48 Hours - Wanted Dead: Nicki Lenway
Episode Date: October 8, 2023A crime scene investigator is gunned down in broad daylight. The harrowing scene is captured on surveillance video. Who pulled the trigger? "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty reports.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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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.
Where's the victim? Who's shot? Who is shot? Where's the victim?
On April 20th, 2022, my life changed forever.
So we've got EMS coming right now.
I was shot at point-blank range two times.
Right here, right here. This is the victim, right victim right here first name Nikki gunshot wounds to the neck all
right it's a miracle she's alive it's a miracle if she wasn't killed
okay someone wanted me dead
honestly it was a normal day I had worked the night before.
I worked the overnight shift.
I'm a forensic scientist for the Minneapolis Police Department.
After getting my child to school, I slept.
I picked him up from school, and then he had a visit with his father that night.
What would you do while he's visiting with his dad?
So I typically would run errands, go grocery shopping,
or do the things that were easier to do without my child.
When it's time for her to pick up her son,
she steps out of her car and starts walking
like dozens of other times that she's done this.
I'm halfway in between my vehicle and the door, and this person comes running up from behind me.
Shots were being fired.
I fell to the ground, and the shooter stands over me and continues to try to shoot.
I felt my neck and then could see the blood.
I was just driving home,
and I saw a person run up to another person,
and then I heard two bangs,
and that other person collapsed.
It maybe looked like a robbery or something.
There was so fast.
That was the first thought.
This must have been a robbery that was gone wrong. That was the first thought. This must have been a robbery
that was gone wrong. Was this a drive-by? Mistaken identity? Was she mugged? Maybe something related
to work. You do work for the police department. Did you think it might have something to do with
work? You know, I know a lot of people ask me that. I knew that this could happen, but I didn't want to believe it would.
Whoever did that knows she was coming to pick up a kid.
Did you recognize the assailant?
I didn't.
Could you tell the gender? Was it male or female?
So I thought it was male.
I was very sure it was a female shooter.
What is going on? Who could have done this? In 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 Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery+.
Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty.
Her specialty?
Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals.
However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets,
the most dangerous secret was her own.
She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld
and she's informing on them all. was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld,
and she's informing on them all. I'm Marsha Clark, host of the new podcast,
Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney,
I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list.
She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop. Now, through dramatic interviews and access, I'll reveal the truth behind one of the 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 true
crime shows early and ad-free right now.
It was coming up, and I saw the two people, and then all of a sudden I heard bang bang. As Emily Clancy later told police
she couldn't quite believe what she saw and heard on the evening of April 20th 2022
as she drove home from having dinner with a friend. I stopped right here at this intersection.
As soon as the light turned green Emily sped through the intersection and pulled up next to the victim.
I opened the door. I said, are you okay? And she said, no, I've been shot.
Nicole Nikki Lemway Ford was shot and bleeding in the parking lot of Family Wise, a parenting center. The 33-year-old was no stranger to violence. She worked as a forensic scientist for the
Minneapolis Police Department. And right after being shot, she called 911.
She's barely breathing, could barely say any words other than her name. And I said, get in the car.
Emily took over the 911 call. I could see that there was blood
coming out of her neck. And followed the dispatcher's instructions. They said, put a jacket
or something around her neck. And I said, yeah, I have one right here. Within minutes, first responders
arrived. Were you the one that called? Where's the victim? The dramatic scene was captured on
police body cameras. What's going on? She was scared, really scared. She was in a lot of pain.
She was having a hard time breathing. I just looked her in the eyes and I said, Nikki,
we've got this. You've got this. Just stay with me.
I don't think we can ever recreate
how powerful of a moment that was.
I just wanted her to know that she wasn't alone in this.
And if that was the only thing I could give to this poor girl,
like, that would mean something to me.
Okay. All right, dear.
Can you walk? We're going to get outside.
We're going to go into the ambulance.
Bring you to the hospital, all right?
