- 3 months ago
A young woman vanishes from small-town Oregon after heading to a Halloween party, leaving her family devastated and detectives hitting dead ends. Years later, new evidence from an unlikely source reveals the gruesome plan to silence a vulnerable victim.
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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 with your problem.
00:51I lied because I was scared.
00:55How in the hell can you do something like that?
00:57It'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.
01:31It'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.
01:51My 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'd be 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.
02:15They 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
03:52and 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,
04:01but nobody had seen her, nobody had heard from her.
04:06We made up flyers.
04:08We posted them everywhere.
04:10All 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.
04:30One 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, Lauren would come over to, like, help my dad 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,
05:17and 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,
05:47and the 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, and he had been in prison before.
06:06But we didn't have any type of evidence that would give automatic grounds for search of his residence.
06:13Also, Lauren and everyone else in the house that lived with him was cooperating with police.
06:18And there was nothing indicating they would be linked to Nicole being missing.
06:24We have a young woman who's 21 years old who gets into a vehicle voluntarily,
06:29and 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 to 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, and she was the oldest.
07:01She'd help me get ready for dances, and 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.
07:11But Nikki is completely daddy's girl.
07:14She was kind of a tomboy.
07:17She liked to go hunting and fishing with me, go out cutting firewood.
07:21Well, I got out of the Marine Corps in 1987,
07:24and she was actually getting ready to join the Marine Corps herself.
07:28And then get the schooling to be, she wanted to be a marine biologist.
07:32That was her dream in life.
07:34Worked with dolphins.
07:35She even had a tattoo on her shoulder of a dolphin.
07:39And she loved children.
07:42Back then, Nicole was a babysitter, so 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,
07:52she started hanging out with probably not the best,
07:56ideal people to be around.
07:59Nicole and I had several boyfriends.
08:00I didn't really know them individually because, you know,
08:04she got over 18, pretty much do what she wanted to.
08:13Talking with the parents and the family,
08:15the detectives find out that Nicole recently broke up with a boyfriend
08:18about a week or so before 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 he had gotten physical with her before
08:30and argued with her a lot.
08:33And from what I understand, he 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 the detectives wanted to contact
08:44because sometimes relationships can end poorly.
08:48When somebody goes missing after a breakup like that,
08:51you never know.
08:52So it was definitely a thought that 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 the description of Nicole.
09:12The main suspect is talking,
09:15and I thought, oh 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.
09:37Anytime there's a missing persons case,
09:39police are naturally going to look to the people
09:42who are closest to the missing person.
09:45And so in Nicole's case,
09:46she had had a boyfriend,
09:48and they had broken up not very long
09:52before she went missing.
09:55The detectives contacted the ex-boyfriend,
09:58brought him in for questioning,
10:00and with some phone calls,
10:02they could corroborate his whereabouts on November 1st.
10:06Then he tells police
10:08that he has no idea where Nicole was.
10:11This is still seeming dubious to the police,
10:14so they asked him to do a polygraph.
10:16He passed the polygraph,
10:18and so detectives pretty much ruled him out
10:21as a suspect at that point.
10:25One of the challenges in this case was
10:27detectives were receiving a lot of information
10:30from local residents
10:31about locations on where Nicole had been seen.
10:35There was a news report about it
10:36on our local television station.
10:38So people thought they saw Nicole on a bus.
10:41They saw her downtown.
10:45But all of them were dead ends.
10:50So all we could do is just put up more flyers
10:53and just continue to look.
10:55I hold my emotions in better than most people,
11:00but we never gave up hope
11:02that she was out there somewhere,
11:05and I never stopped looking.
11:19Our detectives continued to work on following up leads
11:22in a few months after the initial missing persons report.
11:25There were lots of new rumors going around
11:27amongst kind of the friends and people that hung out
11:30in the Drake Park area known as the Park Rats.
11:33The Park Rats were young adults that were drug users.
11:36Nicole is a young 21-year-old.
11:38She's trying to navigate her way through this world,
11:41and she, like many other people,
11:43made some poor decisions along the way
11:45and kind of got caught up in a group of people
11:47that were probably not the best for her.
11:51The Park Rats said that Nicole had gotten involved
11:54with a guy named Devin,
11:56who we actually knew had a street name of Spider.
12:00Spider was kind of like the leader of the pack,
12:02the leader of the group,
12:04down at Drake Park.
12:05And he was a known troublemaker.
12:08He scared people, so to speak.
12:10That's where some people thought that they were a gag.
12:13And from what I understand,
12:14Nicole had actually gone out with him at one time.
12:17Of course, I didn't like it at all.
12:20Spider actually went to school with my sister for a while.
12:23He did have a really bumpy past.
