317. The Fitbit That Solved a Murder - Nicole VanderHeyden

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If you're ready to hear the of your first sale today, head over to Shopify.com slash husband. To start your free trial today. Again, you guys, if you've ever just wanted to sell anything big, small, any company out there that is selling something, head over to Shopify.com slash husband and check it out. That's right. Start your free trial at Shopify.com slash husband, Shopify.com slash husband. You're listening to an Ono Media Podcast. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder With My Husband. I'm Peyton Moreland. And I'm Garrett Moreland. And he's the husband. And I'm the husband. Happy Monday. Happy Monday. Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. Thank you for following, liking, commenting, hating. I don't even care if you hate and do it. I dare you. Anyways, that's all we got going on. Hope everyone's having, we're going to have a great week. And yeah, that's our intro. A reminder real quick, for those who don't know, we do have bonus content. We have bonus episodes. And ad-free content over on Apple, Spotify, and Patreon. And that's that. So go check that out if you want that. Do you think the listeners know that I just glaze them all the time? Is that the thing I would say or what? What do you mean? Are you glazing them? Like, I feel like sometimes they're probably like, if I were to be like, oh, I was thinking about this because I was thinking about this this week. I was thinking about how I feel like we have like top 1% listeners. Okay. Like, I feel like our listeners are exceptionable. The goats? Wait, exceptional? Yeah, the goats. And I only say that because of the feedback that we receive from like ad companies or, you know, people who interact with our listeners. Yeah, you guys are the goats. I'm not going to lie. But do you think they think I'm glazing all the time? No. Do I say this too much is what I'm saying? Or do you think that at this point they don't believe me? They probably just tune it out. Yeah. Well, I'm not trying to glaze or anything. But I think there's no problem with glazing. Like, I just, like, I feel sometimes with the feedback we receive, I don't know. Sometimes I just feel like our listeners are a little special. Yeah, I agree. I don't know. No, I agree. I agree. I agree. Like, obviously they are. We wouldn't be here without them. It's true. So. You're special too, though. Well, thank you. You're welcome. That means a lot. But I just want you to know if you're listening to this that you matter and you matter to me. You matter to me because I wouldn't be here without you. You have 10 seconds? Yes. You do? No. Oh. No, zero to 10. I was so excited. I haven't slept. I don't eat. I've probably lost 10 pounds. Stress of my life away. That's what I got going. I'm stressed, working, doing a bunch of stuff. But it's okay. I'm pretty soon here. Hopefully everything will be chill and we'll look at it. It is what it is, you know? By the time they listen to this, will we have had the opening? Yes. By the time. No, no, no, no. This is Monday's episode. One more. One more, right? Gosh, that gave me a heart. That kind of gave me, made me sick. That makes me sick to my stomach. Yeah. I might barf all over the place. Ugh. Blech. Yeah, that's how I feel about it too. Anyways, hope everything's going well. I have nothing else to say. I'm sorry, guys. I have 10 seconds. Any hot takes? I was going to say, a lot of things have gone wrong this week for you. Dude, just like, oh my gosh. Which is like a little, it's a little discouraging because it's like, like his mixer broke today. So now you can't make bagels, can't practice with employees. How do we even get that fixed? Are they going to have to ship another one? Opening is soon. I just, I think I'm going to close shop, you know? No. I tried. Damn. Hard. It was tough. I know. It's fine. It'll be okay. I don't want to talk too much about the bagel shop, but I will talk about any hot takes that I have, but I feel like I can't think of any right now. If I think of a hot take in the middle of the episode, I'll spit it right out. So on that note, let's hop into this week's episode. Our sources for this episode are greenbayprezgazette.com, cbsnews.com, oxygen.com, wbay.com, hansenfuneralservice.com, box11online.com, wncy.com, wearegreenbay.com, wtxl.com, mirror.co.uk, thetroublewithjustice.com, wycourts.com, and legacy.com. I feel like, lately, we've kind of covered a lot of cases that have to do with technology, and I know that I'm kind of including my solo show into the dark in that because I just kind of feel like this has been a theme lately. We see a lot of cases getting solved with some new form of technology. Geofencing and location analytics, genetic genealogy, digital forensics. Because of these tools, Googling one damning search phrase can literally lead to an arrest, we made a joke about this on last week's episode. Bringing your phone with you to commit a crime could literally mean life in prison. Throwing out a used soda can could now prove it was your DNA left at a crime scene years ago. But what we often don't highlight is how that same technology can actually save a life, not just solve a crime. Or more specifically, keep someone from being wrongfully, accused of a crime they didn't commit. Which is why today's case shows circumstantial evidence might tell one story. But with the tech we have nowadays, concrete evidence has the power to change the narrative entirely. And this is definitely something about technology that we don't often go over in true crime. And that is, again, like, we have all these new ways of solving crime, but because of these advances, we've now, also made it easier to not put the wrong person in prison. Yeah. So today I want to introduce you to a 31-year-old mother of three from Green Bay, Wisconsin, named Nicole Vander Hayden. Or Nikki, as her friends called her. Now Nikki was the kind of person who lived for everyone else. She put others before herself constantly. And she took a lot of pride in this. On March 29th, 1985, Nikki graduated from high school in 2003 and went on to get a degree in science and education. Now after that, she spent the next six years of her life working as a substitute teacher for the Green Bay Area Public School System. And on her off days, Nikki would do anything to get outside for a good hike or to connect with nature. She