One of the most surprising things about the video
is that you had to walk to the ambulance.
I couldn't believe it.
Were you aware of how badly injured you were?
I don't think so.
I think I was in shock, maybe.
I didn't realize how bad it was.
Try not to move your head left or right, okay?
Nicole was loaded into the ambulance and soon lost consciousness.
Breaking news tonight, a woman is in the hospital.
The news spread quickly that a Minneapolis police employee had been shot.
Nicole's then boyfriend, MPD officer Donovan Ford, was at home.
What is it like to get that phone call that the woman you love has just been shot?
I had no words.
I went flying down to the hospital.
I was panicked.
When Donovan arrived at the Hennepin County
Medical Center, he wasn't
prepared for what he saw.
She was basically
unconscious.
She had tubes down her throat
and all that.
When you did finally get to talk to a doctor, what did they tell you?
She's in bad shape.
We're going to do our best to, you know, save her life, essentially.
Nicole had a perforated lung, severe damage to her vocal cords,
and a bullet lodged between two of her ribs.
She was in critical condition.
I'm in law enforcement, so when they say critical, that means essentially they're close to the end.
And where she was shot, typically people don't survive. I was praying a lot.
As doctors rushed to save Nicole, outside the Family Wise Parenting Center, her colleagues at the police department got to work.
Can you throw up some tape? We've got casings right over here.
On the ground, they found three discharged bullet casings and blood.
They quickly learned that Nicole had been at Family Wise to pick up her son,
who was on a scheduled visit with his father, her ex, Tim Omaker.
Officers caught up with Tim as he was finishing up his visit with their five-year-old son, Callahan.
He had been at the center for hours. In the community, Tim Omaker was well-liked and a respected local taekwondo instructor.
Tim seemed worried about Nicole.
Andy had an idea about what may have happened. He thought it had something to do with a case she worked.
She was afraid because she thought people were driving by her house. She changed her
last name to her middle name. She shut down her social media. She had drive-bys of Minneapolis
coming through her house all the time. She had me bring over my shotgun to her house.
She was in fear. But police didn't find any obvious connections to Nicole's cases.
They searched Tim's Jeep and asked if he owned any other cars.
This is your only car?
No, no, I have a Dodge Challenger, too.
And then let him go.
Police continue to look for evidence,
canvassing the building and surrounding area
Searching for security footage
And discovered the cameras from Family Wise
A bank across the street
And an elementary school around the corner
Had captured every second
The first images are Nicole arriving to pick up her son
Then someone dressed all in black Running her down from behind The first images are Nicole arriving to pick up her son,
then someone dressed all in black running her down from behind.
The moment the shots were fired, the shooter fleeing on foot and then driving off in a black Dodge Ram truck.
But the truck had no license plates, and police couldn't tell who was driving.
The next day, Nicole regained consciousness,
and she told police that she was sure she knew who was responsible.
I just knew it had something to do with Tim. I just knew.
Well, of course, I'm going to be the first guy you guys look at.
I didn't know how he was involved, but he was involved.
What would you do if you saw a stranger being shot on the street?
Chat now with Aaron Moriarty on X.
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As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch.
It was called Candyman. The scary cult classic was set in the Chicago housing project. It was
about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into
a bathroom mirror. Candyman. Candyman?
Now, we all know chanting a name won't make a killer magically appear.
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.
We're going to talk to the people who were there.
And we're also going to uncover the larger story.
My architect was shocked when he saw how this was created. Literally shocked. And we'll
look at what the story tells us about injustice in America. If you really believed in tough on
crime, then you wouldn't make it easy to crawl into medicine cabinets and kill our women. Listen
to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, early and ad-free, with a 48-hour plus subscription on Apple Podcasts.
Taekwondo.
The tenets of the Korean martial art include courtesy, self-control, integrity.
The most skilled, like Tim Omaker, are called master.
Nicole would come to believe that Tim was somehow involved in her shooting.
But in the world of taekwondo...
