Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - BEAUTIFUL CO-ED FOUND IN POOL OF BLOOD, USC FRATERNITY ROW NEIGHBORHOOD

Episode Date: August 8, 2025

22-year-old Logan Federico takes a break from two jobs and classes at South Piedmont Community College in Waxhaw, North Carolina to spend a weekend visiting friends who attend USC in Columbia, South Carolina. The aspiring teacher and her friends,  returning from a night out  just before three a.m. The young men and women quickly disperse to their rooms, planning to sleep late Saturday morning.   Unbeknownst to them, a burglar is on the prowl in the quiet neighborhood, rummaging through nearby homes. Most of the neighborhood is home to USC fraternity brothers, and with frequent late-night house parties and each roommate on a different schedule, doors are seldom locked. The burglar gains access to the neighboring home no problem—walking right through one of the doors without a sound to alert anyone of his presence.   Just after 11 a.m. Saturday morning, the brothers and their visiting friends are woken with a start—a gunshot just rang out inside their home. The panicked young men and women gather in the living room, but Logan hasn’t come out of the guest room. Her friends burst through the door to check on her and find Logan unconscious, lying in a pool of blood. It appears her belongings have been ransacked.   As the friends call 911 to report Logan shot, their next-door neighbor is also calling to report someone stealing his car. Still on the phone, the owner notices a shotgun is also missing from his home. Law enforcement quickly connects the dots, and begin the hunt for Logan’s killer. Just a few minutes later numerous purchases are made in Lexington and Saluda County, using Logan’s debit card. Checking cameras from the businesses listed in Logan’s bank records, investigators catch their suspect on video, and recognize him immediately as frequent flier, Alexander Dickey.     Joining Nancy Grace today: Stephen Federico -  Father of Logan Federico Mark Peper - criminal defense attorney,  PeperLawFirm.com, Twitter: @PeperLawFirm   Dr. Shari Schwartz - Forensic Psychologist (specializing in Capital Mitigation and Victim Advocacy),  www.panthermitigation.com, Twitter: @TrialDoc, Author: "Criminal Behavior" and "Where Law and Psychology Intersect: Issues in Legal Psychology"  Barry Hutchison  - Former 26-year law enforcement veteran and detective, now owner & Chief Investigator for Barry & Associates Investigative Services located in Kansas & Missouri, www.pibarry.com Dr. Eric Eason -  Board Certified Forensic Pathologist, consultant, Instagram: @eric_a_eason, Facebook: Eric August Eason, LinkedIn: Eric Eason, MD Jennifer Wood -  Director of research at FITSNews.com, Twitter: @IndyJenn_ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A beautiful co-ed found dead in a pool of blood. USC fraternity row neighborhood. What happened to Logan? I'm Nancy Grace. This is crime stories. I want to thank you for being with us.

Logan Federico is a 22-year-old girl with a prime. promising bright future ahead, but a weekend trip with friends takes a deadly turn. You know, I don't like what he just said. It takes a deadly turn. Like, she just got lost somehow, and now she's dead in a pool of blood. It was not a deadly turn. She was murdered. At first, we were told she was killed in her sleep, just like we were told in the Coburger prosecution. Oh, the four victims were killed in their sleep like they fell asleep and they never woke up. That's not what happened there and that's not what happened here. She was forced

out of bed naked to kneel, to kneel at the feet of her killer before she was executed dead in cold blood. That's what happened. Listen to what we know. Investigators believe the suspect breaks into one of the Cypress Street homes, and he steals keys to a vehicle and several items, including a firearm. The suspect also breaks into the home next door. These houses are side by side. And he steals several items, including a wallet and credit and debit cards. While in this residence, we believe that he enters a room where Ms. Lowe's, is located and fires a fatal shot.

That from our friends at WLTX and Blunt Force Media. Yeah, everything he said was right, but it's not like he enters a room where Ms. Logan is located and fires a fatal shot. No, she was dragged, forced out of her bed where she's asleep, buck naked, and forced to kneel down on her knees, this young co-ed girl, and the young co-ed girl, and the the Fraternity Row neighborhood, minding her own business kneeling down in front of the assailant, and he shoots her point blank. That's a lot different from he, the perp, enters a room where Ms. Logan is, and fires a fatal shot. It's, no, that is not the way this went down. What

more do we know? 22-year-old Logan Federico takes a break from her two jobs and classes at South Piedmont Community College and Waxon North Carolina. to spend a weekend visiting friends who attend USC in Columbia, South Carolina. The aspiring teacher lets loose with their friends. Returning home on Cypress Street, the group quickly dispersed to their rooms, planning to sleep late Saturday morning. Joining us, an all-star panel, but first, I want to go out to a special guest joining us.

