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00:11My daughter told my wife that she was going out to a Halloween party with her friends.
00:16But that next day, nobody had seen her, nobody had heard from her.
00:20Her friends told us that she didn't ever show up to the Halloween party.
00:25The police were getting leads left in her eye.
00:27People saying, hey, we saw her here, hey, we saw her there.
00:29Also, there were lots of rumors that she'd gotten involved with a guy named Spider.
00:34The detectives heard that she could possibly be buried on his property.
00:39But they kept hitting dead end after dead end.
00:43And then a young woman comes to the police department and wants to talk to the detectives.
00:49I know what happened to you, brother.
00:51I lied because I was scared.
00:55How in the hell can you do something like that?
00:57That's one of the most disturbing cases I've been a part of due to the premeditation.
01:01I've never seen such a thought out planned murder in my career as a prosecutor.
01:22Bend, Oregon is basically an outdoor paradise.
01:27Violent crime is low compared to a lot of places.
01:30It's a really safe place.
01:33But every city has its dark side.
01:43On November 1st, 2004, I was 12 years old.
01:48That night, I was home.
01:50My mom was home.
01:52My oldest sister, Nicole, was home.
01:54My daughter, Nicole, was 21 years old.
01:57She had lots of friends.
01:58And she told my wife that she was going out to a Halloween party with her friends.
02:03And she told me back later on.
02:06I was actually a senior in high school at the time.
02:09And around here, it's normal for people to have Halloween parties on November 1st.
02:14Especially adults, they want to be able to go out after handing out candy on Halloween.
02:20Nikki never said exactly whose house it was when she talked about the Halloween party.
02:31On November 2nd, that next day, Nikki still wasn't home.
02:36But Nikki would leave literally for like days at a time.
02:40She'd find some friends and they'd be like, yeah, just come stay here.
02:45Nicole always wanted to check out other areas.
02:50And so we just figured she was going to go on out and do her thing for a while.
02:54And Nicole was going to show up one day just out of the blue.
02:57She was 21.
02:59Like, oh, I'm an adult.
03:00I can do what I want.
03:03But we noticed her purse was there.
03:05Her wallet was there.
03:06All of her personal effects were at the house.
03:09Didn't take them with it, which found that kind of odd.
03:13Within a few days, things kind of started looking weird.
03:17Because she would have called.
03:21On November 7th, Nicole's mother, Robin, contacted the Venn Police Department
03:25and wanted to report her daughter as a missing person.
03:29Nicole had been gone six days at that time.
03:33When her mother last saw her on November 1st at 7.30,
03:36she was picked up by a vehicle that drove her to the party.
03:41But Robin did not see the car and she didn't know who picked her up.
03:46Robin let police know that Nicole had been wearing black pants,
03:49white tennis shoes, and a maroon polo shirt that had actually been issued to her dad.
03:53And it had the word Ben inscribed on it because her dad was a bus driver at the time.
03:57We'd call her friends that we knew that she would probably go stay with.
04:00But nobody had seen her, nobody had heard from her.
04:06We made up flyers.
04:08We posted them everywhere, all the cities around Central Oregon, hundreds of flyers out.
04:20Nicole's mom also let police know that Nicole had a large group of friends
04:24that were kind of gothic, dressing, and liked to hang out in the downtown Bend area.
04:31One of those people said that she knew there was a Halloween party on November 1st,
04:35and it was hosted at a house that was being rented by Lauren Bowers.
04:41Lauren Bowers was a friend of Nikki's from around town who she actually had dated,
04:46but they were just friends at that time.
04:49Lauren also was a friend of the family.
04:51He'd come over for dinner.
04:53Lauren would come over to, like, help my dad and move something, fix something.
04:58So that party at Lauren's is possibly where Nikki was going on November 1st.
05:06Police went and talked to Lauren Bowers.
05:08He did indicate that he had been really good friends with Nicole and Nicole's family.
05:13Also present at the house was Lauren's girlfriend, and the other roommate was Craig Whiting.
05:22They all knew Nicole and were friends with Nicole,
05:24but all of them said that she hadn't been to the Halloween party.
05:33We knew Craig Whiting through Lauren,
05:36because at one point he actually lived with us for about six months,
05:40because he didn't have a permanent residence, and we gave him one.
05:45At the time, Craig didn't have much money,
05:48and my parents were trying to help him get his life in order.
05:54Detectives back then wanted to get a statement from each person at the house
05:58and people that were at the party.
06:01We knew that Lauren had a criminal history,
06:04and he had been in prison before,
06:06but we didn't have any type of evidence
06:09that would give automatic grounds for a search of his residence.
06:13Also, Lauren and everyone else in the house that lived with him
06:17was cooperating with police,
06:19and there was nothing indicating they would be linked to Nicole being missing.
06:24We have a young woman who's 21 years old
06:27who gets into a vehicle voluntarily, and then she doesn't return.
06:30Maybe there was a different Halloween party,
06:33but detectives don't have a lot of information to go on,
06:36so they talked to Nicole's family
06:38to try to create somewhat of a picture of
06:40who Nicole was as a person to help this investigation.
06:51We were a really close family.
06:53Like, there's no ifs, ands, or buts about that.
06:57Nikki still lived at home,
06:59and she was the oldest.
07:01She'd help me get ready for dances,
07:03and we'd just, like, dance around, have fun.
07:06And Mom and Nikki, their personalities were a lot alike as well.
