WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: Nina Ingram Part 2 0:00:46.480 --> 0:00:51.961 School of Humans. Helen Got Murder Line actively investigates cold 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:55.361 case murders in an effort to raise public awareness invite 0:00:55.401 --> 0:00:58.761 witnesses to come forward and present evidence that could potentially 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:02.961 be further investigated by law enforcement. While we value insights 0:01:03.001 --> 0:01:06.160 from family and community members, their statements should not be 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:09.961 considered evidence and point to the challenges of verifying facts 0:01:10.041 --> 0:01:14.041 inherent in cold cases. We remind listeners that everyone has 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.160 presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 0:01:17.961 --> 0:01:20.840 Nothing in the podcast is intended to state or imply 0:01:21.041 --> 0:01:23.601 that anyone who has not been convicted of a crime 0:01:24.161 --> 0:01:27.840 is guilty of any wrongdoing. Thanks for listening. I need 0:01:27.881 --> 0:01:29.801 somebody over here on somebody's been killed. 0:01:30.601 --> 0:01:31.720 Somebody's been killed. 0:01:32.121 --> 0:01:36.361 Yeah, where are you at the Law Quad apartments? She 0:01:36.401 --> 0:01:38.881 hasn't showed up for work whatever, So we came over 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:39.640 to your apartment. 0:01:41.561 --> 0:01:45.641 She said, Okay, it looked like happened. I don't know 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:47.161 if she's got scratched rut her neck. 0:01:48.481 --> 0:01:48.921 I don't know. 0:01:49.081 --> 0:01:50.560 Just see somebody over here. 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:56.081 What is her name, Nina? 0:01:56.281 --> 0:01:59.281 So you don't know what happened her. She just looks 0:01:59.361 --> 0:02:02.081 like to have scratches. Is that all you can see? 0:02:02.361 --> 0:02:02.600 Yeah? 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:04.641 I mean her face is blue. 0:02:06.641 --> 0:02:09.761 Shortly after ten pm on April twenty first, two thousand 0:02:09.761 --> 0:02:12.881 and six, twenty one year old college student Nina Ingram 0:02:13.001 --> 0:02:16.721 was brutally murdered inside her apartment, unit number one at 0:02:16.761 --> 0:02:19.521 the Law Quad complex in Fayettville, Arkansas. 0:02:20.161 --> 0:02:22.921 This became big news at the time. 0:02:23.121 --> 0:02:26.041 It was one of only two unsolved murder cases in 0:02:26.161 --> 0:02:30.521 Fayetteful since the nineteen seventies, and police interviewed a lot 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:34.520 of people. They talked to Nina's neighbors, her boyfriend, her friends, 0:02:34.561 --> 0:02:38.400 and her family, but they failed to identify a single suspect. 0:02:39.401 --> 0:02:41.001 This case was unusual. 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:44.921 Nina had been strangled, but not sexual assaulted, and her 0:02:45.001 --> 0:02:48.881 front door was double locked. On the night of her murder, 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:51.921 Nina had finished her lost prevention job at Walmart at 0:02:52.001 --> 0:02:55.441 nine pm. After that, she picked up some fast food 0:02:55.841 --> 0:02:58.601 and then went to hang out with her boyfriend, Josh 0:02:58.601 --> 0:03:03.641 Stewart at his apartment. The police pulled surveillance cameras from 0:03:03.641 --> 0:03:06.921 her apartment complex that showed that Nina returned home at 0:03:06.961 --> 0:03:10.321 ten fourteen pm. She got out of her vehicle and 0:03:10.441 --> 0:03:13.481 walked toward her apartment on the ground floor in the 0:03:13.561 --> 0:03:19.041 Law Quad apartment complex. But sometime shortly after that, probably 0:03:19.321 --> 0:03:23.001 right after Nina unlocked her door and went inside her apartment, 0:03:23.801 --> 0:03:24.641 she was attacked. 