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Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A husband's brutal assault charges

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Speaker 1: are dropped this while his wife, a young mom, Nikki Chain,

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Speaker 1: is still missing. That's right. Charges are dropped. Why because

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Speaker 1: the state's chief witness cannot be found. Wow, I wonder why.

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Speaker 1: I'm Nancy Grace. This is crime Stories. I want to

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Speaker 1: thank you for being with us.

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Speaker 2: A California mom of four missing for over a month now,

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Speaker 2: her husband found torching a car.

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Speaker 1: Okay, too much, too fast, drinking out of the fire

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Speaker 1: highrant yet again, But that's not new in criminal cases.

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Speaker 3: We learn in the last.

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Speaker 1: Hours that the husband, Nikki's husband's car coincidentally catches on

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Speaker 1: figh A catalytic converter is blamed. Okay, that timing is

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Speaker 1: really odd and as I like to say, there is.

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Speaker 3: No coincidence in criminal law.

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Speaker 1: There you go. These are the photos that came pouring

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Speaker 1: into crime stories. What happened? His wife is missing, He

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Speaker 1: is the defendant and a very very serious aggravated assault case.

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Speaker 3: Or they may have turned it a simple assault.

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Speaker 1: All I know is Sarah claims his wife, Nikki's wrists

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Speaker 1: and feet were bound. She was beaten horribly, Her mouth

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Speaker 1: was covered in tape, cold water was poured on her

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Speaker 1: and whoa, whoa, wait a minute, do I have my

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Speaker 1: dates right, Jackie? Just as they're supposed to go to

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Speaker 1: court on that, she goes missing and his car is

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Speaker 1: set on fire. Excuse me, has a catalytic converter fire

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Speaker 1: with him standing right there? Okay, what some people would

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Speaker 1: suggest the car was set on fire to get rid

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Speaker 1: of evidence. Some people might suggest that, but we are

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Speaker 1: told that the car's fire was started due to a

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Speaker 1: catalytic converter issue. Now, I'm not a mechanic. I'm just

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Speaker 1: a trial lawyer. Doesn't have crime scene tape around it.

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Speaker 1: I don't know anything about it, but I do know

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Speaker 1: she's missing and the charges against him are dropped. Now,

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Speaker 1: before we blame the prosecutor, can you prosecute a case

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Speaker 1: where your chief witness to testify to what happened? Isn't there?

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Speaker 1: What do we know about domestic violence? Beatings? Let's not

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Speaker 1: call it domestic violence. That's certainly an euphemism. Putting perfume

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Speaker 1: on the pig. Domestic violence. It sounds like a Hallmark movie, right,

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Speaker 1: domestic uh uh. It's brutal, it's horrible, women are murdered,

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Speaker 1: but it all happens behind closed doors. I guarantee you

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Speaker 1: Nikki Chan would do everything she could not to let

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Speaker 1: her children or her family know she's being beaten and abused.

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Speaker 1: Of course, these are just allegations. The defendant remains innocent

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Speaker 1: in the eyes of the court until proven guilty beyond

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Speaker 1: a reasonable doubt.

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Speaker 3: Let's just state that upfront.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, him, toddlem Kay not a suspect, Let's be clear.

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Speaker 1: And just before she is set to testify, she goes missing.

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Speaker 1: Funny how that worked right, and his car catches on fire.

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Speaker 3: Again.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for being with us. You know, don't blame

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Speaker 1: me for being angry. I've just seen this scenario play

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Speaker 1: out over and over and over. A young mom goes missing,

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Speaker 1: children are left without a mother, and nothing ever happens.

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Speaker 1: The only witness is Niki Chain and she's gone. You

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Speaker 1: think she wanted her children to see what was happening

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Speaker 1: to their mother. I doubt that very seriously. But let's

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Speaker 1: get to the fire. Take a listen to this.

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Speaker 4: A fire at the home of missing mom before Nikki

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Speaker 4: Sale McCain brings out law enforcement, the media, and the

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Speaker 4: Shasta County Fire Department. The reading PD Shasta County sheriffs

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Speaker 4: and CalFire Ellie all witnessed the growing blaze and multiple

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Speaker 4: officers spotted walking the property while it's still on fire.

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Speaker 4: Firefighters create a fire line to stop the fire from

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Speaker 4: spreading the nearby homes, but several vehicles on the property

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Speaker 4: appear to be completely burned.

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Speaker 1: I catalate to converter and several cars are burned. Okay,

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Speaker 1: joining me in all star pedal. It makes sense of

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Speaker 1: what we know right now. Straight out to Lauren Colin,

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Speaker 1: investigative reporter and host of the Outlaiwer podcast, Lauren Conlin,

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Speaker 1: how did multiple cars catch on fire from one catalytic

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Speaker 1: converter problem or did they all have catalytic converter problems

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Speaker 1: at the same time and spontaneously catch on fire.

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Speaker 5: No, Nancy, this is very suspect to me. So when

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Speaker 5: the car caught on fire, cal Fire reported that they

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Speaker 5: tried to contain it. But this fire spread ninety eight acres.

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Speaker 5: That is not a small amount. I mean, I guess

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Speaker 5: in terms of California fires, sure you could argue that

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Speaker 5: it is a small amount, but it went well onto

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Speaker 5: other people's property.