07:09Very loud, outgoing personalities.
07:12But Nikki is completely Daddy's girl.
07:14She was kind of a tomboy.
07:17She liked to go hunting and fishing with me,
07:20go out cutting firewood.
07:21Well, I got out of the Marine Corps in 1987,
07:25and she was actually getting ready to join the Marine Corps herself,
07:28and then get the schooling to be,
07:30she wanted to be a marine biologist.
07:32That was her dream in life.
07:34Worked with dolphins.
07:36She even had a tattoo on her shoulder of a dolphin.
07:40And she loved children.
07:42Back then, Nicole was a babysitter,
07:44so that's what she did for a living.
07:47Me and my sister Nicole were best friends.
07:49I was, like, the oldest and youngest,
07:51but as she was getting older,
07:53she started hanging out with probably not the best,
07:56ideal people to be around.
07:58Nicole and I had several boyfriends.
08:01I didn't really know them individually,
08:03because as she got over 18,
08:06pretty much do what she wanted to.
08:13Talking with the parents and the family,
08:15the detectives find out that Nicole recently broke up
08:17with a boyfriend about a week or so
08:19before this Halloween party.
08:22In my eyes, he was not a good person.
08:24They hadn't dated super long,
08:26but Nicole had even told us
08:28he had gotten physical with her before
08:30and argued with her a lot.
08:33And from what I understand,
08:35he had been in and out of jail,
08:36so he had a really bad history.
08:38Hearing that this relationship was toxic,
08:41obviously that is somebody
08:43the detectives wanted to contact,
08:45because sometimes relationships can end poorly.
08:48When somebody goes missing after a breakup like that,
08:51you never know.
08:53So it was definitely a thought
08:54that he could have done something to Nikki.
08:59Nicole's ex-boyfriend seems dubious,
09:02because conveniently they just broke up
09:05and he doesn't know where she is.
09:06And then we heard that a body had been found.
09:09It was a female that fit generally
09:11the description of Nicole.
09:12The main suspect is talking,
09:15and I thought,
09:15oh my gosh, is he going to spill it?
09:18They had planned on killing her
09:20because she was doing the right thing.
09:23I already know what happened.
09:38Anytime there's a missing persons case,
09:40police are naturally going to look
09:42to the people who are closest
09:43to the missing person.
09:46And so in Nicole's case,
09:47she had had a boyfriend,
09:50and they had broken up
09:51not very long before she went missing.
09:56The detectives contacted the ex-boyfriend,
09:59brought him in for questioning,
10:01and with some phone calls,
10:03they could corroborate his whereabouts
10:05on November 1st.
10:07Then he tells police
10:09that he has no idea where Nicole was.
10:12This is still seeming dubious to the police,
10:15so they asked him to do a polygraph.
10:17He passed the polygraph,
10:19and so detectives pretty much ruled him out
10:22as a suspect at that point.
10:27One of the challenges in this case
10:28was detectives were receiving
10:30a lot of information
10:31from local residents
10:32about locations on where Nicole had been seen.
10:36There was a news report about it
10:37on our local television station,
10:39so people thought they saw Nicole on a bus.
10:42They saw her downtown.
10:44downtown.
10:46But all of them were dead ends.
10:51So all we could do is just put up more flyers
10:54and just continue to look.
10:56I hold my emotions in better than most people,
11:01but we never gave up hope
11:03that she was out there somewhere,
11:06and I never stopped looking.
11:20Our detectives continued to work
11:22on following up leads
11:23and a few months after the initial missing persons report,
11:26there were lots of new rumors going around
11:28amongst kind of the friends
11:29and people that hung out
11:31in the Drake Park area known as the Park Rats.
11:34The Park Rats were young adults
11:36that were drug users.
11:37Nicole is a young 21-year-old.
11:39She's trying to navigate her way
11:41through this world,
11:42and she, like many other people,
11:44made some poor decisions along the way
11:46and kind of got caught up
11:47in a group of people
11:48that were probably not the best for her.
11:52The Park Rats said
11:54that Nicole had gotten involved
11:55with a guy named Devin
11:57who we actually knew
11:57had a street name of Spider.
12:01Spider was kind of like
12:02the leader of the pack,
12:03the leader of the group
12:05down at Drake Park,
12:06and he was a known troublemaker.
12:09He scared people, so to speak.
12:11That's where some people thought
12:12that they were a gang,
12:14and from what I understand,
12:16Nicole had actually gone out
12:17with him at one time.
12:18Of course, I didn't like it at all.
12:21Spider actually went to school
12:22with my sister for a while.
12:25He did have a really bumpy past.
12:27He is one of those
12:27who had been in and out of jail.
12:29We were told at one time
12:31that Spider and his groups
12:33were into, like, satanic-type rituals
12:36and that they tried to get
12:39Nicole involved in that.
12:41So it was definitely a thought
12:42that he could have been part
12:43of Nikki's disappearance.
12:46And then somebody with a lead
12:48called the police department
12:48saying that Nicole could possibly
12:50be buried on his property.
12:52And they didn't want Spider
12:54to be able to have the time
12:55to move the body.
12:57So they contacted the National Guard
12:59and were trying to get a radar unit
13:02that flies over
13:03and detects ground disturbances
13:05using ground-penetrating radar.
13:08But the National Guard determined
13:09that the trees were so dense
13:11that their technology
13:12would not help us
13:13in this investigation.