0:03:25.281 --> 0:03:26.281 The attack was. 0:03:26.321 --> 0:03:31.001 Brutal and sudden. The autopsy results showed Nina had no 0:03:31.121 --> 0:03:34.721 defensive wounds. She did not have a chance to fight back. 0:03:36.521 --> 0:03:39.801 Nina's brother found her body shortly after two pm on 0:03:39.841 --> 0:03:43.721 April twenty second, which would have been approximately sixteen hours 0:03:43.561 --> 0:03:48.361 after she was lasting alive on camera. Nina often left 0:03:48.401 --> 0:03:51.881 her window open for her cats, just a crack, and 0:03:51.961 --> 0:03:54.961 the front window was open but only a few inches 0:03:55.841 --> 0:03:59.241 On the day that her brother found her body, Nina's 0:03:59.281 --> 0:04:01.721 brother had to take off the window screen and open 0:04:01.761 --> 0:04:05.121 it all the way to crawl inside. It is a 0:04:05.161 --> 0:04:08.481 possibility that this is how Nina's killer got into and 0:04:08.561 --> 0:04:12.521 out of the apartment, but either way, whether Nina's killer 0:04:12.761 --> 0:04:16.961 locked the door behind themselves or whether they opened the window, 0:04:17.241 --> 0:04:18.841 crawled in, closed. 0:04:18.521 --> 0:04:20.001 It behind them, and then replaced the. 0:04:19.921 --> 0:04:24.001 Screen, either way would have required more thought in planning 0:04:24.401 --> 0:04:28.121 than someone randomly rushing her at her door, as police 0:04:28.161 --> 0:04:32.681 suggested at the time. After six years, Nina's case went 0:04:32.721 --> 0:04:36.481 cold until twenty twelve, when a twenty six year old 0:04:36.481 --> 0:04:40.760 man named Rico Tavarius Cone of Springdale was arrested and 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:47.001 charged with Nina's murder. I'm Catherine Townsend. Over the past 0:04:47.001 --> 0:04:49.840 five years of making my true crime podcast, Helen Gone, 0:04:50.041 --> 0:04:52.241 I've learned that there is no such thing as a 0:04:52.281 --> 0:04:56.361 small town where murder never happens. I've received hundreds of 0:04:56.361 --> 0:04:59.041 messages from people all around the country asking for help 0:04:59.081 --> 0:05:02.081 with an unsolved murder that's affected them, their families, and 0:05:02.121 --> 0:05:05.001 their communities. If you have a case you'd like me 0:05:05.121 --> 0:05:07.521 and my team to look into, you can reach out 0:05:07.561 --> 0:05:09.721 to us at our Helen Gone Murder line at six 0:05:09.801 --> 0:05:12.841 seven eight seven four four six one four or five. 0:05:13.441 --> 0:05:17.081 That's six seven eight seven four four six one four 0:05:17.161 --> 0:05:20.121 or five, or you can send us a message on 0:05:20.161 --> 0:06:08.081 Instagram at Helen gonepod. This is Helen Gone Murder Line. 0:06:08.641 --> 0:06:12.281 In twenty twelve, six years after Nina Ingram's murder, a 0:06:12.361 --> 0:06:15.200 new detective was put in charge of her case. This 0:06:15.321 --> 0:06:19.361 detective's name was Scott Carlton, and within a very short 0:06:19.401 --> 0:06:23.521 period of time he had results. Rico Cohne was arrested 0:06:23.561 --> 0:06:27.721 in charge with Nina's murder. Fayetteful Police Chief Greg Tabor 0:06:28.121 --> 0:06:31.801 said that Rico was being charged with capital murder. Initial 0:06:31.841 --> 0:06:35.441 reports in the media stated that Rico had briefly been 0:06:35.441 --> 0:06:38.520 a maintenance man at the law Couad apartments where Nina lived, 0:06:39.001 --> 0:06:41.401 and that could have explained how he had a key 0:06:41.441 --> 0:06:44.681 to her apartment and potentially how he could have gained entry. 0:06:45.881 --> 0:06:49.681 But at his arraignment in June of twenty twelve, Rico 0:06:49.841 --> 0:06:54.041 pleaded not guilty. Rico's defense attorney had considered a mental 0:06:54.041 --> 0:06:57.840 illness claim, but Rico completely denied that he killed Nina, 0:06:58.361 --> 0:07:01.121 and admitting guilt was a requirement for him to mount 0:07:01.161 --> 0:07:05.521 that mental illness defense. Rico was examined by a psychiatrist, 0:07:05.601 --> 0:07:09.400 doctor Mark Peacock, who found Rico mentally fit to stand trial. 