loved exercising, and taking care of herself. But Nikki's number one priority in her life eventually was her family. She got married. She had two kids with her first husband. But eventually they felt it was best if they parted ways. And Nikki leaned on those closest to her to get through those difficult times. Especially when she learned that she would have to share custody of her son and daughter with her ex. But as someone who always embraced, the journey that is life, Nikki soon met and fell in love with someone else. It was January 2015 when Nikki met Doug Dietry. I know this is going to sound a little ditzy, but it's just weird to think that 2015, granted, was 11 years ago now, which is scary. Doesn't feel that long. But we just live normal lives while all this insanity happens around us. Right, like we were just at college during this time. Like people are killing people and just doing insane crap. And I was just going to college and being an idiot. Isn't that just the. It's weird. It's just weird. It's like, yeah, it's weird. The irony of life. Yeah, exactly. And like an uncomfortable one. So just a few months after they actually started seeing each other, Nikki and Doug got some unexpected news. She was pregnant with her third child. child that was Doug's child. And even though the two were still basically getting to know each other they both felt this was something they wanted. Now at the time Doug was working for his family's company in business development and it seemed like he was ready to kind of start settling down and eventually Nikki moved into their home and they welcomed their young son in the winter of 2015. But as any parent or even non-parent knows the first six months with a newborn can be extremely daunting. So by May of 2016 both Nikki and Doug were in desperate need of a date night. So that afternoon Nikki and Doug spoke to some friends about going to see a last-minute concert and it was this glam metal band called Steel Panther that was in town and they figured this is going to make the perfect date night. So Nikki asked her mom to babysit. Again she has just a little six month old at home with her other kids and since they plan to stay out later her friend Dallas would then come to relieve her mother later in the evening. Now around 8 p.m. that night Nikki and Doug met their friend Greg Matthew and some others at a bar called the Watering Hole in Green Bay. Now Doug said Nikki was excited this night about letting loose. According to him Nikki said Nikki was excited about letting loose. So Nikki said Nikki was excited about letting loose. So she had had two drinks before he had even finished his first. Nikki deserved to blow off some steam after not having gone out for the last six months with a brand new baby. So Doug wasn't holding her back. But around 11 p.m. as the concert began to wrap up things started to get a little tense with the couple. Doug and Greg had actually run into some old friends from high school at the Watering Hole. But the rest of the friends were still in the water. So Doug and Nikki were in the water. So the rest of the friends they had gone to the show with including Nikki were now trying to leave. So they wanted to go to another bar called the Sardine Can that was nearby. But Doug and Greg who are now catching up with their old friends are like we don't want to go to Sardine Can we want to stay at Watering Hole with our friends. So they told Nikki you go with the rest of the group on this date night to the other bar and we will meet you there shortly. Now Nikki obviously is not going to exactly happy to hear about this because the group they had even come here with was mostly Doug's friends not even her own. And some of the people he was now catching up with were attractive young women from his past. Still she didn't want to wait around for him to finish catching up finish his conversation. So she left with the original friends figuring Doug and Greg would be along in a matter of minutes. Now this ends up not being the case. This night instead Doug continued to hang around the Watering Hole for a while longer. And at first Nikki seems fine at the new bar. She's seen on security footage looking happy dancing having a good time. But when Doug still hasn't shown up 15 minutes later Nikki does start to get pissed. She texts Doug wondering where he is. Now eventually those texts escalate as Nikki begins to accuse Doug of cheating on her. And she also mentions something about him being abusive towards her. Now soon Doug does text back with some cavalier response like LOL stop and be good I'll see you at the sardine can. But when he still doesn't show up to the second place by 1130 she calls Doug and he doesn't answer. So she asks one of the other friends there with hey can you try calling Doug. And when they call he does answer. So this sets Nikki off because her boyfriend has now screened her call on their date night. I mean they have a newborn baby at home. This is their night out. He's at a completely different place and is now ignoring her. She gets so angry she runs out of the bar. And one of Doug's friends a guy named Aaron chases her out to the street. And he's like I don't know what's going on. I don't know what's going on. I don't to try and convince her to come back again. He's probably just being a good friend. They've had a lot to drink this night. He's like Nikki I understand you're mad but you can't just like go out alone and leave. He tells her hey the rest of us are actually calling Ubers and we're going to head home. Why don't you just catch a ride with us. But by this point Nikki is in hysterics. And when Doug's friend Aaron who's trying to help tries to approach her she actually pushes him away ends up falling on the ground and kind of just starts kicking and screaming at him. And when he realizes people are looking he's like that's it. I'm on a just back away. Leave her be. I mean this isn't even his friend. This is you know he knows her through Doug. And as he's leaving he yells to her one last time quote we can get you home faster to your child. You're a babe in the woods. But she just gets up storms off in another direction on her cell phone. Now eventually around 1230 a.m. So an hour and a half after the concert ended Doug and Greg finally decide to leave the watering hole. Doug at this point has been trying to call Nikki back texting her. Hello. I've tried calling you 10 times but Nikki at this point isn't