13:16Detectives were able
13:17to contact Spider
13:18and get him to come down
13:19to the Bend Police Department
13:20for an interview.
13:21Spider was cooperative,
13:23and he said if he knew
13:24where she was,
13:25he would tell her parents
13:26because he could tell
13:27how distraught and upset
13:28her parents were
13:28since she had gone missing.
13:30He did recount
13:31the last time he had seen her
13:32was at a Halloween party.
13:35Confusing.
13:35Not the same Halloween party
13:37that happened on November 1st
13:39with Lauren Bowers
13:39and that crowd,
13:40but a true Halloween party
13:42on Halloween.
13:43He described how her
13:44and some of their other friends
13:45actually went trick-or-treating
13:46for a while,
13:47and then they came back
13:48and all fell asleep.
13:50The next day,
13:51November 1st,
13:52somewhere later in the day
13:53around noon,
13:54Spider said that he
13:55took Nicole back to her house,
13:57dropped her off,
13:58and then left.
14:00Detectives talked
14:01to other friends
14:02and were able
14:03to verify Spider's story,
14:04but still were concerned
14:06he may have something
14:06to do with Nicole's disappearance,
14:08so they asked him
14:09if he'd be willing
14:09to take a polygraph test,
14:10and he said he would do so.
14:13They asked him,
14:14was he involved
14:15in Nicole's disappearance?
14:16Did he know
14:17where Nicole currently was?
14:18Did he cause Nicole's death?
14:20And he passed
14:21all those questions.
14:23So the detectives
14:24at that time
14:25felt pretty confident
14:26that they could rule out
14:27Spider as being part
14:29of Nicole's disappearance.
14:31By this point
14:32in the investigation,
14:33detectives had already
14:34sent out subpoenas
14:35for Nicole's cell phone,
14:37her credit cards,
14:39her debit cards.
14:41If a person were alive,
14:42they would normally
14:43be using these things,
14:44but there was nothing.
14:47Her mother recognized
14:48she's been hanging around
14:49some really bad people,
14:50and there was something
14:52in Robin that felt
14:54that something bad
14:56had happened to her daughter.
14:58Mother's intuition,
14:59I don't know.
15:01And detectives
15:02just kept hitting
15:02dead end after dead end.
15:05They didn't know
15:06what happened.
15:09A few months after that,
15:11a body had been found
15:14closer to the Portland
15:15metropolitan area.
15:17It was a female
15:19that fit generally
15:19the description of Nicole.
15:24I thought Nicole
15:25was out there
15:26still alive,
15:27but we got a call
15:29saying that
15:29they found a girl's body
15:31about the same age
15:32and body style
15:33and all that stuff,
15:34and I couldn't believe
15:35Nicole was gone.
15:37So the one thing
15:38I asked them,
15:39I said,
15:39well, look on her left shoulder.
15:41If she's got a tattoo
15:42of a dolphin
15:43on her left shoulder,
15:45that might be her.
15:49I don't know.
15:56When my parents
15:58got the message
15:59from the detectives
16:00here in Bend
16:01that in Portland
16:02a body had been found
16:03that matched
16:04Nicole's description,
16:05it was kind of
16:07like a gut shot.
16:09The last thing
16:09you want to hear
16:10is your person's
16:11being killed.
16:13Portland is only
16:14the three-hour drive
16:15from Bend,
16:16so this was
16:17a strong lead.
16:19Also,
16:19at one point
16:20before she went missing,
16:22Nicole had left,
16:23went to Portland,
16:24and so my parents
16:25were thinking
16:26maybe she had
16:27gone up again
16:28and this was Nicole.
16:30It was just
16:32excruciating
16:33waiting to find out
16:34if this body
16:35that was found
16:36is my sister.
16:39But the detectives
16:41at that time
16:41found out
16:42that ultimately
16:42it wasn't her
16:43because it didn't have
16:45the same very unique
16:46dolphin tattoo
16:47that Nicole had.
16:49It was a relief period
16:51because there's still
16:52hope
16:53that she's still
16:54out there.
16:55Okay,
16:56what next?
17:00As this case
17:01moved on
17:02through the months
17:03following,
17:04the detectives
17:05continued to track
17:06down leads,
17:07but at some point
17:08they don't really
17:09have a lot of updates
17:10to give
17:10and as an investigator
17:11that's just really
17:12frustrating.
17:13It can also be
17:13discouraging.
17:14Well,
17:15I always had
17:16the thought
17:16in my head
17:17that Nicole
17:18was going to show up.
17:19I mean,
17:20driving around
17:20bending my bus
17:22and all day long,
17:23every person I saw
17:25that resembled her,
17:26I looked
17:27and I had to
17:28make sure
17:28that it wasn't her.
17:29We still thought
17:30she'll come home
17:31even if it's
17:3210 years from now.
17:41The way our department
17:42works is that
17:43every three years
17:44we rotate our detectives.
17:45So in January
17:47of 2007,
17:48we have a new rotation
17:50and I was promoted
17:51and given
17:52the Nicole Hutchins
17:53missing person case
17:54leading our investigation
17:56and I didn't have much.
17:58I had a lot
18:00of police reports
18:00that were chasing
18:01dead ends
18:02that never materialized.
18:05But having fresh eyes
18:07on this case,
18:07you go in there
18:08with like this renewed
18:09energy of like,
18:10I'm going to solve this.