0:07:10.201 --> 0:07:11.721 According to media reports. 0:07:12.081 --> 0:07:16.081 An Arkansas State Hospital mental evaluation found that Rico quote 0:07:16.761 --> 0:07:20.681 did not manifest any substantially impairing systems of a mental 0:07:20.721 --> 0:07:21.921 disease or mental. 0:07:21.681 --> 0:07:23.801 Defect end quote. 0:07:23.841 --> 0:07:27.081 That report also found that he displayed a clear, rational 0:07:27.121 --> 0:07:31.321 and factual understanding of the criminal proceedings against him. Not 0:07:31.561 --> 0:07:35.921 only did Rico plead not guilty, Rico also refused a 0:07:35.961 --> 0:07:36.521 plea deal. 0:07:37.081 --> 0:07:37.921 He said that he was. 0:07:37.881 --> 0:07:40.201 Innocent and was willing to take his chances at trial, 0:07:40.601 --> 0:07:43.721 even though if he was found guilty of Nina's murder. 0:07:44.121 --> 0:07:48.281 He was facing a death penalty sentence. The case against 0:07:48.361 --> 0:07:52.401 Rico Khne rested on the testimony of one key witness, 0:07:53.081 --> 0:07:59.481 a woman named Randy Applewhite. Randy told police that she 0:07:59.561 --> 0:08:02.481 had been romantically involved with Rico for a period of 0:08:02.521 --> 0:08:04.721 time when she and her husband were having some problems 0:08:04.721 --> 0:08:07.881 at home. The timeline of how she became the key 0:08:07.881 --> 0:08:11.881 witness is a little bit confusing. At first, media reports 0:08:11.921 --> 0:08:15.721 stated that, according to Randy Applewhite, Rico had been hanging 0:08:15.721 --> 0:08:18.321 around with some friends at the apartment complex where Nina 0:08:18.441 --> 0:08:22.161 Ingram lived. This was over Easter weekend, about five days 0:08:22.161 --> 0:08:27.361 before Nina's murder. While he was there, Allegedly, Rico said 0:08:27.401 --> 0:08:30.121 something to Nina kind of hitting on her, and she 0:08:30.161 --> 0:08:33.200 rebuffed him, blowing him off in front of his friends, 0:08:33.241 --> 0:08:37.481 and this enraged Rico. But it wasn't actually Randy Applewhite 0:08:37.560 --> 0:08:40.761 who reported this tip to police. It was called in 0:08:40.841 --> 0:08:43.521 by a woman named Brenda Case, who told police that 0:08:43.521 --> 0:08:46.081 she was friends with Randy and that Randy had told 0:08:46.081 --> 0:08:49.681 her the story about Rico, so then it was Brenda. 0:08:50.081 --> 0:08:51.160 Brenda was the one. 0:08:50.961 --> 0:08:53.841 Who called the police tip line. This led to police 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:58.641 questioning Randy. This became an issue later because when police 0:08:58.641 --> 0:09:01.280 went to get a search warrant, they said they had 0:09:01.361 --> 0:09:06.481 three independent witnesses, Randy, Brenda, and someone else. But right 0:09:06.521 --> 0:09:09.841 here we can see immediately Randy and Brenda were not 0:09:09.961 --> 0:09:13.161 independent witnesses. One heard about it from the other one, 0:09:13.441 --> 0:09:17.280 so it was effectively hearsay. When Randy was first interviewed 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:21.121 in twenty twelve, court record stated that after she did 0:09:21.161 --> 0:09:26.241 tell her story, it never changed, but later Rico's attorney 0:09:26.321 --> 0:09:30.721 claimed in a lawsuit that Randy's story did change multiple times. 0:09:30.721 --> 0:09:34.961 We'll get more into that later. In Randy's interview, Randy 0:09:35.001 --> 0:09:38.881 told detectives about a conversation that she allegedly had with Rico. 0:09:39.641 --> 0:09:42.841 She said that the conversation took place six years earlier, 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:47.681 about six months after Nina Ingram's murder. Randy told police 0:09:47.721 --> 0:09:50.081 she was afraid to tell them what she knew because 0:09:50.081 --> 0:09:54.161 she was afraid of Rico. And also, she said, quote plus, 0:09:54.321 --> 0:09:56.601 I didn't know one hundred percent if it was true 0:09:56.681 --> 0:09:56.881 or not. 0:09:57.201 --> 0:09:58.040 You know what I'm saying. 