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Speaker 1: Everybody on the panel, did you hear that ninety eight

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Speaker 1: acres and it all starts with his car.

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Speaker 3: Is that correct, Lauren Comlin, That's correct, his car, their

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Speaker 3: house completely fine.

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Speaker 1: Beside me right now are Chloe and Kay. Chloe Sale

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Speaker 1: and Kay Ford. These are Nikki's sisters joining us, Lauren Colin.

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Speaker 1: I'm going to come back to you for all the facts.

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Speaker 1: Ted Tobias with US former prosecutor and author of nobody

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Speaker 1: homicide cases and Brian Fitzgivens, Director Operations USPA Nationwide Security,

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Speaker 1: who first alerted me about the fire. But I want

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Speaker 1: to go to Chloe and Kay to you. Chloe, when

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Speaker 1: did you find out about the fire on your sister's

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Speaker 1: husband's property?

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Speaker 6: Actually found out pretty quick. My sister Kay had sent

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Speaker 6: us a text message in the family group chat and

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Speaker 6: said Tyler's house is on fire, And immediately I was like,

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Speaker 6: holy crap, there's no way the house is on fire.

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Speaker 3: Kay for joining me.

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Speaker 1: Nikki's other sister, Kay, when did you learn about the fire?

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Speaker 7: We have some friends that live out there that had

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Speaker 7: been keeping an eye on the house, So we found

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Speaker 7: out pretty quickly, probably within four or five minutes of

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Speaker 7: the fire starting, and we got video footage almost directly

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Speaker 7: after that.

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Speaker 1: Chloe, is this also Nicki's home. Yes, so both of

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Speaker 1: them own it together. Correct, Yes, Wow, Okay, back to you,

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Speaker 1: Lauren Colin joining us investigative reporter.

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Speaker 3: Back to the facts. What else can you tell me, Nancy?

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Speaker 5: This was incredibly interesting because Tyler McCain owned up to

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Speaker 5: starting this fire, and he was just cited for negligently

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Speaker 5: causing a fire and burning another's land, and as I said,

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Speaker 5: he had to evacuate. I mean, there was an evacuation

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Speaker 5: in the area, and about a month prior, another man

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Speaker 5: did essentially the same thing the lawnmower, but it was

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Speaker 5: contained to forty five acres and that man was arrested.

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Speaker 5: So it kind of made me scratch my head as

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Speaker 5: to why Tyler McCain wasn't arrested for this fire.

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Speaker 3: Lauren Colin, investigative reporter.

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Speaker 1: You just stated that the husband in this case, Nikki's husband,

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Speaker 1: owned up.

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Speaker 3: To starting the fire. What do you mean by that?

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Speaker 5: He admitted it right away, even when news crews came

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Speaker 5: to the scene. Normally, cal fire doesn't give away who

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Speaker 5: started it, who was involved, but Tyler McCain told the

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Speaker 5: local news stations.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it was me.

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Speaker 1: Okay, hold on just a moment, how did he reportedly

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Speaker 1: start the fire.

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Speaker 5: Lauren, Well, as you said, he parked on dry grass,

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Speaker 5: and that's another head scratcher. As a resident of California,

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Speaker 5: a lifelong run, you would think that he would know

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Speaker 5: not to do that, especially with the weather as it

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Speaker 5: is so hot, essentially a desert.

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Speaker 1: Very curious about how a catalytic converter actually starts a

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Speaker 1: blaze like this to Brian Fitzgibbons joining us USP a

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Speaker 1: nationwide security Brian, how does that work?

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Speaker 8: Well, I'll piggyback on something that Lauren just said. There

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Speaker 8: has been extreme heat out here. In reading the temperatures

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Speaker 8: on July third, the day that the fire started, we're

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Speaker 8: up into one sixteen around the time of the fire.

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Speaker 8: So you know exactly how that happens with a catalytic converter,

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Speaker 8: I couldn't tell you, but you know, this is certainly

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Speaker 8: very suspicious.

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Speaker 9: You know, the big question hanging over our heads right.

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Speaker 8: Now is was there anything of evidentiary value in that

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Speaker 8: vehicle that was destroyed?

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Speaker 9: And you know what was this intentional? Sidental?

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Speaker 8: And as it stands right now, looks very suspicious.

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Speaker 3: Just FYI, everybody.

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Speaker 1: The EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency, has regulations in place

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Speaker 1: to control the safety of catalytic converters so they don't

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Speaker 1: spontaneously catch on fire. So what this one car in

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Speaker 1: the middle of a search for a missing wife somehow

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Speaker 1: evades the EPA regulations joining us ted to bias out

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Speaker 1: of DC. Former assistant US attorney and author of nobody

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Speaker 1: homicide cases Ted.

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Speaker 3: What do you make of this?

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Speaker 9: Well, Nancy, I think it's highly suspicious.

