picture of her.
I believe the sexual stuff, but I didn't want to
believe that he had done anything equal to her. I'm like, no,
what if she what if he did this? Stop buying?
But what if she's still missing out there? What if
somebody took her. I still wanted to believe his I
believed him. I believed his whole story. So I was
(02:39):
just like, I kept repeating that part. I'm just like,
what if what if she did I dropped off? What
if she got abducted? What if she's missing.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
During the interview, investigators asked the mother about motivation. Why
would Stearns kill Maddie? Investigators and her mother wonder, is
it possible Maddie was pregnant?
Speaker 4 (02:58):
You can go here worse she's primate.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Thanks, That's what questions last night led me to believe.
When we started talking about.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Her period, I was told that her and her friend
and granted I'm male, never had a period, but that
somebody found it weird that they were no longer in
the same cycle. Could be different because she's a teenage girl.
Could be that she missed her gerry. Have you ever
found a pregnancy test at home that wasn't yours?
Speaker 3 (03:33):
I have two underneath the kitchen the bathroom sink, but
I haven't seen if there's.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Still there or not.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Investigators have not yet confirmed if their theory holds water.
The investigation is still ongoing. For more on Mattie Soto's murder,
tune into Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on Doctor Phil's
Merritt Street Media at six and nine pm Eastern, or
listen to crime stories on your favorite podcast app. More
crime and justice news. After this nown to a missing
(04:03):
person's case that ended in heartbreak, remains found by South
Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents have now been identified as
twenty year old Jessica Barnes. Jessica was reported missing by
her mother more than a month after she was last seen.
Here's Nancy with the details.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Jessica Barnes, twenty leaves the Pendleton, South Carolina home she
shares with her husband and two roommates after an argument
with the husband. She calls her mom, Cecilia Vivara, to
talk about the argument while walking. Cecilia assumes Jessica eventually
went home, but a month later she gets a text
from Jessica that sounds nothing like her daughter. Cecilia reports
(04:43):
Jessica missing and learns no one has seen her since
she left home that morning. August first, Pendleton PDS searched
several locations no leeds.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
DNA testing revealed that remains found weeks earlier in nearby
Pickens County are that of Jessica Barnes. The twenty year
old been strangled. After the discovery, Pendleton police and SLED
agents questioned husband Brandon Barnes and the couple's two roommates,
Kendall Mims and Victoria Tippett. All three eventually confess with
the same story. Brandon Barnes killed his wife when she
(05:14):
returned after their argument, then Mims and Tippett helped Barnes
dispose of the body. Brandon Barnes is now charged with murder,
Tippett and Mims charged his accessories after the fact and
failing to report a crime. For more Crime and Justice news,
be sure to follow the Crime Alert hourly update on
your favorite podcast app with this crime alert. I'm Sidney Sumner.
Host
Nancy Grace
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