August 29, 2025 • 38 mins
A California mom's husband pleaded for her safe return, and now he faces charges months after her disappearance.
Nikki Saelee-McCain, 39, vanishes in May 2024; after texting family members she was heading home, she never arrives and has not been heard from since, and her husband, Tyler McCain, is arrested as a suspect in her murder.
Nikki's Chevy Avalanche is located near the Shasta and Tehama County line a week after she vanishes. The truck's bed enclosed cover was opened and had an overwhelming odor of decomposition. Inside the vehicle, more evidence is recovered, providing strong evidence her husband, Tyler McCain, is the primary source of the DNA on the items.
McCain previously faced felony domestic violence charges, but the case was dismissed when Nikki disappeared because she couldn’t testify.
Based on the evidence gathered, information learned from interviews, and the fact no one in Nikki's family has seen or heard from Nikki since her disappearance, the detectives determined Nikki is a victim of homicide. Detectives also further conclude Nikki's husband, Tyler Scott McCain, is responsible for Nikki's death and disappearance. Detectives recently obtained a murder arrest warrant for McCain.
McCain was booked into Shasta County Jail, and prosecutors allege he killed Nikki to prevent her from testifying in the domestic violence case.
Joining Nancy Grace today:
- Kaye Ford - Nikki's sister
- Chloe Saelee - Nikki's sister
- Franz Borghardt - Criminal Defense Attorney, Founder of Borghardt Law Firm, Former Prosecutor, Adjust Professor at Louisiana State University teaching Criminal Litigation; Instagram and Facebook: BorghardtLawFirm
- Dr. Bethany Marshall - Psychoanalyst, Author: "Deal Breaker," and featured in hit show "Paris in Love" on Peacock; Instagram & TikTok: drbethanymarshall, X: @DrBethanyLive
- Brian Fitzgibbons - VP of Operations for USPA Nationwide Security; Instagram: @uspa_nationwide_security, Kingsman Philanthropic's 2022 rescue missions of women and children in Ukraine, Iraq War Veteranide_security
- Matthew Mangino - Attorney, Former District Attorney (Lawrence County); Author: "The Executioner's Toll: The Crimes, Arrests, Trials, Appeals, Last Meals, Final Words and Executions of 46 Persons in the United States"
- Lauren Conlin - Investigative Journalist, Host of The Outlier Podcast, and also Host of "Corruption: What Happened to Grant Solomon; X- @Conlin_Lauren/ Instagram- @LaurenEmilyConlin/YouTube- @LaurenConlin4
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, a beautiful young mom, Nikki
Chang missing, but now a smoking gun cracks the case
of the missing mom wide open. Good evening, I Meansie Grace,
this is crime Stories. I want to thank you for
being with us. Mom's Chevy is found abandoned on a
(00:24):
remote country road. Nicki's case is a homicide investigation.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
There are several assaults on Niki.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
A brutal assault on Niki prior to her disappearing, prior
to her Chevy being found abandoned on a remote country road.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
She thought she was going to die.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Where is Niki?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Where is missing Mom?
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Nikki? She's absolutely gorgeous and this is where the whole
thing started.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
Listen Wednesday night, around eight thirty, Nikki Sale McCain is
in our bedroom combing her hair. Her husband of thirteen years,
Tyler McCain, arrives home in a strange mood for no
apparent reason. Tyler McCain aggressively jumps on top of Niki,
holding her on the ground, then dragging her around, yelling
what are you doing?
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Nicky?
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Says Tyler McCain's eyes are glazed over. Nick tries calming
her husband, but it doesn't work, and he holds her
down and begins hitting her in the face. The terror
escalates over a three hour period, with McCain binding Nicki's
wrists and ankles together with tape, putting tape over her
mouth so she couldn't speak properly, rolling his wife onto
her stomach. Tyler McCain sits on her back, pulling her
hair back, forcefully pulling her head back, and telling her
(01:35):
he's going to kill her.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
And it gets worse. The terror she endured in that
one episode was just part of years and years of horrific,
horrific domestic abuse. Can you imagine that being bound at
wrists and ankles with tape, tape over your mouth so
(01:57):
you can't speak, you can barely?
Speaker 3 (02:00):
And there's more.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Listen.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
After three hours of Tyler McCain allegedly beating his wife,
the mother of his four children, hitting her about the
face and head, blackening her eyes, pulling out her hair,
and taping her mouth shut, he leaves her alone and
goes into the kitchen. Getting herself loose from the bindings.
Nicki Sale McCain grabs a rope with her car keys,
runs outside and gets in her car. Tyler McCain chases
Nikki out of the house and jumps onto the hood
(02:22):
of the car, telling her to stop. Ignoring his demands,
Nicki flees to the safety of her sister's home. In reading, the.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Only reason we know details of that episode is because
she actually went to the hospital that time, and it
was documented how many hundreds of other episodes of violent
domestic abuse occurred before Nicki mysteriously disappears. In the last days,
(02:48):
A so called smoking gun cracks this case wide open,
straight out to special guests joining us. I call them
the Nicky Sisters. It's Kay four and Chloe Sally. Nicki's
both of them, Nikki's sister.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Kay.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Do you remember when you first heard about that particular
domestic violence episode.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
I do you remember? It was the first time she
had gone to the police, gone to the hospital, so
we finally had a record of the abuse. Obviously, that
was a horrible, horrible instant for her, but we at
least knew that this was officially being recorded and she's
making a report, so we were hopeful that it would
be the stuff for more help.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
You know, Kay, you and Chloe look so much like Niki.
Do People tell you that they do they do. That
must be very unnerving to sometimes look in the mirror.
Every once in a while, I catch myself as I'm
walking by a glass plate and I think of my father.
I looked just like my dad. That must be very
(03:53):
unnerving for you guys to look in the mirror and
see basically an image of Niki. Chloe also joining us
in addition to Kay on what is a very momentous
evening because a so called smoking gun has cried this
case finally wide open. But Chloe, do you recall when
you first learned the details of that particular violent episode.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
When I first learned about that episode, my heart was broken.
Speaker 6 (04:21):
It was I just.
Speaker 5 (04:22):
Couldn't believe it, because how could someone that loves another
person do that to someone that they love?
Speaker 1 (04:28):
You know, Chloe, was this the first time you learned
about those beatings or did you know about it before?
Speaker 5 (04:34):
I think that I had a suspicion. Nicky never came
out for about the dose that was happening, But I
think that was the first one that she actually came
forward with and she came to me about it.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Well, here is the thing to friends. Borghart Franz is
a criminal defense attorney or now criminal defense attorney, founder
of Borgkhart's law firm, former prosecutor and professor Louisiana State University. Franz,
thank you for being with us at Franz. While we
can all sit back and say, well, obviously we know
(05:06):
he did it, he's the one responsible for her disappearance,
it's not that easy. There's this little thing called proof,
called evidence in a court of law. We know he
violently abused her, the mother of his children, for a
really long time, and then she mysteriously disappears, But that's
not enough to take it to court, is it.
Speaker 7 (05:27):
Franz, You're absolutely right. The first thing is the state
has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was
a murder, that there was in fact a murderer, which
they can do. We call it corpus blecti. They can
do that, but in the absence of having a body,
in the absence of having a body, we lack certain evidence.
We lack a murder weapon, we lack the means of
(05:49):
the actual murder, and that is problematic for the state
and presents fantastic defenses to this accused individual. I'm sure
there is argument for motive. He was being prosecuted for
domestic violence. But I don't think that that's enough. And
on top of all that, they've got to get the
other crimes evidence into the instant homicide case. They probably
(06:14):
will be able to do that, Nancy, but they still
have to litigate that to establish that they can bring
out this other past, these past incidents for the purposes
of murder, for the purposes of opportunity, for the purposes
of knowledge and intent, to even get that into the
murder trial. So it's not necessarily okay for the state.
Speaker 8 (06:33):
Franz.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
You know what, blah blah blah. What you're saying is
the state has to jump a hurdle in order to
get a similar transaction into evidence. So what I've brought
in a million similar.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Transaction pieces of evidence. It's not hard.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
You have to show that the case in chief is
similar to a prior incident, so that the prior incident,
in this case, a violent beating, tends to prove the
case in chief. I can't bring in a shot lifting
or an armed robbery or carjacking in this case. I
have to bring in something similar and connectod in time
(07:10):
to my case in chief, which I submit is murder.