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Speaker 10: As you said, catalytic converters generally don't spontaneously combust, and

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Speaker 10: as I think Lauren pointed out, you'd think someone who

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Speaker 10: lived in California would know not to park their car

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Speaker 10: on dry grass. More concerning is when you have a

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Speaker 10: missing person's case that this is the places the police

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Speaker 10: are going to be interested in are a suspects or

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Speaker 10: a victim's car, the suspect or victim's place of living,

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Speaker 10: their home, and the suspects or missing person's property. Well,

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Speaker 10: now two of those three things have been burned. The

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Speaker 10: suspects car has been burned, and now you have the

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Speaker 10: suspects property being burned. It sounds like the house was

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Speaker 10: not burned, but that's not entirely clear at the moment.

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Speaker 10: So to me, as I said that is highly suspicious

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Speaker 10: that these areas which could be fruitful areas for evidence

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Speaker 10: in either a missing person case or god forbid a

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Speaker 10: nobody homicide case, those things are now burned. That's a

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Speaker 10: fire is going to do significant damage to any type

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Speaker 10: of forensic evidence. And the timing of it, as you said,

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Speaker 10: is highly highly suspicious.

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Speaker 3: Tend to bias.

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Speaker 1: I prosecuted a lot of arson cases and investigated more

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Speaker 1: than I prosecuted. You know it would catch on fire

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Speaker 1: if an abnormal amount of fuel is fed to a catalyst.

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Speaker 1: An abnormal amount of fuel, Now let's think this through

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Speaker 1: an abnormal amount of fuel being fed.

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Speaker 3: Once a fire.

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Speaker 1: Originates in a car and the car burns to smither ings,

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Speaker 1: how do you know if accelerant was poured where the

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Speaker 1: catalytic converter would be because you expect to find a

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Speaker 1: certain degree of accelerant.

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Speaker 3: I eat gas in a car.

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Speaker 1: So would that be deemed by arson investigators as normal

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Speaker 1: to find fuel? What I'm trying to say is, how

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Speaker 1: do I know it was a snaffo on the part

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Speaker 1: of the catalytic converter? It just start just spontaneously combusted.

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Speaker 1: That doesn't make sense to me.

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Speaker 10: I think what the higher likelihood is is if the

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Speaker 10: car was intentionally placed over dry gas after being run,

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Speaker 10: the undercarriage of the car is going to be hot,

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Speaker 10: and it is possible that without any problem with the

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Speaker 10: catalytic converter, simply putting a hot catalytic converter over dry grass.

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Speaker 10: And Brian has pointed out how dry it has been

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Speaker 10: out in California, well known the dangers of wildfires, that alone.

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Speaker 9: Could start the fire. Whether that car was.

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Speaker 10: Intentionally placed there or accidentally placed there, we don't know

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Speaker 10: at the moment. But to cause this amount of a

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Speaker 10: fire that damage ninety six acres is a significant fire,

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Speaker 10: and it's hard to believe, given Tyler McCain situation, that

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Speaker 10: this is absolutely completely unintentional. I personally find that very surprising.

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Speaker 10: When I found out, the first thing I thought of was,

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Speaker 10: this appears to be an attempt to destroy evidence.

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Speaker 1: Again, Tyler McCain has not been named a suspect or

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Speaker 1: a person of interest right now, this fire is deemed

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Speaker 1: to have been caused by a catalytic converter. Crime Stories

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Speaker 1: with Nancy Grace Lauren Colin. You said that Nikki's husband

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Speaker 1: stated or owned up to your words starting the fire,

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Speaker 1: but it was my understanding. He owned up to having

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Speaker 1: the vehicle on dry grass. When it's spontaneously combusted, say

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Speaker 1: I set it on fire.

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Speaker 3: To get rid of evidence.

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Speaker 5: You're absolutely correct, he stated to local reporters. The fire

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Speaker 5: was ignited after he parked a car on dry grass.

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Speaker 3: That was it. He never said I started a.

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Speaker 1: Fire, gotcha, you know, Brian Fitzgibbons, I hate when that happens,

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Speaker 1: when you park your car and all of a sudden

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Speaker 1: it just starts on it just it spontaneously combusts. That's terrible.

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Speaker 1: I want to point something out. Having worked also at

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Speaker 1: the Federal Trade Commission, we worked very closely with EPA

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Speaker 1: and they have very very rigid guidelines and regulations regarding

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Speaker 1: any emission control system that it shall not in any

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Speaker 1: way on its own put consumers at risk, including special

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Speaker 1: insulation for catalytic reactors that in itself has been specifically

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Speaker 1: addressed by federal guidelines. Now, while fires may still occasionally happen,

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Speaker 1: if an abnormal amount of fuel is fed any catalyst,

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Speaker 1: there could be a fire.

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Speaker 3: What do you make of it? Fors Gibbons.

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Speaker 8: It's an amazing coincidence, Nancy, that this fire happened two

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Speaker 8: days before a big court date for Tyler McCain.

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Speaker 9: Okay, that's what sticks out to me.

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Speaker 8: As you mentioned, the EPA has strict guidelines. Catalytic converters

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Speaker 8: aren't spontaneously combusting all across the United States. This one

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Speaker 8: just happened to combust two days before Tyler was due

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Speaker 8: in court for these horrific, horrific charges of the violence

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Speaker 8: in torture he committed against Nicky.

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Speaker 1: And Tyler's on the street.