He was a very good instructor.
Pat and Claire Zellmer were part of Omaker's tight group of friends
and also familiar with his World Taekwondo Academy.
People would definitely refer to him as Master Amaker within his school.
But they would also, if they were still students and they were friendly outside of the school, he was still Master Amaker.
People gravitated to Amaker.
People gravitated to Amaker, his physical skill, business savvy, easy confidence, a leader who seemed to have it all figured out.
He's charismatic, driven, intense.
He can draw people in and make them feel this connection with him.
And his reputation continued after dark.
The mayor of nightlife here.
I would say that's a fair assessment.
Very much so.
Very much so.
Charlie Detloff knew Tim well before he met Nicole and witnessed firsthand the power of Tim's personality.
So I moved back here in about 2001.
And was Tim Omaker already living next door?
He was. He was living next door, but his mother...
Tim was a helpful neighbor
with a style and appeal you couldn't miss.
He loved fashion, loved the right jeans
and the right shirt and the right boot
and always had to be the best.
Was he a good friend to you?
Yeah, he was a great friend.
And where was Tim living?
Tim's bedroom was in the back corner here.
And according to Charlie, there was a waiting list of women
who wanted into Omegar's bedroom.
Coming and going, yeah, they would pull up right here.
The front light here was purple.
And if that light was on, then the women knew that they could go in.
Are you serious?
I'm not kidding. It was almost like the, you know, the red light district.
Juggling a lot of women at once?
Yes, of course.
Because it seemed like there was a different girl every night.
What did women see in him?
I don't know, because I didn't see it.
But many other women seemed to see much in Tim Omaker.
How did you meet Tim?
I met Tim by going to his gym.
And when did you start dating?
Shortly after.
Nicole was responsible and grounded.
Tim's close friends quickly understood the attraction.
There was something special about her.
She's smart. She's pretty.
She's outgoing. She's got it all.
At first,
I actually really wasn't interested,
but he was
very persistent. You know, he just
kind of wore me down, and I kind of
started enjoying our time together.
And he was older. Right. He had experienced more life than me down and I kind of I started enjoying our time together. And he was older. Right. He
had experienced more life than me and it was exciting. They moved in together in early 2014
but friends say Tim still wasn't faithful. Did you try to warn her about Tim and his women?
About his womanizing? Yes, absolutely.
There were a lot of red flags.
A lot of jealousy?
Yes.
They fought.
Constantly.
It was almost like a perpetual argument verging on a fight.
Did you ever see him violent
or hurtful toward her?
I did not, no.
But Nicole would tell investigators
Amaker was violent.
I mean, one night he threw me up against the wall
holding my neck.
Why did you stay, even as long as you did?
I ask myself that all the time.
I don't know.
I think I felt trapped.
And, you know, he just got into my brain so badly.
She says that on a trip to Las Vegas, an angry alcohol-fueled Tim threw a lamp across the room.
It was terrifying. I locked myself in the bathroom.
myself in the bathroom. September 2015, Nicole, then 26 years old, had more than enough. But she says now that breaking away from Tim was anything but easy. I packed my bags and I started walking
out. And he pulled me back into the house by my ponytail and dragged me into the bedroom. And after that,
I was like, I am done. Nicole moved out and an 18-year-old student of Tim's moved in,
renting out one of his rooms. Her name? Colleen Larson. Seemed absolutely lovely. Nice girl.
I think she's very smart. Probably book smart, not street smart.
Colleen had begun studying with Amaker when she was barely a teenager.
Tim's friends say she seemed infatuated with him.
He's her instructor. He's her master, you know, for 10 plus years at this point.
It just seemed like she was like this little puppy dog wanting to impress him.
Like a child and an adult in that respect. Yes.
They say Colleen seemed delighted
to be living with a man she had
idolized since she was young.
As for Nicole,
she hoped to have no further
contact with Tim.
