20/20 - The After Show: The Last Strike

Episode Date: December 29, 2025

John Quiñones details how he and his team defrosted after facing bitterly cold snow while reporting on the chilling murder case and love triangle that shocked Bismarck, North Dakota.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello everybody, Deborah Roberts here and welcome to another episode of 2020, The After Show. Always a pleasure to have you here joining us to explore some of the stories that we have been working on recently. And today we're going to look into a story that is chilling, literally. It was an investigation that was sparked by a house fire. It's smoky. I can't get in the door. A 911 call that revealed a possible murder and love triangle that shocked Bismarck, North Dakota. John Cignonas and our 2020 team report on this story in our episode, The Last Strike, and of course, it's available to stream on Disney Plus and Hulu, so you're going to want to see this one.

So much to talk about in this case, security camera footage documenting the events leading up to the crime. The intense police interrogation tapes with a Canadian man caught in what turned out to be an apparent affair with the woman who was at the center of the case. And John's exclusive jailhouse interview with one of those convicted in the murders. You're going to get some good details now on how the team approached and also brought this story to air. John Q, hello, sir. Hi. Thank you for having me. Always great to see you. You know, you and I are always traveling in different orbits, so I don't get to have you here in person.

but hopefully next time. I miss you. Same here, same here. And I know you're out, you know, working right now. But take us back to this story in North Dakota. And of course, let's first talk about when we said it's a chilling story, literally. The winter in North Dakota is no joke in Bismarck, right? I mean, in November, in February, the heart of winter?

Yeah, I grew up in South Texas. And, man, this was bitterly, bitterly cold, absolutely freezing. It was 20 below. when we started shooting, and we had to film a lot of it outdoors. John, we send you to the best places, by the way. You noticed that, right? Yes, in December. In December.

I had rented a car, and I remember I was slipping and sliding all over the place in Bismarck, North Dakota. The days are short there. The nights are terribly long. It's dark all the time. Yeah, well, I know exactly what that's like. I mean, standing out there in the longest time for the cold. People don't think about that part of when we are doing these stories, of us having to collect these stories and go through the elements.

You, and when we talk about some of the things that we do in these stories, and I did a story once where I went to a bowling alley and interviewed someone. You actually went to a bowling alley in this particular... And bold. And did you throw a strike? Did you do well? Of course. My first roll of the ball was a strike.

I'm much better at bowling, by the way, than I thought. Honestly, people were cheering inside the bowling alley. And we went there because that's where part of the story took place. But it was pretty amazing. I pulled a strike right away. I'm impressed by that because I never did. Let's talk first before we get into the story, though, when you talked about the freezing cold and the temperatures,

and this podcast is an opportunity for people to sort of learn a little bit more about what we do, pull back the curtain, as it were. And you, like me, I mean, you pack your bags and you are gone sometimes like in an instant. I always make sure I've got like sneakers and maybe even a jacket. I mean, Bismarck is a whole different story. But, you know, when you're talking about having your to-go bag ready and doing things that you might not necessarily be doing normally, what's always key for you to get ready? Well, I always have an extra bag packed.

I have two sets of everything, you know, clothing, shoes, toiletries. And in the winter, a big downfilled jacket because you never know. and warm boots, right? And this time, they came very, very handy in Bismarck, North Dakota. I can imagine. Your team had a little bit of a snafu. The car broke down at one point, and then you got frostbite. Yeah.

I didn't really. You know, my producer, Joe Diaz, who was looking out for me, brought me this nice winter coat with flaps that go down all over the place, and all you could see was my eyes. But truth be told, I look pretty silly in hats. And I chose vanity. I chose looking good over warmth and function. My ears were exposed to the cold winter.

I was doing an interview outside. They were exposed to the cold wind for just like two or three minutes. Wow. Well, after a day, a few days when I came back, actually on Christmas Eve, I noticed the surface of my right ear had turned charcoal color. And it was peeling off.

It was, yeah, it was frostbite. It was a gift that my senior producer was not expected. A valuable lesson to you, let's wear the hats. You're going to imagine how I feel. You know, he was feeling bad. Part of my ear was gone. Yeah, oh, my gosh. It grew back.

Well, you know, these are the things that we parachute into when we go to these towns in Bismarck. So we're going to get to the murder case in just a second. But tell me a little bit about the community because it's always interesting to know something about these communities that we report in. and we don't go to North Dakota a whole lot for our stories. I've been to Florida and South Carolina and Texas and all the typical places, but not North Dakota. I found it to be a really pretty town, Bismarck. It's right on the Missouri River, the state capital of North Dakota. And compared to other states, North Dakota has a relatively pretty low crime rate.