That said little Man Franz. You're absolutely correct, there has
to be an evidentiary hearing. But you started off talking
about a no body case. Another newsflash. Okay, a lot
of no body cases have been tried and one, here's
the recent one, the case of a young mom of
(07:33):
two little boys, Anna Walsh.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Listen after his wife, Anna Walsh vanishes. Brian Walsh is
buying cleaning products, large tarps, buckets with lids, and splash
resistant goggles. He also makes trips to six dumpsters in
five days, so police install GPS tracking devices on vehicles
used by Walsh and his mother. As the investigation heats up,
a fire burns through a home that Anna Walsh, her husband,
(07:55):
and three boys moved out of the previous year. Police
Chief William quickly says the fire is highly strange. They
will get to the bottom of it. The chief says
the department is doing a full ground search for any
clues Danna Walsh's whereabouts?
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Okay, of course, Anna Walsh's. The body not been found,
but guess what. They're heading to trial right now. After
all of his Google searches for things like how long
does it take for a dead body to start smelling?
Really and then of course there's Kelsey Bareth. What an
incredible woman, a beautiful young woman, the mother of a
(08:27):
one year old little girl. She had her pilot's license
and she was raising her little girl all by herself
when bam she goes missing. Wow, I wonder who did that?
Her fiance The body was never found, so a no
body case. As Franz at Boardcart aptly described, it can
(08:49):
go to trial. Is it hard, Yes, of course it's hard.
Isn't it impossible? No, it is not impossible. Back to
Kate Ford, this is Nikki Chang's sister along with Chloe Salely. Okay,
even though you guys suspected there had been violent abuse
in the past, when did you realize this was different.
(09:10):
You hadn't heard from Nicki, You couldn't get in touch
with Nicki, and Nicki never came back.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
I think leading up to and kind of talked about.
We knew after the domestic violence incident, the one that
she went to the hospital for made a report. She
was adamant about leaving Tyler and taking care of herself.
Leading up to her disappearance. She it's almost like she
changed a little bit. She she seemed forgiving almost she
(09:41):
seemed she kind of let us know that she felt
sorry for Tyler and she didn't want him to get
in trouble.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
So wheared Wait, why White, you said, NICKI felt sorry
for Tyler, her tormentor as she forgave him.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
I don't think she heaven.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Okay, that leads me to something very important, because that's
how I think she got taken. Doctor Bethany Marshall is
with US renowned psycho analysts out of the LA jurisdiction,
author of deal Breaker. You can see her on peacock
Now and find her at doctor Bethany Marshall dot com
doctor Bethany. In addition to trying violent felonies in Intercedi,
Atlanta at Night, I worked as a volunteer at the
(10:21):
batter Women's Center, and I dealt with so many women
that wanted to hold their family together, and they would
let the attacker, the husband, the partner, the man back
in for the sake of the children, so the children
would have a father figure. And the next thing you know,
they turn up missing or dead or in the hospital.
What leads women to forgive or relent on the attacker.
Speaker 9 (10:46):
I think of domestic abuse as a crisis of boundaries.
In other words, the victim, Often a woman feels that
the husband's impulsivity, aggression, rage, pathological jealousy, envy is her fault.
That's the crisis of boundary. She feels that she is
causing the man's suffering. Therefore it is up to her
(11:07):
to fix it. So when the man becomes out of
control or enraged or batters, she thinks, what did I do?
She blames herself, and then she becomes overly concerned about
the perpetrator's feelings and then Nancy, I'm sorry, you.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Really lost me at it's her fault because here's Nikki
Chang in the hospital she's had her which is a
whole other psychiatric or psychological issue, where he taped her
mouth so she couldn't speak, he didn't want to hear her,
bound her hands and fate beat her, sat on her,
(11:41):
and it goes on all the ways he tortured her,
and she thinks, that's her fault. You just said that
I've got you on take that is not a revault.
Speaker 9 (11:50):
Imagine Nancy, your husband stalks you, texts you, calls you, incessantly,
tries to alienate you from your friends. And he does
it so many hundreds and thousands of times over the
course of years that you actually begin to believe him,
and you think you've done something wrong, and you start
to cower, and you start to change all of your behaviors.
Then he isolates you from your finances. You have no
(12:12):
way to even make a purchase without it pinking his
cell phone. So then he picks up the phone and
asks you what you've bought. All of a sudden, you
don't have food on the table for your children. You
don't have a paycheck, so you have no way to
get your own apartment or have your own independence.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
You're trapped.
Speaker 9 (12:27):
You're mentally trapped, psychologically trapped. You're like a little fly
in a big web, and you cannot get away. These
women do not want to be abused. No victim wants
to be abused. If your listeners don't remember anything else
about this show, remember that they are drawn in interaction
by interaction, slowly over the course of years until they
(12:49):
cannot get away.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
In the last days, based on a so called smoking gun,
there has been a major break and the case.
Speaker 10 (13:01):
Listen detectives also further concluded that Nicky's husband, Tyler Scott McCain,
is responsible for Nicki's death and disappearance. Detectives recently obtained
a murder arrest warrant for Tyler McCain, and today at
about ten fifteen am, Tyler McCain was arrested. He was
ultimately booked in the Shafts County Jail with no bail
for the murder of Nicki. Today, where we ultimately have
(13:23):
an arrest of a murder suspect and a bodyless case.
If you will, These cases are layered, meticulous, require months
of investigation, hundreds and hundreds of personnel hours, not just
from investigators, but from law enforcement boots on the ground,
from support services, from forensic evidence, all across the board.
(13:44):
It is very labor intensive and it is crucial that
all that evidence is collected, preserved, and processed accordingly to
make the case.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Where is missing Mom Nicki?
Speaker 5 (13:56):
We haven't heard from her, and that wasn't very likely
of heard.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Sisters realized immediately something is wrong when Nikki is not
responding as she normally would have to text messages.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
She was bound and beatened and that he tried to
drown her, but he was too tired, so that's why
he poured the water on her face.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Tried to drown her. Guys in the last days, an
amazing breakthrough in the search for Nicki Chang. No, we
have not found her, We have not found her body yet,
but there has been an arrest. And as Franz Borghart,
a veteran trial lawyer and professor, says, well, it's a
nobody case. Well that may be true, that may be true.
(14:40):
The same thing was said about Suzanne more Few. Does
anybody remember Suzanne more Few? To Dave mac joining me
Crime Stories investigative reporter, Remember when we all went out
to Salida and searched and worked and worked that case
trying to find out what happened to the mom of
To Suzanne Morphew, there was an arrest of the husband
(15:04):
and the whole thing was dropped and lo and behold, years
past and her body is found dumped in basically a
burial ground out in the middle of nowhere. Dave Matt
remember that it didn't stay a nobody case forever, Dave.
Speaker 11 (15:18):
It didn't And Nancy, when they found those bones, they
were actually looking for someone else. It was one of
the most amazing things that ever happened. And once they
got those bones, they.
Speaker 12 (15:30):
Were able to determine so many different things about what
happened to Suzanne Morphew, because those bones had not been
sitting out to the elements the entire time we were
all looking for her.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Oh, Dave Matt, I'm so glad you said that. So
Franz Borghart's I'm giving him a hard time, But he's
actually a veteran criminal defense attorney. He is a former prosecutor.
He's a professor Louisiana State University. Franz Borghart goes on
and on about a no body case as if it's
never happened before. Brians Gibbons joining me, director of Operations
(16:04):
USPA Nationwide Security, who leads a team of investigators trying
to find missing people and unsolved Thomas sides Brian in
the Susanne Morphew case. When the body, well, it was
just bones by the time her remains were found out
in this wasteland area. They could actually tell, as Dave
(16:27):
mac just said, that she hadn't been there for the
entire time since she was killed, because they could tell
by the way the condition of the bones. They could
also tell by getting bone marrow that she had been
shot with a very powerful animal sedative, a tranquilizer, and
only as I recall, correct me if I'm wrong, Dave
(16:49):
mac only two people in the state had it and
one was guests who Barry Morphew her husband. And let
me just point out, Brian before you take off that
in the home they found one of the tranquilizer dart caps.
Really he washed it with the sheets. I mean that
said no body cases can be tried, but can we
(17:13):
talk about how much better it would be if we
could find her remains? And how are we going to
do that? Brian?