But very soon, they all
got some unexpected news. I found out I was pregnant
and he wanted me to get rid of the baby. And I just told him I couldn't. And I was in a state of panic. I'm going to ask you if I can search you for weapons real quick, okay?
For weapons?
Yeah.
Detectives needed to know all about Nicole's relationship with her son's father, Tim Omaker.
There was a shooting that happened down here.
The investigation would track a trail that led back to the fall of 2015,
when Nicole first learned she was pregnant with a Taekwondo master she alleged had abused her.
It just got more and more volatile. pregnant with a Taekwondo master she alleged had abused her.
It just got more and more volatile.
We were so excited for them to be having a baby.
That's a momentous and a happy thing to normal people.
But the only thing normal was the irrepressible joy of a new mother.
She named him Callahan.
He was born on June 20th of 2016. He was a big boy and he was perfect. And then she gave him the last name Vomiker. Nicole was the primary caregiver,
but sometimes Cal stayed with his dad.
Did you feel that co-parenting was working?
I felt like it could.
But he wasn't always reliable, says Nicole.
When she needed him most, Tim was halfway around the world.
Tim went to Thailand and totally bailed on Christmas and New Year's.
Tim may not have been a hands-on dad,
but someone else was ready to step in. Colleen Larson, his longtime Taekwondo student,
who was renting that room in Tim's house. She was very kind to Callahan. She was a good
caregiver to him. And with unpredictable hours with the Minneapolis Police Department,
the arrangement seemed to work for Nicole.
My son really seemed to like her.
When the once-young Taekwondo student turned 18,
her relationship with Tim Omaker quietly changed, according to Charlie.
Did you get the sense he was in love with Colleen?
No, not at all. I think she was very much in love with him.
Charlie says Tim called the relationship easy. She would call him master, call him the house,
yep, master-omiker, and ultimately kind of became, you know, like a maid or a servant to him.
became, you know, like a maid or a servant to him.
Then in the summer of 2017, Nicole's life took a dramatic turn.
Do you remember when you first met Nicole?
Absolutely.
It was the kind of love at first sight that only a cop on the beat could have.
First time I ever saw her was on a burglary call.
I definitely took notice at that point.
Why?
She's gorgeous.
And to Donovan Ford, intriguing.
She processed the scene.
So she was a member of the real CSI.
Oh, yeah. He knew that I was a single mom
and he was divorced.
When I just mentioned his name, you lit up.
Why is that?
He is truly the love of my life.
He has been the biggest blessing to myself and my son.
And he's been through a lot with you, hasn't he?
He has.
Nicole's already difficult relationship with Tim only got worse when Tim discovered she was dating Donovan, who was fast becoming part of Callahan's life.
Did the way he dealt with Cal change after you started dating Donovan?
It did. He wanted him all the time.
And Tim didn't want Donovan around his son.
He accused Donovan of saying negative things about Colleen.
Then Tim called Donovan and left this angry message.
Man up for once in your life and quit hiding behind your badge.
And then I started getting text messages.
Like this one, where Tim claimed Donovan was destroying his family.
It ignited what can only be called a war that would grow treacherous,
and it wouldn't be a short one.
How would you describe the last six years?
It has been chaos.
Nicole claims Tim tried to destroy her.
Like, I'm going to take everything from you.
Did you believe him?
I did.
The black belt's new weapon of choice was the legal system.
It was the relentless number of motions before the court.
He reported Nicole to child protection services multiple times,
accusing her and Donovan of physical and sexual
abuse. Children's services show up at your house. Yes, I had them in and out of my home for three
years. Tim filed for custody of Cal and Nicole filed for an order of protection from Tim. Not
a single one of the allegations
against Nicole or Donovan
was found to have substance.
Did you see anything that concerned you
or made you think that Cal had been abused?
No. Nothing.
No, he was a well-loved child.
But Tim didn't stop there.
He also filed complaints to the police department
about Donovan.
You were investigated then?
And what was the finding?
Nothing happened.
It continued?
Yep.
Allegation after allegation.
