Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Informant Recants Confession During Tyler McCain's Preliminary Hearing | Crime Alert 6AM 09.19.25

Episode Date: September 19, 2025

A friend of Tyler McCain who previously claimed McCain strangled his wife, Nikki, claims he made it up on the stand at McCain's preliminary hearing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Crime Alert, hourly update. Breaking Crime News now. I'm Sidney Sumner. Testimony continues in a preliminary hearing for Tyler McCain, a California man accused of killing his wife, Nikki McCain. Superior Court Judge Thomas Bender is tasked with determining if the murder case against Tyler will proceed. As of today, Nikki is still missing and presumed dead.

The Redding Police Department said Nikki last spoke to her family, on May 17th before someone picked her up from a home in Redding near the Wind River Casino. Her truck was also reported missing, but police later found it, a 2002 Chevrolet avalanche on May 25th in western Tahoma County. During a check of Nikki's avalanche, the vehicle was put up on a lift where investigators discovered blood pooled on top of the fuel tank. There was so much blood, some of it dripped down from the fuel tank. Shasta County authorities reclassified Nikki's disappearance as a homicide and charged Tyler McCain with the murder last month. Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridget said that Tyler McCain's motive had been to keep Nikki, a mother of four,

from testifying against him in a domestic abuse case. On Wednesday, Tyler McCain's former friend, Albert Nelson, took the stand and stated that Tyler admitted that he had killed Nikki after wrestling her in bed, then strangling her on May 18, 2024. Nelson, who has an unrelated felony warrant arrived at the Redding Courthouse in shackles. Nelson previously told investigators that he thought Tyler McCain had been taking meth at the time of Nikki's death and that Nikki had screamed I'm dying during the scuffle. During his testimony, however, Nelson recanted and claimed he fabricated the incident in an attempt to get out of jail. He also admitted he was on drugs when he made the incriminating statements against McCain. Nelson also previously said that his sister saw Tyler McCain

suspiciously driving the avalanche during the time Nikki was last seen. Nelson told the court that he lied about the incident. The preliminary hearing is scheduled to conclude next week. A Florida man was arrested after he allegedly chased and shot at a man test driving a motorcycle in Lake County. Isaiah McDonald was charged with multiple counts relating to the incident, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, discharging a weapon into an occupied vehicle, and discharging a firearm from a vehicle. The Lake County Sheriff's Office, Office said they were told by the victim that he was test driving the bike when he noticed a white Jeep Cherokee following him closely and behaving aggressively, prompting him to speed

up and make multiple turns in an attempt to evade him. At one point, the Jeep's driver pointed a firearm out the window and the biker said he heard two gunshots. The writer identified the driver as MacDonald, who he said was a childhood friend, but that they hadn't been in contact in recent years. The victim showed officers a text he received from MacDonald after the incident asking, when's a good time to come over? The writer confronted him about the incident, but MacDonald denied involvement. Police later located him and he again denied involvement. Investigators say his story didn't add up, however, and they saw a box of ammunition

in the car. MacDonald consented to a search of the vehicle, and deputies found more ammunition, drugs, and drug paraphernalia. In addition to charges related to the shooting incident, McDonnelld also faces drug possession charges. MacDonald was released Monday on bond. More Crime and Justice News after this. Police in the Adirondacks are looking for a man, they say, stabbed his girlfriend over the weekend and fled. Anthony Bichon, 53, was last seen in Brighton, New York on Sunday.

His truck was located later that day at the intersection of County Route 60 and State Route 86, where it apparently had been sitting abandoned for hours. Amanda Rodriguez, 41, was found dead Sunday morning at the home she shared with Bichaud, a landscaper in Cahos. Police said that Rodriguez's mother had not heard from her and sent a friend a check. The friend found her body. Authority said they believed the murder took place on Saturday and launched a manhunt for the suspected killer whose truck was seen at the home at that time. They put out a call for tips Tuesday. New York State Forest Rangers and U.S. Border Patrol are assisting in the manhunt, which is focused in the Franklin County area where the truck was found, which is about

50 miles from the Canada border. Cahos Mayor Bill Keeler provided an update on the search. Uniformed troop patrols are blanketing the area and BCI investigators are continuing to conduct interviews and search the area in unmarked cars, so there's a full court press going on, but there have been no sightings to date. Bichand is described as nearly six feet tall and about 180 pounds with brown hair. Police say he may be armed and is definitely dangerous, so anyone who sees him should steer clear and call police. An 18-year-old Massachusetts man accused of making threats to shoot up a school was released on Bond Wednesday and sent home to a wait trial. Concerns about Ian Fotheringham began in October when he allegedly threatened to shoot up his former high school. Last month,

school counselors contacted investigators saying that the teen wanted to shoot up a school and that he'd said he was refurbishing weapons in his room. But when Falmouth police searched his room, they found no illegal guns. Safety monitors again contacted a authorities on September 3, saying they'd seen a man identified as following him behind T-Ticket Elementary School and that he appeared to be casing the building. Authorities obtained a search warrant for the teen's entire home the next day and found photos in a journal referencing the Columbine High School shooting, as well as a large 3D printer capable of making guns. Cape and Islands Assistant District Attorney Tom Flanagan said, there are photographs that police

indicate were from the dark web showing bloody victims on the ground to include the Columbine killers themselves. Fotheringham was arrested on September 11th, charged with threatening use of a deadly weapon in a public building. Following a court appearance on Tuesday, he was granted a $2,500 bail and released. He was ordered to wear a GPS monitor and not leave home except of legal or medical reasons. For the latest crime and justice breaking news, be sure to follow the Crime Alert hourly update on your favorite podcast app. With this crime alert, I'm Sidney Sumner. This is an IHeart podcast. Thank you.