18:12First,
18:12with our new detectives,
18:13a lot of us
18:14were tasked
18:14with sending out
18:15letters and faxes
18:16to different jails,
18:18different hospitals,
18:19running credit checks.
18:21But at this point,
18:22nobody heard anything
18:23from Nicole
18:23in about two years.
18:28Next,
18:29I started to look
18:29into all the prior reports,
18:31trying to determine
18:32was there anything
18:32that we'd missed.
18:35and I noticed
18:36we had a couple
18:36early on suspects
18:37and planned
18:38to re-interview them.
18:44So as we were
18:45developing our plan
18:45to speak with
18:46this group
18:47of suspicious people,
18:48a young woman
18:49named Shannon
18:50comes to the
18:51Bend Police Department
18:51into the lobby
18:53and wants to talk
18:54to the detectives.
18:56Okay,
18:57so I hear
18:57that you want
18:58to talk to me
18:59about something.
19:00Tell me
19:00what you want
19:00to talk about.
19:10She said
19:11that her boyfriend
19:12killed Nicole Hutchings.
19:16Her boyfriend
19:18is Lauren Bowers.
19:26Lauren killed her.
19:28How do you know that?
19:30Because she was
19:31at my house
19:32that night
19:32and he told me
19:34he was going to.
19:36As soon as Shannon
19:37comes in,
19:38that revives
19:39this entire investigation.
19:40It changed everything.
19:42Shannon told us
19:44she couldn't live
19:44with herself anymore
19:45because of the information
19:46she had,
19:47that her heart
19:47was just broken
19:48for what had happened
19:49to Nicole.
19:51And I believed her.
19:53This is a huge
19:54break in the case.
19:56Shannon,
19:56who had been interviewed
19:57during the first investigation,
19:59indicated that
20:00she and Lauren Bowers
20:02had been together
20:03for several years.
20:04They have a son together.
20:05And she starts
20:06to tell us
20:07really good details
20:08about the Halloween party
20:09at Lauren Bowers' house
20:10on November 1st, 2004.
20:14They were talking about
20:16getting Europe
20:16to come over.
20:18Him and Craig Whiting.
20:21And so Lauren's friend,
20:23Craig Whiting,
20:24was involved as well.
20:26For all of us,
20:27it was pretty shocking
20:28because both of them
20:30initially had been interviewed
20:31as well as Shannon
20:32and were cooperative
20:33with the investigation.
20:34So Lauren called
20:37Nicole about coming over.
20:39And he told her what?
20:41Not to tell anybody
20:42where she was going.
20:44They spiked her drink.
20:46I think it was with Vicodin.
20:50Nicole was just
20:51kind of passing out.
20:53Lauren said,
20:55OK, it's time.
20:56Let's go.
20:57And him and Craig
20:57picked her up off the floor
20:59and carried her out
21:01to the truck.
21:02They came back
21:03a couple hours later
21:05and it was time.
21:07When the police got there,
21:08he just said
21:09everybody knows what to say.
21:10She wasn't here.
21:12Everyone lied to us
21:13when we first talked to you.
21:15I know.
21:17I lied to you
21:18because I was scared.
21:20He told me
21:21if I ever told anybody,
21:23you'll get a moment
21:24right between the eyes.
21:41A lady named Shannon
21:42comes into the police department.
21:44Shannon's boyfriend
21:45is Lauren Bowers.
21:46And Shannon says
21:48Lauren and Craig Whiting
21:49killed Nicole Hutchings.
21:52She was obviously
21:53very scared of Lauren
21:54and we wanted to protect her.
21:56And we're trying
21:57to be compassionate
21:58as now she was going
21:58to become one
21:59of our key witnesses.
22:02Shannon decided
22:03that she's wanting
22:03to take her and her son
22:04and start a new life
22:05away from Lauren.
22:07This is kind of
22:08what motivated her
22:09to come to the police department.
22:11Did he plan this out
22:12ahead of time?
22:14Lauren came up
22:15with a plan
22:15and Craig just went along
22:17with it.
22:18They were talking
22:19about getting her
22:20to come over,
22:22dragging her,
22:23and then taking her out
22:25and killing her.
22:29Do you know
22:30why Lauren did it?
22:32Dad, I couldn't
22:32tell you for sure.
22:34Well, the most
22:34important thing is
22:35do you know
22:36where her body is?
22:38No, we don't.
22:42After all these years
22:43of frustration
22:44and all these dead ends,
22:45now we have something
22:45to work on.
22:47What we have
22:48are a lot of
22:48corroborating statements
22:49which are good,
22:52but what we don't have
22:54is a body.
23:01While police may arrest
23:02on probable cause,
23:03that's a much
23:04different standard
23:05than proving beyond
23:06a reasonable doubt
23:06that somebody
23:07murdered Nicole.
23:09A really good way
23:10to think about
23:11a no-body homicide
23:12is let's say
23:13you have a situation
23:14where somebody hears
23:15what they think
23:16is violence in a home
23:17and maybe there's
23:18a weapon
23:19or something
23:21where you say,
23:21hey, we don't have
23:22a body,
23:23but somebody
23:23was either
23:24seriously injured
23:25or killed here.
23:26We didn't have that.
23:28Without the body,
23:29we needed a confession.
23:30Without the confession,
23:32we were not going
23:33to be successful
23:33in this prosecution.
23:38So we asked Shannon
23:40if she would be willing
23:41to wear a wire
23:42with Lauren Bowers
23:43and we could have them
23:45meet in maybe
23:46a public area
23:47like a park.