We've all heard a fit news before. Fitz News leaped to the forefront of the national consciousness when Alex Murdogg murdered his wife. and son. And joining me right now, Jen Wood, Director of Research at Fitznews.com. Jen, thank you for being with us. First of all, where was this? I understand is there University South Carolina fraternity road neighborhood? So it is a neighborhood that's very popular for students. It's about a half mile to a mile from the University of South Carolina campus, right by five points for all the kids go to the bars and a lot of fraternity members have houses there.

So yeah, it is, it's, you know, what as a parent you would hope would be a safe place for your kids be. Jen Wood, the way this is being portrayed, it makes it sound like she was asleep and then she's dead. That is not at all what happened. No, it is not at all what happened. It was a brutal, brutal homicide. It was so unnecessary and, you know, just seeing this young woman, you know, starting her life out, die in that manner. And then her father, Steve, also told me that not only did she die that horrific death, but she laid there for seven hours before anybody discovered her.

You know, what's really interesting to Mark Pepper joining us from this jurisdiction, a veteran trial lawyer, I might add, at the Pepper law. firm, Mark, why is it that we heard so much about the Coburger case, which rightfully we should have, because it never did go to trial, no telling what would have happened if we hadn't been watching it, but nobody is talking about Logan's case. And it's essentially the same scenario. A purve who goes from house to house to house burgling, and Dr. Sherry Schwartz is going to explain the weird thrill burglars get from pilfering around in your home like Coburger. He comes in, finds this beautiful girl, a co-ed, and murders her. And at first we're told, oh, it all happened in her sleep. Like somehow that's going to make it better. But that's not

what happened. She knew she was being attacked and was even forced to kneel naked in front of the killer. Tragic set of events, no doubt, and I commend you for bringing attention to it. I will say that it is early in not only the investigation

but the prosecution of the case. I don't think that this is just a problem that our system provides here in South Carolina, but nationally law enforcement has to perform their due diligence. Just like the defense is title to build an offense.

I'm sorry. I just choked right then. Put him up. Due diligence. My rear end due diligence. This guy has a rap sheet as long as I-75. He's a career criminal. Jackie, how many entries is 25 felonies.

Okay. 25 felonies under his belt. Due diligence. And he was out on the street because of a clerical error? That is not due diligence, Pepper. Well, due diligence should have been done clearly leading up to this event and it needs to be done now. Nancy, there's an investigation that's going on. We don't know the facts and circumstances other than what we've been told, which is not a whole lot from the city of Columbia police chief to your point. I'm simply pointing out that

as the investigation continues, I think more will come to light and hopefully maybe we start talking about Logan, rightfully so. But, But in the meantime, you know, the defendant is entitled to his day in court. He's going to get his day in court. He's also entitled to the constitutional protections of being a defendant. And I suspect that is being weighed with the interest of the victim and the family. And it's probably being played a little close to the vest at this point. I suspect more information will come out as days develop.

Yeah, because I'm going to get the information and I'm going to put it out there. Close to the vest, not releasing information. That's a very far cry, Mark Pepper, from releasing misinformation, such as she died in her sleep. It's like she had a bad dream and never woke up. Like maybe she had an aneurysm or a heart attack, maybe a heart defect. And she just drifted off and never came back. No, that's not what happened at all. Listen to this.

Saturday morning, the brothers and their visiting friends are awoken with a start. A gunshot just rang out inside their home. The panicked young men and women gather in. the living room, but Logan hasn't come out of the guest room. Her friends burst through the door to check on her and find Logan unconscious lying in a pool of blood. Her belongings ransacked. So it seems as if she was shot dead and then the room was ransacked for money or any other valuable. That's cold. That is cold. And I want to go out to Dr. Eric Easton, board certified forensic pathologist and consultant. You can find him on Facebook, Eric August Easton. Dr.

Thank you for being with us. Dr. Eason, question. She wasn't found for at least seven hours. Will that hinder the medical examiner's quest to find out what happened to her? And this is really important, Eason, because I want to clarify and confirm that she was kneeling down in front of the killer when he shot her. and I'm only going to be able to corroborate that with the trajectory path of the bullet. Explain. Okay.

So, yeah, sawed off shotgun. So there would have been multiple pellets involved, whether it was birdshot or buckshot, multiple pellets would have been recovered from her during the actual autopsy. And the trajectory would have been all over because once pellets entered the body, they go all over the place. And so it's usually going front to back, but it's all going to up. up or down, have this thing called a billiard ball effect where all the pellets just kind of spread once they enter the body. Dr. Eric Eason, just slow down because that's a lot of information.

