Murdered By A Monster: The Case Of Stephanie Scott

thank you Layton in New South Wales Australia a small and Rural town with a population of around 10 000 people in 2015 it was home to 26 year old Stephanie Scott and her fiance Aaron the pair had met his children playing sports together where they grew up they had remained good friends until Aaron's 21st birthday party where things blossomed into a romantic relationship Stephanie affectionately nicknamed button Knows by her family was described as warm and intelligent with a huge smile she had very much taken after her dad in terms of a career her father Roberts was a teacher and Stephanie caught the same book teaching English and drama at Luton High School she poured so much time into her students and took a lot of pride in her lessons having a huge amount of respect from her colleagues also April 11 2015 will be hers and Aaron's wedding day and ever the perfectionist Stephanie had put months into every little detail telling people it was going to come together just perfectly she had just had her bachelorette party the honeymoon in Tahiti was booked and the only thing left to do for now was for the couple to perfect their first dance which they were taking many lessons in preparation for [Music] the first weekend of April meant that the big day was now just days away and Aaron asked if Stephanie wanted to join him out of town for a party but she said she would leave it having a couple of more bits left to sort out one of these things was getting a final plan in place for her students while she was away on her honeymoon April 5th 2015 was Easter Sunday and at about 11AM Stephanie headed into her school to drop off the Handover for The Substitute Teacher Stephanie parked her car outside and then walked to meet a colleague that lived near the school they both went together to unlock the gate with Stephanie locking it after her and keeping hold of the keys as she headed for the English teacher's staff room whilst there she sent an email to a bus company confirming the transport for her guests to get to the wedding and after this she carried on working for another couple of hours Happy Everything was finally sorted she left the admin block keys in her bag heading for the gates [Music] Aaron knew she was going to be away for a few hours of course but as the sun started to set and there was still no word from her something felt wrong he had been texting her the previous evening and in the morning getting prompt replies but since the middle of the afternoon he had heard nothing back he got home at around 7 20 p.m but there was still no sign of her and her car wasn't outside either Aaron tried to put his Panic aside hoping maybe the stress of the wedding and leaving her students for so long meant she just needed a little space but to be completely silent like this was just not like her although planning a wedding is stressful to say the least Stephanie had by all accounts very much enjoyed the process and in the previous day she had been telling all of her students about her dress and the wedding food this wasn't someone that seemed nervous or overwhelmed this was someone that was excited and ready for the big day Aaron slept badly and woke up early messaging her again before he started calling her family at 4 30 that afternoon over 24 hours since anyone had heard from Stephanie Aaron went to Leeton police station to report his fiancee missing police wondered that because her car was also missing if she had left the school and got into an accident possibly rolling into a ditch or a creek and getting stuck there helicopters were deployed to start searching the area as offices on the ground went straight to her last known location Luton High School due to it being Easter Sunday few people were in the school that day which limited the witnesses but also ruled out hundreds of people actually making the police's job a lot easier a check of the alarm inside Stephanie's classroom showed that she had disarmed it at 1 31 pm and rearmed it at 1 38 PM so they knew she was definitely around at that time but after this there was nothing really to note they tried to use find my iPhone but it was turned off there was also no activity on her bank accounts or social media since Saturday the 4th by the 7th of April appeals were now underway via social media with one post being shared over 1500 times in just a few hours local news stations were running the story and hundreds in the small community were out searching but given how out of character this was and now being less than a week away from her wedding day hope was quickly starting to fade her mother Marilyn said I think if we don't find her today you can't let yourself think about it but you do nine reporter Aaron willing is at Leighton High School tonight Aaron why did police return to the school today P police did not only return here for much of the day they are still in fact here at the school now they're using digital mapping technology to Mark out the grounds of the school as well as the room where Stephanie would have been working the day that she vanished one witness who was around Leeton High School on Easter Sunday said that at 2PM she had heard some noises that sounded like things being moved or dragged across the ground she remembered she saw Stephanie's car underneath a covered walkway but of course didn't think anything of it but she did also notice her car disappear another witness who worked in the school told detectives she had a strange conversation with one of the school's cleaners the following Monday morning as the school was now buzzing with gossip