0:09:58.321 --> 0:10:02.321 He could just be bragging end quote. But during that 0:10:02.401 --> 0:10:05.961 first interview, she also said, quote when he looked at 0:10:06.001 --> 0:10:07.881 me and told me in the way he looked me 0:10:07.921 --> 0:10:13.121 in my face, it felt real. End quote. This is 0:10:13.121 --> 0:10:17.361 what Randy told the detective. Apparently, Rico felt that Nina 0:10:17.401 --> 0:10:22.041 had been disrespectful. A few days later, Rico happened to 0:10:22.041 --> 0:10:24.481 be back at that complex to buy some pot. He 0:10:24.641 --> 0:10:27.561 saw Nina arrive at home, and then he made an 0:10:27.601 --> 0:10:28.521 impulse decision. 0:10:28.961 --> 0:10:29.920 He knocked on the door. 0:10:30.041 --> 0:10:32.281 She cracked it open, and he said he forced his 0:10:32.321 --> 0:10:36.521 way in, strangled Nina, and then wiped down the door 0:10:36.561 --> 0:10:40.241 and the doorknob and let the scene. Then he told 0:10:40.321 --> 0:10:42.201 Randy that he went over to a friend's house and 0:10:42.241 --> 0:10:44.521 turned on the news to see if Nina was dead 0:10:44.601 --> 0:10:48.601 or not. Randy said that Rico told her he strangled 0:10:48.641 --> 0:10:51.121 Nina to make a point, but ended up killing her. 0:10:51.921 --> 0:10:54.641 Police also talked to some other women who Rico had dated, 0:10:55.481 --> 0:10:58.481 and they told detectives that he had a violent temper 0:10:58.801 --> 0:11:03.601 and could be controlling and jealous. Randy confirmed that she 0:11:03.801 --> 0:11:07.121 told police that in the past, Rico had grabbed her 0:11:07.121 --> 0:11:10.161 by the throat, choked her, put a gun in her face, 0:11:10.521 --> 0:11:14.961 and sabotaged her car. So the state started building its 0:11:15.041 --> 0:11:17.160 case against Rico Cone and it was going to be 0:11:17.201 --> 0:11:21.121 tough because not only did they really so far only 0:11:21.161 --> 0:11:24.841 have one person who allegedly had this information. They had 0:11:24.961 --> 0:11:29.041 zero physical evidence, and it turned out that those rumors 0:11:29.121 --> 0:11:31.841 about Rico Cone being a maintenance man at the complex 0:11:31.961 --> 0:11:36.161 probably weren't true because police later said they believed Rico 0:11:36.201 --> 0:11:38.241 had lied about being a maintenance man in order to 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:41.481 explain his DNA being there, but of course they never 0:11:41.521 --> 0:11:48.561 found his DNA there. Since the case against Rico Cone 0:11:48.641 --> 0:11:52.081 has been sealed, which is another longer story we're going 0:11:52.161 --> 0:11:55.241 to get into later, there are no details about what 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:58.681 actually came out in court, but police did say that 0:11:58.721 --> 0:11:59.321 there was. 0:11:59.361 --> 0:12:00.921 DNA evidence in the apartment. 0:12:01.521 --> 0:12:04.561 Police apparently believed that it had been cleaned by the killer, 0:12:05.441 --> 0:12:09.321 and police also never found the murder weapon what Nino 0:12:09.441 --> 0:12:12.681 was actually strangled with. They tested a belt they found 0:12:12.721 --> 0:12:14.961 in a trash can in the kitchen, and a cat 0:12:15.001 --> 0:12:19.481 toy and her miniblinds, but they found nothing, so the 0:12:19.561 --> 0:12:24.001 killer probably took the murder weapon with him. Behind the scenes, 0:12:24.481 --> 0:12:27.961 both the defense and the prosecution followed various motions and 0:12:28.001 --> 0:12:32.641 the legal battle dragged on. Meanwhile, Rico Cone stayed behind 0:12:32.681 --> 0:12:37.561 bars that whole time for over three years. Finally, in 0:12:37.601 --> 0:12:40.321 twenty fifteen, the trial was getting ready to start, and 0:12:40.361 --> 0:12:43.761 then there was another shocking twist in this case, the 0:12:43.921 --> 0:12:47.321 state's key witness, Randy Applewhite, went into the hospital for 0:12:47.401 --> 0:12:50.160 what was supposed to be a routine surgery, but