Okay, a shotgun releases a burst of tiny pellets as opposed to, let's just say, 22 or any other handgun, which releases one bullet at a time unless you got a semi or an automatic. anyway, but even with a shotgun releasing multiple pellets, you can still get a trajectory path, even though there are multiple pellets going different ways. You can get an overall path. Once they enter the body, you know, the entrance wound for the pellets is on the chest, on the front of the body, they're all going to go front to back, but some are going to be going up, some are going to be going down, left, right, et cetera.

So you can get an overall trajectory on front to back, that's sure. You mentioned a sawed-off. Jen Wood was the weapon a sawed-off shotgun. What we are called. Barry Hutchinson, help me out here. I've had cases with saw-offs. People carry a saw-off because they can conceal it. A shotgun's this big and a saw-off is this big, right?

Mm-hmm. Correct. A sawed-off in itself is a crime. To own a sawed-off shotgun is a crime in itself. Barry? What is this convicted felon doing with a sawed off? Well, you know, Nancy to me, after reviewing the entire case, we're looking at the, you know, the schematics of the case in itself. I'm looking at the thing is it never should have happened to begin with. Why is this guy on the street? I mean, he's got, like you said earlier,

he's got a rap sheet as long as your leg. And there's just been a failure on the level of the judicial system. I mean, it's a shame that this young lady lost their life because of the incompetence of the system. And, I mean, we're looking at everything hindsight 2020 from this, but the fact of the matter is, in my mind, that's making place. Hutchinson, I like you, man, 26 years in L.E., law enforcement, detective, owner, chief investigator, Barry and Associates Investigative Services. Yep.

But you're not a preacher. Nope. Don't preach to the choir about this guy should have been behind bars. I'm asking you, is possession of a sawed-off shotgun a felony? It's a federal felony. So that would be a yes? It would be a yes. Pepper, jump in.

What is this guy doing, a career criminal breaking in on this girl in the shadow of fraternity row where everybody spends all their money and their hopes and their dreams? And they get their, they get their child into college. And then this guy is skulking around. He's the new Brian Coburger and comes in, gets this girl out of bed naked, makes her kneel down in front of him to shoot her. And the last thing I want to do, this is getting a tiger by the tail, is to argue with Dr. Eric Eason. But while a shotgun trajectory is much more complex than a single bullet, because, you know, of the pellet spray, you can get the trajectory based on external ballistics, like the pellet size,

the velocity, the choke, the pattern, the range. Now, shotguns are not meant for pinpoint accuracy, but you can absolutely, even though it's a cluster of pellets and they spray out as they travel, you can still get a trajectory path. And why do I care? because I believe the prosecutor can prove whether this guy gives a confession or not that he had her kneeling down in front of him when he murdered her with a sawed off, Pepper. But she clearly was not allowed to possess purchase or even, you know, carried around with him at any point in time. It's not only against federal law, but it's against state law here in South Carolina. not only because you can't have an assault-off shotgun, period, but because of his prior record as a felon.

He was not allowed to tone a shotgun. I will say, however, that the reason he was able to be on the streets and be in that fraternity row is because of the judicial system. He was placed on probation for his last conviction. Are you trying to tell me? Okay, here you go. Are you trying to say it's the system's fault? Yeah, it's their fault.

They let him out on a clerical error. But nobody made him break in on Logan and shoot her dead. Let her dead body lay there seven hours in a pool of blood while he looks around to see if he can find some spare change. It's not the probation department. The sheriff's fault is not the judge. It's not the calendar clerk. It's his fault. It is clearly his fault if he's proven guilty of this crime, but it is the fault of the judicial

system. If you're looking to place blame elsewhere regarding some types of errors, I would make the valid argument based on his rap sheet that I'm not seeing a clerical error. What I'm seeing is conviction after conviction after conviction, yet somehow be it through the state, through the prosecutor's office, or through the sentencing judges, he's just never doing much time. Unbeknownst to the sleeping college students, a burglar is on the prowl in the quiet neighborhood, rummaging through nearby homes. The neighborhood is home to USC Fraternity Brothers, and with each roommate on a different schedule, doors are seldom locked. The burglar gains access walking right through one of the doors without a sound to alert anyone of his presence. How does a beautiful young co-ed there off Fraternity Row, USC, University of South Carolina,

up dead. She went to her room to go to sleep. And now she's found dead in a pool of blood. Listen to this. As the friends call 911, their next door neighbor is calling to report someone stealing his car. Still on the phone, the owner notices a shotgun missing from his home. Law enforcement connects the dots and begin the hunt for Logan's killer. Just minutes later, numerous purchases are made in Lexington and Saluda County using Logan's debit card. We believe that he enters a room where Ms. Logan is located and fires a fatal shot. That from our friends at WLTX.