12:26He was one of those who had been in and out of jail.
12:28We were told at one time that Spider and his groups
12:32were into like satanic type rituals
12:35and that they tried to get Nicole involved in that.
12:40So it was definitely a thought
12:41that he could have been part of Nicky's disappearance.
12:45And then somebody with a lead called the police department
12:47saying that Nicole could possibly be buried on his property.
12:51And they didn't want Spider to be able to have the time
12:54to move the body.
12:56So they contacted the National Guard
12:58and were trying to get a radar unit that flies over
13:02and detects ground disturbances
13:04using ground-penetrating radar.
13:07But the National Guard determined that the trees were so dense
13:10that their technology would not help us in this investigation.
13:15Detectives were able to contact Spider
13:17and get him to come down to the Bend Police Department
13:19for an interview.
13:20Spider was cooperative.
13:22And he said if he knew where she was,
13:24he would tell her parents
13:25because he could tell how distraught and upset
13:27her parents were since she had gone missing.
13:29He did recount the last time he had seen her
13:31was at a Halloween party.
13:34Confusing.
13:34Not the same Halloween party that happened on November 1st
13:38with Lauren Bowers and that crowd,
13:39but a true Halloween party on Halloween.
13:42He described how her and some of their other friends
13:44actually went trick-or-treating for a while.
13:46And then they came back and all fell asleep.
13:48The next day, November 1st,
13:51somewhere later in the day around noon,
13:53Spider said that he took Nicole back to her house,
13:56dropped her off, and then left.
13:59Detectives talked to other friends
14:01and were able to verify Spider's story.
14:03But still were concerned he may have something
14:05to do with Nicole's disappearance,
14:07so they asked him if he'd be willing to take a polygraph test,
14:09and he said he would do so.
14:12They asked him,
14:13was he involved in Nicole's disappearance?
14:15Did he know where Nicole currently was?
14:17Did he cause Nicole's death?
14:19And he passed all those questions.
14:22So the detectives at that time
14:24felt pretty confident
14:25that they could rule out Spider
14:26as being part of Nicole's disappearance.
14:30By this point in the investigation,
14:32detectives had already sent out subpoenas
14:34for Nicole's cell phone,
14:36her credit cards,
14:38her debit cards.
14:40If a person were alive,
14:41they would normally be using these things.
14:43But there was nothing.
14:46Her mother recognized
14:47she's been hanging around
14:48some really bad people,
14:49and there was something in Robin
14:51that felt that something bad
14:55had happened to her daughter.
14:57Mother's intuition, I don't know.
15:00And detectives
15:01just kept hitting dead end after dead end.
15:03They didn't know what happened.
15:08A few months after that,
15:10a body had been found
15:13closer to the Portland metropolitan area.
15:16It was a female
15:18that fit generally the description of Nicole.
15:23I thought Nicole was out there still alive.
15:26But we got a call saying that
15:28they found a girl's body
15:30about the same age
15:31and body style and all that stuff,
15:33and I couldn't believe Nicole was gone.
15:36So the one thing I asked them,
15:38I said,
15:38well, look on her left shoulder.
15:40If she's got a tattoo of a dolphin
15:42on her left shoulder,
15:44that might be her.
15:54When my parents got the message
15:57from the detectives here in Bend
15:59that in Portland,
16:00a body had been found
16:01that matched Nicole's description,
16:03it was kind of like a gut shot.
16:06The last thing you want to hear
16:08is your person's being killed.
16:10Portland is only
16:12a three-hour drive from Bend,
16:14and so this was a strong lead.
16:17Also, at one point
16:18before she went missing,
16:20Nicole had left,
16:21went to Portland,
16:22and so my parents were thinking
16:24maybe she had gone up again,
16:26and this was Nicole.
16:28It was just excruciating
16:31waiting to find out
16:32if this body that was found
16:34is my sister.
16:37But the detectives
16:38at that time
16:39found out
16:40that ultimately
16:40it wasn't her
16:41because it didn't have
16:43the same very unique
16:44dolphin tattoo
16:45that Nicole had.
16:47It was a relief period
16:49because there's still hope
16:51that she's still out there.
16:53Okay, what next?
16:58As this case
16:59moved on
17:00through the months
17:01following,
17:02the detectives
17:03continued to track down leads,
17:05but at some point
17:06they don't really have
17:07a lot of updates to give,
17:08and as an investigator
17:09that's just really frustrating.
17:11It can also be discouraging.
17:12Well, I always had
17:14the thought in my head
17:15that Nicole was going to show up.
17:17I mean,
17:18driving around
17:18bending my bus
17:20and all day long,
17:21every person I saw
17:22that resembled her.
17:24I looked,
17:25and I had to make sure
17:26that it wasn't her.