something 0:12:50.201 --> 0:12:55.521 went wrong and on Tuesday, March third, twenty fifteen, Randy 0:12:55.561 --> 0:13:12.041 Applewhite died. Shortly after that, on July first, prosecutors dropped 0:13:12.041 --> 0:13:15.440 the charges against Rico Cone, They said due to lack 0:13:15.481 --> 0:13:20.201 of evidence. After spending over eleven hundred days in the 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:24.241 Washington County Detention Center, Rico was released a free man. 0:13:25.041 --> 0:13:27.561 He went back to Tennessee, where he was from, to 0:13:27.601 --> 0:13:31.881 stay with family. Meanwhile, the prosecutor, Matt Durett, told local 0:13:31.921 --> 0:13:34.441 news stations that they had a year to pursue additional 0:13:34.521 --> 0:13:39.721 charges against Rico, but that didn't happen. After that years pasted, 0:13:40.001 --> 0:13:42.881 it seemed like the Nina Ingram murder case was in limbo. 0:13:43.001 --> 0:13:44.280 The Fayetteville the Lice. 0:13:44.081 --> 0:13:47.841 Department said the case was still officially open, but reading 0:13:47.881 --> 0:13:51.681 between the lines, it seemed as though police felt that 0:13:51.761 --> 0:13:55.001 they did get their guy, but that after the accidental 0:13:55.041 --> 0:13:58.161 death of that key witness, they no longer had enough 0:13:58.161 --> 0:14:03.361 to take to trial. Meanwhile, Rico's attorney Tony Pirani told 0:14:03.401 --> 0:14:06.481 the news channel five News that his client had been 0:14:06.521 --> 0:14:10.641 wrongfully accused since the beginning. He said, quote, we believe 0:14:10.681 --> 0:14:13.001 an innocent man had been locked up for over three 0:14:13.081 --> 0:14:15.680 years for something he did not do, and we do 0:14:15.761 --> 0:14:18.241 not believe that this is justice for anybody. 0:14:18.761 --> 0:14:19.401 End quote. 0:14:20.121 --> 0:14:23.481 Tony Pirani said that the case against his client was 0:14:23.641 --> 0:14:27.001 non existent and that if they had gone to trial 0:14:27.121 --> 0:14:30.721 that he firmly believed that Randy Applewhite would have changed 0:14:30.721 --> 0:14:34.841 her story. He told five News, quote, we had every 0:14:34.881 --> 0:14:37.201 reason to expect that her testimony was going to be 0:14:37.241 --> 0:14:39.041 quite different from some of the things that have been 0:14:39.081 --> 0:14:42.281 said in the past, and in fact, she has told 0:14:42.401 --> 0:14:45.641 us in no uncertain term that she does not believe 0:14:45.841 --> 0:14:47.401 that Rico committed this crime. 0:14:47.921 --> 0:14:48.481 End quote. 0:14:49.281 --> 0:14:52.841 Rico's attorney did not agree with the police's position that 0:14:52.961 --> 0:14:56.801 Rico was their best suspect. He had a message for 0:14:56.881 --> 0:15:01.561 Nina's mother, Judy. The message said quote, we also would 0:15:01.641 --> 0:15:04.201 like to see justice for her, and justice is not 0:15:04.321 --> 0:15:06.961 involved the wrong person being locked up for this crime. 0:15:07.641 --> 0:15:10.721 It involves finding the right person, and we do not 0:15:10.921 --> 0:15:15.481 believe that is Rico Cone end quote. Rico also messaged 0:15:15.561 --> 0:15:19.521 the news station on Facebook, writing quote please believe me. 0:15:19.841 --> 0:15:21.841 I am innocent and had nothing to do with this, 0:15:21.921 --> 0:15:24.601 and my heart, mind, and soul goes out to the 0:15:24.761 --> 0:15:28.761 Ingram family end quote. Rico's attorneys did their own investigation. 0:15:29.521 --> 0:15:32.321 They later filed a civil lawsuit against the detectives in 0:15:32.321 --> 0:15:36.801 the case. In Rico's civil lawsuit, they referenced the fact 0:15:36.881 --> 0:15:40.641 that the police department did identify several other people of interest. 