And then in May of 2018, Amaker alleged Nicole ran over his foot with her car.
I was charged with domestic assault.
The proud crime scene investigator
was now a humiliated defendant.
I never thought I would be at the defense table.
How long was the jury out on that?
Less than 15 minutes.
I was found not guilty.
But the battle for Callahan raged on
and the child got caught in the middle.
You could tell he was very conflicted.
Callahan was a pawn.
It wasn't about Callahan or Callahan's well-being.
It was about inflicting the maximum amount of damage on Nikki.
In the fall of 2020, the trial for custody of Callahan began.
When it was over, the judge awarded Nicole sole legal and physical custody.
Tim was allowed just one supervised visit a week.
Tim Omegert, once a champion, was now boxed into a corner.
He was allowed no contact alone with his son.
into a corner. He was allowed no contact alone with his son, and cops thought that might be a motive for him wanting Nicole dead. Police would hone in on the crime scene. Remember that black
Dodge Ram truck that the shooter drove off in? Turns out Tim had lied to the cops. He owned a truck just like it.
A good homicide detective will tell you it's just good to know what vehicles anybody owns,
whether they're a witness, whether they're a suspect, whether they're a victim,
because people use their vehicles, and that's how you can figure out things.
That's how you can pursue leads.
On the night of Nicole's shooting, Assistant Hennepin County attorneys Patrick Lofton and Jacob Fishman say that police were determined to find out who was driving that black Dodge truck.
A black Dodge Ram is a very, very common car.
And authorities had asked him what he owned.
Wait, what do you mean? This is your only car?
No, no, I have a Dodge Challenger, too.
A Dodge Challenger sedan and this Jeep.
But it turned out that Tim did have another vehicle,
a black Dodge Ram truck that looked a lot like the one seen leaving the area after the shooting.
That raised the alarm bells for the Minneapolis Police Department.
This is a picture right here.
Police called Tim in for a second interview.
That's not my truck.
They showed him stills of the truck from that video.
Seemingly unruffled, he insisted that it wasn't his.
Those pictures were not pictures of my truck.
Tim claimed his truck, unlike the one in the video,
had a license plate and Superman decal stickers near both front doors.
Where is the Superman logo?
Case closed. Superman logo's not on the truck. Couldn't have been me.
I've been here the whole time. I don't know what happened out there. I'm not.
What's more, he had an alibi. He was inside the FamilyWise center when Nicole was shot.
So even if it was his truck, he couldn't be the driver.
Who else has access to the truck?
Colleen has access to it.
Colleen Larson, Tim's former Taekwondo student.
Is she the only one?
To my knowledge.
To police, the pieces of the puzzle were coming together.
Nicole had said she thought the shooter was a woman.
Let me ask you this.
Is there any reason why Colleen would want to shoot Nicole?
Oh, hell no.
She wouldn't hurt anybody.
Tim insisted Colleen was incapable of violence.
And Colleen, who was also brought in for questioning,
insisted she was nowhere near family-wise that night.
She said that she came home from work as usual,
went inside, took a shower, and was there until Tim got home.
But police didn't believe either one of them
and turned to FBI Special Agent Richard Fenner,
a technology specialist. He
discovered that Tim's truck had Wi-Fi and, like a cell phone, creates a digital trail.
We could track it much like we could a cell phone.
Fenner wanted to know everywhere Tim and Colleen went the day of the shooting.
Their cell phones and the black Dodge truck left plenty of digital
breadcrumbs. With phones, with cars, whatever you have, they're going to tell you the truth.
Their records always tell you the truth. On the afternoon of the shooting, Tim and Colleen
were both at the Taekwondo studio. Around 4 p.m., Tim left to go to Family Wise for the visit with his son.
He was driving the Jeep. Later, Colleen left the studio in the black truck to go home.
How can you tell that? That's from the cell phone records.
So not only the truck, but her cell phone. Correct.