Speaker 8 (17:18):
Yeah, certainly, Nancy, and listen, there's been approximately seven hundred
no body homicide cases in the last twenty five years,
and they have a really high conviction rate. Is the
thing we need to remember. It's twenty twenty five. There
have been crazy advances in forensic technology, all right. The
resources at play in Nicky's case, you have the FBI,
(17:38):
Department of Homeland Security, Shasta County Sheriff's Office collaborating with
those organizations. So they're going to have tremendous evidence to
bear in front of a jury.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Back to Kay and Chloe. First, to you, Kay, I
want you to listen to this.
Speaker 6 (17:54):
Under the laws of the state, of California. We're not
required to have a person's body in order to charge murder.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
That's what we.
Speaker 6 (18:03):
Call a nobody homicide case. That is what we filed.
And I'm sure many of you are asking, No, we've
never filed that type of case in Shasta County before.
But we are going to work very hard on this case.
And to me, despite not finding her body, we have
been provided with overwhelming evidence to prove that not only
(18:25):
is Nikki dead, but that Tyler McCain is responsible for
her murder.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Crime stories with Nancy Grace, Okay, what went.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Through your mind when you found out Tyler McCain has
finally been arrested. Now, first of all, before you tell
me that, can you please tell everybody about how he's
got the girlfriends Like I'm slung up in his house.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
We've seen many posts about potential girlfriends at the house
that Scott speaks pretty loudly to. You know, you're not
expecting your wife back.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
You know.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
It kind of reminds me of Scott Peterson, kay, because
Lacey's body had not been found yet, her pregnant body,
and he had already tried to Oh there he is
in all of his splendor and glory. He had already
tried to sell the house where she lived. They lived together,
expecting their first child. He tried to sell her car
and ordered the porn channel immediately turned the baby's room
(19:28):
into a storage room. So obviously he did not expect
her to walk through the front door. Why because he
knew she was dead? Why because he killed her? Now,
if you can recall Kay or Chloe, how quickly after
NICKI goes missing, your sister, your lookalike sister, did he
move the first missed thing into their house?
Speaker 5 (19:48):
It was within I think like a week, two weeks.
Speaker 9 (19:51):
I just remember.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
There was a lot of chatter online and a lot
of people.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Actually, I'm sorry, wait, I think my earplug I have
be must not be working. Did you say a week?
One week?
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (20:01):
Continue And there were pictures of a female at his
home as well too, so that just confirmed the story
even more, you.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Know, to you, Chloe, how did you guys find out
that Nikki had only been missing a week before? He
moved a girl, a girlfriend and not the girlfriend, but
a girlfriend. There's been a long parade of them.
Speaker 5 (20:23):
Sorry, as did you say, how did you find out?
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Yes?
Speaker 5 (20:25):
Yeah, it was posted online on. There was a few
Justice for Nikki pages up on Facebook and it was
posted online and then there were also pictures as well too.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Wait are you telling me he posted photos of the
other woman on the Justice for Nicki pate.
Speaker 5 (20:43):
There were people who would drive by Tyler's house just
to kind of see what was going on, and they
were seeing the same female that was outside of his
home with Tyler, and then someone from the girl. Her
family members were also concerned because they've also found out
that their sister had been staying at Tyler's home, and
(21:04):
so that's kind of how we found out also as well,
to confirm the story even.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
More, Lauren Colin joining me investigative reporter, star of Pop
Crime TV on YouTube, Lauren Conlin, of course, I'm sure
when I go back to him, Franz Borghart is going
to say that means nothing. That doesn't prove he's a
mergerer just because he's a cheater. What do you know
about all the girlfriends?
Speaker 13 (21:28):
Well, the community has really rallied around helping Nicky and
being there for Chloe and Kay and the children. So
I saw these pictures in the Facebook group and I
was shocked. But Nancy, I want to point out that,
you know, you mentioned this case started out as a
missing person's case, but it wasn't until March of twenty
twenty five that it was actually deemed a homicide case.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
And that is.
Speaker 13 (21:51):
When they actually were able to serve a search warrant
to Tyler and searched Tyler and Nikki's home in Anderson, California.
And you know, we still don't know what they found
in that search. It is still very unclear, but we
know at that point they deemed Nikki a victim of
a homicide.
Speaker 10 (22:11):
Based on the evidence gathered, information learned from interviews, and
the fact that no one in Nicky's family has seen
or heard from Niki since her disappearance, the detectives has
determined that Nikki is a victim of homicide.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
A young mom, Nikki Chaine, is still missing.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
She was faking horribly. Her mouth was covered in tape,
cold water was poured on her.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
She thought that was going to be the end, that
was going to be the time he did it, and
she was scared, scared to death.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
She was scared for her life.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
And she did state that the next time, if it
were to ever happen again, could be could.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Be it Nicki missing, believed dead in the last days,
finally and arrest. What is a smoking gun? We think
we know? Listen?
Speaker 6 (22:58):
Counts ten through twelve are for very violations occurring. On
April first of this year, after Nicki had been reported
missing for almost an entire year, McCain was observed throwing
items out of his vehicle and when he was pulled
over on his possession was a burnt California driver's license
for Nicki McCain.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
So isn't it correct, Dave matt One of the last
times we know Nicki Chang was alive, she was driving
her truck which was found in a very obscure area abandoned.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
She was driving the truck right correct.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
She was actually driving her mother in law and presumably
with her driver's license right.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
That would be correct.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
So explain to me, Lauren Colin, how husband Tyler McCain
is busted throwing out her burned driver's license, which we
believe was on her the last time she was seen alive.
Tell me how that happened.
Speaker 13 (23:54):
Yes, he was pulled over in April of twenty twenty
five after he was seen kind of unable to stay
in the correct lanes and then as the report mentioned,
he was seen growing various things out the window, and
detectives located his wallet, and inside his wallet was Nicky's
California driver's license, which investigators said had partial burn damage
(24:19):
to it. And Nancy, remember in July of twenty twenty four,
a fire spread across Tyler and Nicky's property of almost
ninety eight acres.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
You're seeing shots and video of the fire right now,
Lauren Conlin. How does the fire fit into everything? So
he is burning evidence and got out of control.
Speaker 13 (24:41):
I mean, we don't know that for sure, Nancy, but
I think that many of us surmise that this is
the case here and again with Nicky's body not being
located yet. You know, my head also goes that way.
But you know you mentioned Scott Peterson in March of
twenty twenty five. You know they had eyes on on Tyler.
They brought him in to this press conference where they
(25:04):
made him speak again, just like Scott Peterson, and it
is so uncomfortable to watch. In my opinion, Nancy, Tyler
appears to be uncomfortable himself. He says things like I'm
just here in support. He actually even says I'm sorry
and I just you know, I can't imagine what was
going through Chloe and Caveshead at that time. But again,
(25:28):
I want to give props to law enforcement who have
worked so diligently over the last year to get this arrest.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Speaking of that awkward press conference, you're absolutely right, Lauren Colin.
Let's take a look at Tyler McCain blathering I'm.
Speaker 11 (25:42):
Trying to.
Speaker 14 (25:45):
Nikki kan the first office, w I forget involved any
efforts that are health by my phone. We miss you.
(26:07):
I really know what say. I haven't been in the
other guys. I've been done very well with it. Apologize everyone,
especially my children, my wife's pie as well. I'm just
(26:29):
seringer part. So anything that I can do, I.
Speaker 12 (26:32):
Want to do that.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Straight Back to veterman trial lawyer, former prosecutor, now defense
attorney Franz Borghart, I guess you always tell your clients
keep your pie hole shut, because he's there saying, uh,
we miss you.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Like somebody had to pinch him to say it.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
I can't wait till they play that for the jury.
What about it, Franz.
Speaker 7 (26:52):
It really makes my life easier when they keep their
mouth shut. And you know what the funny thing is, Nancy.
Had he been quiet like a morning hauntsband. I think
people understood that, But that statement not good for his defense.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Yeah, he's talking, Franz about how much he misses NICKI.
I guess he and his girlfriend were really missing her
a lot.
Speaker 7 (27:14):
Franz, Well, you got to prove that that's his girlfriend.
