48 Hours - Relentless

Episode Date: May 9, 2024

In January 2006, Nicole Pietz disappeared from her Seattle, WA home. Nine days later her body was discovered in a wooded field near the airport. A heartbroken mother launches a one-woman psychological warfare campaign to taunt her daughter's alleged killer, but can she get him to crack? “48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 6/21/2014. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. I'm Erin Moriarty of 48 Hours and of all the cases I've covered, this is the one that troubles me most. Listen to Murder in the Orange Grove, the troubled case against Crosley Green,

early and ad-free on Wondery Plus and the Wondery app. Nikki loves Seattle. She thought it was the most beautiful city in the world. In January 2006, my beloved daughter, Nicole, disappeared. She was my youngest daughter and the absolute light of my life. We thought, well, maybe somebody abducted her on the way to work. Nicole Peets stands 5'3 and weighs about 125 pounds. Nicole's husband, David, whom Nicole loved very much, went on television and asked the public to help us find her.

I just want to know that you're okay, that I love you. that I love you. A woman's body was discovered yesterday off Des Moines Memorial Drive in Burien. We had a lot of blackberry growth here, and she was tucked up underneath the set of the blackberry bushes. And what was her condition? She was naked.

She had no clothes on whatsoever. My beautiful daughter. My sweet girl. How anyone could hurt her is just not feasible to me. This murderer is still out there. He may kill another Seattle daughter. You always have to look at who would have opportunity and who might have motive.

I said, David, the police think you did it. And he said, the police always think the husband did it. Police say they have interviewed Pete. They say he is not a suspect. It was a true whodunit initially. Months and years passed, and there wasn't an arrest. But I knew who did it, so I decided to confront him myself. And when he saw me walk in, it was,

not here, Gail, not here, Gail. This morning, we were able to make an arrest, and this person will be brought to justice. Raise your right hand, please. Do you swear or affirm? There was a threat of a restraining order against me because I went into his place of work. I have cried my brains out every day for seven years. I wasn't going to let her just become another case in their files. If he can't take being confronted by a 72-year-old woman,

well, I'm sorry, but he's not much of a man if he can't handle that. When did you realize something was wrong? When he called Sunday morning. I was at church, and my husband had just come home from church. It had been a quiet morning in Surprise, Arizona, but now Gail's son-in-law, David, was phoning from Seattle with devastating news. Gail's husband, Rod, took the call.

And so when I came home, Rod said, Gail Ann, sit down. And I said, well, what's the matter? And he said, well, David called and said, Nikki's gone missing. Nikki was Nicole Peets, Gail's youngest daughter. So I called him and said, David, what's happening?

He said, Nikki's gone missing. I said, well, what do you mean by that? He said, we were supposed to go to another couple's for dinner last night, and she didn't show up. And I haven't heard from her since. But I mean, I thought, well, somebody's abducted her. And so Rod and I grabbed a couple things, threw them in the suitcase, and got on the next airplane and flew up to Seattle.

Gail would soon join forces with her other daughter, Tanya, and they peppered David with questions. We asked if they had had a fight. He said no. I mean, we couldn't find her anywhere. It was such a nightmare. It made no sense. Nicole would never run off without contacting them. They had always been a close family, growing up on picturesque Lake Sammamish just outside Seattle. How would you describe your love for Nikki? Oh, I don't know how. Just as deep as the deepest ocean and as high as the highest sky.

You know, children are your heart. She wouldn't miss a day of calling me. Sometimes she'd call me just to say, Mommy, I love you. She was everything to you. She was my everything. She was my heart. When the girls were little, Gail divorced their father.

As a single mom, she juggled a family and a globetrotting career. I was a stewardess for Pan American, and I flew all over the world. And sometimes my trips were quite long. Stewardesses were really looked up to in our culture back then, weren't they? Yes, they were. And I just always thought of her being so elegant and glamorous in her jet-set life. Glamorous and charming,

something Nicole tried emulating back at home. For a while, she became Snow White. And it was, don't call me Nikki, call me Snow White. And then she had a very special Snow White smile. But for Nicole, life was no fairy tale. She suffered from a painful gynecological condition. When she was 13, she developed endometriosis. And from the time she was 13 until the time she was 21, she'd already had three surgeries.

And the doctors just put her on pain pills and pain pills. All those pills took their toll. And by the time Nicole got to college, she became addicted. And how long did she stay addicted before she reached that point of, I have to do something about this? I think she was 23 when she came home and said she needed help. She was in pain and in tears and very ashamed of herself. And yes, it was very emotional, holding each other and saying, you know, you'll get through this, sweetheart, and we'll get you through it.

