48 Hours - The Fitbit Alibi - Encore

Episode Date: October 21, 2018

A suspect in a murder swears he didn’t do it – can his Fitbit prove he’s innocent? "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty investigates.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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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. 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. To most Wisconsinites, Green Bay is a magical place. It's where the Packers play. It's a fun town, and everybody knows everybody.

Drinking is part of the Wisconsin tradition. green bay is a great downtown pulse and i feel it's relatively safe nobody would ever think that something like this would happen in our community continuing coverage tonight of a death investigation in the village of bellevue when i had gotten the news i I just shook. I just shook. There is police activity in the field. I was a good friend of Nicole Vander Heiden's. She was my neighbor. We watched each other's kids. She just was a ball of fire.

Nicole Vander Heiden was 31 years old. She was living with her boyfriend, Doug Dietry, and they had just had a baby together. It was Friday, May 20th of 2016. Doug and Nicole decided to go out that night. This was an opportunity for them to go out and have a great time. The night didn't end in a great time.

It ended in a nightmare. Nikki walked off into the darkness that night. She just walked off. She vanished. That was the last anyone saw of her. About where was she found? Right down this embankment. When we arrived on the scene on this one, we kind of knew right away it was probably going to be different.

At the scene, that was the most apparent thing, is the trauma to the left side of the face. When you came here, there was no way to identify her. You had no idea who she was? Not right away, no. Doug Dietry, he woke up in the morning. Eventually later that afternoon, he had called the sheriff's officer, 911, to report that his girlfriend did not come home

from the night before. I'm here for a missing persons report. We sent some officers over to her residence to take the missing person report. So this is not normal behavior for her? Not at all. And this is where Nicole was living? Correct.

And you believe that she was killed here? Correct. Across the street, in the roadway, a large quantity of blood that was determined to be Nicole's. Everything's pointing to Doug Dittry's. Yeah, so then Monday night, right now I'm going to be taking you into custody. We felt we had probable cause to arrest Doug Dittry.

I'm a decent guy. OK, I'm a decent guy too. I Dietry. I'm a decent guy. Okay, I'm a decent guy too. I get that, I'm sure you are. I think people were shocked. People are wondering, could he have done it? Did Doug do it? His alibi was his Fitbit that he had been wearing all night and that supposedly proved that he was asleep

at the time of her murder. The technology is really what drew me to this case. We had this evidence we wanted to check out, have tested at the lab. The DNA evidence starts to come back, and it belonged to an unidentified male. Subject outside on the porch. That was our goal,

is to figure out who is this mystery person. It's definitely a whodunit. There's lots of twists and turns to it, and it's hard to know who's telling the truth. Green Bay is supposed to be a really safe place. You know, mothers don't go missing,

and police don't find their bodies in farm fields. February 2018. Friends and family of Nicole Vander Heiden gather in a packed Brown County courtroom seeking justice for her brutal, senseless murder two years earlier. NICOLE TIPPETT, Brown County Courtroom Prosecutor, Brown County Jail, What happens in this case could definitely come down to the technology. LISA DESJARDINS- Kate Bricolet covers crime for The Daily Beast.

KATE Bricolet, Brown County Jail, Who would do this? Who would do this to Nikki? KATE Bricolet, Brown County Jail, I was just, it's not real. You know, that can't be. Tiffany Hoffman was a close friend of Nicole's, who everyone called Nikki. They had been friends for years and shared a love of the outdoors. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of her? Light, spirit, a verve and a zest and zeal. She was close with her family and loved her children. Nikki was a mom to three,

Michaela and Tyler from a previous marriage, and six-month-old Dylan, whose father was her boyfriend, Doug Dietry. The two had met in January 2015 and soon moved in together. She was really, really happy. When she talked to me, She said they both were excited. Yeah, that they both were excited to have a baby. On the night of Friday, May 20, 2016, Nikki and Doug make last-minute plans to get a babysitter

and join friends at a bar called The Watering Hole to see a Steel Panther concert. I think Nikki was really looking to let loose and have a good time. As the concert is ending, Nikki decides to go with Doug's friends to another bar called the Sardine Can. And leave him. Doug agreed that he would finish his conversation he was having

and find her at the next bar. NICOLE GARCIA- As seen on this sardine can security camera, Nikki appears to be having a great time, talking and dancing with friends. But as the night wears on and Doug still hasn't shown up here at the sardine can, she gets upset and begins sending him angry texts. They were scorching and they were all but accusing him of infidelity. Sometime after 11.30 p.m., Nikki tries calling Doug, but he doesn't answer. So another friend calls Doug, and he answers, and this enrages Nikki.