17:27We still thought
17:28she'll come home
17:29even if it's
17:3010 years from now.
17:39The way our department works
17:41is that every three years
17:42we rotate our detectives.
17:43So in January of 2007,
17:46we have a new rotation,
17:48and I was promoted
17:49and given
17:50the Nicole Hutchins
17:51missing person case
17:52leading our investigation,
17:54and I didn't have much.
17:56I had a lot of police reports
17:58that were chasing dead ends
18:00that never materialized.
18:03But having fresh eyes
18:04on this case,
18:05you go in there
18:05with, like,
18:06this renewed energy
18:08of, like,
18:08I'm going to solve this.
18:10First,
18:10with our new detectives,
18:11a lot of us
18:12were tasked
18:12with sending out
18:13letters and faxes
18:14to different jails,
18:16different hospitals,
18:17running credit checks.
18:19But at this point,
18:20nobody heard anything
18:21from Nicole
18:21in about two years.
18:26Next,
18:27I started to look
18:27into all the prior reports,
18:29trying to determine
18:30was there anything
18:30that we'd missed.
18:33And I noticed
18:33we had a couple
18:34early-on suspects
18:35and planned
18:36to re-interview them.
18:41So as we were
18:43developing our plan
18:43to speak with
18:44this group
18:45of suspicious people,
18:46a young woman
18:47named Shannon
18:48comes to the
18:48Bend Police Department
18:49into the lobby
18:51and wants to talk
18:52back to the detectives.
18:54Okay,
18:55so I hear
18:55that you want
18:56to talk to me
18:56about something.
18:58Tell me what you want
18:58to talk about.
19:00The Nicole Hutchins
19:02disappearance.
19:03Okay.
19:04What's that?
19:05I know what happened
19:07to her.
19:08She said that
19:09her boyfriend
19:10killed Nicole Hutchins.
19:14Her boyfriend
19:16is Lauren Bowers.
19:24Lauren killed her.
19:26How do you know that?
19:28Because she was
19:29at my house that night
19:30and he told me
19:31he was going to.
19:34As soon as Shannon
19:35comes in,
19:36that revives
19:37this entire investigation
19:38but changed everything.
19:40Shannon told us
19:41she couldn't live
19:42with herself anymore
19:43because of the information
19:44she had,
19:45that her heart
19:45was just broken
19:46for what had happened
19:47to Nicole
19:49and I believed her.
19:51This is a huge
19:52break in the case.
19:54Shannon,
19:54who had been interviewed
19:55during the first
19:56investigation,
19:57indicated that
19:58she and Lauren Bowers
20:00had been together
20:01for several years.
20:02They have a son together
20:03and she starts
20:04to tell us
20:05really good details
20:06about the Halloween party
20:07at Lauren Bowers' house
20:08on November 1st, 2004.
20:12They were talking about
20:14getting Europe
20:14to come over.
20:16Him and Craig Whiting.
20:19And so Lauren's friend,
20:21Craig Whiting,
20:22was involved as well.
20:24For all of us,
20:25it was pretty shocking
20:26because both of them
20:28initially had been interviewed
20:29as well as Shannon
20:30and were cooperative
20:31with the investigation.
20:32So Lauren called Nicole
20:35about coming over.
20:37And he told her what?
20:39Not to tell anybody
20:40where she was going.
20:42They spiked her drink.
20:44I think it was with
20:45Vicodin.
20:47Nicole was just
20:49kind of passing out.
20:51Lauren said,
20:52okay, it's time,
20:54let's go.
20:55And him and Craig
20:55picked her up
20:56off the floor
20:57and carried her
20:59out to the truck.
21:00They came back
21:01a couple hours later
21:03and it was time.
21:05Before the police
21:06got there,
21:06he just said
21:07everybody knows
21:07what to say.
21:08She wasn't here.
21:10Everyone lied to us
21:11when we first talked to you.
21:13I know.
21:15I lied because
21:16I was scared.
21:18He told me
21:19if I ever told anybody,
21:21you'll get a moment
21:22right between the eyes.
21:36A lady named Shannon
21:37comes into the police
21:38department.
21:39Shannon's boyfriend
21:40is Lauren Bowers.
21:41And Shannon says
21:43Lauren and Craig Whiting
21:44killed Nicole Hutchings.
21:47She was obviously
21:48very scared of Lauren
21:49and we wanted
21:50to protect her.
21:51And we're trying
21:52to be compassionate
21:52as now she was going
21:53to become one
21:54of our key witnesses.
21:57Shannon decided
21:58that she's wanting
21:58to take her
21:59and her son
21:59and start a new life
22:00away from Lauren.
22:02This is kind of
22:03what motivated her
22:04to come to the police
22:05department.