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Speaker 9: No justice, no Keith ef Tyler's on the streets.

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Speaker 3: No justice, no peace, And Tyler's.

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Speaker 4: On the street.

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Speaker 3: Where's my stor?

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Speaker 1: Tyler to Chloe Sale and Kate Ford. First of you, Chloe,

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Speaker 1: who is yelling at where's my sister?

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Speaker 3: It was me?

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Speaker 1: Has he Tyler McCain, not a suspect spoken to you?

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Speaker 1: Says NICKI went missing.

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Speaker 6: He spoke to me a couple of times, and a

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Speaker 6: lot of it was through text message and then a

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Speaker 6: phone call.

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Speaker 3: I'm very curious what did he have to say, Chloe.

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Speaker 6: One of the phone calls was he asked if his

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Speaker 6: He texted me and asked if he could see if

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Speaker 6: his mom could see the kids. And then another time

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Speaker 6: was he wanted to wish his daughter a happy birthday.

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Speaker 1: Okay, where are the children?

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Speaker 7: The children are with our family.

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Speaker 1: Does he not want the children?

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Speaker 7: The children have been revived from the home of a

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Speaker 7: while back when a lot of the domestic violence started

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Speaker 7: to escalate, so he does not he is not able

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Speaker 7: to see the children.

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Speaker 9: The children.

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Speaker 1: All I know is I would be lying on the

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Speaker 1: front of the courthouse steps screaming to get my children back.

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Speaker 3: But hey, that's just me.

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Speaker 1: Let's get back to proving anything about the catalytic converter.

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Speaker 3: Let me go to you tend to bias.

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Speaker 1: You've prosecuted a lot of cases as a former assistant

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Speaker 1: US attorney. You know, one of the hardest cases to

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Speaker 1: prove is an arson case. You've got to first prove

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Speaker 1: a crime was committed, because there are more accidental fires

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Speaker 1: than there are arsons. So once you prove a crime

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Speaker 1: has been committed, then you've got to prove who did it.

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Speaker 1: So it's some kind can be sometimes can be a

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Speaker 1: very difficult case to prove.

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Speaker 9: That's that's correct, Nancy.

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Speaker 10: Here though, we have the suspect in the arson, Tyler McCain,

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Speaker 10: admitting that he parked car on dry grass in a

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Speaker 10: situation where the environment is incredibly dry, prone to fire

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Speaker 10: is well known by everybody, and so therefore the who

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Speaker 10: started the fire is pretty clear. How the fire started

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Speaker 10: is also pretty clear, because it does seem as if

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Speaker 10: the hot catalytic converter, maybe there was damage to the

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Speaker 10: heat shield, maybe didn't have a heat shield, that that's

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Speaker 10: what started the fire. The question becomes, nancy is did

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Speaker 10: he do this intentionally or not? That's the difficult part.

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Speaker 10: That's the difference between, as you know, having a prosecutable

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Speaker 10: arson case versus having a case that is just an

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Speaker 10: accidental fire, which seems to be at the moment what

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Speaker 10: cal Fire thinks it is. But did cal Fire know

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Speaker 10: the full background of Tyler McCain. Did they know he

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Speaker 10: had a missing wife, Did they know that there were

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Speaker 10: active searches going on for the wife? Did they know

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Speaker 10: that there was perhaps evidentiary value in that car, evidentiary

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Speaker 10: value in that property and in that home. And that's

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Speaker 10: what's going to be the determination between did Tyler McCain

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Speaker 10: truly do this accidentally or did he do it on

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Speaker 10: purpose because he was hoping to destroy some evidence, either

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Speaker 10: in that car or elsewhere. That's going to be the

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Speaker 10: difficult part. In this arson investigation, Nancy.

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Speaker 1: Charges against the husband in this case, Tyler McCain. Charges dropped.

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Speaker 1: Why because the States only witness to the alleged brutal

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Speaker 1: assault on Nicki is Nicki, and Nicky's gone back to

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Speaker 1: the catalytic converter fire again. As of right now, there

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Speaker 1: is no arson claim. The timing highly highly unusual. But

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Speaker 1: I want to clear one thing up, Lauren Colin, and

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Speaker 1: I'm going to circle back to Chloe Saley and k Ford,

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Speaker 1: because we still don't have a clear understanding of how

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Speaker 1: Nicki got on a Friday night midnight from her mother

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Speaker 1: in law's house home to her place and where her

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Speaker 1: own vehicle Chevy Avalanche plays into that. Lauren Conlin, joining

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Speaker 1: US investigative reporter hosts of the Outlier podcast. Lauren, Let's

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Speaker 1: be clear, Nikki's vehicle, Chevy Avalanche has been found on

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Speaker 1: a remote county road. The vehicle that spontaneously caught on

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Speaker 1: fire is the husband Tyler and McCain, not a suspect's vehicle.

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Speaker 3: Is that correct? That is correct?

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Speaker 5: And I just want to point out a statement from

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Speaker 5: cal Fire as to why Tyler McCain was not arrested

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Speaker 5: for this. Representatives shared that they have to have enough

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Speaker 5: evidence to prove a level of criminal negligence necessary foreign

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Speaker 5: arrest based on factors set out in California law, and

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Speaker 5: in this case, in the case of the fire at

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Speaker 5: the McCain residence, factors were not present.