23:48And she said
23:49she would be willing
23:50to do that.
23:52Weeks later,
23:53Lauren and Shannon,
23:55they're having
23:55a child visitation
23:56and while the child
23:57was playing,
23:58she would try
23:59to get information
24:00out of Lauren's mouth
24:01about the murder
24:02so that we could
24:03prosecute this successfully.
24:06We had myself
24:07and other detectives
24:08close by
24:08as a protection detail
24:10if things,
24:11you know,
24:12did go sideways.
24:14Then we saw Lauren
24:15approach Shannon
24:19and they started talking.
24:21I'm so scared
24:22that you're going
24:23to leave me.
24:24I'm not going
24:25to leave you.
24:26You're the only one
24:26I've ever talked to
24:27about this.
24:28I know
24:29but I want to know
24:31why
24:31and what happened.
24:33That bitch was trying
24:35to destroy my life.
24:36You know how bad
24:38that hurt me.
24:40I hope you don't hate me
24:41for that
24:42because I hate myself
24:43for what I did.
24:45What did you do?
24:49I had her gotten rid of,
24:51okay?
24:55What about the bodies?
24:56I don't know.
24:58The body might be gone
24:59but if somebody finds
25:01her bones,
25:02I'm...
25:04When the district attorney
25:06Wells Aspie heard,
25:08I got rid of her.
25:09We looked at each other
25:11and goes,
25:11we've got enough.
25:12Let's bring them back
25:13to the station
25:14to do a complete interrogation.
25:20A few days later,
25:22the plan was to pick up
25:23both Craig and Lauren
25:25simultaneously
25:25so they didn't have
25:26an opportunity
25:27to call the other person
25:28and tip somebody off.
25:29On March 12, 2007,
25:31we were able to watch Lauren
25:33and watch Craig
25:34early that morning
25:35and have our patrol units
25:37conduct a traffic stop
25:39their own opposite sides
25:40of town.
25:41During those traffic stops,
25:42we have detectives
25:44randomly show up
25:45and say,
25:45hey, we're part
25:46of the Cole case.
25:46We know you were
25:47initially contacted
25:49and interviewed
25:49on the Nicole Hutchins
25:50missing persons case.
25:52Would you be willing
25:52to come down
25:53to the police department
25:54and answer some more questions?
25:56And both Lauren Bowers
25:58and Craig Whiting
25:59voluntarily agreed
26:00to come down
26:00to the police department
26:01and then one of the detectives
26:03had the great idea
26:04to have them pass each other
26:05in the hallway.
26:07When a co-defendant
26:09sees another co-defendant,
26:10he's going to make
26:11that person think,
26:12is that other guy talking?
26:14Maybe I should start talking.
26:15And if you talk first,
26:17maybe you get the best deal.
26:19When they saw each other,
26:21Lauren Bowers' face
26:22literally just dropped
26:24like, oh, my God.
26:27So we're either going to
26:28really break this thing open
26:29or these two are going
26:31to ask for an attorney
26:32and we're moving ahead
26:33with a no-body homicide.
26:38We started our interview
26:40with Lauren Bowers.
26:42She didn't know
26:43we had the body wire
26:44from Shannon
26:45and we wanted to lock him
26:46into a statement
26:48about what happened
26:49to Nicole.
26:50A couple of things
26:51have come out
26:52that you don't make
26:52my chance to me.
26:53And that's what I'm
26:54going to ask you about.
26:56And you think you did?
26:57I don't know.
26:59I know, huh?
27:00So why did you win
27:02two and a half years
27:03to go to a park
27:03to talk to your girlfriend?
27:05Why would you tell her
27:06then I had her gotten rid of?
27:08I did not say that to her.
27:10I never had her gotten rid of.
27:12I don't have
27:12that kind of power.
27:15I know a lie.
27:17She was at your house.
27:18No, she would not.
27:20All I want to know
27:21is where the poor girl was by.
27:23I didn't do it.
27:25We had Lauren's
27:26previous statement
27:27where he confessed
27:28on the wire
27:29and now we have him lying.
27:32Lauren begins crying
27:33because he knows
27:34in the other interview room
27:35Craig is going to be talking.
27:39Nice to meet you, Craig.
27:40Yeah, nice to meet you too.
27:42It was most of our detectives' belief
27:44that Craig Whiting
27:45would be the one
27:46to ultimately break first
27:47and tell us the truth.
27:49That's because
27:50he didn't really have
27:50much of a criminal history.
27:52The detective asked
27:53some fairly basic questions.
27:55Last time we talked,
27:56we talked about
27:56Nicole Hutchings.
27:57Yeah.
27:58I want to try to get
27:59a little more detail from you.
28:00Do you remember
28:01when she went missing?
28:05About the time I can remember
28:09is I believe
28:10it was when I talked to you.
28:12And then the detective
28:13started really moving up-tempo
28:16with the questions.
28:17Some stuff has come up.
28:19What information
28:20that she was at your house
28:23on or about Halloween
28:25the day after.
28:26Okay?
28:26And you guys were with her.
28:29We know what happened.
28:31You could tell
28:32that Craig Whiting
28:33was getting nervous.
28:34And we just saw him
28:35take this huge breath,
28:37just...
28:39And I thought,
28:40oh my gosh.
28:42Is he going to finally
28:44describe his role
28:45in Lauren's role
28:47in Nicole Hutchings' murder?
