Table of Contents
THE FINAL VOW
This was his last chance to get rid of his assault on her. That evidence was his wife of ten-plus years, Tara.
Steve squeezed and squeezed, four minutes, according to a later medical estimate, the time it takes to choke the life out of someone.
I think, at one point, she realized I wasnt stopping, Steve said. But it was too late. She finally grabbed my hand, but then it was too late and I couldnt stop then. I knew I was going to prison. I panicked.
At one point, not too far into the process, after she had vainly clawed at his hand, she looked at him.
I covered her face up... with a pairwith gray underwear or a gray T-shirt, he said.
And that was it, she stopped moving.
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FOREWORD
The taking of a life prematurely is a painful and final gesture with widespread effects.
And yet people continue to commit murders, including the case of a suburban husband with no criminal history who, one cold winter night, strangled his attractive wife, chopping her body into fourteen pieces and burying it haphazardly in a snowy forest in a macabre act of deception.
The murder of Tara Grant drew some of the most intense public interest in Michigan history, and the case will not soon be forgotten. Having reported on it initially for People magazine, we were instantly drawn into this dark tale and its painful legacy. In this book, we dig deeper, beyond the intense news coverage, into the lives of Tara and Steve Grant and set these against what led up to that fateful night, when their family was destroyed forever.
The Grant story is a gripping tale of loss and one in which there are no winners. That it occurred in an upscale town, in a nice home, in a seemingly loving familythe truth of what went on behind closed doors we will never knowshakes observers to the core. The Grants were an attractive, upwardly mobile couple, and to outsiders, at least, positively normal. And that changed in an instant of horror and an act of rage that defies logic.
And the victims continue to accumulate: Taras family and friends, who lost her love, support, and companionship; Steves relatives, who must bear the shame of a son and brother who will forever be known as one of the states most brutal killers. His father, Al Grant, committed suicide less than six months after his sons conviction. Steves friends, shocked that their pal could suffer such a bizarre break from reality, were affected as well. Most heartbreaking, two children have lost both parents, one to murder and one to prison, and must grow up with the knowledge that their father killed their mother, an act that will be difficult for family to explain and for them to ever understand.
In researching the book, we reached out to as many sources as possiblethose who knew the victim as well as the killer throughout their lives. No one is born either all good or all bad, and our aim has been to uncover the story of what happened between Tara and Stephen Grant in as thorough a manner as possible. To that end, we conducted dozens of interviews, including with the incarcerated Grant, as well as compiling information from court documents, police reports, newspaper accounts, and other sources.
We were aware that anything Steve Grant told us would be suspect. This is, after all, a man who managed to lie his way to freedom for three weeks and engage in an act of deceit so thorough that even his mother, sister, and paramour believed his twisted tale. His fabricated tears, his bizarre willingness to help comb the site where he had disposed of the body, and the fibs he told to the world were pathetic.
Still, to fully understand this sad story was to sit with him and allow him to have his say. We all have the right to tell our own story, and those who listen have the right to believe or disbelieve what they hear.
Much effort was made to encourage the family of Tara Grant to respond for this book, opening the door for their reflections on their beloved relative whose horrific death thrust them into the national spotlight. They declined to participate, however, and we respect their choice.
What follows is a frank and heartbreaking portrayal of murder in the suburbs.
CHAPTER 1
Stephen Grant was trapped. Near the corner of 28 Mile Road and Van Dyke Avenue, a little over a mile from his suburban Detroit home, three Macomb County Sheriffs vehicles blocked his Jeep Commander. He was ordered out of the truck by Deputy Tony Szalkowski, patted down, and instructed to have a seat in the back of one of the squad cars.
It was shortly after 4 P.M., with snow falling steadily from the darkening Michigan sky. Sheriffs cars blocked access points to the Carriage Hills subdivision, where Steve and his familyhis wife, Tara, their two kids, an au pair, and a doglived. A news helicopter chattered incessantly overhead, and a news camera poked its light into the back of the squad car where Grant sat, adding more drama to the winter Friday afternoon.
It was like an episode of the TV show Cops; although no one had put handcuffs on Steve, he was nonetheless a captive, breathlessly struggling to maintain his composure as the officer matter-of-factly explained what was going on. A local judge had signed a search warrant for Grants home, and police were about to execute it. Steve was not sure how the warrant had been obtained. But there it was. His wife had been missing for three weeks now, since February 9, 2007.
What we want from you, Steve, is for you to let us in the door, the deputy told Grant, who was having trouble focusing. His cheeks were flushed. Were going to let you do that, to drive yourself over there. You arent under arrest, but you do need to comply, Szalkowski told him coldly. Where are the kids? They dont need to be there for this.
Theyre still at Kellys, its no problem, Steve said, referring to his sister, Kelly Utykanski. Verena Dierkes, the au pair, had recently returned to Germany, and the Grant children, Lindsey, six, and Ian, four, had been staying at his sisters since the night before, when the power at the Grant home had gone out during a winter storm.
Steve got out of the squad car and hopped back into his Jeep. He wheeled onto Westridge with a squad car trailing him and parked in front of his house, which was already being prepared for the search, officers draping the perimeter with yellow crime-scene tape.
There was a law enforcement party in his front yard. Cruisers and an unmarked car surrounded the two-story brown brick ranch home, which still had two green Christmas wreaths up on each side of the front door. Media satellite trucks perched on the lip of his front yard, jousting with the cops for position.
Grant walked up to the service door next to the garage and turned to Captain Tony Wickersham, who was following him.
Steve looked at the deputies, their breath streaming in wintry clouds outside the garage, as he slipped the chrome key into the lock and turned.
Before I do anything, I need to call my lawyer, he stated.