responding. And apparently once he hears that the rest of the friends have actually already left the sardine can and that Nikki had wandered off on her own refused to go with them refused to take an Uber home. Him and Greg decide to start driving around the area looking for her because she's not answering her phone. Now around 1236 she actually finally does answer. But according to Doug she is slurring her words so badly that he can hardly understand her and he's like listen I don't know where you are. Just go back to the sardine can. We will meet you there in five minutes and then we'll see you there. We can go home. But a few minutes later their calls stop going through because Nikki's phone is either turned off or dead. Oh my gosh. OK. One of the last messages she'd sent Doug said something about how she'd met up with a friend though again she's not being coherent. It doesn't say where. So around 1 a.m. Doug and Greg go into the sardine can hoping Nikki went inside with said friend but she's not there. They wait around because remember he said to meet him there. They wait till about 215 a.m. and then they're like OK maybe she's not coming here maybe she just found her way home especially if she had met up with someone she knew that she probably just got a ride. And that's when Greg drives Doug back to his house to relieve the babysitter. Now they are back at the house by 240 a.m. and Nikki's friend Dallas who was there to babysit is passed out on the couch. When Doug wakes her up they are both shocked to learn that Nikki hasn't made it back yet. So Dallas gets woken up. It's extremely late. Nikki her friend is nowhere to be found. They have lost track of her. And now Doug and Greg are just being obnoxiously drunk. The baby's asleep upstairs and she's like oh my gosh. Can you guys calm down. She starts asking him some questions and then Dallas says something to Doug that was half kidding him. She says quote is Nikki in the trunk of your car. Doug literally looks at her and goes no. But something about Doug's demeanor when she jokes just isn't sitting well with her. Something in her gut in this moment is like OK something's not right. Like Nikki's not here. That was weird. Dallas says goodnight closes the door behind her though not realizing how correct her instincts might have been. All right we're getting into an ad and you know what Garrett. I hate going to the grocery store. This is true. Sometimes I like it. Sometimes I don't. Something I've been a big fan of for a long time is Hungry Root. Oh me and Hungry Root. We're in a long term relationship. Love Hungry Root. 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That's Hungry Root dot com slash husband code husband to get 40 percent off your first box and a free item of your choice for life. OK you guys we are jumping in to a sponsor. And if you've listened to this podcast for a while you know how much I love quince. And here's the thing you know those pieces in your closet that you just reach for over over and over again. It doesn't matter how many t-shirts you have. You just keep reaching for the same two. Well, that is what quince clothing is going to be like in your closet. And you have to trust me on this because my closet is full of quince and not just quince clothing. Okay. I have quince home accessories. I have shoes. I have a makeup leather bag that I love and quince makes elevated everyday essentials using premium materials like Mongolian cashmere, organic cotton, washable silk. Also, I'm not going to lie. A lot of the times where I'm like, dang, babe, that's very cute. She's like, thanks. Got it from quince. Well, cause I have their silk skirt in every different color, every different cut. So I end up wearing it. So like all of them so much with, and I style them differently every single time. They're really one of my best. favorite pieces in my closet. Find the fall pieces you'll reach for most at quince. Download the quince app for app exclusive offers or go to quince.com slash husband and get free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in Canada and the UK too. That's Q U I N C E.com slash husband. Now the following morning, May 21st, Doug wakes up with the baby around 6 30 AM and after feeding his son, he goes back to bed and then he gets up around 11 AM. That's when he realizes Nikki still isn't back and her phone still isn't on. So for the next few hours, he just assumes that, okay, she got really mad at me last night. She's probably still mad at me. She's probably sleeping off a hangover at this friend's place that she texted him about. But as the day goes on, he gets more and more worried. Also, like, I don't know. I guess I can't judge. It's I mean, I think it's even more worrisome that she has a newborn at home. Yeah. And she's still not home. Exactly. I just sounds like I'd be in full panic mode. Like I understand him being like, maybe she's mad at me. Maybe she really did run into a friend, but also, you know, that your wife was, you know, so out of it that she wouldn't get a ride home with the friends. She was kind of kicking and screaming at them. Like she clearly was not in her right mind. That seems kind of nuts to be like, so isn't that a little nuts? It's nerve wracking that you don't know who she's with or where she's at when you know the state she was in. Exactly. So he begins calling hospitals and local jails, but none of them have Nikki. So finally, at 430 p.m. that day, he calls the police to file a missing persons report. But I'm going to rewind just a little earlier that day around 130 p.m. And you're like, wait, why did you probably go 430 to, you know, making the missing persons report? But this is important to the story. So earlier that day at 130, a farmer is out combing his land just a few miles from Doug and Nikki's house. And he finds what he thinks is a deer laying on his property, though, as he gets closer, he sees it is far, far worse. There is a woman completely naked other than her socks and a pink wristband. So he calls the police who rushed to the scene and they discover that this woman is dead in this farmer's field. And they're having a hard time identifying her. There is no ID. There is no purse or phone. She has a severe injury to the side of her face. She has a shoe mark on her back. Oh, my gosh. And while there's a lot of blood on her body, there is not a ton on the ground, which indicates to them that she was likely killed elsewhere and then dumped here