speculation and worry the witness asked the cleaner if he had seen her before she disappeared he said he hadn't when they asked him if he thought Stephanie might have run away because of nerves about the wedding she said he let out an odd and inappropriate giggle that left her with an uneasy feeling and his face was covered in scratches the cleaner was 24 year old Vincent Stamford and he had to be questioned detectives briefly spoke to Vincent and he said he had popped into the school to take out the bins despite not being scheduled but he hadn't been there long as he had to go food shopping he said he didn't see Stephanie while he was there and couldn't help them but hey good luck with your search he said while his vehicle had been picked up driving away from the school just after 3 30 PM which went with the times he said he was there when officers called the store he claimed he went to they said that due to the dates they were actually closed he would have no reason to lie about the store he had gone to and as a result Vincent was now a person of interest police went to interview him again this time more thoroughly he lived at his mother's house and when they got there she let them in Vincent wasn't there at the time but his mother gave police permission to walk through her home and take a look it was here that they found a set of keys and a red and white lanyard keys that match description of Stephanie Scots as they were backing things up Vincent returned in his car They seized his vehicle right away and found some MDF boards in the back with what appeared to be blood on them outside the front of the house they had spotted some tire tracks which didn't match his vehicle they also found a used condom on the ground the rapper of which was inside his bedroom they asked him where he had been that day and he told them he was out taking photographs pointing to the camera on his front passenger seat detectives asked if they could look at it and he Shrugged and said sure alarmingly when they turned it on the first images they found were of a burnt female corpse lying in a wooded area he told them they were just from a film and that he had taken them because he thought they were funny the police knew what they were looking at was the body of Stephanie Vincent Stanford was placed under arrest in connection with The Disappearance and now likely murder of Stephanie Scott last night arrested her co-worker 24 year old Vincent Stanford a high school cleanup look and I was just horrified when I heard the news you know couldn't quite comprehend it for a while police found Ms Scott's car dumped in a paddock about eight and a half kilometers from where she was last seen but they're yet to find her body it's tragic for the family it's tragic for the people of Wheaton it's tragic for the people New South Wales and Society in general she'd understand everything if you had problems at home had problems anywhere you could just speak to her about it amazing I just want to thank her heaps for everything she's done for us and we're still praying for her she was just such a lovely vibrant person that fitted in with everyone and everything and she was well loved by the teachers the students and and everyone that virtually met her family and friends who traveled from overseas for a wedding now face the devastating task of arranging a funeral Vincent's phone and laptop were full of pictures of underage girls both from inside Leeton high school and off the internet in various sexual and shockingly graphic situations including bestiality there were also photos of women he had clearly been following around town without them knowing a very Sinister picture and pattern of behavior was being painted and despite them not yet finding her body on April 9th Vincent Stanford was charged with the murder of Stephanie they continued trying to pinpoint the area of the photos of the body might have been taken on April 10 2015 five days after she had last been seen another witness walked into the police station to say that he had seen a vehicle driving near a canal just before 4pm on Easter Sunday he said a man had got out and thrown what looked like a laptop into the water before speeding off it didn't take police long to recover the laptop and it was confirmed to be Stephanie's police divers have joined the search for the body of murdered bride-to-be Stephanie Scott in the New South Wales riverina nice Natalia Cooper is in Leeton this morning in a touching scene behind in Natalia and what's the latest on the investigation the search has resumed for the body of 26 year old school teacher Stephanie Scott police are searching fields and a Vineyard near where the young teachers red Mazda was found earlier this week police divers are also searching a canal in that area and it's believed they have retrieved a laptop from the canal now you mentioned the shrine that is growing behind me it's been visited by so many people throughout the morning and so many emotions have been seen here people are absolutely devastated whether they they knew her personally or they didn't know her at all this tragedy has really affected everyone in this town we know that her family and her fiance were here last night they lit candles they read some of the tributes and they were clearly just comforting each other one more piece of information I have for you is that police are desperate to find anyone who saw this white youth believed to belong to Vincent Stanford the man who is accused of murdering Stephanie Scott they need to contact police urgently Brett Natalia Cooper in Leighton thank you following this the search