Straight out to Jen Wood, joining us, direct to research fits news.com. Jen, looking at the timeline. So the perp breaks in, he finds Logan asleep in bed, starts ransacking the room, forces her out of bed,

puts her on her knees, shoots her dead. Then he takes her, credit cards and debit cards and goes and uses the dead girls cards to just go on a shopping spree? Yeah, he was on a spending spree and Steve Federico Logan's father said that he was on the 17th hole of a golf course and started getting alerts from her credit card that it was being used. Oh, my stars. straight out to Dr. Sherry Schwartz joining us

forensic psychologist who specializes in capital mitigation and victim advocacy. She's the author of criminal behavior where law and psychology intersect issues in legal psychology. He could have just taken her stuff and left. She was asleep, but he didn't. He got her out of bed and shot her dead with a shotgun point blank range. Then he takes her debit cards and credit cards and goes on a shopping spree.

If that's not aggravating circumstances, I don't know what it is. She's lying there in a pool of blood bleeding out off Rat Row and he thinks nothing of it and uses her credit cards and debit cards. When I say aggravating circumstance, I'm talking about a legal aggravating circumstance that would support seeking the South Carolina death penalty. That's what I'm talking about. Absolutely.

It would surprise me greatly if the state doesn't seek the death penalty in a case like this. Talking about going in and shooting her in her sleep is bad. It's horrible. It's the worst. but the argument can be made that it was an act of impulsivity and it wasn't intended. But all of the behaviors dragging her out of bed, wanting to see her suffer because that's what that was about, killing her and then stealing her things and going around and spending money in almost a celebratory manner

is a level of depravity that warrants it to be aggravating and warrants the seeking of the death penalty in this case. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace You know Mark Pepper I'm just waiting for you to say a burglary gone wrong like it's the burglaries fault just go ahead and get it out of your system oh this is a burglary gone wrong

A lot went wrong It didn't go wrong You're making it sound like one of those self-driving cars. He just drives off the street and kills somebody. Nothing just went wrong. This is steeped with premeditation. He breaks in with a loaded shotgun, sees her in bed, forces her out of the bed, makes her kneel at his knees like a jihadi. Haven't you seen those horrible videos around September 11 where jihadis force the victim to kneel in front of them?

to execute them. That's what happened here. He did this and he planned to do it. Premeditation can be formed in the blink of an eye. It doesn't take a long, thought out plan like poisoning someone over the course of weeks and months. It can be formed that intent to kill and the time it takes you to raise the gun and pull the trigger.

It can be, but I would argue that the premeditation element of murder in this instance would be much harder if it turns out that the gun used to commit. at this crime was a gun found in the actual house. If it belonged to someone that resided there. Another house. I'm not sure you have a premeditation argument. It wasn't found. Logan wasn't sleeping with the gun.

He stole the gun and enters her room. So it doesn't matter. He brought the gun in. He pointed it at her after making her kneel down and shot her execution style. I mean, just go ahead and get it out of your system. It's a burglary gone wrong. know that's what you want to say it's a burglary gone really wrong okay it's a burglary gone really wrong but the premeditated act you really you really souped that up it didn't get wrong it went

really wrong well it's premeditation is going to be tough here nancy in my opinion as a trial lawyer as a defense lawyer uh even as being as objective as i'm being today uh it's going to be tough to prove premeditation can i ask you one quick little brief question would you first of all where did you go to law school? University of South Carolina in Columbia. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I'm very familiar with that area.

Did they teach you about premeditation, malice of forethought, mens rea? I assume that was in your criminal. Okay. So, and you do agree with the universally held rule of law that premeditation does not require any set period of time that it can be formed in the blink of an eye. It can be formed in the time it takes you. you to raise a gun and pull the trigger. I agree. We don't have elements of murder, though, in South Carolina. I do agree, Nancy.

Yeah, but I don't know that premeditation would even be needed to be proved was my point. And I, candidly, I still think there would be an argument against it. Regardless, it's a murder charge. If the elements of murder are met, a mouse of forethought with the intent to kill, which seems to be present here, then not only would it be murder, but to Dr. Schwartz's point, it would certainly qualify for a capital death penalty prosecution. Okay, let me ask you another question. I want to make it really easy. South Carolina does have felony murder in the criminal code, correct?

Yes, but that's typically when it's the hand of one hand of all type issue. When it's just one actor, it would be murder. We don't have certain degrees of murder. Do you have felony murder? That's a yes, no, pepper. Well, yes. Murder is a felony offense, yes. No.