A social media post in twenty twenty five of somebody
with you is not necessarily a relationship. So we're gonna
have to give him a little bit of reasonable doubt
on that.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Oh, nothing can make me happier than to put miss
Thing up on the stand and cross examine her about
when she started having sex with Tyler McCain. What was
it the night Nicky went missing? I can't wait to
do that. Thank you. That's an excellent idea. Franz to
Kay and Chloe, question which one of you were standing
directly by him during that press conference?
Speaker 2 (27:47):
That was me? Kay?
Speaker 1 (27:48):
How did that feel? Did you just want to give
him a little finger necklace?
Speaker 2 (27:53):
I actually wanted to encourage him to speak more. I
knew he had more to say, and I tried to
make tact and be supportive to see if he would
speak more. But yes, deep down it was I'm just
very difficult.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
I'm curious, Chloe, what was going through your mind at
the time he was talking about how much he missed Nikki.
Speaker 5 (28:13):
I was expecting a little bit more from him, just
kind of like what Kay was saying, trying to encourage
him to say more. I actually didn't know what to
expect when he was speaking. But the whole time I
was like, what, that's all you could have said. You
couldn't say like I love her so much, I wish
she was home. I just wish he would express something
more like a husband who was really missing their wife.
(28:35):
But I got the company opposite.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
But you know, he shacked up with other women and
not just one, so anything he said about missing her
would have been a big, fat lie, Chloe, And that's true.
Speaker 5 (28:46):
I think it just showed exactly what type of person
he was and showed how little he cared for NICKI.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Well, I guess that's the perfect segue for Franz Borghart
to talk about how this is not a miss congeniality
contest where we don't have to like him, we just
have to find out if there's evidence to convict him.
But his whole spiel about please bring Nikki hum reminds
me of somebody else, somebody named Chris Watts.
Speaker 7 (29:12):
I want my family back like I want them safe,
and I want them here like this house is not
the same.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
I want everybody back.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
That's why everybody.
Speaker 12 (29:18):
I need everybody back here and everybody's safe.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
From our friends. Sat KAUSA crime stories with Nancy Grace.
I mean, come on, Brian Fitzgibbons, how many times have
you seen the perp trying to make themselves cry? Making
(29:41):
a tearful play? Now? I got to give it to
Susan Smith. She actually did drum up some tears when
she begged for the return of her two boys that
she killed. So, Brian, what do you make? And I'm
glad Lauren Colin brought it up. I was talking about
the burned driver's license of Nicky's found in his wallet
and he trying to get rid of it. There was
(30:01):
that fire on his property and it was chalked up
to a catalytic converter. Wow, okay. So his wife goes missing,
the wife that he has been terrorizing, binding, putting duct
tape over her mouth, beating her, trying to drown her.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
She goes missing.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Suddenly a fire breaks out and now we have her
partially burned driver's license. But for s Gibbons, first, his
plea for Nicky's return.
Speaker 8 (30:26):
Really perplexing Nancy in the hubrisk for him to get
in front of a camera is shocking, right. And you
know when we're talking about these fires and their fires plural, right,
we have the one at the Olinda Road residents, but
there are other fires at properties associated with McCain that
I think we're going to see come out and trial
(30:46):
maybe connected to this case.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Well, it doesn't bode well for finding her remains if
he is a firebug, because you know, Brian, I probably
need a shrink doctor Bethany to explain this. In her jargon,
you always see a perr falling back on that with
which they are familiar. Here's Scott Peterson, perfect example. He
(31:09):
likes to fish, So where did he dispose of Lacy
and Connor's bodies one of his fishing holes? Right, this
guy is a firebug. He's connected, as Brian fus Gibbons
pointed out to several Arsons, several burning incidents.
Speaker 3 (31:23):
Let me rephrase.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
That makes me think, when you don't know a horse,
look at his track record, that's probably what he did.
With Nicky's body.
Speaker 9 (31:31):
And wasn't Chris Watts associated with the oil industry if
I recall correctly, and that's where he secreted his best
daughter's bodies.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Similar not just associated, it's not just associated, You're dead
on again. He took his wife, Shenan's body and the
daughters of his two little girls, Bella and Celeste, and
put Bella and Celeste in oil drums and buried Nikki
there on the Anadarko oil fields in a shallow grape
where she had coffin post mortem, she gave birth to
(32:02):
baby Nico there would have been their first son. You're right,
another good example, doctor Bethany.
Speaker 9 (32:07):
I'd be curious about what the children saw, what's the
new girlfriend experiencing? What did the extended family see? This
is a firebug, and this is a rage aholic who's
just going to keep doing it again and again. I
think can tell he's behind bars.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
To Nikki's sister, Chloe. Chloe, how many children did NICKI
have with McCain?
Speaker 5 (32:28):
Tyler and Nikki have four children together, so.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
Now they don't have a mom. I'm just thinking about
the genesis, how her disappearance and death occurred. We don't
know all the answers, but we do believe we have
a motive that McCain murdered his wife, Nikki, the mother
of four, to stop her from testifying against him in
(32:52):
that horrible domestic violence episode.
Speaker 6 (32:56):
It is our belief that Tyler McCain murdered his wife,
Nicki mckein prevent her from testifying in the domestic violence case.
This enhancement elevates the murder charge from a sentence of
twenty five to life to life without the possibility of parole.
Had we gone forward with the domestic violence case in
twenty twenty four, we would not have been able to
prove that case without her testimony without also having to
(33:19):
prove that McCain caused her disappearance. Count nine charges forgery
occurring May twenty ninth, again after Nicki went missing. Around
May eighteenth, shortly after Nicki was reported missing. This forgery
charge results out of a forge signature on a joint
tax return check that we believe that Tyler McCain forged
(33:41):
her signature to cash that check.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Oh my stars, according to prosecutors, he killed her and
then forced her name to get the tax return. Chloe
Sally and Kay Ford with us the Nicki sisters who
have been fighting for justice for Nicki since day one?
To Kay, do you believe and have you been led
to believe that her remains will be found?
Speaker 2 (34:05):
I feel confident with the evidence that the detectives have
collected and also the I do have confidence in our community.
Although I don't believe her body is known at this point,
I do feel good about people coming forward. We have
already even receiving a lot more tips as of Tyler's arrest,
and yeah, I do think that we're going to recover
(34:27):
her body.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
I'm very curious about this smoking gun that was the
final straw and led to the arrest of Tyler McCain
and what prosecutors say is the murder of Nikki Chang.
I'm curious, Doctor Bethany Marshall, could you explain why he
would have kept Nicki's driver's license in his wallet.
Speaker 9 (34:47):
I don't think it's that deep or mysterious. I think
he needed her ID so he could continue to take
advantage of her financially. He's already forging a signature on
a tax return, all right. I think we'll find more love, fraud, loves, swindling,
financial mouthfeasons. I think We'll find that he had many
reasons to have her gone, that this was not just
an outcropping of domestic violence that went too far, That
(35:10):
he already had other girlfriends that he probably stood to
gain financially in some way. He needed her out of
the way. So what better way to take advantage of
somebody who's already gone than to hold on to all
their identification. I think he found to find a million
uses for that driver's license, Nancy, because obviously if it's burned,
(35:33):
he was in the process of incinerating something and then
he went in and retrieved it. So why would he
retrieve it if he didn't want to use it in
some way?
Speaker 7 (35:40):
You know?
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Brian Fitzgibbons, I think that there is more to it,
because I'm saying, investigated, prosecuted so many cases where killers
keep mementos of their victims, and I've always found it
curious for them. It's like I would keep ticket stubs
or photos or programs of when the toy had an
honor event or that means something to me, and to
(36:03):
just look at it, you may not even know what
it is, but I would know what it is. I
think it's not just to use her id for practical purposes.
He had it with all of his other pictures and
things he kept in his wallet. He kept that. He
kept that after exercising complete and total control over her,
binding her hands and feet, putting duct tape over her mouth,
(36:25):
beating her, or trying to drown her, and even after
he killed her, according to prosecutors, he kept that so
he could see it every day.
Speaker 8 (36:35):
Yeah, that was a really shocking development, Nancy. And it
goes against you know, one of the things that Tyler
had told Nicki's family early on is that she had
left on her own volition. Okay, so you know, when
we take those pieces of information together, why would she
leave without her driver's license? And then why would he
keep it and not advise Shasta County sheriffs that he
(36:56):
had it and that she didn't have it in her possession.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Lauren Collin joining us Pop Crime TV. I still don't
get why these women are attracted to Tyler McCain. I
don't get it. I'll look at him, I say, the devil.