22:06Did he plan this out
22:07ahead of time?
22:09Lauren came up
22:10with a plan
22:10and Craig just
22:11went along with it.
22:13They were talking
22:14about getting her
22:15to come over,
22:17drugging her,
22:18and then taking her out
22:20and taking her out.
22:24Do you know
22:25why Lauren did it?
22:26Yeah, I couldn't
22:27tell you for sure.
22:29Well, the most
22:29important thing is
22:30do you know
22:31where her body is?
22:33No, we don't.
22:37After all these years
22:38of frustration
22:39and all these dead ends,
22:40now we have something
22:40to work on.
22:42What we have
22:43are a lot of
22:43corroborating statements,
22:44which are good,
22:47but what we don't have
22:49is a body.
22:56While police may arrest
22:57on probable cause,
22:58that's a much
22:59different standard
23:00than proving beyond
23:01a reasonable doubt
23:01that somebody
23:02murdered Nicole.
23:04A really good way
23:05to think about
23:06a no-body homicide
23:07is let's say
23:08you have a situation
23:09where somebody hears
23:10what they think
23:11is violence in a home
23:12and maybe there's
23:13a weapon.
23:14Or something
23:16where you say,
23:16hey, we don't have
23:17a body,
23:18but somebody was
23:18either seriously
23:19injured or killed here.
23:21We didn't have that.
23:22Without the body,
23:24we needed a confession.
23:25Without the confession,
23:27we were not going
23:28to be successful
23:28in this prosecution.
23:33So we asked Shannon
23:35if she would be willing
23:36to wear a wire
23:37with Lauren Bowers
23:38and we could have them
23:40meet in maybe
23:41a public area
23:42like a park.
23:43and she said
23:44she would be willing
23:45to do that.
23:47Weeks later,
23:48Lauren and Shannon,
23:50they're having
23:50a child visitation
23:51and while the child
23:52was playing,
23:53she would try
23:54to get information
23:55out of Lauren's mouth
23:56about the murder
23:57so that we could
23:58prosecute this successfully.
24:01We had myself
24:02and other detectives
24:03close by
24:03as a protection detail
24:05if things,
24:06you know,
24:07did go sideways.
24:09Then we saw Lauren
24:10approach Shannon
24:13and they start talking.
24:16I'm so scared
24:17that you're going
24:18to leave me.
24:19I'm not going
24:20to leave you.
24:20You're the only one
24:21I've ever talked to
24:22about this.
24:23I know,
24:24but I want to know
24:26why
24:26and what happened.
24:28That bitch was trying
24:30to destroy my life.
24:31You know how bad
24:32that hurt me.
24:35I hope you don't
24:36hate me for that
24:37because I hate myself
24:38for what I did.
24:39What did you do?
24:44I had her
24:45gotten rid of,
24:46okay?
24:50What about the bodies?
24:52I don't know.
24:53The body might be gone,
24:54but if somebody
24:55finds her bones,
24:57I'm f***ing gone.
24:59When the district attorney
25:01Wells Aspie heard,
25:03I got rid of her.
25:04We looked at each other
25:05and goes,
25:06we've got enough.
25:07Let's bring them
25:08back to the station
25:09to do a complete
25:10interrogation.
25:15A few days later,
25:17the plan was to
25:17pick up both
25:18Craig and Lauren
25:20simultaneously
25:20so they didn't
25:21have an opportunity
25:22to call the other
25:23person and tip
25:23somebody off.
25:24On March 12, 2007,
25:26we were able
25:27to watch Lauren
25:28and watch Craig
25:29early that morning
25:30and have our patrol
25:32units conduct
25:33a traffic stop.
25:34They're on opposite
25:34sides of town.
25:36During those traffic
25:36stops, we have
25:37detectives randomly
25:39show up and say,
25:40hey, we're part
25:41of the Cole case.
25:41We know you were
25:42initially contacted
25:44and interviewed
25:44on the Nicole
25:45Hodge's missing
25:46persons case.
25:47Would you be willing
25:47to come down
25:48to the police department
25:49and answer
25:49some more questions?
25:51And both Lauren
25:52Bowers and Craig
25:53Whiting voluntarily
25:55agreed to come down
25:55to the police department
25:56and then one
25:57of the detectives
25:58had the great idea
25:59to have them
26:00pass each other
26:00in the hallway.
26:02When a co-defendant
26:04sees another co-defendant,
26:05he's going to make
26:06that person think,
26:07is that other guy
26:08talking?
26:09Maybe I should start
26:09talking.
26:10And if you talk first,
26:12maybe you get
26:12the best deal.
26:14When they saw
26:15each other,
26:16Lauren Bowers' face
26:17literally just dropped
26:19like, oh my God.