The theory of felony murder when a death occurs during the commission of a felony. It's felony murder, yes. But typically when we look at the law here, it really, you figured it out. I'm not. I'm just a JD. I'm not a DDS. I don't know how to pull a tooth. But I am willing to get, hand me the pliers, because I am pulling his tooth and I'm doing

it right now. So in South Carolina, you have felony murder. Burglary is a felony and a death occurred. in the commission of a felony. And in South Carolina, felony murder does qualify as a death penalty crime. It does. You're right. It does.

Cool. Okay. Let's get back to the facts now that I've gone round two with Mark Pepper. Now I know why you win so many cases. You just wear the other side down. You exhaust them until they finally go, fine. Straight probation. Now leave.

I get it. Now I get it. Take a listen to this. Investigators catch their suspect on video and recognize him immediately as frequent flyer, Alexander Dickie. Of the nearly 40 criminal charges, Alexander Dickie has only been sentenced in eight cases that involved robbery, drug possession, and larceny. In 2023, Dickie pleads guilty to third-degree burglary and is sentenced to five years probation. Dickie's probation would have ended after the murder of Logan Federico, but it was shortened. Joining me right now is a very special guest who I have waited anxiously to meet, an angry and wounded father who is distraught not only at his girl's murder, but what he has uncovered about her murder in her sleep near fraternity row.

joining me right now, Logan's dad. Mr. Federico, thank you for being with us. Thank you for having me. Really appreciate you taking the time to care about Logan's story. Please do not thank me, number one. Okay, talking to you inspires us. It angers us. It gives us the energy to keep going. So please tell me what happened, starting with the moment you learned. something very horrible had occurred. Well, obviously, you know, May 3rd changed our lives for the rest of our lives. But one thing everybody has to make, I want to make something perfectly clear. And we found this out a couple weeks ago.

My beautiful daughter wasn't murdered in her sleep. Okay. When he entered the room, she woke and approached him. and he made her get on her knees naked with her hands up in front of her, stuck a shotgun in her left cage under her breast and pulled the trigger, leaving an inch and a half hole in her chest. That's what happened. It was a premeditated execution.

The day we found out that changed everything. May 3rd was a horrible day. but at the end of the day what we're finding out and realizing now makes it dramatically worse crime stories with Nancy Grace Logan's father is telling us what he has learned

now the obvious is Mr. Federico that a crime victim I am a crime victim. My fiancé was murdered shortly before our wedding. And I thought I knew it all, Mr. Federico, until I had my children. I can't even begin to think about what you and your family are going through when you put all your love, all your love, all your time, all your energy, all your money, everything into this child. I remember my dad would get off work at the railroad, long days, drive back in from out of town, and come to my ball games. Where I was just the cheerleader, right?

I was the cheerleader. I wasn't even on the court playing. He never missed one, even the ones that were out of town. My mom, too. And when I think back about all their money to send us to college, all the their money to fix our teeth just and then just like that it's all gone

how did you learn Logan did not die in her sleep the way they wanted us to think it this sounds just like Hoburger for Pete's sake yeah yeah let's not bring him up that's a tragic story it all in itself I felt so bad for those

families and what they went through and in my opinion they didn't get justice he doesn't he doesn't deserve to be an oxygen thief any longer. You should be put to death immediately, be honest with you. But, you know, when we learned, unfortunately I wasn't home, I was with some friends out on a golf course, you know, when it first happened.

But when we learned a couple weeks ago, we had a meeting with our attorney just to kind of get caught up on some stuff and see where we stood. We haven't spoken for, you know, a couple of weeks, and which is normal. But we haven't heard from the solicitor from that. district. I think it's district five. His name is Byron. Haven't heard from that team since the day this POS had his first bond hearing in that area. You know, Dick was able to get a 15, 20 minute meeting with him where we kind of said what we thought should happen and that justice has to fit the crime, you know, the punishment. Them standing everything's on the table, but again, just

haven't heard from them. So obviously Dick and I met a couple weeks ago and just had filled me in on some other the details. And that's kind of when we found out what really happened. First of all, who is Dick? Who is Dick? Let me understand that. Dick's our attorney that's representing Logan to make sure all the eyes get dotted and peas get crossed. I had a friend reach out to me and said, hey, I think you need some representation here to make sure Logan kind of gets just. justice. And obviously, I'm not an attorney, but do know a few people. And this great guy reached out to me and gave me two names. And I reached out to Dick. And he kind of let, you know, kind of reached out to me right away and say, hey, let's meet and let's talk about this.

And as he investigated it, he just found out that, look, the key word here, Nancy, really, is access, you know, and it can be explained in a couple different ways. One is that. One is the sheriff's department, which they admittedly already either screwed up the fingerprints. Either they forgot to take them or they lost them or they weren't transferred in the proper way. They don't know. And they've admitted that. And the sheriff now, I don't think it was the sheriff back then. And he's been great.