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Speaker 9: You know.

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Speaker 1: To Ted Debias joining us, a veteran trial lawyer and

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Speaker 1: author of No Body Homicides. That's now, every arson case

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Speaker 1: I have ever investigated and prosecuted takes time to develop.

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Speaker 1: Every piece of that vehicle has to be taken apart

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Speaker 1: and looked at. For instance, they're not all this easy.

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Speaker 1: And one high profile arson I prosecuted, where a.

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Speaker 3: Millionaire murdered his wife.

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Speaker 1: I walked in and looked at where the fire dog,

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Speaker 1: the accelerant dog hit, you know, like a drug dog

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Speaker 1: or a cadaver dog or a send dog they hit.

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Speaker 1: I looked where it looked like to the naked eye,

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Speaker 1: someone had poured coca cola all over the kitchen floor

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Speaker 1: and it dried. That's what it looked like post fire.

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Speaker 1: I could see it. It was not hard to see

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Speaker 1: at all that accelerant had been poured on the floor.

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Speaker 1: He later claimed, wait for it, that he had been

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Speaker 1: up late that night cleaning his wife's shoes.

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Speaker 3: With a shoe cleaner, much like Figuernaut polished.

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Speaker 1: That contain toiling, which of course is an excellent correct

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Speaker 1: just let that soak in, pardon the pun. So what

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Speaker 1: I'm telling you is right there on the scene, you

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Speaker 1: don't really know what happened. You have to investigate it

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Speaker 1: painstakingly debias.

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Speaker 9: Yes, that's exactly right, Nancy.

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Speaker 10: Arson cases are notoriously tough to prosecute because they are

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Speaker 10: very difficult scientific cases, forensic cases to look at and

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Speaker 10: to determine how did.

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Speaker 9: This fire start.

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Speaker 10: The case you talked about happened indoors, where at least

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Speaker 10: you could see some things and take measurements. Outdoors, It's

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Speaker 10: going to be incredibly difficult. You mentioned earlier about the

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Speaker 10: volume of gasoline. Well, of course in a car there

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Speaker 10: is an entire tank of gasoline. There might be twenty

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Speaker 10: fifteen gallons of fuel slash accelerant there. That is going

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Speaker 10: to make this investigation incredibly difficult.

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Speaker 1: Guys, what do we know? We know that her vehicle

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Speaker 1: and listen, I know I'm talking about the vehicles a lot.

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Speaker 1: Why because last thing we have of Nicki Chang it's

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Speaker 1: a Chevy Avalanche and it's parked out on a remote

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Speaker 1: county road. Let me understand something, Chloe Sally and Ka Ford,

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Speaker 1: because I'm not getting an answer. You get a text

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Speaker 1: from your sister Nicki. She says, I'm taking my mother

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Speaker 1: in law's vehicle back to her home. I'm getting a

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Speaker 1: ride back to my home. Can we confirm that ever happened,

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Speaker 1: not the text, because you've already told me Lead the

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Speaker 1: text was in fact from her who was supposed to

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Speaker 1: bring her home. Did the mother in law's car make

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Speaker 1: it too the mother in law's home. Did the mother

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Speaker 1: in law see her or did she drop it off,

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Speaker 1: hop in a car and leave? What do you know

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Speaker 1: about that, Chloe, because that point is where all the

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Speaker 1: stories diverge.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, so that part is very unclear. We don't know

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Speaker 6: if she actually got a right back to her home.

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Speaker 6: We don't even know if she even made it to

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Speaker 6: her mother in law's house or if she did what

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Speaker 6: exactly happened.

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Speaker 9: Right after that?

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Speaker 1: I don't understand that, Chloe, where's the mother in law

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Speaker 1: in this scenario? Because I would assume that she would

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Speaker 1: be screaming into a microphone somewhere. Nikki is the mother

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Speaker 1: of my grandchildren, she dropped my car off here at

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Speaker 1: X time, and I didn't see her since so and

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Speaker 1: so picked her up and that's the last time I

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Speaker 1: saw her. I'm not hearing that.

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Speaker 3: Why am I not hearing that? Chloe?

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Speaker 9: Me?

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Speaker 3: Same with me too.

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Speaker 6: We're all wondering the same thing as fall Nancy.

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Speaker 1: Okay, Chloe, yes, have you tried to contact the mother

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Speaker 1: in law?

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Speaker 3: I did.

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Speaker 6: I had asked her if Nikki took an uber out

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Speaker 6: from her house and she did tell me nope, not

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Speaker 6: out of here.

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Speaker 3: Did she tell you NICKI brought the car?

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Speaker 6: She did not.

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Speaker 1: Did you ask her if NICKI brought the car?

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Speaker 6: I did not?

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Speaker 1: Okay, you know what, Chloe, I'm not attacking you because

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Speaker 1: I looked back at things I did during stressful situation.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, why did I say that? Why did I

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Speaker 1: do that? Why didn't I fill in them link? It

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Speaker 1: could be anything. But you did call the mother in

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Speaker 1: law and you did ask how did she leave? And

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Speaker 1: her response was Nikki did not leave in an uber.