What's special about him?
Speaker 3 (37:09):
What does he have other than his wife's house?
Speaker 13 (37:12):
Now, I'm with you, I mean without knowing the guy,
I don't know, Nancy, is it the bad boy thing.
I have no idea. I can't even speculate on that.
But one other thing I want to point out. I
thought Brian made some really great points. But prosecutors also
described an overwhelming odor of decomposition coming from the bed
(37:33):
of Nicky's truck where they found a sheet and it
had Nicky's blood on it.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
You heard the Nicky sisters stating that since Tyler McCain's arrest,
more tips are coming in. There is currently a thirty
thousand dollar reward still in place for information regarding Nicky's
remains thirty thousand dollars. If you know or think you
(37:59):
know anything but the location of Nikki or her remains,
please dial five three zero two four five six' five
four zero repeat five three zero two four five six' five.
Four zero it ain't. Over yet while we wait for justice,
two unfold we Remember an, American Hero Detective anthony stanley
(38:23):
or Is to CREETE. P, d texas killed in the line,
of duty leaving behind Grieving daughters Kristen. And shelby American
Hero Detective Anthony Stanley nancy gray signing off Goodbye for
ald
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, a beautiful young mom, Nikki
Chang missing, but now a smoking gun cracks the case
of the missing mom wide open. Good evening, I Meansie Grace,
this is crime Stories. I want to thank you for
being with us. Mom's Chevy is found abandoned on a
(00:24):
remote country road. Nicki's case is a homicide investigation.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
There are several assaults on Niki.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
A brutal assault on Niki prior to her disappearing, prior
to her Chevy being found abandoned on a remote country road.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
She thought she was going to die.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Where is Niki?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Where is missing Mom?
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Nikki? She's absolutely gorgeous and this is where the whole
thing started.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
Listen Wednesday night, around eight thirty, Nikki Sale McCain is
in our bedroom combing her hair. Her husband of thirteen years,
Tyler McCain, arrives home in a strange mood for no
apparent reason. Tyler McCain aggressively jumps on top of Niki,
holding her on the ground, then dragging her around, yelling
what are you doing?
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Nicky?
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Says Tyler McCain's eyes are glazed over. Nick tries calming
her husband, but it doesn't work, and he holds her
down and begins hitting her in the face. The terror
escalates over a three hour period, with McCain binding Nicki's
wrists and ankles together with tape, putting tape over her
mouth so she couldn't speak properly, rolling his wife onto
her stomach. Tyler McCain sits on her back, pulling her
hair back, forcefully pulling her head back, and telling her
(01:35):
he's going to kill her.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
And it gets worse. The terror she endured in that
one episode was just part of years and years of horrific,
horrific domestic abuse. Can you imagine that being bound at
wrists and ankles with tape, tape over your mouth so
(01:57):
you can't speak, you can barely?
Speaker 3 (02:00):
And there's more.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Listen.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
After three hours of Tyler McCain allegedly beating his wife,
the mother of his four children, hitting her about the
face and head, blackening her eyes, pulling out her hair,
and taping her mouth shut, he leaves her alone and
goes into the kitchen. Getting herself loose from the bindings.
Nicki Sale McCain grabs a rope with her car keys,
runs outside and gets in her car. Tyler McCain chases
Nikki out of the house and jumps onto the hood
(02:22):
of the car, telling her to stop. Ignoring his demands,
Nicki flees to the safety of her sister's home. In reading, the.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Only reason we know details of that episode is because
she actually went to the hospital that time, and it
was documented how many hundreds of other episodes of violent
domestic abuse occurred before Nicki mysteriously disappears. In the last days,
(02:48):
A so called smoking gun cracks this case wide open,
straight out to special guests joining us. I call them
the Nicky Sisters. It's Kay four and Chloe Sally. Nicki's
both of them, Nikki's sister.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Kay.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Do you remember when you first heard about that particular
domestic violence episode.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
I do you remember? It was the first time she
had gone to the police, gone to the hospital, so
we finally had a record of the abuse. Obviously, that
was a horrible, horrible instant for her, but we at
least knew that this was officially being recorded and she's
making a report, so we were hopeful that it would
be the stuff for more help.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
You know, Kay, you and Chloe look so much like Niki.
Do People tell you that they do they do. That
must be very unnerving to sometimes look in the mirror.
Every once in a while, I catch myself as I'm
walking by a glass plate and I think of my father.
I looked just like my dad. That must be very
(03:53):
unnerving for you guys to look in the mirror and
see basically an image of Niki. Chloe also joining us
in addition to Kay on what is a very momentous
evening because a so called smoking gun has cried this
case finally wide open. But Chloe, do you recall when
you first learned the details of that particular violent episode.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
When I first learned about that episode, my heart was broken.
Speaker 6 (04:21):
It was I just.
Speaker 5 (04:22):
Couldn't believe it, because how could someone that loves another
person do that to someone that they love?
Speaker 1 (04:28):
You know, Chloe, was this the first time you learned
about those beatings or did you know about it before?
Speaker 5 (04:34):
I think that I had a suspicion. Nicky never came
out for about the dose that was happening, But I
think that was the first one that she actually came
forward with and she came to me about it.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Well, here is the thing to friends. Borghart Franz is
a criminal defense attorney or now criminal defense attorney, founder
of Borgkhart's law firm, former prosecutor and professor Louisiana State University. Franz,
thank you for being with us at Franz. While we
can all sit back and say, well, obviously we know
(05:06):
he did it, he's the one responsible for her disappearance,
it's not that easy. There's this little thing called proof,
called evidence in a court of law. We know he
violently abused her, the mother of his children, for a
really long time, and then she mysteriously disappears, But that's
not enough to take it to court, is it.
Speaker 7 (05:27):
Franz, You're absolutely right. The first thing is the state
has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was
a murder, that there was in fact a murderer, which
they can do. We call it corpus blecti. They can
do that, but in the absence of having a body,
in the absence of having a body, we lack certain evidence.
We lack a murder weapon, we lack the means of
(05:49):
the actual murder, and that is problematic for the state
and presents fantastic defenses to this accused individual. I'm sure
there is argument for motive. He was being prosecuted for
domestic violence. But I don't think that that's enough. And
on top of all that, they've got to get the
other crimes evidence into the instant homicide case. They probably
(06:14):
will be able to do that, Nancy, but they still
have to litigate that to establish that they can bring
out this other past, these past incidents for the purposes
of murder, for the purposes of opportunity, for the purposes
of knowledge and intent, to even get that into the
murder trial. So it's not necessarily okay for the state.
Speaker 8 (06:33):
Franz.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
You know what, blah blah blah. What you're saying is
the state has to jump a hurdle in order to
get a similar transaction into evidence. So what I've brought
in a million similar.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Transaction pieces of evidence. It's not hard.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
You have to show that the case in chief is
similar to a prior incident, so that the prior incident,
in this case, a violent beating, tends to prove the
case in chief. I can't bring in a shot lifting
or an armed robbery or carjacking in this case. I
have to bring in something similar and connectod in time
(07:10):
to my case in chief, which I submit is murder.
That said little Man Franz. You're absolutely correct, there has
to be an evidentiary hearing. But you started off talking
about a no body case. Another newsflash. Okay, a lot
of no body cases have been tried and one, here's
the recent one, the case of a young mom of
(07:33):
two little boys, Anna Walsh.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Listen after his wife, Anna Walsh vanishes. Brian Walsh is
buying cleaning products, large tarps, buckets with lids, and splash
resistant goggles. He also makes trips to six dumpsters in
five days, so police install GPS tracking devices on vehicles
used by Walsh and his mother. As the investigation heats up,
a fire burns through a home that Anna Walsh, her husband,
(07:55):
and three boys moved out of the previous year. Police
Chief William quickly says the fire is highly strange. They
will get to the bottom of it. The chief says
the department is doing a full ground search for any
clues Danna Walsh's whereabouts?
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Okay, of course, Anna Walsh's. The body not been found,
but guess what. They're heading to trial right now. After
all of his Google searches for things like how long
does it take for a dead body to start smelling?
Really and then of course there's Kelsey Bareth. What an
incredible woman, a beautiful young woman, the mother of a
(08:27):
one year old little girl. She had her pilot's license
and she was raising her little girl all by herself
when bam she goes missing. Wow, I wonder who did that?