And so she gets up and leaves the bar. One of Doug's friends runs after Nicole, begging her to come back to the bar, but she refuses. to come back to the bar, but she refuses. Instead, Nicole walks down this street, turns left, and vanishes into the night. When Doug finds out that Nikki has left, he and his friend Greg drive around looking for her. When they can't find her, they go into the sardine can where Doug, seen here in long pants,

has more to drink before the two of them head out brock honey number one what is the address uh we just found a human body okay early the next afternoon farmer richard vandehei makes a gruesome discovery over this hill right over here yep at first I thought it was a deer because of the rust color in her hair. Then I realized it was a young lady. She was naked, other than socks that were on her feet and a pink wristband. Other than that, we had no form of identification. Brown County Sheriff's Sergeant Rick Lobnow is among the first to respond to the scene.

There was a lot of blood. There was obvious injury, trauma on the side of her face. Obviously, the first step of the investigation is to identify who the person is. Sergeant Brian Slinger is the lead detective on the case. That in and of itself was difficult due to the severity of the injuries. From County Public Safety, this is Therese. Deputies get their first lead at 4.30 that afternoon when Doug Dietry calls 911 to report Nikki is missing. And her date of birth?

March 29, 1985. Her description matched what we had found in the field as far as age, pro, approximate size, hair color. Slinger sends officers with a hidden camera to Dietrich's home, which is just a little over three miles away from where the body has been found. So you left the sardine canning drone for another 30 to 40 minutes? Yeah, because we didn't get back there. I don't even know what time it was it was that it was late 2 30. doug tells deputies that after greg dropped him off he fell asleep around 3 a.m and except for getting up to check on the baby he was asleep until after six did you do anything to

cause her to go missing no not not at. That night, Doug's parents watch baby Dylan while Doug is further questioned at the station. It's here they tell him that Nikki has been murdered. I can't breathe. Please don't. As Dietrich is being questioned, detectives get a warrant to search his and Nikki's home. They find blood on the floor of the garage and in Nikki's car. On the headboard, on the side, and then in the backseat area. They also discover a pair of Air Jordans in the garage that appear to match the shoe print found on Nikki's back

and seem to have blood smudges on the bottom. For us, it's adding up, okay, this is our guy. Just before dawn, an off-duty patrolman reports items scattered along a highway ramp less than two

miles from where Nikki's body has been found. There's a purse as well as her cell phone and items that she was wearing that night. And there are more damning clues found in a neighbor's yard who lives across the street from Doug and Nikki. And what was found here? A large quantity of blood that was determined to be Nicole's as well as some clumps of blonde hair. And then there was also a cord, which I would describe as like a phone charging cord. This was a huge discovery. Now they had a murder scene, and it was 118 feet from Dietrich's front door.

More than 70 pieces of evidence are sent to the state crime lab. Statements. Now detectives had a theory about how nikki had died there was some sort of argument between her and doug maybe when she got home somehow it ended up out in the street right now i'm going to be taking you into custody sheriff deputies are recording when they arrest doug dietrich who quickly becomes emotional dietrich isn't charged with murder but deputies hold him emotional. DETRIE ISN'T CHARGED WITH MURDER, BUT DEPUTIES HOLD HIM ON A $1 MILLION BOND WHILE THEY WAIT FOR DNA RESULTS. Is there DNA on the bottom of the shoe?