26:21So we're either going
26:23to really break
26:23this thing open
26:24or these two
26:25are going to ask
26:26for an attorney
26:27and we're moving ahead
26:27with a no-body homicide.
26:33We started our interview
26:35with Lauren Bowers.
26:37She didn't know
26:38we had the body wire
26:39from Shannon
26:40and we wanted
26:41to lock him
26:41into a statement
26:43about what happened
26:44to Nicole.
26:45A couple of people
26:46come up
26:47and they don't look
26:47much faster than me
26:48and ask them
26:49to ask you about it.
26:51And you think you did?
26:52Uh-huh.
26:53I'm Logan, huh?
26:55So why did you
26:56wait two and a half years
26:58to go to a park
26:58to talk to your girlfriend?
27:00Why would you tell her
27:01then I had her
27:02gotten rid of?
27:03I did not say that to her.
27:05I never had her
27:06gotten rid of.
27:07I don't have
27:07that kind of power.
27:10I know a lot of you have.
27:12She's at your house.
27:13No, she would not.
27:15All I want to know
27:16is where's
27:17the poor old body?
27:18I didn't
27:18do it.
27:20We had Lauren's
27:21previous statement
27:22where he confessed
27:23on the wire
27:24and now we have him lying.
27:27Lauren begins crying
27:28because he knows
27:29in the other interview room
27:30Craig is going
27:31to be talking.
27:34Nice to meet you, Craig.
27:35Yeah, nice to meet you too.
27:37It was most
27:38of our detectives' belief
27:39that Craig Whiting
27:40would be the one
27:41to ultimately break first
27:42and tell us the truth.
27:44That's because
27:44he didn't really have
27:45much of a criminal history.
27:46The detective
27:47asked some fairly
27:48basic questions.
27:50Last time we talked
27:51we talked about
27:51Nicole Hutchings.
27:52Yeah.
27:53I wanted to try
27:54to get a little more
27:54detail from you.
27:55Do you remember
27:56when she went missing?
28:00About the time
28:02I can remember
28:04is I believe
28:05it was when
28:05I talked to you.
28:07And then the detective
28:08started really moving
28:10up-tempo
28:11with the questions.
28:12Some stuff has come up
28:14and information
28:15that she was
28:16at your house
28:18on or about
28:19Halloween the day after.
28:21And you guys
28:22were with her.
28:24We know what happened.
28:26You could tell
28:27that Craig Whiting
28:28was getting nervous.
28:29And we just saw him
28:30take this huge breath
28:32just...
28:34And I thought
28:35oh my gosh
28:36is he going to
28:37finally describe
28:39his role
28:40and Lauren's role
28:42in Nicole Hutchings' murder?
28:51Let's just get
28:52to the nitty-gritty here.
28:53Our detective
28:54was interviewing
28:55Craig Whiting
28:55trying to get the truth
28:56about his and
28:57Lauren Bower's
28:58involvement
28:59in Nicole's death
29:00and hopefully
29:01break this case
29:02wide open.
29:03We know the whole
29:03setting and
29:04I know she's dead.
29:06Do you think
29:06Lauren's going to
29:07protect you?
29:08No.
29:09It was shocking
29:10because within
29:11the first five minutes
29:13of the interview
29:14Craig strikes
29:15a confession.
29:16All right.
29:17Well it started
29:17the whole thing
29:18with this.
29:19I guess Nikki
29:20was spreading rumors
29:22about Lauren
29:23doing something
29:24with someone's kid
29:28touching her wrong
29:29or something like that.
29:30She was going
29:31to accuse Lauren
29:31of touching
29:32some small child
29:33with her over the hook?
29:33He could go back
29:35to prison
29:35for a long time
29:36and he was going
29:38to take care of it.
29:39Craig explained
29:40that Nicole
29:41when she was serving
29:42as a nanny
29:43one of the children
29:44had disclosed to her
29:45that Lauren
29:46had abused her
29:47and touched her
29:48in a criminal way.
29:50Nicole confronted
29:51Lauren about that
29:52and Lauren denied that.
29:54And ultimately
29:54her having that knowledge
29:56and her indicating
29:56that she was going
29:57to come forward
29:57to authorities
29:58that is what caused
30:00Lauren to want
30:02to kill her
30:02so she couldn't
30:03ruin his life.
30:05That's a substantial motive.
30:07So Lauren creates
30:08a fake party.
30:09Even though Nicole
30:10confronted Lauren
30:11about sexually abusing
30:12a minor,
30:13she accepted the invitation
30:15and was trusting enough
30:16to go to that party
30:17that night
30:18because Craig
30:18and her other friends
30:19will be there.
30:21Who actually picked her up?