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Speaker 1: That's what she said. Did she say anything else?

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Speaker 6: That was it?

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Speaker 9: That?

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Speaker 6: It was through text message? And then that was all

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Speaker 6: she just said. She did not uber out of here.

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Speaker 1: Okay, I've got a question. Do you have your cell

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Speaker 1: phone with you right now?

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Speaker 3: Chloe?

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Speaker 9: Yes?

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Speaker 2: I do?

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Speaker 1: Oh okay, could you text her right now and ask

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Speaker 1: her did Nicky drop your car off that night? Yes?

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Speaker 3: I could do that.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you. We may or may not get

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Speaker 1: an answer. We'll find out.

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Speaker 2: California mom of four missing for over a month humby

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Speaker 2: found with car torged.

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Speaker 1: Okay, charges against the husband dropped straight out to Lauren Colin,

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Speaker 1: investigative reporter. What happened, Yes, on.

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Speaker 5: Friday, everybody was so disappointed as the DA Stephanie Bridget

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Speaker 5: threw out the charges because she didn't have her star witness. Now,

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00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:36,520
Speaker 5: what's very confusing and perplexing to a lot of people

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Speaker 5: is Stephanie Bridget actually formed the Family Violence Unit, which

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Speaker 5: specializes in prosecuting offenders that harm the.

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Speaker 3: Most vulnerable like women and children.

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Speaker 5: And so everybody was extremely disappointed in this decision by

444
00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:54,320
Speaker 5: DA Bridget.

445
00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:58,080
Speaker 1: Trying to understand exactly what happened. Take a listen to this.

446
00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:02,600
Speaker 4: The eminent domestic violence case against Tyler McCain now dismissed.

447
00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:06,679
Speaker 4: Why because Nicki Salia McCain, the alleged victim and state's

448
00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:11,040
Speaker 4: only witness, is still mysteriously missing. Without Nikki, there's not

449
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:14,320
Speaker 4: enough evidence to go forward. The DA's office reserves all

450
00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,560
Speaker 4: rights to refile the case in the future. Nicki's sister says,

451
00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:20,439
Speaker 4: Tyler McCain is escorted into court by police through a

452
00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:23,640
Speaker 4: back door and once charges are dismissed, he leaves through

453
00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:26,240
Speaker 4: the back door and directly into a police van.

454
00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:28,040
Speaker 1: Joining me and all Star Powell want to go to

455
00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:33,040
Speaker 1: a veteran former prosecutor now author, Ted Tobias.

456
00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:36,400
Speaker 3: The only witness is missing.

457
00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:39,480
Speaker 9: Yes, that makes it very difficult.

458
00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:44,160
Speaker 1: I would argue the case could go forward as some

459
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,600
Speaker 1: sort of a dying declaration, which is a hearsay exception,

460
00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:52,760
Speaker 1: an exception to the hearsay rule. Based on what Nicki

461
00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:58,160
Speaker 1: said to other people, There's been a lot of nobody

462
00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:03,080
Speaker 1: cases prosecuted. You're the author. You wrote the book on

463
00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:06,640
Speaker 1: nobody cases. That's the name of it, Nobody homicide Cases.

464
00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:10,120
Speaker 1: A practical guide to investigating prosecuting in winning cases. When

465
00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:14,719
Speaker 1: the victim is missing, how could the state go forward?

466
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:16,120
Speaker 1: Did they have to drop the charges?

467
00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:18,720
Speaker 10: So it's hard to say without knowing all the evidence

468
00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:22,280
Speaker 10: the state had. Clearly not having the star witness, the

469
00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:26,680
Speaker 10: victim in this case, makes it difficult. But as you know, Nancy,

470
00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:31,600
Speaker 10: there are excited utterances, there are maybe statements for treatment

471
00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:35,160
Speaker 10: for medical purposes. There are, of course, possibly photographs of

472
00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:38,720
Speaker 10: the injury. There are statements made to others that could

473
00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:41,960
Speaker 10: come in in a domestic violence case. So you'd have

474
00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:45,240
Speaker 10: to look at all of the evidence and say, can

475
00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:48,320
Speaker 10: this case go forward without the victim? As you know,

476
00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:51,440
Speaker 10: in domestic violence cases, Nancy, it is not at all

477
00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:54,960
Speaker 10: uncommon for a victim who is not missing, who is present,

478
00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:58,280
Speaker 10: to decide they do not want to cooperate, right. It

479
00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:01,800
Speaker 10: is very common in domestic viole cases for women, because

480
00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:04,560
Speaker 10: women are typically the victim to come forward and say

481
00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:07,320
Speaker 10: he's nice. Now, we don't have a problem. I don't

482
00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:09,320
Speaker 10: want him to go to jail. He's the father of

483
00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:12,040
Speaker 10: my children, needs the bread winner, all of those things,

484
00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:16,840
Speaker 10: and the cases still can go forward without that victim testifying.