And Nicole did get through it. After spending time in this rehab center, she swore off painkillers and began attending Alcoholics Anonymous, which also helps with other addictions. And once Nikki got off of these painkillers, did she change? Was the old Nikki back? Oh absolutely, a more wonderful Nikki than ever. Nicole's life was coming together. She got a job as a receptionist at a local health club where she met her best friend Tamara Vander Hayden. She was a people person, yeah absolutely. Everybody loved her. And would you call her a strong person? When I first met her, no.

No, she became a very strong person. But when I first met her, she was still transitioning and wasn't quite sure of herself. That's when Nicole met another health club employee, a handsome salesman named David Peets. And what did she tell you about this guy? She really liked him. She saw a strength in him, I think, that she didn't see in herself. I think she looked at Dave as somebody that could take care of her.

His strength, his confidence, you know, would protect her. They began dating, but Nicole didn't realize she had some competition. I was 20 when I met David. Sabrina Strike worked in one of the health club's other locations. So you were single? Yeah, yeah, I was. And when you met David, he was single. Essentially, yeah. Essentially, because at some point, Sabrina learned about David and Nicole's relationship. So if one of your friends said to you, so what's he like? What would you say?

I'd say he was a nice guy and actually extremely generous. He was a very generous guy, taking me out to lunch, taking me out to dinner, you know, bringing over wine. After many romantic times with Sabrina, David proposed to Nicole. I remember that, that that hurt. April 20th, 2002, a sad day for Sabrina, a joyous one for Nicole, who married David on the sands of Hawaii. I'm very happy, nervous. It was beautiful, very beautiful. Maui, sunset on the beach, barefoot, it was amazing. It looked like Snow White was going to live happily ever after, right? It sure did. It really looked like that.

With her new husband and a new job at a cell phone company, Nicole, at least on the outside, seemed content. And did Nikki love David? Oh, with all her heart. She was always saying, my wonderful husband, my brilliant husband, my handsome husband. She loved him. But on the morning of January 28, 2006, Nicole was gone. Some close friends knew that Nicole had injured her back and were worried she may once again become addicted to painkillers. In the weeks leading up to her disappearance, what we talked about were her back problems,

the pain she was having and how she was scared. She didn't want to take the recommended dose of the painkillers. And it scared her that she had to take this again? Absolutely. Absolutely. And when David began looking through their apartment, he says he noticed an empty pill bottle. 56 painkillers were missing. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing.

The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military, and when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island.

It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reached the age of 10 that would still a virgin. It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones,

and for almost two years, I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island

to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Nothing is worse than not knowing where she is. I love her more than life itself. After Nicole went missing, Gail went on Seattle TV to make a desperate plea. If you are in control of your circumstances,

please come home because everybody that loves you is here. Nicole Peets stands five foot three. As an all-out search was launched, Nicole's friends were leaving frantic voicemails looking for her. Girlfriend, you have a ton of people worrying about you. No matter what. I don't know what to do. I hope you're okay, and I hope you're somewhere safe. Please give me a call. Let me know you're okay. I'm praying for you. We just want to know that you're okay, and that you're loved,

and everybody's here, and everybody cares about you. And David, too, made a public appeal. She's always in contact with almost everybody she knows. He was telling everyone that it was not like Nicole to disappear, even for a short time. She's going to be

five minutes late for a coffee date. She's calling, you know, half an hour ahead of time and letting people know because she doesn't want to put anybody out, ever. I worked until 11.

I got home probably around midnight and came to bed and that's the last time I saw her. But off camera, David seemed far less concerned. He's just talking like matter of fact. Nikki's gone missing. He didn't say, have you seen her? He's not emotional? He's not scared, frightened, worried?

No. No. And unsolicited, he offered up odd bits of information. And the first thing he says is, you know, we haven't been wearing our wedding rings lately. And Nikki's been wearing her night guard during the day just when we're going out casually. The night guard is a plastic mouth guard she wore, similar to this one, to keep from grinding her teeth while she slept. Why would he say wearing a night guard? I don't know. What would that have to do with anything?

I don't know. He then suggested there was something sinister about those missing pain pills. It sounds like what David is saying is that our marriage is in trouble and her prescription bottle has been emptied. The suggestion there, she's left and maybe she's doing herself in. Well, I didn't think that at the time. My mind was in such a muddle, I wasn't thinking. You're emotional, but he's not. Exactly.