afterwards. When they roll her over, they find there's a significant injury to this woman's neck, so she appears to have been strangled. Her fingernails are actually damaged so badly, which tells them that she definitely fought for her life. Strangling someone's crazy. Also, where are her clothes and her belongings? Like, I know there's any time killing someone in general is insane, but I don't think I could strangle somebody unless I was, like, completely fighting for my life. You know? Yeah. Like, I just find it weird. People are like, I'm going to kill this person by strangling them. There's definitely something psychological. I guess. But I guess it depends. Anyways, keep going. I mean, you could, like, rear naked choke somebody. But, like, when I imagine strangling, like, I imagine they're strangling them like this, like, on top of them. Yeah. You know? What was I? Were you just rear naked choking somebody? No, I was just saying. What is that? What do you mean? Rear naked choking? That's a name? Oh, yeah. Just choking somebody. Jeez. You know me. You're like an MMA fighter. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Okay. So, I agree with you, though. I do think, like, strangling is so intimate in a way. So, again, this is all happening. Like, the farmer found her at 1.30, calls the cops. They are now, you know, blocking off the scene, getting investigators, crime scene investigators there. And as this is happening, a call is made to the local police at 4.30 p.m. Back up to now where I took you before this. It is the report about a missing woman named Nicole Vander Hayden, who perfectly fits the description of the body they had just found. Remember, this body is only a couple miles away from her home. So, it's very easy for police to be like, we just got a missing person's call and we just found a body. Yeah. So, of course, the detective's first stop is to Doug and Nikki's house, to find out what even happened to her. Like, how is she here? What happened the night before? And that is when they learn she only lives three or so miles from where she was found dead. But when police get to Doug's house and sit him down, they actually don't tell him right away that they found Nikki's body. They want to just see how the interview plays out as her being a missing person's report. So, he explains to them he couldn't find Nikki. They lost her that night. We hung out around the sardine can. We waited until about 2.15 for her to show up. We drove around for another 20 minutes or so, trying to find her. Then we just came back here. Said I was asleep by 3 a.m. Woke up to feed the baby at 6. Went back to bed until 11. And one of the first things police notice about Doug is he does seem visibly distraught. He doesn't have any signs of injury on his face, bare arms, or exposed legs that they can see. It doesn't look like someone who's been in a fight. And they know that Nikki fought whoever did this to her. Plus, he does fully cooperate with the investigation. He even allows police to confiscate his cell phone for forensic analysis. And during that interview, they come across the text that him and Nikki had exchanged the night before. I feel like I used to ask all the time where the cameras were. I feel like I've kind of gone away from that. And I also feel like. Have you ever seen that movie with Shia LaBeouf? Eagle Eye. I haven't seen it in so long. It's Shia LaBeouf. Oh, it's Shia. Sorry. Gosh, Shia LaBeouf. Called Eagle Eye. And I haven't seen it in so long. But if I remember right, there's basically a camera. Anything can be seen at any time. Nothing's ever missed. What? I thought he's in Disturbia. You thought it was going to be like a scary movie? Well, that's like a camera in that one, too. The whole movie's based off a camera. No, no, no, no. But like, it's. Like, are you surprised there's not like a camera in the sky that just constantly sees us and is always keeping an eye on us? Is this your hot take? Oh, it wouldn't bother me. I'm not doing anything wrong. I mean, it might be a little awkward, like, when we're, you know, doing dirty stuff. But other than that, like. Outside? No, I'm. I mean, I guess I can't see you inside. So, yeah, it doesn't bother me. Yeah. Like, it really wouldn't bother me. Anyways, that's my hot take. Watch me 24-7. It doesn't bother me. I mean, there's so many cameras outside. You kind of are being watched. I might be saying some crazy stuff, but whatever. Anyways, we'll keep going. Like, if you live in a city. Yeah. They can track you block to block. For sure. So. Yeah. So, they're going through these text messages, and this is also Shia's In Holes. Yep, thank you. And I do like that movie a lot. And Transformers. He's in a bunch of movies, yeah. Oh, Transformers. I haven't seen that. But I did know he was in that, too. I just don't know what Eagle Eye is. I don't. I've never seen it. I've never heard of that. So, they're going through the text messages, and this is when they come across the one where Nikki called Doug a, quote, abusive a-hole, to which Doug said, oh, she just gets that way sometimes when she's been drinking too much. He's like, she says things she doesn't mean. But obviously, when detectives read this in someone's phone, it's going to set off alarm bells. So, they ask him, hey, can you just come down to the station later tonight? And he complies. And it's not until that interview, around midnight. That they tell him, we actually think Nikki's body was found earlier today at 1.30, which is low-key, like. Holy crap. Now, at first, it almost seems like he's in denial. He's like, well, it couldn't be her. Until they're like, well, she had a pink wristband on her, and that is the one that was given to them at the watering hole for the concert. So, he completely loses it. It's like reality sinks in in this moment. It confirms to him that this was Nikki. But tears are not, the police aren't convinced that Doug is free and clear. They think it's very possible he did have something to do with this. And after three to four more hours. of questioning that becomes very clear to doug too he suddenly asks for a lawyer he refuses to give a dna sample without a warrant his cooperation comes to a complete stop now meanwhile just before dawn the next morning more evidence is found in connection to nikki's murder just off a highway on ramp about a mile from where her body was found an off-duty police officer actually spots something it's a purse then he