0:15:41.481 --> 0:15:43.321 As we said last week. 0:15:43.281 --> 0:15:46.801 There were a lot of men in Nina's orbit, coworkers, 0:15:46.881 --> 0:15:50.081 male friends, her brothers, and their acquaintances. She was an 0:15:50.121 --> 0:15:53.080 attractive young woman, and even though she had a boyfriend 0:15:53.121 --> 0:15:56.521 and tried to avoid leading people on, men still hit 0:15:56.561 --> 0:16:00.241 on her often. Some men made comments to police about 0:16:00.281 --> 0:16:03.041 being close friends of Nina's and wanting to keep an 0:16:03.081 --> 0:16:06.041 eye on her, which could be a good thing, but 0:16:06.121 --> 0:16:10.401 in a police investigation, detectives are always, of course, looking 0:16:10.441 --> 0:16:14.321 for anything that could be out of the ordinary. One 0:16:14.321 --> 0:16:18.401 of Nina's friends was a guy named Freddie Hollingsworth. Freddie 0:16:18.441 --> 0:16:21.441 had worked with Nina at Walmart. He stopped by her 0:16:21.481 --> 0:16:24.321 apartment complex a couple of days after her murder, and 0:16:24.401 --> 0:16:27.281 a couple of the female tenants at that building told 0:16:27.321 --> 0:16:30.561 police that they thought that police should be aware of Freddie, 0:16:31.681 --> 0:16:34.201 they said. Freddie said that his name was Freddie, like 0:16:34.281 --> 0:16:35.001 Freddy Krueger. 0:16:35.601 --> 0:16:35.961 They said. 0:16:35.961 --> 0:16:37.761 Freddie told them he was a very good friend of 0:16:37.841 --> 0:16:40.441 Nina's and was talking a lot about his theories on 0:16:40.481 --> 0:16:43.681 who could have killed her and about his suppose inside 0:16:43.841 --> 0:16:47.001 her knowledge of the case. Police talked to Freddy on 0:16:47.081 --> 0:16:49.801 May first, two thousand and six. He told them that 0:16:49.841 --> 0:16:51.921 he met Nina in two thousand and two when he 0:16:51.961 --> 0:16:55.241 worked with her at the Walmart neighborhood market. He said 0:16:55.321 --> 0:16:59.601 they became close friends. The detective said, when you say 0:16:59.721 --> 0:17:03.641 good friends, so you mean like boyfriend. Freddie replied, quote, no, 0:17:03.921 --> 0:17:07.600 I wish, but she wasn't the type. So the detective 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:10.640 asked what he meant by the type. Freddie said Nina 0:17:10.681 --> 0:17:13.561 was always clear about her priorities being work in school, 0:17:14.120 --> 0:17:17.480 and also said Nina had a boyfriend. He knew that 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:20.840 she had a relationship with Josh and that it was serious. 0:17:21.481 --> 0:17:24.840 Freddie and Nina attended the same college, even though Freddie 0:17:24.921 --> 0:17:27.481 was several years older. He was twenty nine, Nina was 0:17:27.521 --> 0:17:31.360 twenty one. Both of them majored in business. Freddie said 0:17:31.360 --> 0:17:33.361 that he thought of himself as kind of a big 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:37.360 brother figure to Nina. He told police that he loved 0:17:37.360 --> 0:17:41.640 her but as a friend. But about eight months before 0:17:41.761 --> 0:17:45.721 Nina's murder, he said that kind of lost touch. That's 0:17:45.761 --> 0:17:49.120 when Nina transferred to the Walmart supercenter on Sixth Street 0:17:49.441 --> 0:17:52.681 to work in loss prevention. Freddie said after that they 0:17:52.681 --> 0:17:55.521 saw each other only intermittently. He saw her when he 0:17:55.561 --> 0:17:58.600 did his shopping at that Sixth Street store, and he 0:17:58.761 --> 0:18:01.361 also worked in the same store as Nina's brother, Nelson, 0:18:02.001 --> 0:18:04.721 so he would chat to Nelson about how his sister 0:18:04.801 --> 0:18:06.881 was doing and hear about her second hand. 0:18:08.041 --> 0:18:09.001 Freddie said that. 0:18:09.001 --> 0:18:11.601 The last time he saw Nina was about a week 0:18:11.721 --> 0:18:15.041 or two before she died. He went into the Walmart 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:19.161 supercenter to buy a digital camera. He said that the manager, 0:18:19.281 --> 0:18:21.840 Danny Williams, was at the store at that time. He 0:18:21.881 --> 0:18:23.880 said he didn't really get to talk to Nina as 0:18:23.921 --> 0:18:27.281 much as he wanted to because Danny was talking to him. 0:18:27.481 --> 0:18:29.961 Freddie said that they did chat for about ten minutes 0:18:29.961 --> 0:18:32.321 about the camera he was buying, and about school and 0:18:32.401 --> 0:18:35.321 work and life in general. He said they had a 0:18:35.361 --> 0:18:39.080 really great conversation, but he said that was the last 0:18:39.121 --> 0:18:43.121 time that he ever spoke to Nina. Freddie told police 0:18:43.121 --> 0:18:47.681 something off. He said, quote, I really get mad at Nina. 0:18:47.961 --> 0:18:49.681 I would get mad at her a lot because of 0:18:49.721 --> 0:18:52.201 the type of job she's doing, and I've got witnesses. 