After nine long days, a woman's body was discovered yesterday off Des Moines Memorial Drive in Burien. body was discovered yesterday off Des Moines Memorial Drive in Burien. Nicole's body was found in a wooded field near the airport by a man walking by. She had been strangled. This is the area where Nicole's body was found. Jake Pavlovich is one of the lead detectives on Nicole's case. And what was her condition? She was naked. She had no clothes on whatsoever. Interestingly enough, the bottom of her feet were clean. No cuts, no dirt, so no indication that she had walked back here or been drugged back here. Another clue, the night guard was still in her mouth.

That night guard really jumps out at you. The only reason, in my mind, she has that in is because she's killed inside her own condominium. She never leaves that house. Shortly after her body was found, when he was interviewed on audio tape by police, David made a point of again mentioning Nicole's powerful pain pills. What did you think she was at? I didn't know because I saw the pill bottle and I freaked out. I was so scared she relapsed or that's a lot of pills. I thought the pill bottle and I freaked out. I was so scared she relapsed. That's a lot of pills.

I thought maybe she OD'd or something. Nicole's friends, like Tamara Vander Hayden, were stunned when they heard the news. And what was that moment like for you? Dream state. You know it's real. I knew it was happening, but it was so surreal that it didn't really hit me.

You know, I was crying so hard, I couldn't see through my tears. In the midst of her sadness at Nicole's funeral, David made a comment to Gail that threw her for a loop. David put his arms around me at that point and said, I didn't think you'd take it so hard. And that just still rings in my ears. I kept thinking, why would he say that? Why would he say that? And then he did something else that started her thinking David was not behaving like a grieving husband. After Nicole's body was cremated,

David gave her ashes away to an acquaintance. He said he'd given them to Jeffrey, who is the real estate guy who sold them the condo. David gave his wife's ashes to their real estate agent? Yes. Why would he do do that I asked him that he said I didn't want to take them home and I said well why didn't you give them to me he also gave away Nicole's beloved pets to people who barely knew her Nicole's friends from her a a group like Dave Tilzer had been skeptical about David almost from the beginning. I thought it was a random act at first.

You know, somebody just, you know, here's this beautiful girl, grabbed her, abducted her, broad daylight, of course. But then when I started seeing the behavior right away, I said no. Nicole's friends had noticed David's aloofness in the past. Looking in his eyes, you can't see emotion. That scares me because that tells me that person is blocking something. They don't want you to see inside of them. Tilzer says David always made Nicole feel insecure.

She looked up at me and she goes, do you think I'm beautiful? And I said, Nikki, you're beautiful inside and out. I said, why? She said, oh, it's David. He's being really mean to me. Mean was just the beginning. David continued his secret relationship with Sabrina even during his marriage. Did you eventually have a sexual relationship with David? An actual, truly sexual relationship, oddly, didn't happen until after they were married.

Was David someone that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with? I pictured it. Somehow, Nicole uncovered the affair with Sabrina, who she tried to confront by calling from David's cell phone. You were now the other woman. Yeah. Then I was now pinned. I was now people knew. Was that embarrassing for you?

It was incredibly embarrassing. Sabrina broke up with David well before Nicole disappeared. I know I've made a very big mistake, and I'm not the same person that I was. I have a husband that I am incredibly committed to that's nothing like who Dave was. Gail knew nothing of David's cheating but given David's tasteless remark at the funeral service she took to heart what the priest said in his eulogy. When the priest spoke of evil, he looked straight at David.

And Rod and I looked at each other and we started adding everything up. We said, how could we be so stupid? Because he almost told us in several occasions with hints that he gave us. But hints don't make a murder case, and police did nothing more than question David Peetz. As months passed, Gail went from being a shocked mom steeped in sadness to a tiger mother determined to avenge her daughter's murder. Every month, she called the police

to push them to keep working on the case. You know, please, you've got to do something. I mean, a life is gone here, a very precious life, and we need justice for her. And you were persistent. You were a pit bull. You would not let go of this, would you?

Yeah, I hate to think of myself as a pit bull, but I was. Gail began a personal campaign of harassment, even leaving a blonde wig with fake blood on David's doorstep. This is psychological warfare. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. I couldn't get to him any other way. Like I said, he wouldn't talk to me.