Is that blood on the bottom of the shoe? EIGHTEEN DAYS LATER, INVESTIGATORS ARE STUNNED. Investigators are stunned. Crime lab tests show the blood in the car isn't Nikki's. The blood in the garage isn't human. And tests on the shoe stains are inconclusive, but appear not to be blood at all. We had nothing on Doug, so he was released. What's more, on the night Nicole disappeared, Doug just happened to be wearing a Fitbit, a personal tracking device. It goes on your wrist just like this, like a watch, and it tracks your activities,

the steps you take, your heart rate, even your sleeping patterns. When the Fitbit data stored in Doug's phone is examined, it corroborates his story. He had a few footsteps throughout the night, getting up to go to the bathroom, check on the baby, whatever. His story that he told us was absolutely 100% true. So who killed Nicole Vander Heiden? Will more high-tech forensics blow this case wide open? See more of Doug Dietry's interview with police on Facebook at 48 hours. NICOLE'S MOTHER AND HER BROTHER, BRANDON, STRUGGLED TO UNDERSTAND HOW ANYONE COULD MURDER THEIR BELOVED NIKKI.

NICOLE'S MOTHER AND HER BROTHER, BRANDON, STRUGGLED TO UNDERSTAND HOW ANYONE COULD MURDER THEIR BELOVED NIKKI. It was a horrendous thing, and it's just so hard to let that out of your heart. What do you miss the most? I'm waiting for her to come walking through my door again, you know? I miss her the most. I miss her. I have a picture of me and her when we were younger.

I look at that every night. I miss her all the time. Remember, the evidence appears to clear Doug Dietry. So in June of 2016, his focus turns to raising his son Dylan, while Nicole's two older children live with their father. Nicole's two older children live with their father. The case torments Sergeants Brian Slinger and Richard Lopnow. They are back at square one with no idea who did this. Two of you have this horrific murder on your hands.

What are you feeling at that moment? We needed to figure out how Nicole got home. We pulled video cameras from every single bridge in the city of Green Bay because in order for her to walk home, she would have had to cross a bridge. They re-interview witnesses, re-examine phone logs. It was getting to the point where, you know,

we had looked at each other and said, oh, I really hope this isn't a cold case. Their first big break comes over the course of the summer. DNA results trickle in, and they are tantalizing. The investigators learn that many of the samples taken from Nicole's clothing and from the neighbor's yard have DNA from an unidentified man on dozens of samples, the same partial profile, but never enough for a positive ID. We had this one consistent mystery guy, I guess you'd call it,

and our job was to try and find out who that was. It was just a very confusing time. Nobody knew who would have done this to Nikki. And then finally, that August, almost three months after Nicole disappeared, the investigators get a call from the crime lab.

One of the socks Nicole had been wearing has enough DNA to run through the national database. And they get a name. The excitement was amazing. The DNA belongs to a man named George Steven Burch I was a hit over the state of Virginia Virginia yeah Virginia so it was like okay who is who is George Burch and and why is he in

Green Bay Wisconsin of all places yes we have a name now but now we need to start digging on who this person is. Birch moved from Virginia to Green Bay on March 1st, 2016, looking for a fresh start. A longtime friend gave him a place to stay and helped him find a job. He also loaned him a car, a red Chevy Blazer. That red Blazer would provide crucial evidence. It had been involved in a hit and run accident and destroyed in a fire a few weeks after Nicole's murder.

So when detectives run Birch's name through the local police database, up pops the accident report, which leads them to an address for George Birch. Swear to God, drive by the first time, who's standing out leads them to an address for George Birch. Swear to God, drive by the first time,

who's standing out in front of the house smoking a cigarette? George Birch. My hair stood up on the back of my neck. I had goosebumps. It was like, oh, my God, there's our guy. They videotape his movements and keep their suspicions to themselves. And they learn that when Birch was questioned about the hit and run, he handed over his cell phone and on it, a high-tech treasure trove.

He gave them consent to search his phone. They extracted the entire thing. So I requested a copy of that. It's an Android phone that had a Gmail account associated with it. We were recently made aware of this Google dashboard data that could potentially give us GPS data. You may not know this, but chances are if you have an Android device with a Google account, your exact location gathered via cell phone towers, local Wi-Fi hotspots, and GPS locators is constantly tracked and stored within Google's servers. The information can be viewed with a tool called Google Dashboard.