Yeah, which is why this case was so surprising. Well, John, it's always great to hear about the behind the scenes, but I want to dig into the reporting here. And also how a four-legged detective helped someone. solve this case. So don't go anywhere, folks. John and I will be right back. From Searchlight Pictures comes, Is This Thing On? Directed by Bradley Cooper and starring Canada's own Will Arnett. Is This Thing On is the story of a man's unconventional journey to find himself, seeking new purpose in the New York stand-up comedy scene while navigating

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Terms apply. We are back now with my friend and colleague, John Cignonas, talking about his recent report for 2020 called The Last Strike. Let's talk about this episode, John. It begins, as we said, it was a chilling story in a very chilling community. It was in Bismarck, North Dakota. And you open the show with Fire. firefighters responding to a burning house just outside Bismarck. They find a 42-year-old man named Chad Enzel who had died. He was found at the home that he shared with his wife, Nikki.

And, you know, most folks just saw this as a tragedy in the very beginning, right? Yeah, yeah. I mean, Chad, everyone described him as Chad Enzel as an active, very adventurous man who had plans for the future. He had lots of hobbies. He loved bowling. And that That's why we're calling this story The Last Strike. When he came to bowling, he could bowl a perfect 300-scored game. He was part of a dart team. And then one day, suddenly, he doesn't show up for work. His wife, Nikki Ansel, calls the police.

And she tells dispatchers that her house is on fire. She's worried that her husband is inside. Eventually, as you mentioned, Chad's body is found in that burnt-out house. and Nikki starts telling people that they had a faulty furnace in the house and that that may have been the cause of the fire. Yeah, and so everybody sort of thinks that and they just think that this is just a real tragedy and how sad. And then when investigators hit the scene

and they bring a canine dog on the scene, things start to change. The dog notices the smell of something, and this starts an investigation into something deeper. Things look kind of suspicious. inside the house, so they bring in this dog, this canine, Webster, and he's part of the fire departments, what they call the accelerant detection unit. And Webster has a keen sense of smell, as so many dogs do. Dogs do, yeah. And he can detect all kinds of ignitable liquids, like 60 different kinds. This dog, Webster, was also able to pinpoint investigators to a certain

type of accelerant that it was placed inside the house where Chad and Nikki lived to start the fire. So he was the key to it all. He found the source of that fire. Yeah, and it doesn't take much oftentimes for police to get that sort of sixth sense that something else is amiss. So they think that this guy died in the fire and then they discovered that he had actually died from gunshot wounds and then that there was more to this whole accelerant business. There was more in the basement evidence of another fire. So suddenly this thing is looking very suspicious. And she, Nikki, is beginning to look a little suspicious.

Yeah, it turns out the fire was started in two different places in the bedroom and also in the basement. The story pivots from there from a story of sadness now to suspicion. And the focus shifts from accidental fire to a homicide investigation. Yeah, you said this is a small community. There's shock in the community. There's a feeling of betrayal. They start looking at some surveillance, some security footage that they've seen.

And they show Nikki walking around town with another guy and clearly having an affair. So once again, the radar goes off for them about her and what potentially could be her involvement. Yeah, they see him with a Canadian man by the name of Earl Howard. And this was very suspicious to investigators. Not only did security cameras capture the couple all over town, they were also going in and out of Nikki and Chad's house, the house where that fire occurred and where the husband was found dead, numerous times they're going in and out of that house the night of the fire, the night Chad died. Now tell us about this couple because by all accounts,

you know, they were a nice enough, happy enough couple. And then, of course, they now discover that she's having an affair, which automatically for police will set off some warning bells of something. Talk to us a little bit about the couple. and also, too, about Earl. I mean, what connected them and just what police began to unravel when they looked a little deeper. No, he was a really nice guy, the husband,

and no one ever suspected there was anything wrong, any trouble in that marriage. But not so much for Nikki. Investigators discover surveillance video that show her kissing this man, Howard, the Canadian man, publicly out at Walmart. Of course, you got to watch those Walmart security cameras.

Just the day before Chad goes missing, she's seen kissing this guy, Earl. They bring her in for questioning and they talk to her for about six hours. She tells them that it was Earl Howard, the lover, who shot her husband Chad while they were struggling over a gun. And she says she was just waiting outside in her car. But investigators, they weren't so convinced of that story.

They didn't believe that. And then they bring in Earl Howard and then he has a story to tell and they start cutting a deal with him, and then he tells a little bit of a different story there. Yeah, he denies that he had anything to do with the shooting. Then he claims it was Nikki who shot Chad while Howard was waiting out in the car. He says he offered to take care of things for Nikki.

