Naman Shrestha
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Signs Of A Psychopath: Frenemies’ chronicles two horrific homicide cases — Seath Jackson and Sarah Stern. The former was attacked by his former girlfriend and her group of friends, especially Mike Bargo, who reportedly shot him to death. In the case of Sarah, she was killed by one of her schoolmates, Liam McAtasney, who wanted to steal her inheritance money and hatched an elaborate plan for several months. Both cases are extensively covered in the documentary, which also features detailed interviews with numerous forensic psychologists trying to deduce the workings of the killers’ minds.
Mike Bargo Was the Orchestrator of Seath Jackson’s Murder
Born on April 29, 1992, Michael S. “Mike” Bargo Jr. was alleged to have been involved in an affair with Amber Wright while she was in a relationship with Seath Jackson. When the alleged affair came to light, their relationship turned sour and came to an end. Amber claimed that she was physically abused by Seath during their relationship. This allegedly infuriated Mike, who then came up with a plan to kill Amber’s former boyfriend with the help of Amber, her brother Kyle Hooper, Charlie Ely, and Justin “Roach” Soto. During a party at Charlie’s house on April 17, 2011, Amber reportedly lured Seath into the party, where he was beaten, tortured, and shot.
His remains were then stored in three paint buckets and disposed of in a lime rock pit. Mike was reported to be the mastermind behind the plot and the triggerman who shot him to death. After the investigation was launched, Mike was eventually arrested while he was hiding at his friend’s place out of town. He and other accomplices, including Amber, Kyle, Charlie, and Justin, were charged with first-degree murder. During his trial in August 2013, Mike took the stand and claimed that he wasn’t present during the murder and placed all the blame on Kyle. Ultimately, he was found guilty of killing Seath Jackson by the jury, which recommended the death sentence.
About four months later, on December 13, his sentencing hearing took place. In an attempt to sway the court away from the death penalty, the defense showed how Mike’s parents’ messy separation left him angry and bitter. They also highlighted how he allegedly suffered from seizures that made his emotions difficult to control. In response, the prosecution disagreed and claimed that the convict was in control on the fateful night. In the end, he received the death penalty, which made him the youngest of Florida’s 404 death row inmates at the time.
Despite Appeals, Mike Bargo Remains on Death Row Today
In 2016, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a resentencing due to the jury recommendation not being unanimous in the case of Michael “Mike” Bargo’s trial. Thus, on April 3, 2019, his resentencing trial began. About a week later, the jury deliberated for about five hours before recommending the death sentence for a second time. A few months later, on September 12, 2019, he was officially resentenced to death for his involvement in the murder of Seath Jackson in April 2011.
In 2021, he filed a motion to get his conviction overturned. His defense counsel raised multiple concerns, including that the judge had not taken Bargo’s mental conditions appropriately. However, the Florida Supreme Court rejected the appeal and upheld the death sentence on June 24, 2021. As of today, Mike Bargo remains on death row, while being held behind bars at the Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Florida.
Liam McAtasney Killed Sarah Stern Over a Few Thousand Dollars
Liam P. McAtasney attended Neptune High School, where he crossed paths with Sarah Stern and her prom date, Preston Taylor, who was also Liam’s roommate. Upon hearing about Sarah’s large sum of inheritance money, which she received after her mother’s passing, Liam came up with the plot of robbing her lockbox and then killing her. As per reports, he planned the robbery and murder for about six months. In early December 2016, he ambushed Sarah at her home in Neptune, New Jersey, while her father was vacationing in Florida. After strangling and choking her to death, he stole the lockbox and disposed of her remains in the Shark River Inlet on the Route 35 Bridge between Belmar and Neptune with the help of Preston. He also abandoned her vehicle on the bridge to stage it as a suicide.
It wasn’t until January 2017 that Sarah’s disappearance was reported to the police by Liam’s former Neptune High School classmate, Anthony Curry. He told the authorities that on Thanksgiving 2016, Liam had shared his intentions of killing her and stealing her inheritance money. When Liam was interviewed by the detectives, he claimed that he was with Sarah all afternoon on the day she went missing, but went to work in the evening. In order to record his confession, the investigators worked with Anthony and conducted a sting operation. On January 31, 2017, he met up with the killer in his car, where there was a hidden camera installed for recording their conversation. Liam ended up going into gruesome details of how he committed the killing and how he took Preston’s help to dispose of her remains.
He stated, “It took me half an hour to kill her…The worst part of it is I thought I was walking out (with) $50,000 to $100,000 in my pocket. She had one safe that she took money out (of), and she only had $10,000.” Soon after the video was recorded, the authorities arrested both Liam and Preston. On February 1, the latter was interviewed by the detectives. Eventually, he implicated Liam and confessed to his involvement in the crime. He even led the police to the location of Sarah’s lockbox and the spot on the bridge from where he helped the killer dispose of her remains. Even though Sarah’s remains have never been recovered, both the culprits were officially indicted.
Liam McAtasney is Currently Incarcerated in a New Jersey Prison Facility
While Preston Taylor pleaded guilty to the charges against him, Liam McAtasney maintained his innocence and took his chances at court. In February 2019, Liam was convicted of all seven counts against him, including first-degree murder, conspiracy, desecrating human remains, tampering with evidence, and other charges. A few months later, on June 21, his sentencing hearing took place. Sarah’s father, Michael Stern, took the stand and read a victim impact statement. “I was devastated and numb from shock the day I learned from detectives Sarah was murdered. I’ve had horrific dreams and nightmares. The horrid act of what happened to her body haunts me everyday. I will never be able to hug Sarah again.”
The defense highlighted how Liam had no prior criminal history in an attempt to get a reduced sentence. In the end, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in connection with the murder of Sarah Stern. He was also sentenced to consecutively serve an additional 10 years for desecration of human remains. He and his defense appealed to get his conviction and sentence overturned in the following years, but the appellate court upheld the conviction and life imprisonment sentence. As of today, the 28-year-old killer is serving his sentence at the New Jersey Department of Corrections in Trenton, New Jersey.
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