The investigators obtain a warrant to view Birch's Google Dashboard. What they get back is astonishing. Birch started the night that nicole disappeared at richard craniums a bar a half mile from the sardine can the data tracks birch at 2 30 a.m leaving richard craniums and driving to nicole's house the crime scene where he stayed for nearly an hour. It was very obvious that here's our guy. He is next tracked at the field where Nicole's body was found,

then near the off-ramp where her bloody clothes were discarded, and then at 4.22 a.m. back at his home. And when you saw that he was right there, what was your reaction? I mean, it's a huge piece of evidence, obviously. Finally, enough for an arrest. Captured on police dashboard cameras. We sent one guy out to the house a little bit earlier to get eyes on,

and he called me. And he's like, oh, my God, he's on the move. We got to go now. We all had to rally up, get in our cars and drive. On a drizzly September day, four months after Nicole's murder, George Birch is arrested and charged with first-degree intentional homicide. charge with first-degree intentional homicide. The reason you're here is in reference to a homicide investigation into Nicole Vanderheiden. So if I read you in Miranda rights, you don't want to talk to me?

So I prefer a lawyer. Okay. Nicole's former brother-in-law, Sean Vanderheiden, says the news came as a big surprise. I had no clue who he was or where this guy came from, but I was just happy to hear that they had someone. Nicole's family and friends have a new anguish, waiting for a trial. In March 2017, on what would have been Nicole's 32nd birthday, they came together on Lake Michigan to release lanterns in her honor.

It was so cold, so cold, but her memory warmed us. We all went out on that dock, on that pier, and lit our lanterns and sent them off into her memory. lit our lanterns and sent them off until, you know, her memory. Why lit lanterns? Why was that used to honor her? The light, her light.

She was a light for so many in this world. All rise. Nearly one year later, on February 19, 2018, George Birch goes on trial for Nicole's murder. The prosecution has a strong case. Mr. Birch must be held accountable. But according to the defense, prosecutors have the wrong man. You will know that Douglas Dietry, Nicole's boyfriend, murdered Nicole. For Nicole Vander Heiden's family, every day of George Burch's murder trial is agony. Vicki, how did you get yourself to go every day to that courtroom? I don't know.

God, he must have just taken our hands and led us there because, I mean, we wanted answers. Friends say it's agonizing for Doug Dietry, too, especially once he learns that George Burch's defense team is planning to blame Nicole's murder on him. He was nervous, and I would be, too. You know, you were accused of a murder, and it's so many things going through your head. And now Doug Dietry's testimony is critical to the prosecution. Kind of interesting that the man who you first thought might have killed his girlfriend is going to be one of the most important witnesses at this trial, right? Right. He will be very important.

Just as important would be the technology evidence, data collected from both Doug Dietrich's Fitbit and George Birch's phone. Prosecutors say that Dietrich's Fitbit shows he couldn't be the killer. The autopsy results, the DNA identification, the Google dashboard data, the records from Fitbit, that is the evidence that will drive you. You will follow that evidence and you will find the truth. Doug's Fitbit is seen here in this video captured by officers on their very first interview, the day he reported Nicole missing. Prosecutors say downloaded data showed Doug barely moved in the hours they believed Nicole was killed and left in the field. Is that based on the data that you obtained directly from Fitbit?

Yes, it is. Everything that I could view directly on the device and lined up with what had previously been stated. what had previously been stated. Did you ever during this trial, or have you thought much about it, that how lucky it was that Doug happened to be wearing a Fitbit that night and the next morning? Yeah, that was huge in this case, I think, right there. That pretty much said he wasn't there when this all happened. On day three of the trial, Detry takes the stand.

Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Prosecutors aim to present him as a normal guy, not the best boyfriend maybe, but an unlikely killer. Can you tell us about your family? My mother, my father, my amazing little son, Dylan. Deidre tells the jurors he and Nikki dreamed of getting married one day. And early on in the night she disappeared, they were having fun. Nikki didn't usually drink, he says, but that night they were both partying hard.

What was the pace she was drinking that night? Pretty quickly. I think she had, like, two down, and I was still on my first one. Once they got separated and Nikki went ahead to the sardine can with friends, Doug continued drinking and smoked some marijuana. Before long, Nikki sent him her first angry text, wondering where he was. Nikki's text got angrier.