I locked myself in my bedroom and hardly left. I just cried and cried. I knew I'd see her again in heaven. Gail Schneider had no doubt in her mind that David Peets had killed her daughter. But four long years passed without any arrests. I really felt that not only did David take my sister, that he took my mom as well. Despair turned into hope in 2010.

That's when Jake Pavlovich and Mike Mellis of the King County Sheriff's Department were assigned to the case. Mike got the case first, and he called me and he said, Gail, my name is Mike Mellis, and I'm going to be the last detective on this case. And I said, oh, Mike, I love you. I'm coming to see you. She made it very clear to us. She would be calling us on the phone the 28th of every single month. And frankly, I've heard that before. I've heard parents or families say, I'm going to call you and keep on you on this case. But she was like clockwork.

I just bugged them to death. Gail was still keeping track of David, who was seeing other women and had even become a father with one of them. That really hurt because Nikki wanted a baby so badly. Pouring over the old case file, the new detectives became convinced Nicole had been strangled in her bed while wearing her night guard. She's not going to have that in her mouth. She's not going to wake up, brush her teeth, and then put it back in and leave the apartment. She's killed inside her own condominium.

She never leaves that house. Inside Nicole's car, which was recovered 20 miles from where her body was found, was DNA from both Nicole and David. When the people from the crime lab swapped the windshield wiper knob, the steering wheel, and the gear shift knob, Dave's DNA was there. Much more of his DNA than Nicole's. Which told detectives... Dave Peets drove that car.

Detective Mellis then decided to take a second look at where David worked. Behind me is a 24-hour fitness building where Dave Peets worked during January of 2006, the month leading up to Nicole's death. He became fascinated by security camera video recorded hours after Nicole disappeared. You can see on the surveillance images that Dave was at the front counter at 11.48 in the morning. He leaves, and he's out of camera range.

Two minutes later, records show a call from Nicole's cell phone is answered at the front desk at the gym. It lasts 21 seconds. Then David walks back in. He makes a phone call with Nicole's phone. Basically, to make it look like she's still alive. Supporting that theory, Mellis learns which cell tower pinged during that call. The tower that connected Nicole's phone for that phone call was right there, about 188 yards. It's called cell site number 75. Detectives now felt they had enough evidence

to seek an arrest warrant. When he pulled in the driveway, he parked right over here. In March 2012, more than six years after Nicole's murder, Detective Pavlovich came to the bank where David Peets worked as a manager to make a withdrawal. We met him right in the middle of the driveway here, and I walked up and I introduced myself. I said, hey, Dave, I'm Detective Pavlovich with the Sheriff's Office. I'd like to talk to you about Nicole's case. You got a minute? And he looked down at me and said, you know, I've really got to get my bank open. Maybe we can talk later. Maybe later, but not now. I got to get my

bank open. And so we walked him back out to the car, put the handcuffs on and placed him under arrest. The arraignment, it was my 71st birthday, and it was the best birthday present I've ever had in my life. Is your true name Martin David Peetz? Yes. To see David Peetz with shackles on his arms and feet and that orange jumpsuit,

I've never had a better gift in 71 years. Please rise. The Spirit Court of the State of Washington, King County is now in session. On September 9th, 2013, David Peetz went on trial. All right, would you bring the jury in, please? Because prosecutors couldn't prove premeditation,

he was charged with second-degree murder. This was not a shooting on a busy street with 15 witnesses. Prosecutor Carla Karlstrom. When someone is killed in the privacy of their own home, when no one else is around, sometimes you can get away with murder. The defendant had it all figured out. He'd done the big things right, and he almost got away with it. But it's the little things that can do you in.

What happened to Nicole is a mystery. David's lawyer, Cooper Offenbacher. The state's case, which is based on these surrounding circumstances, what we call circumstantial evidence. It's not based on any direct evidence, and it's not going to show that David Peetz took Nicole's life. Precisely the challenge facing the prosecution, the circumstantial nature of their case.

Key to their strategy, David's motive for murder. His lust for other women while married to Nicole. You said he came up to your place after dropping you off? And what happened at your place? We had sex. There was no shortage of witnesses. I'd like to direct your attention to one night in particular where there was some physical contact. Do you remember that? Yes. Okay. And who did it involve? Me and Katie and Dave.

Okay. And just tell us what happened. It was just the three of us kissing. Ironically, David insisted in his police interview that he wasn't that interested in sex. I don't have much of a libido. It's kind of opposite roles of what the stereotype is. But in fact, he had once put ecstasy in Nicole's drink to get the kind of sex he wanted. He told me that he would put it in her Red Bull. He was just trying to loosen her up to get her to do threesome. To show David's true feelings for Nicole, they brought his former longtime girlfriend, Sabrina, to the stand.