Just after 7 p.m., Fennern says, the black truck left the couple's residence
and headed straight to Family Wise. Now we see that person who is walking. Right here. That is
Colleen Larson. Colleen Larson did leave her house, and detectives placed her directly at the scene.
She appears to be walking around, essentially scoping out the area.
I believe that she is planning her next steps.
A raid of the couple's house yielded more evidence.
Bullet casings matching the ones found at the crime scene.
On April 28th, 2022, Colleen Larson was arrested.
She was charged with attempted first-degree premeditated murder.
But was Tim involved?
Agent Fennerd suspected that Tim had deliberately altered his truck's appearance to throw cops off his path.
He discovered that several hours before the shooting, Tim had driven the black truck to a drive-thru at a local Kentucky Fried Chicken.
When we pull surveillance video, there's that same truck without the decal, without the license plate.
For police, it was enough.
plate. For police, it was enough. Tim Omaker was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree premeditated murder and aiding an accomplice after the fact. When you do something to significantly
further or assist in a crime, you are just as culpable as the person that actually pulls the
trigger. Nicole was not surprised to hear that Tim had been arrested,
but she was shocked to find out about Colleen.
Why would she shoot you?
I don't know.
This time, when Colleen was questioned by police,
she broke down and confessed to shooting Nicole. And she says Tim was behind it.
Whose idea was it to shoot Nicole?
Tim's. So he was abusing Callahan.
After the shooting, she told police, Tim disposed of the gun.
He just said he would take care of it.
He just said he would take care of it.
So you have no idea what he did with the gun?
Not exactly, no.
Still, Tim continued to deny any involvement.
Timothy Omaker and Colleen Larson are charged with attempted murder.
On November 3rd, 2022, Tim Omaker's trial began.
There were no cameras in the courtroom.
Prosecutors knew that they had to show the jury that Nicole wasn't abusing her son
and that it was Tim who had been victimizing her for a long time.
What happened behind the scenes wasn't just this couple seconds of horror
that Nicole had to suffer at FamilyWise.
It was 10 years of hell that he put her through.
Tim and his lawyers refused our request for an interview,
but 48 Hours consultant and
defense attorney Matthew Troiano reviewed their case for us. There's obviously no direct evidence
of Tim's guilt. Zero. He has a rock-solid alibi about where he was at the time that this happened.
According to Troiano, prosecutors needed to build their case
by focusing on Tim's lies
and his past treatment of Nicole
because there was no smoking gun
that directly tied Tim to the shooting.
There is circumstantial evidence.
The truck, the lies,
those are all kind of circumstantial pieces
that tie back to him. But there is no
direct evidence of him specifically buying or doing or having something that led to this act.
The defense called no witnesses to the stand.
Triano thinks they were betting the prosecution just hadn't made its case.
Where's the proof?
Where's the evidence?
As the jury went out to deliberate,
prosecutors were concerned.
Of course, we were very worried.
There's a chance this guy's gonna walk.
Absolutely.
How nervous were you?
Really nervous.
Do you believe Colleen Larson acted on her own?
See more evidence from the case at 48hours.com.
Those sacred tenets of Taekwondo.
Self-control, integrity.
Could the master win this battle?
The jury took an hour to decide.
He was found guilty.
Guilty on all counts.
Tim Omaker, guilty of premeditated attempted murder and aiding his accomplice, Colleen Larson.
And how did you both feel about that?
Relieved.
Joyous.
And justice for Nikki.
I almost didn't believe it.
Finally, we had some type of closure.
didn't believe it. Finally, we had some type of closure. At sentencing, Nicole wanted Judge Shireen Escalani to hear all she endured to protect her. The judge kept most of Nicole's
statement off camera. But the memories of that point blank moment will clearly never be forgotten.
of that point-blank moment will clearly never be forgotten.
I can still feel the burning sensation
and the utter fear of not being able to speak
or to help myself.
I truly thought I was dying that day.
Even though I feel like the truth
is starting to come to light,
I still live in fear.