And she accused him of being with other women. At any point in response to those messages, did you get upset with Nikki? No, I didn't. The text kept coming. Doug said he offered to pick her up, but her phone died. Were you concerned that Nikki was missing at that point in time? I was not concerned that she was missing. I was kind of concerned, like, why is she upset? Did you have absolutely any involvement in Nikki's disappearance or death? No, I did not.

involvement in Nikki's disappearance or death? No, I did not. Under cross-examination, George Burch's attorney, Lee Shookert, pushed Doug on whether things at home were really as good as he said they were. Burch's lawyer shows jurors a text Doug sent to his mom 10 days before Nikki died, saying, I'm very seriously thinking about telling Nikki and the kids they have to move. So in May of 2016, though, there were times where you were seriously considering breaking up with Nikki and the kids. I never really, like, seriously thought about it, like, made plans or anything like that. It was just a lie to your mom. or anything like that. It was just a lie to your mom.

What the jury would never hear is that several of Deidre's past girlfriends accused him of being jealous, abusive, and controlling. One girlfriend claimed that he put a tracking device on her phone so he'd always know where she was. In her barrage of angry texts to Doug that night, Nicole also accused him of being abusive. Did you hurt Nikki that night? Do you mean physically or what? I know.

I mean, did you physically beat her in the past? No, I never physically beat Nikki. Had you cheated on her in the past? No, I have not. You know, Doug is physically beat Nikki. Had you cheated on her in the past? No, I have not. You know, Doug is not an angel. Isn't that going to be a problem in this jury? Doug Dietry's not on trial. George Birch is on trial.

Defense attorneys asked the babysitter, who took care of Dylan that night, to recount an odd conversation she had with Dietrich the day after Nicole died. I just asked, what happened? You know, like, what happened? And he just replied, I don't know. She hit her head, and then she just wanted to walk home. So specifically, when you had asked him what happened, he said, I don't know. She hit her head, correct? It came out of his mouth, that comment. Would the questions raised about Doug make jurors wonder if the right man was on trial?

And would they buy George Burch's stunning version of what happened that night? It was fairly dark. I saw someone standing behind me. Who was it? It was Doug Dietrich. It's day eight of the George Birch murder trial. Judge, at this time, the defense calls George Stephen Birch to the stand. And with it comes the testimony everyone has been waiting to hear, George Birch's version of what happened the night Nicole Vander Heiden was murdered. Let's start from the beginning.

Okay. Prompted by his attorney, Birch tells jurors he's a hardworking family man with an easygoing nickname. Most people call me Big Country. Public defender Scott Stebbins takes takes Burch back to the night of the murder. Burch claims he ran into Nicole at the local bar called Richard Cranium's. How were you acting towards her?

RICHARD CRANIUM, I was flirting. SCOTT STEBBINS, And how was she acting towards you? RICHARD CRANIUM, Somewhat the same, pretty much, flirting back and forth with each other. According to Birch, they continued flirting until closing time, around 2.30. And just as the Google dashboard evidence showed, he drove Nicole the eight miles to her house and pulled up to the curb across the street. We sat there and talked for a few minutes. Okay. What happened after that?

Started fooling around, messing around a little bit. Started kissing. Birch then detailed what he says was consensual sex. Nicole was in the back seat and Birch, too big to fit in the back seat with her, stood

just outside the rear passenger door. I was standing outside the blazer. Nikki's family and friends had to sit there silently and listen. Anyone who knew Nicole knew that there was nothing that she would ever ever do that was not her. She was. But it's what Birch says happened to him while he says he was having sex, that was perhaps the most difficult to accept. He says he was knocked out. The next thing that I remember apart from us having intercourse was literally waking up on the ground outside the truck. Did you hear anything? The first thing I heard was, don't even f***ing think about it.

Birch said he turned and saw someone standing behind him holding a gun. At that point, did you know who that individual was? Never seen him before in my life. Do you know who that individual is now? Now I do. Who was it? It was Doug Dietrich. Birch says he saw Nicole laying on the pavement.

I didn't know if she was alive. There was a lot of blood. The 6'7", 250-pound Birch said Dietrich told him to put Nicole's body in the blazer and then drive to the field. Dietrich, he said, ordered him at gunpoint to carry Nicole's body down an embankment. That's when I turned and with everything I had, I lunged at him and pushed him as hard as I possibly could.