I've talked to him once, maybe twice. Then to take a look at the sled department. You know, everybody in that county from one I understand. knew who Alexander Dickey was. And it wasn't from him selling Girl Scout cookies. I could tell you that. And it wasn't from him stealing nickel pieces of azooka from the convenience store. Okay.

It was from his crimes that he committed since 2013. Okay. You know, then take a look at the solicitors. You know, he, they want to take the two crimes that the fingerprints happen with. Let's throw those out. he has 22 other felonies after the fact that okay so then in 2023 from what I understand he goes and commits another armed robbery now like I said I'm on attorney but the last time I checked when you're a felon and you're called committee a crime with a weapon that's a pretty serious offense so what we have to really get to you know it hold on Mr. Federico I want everyone to understand exactly who we're talking about. about, not just all those arrests, but 25 felonies. Listen. Career criminal Alexander Dickie should not have been free at the time he is accused of

murdering Logan Federico. With more than a decade of crimes behind him, Rick Hubbard, the 11th Circuit Solicitor placed the blame on a clerical error. He's committed plenty of other crimes that were on his rap sheet that should have justified him being in jail at the time, whether they missed a fingerprint or missed. a charge on his rap sheet or whatever they call that thing, he shouldn't have been in the streets no matter what. From our friends at Fitz News, a clerical error. Whoa, whoa, what, 25 clerical errors where they keep letting him out, letting him out,

felony after felony after felony. Every prosecutor knows, every felony prosecutor knows. When a burglar comes in and they find a person, an aggravated assault or a murder can happen. So when you go, it's just a burglary, it's not just a burglary. And any perp with a gun needs to be stopped right then. No probation, no sweetheart deal when somebody's walking around with a gun. I want to get back to how you learned that Logan had been a victim. What happened?

Two officers that showed up in my house while my wife was making some lunch, I think. She got back from shopping. She saw two officers walk across the front. Like I said, we knew where our son was. He was seven minutes away. We used like 360 a lot. So we kind of knew where he was. And honestly, you know, they opened the door and Melissa said, is it Logan?

And they basically said he needed to take a seat. And then they, Logan, Melissa called me. I was out on a golf course about 20 minutes away. Obviously immediately left. It took about an hour and 15 minutes to get home because of traffic. and really kind of just thought it was a, just a nightmare, something mistake. The hard part is, look, you have 23-year-old kids, right? You expect they party.

They're at college and, you know, maybe something else happened. But when somebody tells you she was shot, that's a whole different ballgame. Then when you find out she was shot by somebody that's only 30 years old, 30 years old, and has been arrested 39 times, okay? 30 years old, arrested 39 times, 25 of them are felonies. And it's only done a little over 600 days in jail. Now, here's the other thing that most people don't know, and nobody will tell us. But I know the judicial system knows this.

Within three years of getting released from prisons, most offenders are really. arrested 66% of the time. Within six years, it's about 73% of the time. Within 10 years, it's 83% of time. With state prisons, within 10 years, it's 83% of the time. Some convicts and most that would tell me, you can't rehabilitate them. There might be your one or two, but unfortunately, they're the ones that have to pay the price for the ones that can't. But here's a sad thing. We would never know that about Dickie because he never spent any time in jail, at least nothing significant. When you learned from the officers that showed up at your home that Logan was a murder victim, what were you told about what happened to her? You know, I had to make a phone

call to one of the detectives that was on scene. I don't remember her name, but she filled me in with a few details. And it was very short and sweet. It was not sweet, but it was short saying, hey, your daughter was shot. So let me understand, Mr. Federico, you call and the detective basically blurts out. Your daughter's dead. Your daughter was shot. Bam.

That particular officer, yes. What did you do then? You know what? That set us for a loop. That was a total meltdown by my wife and myself. That is something that... might be, and probably is the most shocking thing, one can hear. It's absolutely to hear that you're now the father of a murder victim.

I mean, that's how I, not proudly in a way, but that's how you introduce yourself. I mean, I still have two kids. You know, what's your daughter do? You know, unfortunately, she was, she's a murder victim. Murder victim from a crime that never had to happen was a thousand percent. preventable. Mr. Federico, when the officers came to your home, which is every parent's worst nightmare, and you know immediately it's Logan, what did that officer tell you and what, if anything,

did you do? There were, like I said, I wasn't home. When I got home, there were two officers from our county from Waxall where we live, which they were absolutely phenomenal. They stayed here as long as we needed them to. And be honestly, they both cried like we did. True human beings, fathers, I believe. They actually, for Logan's reception, volunteered to lead the perception to her celebration of life.