0:18:52.801 --> 0:18:54.761 I've tried to get her out of this job, this 0:18:54.921 --> 0:18:55.881 loss prevention job. 0:18:56.080 --> 0:18:57.121 End quote. 0:18:57.361 --> 0:19:00.641 So the officer interviewing Freddie asked, what do you mean 0:19:00.761 --> 0:19:01.441 get mad. 0:19:01.281 --> 0:19:02.321 At her a lot? 0:19:02.721 --> 0:19:06.241 Freddie said, quote, well, I would get not mad at her. 0:19:06.321 --> 0:19:09.001 I would just get frustrated with her. I'm like, Nina, 0:19:09.201 --> 0:19:11.521 you need to stop doing this job. You don't have 0:19:11.601 --> 0:19:14.920 a law enforcement background. I said, somebody's gonna hurt you. 0:19:15.561 --> 0:19:17.441 I know what kind of people shopping there. I said, 0:19:17.441 --> 0:19:19.921 you're going to be busting somebody, and you're gonna get busted. 0:19:20.241 --> 0:19:22.801 You're gonna get hit, you're gonna get stabbed. And I 0:19:22.840 --> 0:19:24.961 have another witness that heard me saying those things to her, 0:19:24.961 --> 0:19:28.321 and she just blew me off. She said, oh, Freddie, 0:19:28.481 --> 0:19:31.041 don't talk like that, and nothing's going to happen. And 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:33.281 that's what upset me so much when I found out 0:19:33.281 --> 0:19:37.080 someone had killed her, because I suspect that's probably what happened. 0:19:37.641 --> 0:19:38.961 End quote. 0:19:39.201 --> 0:19:42.721 Freddie went on to say he believed that his shoplifting 0:19:42.721 --> 0:19:45.881 theory could have happened that someone whom Nina had busted 0:19:45.881 --> 0:19:49.401 for shoplifting, maybe someone who was on parole or already 0:19:49.401 --> 0:19:52.441 had a criminal record, someone who couldn't afford to catch 0:19:52.481 --> 0:19:54.481 another charge, might have targeted her. 0:19:55.281 --> 0:19:57.321 Freddy said that it was possible. 0:19:56.881 --> 0:19:59.561 That one of those disgruntled shoplifters got out of jail 0:20:00.161 --> 0:20:04.121 and then started stalking Nina. He said, quote he either 0:20:04.161 --> 0:20:06.080 come to the parking lot and watched her and figured 0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:09.081 out what she drove, or he just happened to get 0:20:09.121 --> 0:20:11.601 behind her to drive through or something and recognized her 0:20:11.601 --> 0:20:14.041 and he followed her, figured out where she lived, started 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:17.600 watching timing everything. I mean see, she always left her 0:20:17.641 --> 0:20:21.400 apartment Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday late around nine o'clock 0:20:21.441 --> 0:20:24.120 because she picked Nelson up. She'd dropped Nelson off at 0:20:24.161 --> 0:20:25.921 his house, and then she'd be back at her apartment 0:20:25.921 --> 0:20:29.080 by herself. And I figure, maybe this is just a theory. 0:20:29.721 --> 0:20:32.801 Maybe he timed her down and got everything figured out. 0:20:33.121 --> 0:20:34.521 End quote. 0:20:34.601 --> 0:20:38.481 The detective asked Freddy to explain how he knew Nina's 0:20:38.481 --> 0:20:41.721 schedule so well, including what time she was alone in 0:20:41.721 --> 0:20:45.681 her apartment. Freddie Claire verified that although he knew Nina well, 0:20:46.121 --> 0:20:49.521 he actually never knew where Nina lived. But he said 0:20:49.521 --> 0:20:52.641 on the Sunday after Nina's murder, he saw news report 0:20:52.681 --> 0:20:55.481 about the murder and it showed pictures of the apartment complex. 