finds some shoes and some clothes nearby and when detectives get the purse they find it contains nikki's id and her cell phone now around the same time a medical examiner is performing nikki's autopsy and it confirms two things one that she had been strangled with something that resembled an electrical cord of some kind so it wasn't hands there was a weapon used and she had been hit in the head with a blunt force object but the medical examiner couldn't conclusively state what came first and in addition she concludes that nikki had about 240 separate injuries on her body including ones to her face she had a fractured jaw and had injuries suggesting that she had been sexually assaulted though obviously they're having a hard time ruling out the possibility that she might have just been murdered after having consensual sex so investigators turn to what little evidence they have to determine what happened to nikki in the final hours of her life i just yeah i don't know i don't i'm trying to figure out well i'm about to make you happy because they're starting with you're gonna make me happy okay they're going to the surveillance oh okay good good from the sardine can you were just a little early all right let's hear it let's hear so they from the sardine can yeah the second bar we got the watering hole we got the sardine can yes nice nice so on that footage like i said nikki appears to be having a fun time dancing and drinking with friends until 11 15 p.m then a little after 11 30 p.m she does get visibly upset after being on her phone and she does storm out of the bar now that footage does show their friend erin following her to check on her so this is when they decide to call erin in for questioning like hey tell us a little bit more about what happened when she stormed out of the bar he tells police ah she did have odd behavior in the street and how he did actually eventually go back to the bar after nikki got physical with him remember they had that little altercation and he goes back in plus they have surveillance footage that shows him coming back alone around 11 45 p.m just minutes after he walked out after her so erin's kind of a dead end and can easily be ruled off the suspect list but there's more to that footage that night that does raise alarm bells particularly how doug and greg come into the sardine can later remember you come to meet her there so they can take her home and they keep drinking in this footage they don't seem too concerned about the fact that nikki is missing that there's she's supposed to be meeting them there which messed up yes illegal no i also think there could be like well she's still coming this has been a messy night she said she was talking to a friend she's gonna meet us here so we're just gonna keep the night going until she walks in okay you know what i mean i do think there's maybe i do yeah sorry it's okay yeah maybe i don't know why i said that like that i do i think i do think that i want to suck your blood i know i i'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt but let me know if this changes when i tell you that they stayed there for two hours having a good time basically waiting for her to show up so when police see this they're like well he said he went there to go pick her up but on this footage they seem to be having a good time so they continue to look closer at doug and when they dive into the footage they're like oh my god they're going to to his past they learned that an ex-girlfriend of his once filed a domestic violence claim against him it seems that she never actually pressed charges but it was enough for police to wonder hey is this a pattern his you know new girlfriend wound up dead his ex-girlfriend filed a domestic violence claim plus the more they talk to witnesses the more they learn that this couple had their fair share of issues i guess doug had told his mother at one point that he just wasn't cut out to be a family man after they had their baby yeah you should probably figure that out before you decide to have a baby by the way he even sent her a text that read quote this is going to be nothing but hell for 18 years which i would dare say a lot of newborn parents probably sure feel that way no i could i can see that you know yeah but this is the part that not a lot of his newborn baby out of his house and just going single so he basically was wanted to be a deadbeat dad yeah a little he's like i want to go back to the bachelor lifestyle i don't want a kid i just wanted to like hang out dude some people when any form of hardships or trials happen they just hold like a lawn chair just straight just nope nope i'm not gonna do anything hard in my life and when police talked to nikki's friends they learned that um she had told them that doug he kind of was a little bit of not a good dad he often slept in he called out of work she tells her friends this is irritating like we have a baby this is immature and then there were rumors that he was talking with other women sending sexually explicit messages to other women basically when police are learning about this they realize doug does not seem ready for fatherhood and that began to take a toll on their relationship okay they wanted different things but is this enough motivation for murder also it doesn't get rid of the fact that you still have a kid at home yeah so get rid of the wife but i mean that doesn't solve the problem that you think you have right hey before your q3 call i've got the campaign brief ready built from last quarter's data and the competitive landscape great did you include the differentiation angle the cmo asked for already in there three angles no competitors using right now just need your approval approved thanks oh agents where would we be without you somewhere with a lot more tabs open create your first monday agent in minutes at monday.com all right you guys this episode is sponsored by better help if you could wake up tomorrow and be better at one thing what would that be what would it be what would you pick probably handling my anxiety better that'd be nice yeah that's a good one that would be great i don't know what my mind would be to be honest i have to think about the one so i need better help i need to talk to someone about it to figure out what mine would be well i mean isn't this question just tied directly to why you would go to therapy no exactly one thing you want to work on or be better at that's where better help comes in pain