The day he beat 17-year-old Madison Sparrow in the head with an aluminum baseball bat, Noah Sharp said he “snapped.”
The then-19-year-old had loved Sparrow, he told police, and was “heartbroken” when their relationship ended in early summer 2020. Though they remained friendly after the breakup, that wasn’t enough. Sharp wanted more.
By the time October 2020 rolled around, Sharp had been stewing for months, he told police.
For weeks that fall, he texted mutual friend Annika Stalczynski saying he wanted to hurt Sparrow. Later, Sharp told police if he “couldn’t get emotional pain out of” the teen, he wanted her to feel “some kind of physical” hurt.
Finally, on the afternoon of Oct. 2, the months of torment came to a head, Sharp said. As he stood above Sparrow on a nature trail behind Maclary Elementary School near Newark, he swung a silver-and-blue bat once, then once more.
“I snapped at that one moment when I hit her again the second time,” Sharp told police three days after Sparrow’s killing. “I put all my force into that second hit.”
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On Monday afternoon, after five-and-a-half days in New Castle County courtroom 8B, a jury finally heard Sharp confess to Sparrow’s murder during a recorded interview with police conducted on Oct. 5, 2020. The jury also heard Sharp explain how he and Stalczynski transported Sparrow’s body about 15 minutes south of Maclary Elementary and buried her in a shallow grave.
Monday’s video came toward the end of the state’s case against Sharp, who is charged with murder, conspiracy and a weapons charge. Prosecutors are expected to rest Wednesday morning.
In the first seven days of trial, Deputy Attorneys General Matt Frawley and John Downs laid out the plot to kill Sparrow, which Sharp and then-17-year-old Stalczynski had begun planning in mid-September 2020, Stalczynski testified on Monday.
The men showed the jury dozens of pages of text messages between the teens, which discussed how they would kill Sparrow, what weapons they would use and how they would dispose of her body. They had an expert testify that Sharp’s, Stalczynski’s and Sparrow’s DNA were found on items at the two crime scenes.
For the jury of 16 men and women – 12 jurors plus four alternates – Downs and Frawley showed video recordings of Sharp’s multiple interviews with police, which showed how Sharp’s stories slowly crumbled as he was confronted with evidence from the crime and Stalczynski’s statements to police.
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And on Tuesday, shortly before jury broke for the day, the prosecutors played audio of a prison call between Sharp and his mother that was recorded as the two spoke last month.
In the call, Sharp is heard telling his mother that video surveillance of him and Stalczynski at Maclary Elementary about an hour before Sparrow’s murder doesn’t show his face. Stalczynski testified Monday that she and Sharp walked onto the nature trail, where Sharp waited to ambush Sparrow once Stalczynski lured her there with the promise of ice cream.
Video from the school shows a Black man the same height and stature as Sharp carrying a baseball bat as he walks next to Stalczynski into the woods.
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In the audio of the Sept. 20 prison call, Sharp’s mother can be heard repeating back to her son: “It doesn’t show your face?”
When Sharp replies no, that “it shows the side of my head,” she lets out a breath and says, “Oh, thank God.”
The recording stops shortly after.
Given this evidence, along with Sharp’s confessions and Stalczynski’s testimony, it’s unclear what the defense’s case will be.
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Likely, though, Sharp’s attorneys will question the truthfulness of Stalczynski’s words, as well as the tactics detectives used in their interviews with Sharp − something they’ve already done during cross-examination. They also may try to argue that Sharp was not the one sending the text messages plotting Sparrow’s death and that someone else had control of his phone, given they have already questioned forensic data analysts about just this.
There will also likely be an emphasis on a head injury Sharp reportedly sustained about three weeks before the murder, which Sharp told detectives about several times during pre- and post-arrest interviews. Still, it’s not known what exactly this has to do with the murder – or what role it will play in his defense.
Sharp’s attorneys have not indicated how long their case might last; however, closing arguments are expected within several days. The case will then go to the jury.
Got a story tip or idea? Send to Isabel Hughes at ihughes@delawareonline.com. For all things breaking news, follow her on Twitter at @izzihughes_