30:22Honestly,
30:23I can't remember
30:23if I picked her up or not.
30:25I might have.
30:25We were going to get her
30:28drunk and take her out.
30:32Craig said that
30:33Lauren made Nicole
30:34a drink
30:35and it was rum and coke
30:36laced with Vicodin.
30:38Nicole consumed it,
30:39became very, very intoxicated
30:40to the point
30:41where she passed out.
30:42Craig said
30:43they placed her in a truck,
30:44left the party
30:45and went out
30:45into the Deschutes
30:46National Forest.
30:47He told me to pull over
30:49where we were.
30:50He started hitting her
30:52in the back of the head
30:53which dropped her down.
30:55What did he hit her with?
30:56Like a big old stick
30:57two foot long
30:58at first.
31:00Craig didn't describe himself
31:01being involved
31:02in striking Nicole
31:03but the detectives
31:04pressed on
31:05and Craig Whiting
31:06eventually said
31:07I struck her first.
31:08I delivered the first blows.
31:10I took the first swing
31:13and when I had stumbled
31:14I'm pretty sure
31:15Lauren had noticed
31:16that I didn't have
31:17no balance to me.
31:18Finished it.
31:19I finished it
31:20and just started
31:22beating on her.
31:23and then he said
31:24Lauren continued beating her
31:26until Nicole went unconscious
31:28and she's dead.
31:32He was just saying to him
31:35that I did not want
31:37to leave the clothes on it
31:38because it could be
31:39identifiable
31:40or something like that.
31:41I guess he had been
31:42out there before
31:43because there was a hole.
31:45I did help him
31:46move the body.
31:48Parry her,
31:50put some needles and stuff
31:51to make it look natural
31:52and put the log over.
31:54Craig said
31:55they marked the grave
31:56with a burnt log
31:57that way if they ever
31:58needed to come back
31:58and move the body
31:59they would know
32:00where to find it.
32:01So how long was
32:02that hole dug prior to?
32:04A day.
32:05A day.
32:06So the spot was
32:07already picked out prior?
32:09Yeah.
32:10I gotta believe
32:10you were with him
32:11when he was digging the hole.
32:12Yeah.
32:15How long was this land?
32:17Three, four days.
32:19You guys have to tell me
32:20who masterminded this.
32:21Who masterminded?
32:22It would be
32:22Lauren.
32:23He brought up
32:24all the details.
32:25And because he's your friend
32:26that's the reason
32:27you were going with him
32:28and assisting him
32:29in the planning.
32:30Yeah.
32:30Okay.
32:32I figured he'd be able
32:33to do anything
32:34for a best friend.
32:36Craig was truly remorseful
32:38but it's really hard
32:39to understand
32:39why Craig Whiting
32:40would go along
32:41with this plan.
32:42He didn't ask you
32:42to move a couch.
32:43He asked you
32:44to kill somebody.
32:45Sorry it don't count, bro.
32:46Hearing everything
32:47that Craig sang,
32:49Craig and Lauren
32:50had dug the grave.
32:51They had planned the party
32:52to lure Nicole
32:53out of the home
32:54and then let's spike her drink
32:56so she gets impaired
32:57to the extent
32:58that she can't resist,
32:59that she doesn't know
33:00what's going on.
33:01They had thought
33:02of everything.
33:03The evidence
33:04supporting premeditation
33:05for murdering Nicole
33:07is staggering.
33:10After talking to Craig,
33:12the senior detective
33:12went back
33:13to continue interviewing Lauren,
33:14said, hey,
33:15Craig's kind of told us
33:16what happened
33:16but he tries to blame
33:17everybody else
33:18at the party.
33:19Oh, everybody
33:20was pushing me.
33:21Okay.
33:22Craig wanted to go
33:23along with it.
33:24And so this is the classic,
33:25hey, I didn't do it
33:26but if I did,
33:27I did less than the other guy.
33:28That's nothing new
33:29in our line of work.
33:30Let's cut to the chase.
33:32Let's not screw Craig.
33:33I picked out a club.
33:34I did not pick out a club.
33:36Okay, I had a tire buddy
33:37and we knew
33:38it was heavy enough
33:40and probably would work.
33:42So the murder weapon
33:43was a tire buddy
33:44and the end of it
33:45has a metal ring
33:46and truck drivers
33:47use it to hit tires
33:48to make sure
33:49there's air in the tire.
33:50But I don't remember
33:51hitting her
33:52and I'll be in the hospital.
33:53I may have.
33:55I honestly have
33:56so many stuff inside.
33:57I don't know.
33:58You're the person
33:59that has the motivation
34:00to kill her,
34:01not him.
34:01You're saying stuff
34:02that happened
34:03back two years ago.