and i are both big fans of better help um talking to someone is important there's so much to talk about even if you don't think there is anything to talk about talk to someone you never know honestly sometimes yourself you don't even know what's going on in your own brain so talk about it also it can be as simple as i want to be better at watering my plants literally a therapist can help you with that this is true better is a feeling defined by you and for better help it's a better help therapist who really gets you it's a focus on global emotional well-being with thousands of therapists and millions of members in over 100 countries it's progress sign up and get 10 off at betterhelp.com slash husband that's better h-e-l-p.com slash husband so police found this text message sent from nikki to doug on the 16th so this is four days before their date night where she disappeared and it said quote yelling at one of her kids this morning and talking about moving out he's just a baby and filling your hatred it makes me want to cry all day now doug does apologize to her and she says i'm sorry i didn't mean to hurt you i'm sorry i didn't mean to hurt you over text after this she's obviously alluding to they had a rough morning he was yelling lost his patience with a baby this made her sad but it's these subtle clues that got police thinking he could be their best potential suspect especially because while he was speaking with detectives the day before they executed a search warrant on the house that he shared with nikki and they found a few things that didn't look great for him while searching their garage detectives spotted blood on the floor they also found some on the inside of nikki's car specifically in the back seat and then they discover a pair of air jordans that have what appear to be the same tread marks as the footprint they found on nikki's back and there was some bloody smudges on the bottom okay obviously they bag and tag all of this send it to the lab for confirmation and eventually the theory becomes maybe nikki did come home from the bar that night and the two got into an argument at the house maybe he put her in her car and took her out to that field where he left her body after killing her either in the car or back at home. Now, shockingly, this theory holds even more weight when the day after executing the search warrant, a neighbor goes to the police and they say, hey, I think I found your crime scene. So this person lives right across the street from the couple and they tell police they noticed a pool of blood right along the curb in front of their house. They also found a phone charger cord, one that seemed to match what the medical examiner had believed was a murder weapon. It's just crazy to me. Like, it's just crazy to me that people will just kill people, just leave, like just disappear in the night. I mean, this is pretty damning. Like the neighbors, like, I know you were looking over there, but right here on our sidewalk, we think we found your murder weapon. Like just if you like just disappear, if you can't handle having a kid and you can't handle being a dad, first of all, embarrassing. Second of all, just leave. Like just don't kill. Don't kill somebody. Crazy. They also find a few clumps of blonde hair that does seem to be a perfect match with Nikki's. All of this is about 118 feet from Doug's front door. So police call him back in for questioning around May 23rd, two days after Nikki's found dead. And while they aren't ready to charge him with murder, they arrest 35-year-old Doug on suspicions of first-degree murder. And they hold him on a $1 million bond. And in the meantime, they're waiting for the DNA results on the evidence to come back. And during this, he's sitting in jail. Okay. On a $1 million bond he can't pay. Okay. This feels pretty obvious. Like even friends and family were like, they've not been doing very well. The whole, the story's a little weird. So they're like, we got our guy. We just need to get an airtight case. And as all this is going on, little details start pointing away from Doug. For example, shoot, it's not Doug. Yeah. I just ripped Doug a new one and it's not Doug. Or would you let me do that? Well, I will say if you did pay attention to my intro, which I know you weren't, I talked all about how DNA can exonerate wrongfully, convicted Doug. I'm sorry, dude. I'm sorry. It's not my fault. You were busy during the intro. Also, you can't blame me. You kind of seemed like you were a little sketchy, but you're not. So I'm sorry. I apologize. Well, it's not just you. He's in jail. What's that? What's that? Oh, that's true. Yeah. Everyone is thinking he looks sketchy. It's not just you. Who's the father or how does it go? You are not the father. Yeah. But doesn't he like, doesn't, doesn't he come out and he goes like, people are going to slaughter us that we don't know the name of this show. I know the name of the show. I've never watched it, but I, I know. It starts with an M Mari. Is that him? I don't know. You were not the father. And everyone. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Anyways, I've seen one where they say you are not the father and she cheers because she didn't want him to be the dad. Oh yeah. I know. I've seen that one. It's really sad. Yeah. It's really sad. Okay. So who's the killer is what I'm was trying to relate to, but they didn't. Well, keep going. You and police, you and police, they're trying to watch this TV show because they're like, why are we now seeing stuff that points away from our number one suspect? This right in front of his house. For example, Doug left his car overnight at the watering hole. He had to go get it the next day. Remember Greg drove them back. This is something that was confirmed with video footage. So he didn't have a car. They also had data from Nikki's car from an insurance company tracking device called snapshot. It proved that Nikki's car, hadn't been used the night of the murder. So wait, how long have you been in jail for? Not super long, not super long, but he is being held. I mean, million dollar bond. He's not going to pay that. He did it. Yeah. So if he, if his car is on surveillance footage at the watering hole all night and her car is not moved, according to the tracking device, how did Doug kill her and then go drop her body off in a field? How did he kill her in front of the neighbors? How did he kill her in front of the house and then drop her body off in a