Murder of Tara Lynn Grant

In March 2015, U.S. District Court Judge David Lawson denied Grant's "petition for writ of habeas corpus." Grant had claimed that police improperly obtained his confession while he was being treated in a hospital for hypothermia and exposure; the judge also denied that pre-trial publicity made it impossible for him to receive a fair trial. Lawson said that officials in Macomb County took "extraordinary measures" to ensure that a fair and impartial jury was seated.

Several TV series featured this case: the Biography Channel had it as an episode in the Casanova Killers series, Season 1, Episode 3. The Investigation Discovery series Scorned: Love Kills featured "The Au Pair Affair" as Season 1, Episode 8, aired March 2012. The series Betrayed ran the episode "Beware The Au Pair" in April 2019.

Since Stephen Grant's conviction and sentencing, at least two books have been published about the case: A Slaying in the Suburbs: The Tara Grant Murder (2009), by Andrea Billups and Steve Miller, includes interviews with Stephen Grant recorded at Michigan's Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility. Limb From Limb (2009) was written by Detroit News crime reporter George Hunter, who covered the case from the beginning, and former Detroit News editor Melissa Preddy.

On 13 June 2008, Stephen's father, William Allen "Al" Grant, committed suicide in Capac, Michigan, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He died at Port Huron Hospital. A man who had a neighboring tool shop said that William Grant never seemed to recover from the actions of his son and destruction of the family. Al Grant had been married three times, and widowed twice. He was survived by a married daughter and her husband, in addition to the two Grant children.

The case gained widespread coverage in Michigan and nationally because her husband fled while the police were searching their house, had dismembered her body, and made a confession to police that was released in April 2007 before the trial later that year. Stephen Grant was convicted in December 2007 of premeditated homicide and mutilation, and sentenced to 50 years in prison. Both the conviction and sentence were upheld through appeals.

She married Stephen Grant, also of Macomb County, Michigan, and they had two young children by 2007, a girl, 7, and a boy, 3. By 2007 she was the principal wage earner and he cared for the children, while also working in a tool and die shop. The household also included Verena Dierkes, a 19-year-old au pair from Germany.

On 14 February 2007, Valentine's Day, Stephen Grant called the Macomb County Sheriff's Office in the county seat, Mount Clemens, Michigan, to report that his wife, Tara Lynn Grant, had been missing for five days. In his account, Grant said that this was not the first time his 34-year-old wife had left home, which was why he had not immediately reported her missing. He said that on the evening of 9 February, he had overheard Tara talking with someone on the phone, saying, "I'll meet you at the end of the driveway". He said he saw her get into a dark-colored car that drove off, and that he had not seen or heard from her since.

On 2 March 2007, police executed a search warrant at the home of Stephen and Tara Grant in Washington Township, Michigan. They found a dismembered human torso, believed to be that of Tara Grant, stored in a plastic garbage bag in the garage. They immediately gained an "open murder" arrest warrant for Stephen Grant, who had already fled the scene. They had not yet determined the degree of the charges.

After being released from the hospital, Grant was transported to Macomb County by a convoy of Macomb County Sheriff's deputies. On 6 March 2007 Grant was formally charged with count one homicide: murder in the first degree that is premeditated, and with count two disinterment and/or mutilation of a dead body. The charge of count one homicide in the first degree that is premeditated is punishable by life in prison. The charge of disinterment, dismemberment, is punishable by up to 10 years in prison or a $5,000 fine or both.

On 13 April 2007, the Macomb County Prosecutor released Stephen Grant's two-part confession publicly, a transcript of the interview with detectives and his own handwritten confession. Details included his arguing with his wife over his jealousy about her spending time with a co-worker. He also said he had been having an affair with Verena Dierkes, the family's 19-year-old au pair from Germany. As the argument escalated, Grant strangled Tara in anger. He also described his efforts to dismember her body and hide it, after he had notified the police of her disappearance.

On Friday, 21 December 2007, Stephen Grant was found guilty on the charge of murder in the second degree. On Thursday, 21 February 2008, he was sentenced to a minimum of fifty years in prison. On 30 March 2010, Grant lost his final appeal in state court, leaving intact the original sentence of 50–80 years. The Michigan Supreme Court affirmed a lower court decision that found Grant's trial was not unduly prejudiced by pretrial publicity in the widely covered case, nor was Grant improperly denied access to an attorney before making a confession to police.

Tara Lynn Grant (28 June 1972 − 9 February 2007) was a married American woman, mother of two children from Macomb County, Michigan, and a successful consultant at Washington Group International. She became nationally known as the victim of murder by her husband, Stephen Grant, in February 2007.

Tara Lynn Grant was born in Michigan in June 1972. She had a sister Alicia, and they attended public schools. Tara Lynn graduated from Michigan State University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in business. She soon started working for the Downtown Detroit Office of Washington Group International. Her job required her to travel frequently for business but she had a rising career at the Boise-based company, which had offices around the world. (In November 2007 the company was acquired by URS Corporation of San Francisco.)