But they stayed with us. They, you know, they comfort us. They knew the news was brutal. And it shook them to their core as well, to be perfectly honest with you. Two of the finest gentlemen, I could have possibly asked that, unfortunately, give you that news. Have you been to the scene of the crime? You know what?

Surprisingly, no, I haven't. My plan is to visit the scene at some point. I just didn't see the point as of now. You know, I have one mission. Can I tell you something, Mr. Federico? Yeah. I've never gone back to where my fiancé was murdered. Why?

I don't want to. because it's hard enough sometimes, especially in the years immediately following his murder, it's hard enough to put one foot in front of the other. But I fear now, you know, I'm raising the twins. If I were to go back there, it would throw me into a tailspin, and I don't know if I could get out of it. And you've got work to do. And if that would throw you off, then don't do it. I've got a cause now.

And I'll tell you what through was for a loop was when we actually found out, what happened to Logan. Because we were in the healing process, my wife, Melissa, and Jacob, my son. We're all doing it kind of our own way. And I know this sounds weird, but me getting out there and letting people know what happened to Logan and how preventable it is, that's my way. That's therapy for me. And going back to seeing the crime, I think it's just going to set me back to where I don't

want to be. Agree. I hear you. I need to find out more. Now, see, when we first started investigating Logan's murder, we were told that she died in her sleep. See, that's also what we were told in the Koeberger case, and nothing could be further than the truth.

What have you learned about what happened to your girl that night? You know, when you find out that... Your child, especially, you know, your daughter, she's 22 years old, absolutely beautiful, obviously gets that from her mom. But when you hear that she was told to get on her knees while naked and put her hands up in front of her, and for no reason, he executed her. I mean, she was five foot four weighed 115 pounds, I think. I mean, what was she going to do to this guy? Nothing. So, you know, and look, when they found, when we found out, it was still very early in the investigation, you know, and the officers kept me up to speed.

It seemed like every hour. But, you know, sometimes you do need the truth to kind of move on. So now I kind of know what happened with Logan. I kind of know where her mindset was. I do know she was probably calling for me. and I'd say probably begging for her life and calling for her mom and calling for her brother. You know? I don't know how you prepare yourself for that.

But I had to know something. Not that her getting gunned down in her sleep would have been any better. But I'll tell you what. her being executed and knowing it is a lot worse. I mean, that's premeditated. The 39 crimes just got committed. Who couldn't see that this wasn't going to get elevated? Who couldn't see that he was going to graduate?

His career resume for his criminal activities should have justified in 2015, 2016, or 2017, that he did 15 to 25 years in prison. And then him and Logan never meet, ever. The community down there should be up in arms. I wouldn't know how many other people like Alexander Dickey are on the streets. Think about that, Nancy. You saw the alleged killer in court. What happened?

Well, luckily my wife grabbed my arm because I think of any father, I wanted to go over the rail, no doubt in my mind. Love to have a few minutes within maybe even an hour. But all he said at the end of his little hearing there was get me back to jail. You know, no remorse, not a care in the world, you know, just his typical way of life. Tell me about your daughter. Yeah, that's a good one. Just a beautiful, beautiful young lady with a smile and a laugh that would light up a room, brought joy to people.

And I've said this in the past. I'm going to keep saying it. She fought for the underdog, Nancy. She was that person in school, whether it was middle school, high school, or whichever, that saw those people that didn't fit in. and pulled them in to try to make them fit in. She wanted to help people. She wanted to be a teacher.

She worked hard. She worked two jobs. She was a huge of Philadelphia Eagles fan, one of the biggest. But she also loved traveling the schools of visitor friends. That was her big thing. You know, she used to go to Clemson, the visitor friend Alley. She used to go to University of UNC Charlotte to visit her friend Eric and all his friends. then, of course, University of South Carolina, and App State.

So she just was really kind of an easy person to develop a friendship with. You know, she was loyal. She was a loyal friend. What did she want to do in life? Yeah, she wanted to be a teacher. She finally figured out like a light bulb went off. Probably last year around this time. She was babysitting full-time for an extra neighbors, two little girls.

and just that just lit a light bulb in front of her and said, you know what? This is what I need to do. And right off the bat, everything changed. Grades, working hard, going to school all the time, had structure. A couple weeks probably before she passed, we'd come up with a game plan that the University of Charleston would be her next attempt to kind of finish her schooling for teaching. She loved Charleston.

She had four or five really good friends there. So it wouldn't be a strange place for her. But she was set. And you can see, as some of these pictures are making my heart belt, she just was the type of person that people really wanted to be around. She would have made a difference. You know, we need people in the world that make differences. And we lost a good one.