Birch said he ran back to the blazer and headed for home, throwing Nicole's clothes out the window on the way. The next day, he met up with friends and went fishing. You didn't call 911? No, sir. But he didn't tell anyone else either. You don't tell them people. People get killed all the time where I'm from for that.

As Birch told his story, two women were in the courtroom listening to every word. They have traveled more than 1,000 miles to be here every day. JOY WHITE, We just wanted him to see our face every day and know that we haven't forgotten what he did, and we have never forgotten Joey. JUDY WOODRUFF, Joey is Joey White. JOY WHITE, It's Joey and Audrey. JUDY WOODRUFF, In 1997, he was murdered in Newport News, Virginia. Joey is Joey White. It's Joey and Audrey.

In 1997, he was murdered in Newport News, Virginia. The man accused of killing him, neighborhood rival George Birch. But this jury will never hear about it. He was out on bond when he killed Joey. Shana Stowe was Joey White's fiance fiance and the mother of his child. I'm 16. Joey's 22 there. He was my first love. He was it. Carla Rhodes is Joey's sister.

I miss him a lot. Birch testified at that trial too. He looked at us, laughed at us the whole time. Smirked. And what happened? Not guilty.

It was shocking when they said not guilty. Neither was surprised that Birch had been accused of another murder. I'm not shocked at all. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if he's killed other people. Look what he did. I mean, it's brutal. surprised if he's killed other people. Look what he did. I mean, it's brutal. When it was finally District Attorney David Lassay's turn to cross-examine Birch, he had one thing in mind. To show how ridiculous his story was. And he says he had plenty to work

with, like Birch's claim that Nicole would have agreed to have sex in the car. So Nicole would rather have sex with you in front of her neighbor's home with your butt hanging out the door of the car than ask the babysitter to go home? Sir, I don't know. I wasn't the one making decisions. And if Birch was hit hard enough to knock him out, why didn't anyone see bumps or bruises on his head when he went fishing

the next day? I'm six foot seven, so it's hard for someone to see the top of my head. And why would Dietrich murder Nicole and let Birch get away? So rather than just beating you or killing you in the middle of the street, he decided to enlist you, a total stranger, to help him dispose of the body of his girlfriend. I don't know what his plans were. At one point, Lissette pushes Birch on a possible motive. What really happened was you drove Nicole home, fully expecting that you were going to have sex, right?

I was hoping that we would. And when you get there and it becomes clear that Nikki isn't going to have sex with you, when she attempts to go into her house and leave your vehicle, that's when your mood changes, right? No, sir. That's when things get aggressive, don't they? Not at all. That's when you grab that cord and strangle her, don't you?

No, sir, not at all. That's when Nikki gets slammed on the ground repeatedly when she's trying to run toward her house. None of that is true. And Birch loses his cool when Lissé presses him on an inconsistency in his story. So clear this up for me. You're backing down the embankment

with Nicole's body in a fireman's carry position, right? No. What are you doing? I told you before, and I will say it one more time for you, sir. I was carrying her over to this area. I think there was a big turn when you saw him lose his temper. I think we both said, well, there's the real Steve Birch coming out. Not George, not big country.

This is how we know him. You're assaulted. You're held at gun point. You carried the mangled body of a woman to her final resting place. And the next day, you're going fishing with your buddy with a smile on your face and not a care in the world. I wouldn't say not a care in the world. That definitely would not be something I would say. Who will the jury believe? No further questions. Morning, everyone. Be seated. Is the state of any rebuttal witnesses?

The prosecution got one last chance to present witnesses to rebut the story George Birch told the jury. During George Birch's testimony, he specifically said, if I recall, that they were having sex, her pants were off already at that point. So during the rebuttal, we brought those pants to enter into evidence and make sure they were viewed. If she had been disrobed in her car, how do those clothes get not just bloody, but dirty and hairy? Those clothes are filthy,

and they're demonstrative of being worn during a struggle. Carefully and respectfully, Sergeants Brian Slinger and Rick Lopnow unwrapped and displayed the pants that Nicole wore the night she died, found blood-soaked and muddy on the highway. It goes to George's credibility, which is zero, that this was not a consensual act. She fought, escaped the vehicle. He bludgeoned her, strangled her with her clothes on, and then transported her body to the scene. His story was a lie. He disrobed her at the scene and forgot her socks. And then the final arguments.