I asked him why he was getting married, and he said that at that point it was too late to back out of it. It was all damning testimony, portraying David as cold-hearted and selfish. Raise your right hand, please. But to seal the deal, prosecutors drew on their strongest weapon and David's biggest nightmare. I said, how do you look at yourself every morning when you shave?

As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, wherever you get your podcasts. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty,

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world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informant's Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, and listen to more Exhibit C I was going to just make it my lifetime work to make sure that there is justice for her. Gail's seven-year quest for justice for her daughter, Nicole, now dramatically rests entirely on her shoulders. State calls Gail Schneider. Raise your right hand, please. Wearing a back brace because of a recent surgery, Gail looked down at her son-in-law seated at the defense table.

She finally gets to tell a jury her story, starting the day after Nicole went missing. When he opened the door and he's walking us back to her bathroom, he said, lately we haven't been wearing our wedding rings, and Nikki's been wearing her mouth guard when she goes out. And then when we got to the bathroom, he showed us an empty bottle of pills. At last, Gail gets to tell jurors about that one sentence of David's that has haunted her. Did he make any comment to you in relation to Nicole's death at that funeral?

You know, he did. It was a really strange thing, but he put his arms around me and said, I didn't think you'd take it so hard. But when the defense attorney, Cooper Offenbacher, gets to cross-examine Gail, he basically accuses her of harassing and taunting an innocent man. Ms. Schneider, over the years, you have contacted David regarding the circumstances surrounding Nicole's disappearance. Is that fair to say?

And on more than one occasion, you have called him in the middle of the night, 12.30 on a Friday night, and left him a voicemail asking where he was on January 28th. Yeah, just about the time that I figured she was murdered. Gail won't back down. She is proud of her psychological campaign against David,

including that wig incident one Halloween. You and a friend took a blonde wig and put some red ink on it and hung it in a bag on David's doorknob. Is that correct? I thought we just threw it on his doorstep, but maybe we did. I don't remember. But one way or the other, you put that near the condo. Yep.

Offenbacher recounts the times that Gail showed up at David's workplaces. Once, Gail hand-delivered a message to her son-in-law. And what you wrote on the note to David was, David, we're planning to buy a house just a few minutes from here, and I will be in here every day to make your life as miserable as you've made mine. The new detective has vowed to get you, you murderer. How do you live with yourself? Yep. Yes, sir, that's exactly what I said.

But Gail didn't stop there. And didn't you also tell the other employees in the bank that he had murdered your daughter? Well, as he is making sure I walk out, he just didn't stand to have me around. I just said, he murdered my daughter. Hey, you know, my life has been, I have cried my brains out every day for seven years. If he can't take being confronted by a 72-year-old woman, well, I'm sorry, but

he's not much of a man if he can't handle that. You got some guts, Gail. You got some guts. You were in his face. You were letting him know you're not getting away with this. Yes, to my child. The mother-in-law from hell, right? Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Well, you know, Peter, you have children.

You know how you love them. You'd do anything for your children. If I didn't have Tonya and Rod, I would have forgot what my religion tells me and I would have killed myself. I didn't want to live. Be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing about the truth? I do, Your Honor.

Prosecution's case goes on for 10 days with 57 witnesses. When it's the defense's turn, lead attorney David Allen has a strategy to suggest that Nicole had become a drug addict again, living on the edge. Your Honor, the defense calls Dr. Carol Waymack to the stand. Raise your right hand. Dr. Waymack was Nicole's physician. She was treating Nicole for that back injury in the months before her death. Waymack knew all about Nicole's history

with pain pill addiction. She called the office on November 30th and reported that she was taking Vicodin and ibuprofen and that the Flexeril had not been effective. Okay. And did you prescribe pain medication? Yes. I gave her more pain medication on that date. What type of medication, or what was the name of the medication?

It was more Vicodin again. In December, six weeks before she died, Nicole tells Dr. Wamack that she had been taking another narcotic painkiller prescribed by a different doctor. narcotic painkiller prescribed by a different doctor. She was taking oxycodone, one half to one pill every four to six hours. Oxycodone, a powerful potentially addicting drug contained in Percocet. Did you prescribe her additional medication at that visit on December 12th. Yes, I gave her 30 tabs of Percocet. Nicole had become more desperate, telling Dr. Wemack that her pain was unrelenting and demanding more pain medication.