And we lost a good one for absolutely zero reason. Your daughter, an aspiring teacher, what grade did she want to teach? Probably first, second grade, or elementary preschool. She liked bringing around the young kids and kind of being an influence. She wanted to shape and mold them to get ready for the later years of school. Authorities investigate the shooting death of 22-year-old Logan Federico, suspecting a career criminal behind the young girl's tragic death.

You're seeing pictures of Logan with her dad. Guys, this beautiful young girl, just absolutely beautiful on the inside and the out, wakened in her sleep near Fraternity Row by a career criminal. Now she's dead, her father, looking for answers. I understand that you became, I understand that you got evidence that her ATM card was being used.

Yes, that was kind of, I think, part of the puzzle. You know, for some reason we still had notifications set up for her accounts. And I guess sometime in that morning, five, six in the morning, Melissa started getting emails about our account being overdrawn. And I think that really kind of started putting the couple of pieces of the puzzle together. Obviously, him using the card and other cards that he had stolen, just kind of put him everywhere he needed to be. Mr. Federico, what is your message tonight? And do you believe the state will seek the death penalty in this case? You know, that's a tough question.

we've had, like I said, we've had no contact with him since May 5th. From what I read, the research I do, no, they're not going to. Why? From what I understand, he's never asked for the death penalty in any cases. He doesn't believe in the death penalty. So? Wait, wait, wait, wait, what, wait, what? The elected district attorney doesn't, quote, believe.

and the death penalty? From what I understand. And my point to that is this. If you follow the wall, okay, he dots all the eyes and crosses all the tease for this punishment. Like, this punishment fits the crime. This isn't one of those things where you're going to come to me and say, hey, he'll admit to the murder if, if you let them live. No thanks. No deal.

he deserves the death penalty because he took someone's life he's not he can't be rehabilitated he's proven that time and time again these solicitors have lessened his charges so he spent zero time in jail most of the time and this is why we're at where we are this is why he had access to my daughter. This is why. It's not because my daughter was at University of South Carolina. It's because that piece of

shit was. Okay? And there's a reason why he was there. There's a reason why he has a gun. There's a reason why he had access. The key word to this case is access, period. And there are many people in the Lexington area that are responsible for Logan's execution.

They have blood on their hands. They just didn't pull the trigger. But they gave him the opportunity to do so. And that is it, period. They can back it up all they want for the rest of their lives. They should feel guilty for the rest of their lives. This should haunt them from the Frat Brothers to the owner of the gun, to the Sheriff's Department, the frigate solicitors, the judges that all let a career criminal

on the streets that didn't have to be there and factually should not have been there. But you know what? You know what gets votes, Nancy? What gets votes are convictions? And you know what easy convictions are when you make a deal with somebody? That's what you call padding the numbers. Mr. Federico, what is your message tonight to other parents? You know what? My message tonight is this. Your kids have rights, one, to know who they live with in dormitories, in frat houses and houses that they rent through frats, through not frats. If they're in a frat, they're renting houses that are privately owned, they're still frats. They have a right to know who has a gun in that house, and they have a right to back out of living in that house.

They have rights. People knew he had a gun there and said nothing. Read your bylaws of the colleges that you go to, the rules, the regulations, the code of conducts. You have rights not to be surrounded with people that can do you harm or not protect you from a gun that they own and are not willing to protect people, innocent people around them, by stowing it the proper way, period. Mr. Federico, what is next in your investigation? Are you asking for the death penalty to be sought? Nancy, there is no other thing.

I'm not asking, you know, and I know it doesn't, I don't have the final say. We're demanding, okay? We're demanding that he gets the death penalty, okay? That's what he deserves. Now, we are law abiding people and we believe in a law. He gets what he gets. But at the end of the day, he has to first start out with the punishment that fits the crime. We want the death penalty.

He deserves a death penalty. He's not getting any forgiveness from me, from my son Jacob or from Melissa or any of her friends. No bleeding hearts here. And you know what? if they can't do it, let's find somebody that can. I don't worry about my conscience about putting him to death. Okay? I'll be there.

I'll be there with bells on. My son will be there. It won't haunt me. What haunts me is the fact that this piece of was out on the streets and didn't have to be. And I have to make these decisions. My family had to make decisions on where to lay my daughter to rest okay she was visiting friends nancy and didn't come home think about that this wasn't cancer

wasn't a disease it wasn't a car accident this was an execution style murder that didn't have to happen and if somebody's one more time says oops we made a mistake you're sorry your daughter's dead Don't say that in front of me. I agree with us tonight is Logan's father. Mr. Federico, thank you for being with us. My pleasure, Nancy. And again, thank you for taking the time to care about Logan and getting her story out there. It needs to be told.

It needs to get out there across the world. This doesn't have to happen. And I can't let this happen to anyone else. I can't. Nancy Gray signing off. Goodbye, friend.