Go right ahead. Thank you. The prosecution reminded jurors of the weight of evidence against George Birch. Whose DNA is on her sock? Who's with Nikki at the four key areas of Brown County? Their explanation is ridiculous. It's insulting to your intelligence. While the defense hoped to plant doubt. Justice for Nicole is not going to be delivered

by a wrongful conviction of George Burch. Doug Dietry had the motive, the opportunity, and the connection to this crime. The man that met this woman in a bar and admitted, admitted by his own account to dumping her body in that field looks like this the next day. Who does that?

Ladies and gentlemen, the bailiffs will escort you to the jury room. Good luck. What was the feeling in the courtroom as the case went to the jury? It was very tense. And I was surprised that I think 45 minutes later, I mean, not even an hour later, the jury had a question. that I think 45 minutes later, I mean, not even an hour later, the jury had a question.

The jury asked to see the bloody wire used to strangle Nicole as well as cords found in Doug Dietrich's garage to see if they were possibly a match. You know, the fact that they're thinking about that is telling me, okay, are they actually believing George Burch's story here? It really made me wonder where this was going to go. After a nine-day trial and more than 50 witnesses, the jury took just over three hours to reach a verdict.

I just had this horrible feeling that was coming back not guilty. It just was really hard. I couldn't breathe. And you could feel everybody was like shaking we the jury find the defendant george stephen birch guilty of first degree intentional homicide is charged in the information it is signed by our four person and dated this first day of march 2018 everybody was just like, oh, my God, thank God. He was guilty, thank God. What sticks out in my mind was the gas, hearing that from the family

and knowing the relief that they had at that moment. That'll stick with me. In a good way, right? Absolutely. I know Joey was there for this. It's just 20 years later. It was his 20-year anniversary of his death in October. It's just trying to get upset.

Could you see Doug Detry? Doug Detry, I think, was relieved. Doug Detry was holding his mother. Doug wasn't even on trial in this case, but he was finally free of any suspicion. on trial in this case, but he was finally free of any suspicion. No, what's your reaction? So what you found from this case is that this technology can do more than connect someone to a crime. It can actually exonerate a person. Absolutely, yeah.

I feel bad that he sat in jail for 18, 19 days. I mean, technology is very important. And our goal is to exonerate people just as it is to find them guilty. If we didn't have these Google data locations on George's phone, if we didn't have the Fitbit, would it be Doug Dietry sitting in prison as opposed to George Birch? Back in court two months after the verdict, the judge speaks to George Birch before sentencing him, while Doug Dietry and his mother look on.

This family is destroyed. It's ruined. It'll never be like this again. In a state with no death penalty, the sentence is as harsh as possible. Life without parole. This is a crime that I believe merit the death penalty, and for that, you have to die in prison. It is what the families wanted, and yet this is no time for celebration. To Vicki, to the Dietrich family, prayers and support of this community are with you. Good luck and God bless.

This court is in recess. Bye. The only comfort for Nicole's family is that George Birch can never destroy lives again. When they convicted George of being guilty, I just still, like, it was a feeling of happiness, but yet still, like, somewhat of a realization that she's actually gone now. It's hard. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of your daughter?

Her big smile. Her big, gorgeous smile. She just radiates. She just does. She's always happy. What do you all tell her children? Nicole is looking over them all the time and that she loves them and she'll see them again. And every night, I know Tyler and Michaela

always say a prayer and talk to their mom and say goodnight. We gained an angel. We lost a breath of fresh air. The memory lives on through the stories we share, things we never forget, and she's okay. She's okay. I love you.

She had a passion for life, for living. She had good morals. What more can a mom ask for? Doug Dietry continues to raise Dylan, now too. 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. 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, early and ad-free on Wondery Plus and the Wondery app. 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 reach the age of 10 that would still have heard it. 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 Pitink of extinction.