Her fiance The body was never found, so a no
body case. As Franz at Boardcart aptly described, it can
(08:49):
go to trial. Is it hard, Yes, of course it's hard.
Isn't it impossible? No, it is not impossible. Back to
Kate Ford, this is Nikki Chang's sister along with Chloe Salely. Okay,
even though you guys suspected there had been violent abuse
in the past, when did you realize this was different.
(09:10):
You hadn't heard from Nicki, You couldn't get in touch
with Nicki, and Nicki never came back.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
I think leading up to and kind of talked about.
We knew after the domestic violence incident, the one that
she went to the hospital for made a report. She
was adamant about leaving Tyler and taking care of herself.
Leading up to her disappearance. She it's almost like she
changed a little bit. She she seemed forgiving almost she
(09:41):
seemed she kind of let us know that she felt
sorry for Tyler and she didn't want him to get
in trouble.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
So wheared Wait, why White, you said, NICKI felt sorry
for Tyler, her tormentor as she forgave him.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
I don't think she heaven.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Okay, that leads me to something very important, because that's
how I think she got taken. Doctor Bethany Marshall is
with US renowned psycho analysts out of the LA jurisdiction,
author of deal Breaker. You can see her on peacock
Now and find her at doctor Bethany Marshall dot com
doctor Bethany. In addition to trying violent felonies in Intercedi,
Atlanta at Night, I worked as a volunteer at the
(10:21):
batter Women's Center, and I dealt with so many women
that wanted to hold their family together, and they would
let the attacker, the husband, the partner, the man back
in for the sake of the children, so the children
would have a father figure. And the next thing you know,
they turn up missing or dead or in the hospital.
What leads women to forgive or relent on the attacker.
Speaker 9 (10:46):
I think of domestic abuse as a crisis of boundaries.
In other words, the victim, Often a woman feels that
the husband's impulsivity, aggression, rage, pathological jealousy, envy is her fault.
That's the crisis of boundary. She feels that she is
causing the man's suffering. Therefore it is up to her
(11:07):
to fix it. So when the man becomes out of
control or enraged or batters, she thinks, what did I do?
She blames herself, and then she becomes overly concerned about
the perpetrator's feelings and then Nancy, I'm sorry, you.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Really lost me at it's her fault because here's Nikki
Chang in the hospital she's had her which is a
whole other psychiatric or psychological issue, where he taped her
mouth so she couldn't speak, he didn't want to hear her,
bound her hands and fate beat her, sat on her,
(11:41):
and it goes on all the ways he tortured her,
and she thinks, that's her fault. You just said that
I've got you on take that is not a revault.
Speaker 9 (11:50):
Imagine Nancy, your husband stalks you, texts you, calls you, incessantly,
tries to alienate you from your friends. And he does
it so many hundreds and thousands of times over the
course of years that you actually begin to believe him,
and you think you've done something wrong, and you start
to cower, and you start to change all of your behaviors.
Then he isolates you from your finances. You have no
(12:12):
way to even make a purchase without it pinking his
cell phone. So then he picks up the phone and
asks you what you've bought. All of a sudden, you
don't have food on the table for your children. You
don't have a paycheck, so you have no way to
get your own apartment or have your own independence.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
You're trapped.
Speaker 9 (12:27):
You're mentally trapped, psychologically trapped. You're like a little fly
in a big web, and you cannot get away. These
women do not want to be abused. No victim wants
to be abused. If your listeners don't remember anything else
about this show, remember that they are drawn in interaction
by interaction, slowly over the course of years until they
(12:49):
cannot get away.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
In the last days, based on a so called smoking gun,
there has been a major break and the case.
Speaker 10 (13:01):
Listen detectives also further concluded that Nicky's husband, Tyler Scott McCain,
is responsible for Nicki's death and disappearance. Detectives recently obtained
a murder arrest warrant for Tyler McCain, and today at
about ten fifteen am, Tyler McCain was arrested. He was
ultimately booked in the Shafts County Jail with no bail
for the murder of Nicki. Today, where we ultimately have
(13:23):
an arrest of a murder suspect and a bodyless case.
If you will, These cases are layered, meticulous, require months
of investigation, hundreds and hundreds of personnel hours, not just
from investigators, but from law enforcement boots on the ground,
from support services, from forensic evidence, all across the board.
(13:44):
It is very labor intensive and it is crucial that
all that evidence is collected, preserved, and processed accordingly to
make the case.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Where is missing Mom Nicki?
Speaker 5 (13:56):
We haven't heard from her, and that wasn't very likely
of heard.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Sisters realized immediately something is wrong when Nikki is not
responding as she normally would have to text messages.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
She was bound and beatened and that he tried to
drown her, but he was too tired, so that's why
he poured the water on her face.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Tried to drown her. Guys in the last days, an
amazing breakthrough in the search for Nicki Chang. No, we
have not found her, We have not found her body yet,
but there has been an arrest. And as Franz Borghart,
a veteran trial lawyer and professor, says, well, it's a
nobody case. Well that may be true, that may be true.
(14:40):
The same thing was said about Suzanne more Few. Does
anybody remember Suzanne more Few? To Dave mac joining me
Crime Stories investigative reporter, Remember when we all went out
to Salida and searched and worked and worked that case
trying to find out what happened to the mom of
To Suzanne Morphew, there was an arrest of the husband
(15:04):
and the whole thing was dropped and lo and behold, years
past and her body is found dumped in basically a
burial ground out in the middle of nowhere. Dave Matt
remember that it didn't stay a nobody case forever, Dave.
Speaker 11 (15:18):
It didn't And Nancy, when they found those bones, they
were actually looking for someone else. It was one of
the most amazing things that ever happened. And once they
got those bones, they.
Speaker 12 (15:30):
Were able to determine so many different things about what
happened to Suzanne Morphew, because those bones had not been
sitting out to the elements the entire time we were
all looking for her.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Oh, Dave Matt, I'm so glad you said that. So
Franz Borghart's I'm giving him a hard time, But he's
actually a veteran criminal defense attorney. He is a former prosecutor.
He's a professor Louisiana State University. Franz Borghart goes on
and on about a no body case as if it's
never happened before. Brians Gibbons joining me, director of Operations
(16:04):
USPA Nationwide Security, who leads a team of investigators trying
to find missing people and unsolved Thomas sides Brian in
the Susanne Morphew case. When the body, well, it was
just bones by the time her remains were found out
in this wasteland area. They could actually tell, as Dave
(16:27):
mac just said, that she hadn't been there for the
entire time since she was killed, because they could tell
by the way the condition of the bones. They could
also tell by getting bone marrow that she had been
shot with a very powerful animal sedative, a tranquilizer, and
only as I recall, correct me if I'm wrong, Dave
(16:49):
mac only two people in the state had it and
one was guests who Barry Morphew her husband. And let
me just point out, Brian before you take off that
in the home they found one of the tranquilizer dart caps.
Really he washed it with the sheets. I mean that
said no body cases can be tried, but can we
(17:13):
talk about how much better it would be if we
could find her remains? And how are we going to
do that? Brian?
Speaker 8 (17:18):
Yeah, certainly, Nancy, and listen, there's been approximately seven hundred
no body homicide cases in the last twenty five years,
and they have a really high conviction rate. Is the
thing we need to remember. It's twenty twenty five. There
have been crazy advances in forensic technology, all right. The
resources at play in Nicky's case, you have the FBI,
(17:38):
Department of Homeland Security, Shasta County Sheriff's Office collaborating with
those organizations. So they're going to have tremendous evidence to
bear in front of a jury.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Back to Kay and Chloe. First, to you, Kay, I
want you to listen to this.
Speaker 6 (17:54):
Under the laws of the state, of California. We're not
required to have a person's body in order to charge murder.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
That's what we.
Speaker 6 (18:03):
Call a nobody homicide case. That is what we filed.
And I'm sure many of you are asking, No, we've
never filed that type of case in Shasta County before.
But we are going to work very hard on this case.
