48 Hours on ID: Who killed Andrew Wagner?

Andrew Wagner's murder is one of the rare cases where, despite having a killer, it is very hard to say what exactly went down and whether his death was a murder after all. The subject of ID's 48 Hours season 19, episode 19, which is set to air again on November 1, 2023, on the network, Andrew Wagner, was killed by his fiancé, Stephanie Fernandes.

Despite the fact that Stephanie has been confirmed to be the one to stab Wagner, she was ultimately acquitted because the act was deemed to be one of self-defense. Ultimately, the stabbing goes back to Andrew Wagner's violent nature, which often caused a stir with Stephanie Fernandes, as revealed by her daughter, Angelina, who also testified for her mother in court last year.

Stephanie was arrested and charged with Andrew Wagner's murder, but she was acquitted and instead tried for manslaughter, of which she was found guilty.

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What happened to Andrew Wagner?

Andrew and Stephanie (Image via CBS)

Andrew Wagner met Stephanie Fernandes in 2009. Angelina Fernandes was only six years old at the time. As later testified by Angelina, the relationship between her mother and Andrew progressed very fast, and he was always friendly with young Angelina.

Andrew soon moved in with Stephanie, but their relationship was not the smoothest one, according to Stephanie's daughter years later. She even recalled telling her mother:

"I know what's going on between you two, and I don't like it. You guys need to stop. It can't happen anymore."

But things were good with Angelina and Stephanie's relationship with Andrew progressed further in the coming months. But the couple reportedly argued a lot, with Andrew also getting physical on some occasions. He reportedly tried to headbutt Stephanie on several occasions during their disagreements.

Stephanie Fernandes's trial (Image via CBS)

According to reports, Andrew had even threatened to kill her and got jealous often.

On May 7, 2014, Andrew Wagner and Stephanie Fernandes got into another altercation, but things got out of hand this time. According to Stephanie, who was arrested after the crime, Andrew pinned her down that night and tried to choke her. Fernandes allegedly grabbed a knife from the kitchen and tried to use it to ward off Andrew.

But he allegedly went ahead and headbutted her, and Stephanie "mistakenly" stabbed him in the neck. Wagner was found with a single stab wound in the neck when the authorities arrived. Stephanie later demonstrated, using a pen, how the action went down.

Stephanie Fernandes was initially charged with murder and was kept under house arrest, awaiting trial until 2022. The delay was further caused by the pandemic in 2019. After Stephanie went on trial, some witnesses stepped forward to claim that she had a history of violent outbursts.

Ultimately, after her daughter testified in the case and confirmed that Andrew Wagner was physically violent with her mother, she was acquitted of the murder charge. But the jurors still voted to convict her of the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter.

Stephanie was sentenced to a minimum of eight and a maximum of 10 years in prison.

ID's 48 Hours season 19 episode 19 will cover this in more detail when it airs on November 1, 2023, at 8 pm EST.