34:06You're refreshing my memory.
34:08What am I going to tell my mother?
34:10I can't tell her
34:11I killed somebody
34:12and wasn't worth it.
34:14It wasn't worth anything.
34:16Watching this was amazing.
34:18Now we have both
34:19Lauren and Craig
34:20finally saying
34:21we were both involved
34:22in Nicole Hutchings' murder.
34:24During the interviews,
34:25other Bend police detectives
34:26serve the search warrant
34:27for where Lauren
34:29currently lives,
34:30the house of where
34:31the Halloween party
34:33took place
34:33and also for the other suspect,
34:35Craig Whiting's residence.
34:36The residence
34:37where the party
34:37had taken place
34:39had been vacant now
34:40for about a year or so.
34:41But in the pellet stove,
34:43we were able to find
34:44remnants of a shirt.
34:46Nicole's father
34:47was a bus driver
34:49and they were issued shirts.
34:52And when her mother
34:53last saw her
34:53on November 1st,
34:54Nicole was wearing
34:55one of her dad's shirts.
34:57We took it
34:58to the Oregon Crime Lab
34:59and they determined
35:00that it was the same fabric
35:01from the same color lot.
35:04Also, outside,
35:05we were able
35:06to find an area
35:07where they tried
35:08to burn something.
35:09We did not recover
35:11the actual tire buddy,
35:13the murder weapon,
35:14but we found
35:15the same type of ring
35:16that would be
35:17on a tire buddy.
35:26I've never seen
35:27such a thought-out,
35:28premeditated,
35:29planned murder
35:30in my career
35:31as a prosecutor.
35:36In fall of 2004,
35:38Nicole confronted Lauren
35:40about sexually abusing
35:41a minor.
35:42She also threatened
35:43to contact DHS
35:45and the authorities.
35:46So Lauren convinced
35:48Craig to help him
35:48kill Nicole
35:49because that was
35:50the only way
35:50Lauren could avoid
35:51going back to prison.
35:53Lauren planned
35:54a Halloween party
35:55which was a complete sham
35:56to isolate Nicole.
35:59The night before the party,
36:01Lauren and Craig
36:01drove to an isolated area
36:03outside the town
36:04and dug a hole.
36:06The next night
36:07at the Halloween party,
36:08they spiked
36:09Nicole's drink
36:09with licodin.
36:11She would become
36:11unconscious
36:12and they could get her
36:13out of the house
36:14without any resistance.
36:15Craig and Lauren
36:17drove her
36:18out of town
36:19back to the site
36:20in the woods
36:20where they had dug
36:21the hole
36:21the night before.
36:22They hit her
36:23over the head
36:24with the tire buddy,
36:25take her clothes
36:26off of her,
36:27push her into the hole
36:27and then fill it
36:29with dirt.
36:30And then Lauren
36:31takes a partially
36:32burnt log
36:33and places it
36:33over the grave
36:34so that he has
36:35a marker
36:35for future reference.
36:36The men returned
36:37to the party
36:38and burned the clothes
36:39which were clearly evidence.
36:41Lauren instructed Craig
36:42and everyone else
36:43who had been
36:43at the party
36:44to tell investigators
36:45that Nicole
36:45had not been
36:46at the party.
36:48So on March 12, 2007,
36:51Lauren Bowers
36:52and Craig Whiting
36:53were both arrested
36:54for the murder
36:54of Nicole Hutchings.
36:56Now we need a body.
37:00It was very important
37:01to being able
37:01to best prove the case
37:03but more important
37:04than that,
37:04we wanted to tell
37:05her parents
37:05that we arrested
37:06the two of them
37:07and then bring
37:08Nicole home
37:09so her family
37:09could have
37:10their proper closure
37:11and proper burial.
37:13Lauren and Craig
37:13had both admitted
37:14to burying her out
37:15on the Deschutes
37:16National Forest property
37:17and they gave us
37:18the general area.
37:19But they had been
37:20drinking that night
37:21and they didn't know
37:22exactly where
37:23the body was.
37:24I mean,
37:25there's nothing out there
37:26but trees and mud.
37:28They would be trying
37:29to find a needle
37:29in a haystack.
37:39Lauren and Craig
37:40had both admitted
37:41to being involved
37:42in Nicole's death
37:44and we were able
37:45to get them
37:46to agree
37:47to take us out
37:48and find where
37:48her body was buried.
37:50They were very vague
37:51about where the body was
37:52and the Deschutes
37:54National Forest
37:55out there is vast
37:56and it's a very,
37:57very desolate area.
38:00Lauren took us
38:01out of town
38:01about 20 minutes
38:02to an area.
38:03He was pretty confident
38:04it was the correct
38:05general area.
