Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Nikki Missing: “Smoking Gun” Cracks Case Of Missing Mom Wide Open

Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an I-Heart podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A beautiful young mom, Nikki Chang, missing. But now a smoking gun cracks the case of the missing mom wide open. Good evening. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank you for being with us.

Starting point is 00:00:25 Mom's Chevy is found abandoned on a remote, Country Road. Nikki's case is a homicide investigation. There were several assaults on Nikki. A brutal assault on Nikki prior to her disappearing, prior to her Chevy being found, abandoned on a remote country road. She thought she was going to die. Where is Nikki?

Starting point is 00:00:51 Where is missing mom, Nikki? She's absolutely gorgeous. And this is where the whole thing. started. Listen. Wednesday night around 8.30, Nikki Saly McCain is in her bedroom combing her hair. Her husband of 13 years, Tyler McCain arrives home in a strange mood. For no apparent reason, Tyler McCain aggressively jumps on top of Nikki, holding her on the ground, then dragging her around, yelling, what are you doing? Nikki says Tyler McCain's eyes are glazed over. Nikki tries calming her husband, but it doesn't work, and he holds her down and begins hitting her in

Starting point is 00:01:23 the face. The terror escalates over a three-hour period, with McCain binding Nikki's wrists and ankles together with tape, putting tape over her mouth so she couldn't speak properly. Rolling his wife onto her stomach, Tyler McCain sits on her back, pulling her hair back, forcefully pulling her head back and telling her he's going to kill her. And it gets worse. The terror she endured in that one episode was just part of years and years of horrific, horrific domestic abuse. Can you imagine that being bound at risk and anger?

Starting point is 00:01:58 ankles with tape, tape over your mouth so you can't speak. You can barely breathe. And there's more. Listen. After three hours of Tyler McCain allegedly beating his wife, the mother of his four children, hitting her about the face and head, blackening her eyes, pulling out her hair and taping her mouth shut. He leaves her alone and goes into the kitchen. Getting herself loose from the bindings. Nikki Saly McCain grabs a robe with her car keys, runs outside and gets in her car. Tyler McCain chases Nikki out of the house and jumps onto the hood of the car, telling her to stop, ignoring his demands, Nikki flees to the safety of her sister's home in Redding.

Starting point is 00:02:32 The only reason we know details of that episode is because she actually went to the hospital that time and it was documented how many hundreds of other episodes of violent domestic abuse occurred before Nikki mysteriously disappears. In the last days, a so-called smoking gun cracks this case wide open. Straight out to special guests joining us. I call them the Nikki Sisters.

Starting point is 00:03:03 It's Kay Ford and Chloe Saly, Nikki's, both of them, Nikki's sister. Kay, do you remember when you first heard about that particular domestic violence episode? I do remember it was the first time she had gone to the police, gone to the hospital, so we finally had a record of the abuse. obviously that was a horrible, horrible incident for her, but we at least knew that this was officially being recorded and she was making a report. So we were hopeful that it would be the step

Starting point is 00:03:35 for more help. You know, Kay, you and Chloe look so much like Nikki. Do people tell you that? They do. They do. That must be very unnerving to sometimes look in the mirror. Every once in while I catch myself as I'm walking by a glass plate and I think of my father. I look just like my dad. That must be very unnerving for you guys to look in the mirror and see basically an image of Nikki. Chloe also joining us in addition to Kay on what is a very momentous evening because a so-called smoking gun has cracked this case finally wide open. But Chloe, do you recall when you first learned the details of that particular violent episode. When I first learned about that episode, my heart was broken.

Starting point is 00:04:25 It was, I just couldn't believe it because how could someone that loves another person do that to someone that they love? You know, Chloe, was this the first time you learned about those beatings? Or did you know about it before? I think that I had a suspicion. Nikki never came out poorly about the abuse that was happening. But I think that was the first one that she actually came forward with. and she came to me about it. Well, here is the thing to Franz Borghardt.

Starting point is 00:04:53 Franz is a criminal defense attorney, a renowned criminal defense attorney, founder of Borkhart's law firm, former prosecutor, and professor of Louisiana State University. Franz, thank you for being with us. Franz, while we can all sit back and say, well, obviously, we know he did it. He's the one responsible for her disappearance. It's not that easy.

Starting point is 00:05:15 There's this little thing called, called evidence in a court of law? We know he violently abused her, the mother of his children, for a really long time, and then she mysteriously disappears. But that's not enough to take it to court, is it, Franz? You're absolutely right. The first thing is the state has to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that there was a murder, that there was, in fact, a murder, which they can do.

Starting point is 00:05:42 We call it corpus delecti. They can do that. But in the absence of having a body, in the absence of having a body, in the afternoon, of having a body, we lack certain evidence. We lack a murder weapon. We lack the means of the actual murder. And that is problematic for the state and presents fantastic defenses to this accused individual. Sure, there is a argument for motive. He was being prosecuted for domestic violence. But I don't think that that's enough. And on top of all that, they've got to get the other crimes evidence into the instant homicide case, they probably will be able to do that,

Starting point is 00:06:19 Nancy, but they still have to litigate that to establish that they can bring out these past incidents for the purposes of murder, for the purposes of opportunity, for the purposes of knowledge and intent to even get that into the murder trial. So it's not necessarily a sland-down for the state. Franz, you know what, blah, blah, blah. What you're saying is the state has to jump a hurdle in order to get a similar transaction into evidence. So what? I've brought in a million similar transaction pieces of evidence. It's not hard. You have to show that the case in chief is similar to a prior incident so that the prior incident, in this case, a violent beating, tends to prove the case in chief. I can't bring in a shoplifting or an armed robbery or carjacking in this

Starting point is 00:07:11 case, I have to bring in something similar and connected in time to my case in chief, which I submit is murder. That said, Franz, you're absolutely correct. There has to be an evidentiary hearing, but you started off talking about a nobody case. Another news flash, okay? A lot of nobody cases have been tried and won. Here's the recent one, the case of a young mom of two little boys, Anna Walsh. Listen.