28:58Let's just get
28:59to the main degree here.
29:00Our detective
29:01was interviewing Craig Whiting,
29:03trying to get the truth
29:03about his and Lauren Bower's
29:05involvement in Nicole's death
29:07and hopefully break
29:08this case wide open.
29:10We know the whole setting
29:11and I know she's dead.
29:13Do you think Lauren's
29:14going to protect you?
29:15No.
29:16It was shocking
29:17because within the first
29:19five minutes of the interview,
29:21Craig starts a confession.
29:23All right,
29:24it started the whole thing.
29:25I guess Nikki was
29:28spreading rumors
29:29about Lauren
29:30doing something
29:31with someone's kid
29:35touching her wrong
29:36or something like that.
29:37She was going to accuse
29:38Lauren of touching
29:39some small child
29:40who were probably okay?
29:41He could go back
29:42to prison for a long time.
29:44He was going to take care of it.
29:46Craig explained
29:48that Nicole,
29:48when she was serving
29:49as a nanny,
29:50one of the children
29:51had disclosed to her
29:52that Lauren had abused her
29:54and touched her
29:55in a criminal way.
29:57Nicole confronted Lauren
29:58about that
29:59and Lauren denied that.
30:01And ultimately,
30:02her having that knowledge
30:03and her indicating
30:03that she was going
30:04to come forward
30:05to authorities,
30:06that is what caused
30:07Lauren to want to kill her
30:09so she couldn't ruin his life.
30:12That's a substantial motive.
30:14So Lauren creates
30:15a fake party.
30:16Even though Nicole
30:17confronted Lauren
30:18about sexually abusing
30:19a minor,
30:20she accepted the invitation
30:22and was trusting enough
30:23to go to that party
30:24that night
30:25because Craig
30:25and her other friends
30:26will be there.
30:28who actually picked her up?
30:29Honestly,
30:30I can't remember
30:30if I picked her up or not.
30:32I might have.
30:33We were going to get her
30:34drunk
30:36and take her out.
30:39Craig said
30:40that Lauren made
30:41Nicole a drink
30:42and it was rum and coke
30:43laced with Vicodin.
30:45Nicole consumed it,
30:46became very, very intoxicated
30:48to the point
30:48where she passed out.
30:49Craig said
30:50they placed her in a truck,
30:51left the party
30:52and went out
30:52into the Deschutes
30:53National Forest.
30:54He told me to pull over
30:56where we were.
30:57He started hitting her
30:59in the back of the head
31:00which dropped her down.
31:02What did he hit her with?
31:03Like a big old stick
31:05two foot long.
31:06At first,
31:07Craig didn't describe himself
31:08being involved
31:09in striking Nicole
31:11but the detectives
31:12pressed on
31:12and Craig Whiting
31:13eventually said
31:14I struck her first,
31:15I delivered the first blows.
31:18I took the first swing
31:20and when I had stumbled
31:21I'm pretty sure
31:22Lauren had noticed
31:23that I didn't have
31:24no balance to me.
31:25Finished it.
31:26I finished it
31:27and just started
31:29beating on her.
31:30And then he said
31:31Lauren continued beating her
31:33until Nicole went unconscious
31:35and she's dead.
31:39He was just saying
31:41to him
31:42that I did not want
31:44to leave the clothes on it
31:45because it could be
31:46identifiable
31:47or something like that.
31:48I guess he had been
31:49out there before
31:50because there was a hole.
31:52I did help him
31:53move the body.
31:56Parry her,
31:57put some needles
31:58and stuff
31:58to make it look natural.
31:59Put the log over.
32:01Craig said
32:02they marked the grave
32:03with a burnt log
32:04that way if they ever
32:05needed to come back
32:05and move the body
32:06they would know
32:07where to find it.
32:08So how long was
32:09that hole dug
32:09prior to it?
32:11A day.
32:12A day.
32:13So the spot
32:14was already picked out
32:15prior.
32:16Yeah.
32:17I gotta believe
32:18you were with him
32:18when he was digging
32:18the hole.
32:19Yeah.
32:22How long was his land?
32:24Three, four days
32:25I've come in there.
32:26You gotta just tell me
32:27who masterminded this.
32:28Who masterminded
32:29would be
32:30Warren.
32:30He brought up
32:31all the details.
32:32And because he's
32:33your friend
32:33that's the reason
32:34you were
32:34holding off him
32:35and assisting him
32:36in planning.
32:37Yeah.
32:37Okay.
32:39I figured he'd be able
32:40to do anything
32:41for a best friend.
32:43Craig was truly
32:44remorseful
32:45but it's really hard
32:46to understand
32:46why Craig Whiting
32:47would go along
32:48with this plan.
32:49He didn't ask you
32:49to move a couch.
32:50He asked you
32:51to kill somebody.
32:52Sorry it don't count,
32:53bro.
32:54Hearing everything
32:54that Craig sang,
32:56Craig and Lauren
32:57had dug the grave.
32:58They had planned
32:59the party
32:59to lure Nicole
33:00out of the home
33:01and then let spike
33:03her drink
33:03so she gets impaired
33:05to the extent
33:05that she can't resist,
33:07that she doesn't
33:07know what's going on.
33:08They had thought
33:09of everything.
33:11The evidence
33:11supporting premeditation
33:13for murdering Nicole
33:14is staggering.
