Stephan Sterns Jail House Calls – Call 3: "I Didn’t Know She Was Gone" – Chilling Details in Madeline Soto’s Death
Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary
True Crime Today
3.3 • 910 Ratings
🗓️ 3 April 2025
⏱️ 34 minutes
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Summary
This call is a turning point. Stephan Sterns tells his parents that he didn’t realize Madeline Soto had died until hours after it happened. He speaks about discovering her cold body with an alarming lack of emotion. He blames being “up and down” during the night, leaving the room, wandering around, and never checking on her until it was far too late.
His father quietly presses for details, trying to understand how something so horrifying could happen without Stephan noticing. The responses are murky, defensive, and incomplete. Stephan paints himself as a witness to tragedy — not a participant. But the facts suggest otherwise.
This call is when the veil starts to lift. The cracks in Stephan’s version of events begin to show. The weight of Madeline Soto’s murder finally begins to press down on his family.
#MadelineSoto #StephanSterns #JailCalls #TrueCrimePodcast #ChillingConfession #FamilyGrief #JusticeForMadeline #MurderInvestigation
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Hidden Killers with Tony Bruske. |
| 0:03.1 | Here now, Tony Bruske. |
| 0:06.0 | Welcome back. I'm Tony Bruske. |
| 0:07.6 | We are continuing to dig into the jailhouse calls between Stefan Stearns and his parents. |
| 0:13.9 | Stefan Stearns charged with the murder of Madeline Soto and also child exploitation. |
| 0:24.8 | In this third call, it's peeling back another layer. |
| 0:32.0 | It's shorter, but in some ways it's heavier. The conversation shifts towards physical discomfort. |
| 0:39.8 | His eyesight, back pain, the conditions in jail, and, well, it may seem like small talk, it's not. |
| 0:45.6 | It's displacement as parents are trying to maintain normalcy through concern. |
| 0:47.3 | Did you get your glasses? |
| 0:49.1 | Do you have enough snacks? |
| 0:54.2 | It's love expressed through survival logistics. |
| 1:00.8 | But Stefan's comments about hoping something will break in his favor at trial, |
| 1:06.0 | while never acknowledging the full gravity of what's happened are more than troubling. |
| 1:17.0 | The psychological contrast is growing between two parents suffering with grief and a son who seems in many ways emotionally frozen. |
| 1:20.5 | While we listen, be sure to press subscribe. |
| 1:25.1 | Do you don't miss any of our coverage here on this case and the ones we also follow? |
| 1:29.8 | And let me know what you think as you listen to this in the comments. |
| 1:30.7 | Hey there. |
| 1:32.6 | Hey. |
| 1:33.1 | Hey. |
| 1:33.9 | Hey. |
... |
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