Amaker, who'd refused to testify at his trial, now decided to speak. The court allowed
his plea for leniency to be heard and filmed. It is no secret how broken this system is.
The main message that I felt called here to say
goes as this. For all who are led by the Spirit of God
are sons of God.
But with me,
it is a very small thing
that I should be judged by you
or by any human court.
How would you describe his statement?
Erratic.
Blaming everybody else.
He was the victim, and this happened to him.
Did he show any kind of remorse?
No. Judge Ascalani had no patience for Amaker and his claims that Nicole had been abusive.
It appears that you have been promoting this false narrative about Miss
Ford for so long that you may actually believe it at this time.
Then she sentenced him to 18 years in prison.
Just four days later, Colleen Larson pleaded guilty.
At her sentencing hearing, rather than speak for herself,
Colleen had her attorney read a statement.
She took full responsibility for all that had happened.
Your Honor, I stand before you with the utmost respect for the decision to come.
I accept all the consequences for my actions.
I understand and want to atone for what I have done.
A simple apology cannot cover the long-term damages that I have caused.
Anything additional from you at this time?
No,
Your Honor. Colleen's got a killer in her. She did it. There's no question that she had the capacity. Colleen was sentenced to 16 and a half years for doing what prosecutors say
was Omaker's bidding. I think she wanted his approval and his love so badly
that she would do anything.
And she was in this delusional fantasy land
where she thinks, you know, if I wasn't around,
that they could run off into the sunset with Callahan
and be a happy little family.
But how does somebody convince another person who's never committed a crime to shoot someone?
It's wild.
I love the answers to that because that's where we're stuck to.
Attorney Matt Triano wonders if Amaker has been controlling Colleen for years.
Why would she do this?
It's the fact that she had known this person since she's 12 years old.
They had been in this kind of dominant, subservient relationship where he's the master, she's
the student, he is the boss.
This woman, who once dated Amaker, doesn't want to be named or have her face shown.
woman who once dated Omaker doesn't want to be named or have her face shown, but she says she knows firsthand the hold Omaker can have on the women in his life. Yes, it was a high when I was
around him. And that you wanted to do whatever you could to hang on to that high? Yes. She says
she was once under Omaker's spell, but is certain she would never kill for him.
Still, she sees some of herself in Colleen Larson.
And I feel like that was me.
Yeah, I definitely feel like I was willing to do whatever I could to make him approve of me and want to be with me.
With good behavior, Tim Omaker could be out of prison by 2034.
Do you think you'll ever feel truly safe again? No.
You'll always have to be looking over your shoulder. I think so.
It all still haunts Donovan. The shots fired.
The woman he loves fighting for her life.
Do you still see that in your head?
Absolutely.
Oh, yeah.
Still fear that you could lose her?
Yeah.
All the time.
Yet alongside the destruction, there are miracles in this story. Good to see you again.
Good to see you, too.
Almost exactly a year.
I know, and you look so well.
Thank you.
We asked for this one-of-a-kind reunion.
Emily Clancy, who raced to help a stranger, saving Nicole's life.
We are expecting a baby.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
I'm so happy for you.
Thank you.
Donovan and Nicole, now husband and wife, had just gotten the good news.
And I was like, are you serious?
And she's like, yep.
And then we're just hugging and happy as for the
child Nicole had with Tim Amaker how old is Callahan now he's six does he know
that his dad tried to kill you he does. And how did he take that?
Better than I thought he would.
He's come out amazing.
That's a miracle too.
Just him being able to deal with all the stuff he's been through
and still be the kid he is.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Join me Tuesday for Postmortem from 48 Hours,
where we'll dive even deeper into today's episode and answer your questions about the case.
Answer your questions about the case.
A stepdaughter's trust betrayed.
She found naked photos of herself on her stepdad's computer.
Hundreds.
Hundreds.
Then Tom Merriman is found dead.
Was it revenge?
Did you want your stepfather dead?
Saturday on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.