for her would finally come to a devastating end 60 miles from Leeton high school and just a day before what should have been her wedding day Stephanie Scott's burned body was found she was in a patch of Woodland in the kokopara National Park she had been hit over the head 40 times and the cause of death was blunt force trauma she had also been stabbed in the neck before being dumped and set on fire these confirmed that the photos on Vincent's phone were most definitely of Stephanie Vincent then contacted the police voluntarily and asked to talk to them at this point being sat in a Cell he had no idea that Stephanie's body had been found he sat down and told them everything including where they could find Stephanie [Music] where was she first order she watching a staff room upstairs for the English drama math teacher okay what was she doing and she was working on a computer there's this bathroom door open close or open where were you that time in I was working yeah I had our impression cleaner up to clean the garbage bins we put some music garbage bins upstairs that's when I saw her in the class even sovereign then you think so I had a daughter she probably knew I was there he told them that the minute he saw her he had a compulsion to kill her he quickly went home to pick up what he referred to as a rape kit which included handcuffs Viagra a knife and cleaning products on the way he Googled bride rape and bride raped with wedding gown as well as making searches for necrophilia he returned just as Stephanie was packing up to leave as she walked out she went past Vincent caught his eye and smiled at him saying I'm going have a happy Easter Vincent suddenly grabbed her and pulled her back into a storage room yeah and we spoke to you about some scratches that I can still see on your face can you tell me where you've got that scratches from several love remark from Stephanie Scott and how heavy to do that with her fingernails and when did she do that and I tried to kill her when I killed her when you killed yes okay so you say that you can you just tell me exactly what happened when she or she could win when you first you said you're waiting for her what exactly happened then when she finished her work what did you do I picked up from the hand with my right hand over a mouth from the left hand around the middle and dragged her into the Explorer close the door behind us chopped her on the floor at least after that each other with you first yes if she was any other weapon had your children knife as well so you've got a feeling that you had to do it what like what did you fear instead I had to kill her if everyone's fighting talks but I've never acted on them okay So when you say you've had a lot of violent thoughts you can described to what those thoughts have been to encourage people I've met yep have a date now that's really and is there any reason why you wanted to kill these people hurt these people no I think I might have some mental problems but they've never done anything to me to deserve it I don't even tell me why you got angry at Stephanie and why you wanted to kill her I didn't really feel anger I just wanted to come obviously you weren't even feeling no I just wanted that for lunch okay so you just wanted to kill me yes can you tell me why you wanted to kill her now mental health acting up again Vincent then recalled that he had felt hungry and drove home for a sandwich and coffee leaving Stephanie lying on the floor of the storage room after finishing his food he returned to the school placed her body in the trunk of her own car before going back in to clean after this he drove her master to his house leaving it parked outside while he talked to his mum and brother in the early hours of what was Now Easter Monday Vincent drove Stephanie's car to kokopara National Park so when you've taken it out of the boot did you take the clothes off the in the boot or do you take clothes offer in the ground Underground on the ground yeah okay now obviously she had at this stage there was a lot of blood and Chevy injuries to a face did you notice any swelling or he had to rotated off her face yep it's quite up near our eye yep and that's from when you punched her when she was around okay then you've what did you use match the light the fire or did you use cigarette no they don't match on that yeah Chuck just take on there yeah and we're in the match where the match we had to put here think it's still there probably just throw that in the fire we'll just drop it no I dropped it do I just take what okay is that far away from the body or no no no so when you traveled uh did you stay around long to watch your body burn or no I left straight away you know straight away yeah it was well I took a second petrol starts fast so okay on your camera you had two photos of deceased body yes yes if somebody wanted to post photographs of Stephanie now why'd you keep the Bravo you despise everything else I honestly don't know don't know maybe I wanted to souvenir yeah something to remember it by probably but I had no real reason to keep it why the brother why not any other item I think it was clean did you wash the bra and Chuck it in the washing one chair at home or at school at home okay what about her earrings engagement ring I don't know I might have taken that off earlier so they're ready to take those off probably when I was at home when it went and collected all their stuff at the high school would have been no dirty hearing stuff that are engaging you're ever taking that yeah we're to high school where'd you put her engagement ring don't know so much stuff out yep