field three miles away without a car? Police are like, what did you use? Like, okay. This is when police are like, okay, well maybe Doug's friend, Greg came back, drove Doug home. Maybe Doug then killed her and called Greg and Greg came back and was an accessory. But when they look at the location data from his phone, he's at home. It lines up with the story. Both he and Doug are giving police. Who did it? I don't know. Don't tell me it was some random person. Well, okay. Police are like, ah, this isn't looking good. Like, how are we going to approach this at trial? How did he move the body? And then they discover one giant piece of evidence that pretty much proves Doug's telling the truth. This is when they get into his Fitbit. Okay. Now, remember we're back and we're not, he's rocking a Fitbit. Doug was wearing it the night Nikki disappeared. A Fitbit tracks your movements entirely specifically that he'd only walked about 12 steps between 2:45 AM and then 6:30 AM when he got up to feed his baby. So according to his story, he went to sleep at three and we know Dallas left the house. Nikki wasn't there. There wasn't that much time between the two and then 6:30 AM when he feeds the baby. And in between that time, it continued registering his. Data. It still tracked his heart rate, which showed he didn't just take it off in between that and then put it back on to secure an alibi. He was wearing it the whole time, which means there is no way he could have killed his girlfriend and moved her body in 12 steps in between the time he falls asleep and Dallas leaves. So he didn't kill his girlfriend and he now doesn't have a girlfriend and he's sitting in prison and he's now a single dad sitting in prison. And this is something. That becomes even more apparent 18 days after his arrest when the DNA results finally come back and show the blood that was found in their garage was from a turkey he had hunted and butchered recently and the blood inside Nikki's car it wasn't hers it was from one of her kids and the shoes the shoes that they were like there's blood smudges and it matches it wasn't even blood on them after all and apparently it wasn't a match for the print on Nikki's body either they just looked similar. This a cold case so Doug is a free man he's released from jail obviously his name's cleared and detectives are at a complete loss as to what happened here again what I said at the beginning if they did not have modern day technology to the Fitbit surveillance camera might have been DNA convicted he is a perfect suspect I mean when you're just basing it solely off of circumstantial evidence. Which is why I don't love people going I mean there's times but yeah doing life in prison off of circumstantial evidence can be hard. So they're at a loss but they do have one thing the blood and the hair that was found in front of Doug and Nikki's house kind of by the neighbor's house at the neighbor reported it does belong to Nikki so this is their crime scene plus there's a partial DNA belonging to an unidentified male that was pulled from Nikki's house. These clothes and the cord that was found at the crime scene so now people realize okay Nikki was killed in front of her house that night probably before Doug and Greg even got there how did she get there from the bar which is kind of devastating if you think about the reality of this that she's going to die right in front of her house and then her boyfriend's going to come home and then get put in prison for her murder and it's not him that's insane put in jail. I said prison he doesn't go to prison he's just in jail. Detectives start pulling surveillance footage basically anything that leads from that area where the bars were to home doesn't get them anywhere they're starting to hit dead ends and are worrying this case might run cold if nothing turns up soon but then in August of 2016 three months after Nikki's death they get some good news one of the socks Nikki was wearing has enough DNA to run through the national database and they get it. It belongs to someone from the state of Virginia 38 year old George Birch now George had just moved from Virginia to the Green Bay area two months before Nikki's death in March of 2016 and this is a guy who could stand out in a crowd he was six foot seven two hundred and seventy pounds it's not someone who would really blend in and the police definitely took notice of that so now that they have his name and his DNA. On her socks they start looking into his history they find that back on June 8th just a week or so after Nikki's death George was questioned by the sheriff's department but it was for something else they believed he was involved in a hit and run accident with a stolen vehicle and that he then tried to burn that car in a fire but George denied the accusations saying he was at a bar texting with a woman on the evening in question would happily give the police his phone number. to prove it. The police said then say hey it'd actually just be a lot easier if we can just download the contents on your phone rather than like take a bunch of screenshots we can just like do a mass download is that okay according to the police he says yes again this is questioning a week after for something else they even have him sign a bunch of consent forms now unfortunately they never did prove it was george who if he was guilty of the crimes involving the stolen vehicle and burning it but when those dna results come back in august of 2016 and they get george's name and they're like hey wait a second we actually have george's entire phone history in our systems from the week after this murder we should use that to our advantage now that his dna is linked to nikki's case see george had google dashboard on his phone which actually shows them not just what cell towers he pinged but every wi-fi hotspot the phone encountered as well as more exact gps coordinates for specific dates and times okay there's a lot there's a lot going on here and when they look at the early hours of may 21st when nikki disappeared they realized he was really close to where she was his night had started a half a mile away from where she was last seen at a bar called richard craniums this is about a 12 minute walk to the sardine can or from the sardine can it says he then went to his house from 2 32 to 2 38 a.m and then his phone put him at her home or right outside of it okay so why like why her just wrong place wrong time just like insane or yeah