And to me, despite not finding her body, we have
been provided with overwhelming evidence to prove that not only
(18:25):
is Nikki dead, but that Tyler McCain is responsible for
her murder.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Crime stories with Nancy Grace, Okay, what went.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Through your mind when you found out Tyler McCain has
finally been arrested. Now, first of all, before you tell
me that, can you please tell everybody about how he's
got the girlfriends Like I'm slung up in his house.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
We've seen many posts about potential girlfriends at the house
that Scott speaks pretty loudly to. You know, you're not
expecting your wife back.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
You know.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
It kind of reminds me of Scott Peterson, kay, because
Lacey's body had not been found yet, her pregnant body,
and he had already tried to Oh there he is
in all of his splendor and glory. He had already
tried to sell the house where she lived. They lived together,
expecting their first child. He tried to sell her car
and ordered the porn channel immediately turned the baby's room
(19:28):
into a storage room. So obviously he did not expect
her to walk through the front door. Why because he
knew she was dead? Why because he killed her? Now,
if you can recall Kay or Chloe, how quickly after
NICKI goes missing, your sister, your lookalike sister, did he
move the first missed thing into their house?
Speaker 5 (19:48):
It was within I think like a week, two weeks.
Speaker 9 (19:51):
I just remember.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
There was a lot of chatter online and a lot
of people.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Actually, I'm sorry, wait, I think my earplug I have
be must not be working. Did you say a week?
One week?
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (20:01):
Continue And there were pictures of a female at his
home as well too, so that just confirmed the story
even more, you.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Know, to you, Chloe, how did you guys find out
that Nikki had only been missing a week before? He
moved a girl, a girlfriend and not the girlfriend, but
a girlfriend. There's been a long parade of them.
Speaker 5 (20:23):
Sorry, as did you say, how did you find out?
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Yes?
Speaker 5 (20:25):
Yeah, it was posted online on. There was a few
Justice for Nikki pages up on Facebook and it was
posted online and then there were also pictures as well too.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Wait are you telling me he posted photos of the
other woman on the Justice for Nicki pate.
Speaker 5 (20:43):
There were people who would drive by Tyler's house just
to kind of see what was going on, and they
were seeing the same female that was outside of his
home with Tyler, and then someone from the girl. Her
family members were also concerned because they've also found out
that their sister had been staying at Tyler's home, and
(21:04):
so that's kind of how we found out also as well,
to confirm the story even.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
More, Lauren Colin joining me investigative reporter, star of Pop
Crime TV on YouTube, Lauren Conlin, of course, I'm sure
when I go back to him, Franz Borghart is going
to say that means nothing. That doesn't prove he's a
mergerer just because he's a cheater. What do you know
about all the girlfriends?
Speaker 13 (21:28):
Well, the community has really rallied around helping Nicky and
being there for Chloe and Kay and the children. So
I saw these pictures in the Facebook group and I
was shocked. But Nancy, I want to point out that,
you know, you mentioned this case started out as a
missing person's case, but it wasn't until March of twenty
twenty five that it was actually deemed a homicide case.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
And that is.
Speaker 13 (21:51):
When they actually were able to serve a search warrant
to Tyler and searched Tyler and Nikki's home in Anderson, California.
And you know, we still don't know what they found
in that search. It is still very unclear, but we
know at that point they deemed Nikki a victim of
a homicide.
Speaker 10 (22:11):
Based on the evidence gathered, information learned from interviews, and
the fact that no one in Nicky's family has seen
or heard from Niki since her disappearance, the detectives has
determined that Nikki is a victim of homicide.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
A young mom, Nikki Chaine, is still missing.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
She was faking horribly. Her mouth was covered in tape,
cold water was poured on her.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
She thought that was going to be the end, that
was going to be the time he did it, and
she was scared, scared to death.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
She was scared for her life.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
And she did state that the next time, if it
were to ever happen again, could be could.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Be it Nicki missing, believed dead in the last days,
finally and arrest. What is a smoking gun? We think
we know? Listen?
Speaker 6 (22:58):
Counts ten through twelve are for very violations occurring. On
April first of this year, after Nicki had been reported
missing for almost an entire year, McCain was observed throwing
items out of his vehicle and when he was pulled
over on his possession was a burnt California driver's license
for Nicki McCain.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
So isn't it correct, Dave matt One of the last
times we know Nicki Chang was alive, she was driving
her truck which was found in a very obscure area abandoned.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
She was driving the truck right correct.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
She was actually driving her mother in law and presumably
with her driver's license right.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
That would be correct.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
So explain to me, Lauren Colin, how husband Tyler McCain
is busted throwing out her burned driver's license, which we
believe was on her the last time she was seen alive.
Tell me how that happened.
Speaker 13 (23:54):
Yes, he was pulled over in April of twenty twenty
five after he was seen kind of unable to stay
in the correct lanes and then as the report mentioned,
he was seen growing various things out the window, and
detectives located his wallet, and inside his wallet was Nicky's
California driver's license, which investigators said had partial burn damage
(24:19):
to it. And Nancy, remember in July of twenty twenty four,
a fire spread across Tyler and Nicky's property of almost
ninety eight acres.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
You're seeing shots and video of the fire right now,
Lauren Conlin. How does the fire fit into everything? So
he is burning evidence and got out of control.
Speaker 13 (24:41):
I mean, we don't know that for sure, Nancy, but
I think that many of us surmise that this is
the case here and again with Nicky's body not being
located yet. You know, my head also goes that way.
But you know you mentioned Scott Peterson in March of
twenty twenty five. You know they had eyes on on Tyler.
They brought him in to this press conference where they
(25:04):
made him speak again, just like Scott Peterson, and it
is so uncomfortable to watch. In my opinion, Nancy, Tyler
appears to be uncomfortable himself. He says things like I'm
just here in support. He actually even says I'm sorry
and I just you know, I can't imagine what was
going through Chloe and Caveshead at that time. But again,
(25:28):
I want to give props to law enforcement who have
worked so diligently over the last year to get this arrest.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Speaking of that awkward press conference, you're absolutely right, Lauren Colin.
Let's take a look at Tyler McCain blathering I'm.
Speaker 11 (25:42):
Trying to.
Speaker 14 (25:45):
Nikki kan the first office, w I forget involved any
efforts that are health by my phone. We miss you.
(26:07):
I really know what say. I haven't been in the
other guys. I've been done very well with it. Apologize everyone,
especially my children, my wife's pie as well. I'm just
(26:29):
seringer part. So anything that I can do, I.
Speaker 12 (26:32):
Want to do that.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Straight Back to veterman trial lawyer, former prosecutor, now defense
attorney Franz Borghart, I guess you always tell your clients
keep your pie hole shut, because he's there saying, uh,
we miss you.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Like somebody had to pinch him to say it.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
I can't wait till they play that for the jury.
What about it, Franz.
Speaker 7 (26:52):
It really makes my life easier when they keep their
mouth shut. And you know what the funny thing is, Nancy.
Had he been quiet like a morning hauntsband. I think
people understood that, But that statement not good for his defense.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Yeah, he's talking, Franz about how much he misses NICKI.
I guess he and his girlfriend were really missing her
a lot.
Speaker 7 (27:14):
Franz, Well, you got to prove that that's his girlfriend.
A social media post in twenty twenty five of somebody
with you is not necessarily a relationship. So we're gonna
have to give him a little bit of reasonable doubt
on that.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Oh, nothing can make me happier than to put miss
Thing up on the stand and cross examine her about
when she started having sex with Tyler McCain. What was
it the night Nicky went missing? I can't wait to
do that. Thank you. That's an excellent idea. Franz to
Kay and Chloe, question which one of you were standing
directly by him during that press conference?
Speaker 2 (27:47):
That was me? Kay?
Speaker 1 (27:48):
How did that feel? Did you just want to give
him a little finger necklace?
Speaker 2 (27:53):
I actually wanted to encourage him to speak more. I
knew he had more to say, and I tried to
make tact and be supportive to see if he would
speak more. But yes, deep down it was I'm just
very difficult.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
I'm curious, Chloe, what was going through your mind at
the time he was talking about how much he missed Nikki.
Speaker 5 (28:13):
I was expecting a little bit more from him, just
kind of like what Kay was saying, trying to encourage
him to say more. I actually didn't know what to
expect when he was speaking. But the whole time I
was like, what, that's all you could have said. You
couldn't say like I love her so much, I wish
she was home. I just wish he would express something
more like a husband who was really missing their wife.
(28:35):
But I got the company opposite.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
But you know, he shacked up with other women and
not just one, so anything he said about missing her
would have been a big, fat lie, Chloe, And that's true.