485
00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:19,880
Speaker 10: You have to look at the circumstances though, And I'll

486
00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:23,920
Speaker 10: add one other thing, Nancy, in most states, if a

487
00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:29,280
Speaker 10: person procures the absence of a witness and the government

488
00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:32,640
Speaker 10: can prove that, that can be used in the underlying

489
00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:36,360
Speaker 10: assault case. In other words, if big, if he's only

490
00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:39,800
Speaker 10: a suspect if Tyler McCain had something to do with

491
00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:43,720
Speaker 10: Nicky's disappearance, and the government can prove that, they can

492
00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:47,959
Speaker 10: certainly move forward on the domestic violence charge as well

493
00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:49,760
Speaker 10: as any type of murder case.

494
00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:52,320
Speaker 9: If that's in fact what we're looking at here, and

495
00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:52,960
Speaker 9: you are.

496
00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:58,400
Speaker 1: Right, Tobias, he is a suspect. And the brutal assault

497
00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:03,360
Speaker 1: on Nikki hands and feet were tied, Tate was placed

498
00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:08,160
Speaker 1: over her mouth, she was beaten severely and cold water

499
00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:13,320
Speaker 1: poured on her. Chloe, seely, did Nicki ever discuss the

500
00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:14,400
Speaker 1: beating with you?

501
00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:15,600
Speaker 9: Yes, she did.

502
00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:16,680
Speaker 3: What did she say?

503
00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:19,760
Speaker 6: She told me exactly what was in the report, and

504
00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:23,040
Speaker 6: she did tell me she thought she was going to die.

505
00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:27,160
Speaker 1: You know what, Chloe, those words must taste like dirt

506
00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:32,560
Speaker 1: in your mouth. I've had so many cases, Chloe and Kay,

507
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:36,520
Speaker 1: where women have said to their friends or their sisters like.

508
00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:38,800
Speaker 3: You, one of these days, he's going to kill me.

509
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:41,360
Speaker 3: He's going to kill me or if I go missing.

510
00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:45,560
Speaker 1: He did it, I mean, and now here you are

511
00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:50,240
Speaker 1: telling me that she said that. Kay Ford also joining

512
00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:56,120
Speaker 1: me Nicki's other beloved sister, Kay. Did Nicki ever tell

513
00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:59,040
Speaker 1: you what happened during that particular beating.

514
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:06,160
Speaker 7: Yes, she did say that, like Kue said, she thought

515
00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:07,719
Speaker 7: that was going to be the end, that was going

516
00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:10,320
Speaker 7: to be the time he did it, and she was scared,

517
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:12,800
Speaker 7: scared to death, She was scared for her life. And

518
00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:16,640
Speaker 7: she did state that the next time, if it were

519
00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:19,800
Speaker 7: ever happen again, it could be could be it.

520
00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:26,160
Speaker 1: And this time she actually pressed charges. She actually went

521
00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:44,320
Speaker 1: for help Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Kay, I believe

522
00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:50,240
Speaker 1: that assaults of this brutality, it's not the first time

523
00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:53,840
Speaker 1: the woman has been attacked. You know, go from zero

524
00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:59,240
Speaker 1: to one hundred and sixty mph in a matter of seconds. Kay,

525
00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:05,880
Speaker 1: Do you know of any prior assault by McCain on Niki.

526
00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:11,280
Speaker 7: There were several assaults on Nicki. She didn't feel comfortable

527
00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:15,440
Speaker 7: or like we've mentioned before, she didn't want to rip

528
00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:18,520
Speaker 7: the family apart, so anytime the police would come, she

529
00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:21,240
Speaker 7: would she would.

530
00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:23,760
Speaker 3: Not make a report. And this time because the beating.

531
00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:28,440
Speaker 7: Was so severe she endured it for three hours. Because

532
00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:30,560
Speaker 7: of this incident, we pushed her to go to the

533
00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:32,600
Speaker 7: hospital and make that report.

534
00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:36,800
Speaker 3: What did she say happened to her during the attack.

535
00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:40,240
Speaker 7: That she was bound and beaten and that he tried

536
00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:42,600
Speaker 7: to drown her, but he was too tired, so that's

537
00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:46,080
Speaker 7: why he poured the water on her face and she

538
00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:48,240
Speaker 7: was able to get away because he was so exhausted

539
00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:52,520
Speaker 7: from the beating that she was able to have a

540
00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:55,960
Speaker 7: few moments that she ran away, that she escaped.

541
00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:59,920
Speaker 1: Where were the children when they aggravated assault occur?

542
00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:03,560
Speaker 7: They were in the care of our family.

543
00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:07,440
Speaker 11: The search for Nicki Sale McCain continues, extending now onto

544
00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:11,640
Speaker 11: tribal land. The Wind River Casino granted permission for family, friends,

545
00:34:11,680 --> 00:34:14,520
Speaker 11: and concerned citizens to come together on two days to

546
00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:18,239
Speaker 11: search the grounds and by plane. Chloe Sale, Niki's sister,

547
00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:21,000
Speaker 11: tells local news reporters that the area is close to

548
00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:24,200
Speaker 11: where McCain was last seen or heard from. Other parts

549
00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:28,720
Speaker 11: of tribal grounds remain private due to tribal sovereignty. Access

550
00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:31,480
Speaker 11: has to be requested and granted before an area can

551
00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:32,600
Speaker 11: be searched.