so you got rid of that with the closed did you or I was chucked it in a bin somewhere when I chucked everything else out but he had taken her engagement and graduation ring and sent these along with Stephanie's driver's license to his identical twin brother Marcus who was living in Adelaide Marcus sold her rings at a jewelry store and destroyed her license to get you sexually assault Stephanie no while she was alive or deceased no although Vincent was still trying to deny any sexual assault took place officers knew that this was not true and Vincent would also face further charges of aggravated sexual assault and inflicting actual bodily harm [Music] Vincent Stanford had been born in Australia but his family had moved to the Netherlands when he was just three years old before moving back to New South Wales later on he told police he had dreamed about killing someone as early as seven years old and had choked his teacher when he was 12. his classmates used to call him psycho because of his violent outbursts Vincent was made to attend what was called a behavior school because of his unruly Behavior limited social skills limited friendships and oppositional Behavior he said he was never able to adapt to society adding I would have to require emotions I have almost none he was later admitted to an adolescent Psychiatric Center where he was diagnosed with autism and Oppositional Defiant Disorder after he was released Vincent told police he wanted to go to university or join the Army but he was rejected by both it was after this that he went on to get a series of jobs before getting the job as the cleaner at Leeton high school he had only been hired on a five-week contract but this had been extended when he started to work in the school he often lurked in the girl's toilets when students were on their lunch break from delving deeper into his phone detectives found that Vincent had stalked a 12 year old girl in school and two other women who worked in nearby shops before he killed Stephanie they found almost 2 000 photos of the 12 year old on his phone and he had even written about her in a journal he had followed her home several times and started taking notes of when she was out and who else was in her house one of his entries read Home Alone 1540 time enough to abduct it is thought that his intended target was initially this young girl and when this plan didn't happen he went to the school where he set his sights on Stephanie results from inside his vehicle came back and showed that the stains on the MDF boards were positive for Stephanie's DNA and inside the Stanford home they found Stephanie's blood on a knife on some lining to the inside of her own car on some condom packets and they also found her bra as Vincent carried on with his progressively more disturbing interviews the businesses in Leeton closed along with the classes at least in high school being canceled so that the community could attend a public Memorial and celebration of life for Stephanie we feel quite helpless involved in the friends that are involved it was lovely to be able to be part of such an amazing tribute after joining in a moment's silence to honor Stephanie residents released balloons filling the sky with yellow the release of the balloons was like letting go letting her spirit now roam free in the sky [Music] I pray for the Eternal rest of Stephanie Scott and for the comfort and healing of her family everybody wore yellow her favorite color and what should have been hers and Aaron's first dance song Keith Urban's Making Memories of Us played as everyone said goodbye it was a huge turn out of around 1 000 people and later on in the picturesque venue That was supposed to host the couple's wedding Stephanie's funeral would be held [Music] after this more shock would come for the family when police announced that they had made a second arrest in Stephanie's case Vincent's twin brother Marcus in handcuffs wearing a Star Wars jumper Marcus Stanford is led into court New South Wales detectives waiting for him with plane tickets at the ready the 24 year old was arrested about seven o'clock this morning at his forest and Home in the Adelaide Hills Neighbors stunned that the latest chapter in a murder case which shocked the nation played out on their doorstep it's quite disturbing and quite shocking for our little our little Street our little community and it's sad that the case is I guess continuing on for the family as well Marcus Stanford can't be shown because he is Vincent's identical twin his colleagues at an Adelaide Hills flower farm say he has little to do with them outside work was I shocked really Marcus Stanford didn't have a lawyer where in the magistrate asked if there was any reason he shouldn't be taken to Layton he told the court in his thick Dutch accent that he'd never been there so he wouldn't need to go back but he'll be on a flight to Sydney in custody tomorrow morning despite his confessions it actually wasn't clear how things would go in terms of a court case as Vincent did not initially enter a play but based on all the evidence presented by the prosecution and police it was ruled that the case was definitely capable of resulting in a conviction before a jury and he was committed to stand trial psychological tests are being carried out by experts and they revealed that they believed he was absolutely a serial killer in the making he was void of emotion or empathy he was remorseless and unbothered often laughing and shrugging things off as he spoke fortunately for Stephanie's loved ones they would be spared any such trial breaking news this morning a school