Speaker 5 (28:46):
I think it just showed exactly what type of person
he was and showed how little he cared for NICKI.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Well, I guess that's the perfect segue for Franz Borghart
to talk about how this is not a miss congeniality
contest where we don't have to like him, we just
have to find out if there's evidence to convict him.
But his whole spiel about please bring Nikki hum reminds
me of somebody else, somebody named Chris Watts.
Speaker 7 (29:12):
I want my family back like I want them safe,
and I want them here like this house is not
the same.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
I want everybody back.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
That's why everybody.
Speaker 12 (29:18):
I need everybody back here and everybody's safe.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
From our friends. Sat KAUSA crime stories with Nancy Grace.
I mean, come on, Brian Fitzgibbons, how many times have
you seen the perp trying to make themselves cry? Making
(29:41):
a tearful play? Now? I got to give it to
Susan Smith. She actually did drum up some tears when
she begged for the return of her two boys that
she killed. So, Brian, what do you make? And I'm
glad Lauren Colin brought it up. I was talking about
the burned driver's license of Nicky's found in his wallet
and he trying to get rid of it. There was
(30:01):
that fire on his property and it was chalked up
to a catalytic converter. Wow, okay. So his wife goes missing,
the wife that he has been terrorizing, binding, putting duct
tape over her mouth, beating her, trying to drown her.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
She goes missing.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Suddenly a fire breaks out and now we have her
partially burned driver's license. But for s Gibbons, first, his
plea for Nicky's return.
Speaker 8 (30:26):
Really perplexing Nancy in the hubrisk for him to get
in front of a camera is shocking, right. And you
know when we're talking about these fires and their fires plural, right,
we have the one at the Olinda Road residents, but
there are other fires at properties associated with McCain that
I think we're going to see come out and trial
(30:46):
maybe connected to this case.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Well, it doesn't bode well for finding her remains if
he is a firebug, because you know, Brian, I probably
need a shrink doctor Bethany to explain this. In her jargon,
you always see a perr falling back on that with
which they are familiar. Here's Scott Peterson, perfect example. He
(31:09):
likes to fish, So where did he dispose of Lacy
and Connor's bodies one of his fishing holes? Right, this
guy is a firebug. He's connected, as Brian fus Gibbons
pointed out to several Arsons, several burning incidents.
Speaker 3 (31:23):
Let me rephrase.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
That makes me think, when you don't know a horse,
look at his track record, that's probably what he did.
With Nicky's body.
Speaker 9 (31:31):
And wasn't Chris Watts associated with the oil industry if
I recall correctly, and that's where he secreted his best
daughter's bodies.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Similar not just associated, it's not just associated, You're dead
on again. He took his wife, Shenan's body and the
daughters of his two little girls, Bella and Celeste, and
put Bella and Celeste in oil drums and buried Nikki
there on the Anadarko oil fields in a shallow grape
where she had coffin post mortem, she gave birth to
(32:02):
baby Nico there would have been their first son. You're right,
another good example, doctor Bethany.
Speaker 9 (32:07):
I'd be curious about what the children saw, what's the
new girlfriend experiencing? What did the extended family see? This
is a firebug, and this is a rage aholic who's
just going to keep doing it again and again. I
think can tell he's behind bars.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
To Nikki's sister, Chloe. Chloe, how many children did NICKI
have with McCain?
Speaker 5 (32:28):
Tyler and Nikki have four children together, so.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
Now they don't have a mom. I'm just thinking about
the genesis, how her disappearance and death occurred. We don't
know all the answers, but we do believe we have
a motive that McCain murdered his wife, Nikki, the mother
of four, to stop her from testifying against him in
(32:52):
that horrible domestic violence episode.
Speaker 6 (32:56):
It is our belief that Tyler McCain murdered his wife,
Nicki mckein prevent her from testifying in the domestic violence case.
This enhancement elevates the murder charge from a sentence of
twenty five to life to life without the possibility of parole.
Had we gone forward with the domestic violence case in
twenty twenty four, we would not have been able to
prove that case without her testimony without also having to
(33:19):
prove that McCain caused her disappearance. Count nine charges forgery
occurring May twenty ninth, again after Nicki went missing. Around
May eighteenth, shortly after Nicki was reported missing. This forgery
charge results out of a forge signature on a joint
tax return check that we believe that Tyler McCain forged
(33:41):
her signature to cash that check.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Oh my stars, according to prosecutors, he killed her and
then forced her name to get the tax return. Chloe
Sally and Kay Ford with us the Nicki sisters who
have been fighting for justice for Nicki since day one?
To Kay, do you believe and have you been led
to believe that her remains will be found?
Speaker 2 (34:05):
I feel confident with the evidence that the detectives have
collected and also the I do have confidence in our community.
Although I don't believe her body is known at this point,
I do feel good about people coming forward. We have
already even receiving a lot more tips as of Tyler's arrest,
and yeah, I do think that we're going to recover
(34:27):
her body.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
I'm very curious about this smoking gun that was the
final straw and led to the arrest of Tyler McCain
and what prosecutors say is the murder of Nikki Chang.
I'm curious, Doctor Bethany Marshall, could you explain why he
would have kept Nicki's driver's license in his wallet.
Speaker 9 (34:47):
I don't think it's that deep or mysterious. I think
he needed her ID so he could continue to take
advantage of her financially. He's already forging a signature on
a tax return, all right. I think we'll find more love, fraud, loves, swindling,
financial mouthfeasons. I think We'll find that he had many
reasons to have her gone, that this was not just
an outcropping of domestic violence that went too far, That
(35:10):
he already had other girlfriends that he probably stood to
gain financially in some way. He needed her out of
the way. So what better way to take advantage of
somebody who's already gone than to hold on to all
their identification. I think he found to find a million
uses for that driver's license, Nancy, because obviously if it's burned,
(35:33):
he was in the process of incinerating something and then
he went in and retrieved it. So why would he
retrieve it if he didn't want to use it in
some way?
Speaker 7 (35:40):
You know?
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Brian Fitzgibbons, I think that there is more to it,
because I'm saying, investigated, prosecuted so many cases where killers
keep mementos of their victims, and I've always found it
curious for them. It's like I would keep ticket stubs
or photos or programs of when the toy had an
honor event or that means something to me, and to
(36:03):
just look at it, you may not even know what
it is, but I would know what it is. I
think it's not just to use her id for practical purposes.
He had it with all of his other pictures and
things he kept in his wallet. He kept that. He
kept that after exercising complete and total control over her,
binding her hands and feet, putting duct tape over her mouth,
(36:25):
beating her, or trying to drown her, and even after
he killed her, according to prosecutors, he kept that so
he could see it every day.
Speaker 8 (36:35):
Yeah, that was a really shocking development, Nancy. And it
goes against you know, one of the things that Tyler
had told Nicki's family early on is that she had
left on her own volition. Okay, so you know, when
we take those pieces of information together, why would she
leave without her driver's license? And then why would he
keep it and not advise Shasta County sheriffs that he
(36:56):
had it and that she didn't have it in her possession.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Lauren Collin joining us Pop Crime TV. I still don't
get why these women are attracted to Tyler McCain. I
don't get it. I'll look at him, I say, the devil.
What's special about him?
Speaker 3 (37:09):
What does he have other than his wife's house?
Speaker 13 (37:12):
Now, I'm with you, I mean without knowing the guy,
I don't know, Nancy, is it the bad boy thing.
I have no idea. I can't even speculate on that.
But one other thing I want to point out. I
thought Brian made some really great points. But prosecutors also
described an overwhelming odor of decomposition coming from the bed
(37:33):
of Nicky's truck where they found a sheet and it
had Nicky's blood on it.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
You heard the Nicky sisters stating that since Tyler McCain's arrest,
more tips are coming in. There is currently a thirty
thousand dollar reward still in place for information regarding Nicky's
remains thirty thousand dollars. If you know or think you
(37:59):
know anything but the location of Nikki or her remains,
please dial five three zero two four five six' five
four zero repeat five three zero two four five six' five.
Four zero it ain't. Over yet while we wait for justice,
two unfold we Remember an, American Hero Detective anthony stanley
(38:23):
or Is to CREETE. P, d texas killed in the line,
of duty leaving behind Grieving daughters Kristen. And shelby American
Hero Detective Anthony Stanley nancy gray signing off Goodbye for
ald
Host
Nancy Grace
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.