i'll tell you what police come up with his phone says he was right outside her house where we know the crime happened for about an hour from 301 to 353 a.m then he was at that field where her body was later discovered that was from 358 a.m to about 402 a.m and by 405 a.m he was right near where her items were later discovered on the side of highway 172 and then he was back at home by 4 22 a.m you know in the days after this his phone showed he had searched the internet over 60 times for news stories about nikki's death and maybe one of the most disturbing parts about all of this is this is not the first time he's accused of murder back in 1998 he stood trial for shooting and killing a gang leader named joey white he was found not guilty on all charges due to lack of evidence police are basically armed with all of this explosive evidence against him including dna police are ready to arrest george for nikki's murder on september 7th 2016 and then finally two years later in february of 2018 his case goes to trial george even took the stand in his own defense but the story he told was shocking he tried to put the heat back on the one person who had already taken enough doug doug dang doug just got drugged through the ringer so george claims this night he met nikki at the bar roger craniums she had left sardine bar and walked to roger and then met george and the two started flirting he offered her a ride back to her house and said that was when the two actually ended up having sex in his car outside the house and he was in the house which is why his phone's there but then he says doug who's home at this time comes out with a gun so from the time she's at the bar with george doug goes to with greg to sardine cans waits for her then goes home gets home goes to bed dallas and greg leave and he's outside with nikki and then doug comes out with a gun george claims doug hit him over the head and knocked him unconscious and the next thing he remembered was when he was in the car and he was waking up on the ground outside of his truck and that nikki was dead he said then at gunpoint doug forced him to drive to the field to help him get rid of nikki's body which explains the car and after that george claimed he fought doug off got back into his truck and doug was forced to walk home where his six month old was sleeping in his crib alone it was he's blamed doug basically it's a ridiculous tale one that couldn't be taken seriously at all mostly because we have the fitbit yeah we have the fitbit proved george's story was a lie because he didn't take it off and he was sleeping so instead prosecutors paint a different picture that night an angry nikki did walk to richard craniums after leaving her friends at the sardine can and there she did meet george and after they spent some time together at the bar he did offer her a ride home then once he pulled up in front of her house he sexually assaulted her likely strangling her with a knife and then he was shot in the back of the head and then he was on the phone cord insane okay she then fell out of the vehicle it escalates outside on the neighbor's side he continues to stomp on her back her head ends up killing her this is the story that obviously rings true to the jury on march 1st 2018 44 year old george birch was found guilty of first degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole since then george has tried to appeal his sentence claiming the police violated his first degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole since then george has tried to appeal his sentence claiming the police violated his fourth amendment rights when searching his phone for nikki's case okay dude he also argued that evidence from doug's fitbit should not have been allowed at trial because there was no expert to analyze the technology's reliability the supreme court disagreed they rejected his appeal in 2021 but perhaps one silver lining in this case that i started it off with is an innocent man didn't take the fall because of these new technologies modern day crime solving if you will the right person is behind bars george birch can't hurt anyone else killing someone is just nuts it's crazy to like not kill someone it's just crazy to murder somebody for no reason and here's the thing we can't blame you for pointing the finger i feel bad sorry doug well you you can't blame you because in a typical case this actually does make sense like most they they found blood in the garage they found blood in the car yeah but they found the crime scene in front of his house yeah it turned out to be turkey so yeah but it's like i mean it's it almost feels like a csi episode where it's like all the evidence just points to someone and then there's just this random coincidence where it's not them that's almost what it feels like and thankfully because of these technologies they were able to get the right person and while some may argue that technology can be invasive and it definitely can be used against us there is one thing that helps me sleep at night and it's that most of my devices if i'm not doing anything wrong should have my back and they offer indiscriminate proof should i ever find myself in an unthinkable situation doug had his fitbit and that is the story of nicole van der hayden it's crazy i just also suck just now i mean this was a i guess a while ago but just having to raise a kid on your own now yeah when this wasn't even what he saw for his life like every single eyewitness came forward and was like he does not want to be a dad i'm sure it's different now well i know but i'm just saying like yeah it now it's even harder because he's she's dead that's what's crazy it's sad and like okay gotta ride home from the wrong person just got killed for no reason all right you guys that was our episode for this week and we will see you next time with another one i love it and i hate it goodbye you're listening to this podcast so i know you've got a curious mind here's a helpful fact you may not know yet drivers who switch and save save over nine hundred dollars on average pop over to progressive.com answer some questions and you'll get a quick quote with discounts that are easy to come by in fact 99 of their auto customers earn at least one discount visit progressive.com and see if you can enjoy a little cash back progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates national average 12-month savings 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