In other words, burn the evidence. And he admits to police that he did have a romantic relationship with Nikki, saying they got together a number of times, including a romantic getaway to the mall of a man. America in Minnesota. And authorities now know, they now confirm that they were having an affair. Yeah. Yeah. Once again, one of those things is stranger than fiction. And people always ask us, like, why wouldn't the person just leave? Yeah. And then what about the community, John? Because oftentimes when we go into these communities, you know, you can tell they've been devastated

by, you know, something like this. And as you said, it was a fairly low crime rate in that town. And this was something that was shocking. What kind of an impact did it have on the community? Surprising because Nikki was seen as just a regular, you know, nice person. She was a good baker. You know, she had a baking business and making bread and cookies and muffins. And while he was working in this area, this man, Earl, was one of her customers. Howard eventually pleads guilty to a number of charges, including arson, conspiracy to commit arson. And then he eventually is sentenced to 25 years in prison. Nikki goes to trial, she is found guilty, among other things, of conspiracy to commit murder and to commit arson, tampering with evidence. And she's sentenced to life. She's found guilty and sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. John, I want to talk more about that in the outcome in this case. But a few weeks before she was sentenced, you actually talked with Nikki. And after we come back, we'll hear more about what she had to say. So stay with us. You're going to want to hear more. Friday, Avatar Fire and Dash arrives in theaters. I am the fire! Get your 3D tickets now for the greatest chapter of the biggest saga in history. Whatever happens, protect his family.

Critics rave. It's by far the best Avatar movie. If your father and I do not return, you go as far and as fast as you can. Movies don't get any bigger than this. Avatar Fire and Dash, rated PG-13. the college football playoff isn't over not yet that epic run that wild dream not over till the clock hits zero till the stadium shakes till the wild things are let loose till the trophy is lifted and the confetti falls this is the national championship when it's over you'll feel it this is the wild world of college football the cfp national championship monday january 19th at 730 p m eastern on ESPN and the ESPN app. I'm back now with John Kenyonis on this story that he just reported on the last strike about the death of a Bismarck North Dakota man, the Insul, Chad Insel murder case. John, this was one and like all these stories that we cover, you know, I always feel kind of redundant when I say

lots of twists and turns, but that's what makes it such a compelling story for us. At the center of your report, you interviewed Nikki Ensel, the wife of the murdered man, who ultimately was found guilty in his murder. She had been having an affair and she wanted him out of the picture. You spoke with her as she was awaiting sentencing, and why do you think she was motivated to sit down? She wanted to continue pleading her innocence. She claims she still wants to get to the real answer. She wants to figure out what exactly happened to her husband, Chad. So she thought you could use us as a vehicle to get those questions out. How hard was it to do this? Well, I had to go talk to her before we brought the cameras. I made my request for the interview. Nikki talked it over with her

older son, who just happens to be a big fan of my show. What would you do? Of course. Of course. The son convinced his mom that it was a good move. That you were trustworthy. Thank God for that. What did you make of her, John? It's pretty clear to me. It has been to a lot of people for a long time that she was a bit of a manipulator. You know, she tried to manipulate everyone she could, including us in that interview.

Yeah. You know, we sometimes get gut feelings, I think, like anybody else. And sometimes we can tell when we're being manipulated. And then there are times when, you know, we walk away thinking, huh, I don't know, maybe, but you felt pretty convinced. Well, she tells me in the interview that the night of the murder, she was actually out, again, she keeps changing her story to everyone, to investigators, to the people around her, to me. What she told me was that she had been out for a walk between at two in the morning, and now, mind you, this is Bismarck in the winter, right? Who goes out there to walk in freezing temperatures? she says she was out there for more than an hour and a half in the interview with me.

That's a little suspect. And remember, right after the murder, she told police a different story. She said she was inside the house when she heard some gunshots. It was just another one of her many changing story. Yeah, she actually acknowledged, too, that her story had changed a lot. You're absolutely right. And then she, you know, there's a big question about whether she's being truthful. And she was talking to you about the night of the murder.

She talked about being out at 2 a.m., which obviously sounds a little bit strange. And by the way, we did ask her also, what about that kissing scene, the two of you making out at Walmart the day before your husband's murdered? She denied it ever happening. She said it didn't happen. Even though it's on video. Yeah, she said he wasn't my type. But later, she said when she saw the video, well, a kiss could have happened. She said, quote, have I kissed many friends on the cheek?

Have I kissed my kids on the cheek? Have I kissed my exes on the cheek? Yeah, yeah, I have. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, lots of there to unpack, John. Definitely lots of their own back. But she consistently denies taking part in her husband, Chad,'s murder. Well, she remains behind bars serving a life sentence in prison.

It's a story I'm sure that community will be dealing with and living with for a very long time. And one our viewers certainly won't forget. John, always a pleasure to catch up. with you thank you thanks for taking the time good to be here and come back to new york let's see you sometime in the flesh in the summer i would makes perfect sense i get it well great always great seeing you john thank you for joining us and of course you can stream the last strike and other 2020 episodes on disney plus and hulu and of course always join us on friday night or 2020 on a bc thank you so much for being with us everybody take care

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