cleaner has pleaded guilty to the rape and murder of teacher Stephanie Scott in Regional New South Wales 25 year old Vincent Stanford has appeared in the Supreme Court in Sydney this morning over the 2015 killing as in July 2016 Vincent Stanford finally pleaded guilty to her rape and murder while the courts looked into his sentencing Vincent's twin brother Marcus would also face his own charges after he admitted to selling Stephanie's Rings destroying evidence and helping Vincent to cover things up he was sentenced to 15 months in prison however I have determined that there is no practical purpose in allowing for a parole period at all in the sentence I will impose would you stand up please Mr Stanford for the offense of being an accessory after the fact to the murder of Stephanie Scott you are convicted you are sentenced to imprisonment for a fixed term of one year and three months the sentence is to date from the 10th of June 2015 and will expire on the 9th of September 2016. without your plea of guilty it would have been a sentence of one year at eight months he was subsequently released in October 2016. almost 60 000 people signed a petition calling for this to be appealed describing his sentence as pathetic but nonetheless Marcus came out of prison and briefly went back to lease him with his mother it is unknown where he is now after residents made it clear he wasn't welcome there I just want to say sorry for what I've done you know and put a paradise family and you know it's um oh for now I hope I won't cause any more trouble I did a really stupid thing and unfortunately I can't take it back I don't want anything to do with him I have no contact with him and I don't want any he said the twin's father Steve said he was baffled and horrified by Vincent's crimes I don't want to call him I don't want to sit down with him I don't want anything to do with him I don't know why he did it I never asked why he did it and to be honest I don't want to know the day before Stephanie would have turned 28 years old Vincent Danford was sentenced to life in prison for murder and 15 years for aggravated sexual assault so I'm satisfied that this is a case of murder that clearly Falls within the worst category Mr Stanford would you stand up please for the aggravated sexual assault on the murder of Stephanie clear Scott you are convicted both of the sentence I imposed will take effect from the 8th of April 2015. for the aggravated sexual assault you are sentenced to imprisonment for 15 years I declined to nominate a proportion of that sentence as a non-parole period as there is no utility in doing so for the murder of Stephanie Scott you are sentenced to imprisonment for life in court Stephanie's mother Marilyn said Vincent was too pathetic and inept to make a life of his own so he chose to take a life he had no right to we will never know what she suffered but to know that she suffered at all is too difficult to bear we need to be able to fight from public view to mourn our beautiful girl and work our way through our grief we will not be answering any questions participating in any interviews or any programs in the future tomorrow we begin to celebrate Stephanie's two short amazing life this should be her 28th birthday the second one we celebrate without her we will be having a cup of tea and a Mint Slice biscuit at three so please join us thank you Stephanie's family called for more stringent screening and assessments of employees working at schools and they also settled a civil case privately with the New South Wales education department their lawyer said the primary reason for taking action was to ensure that the sort of risk that Stephanie Scott was exposed to is not repeated in the future and that more stringent screening procedures are in place for employees who work at public institutions such as schools more tragedy would strike for the Scott family when just over a year later Stephanie's Father Robert would lose his life in a freak accident when a tree fell on him crushing him to death he too would be laid to rest at the same place his daughter was after the loss of Stephanie Aaron moved to Europe to try and Escape some of the pain associated with New South Wales five years after losing her he found love again and celebrated his engagement to Samantha foreign said the loss of Stephanie is something the community will never forget and there were even books written about her case I think as time goes by you tend to try and not think about the event the horrific nature of what happened people simply can't believe something of that nature happened here it is just unheard of the whole circumstances around it to think her life Ended as it did when it was just starting the mayor said her family hope that Stephanie is remembered for all of her amazing traits and her passion for teaching helping and coaching people they said Stephanie embodied all this is good about humankind she made a tangible difference to the lives of so many people Stephanie would want us to resume Our Lives we need to be kind to ourselves and let the music and fun back in [Music] we are so grateful to all of our viewers and all of our patrons and we'd love you to consider joining our little community over on patreon it supports us as a channel and we couldn't be more appreciative of anyone that does so it also gives you behind the scenes extra episodes and Early ad-free Access [Music] foreign

Channel: Truly Criminal

Views: 1,103,194

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Id: 8ChdvSgGHSw

Length: 32min 25sec (1945 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 22 2023