KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Court TV) — The Florida man accused of killing and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl is worried about running low on coffee in jail and complaining that his cell is loud, dirty and uncomfortable.
New documents reviewed by Court TV include e-mails sent to and from Stephan Sterns , who’s charged with the first-degree murder of Madeline Soto. Sterns, 38, is also accused of molestation, possession of child sex abuse material, and 60 counts of sexual battery of a child.
Stephan Sterns is accused of sexually abusing Madeline Soto, who was found dead days after her reported disappearance. (Kissimmee Police Department/Osceola County Sheriff’s Office)
The 64-page file from the State Attorney’s Office includes email correspondence between Sterns and his parents. Sterns is apparently bummed out because he’s being held in isolation at the Osceola County Jail.
“It’s not exactly the Ritz,” he writes. “It’s a small cell, and the pod is quite noisy. I didn’t think I would miss the medical pod, but now I wish I was back in that big cell, where at least I could partially see out of the window and look at the sky and the grass and the trees off in the distance as they swayed in the breeze.”
In another email, Sterns complains that he has to eat without utensils and laments that the mat he sleeps on “is flat and has very little cushion left. The cell is small and filthy, and has some spots on the wall that appear to be bloody fingerprints.”
Sterns also asks Mom and Dad to drop some money into his commissary so he doesn’t run out of coffee. He also asks his parents to send him candy along with copies of “The Hobbit,” “Murder on the Orient Express,” “Moby Dick,” and other books, including one on origami, saying: “That could be interesting to learn, and a good way to pass time and satisfy my need to create and craft and use my hands.”
He also wants his parents to cancel his Spotify account and see if any of his Facebook friends can take care of his collection of Warhammer 40K miniature war game figurines. Sterns also gives specific instructions regarding his BattleTech collection, Tamagotchis, trading cards and other collectibles, saying:
“Don’t do anything with them yet until we know how things will shake out. A lot of them are rare, expensive, and difficult/impossible replace in the kind of pristine condition they are in.”
Detectives believe Sterns sexually abused Madeline for about two years before she died at his hands this past February. He could then be seen on surveillance video allegedly driving around with her body before dumping her in a field. Police believe Sterns began sexually abusing Madeline when she was about 11 because the timeline matches up with over 1,500 disturbing images they located on Sterns’ phone.
Stephan Sterns and Jennifer Soto are seen speaking to deputies in a still from bodyworn camera video. (Court TV)
Madeline’s mother, Jennifer Soto, reported her missing on Feb. 26. Jennifer, who was dating Sterns, told police that Sterns had driven Madeline to school that morning. Madeline did not make it to school that day. Her decomposing body was discovered in a wooded area in Osceola County on March 1. The medical examiner noted , “visible insect activity around her mouth, left eye, ears and right hand.”
Jennifer admitted to police that she often permitted Sterns to share a bed with Madeline and that on the last night she saw her daughter, she had sent Sterns and Madeline off to sleep together so she could sleep alone and get more rest.
The emails also indicate that Sterns’ parents think people other than their son were involved in Madeline’s death and disappearance. One redacted e-mail believed to be written by Sterns’ mother says:
“We all know (blank) was heavily involved in this, and I am disgusted that she is free and you are not when this is not all your fault!! You need to think about yourself more and her less. She sure isn’t thinking of you and how she can help you right now. That whole family is willing to stay quiet and let you take the fall for everything.”
The e-mail also says, “I think of the craziness (blank) lived through with (blanks) various partners… Not a stable life at all for a child. I do pray for (blank) and you daily.”
An email written by Sterns himself says, in part:
“There is still perhaps a slim hope for my situation. I maintain hope that I might be able to come home once this whole nasty business has reached its end and ask that you both remain hopeful as well and continue to pray for me to be delivered home again.”
Sterns’ trial is scheduled to begin on Oct. 14.
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