38:06We went down
38:07all these different roads.
38:08We were out there
38:09for 10 hours
38:10with nothing
38:11and it was really
38:12deflating.
38:16Then Lauren
38:17was eventually
38:17able to isolate
38:18the specific area
38:20where Nicole was buried.
38:21We quarantined it off.
38:23We brought
38:23cadaver dogs in.
38:24The cadaver dogs
38:26alerted on a burnt log.
38:27Craig had told us
38:29that when they buried
38:30Nicole,
38:32Lauren had placed
38:33a partially burnt log
38:35over the grave
38:35as a marker.
38:37A specialist
38:38from the crime lab
38:39begins to slowly
38:40dig that area
38:41because we don't
38:41want to lose evidence
38:42if we find the body.
38:43As the technician
38:44is digging down further,
38:47she ends up striking
38:49what she believes
38:50is a skull.
38:56The burial
38:57was seven feet down
38:58so it was beyond
38:59the frost line
39:00and it was beyond
39:01the bug line
39:01so there was no
39:03deterioration
39:04on the body.
39:05Nicole had a dolphin
39:06tattoo on the back
39:07of her shoulder
39:08and you could clearly
39:10see that there was
39:11a dolphin on the body.
39:12We knew
39:13that we had Nicole.
39:15Nicole
39:21was able to let us
39:23know that she had
39:24some severe skull fractures.
39:27Nicole's cause of death
39:28was determined
39:29to be blunt force trauma.
39:31Everything matched
39:32Lauren and Craig's
39:33statements about using
39:34that tire buddy
39:35so that was kind of
39:37the last piece of evidence
39:39we needed to bring
39:39the whole story together.
39:41Having found
39:42Nicole's body,
39:43we were able to communicate
39:44with the family.
39:45Your daughter was murdered.
39:47We're moving forward
39:48with this case.
39:54It was like 10, 15 at night.
39:56We were all getting
39:57ready for bed.
39:57It was knocking at the door
39:59and I opened the door
40:00and I'm looking at
40:01the police chief
40:02and the chaplain
40:04and he says,
40:06we got some news for you.
40:09We found Nicole.
40:11She is deceased.
40:12My wife,
40:13she turned around
40:14and just lost it.
40:16Totally lost it.
40:18She wasn't missing anymore.
40:22I just fell to the floor.
40:25All hope was shattered
40:27and it's not just
40:28somebody who passed away.
40:30They were taken.
40:35When they told me
40:37who it was
40:38that they had in custody,
40:41I had to ask them
40:42to repeat it
40:43a couple times
40:44because I did not want
40:45to believe it was Craig
40:46and Lauren
40:46because they were so involved
40:48in her last few years
40:50of life.
40:52Craig lived with us
40:53for six months.
40:55Lauren had been
40:56in our house on numerous.
40:57They had dinner with us.
40:58They helped us look for her.
41:01How in the hell
41:02can you do something
41:03like that?
41:04We were told
41:05that they had
41:06planned all this out
41:08ahead of time.
41:09We wanted to know
41:10why.
41:13The police chief
41:14told us that
41:14Nicole was babysitting
41:16this girl
41:16who went to Nicole
41:18and explained that
41:20Lauren was touching her.
41:23Nicole went into action
41:25right away
41:25and confronted Lauren
41:26and because
41:27he didn't want
41:28to go back to prison,
41:29he turned around
41:30and killed my daughter.
41:32And we were told
41:33that Craig Whiting
41:34did it because
41:35he just wanted
41:36to help out a brother,
41:37help out a friend.
41:39Unbelievable.
41:40I was numb.
41:43Lauren Bowers
41:44and Craig Whiting
41:45both ultimately
41:46pled guilty
41:47to aggravated murder
41:48and kidnapping.
41:50They received
41:51a true life sentence,
41:53meaning they would
41:53never have a possibility
41:54for parole,
41:55so they will both
41:56spend the rest
41:56of their lives
41:57in prison.
41:58Of the hundreds,
42:00probably thousands
42:01of cases
42:02that I've prosecuted
42:03in my life,
42:04there's nothing
42:05like this case.
42:07And I just don't
42:08think I'll see
42:09another case
42:10or investigation
42:10like this.
42:11I hope I don't.
42:18There's a big void
42:19with Nicole
42:19not being here.
42:20She was being
42:2142 years old
42:22right now.
42:23I want everyone
42:24to know my sister
42:25got killed
42:26because she was
42:27doing the thing
42:27that every human
42:28being should be doing.
42:31My sister was
42:32trying to save
42:33a little girl
42:34who was being hurt
42:36and her life
42:36was taken for it.
42:37If that does not
42:39signify somebody
42:39being a hero,
42:40I don't know it does.
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