33:17After talking
33:18to Craig,
33:19the senior detective
33:19went back
33:20to continue
33:20interviewing Lauren,
33:21said hey,
33:22Craig's kind of
33:22told us what happened
33:23but he tries
33:24to blame everybody
33:24else at the party.
33:26Oh, everybody
33:27was pushing me.
33:28Okay.
33:29Craig wanted
33:30to go along with it.
33:31And so this is
33:32the classic,
33:32hey, I didn't do it
33:34but if I did,
33:34I did less than
33:35the other guy.
33:36That's nothing new
33:36in our line of work.
33:38Let's cut to the chase.
33:39Let's not screw Craig.
33:41I picked out a club.
33:42I did not pick
33:42out a club.
33:43I had a tire buddy
33:44and we knew
33:45it was heavy enough
33:47and probably would work.
33:49So the murder weapon
33:50was a tire buddy
33:51and the end of it
33:52has a metal ring
33:53and truck drivers
33:54used it to hit tires
33:55to make sure
33:56there's air in the tire.
33:57But I don't remember
33:58meeting her
33:59and I'll be honest
34:00with you.
34:00I may have.
34:02I honestly have
34:03so many stuff inside
34:04I don't know.
34:05You're the person
34:06that has the motivation
34:07to kill her,
34:08not him.
34:08You're saying stuff
34:09that happened
34:10back a few years ago.
34:12Oh, you're refreshing
34:14my memory.
34:15What am I going
34:16to tell my mother?
34:17I can't tell
34:18when I killed somebody.
34:20It wasn't worth it.
34:21It wasn't worth anything.
34:23Watching this
34:24was amazing.
34:25Now we have both
34:26Lauren and Craig
34:27finally saying
34:28we were both involved
34:29in Nicole Hutchings' murder.
34:31During the interviews,
34:32other been police detectives
34:33served a search warrant
34:34for where Lauren
34:36currently lives,
34:37the house of where
34:39the Halloween party
34:40took place,
34:40and also for the
34:41other suspect,
34:42Craig Whiting's residence.
34:43The residence
34:44where the party
34:44had taken place
34:46had been vacant now
34:47for about a year or so,
34:48but in the pellet stove
34:50we were able to find
34:51remnants of a shirt.
34:53Nicole's father
34:54was a bus driver
34:56and they were issued
34:58shirts.
34:59And when her mother
35:00last saw her
35:00on November 1st,
35:01Nicole was wearing
35:02one of her dad's shirts.
35:04We took it to
35:05the Oregon Crime Lab
35:06and they determined
35:07that it was the same
35:08fabric from the same
35:09color lot.
35:11Also, outside,
35:12we were able
35:13to find an area
35:15where they tried
35:15to burn something.
35:16We did not recover
35:18the actual tire buddy,
35:20the murder weapon,
35:21but we found
35:22the same type of ring
35:23that would be
35:24on a tire buddy.
35:33I've never seen
35:34such a thought-out,
35:35premeditated,
35:36planned murder
35:37in my career
35:39as a prosecutor.
35:43In fall of 2004,
35:45Nicole confronted Lauren
35:47about sexually abusing
35:48a minor.
35:49She also threatened
35:50to contact DHS
35:52and the authorities.
35:53So Lauren convinced
35:55Craig to help him
35:56kill Nicole
35:56because that was
35:57the only way
35:57Lauren could avoid
35:58going back to prison.
36:00Lauren planned
36:01a Halloween party,
36:02which was the complete
36:03sham to isolate Nicole.
36:06The night before
36:07the party,
36:08Lauren and Craig
36:09drove to an isolated
36:10area outside the town
36:11and dug a hole.
36:13The next night
36:14at the Halloween party,
36:15they spiked
36:16Nicole's drink
36:16with lycadine.
36:18She would become
36:18unconscious
36:19and they could get her
36:20out of the house
36:21without any resistance.
36:22Craig and Lauren
36:24drove her
36:25out of town
36:26back to the site
36:27in the woods
36:27where they had dug
36:28the hole
36:28the night before.
36:29They hit her over
36:30the head
36:31with the tire buddy,
36:32take her clothes
36:33off of her,
36:34push her into the hole
36:35and then fill it
36:36with dirt.
36:37And then Lauren
36:38takes a partially
36:39burnt log
36:40and places it
36:40over the grave
36:41so that he has
36:42a marker
36:42for future reference.
36:43The men
36:44returned to the party
36:45and burned the clothes
36:46which were clearly
36:47evidence.
36:48Lauren instructed
36:49Craig and everyone
36:50else who had been
36:50at the party
36:51to tell investigators
36:52that Nicole
36:52had not been
36:53at the party.
36:55So on March 12, 2007,
36:58Lauren Bowers
36:59and Craig Whiting
37:00were both arrested
37:01for the murder
37:01of Nicole Hutchings.
37:03Now we need a body.
37:07It was very important
37:08to being able
37:08to best prove the case
37:10but more important
37:11than that,
37:11we wanted to tell
37:12her parents
37:12that we arrested
37:13the two of them
37:14and then bring
37:15Nicole home
37:16so her family
37:16could have
37:17their proper closure
37:18and proper burial.
37:20Lauren and Craig
37:20had both admitted
37:21to burying her out
37:22on the Deschutes
37:23National Forest property
37:24and they gave us
37:25the general area.
37:27But they had been
37:27drinking that night
37:28and they didn't know
37:29exactly where
37:30the body was.