0:20:55.881 --> 0:20:58.041 He said when he saw the complex on the news, 0:20:58.161 --> 0:21:01.041 he recognized it and that's when he decided to go 0:21:01.121 --> 0:21:01.521 over there. 0:21:02.241 --> 0:21:03.681 He said he did it because he. 0:21:03.681 --> 0:21:06.681 Wanted, quote to see if there's something that maybe someone 0:21:06.681 --> 0:21:08.840 could have done. I felt like I wanted to have 0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:12.120 a connection. I wanted to do something, and I also 0:21:12.281 --> 0:21:15.001 wanted to see if they were putting flowers on her doorstep, 0:21:15.401 --> 0:21:17.080 because I was going to buy some the next day 0:21:17.481 --> 0:21:20.360 and drop them off on my way to school end quote. 0:21:21.080 --> 0:21:24.161 But Freddy said he couldn't find the crime scene tape. 0:21:24.241 --> 0:21:26.601 He wasn't able to figure out which apartment was Nina's, 0:21:27.041 --> 0:21:30.121 so after driving around the complex, he decided to park 0:21:30.161 --> 0:21:33.281 and take a look around. Then, he said, after getting 0:21:33.281 --> 0:21:35.801 out of the car, he saw some women standing there. 0:21:35.881 --> 0:21:38.601 He started talking to them, asking them if they lived there. 0:21:39.361 --> 0:21:42.120 He told them he was a friend of nina'snamed Freddie Hollingsworth. 0:21:42.441 --> 0:21:44.681 He said he wanted to see where she live. He 0:21:44.840 --> 0:21:48.001 said he told them. Quote, I just want to see 0:21:48.161 --> 0:21:50.881 what happened, you know, if there's something that I can 0:21:50.921 --> 0:21:54.681 see that people can't end quote. One of those women 0:21:54.761 --> 0:21:58.880 pointed out Nina's unit, Unit number one. Freddy said he 0:21:58.921 --> 0:22:02.321 didn't actually go over to Nina's apartment. He said that 0:22:02.401 --> 0:22:05.321 he and the two women stared at it and then 0:22:05.481 --> 0:22:08.160 walked a few steps toward it across the grass, but 0:22:08.241 --> 0:22:10.201 then he turned around and left. 0:22:10.681 --> 0:22:11.921 The detective questioning. 0:22:11.961 --> 0:22:14.120 Freddy asked him what he meant by saying that he 0:22:14.201 --> 0:22:16.441 wanted to see if he noticed something that other people 0:22:16.521 --> 0:22:20.841 wouldn't have seen. Freddie said, quote, well, I notice things 0:22:20.881 --> 0:22:23.801 a lot. I'm really good about things. I was hurting, 0:22:23.921 --> 0:22:26.880 i was upset, I was crying, and I just felt 0:22:26.881 --> 0:22:29.281 like there was something. You know, It's like if someone 0:22:29.281 --> 0:22:31.361 got killed in a car wreck, you go to where 0:22:31.401 --> 0:22:34.001 they got killed, and you just want to feel like 0:22:34.080 --> 0:22:36.721 you can do something for them, or you're with them 0:22:36.761 --> 0:22:40.561 or something. And that's what I was seeking. I wanted 0:22:40.601 --> 0:22:43.481 to just live a little bit of Nina. I just 0:22:43.521 --> 0:22:47.041 wanted to feel some connection to Nina. I wanted to 0:22:47.041 --> 0:22:47.921 see where she lived. 0:22:48.281 --> 0:22:48.721 End quote. 0:22:49.761 --> 0:22:52.400 So it would be natural for police to wonder at 0:22:52.401 --> 0:22:55.600 this point was Freddie just a good friend who was 0:22:55.601 --> 0:22:58.561 slothing to try to pick up clues, which, to be fair, 0:22:58.721 --> 0:23:01.481 I can completely relate to. And I am not, by 0:23:01.521 --> 0:23:04.521 the way suggesting that he did anything wrong, because people 0:23:04.601 --> 0:23:07.880 react to grief in all kinds of ways. But obviously 0:23:07.921 --> 0:23:09.840 with any male friend of Nina's who showed up at 0:23:09.840 --> 0:23:13.120 her apartment, it's natural to question him and find out 0:23:13.161 --> 0:23:15.880 if he's trying to help or potentially to insert himself 0:23:15.881 --> 0:23:20.840 into the case or misdirect an investigation. Freddie said that 0:23:20.881 --> 0:23:23.640 he noticed something else about Nina's unit, that it was 0:23:23.681 --> 0:23:26.241