552
00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:36,160
Speaker 1: And that area has not been fully searched. I'm understanding

553
00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:40,200
Speaker 1: the reading. Rancheria is telling the family they don't know

554
00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:47,759
Speaker 1: if video exists. Really what casino doesn't have video? They're

555
00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:51,120
Speaker 1: better than NASA for Pete's sake. Lauren Colin joining me

556
00:34:51,160 --> 00:34:53,120
Speaker 1: investigative reporter hosts of the outlier.

557
00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:56,960
Speaker 3: What do we know about the Rancheria? This is very interesting, Nancy.

558
00:34:57,120 --> 00:35:03,319
Speaker 5: The reading Rancheria tribe, Tyler mc haynes's family essentially runs it.

559
00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:05,359
Speaker 3: They have major ties to this.

560
00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:09,360
Speaker 5: His mom's sister, his aunt is the vice chairman, and

561
00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:10,640
Speaker 5: other family members.

562
00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:14,720
Speaker 3: Their last name is Hayward. Other family members are council members.

563
00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:18,879
Speaker 5: So many locals that I've spoken to are very frustrated

564
00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:22,680
Speaker 5: as to why they are not being more helpful in

565
00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:23,240
Speaker 5: this search.

566
00:35:23,440 --> 00:35:26,960
Speaker 3: Chloe Saley and kay Ford. Let me go to you.

567
00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:34,040
Speaker 1: Chloe, I did not realize the ties between Nikki's husband

568
00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:40,600
Speaker 1: Tyler McCain family with the Rancheria now stating did they

569
00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:42,800
Speaker 1: actually say they.

570
00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:45,080
Speaker 3: Don't know if they've got video?

571
00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:48,319
Speaker 6: So that's what I've been reading online as well too,

572
00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:51,279
Speaker 6: and I hope that's not true because I know they

573
00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:55,200
Speaker 6: have the best security system, our security and best camera system.

574
00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:59,759
Speaker 1: To wife. It is Gibbons joining us Director Operations USPA

575
00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:04,319
Speaker 1: and why Security. You can find them at uspasecurity dot com.

576
00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:06,120
Speaker 3: Brian, help me out.

577
00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:11,000
Speaker 1: Why are we not getting a full search of the Rancheria.

578
00:36:11,120 --> 00:36:14,920
Speaker 1: Why are they saying they may not have video of

579
00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:16,720
Speaker 1: the night she was there.

580
00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:18,239
Speaker 3: I don't understand this.

581
00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:22,600
Speaker 8: Yeah, this is absolutely concerning Nancy, especially with the familial

582
00:36:22,719 --> 00:36:27,640
Speaker 8: ties that Tyler has to the leadership of the Rancheria.

583
00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:33,600
Speaker 8: We all know that the casino will have unbelievable footage

584
00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:38,640
Speaker 8: and security systems. We've heard and we're aware that the

585
00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:43,160
Speaker 8: Rancheria has only allowed two days of searches to take

586
00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:47,960
Speaker 8: place on tribal lands. This is we're at the point

587
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:52,880
Speaker 8: that these search parties need to have full access. Public

588
00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:57,160
Speaker 8: shows of support from the Rancheria mean nothing at this point.

589
00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:01,120
Speaker 8: They really need to open up access to the tribal lands.

590
00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:03,360
Speaker 1: A show of support my rear end I want to

591
00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:06,759
Speaker 1: search the land, but at this point, let's be real, Brian.

592
00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:11,120
Speaker 1: If it's Gibbons, time is passing, every day is passing.

593
00:37:11,680 --> 00:37:16,680
Speaker 1: Whoever is responsible from Nicky's disappearance has had plenty of

594
00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:21,319
Speaker 1: time to move evidence if it was ever on that

595
00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:22,160
Speaker 1: tribal land.

596
00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:23,560
Speaker 3: Who are we kidding right now?

597
00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:24,080
Speaker 9: Correct?

598
00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:27,960
Speaker 8: Every day that goes by, this investigation gets harder and harder,

599
00:37:28,400 --> 00:37:31,719
Speaker 8: and you know, with the terrain out here as it is,

600
00:37:32,040 --> 00:37:36,480
Speaker 8: it's as difficult as can be, so full access needs

601
00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:37,880
Speaker 8: to be granted immediately.

602
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:44,160
Speaker 1: But you know, of course, you cannot force tribal land owners.

603
00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:50,000
Speaker 1: The federal government, much less local state government cannot get

604
00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:53,160
Speaker 1: in there. They can't get in there unless the tribal

605
00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:57,400
Speaker 1: authorities allow it. Guys, if you know or even think

606
00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:02,520
Speaker 1: you know anything about the disappearance of Nikki Chain, please

607
00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:05,600
Speaker 1: dial five three zero.

608
00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:07,840
Speaker 3: Two four five six five.

609
00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:11,879
Speaker 1: Four zero repeat five three zero two four five six

610
00:38:12,080 --> 00:38:16,879
Speaker 1: five four zero, or you can call NORCL Alliance for

611
00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:21,600
Speaker 1: the Missing five three zero, three seven eight four four

612
00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:28,920
Speaker 1: nine one. There is a ten thousand dollars reward. Goodbye friend,