Her descriptive word for her pain is screaming, screaming pain. And you were seeing her once a week? I was. And was that because of your concerns about addiction? Addiction and her medical problem. That she, by that time, had had enough narcotics prescribed to her that she may well be currently addicted again, but of necessity because of her pain.

With that, if you'll give your attention to counsel. The defense rests. David Peets is all alone. necessity because of her pain. With that, if you'll give your attention to counsel. The defense rests. David Peetz is all alone, with no family support in the courtroom as closing arguments begin. Prosecutor Kristen Richardson. We know Nicole Peetz now. We know her husband, the defendant.

We know how she died. we know how she died we know how he lied miss Pete's was going through some very difficult times with her back injury and her addiction an addiction is a terribly powerful malady. She did fall off the wagon really, really badly. Rebelled? Thank you, Your Honor. The defendant killed her. Nicole Peetz thought up until those last few minutes that she had married the man of her dreams. That dream in those minutes turned into a nightmare. On October 10th, the jury gets the case. A full day of deliberation comes and goes. The jury of five women and seven men leaves for the weekend and still no verdict.

My greatest fear is that some girl on the jury will say, oh, he's too good looking to do something like that. Could David's charms with the ladies be working for him one more time? Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly. Introducing the best idea yet, a brand new podcast from Wondery and T-Boy about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with and the bold risk-takers who brought them to life.

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you're going to dominate your next dinner party. So follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery+. It's just the best idea yet. Help these rise. Bring the jury in. Seven years, eight months, and 17 days since Nicole Peets was murdered.

It's judgment day. Has the jury reached a verdict? We haven't. Oh, so, so scary. You don't know which way this is going to go? You don't. The tension is almost unbearable as mother and daughter await to learn David Peetz's fate.

We, the jury, find the defendant, Martin David Peetz, guilty of the crime of murdering the second degree as charged, signed by the presiding juror. Is this the verdict of the jury? It is, yes it is. Justice for Nicole at last. Yes, Your Honor. Guilty.

Juror number two. Guilty. That was the best moment. Made all my mom's hard work finally paid off. Jury number 12, is this your verdict? Yes. She will be able to rest. Tears of joy and also love for everybody

that was there supporting us. The jury, just love. I wanted to hug every single person in there. And if the verdict was anything but guilty, I know I would have lost my mom forever. Handcuffed, a stone-faced David Peets is led past Nicole's family. Where the hell is Peets? Do you look at him?

No, he's a coward. Tanya and Gail, more than seven years you've waited for this moment. When you heard the word guilty, Gail, what that moment was like for you? Oh, absolute elation. I just wanted justice for my daughter, and we got it. Yeah, we did it. The last seven and a half years have been torture for us. She'll never come back.

I'll never get to hold her again. And by the horrible way she was murdered, I didn't ever get to kiss her goodbye. I never got to say goodbye to her. Martin David Peetz is a lowlife scumbag, a cheater, a manipulator. I wish I could think of more words, but he's the devil to me. And where do you go from here? Certainly David's going to appeal this. There are appeal issues. Peets' defense attorney, David Allen, says he will fight on.

But do you believe the jury was wrong in their decision? Let's have another question. For the detectives who brought this cold case back to life and promised Gail they would solve it, there is vindication. When this group of detectives that have worked on this case for so long, the common sense was that Dave Peets was the killer and nobody else. I think Dave Peets is a guy who got in over his head emotionally and couldn't control himself. Is he a psychopath? I'm not an expert in that.

What I will tell you is that he strangled his own wife in his own condominium and then continued to live there. Is that the definition of a psychopath? Maybe not the classical one you'll find in a book, but it certainly rings true with me. In a case where no obvious motive stood out, it is left to those who knew Pete's best to speculate. Why do you think David killed? I don't think that he thought she was the perfect woman, not representing what he saw as what he deserved, what his life should have looked like, the wealth, you know, the right car. And in a private moment, alone in her room just hours after David had been convicted, Gail says she spoke aloud to her beloved daughter. We did it, honey.

We did it. You knew we would. The photo that they have of Nicole with the halo for her Halloween costume, she was an angel, and now she is a real angel. And I miss her. Gail now hopes that with justice, her final challenge will be to find the compassion to forgive I know she had forgiven him the minute her soul left her body because that was Nikki so I just need to get to that point where I can forgive him too In 2013, David Beetz was sentenced to 18 years and four months in prison,

the maximum sentence under Washington state law. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.