37:31I mean,
37:32there's nothing out there
37:33but trees and mud.
37:35They would be trying
37:36to find a needle
37:36in a haystack.
37:49Lauren and Craig
37:50had both admitted
37:50to being involved
37:51in Nicole's death
37:53and we were able
37:54to get them
37:55to agree
37:56to take us out
37:57and find where
37:57her body was buried.
37:59They were very vague
38:00about where
38:00the body was
38:01and the Deschutes
38:03National Forest
38:04out there is vast
38:05and it's a very,
38:06very desolate area.
38:09Lauren took us
38:10out of town
38:10about 20 minutes
38:12to an area.
38:13He was pretty confident
38:13it was the correct
38:14general area.
38:15We went down
38:16all these different roads.
38:17We were out there
38:18for 10 hours
38:19with nothing
38:20and it was really
38:21deflating.
38:25Then Lauren
38:26was eventually
38:27able to isolate
38:27the specific area
38:29where Nicole was buried.
38:30We quarantined it off.
38:32We brought
38:32cadaver dogs in.
38:33The cadaver dogs
38:35alerted on a burnt log.
38:36Craig had told us
38:38that when they buried
38:39Nicole,
38:41Lauren had placed
38:42a partially burnt log
38:44over the grave
38:45as a marker.
38:46A specialist
38:47from the crime lab
38:48begins to slowly
38:49dig that area
38:50because we don't
38:50want to lose evidence
38:51if we find the body.
38:52As the technician
38:53is digging down
38:54further,
38:56she ends up striking
38:58what she believes
38:59is a skull.
39:05The burial
39:06was seven feet down
39:07so it was beyond
39:08the frost line
39:09and it was beyond
39:10the bug line
39:11so there was no
39:12deterioration
39:13on the body.
39:14Nicole had a dolphin
39:15tattoo on the back
39:16of her shoulder
39:17and you could clearly
39:19see that there was
39:20a dolphin on the body.
39:21We knew
39:22that we had Nicole.
39:30The medical examiner
39:31was able to let us know
39:33that she had some
39:33severe skull fractures.
39:36Nicole's cause of death
39:37was determined to be
39:38blunt force trauma.
39:40Everything matched
39:41Lauren and Craig's
39:42statements about using
39:43that tire buddy
39:44so that was kind of
39:47the last piece of evidence
39:48we needed to bring
39:48the whole story together.
39:50Having found Nicole's body,
39:52we were able to communicate
39:53with the family.
39:54Your daughter was murdered.
39:56We're moving forward
39:57with this case.
40:03It was like 10, 15 at night.
40:05We were all getting
40:06ready for bed.
40:06It was knocking
40:07at the door
40:08and I opened the door
40:09looking at the police chief
40:11and the chaplain
40:13and he says
40:16we got some news for you.
40:18We found Nicole.
40:20She is deceased.
40:22My wife,
40:22she turned around
40:23and just lost it.
40:25Totally lost it.
40:28She wasn't missing anymore.
40:32I just fell to the floor.
40:34All hope was shattered
40:36and it's not just
40:37somebody who passed away.
40:39They were taken.
40:44When they told me
40:46who it was
40:47that they had in custody,
40:50I had to ask them
40:51to repeat it a couple times
40:53because I did not want
40:54to believe it was Craig
40:55and Lauren
40:55because they were so involved
40:57in her last few years of life.
41:01Craig lived with us
41:02for six months.
41:04Lauren had been
41:05in our house on New Bern
41:06and they had dinner with us.
41:07They helped us look for her.
41:10How in the hell
41:11can you do something like that?
41:13We were told
41:14that they had planned
41:16all this out
41:17ahead of time.
41:18We wanted to know
41:19why.
41:22The police chief
41:23told us that
41:24Nicole was babysitting
41:25this girl
41:25who went to Nicole
41:27and explained that
41:29Lauren was touching her.
41:32Nicole
41:32went into action
41:34right away
41:34and confronted Lauren
41:35and because
41:36he didn't want
41:37to go back to prison
41:38he turned around
41:39and killed my daughter.
41:41And we were told
41:42that Craig Whiting
41:43did it because
41:44he just wanted
41:45to help out a brother,
41:46help out a friend.
41:48Unbelievable.
41:49I was numb.
41:52Lauren Bowers
41:53and Craig Whiting
41:54both ultimately
41:55pled guilty
41:56to aggravated murder
41:57and kidnapping.
41:59They received
42:00a true life sentence
42:01meaning they would never
42:03have a possibility
42:03for parole
42:04so they will both
42:05spend the rest
42:06of their lives
42:06in prison.
42:07Of the hundreds
42:09probably thousands
42:10of cases
42:11that I've prosecuted
42:12in my life
42:13there's nothing
42:14like this case
42:15and I just don't
42:17think I'll see
42:18another case
42:19or investigation
42:19like this.
42:20I hope I don't.
42:27There's a big void
42:28with Nicole
42:28not being here.
42:30She would be
42:3042 years old
42:32right now.
42:33I want everyone
42:33to know
42:34my sister got killed
42:35because she was
42:36doing the thing
42:36that every human
42:37being should be doing.
42:41My sister was
42:42trying to save
42:42a little girl
42:43who was being hurt
42:45and her life
42:45was taken for it.
42:46If that does not
42:47signify somebody
42:49being a hero
42:49I don't know
42:49what does.
42:50I don't know
42:58I don't know
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