Starting point is 00:07:39 After his wife Anna Walsh vanishes, Brian Walsh is buying cleaning products, large tarps, buckets with lids, and splash-resistant goggles. He also makes trips to six dumpsters in five days. So police installed GPS tracking devices on vehicles used by Walsh and his mother. As the investigation heats up, a fire burns through a home that Anna Walsh, her husband and three boys moved out of the previous year. Police Chief William quickly says the fire is highly strange. They will get to the bottom of it. The chief says the department is doing a full ground search for any clues to Anna Walsh. his whereabouts.

Starting point is 00:08:11 Okay, of course, Anna Walsh's body not been found. But guess what? They're heading to trial right now. After all of his Google searches for things like, how long does it take for a dead body to start smelling, really? And then, of course, there's Kelsey Barrett. What an incredible woman, a beautiful young woman, the mother of a one-year-old little girl.

Starting point is 00:08:33 She had her pilot's license. And she was raising her little girl all by herself when Bam, she goes missing. Wow, I wonder who did that. Her fiance, the body was never found. So a no body case, as Franz Burkhart aptly described it, can go to trial. Is it hard? Yes, of course it's hard. Isn't it impossible? No, it is not impossible. Back to Kay Ford. This is Nikki Chang's sister along with Chloe Saly. Kay, even though you guys suspected there had been violence, abuse in the past. When did you realize this was different? You hadn't heard from Nikki. You couldn't get in touch with Nikki and Nikki never came back. I think leading up to

Starting point is 00:09:21 had kind of talked about, we knew after the domestic violence incident, the one that she went to the hospital for and made a report. She was adamant about leaving Tyler and taking care of herself, um, leading up to her disappearance, she, it's almost like she changed a little bit. She, um, she seemed forgiving almost. Um, she seemed, uh, she kind of let us know that she felt sorry for Tyler and she didn't want him to get in trouble. Um, so when she disappeared, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, you said Nikki felt sorry for Tyler, her torment her and she forgave him. I don't think she forgave him. Oh, Lord in heaven. Okay. That looks. That leads me to something very important because that's how I think she got taken.

Starting point is 00:10:09 Dr. Bethany Marshall is with us. Renowned Psycho Analysts out of the LA jurisdiction, author of Deal Breaker. You can see her on Peacock now and find her at Dr. Bethanymarshal.com. Dr. Bethany, in addition to trying violent felonies in intercity Atlanta, at night, I worked as a volunteer at the Battered Women's Center. And I dealt with so many women that wanted to hold their family together and they would let the attacker, the husband, the partner, the man. back in for the sake of the children. So the children would have a father figure. And the next thing you know,

Starting point is 00:10:41 they turn up missing or dead or in the hospital. What leads women to forgive or relent on the attacker? I think of domestic abuse as a crisis of boundaries. In other words, the victim, often a woman, feels that the husband's impulsivity, aggression, rage, pathological jealousy, envy is her fault. That's the crisis of boundary. She feels that she is causing the man's suffering. Therefore, it is up to her to fix it. So when the man becomes out of control or enraged or battered, she thinks, what did I do? She blames herself. And then she becomes overly concerned about the perpetrator's feelings. And then Nancy, there's also. You really lost me at it's her fault. Because here's Nikki Chang in the hospital. She's had her, which is a whole other psychiatric or psychological

Starting point is 00:11:34 issue where he duct taped her mouth so she couldn't speak. He didn't want to hear her, bound her, hands and feet, beat her, sat on her. And it goes on all the ways he tortured her. And she thinks that's her fault. You just said that. I've got you on tape. That is not her fault. Imagine Nancy, your husband, stalks you, texts you, calls you incessantly, tries to alienate you from your friends and he does it so many hundreds and thousands of times over the course of years that you actually began to believe him and you think you've done something wrong and you start to cower and you start to change all of your behaviors then he isolates you from your finances you have no way to even make a purchase without it pinging his cell phone so then he picks up the phone

Starting point is 00:12:21 and asks you what you've bought all of a sudden you don't have food on the table for your children you don't have a paycheck so you have no way to get your own apartment or have your own independence you're you're trapped you're mentally trapped psychologically trapped you're like a little fly in a big web and you cannot get away these women do not want to be abused no victim wants to be abused if your listeners don't remember anything else about this show remember that they are drawn in interaction by interaction slowly over the course of years until they they cannot get away In the last days, based on a so-called smoking gun, there has been a major break in the case. Listen.

Starting point is 00:13:06 Detectives also further concluded that Nikki's husband, Tyler Scott McCain, is responsible for Nikki's death and disappearance. Detectives recently obtained a murder arrest warrant for Tyler McCain, and today at about 10.15 a.m., Tyler McCain was arrested. He was ultimately booked in the Shast County Jail with no bail for the murder of Nikki. Today, where we ultimately have an arrest of a murder suspect and a bodiless case, if you will. These cases are layered, meticulous, require months of investigation, hundreds and hundreds of personnel hours, not just from investigators, but from law enforcement boots on the ground, from support services, from forensic evidence, all across the board. It is very labor intensive, and it is crucial that all that evidence is collected, preserved, and processed. accordingly to make the case. Where is missing mom, Nikki?

Starting point is 00:14:00 We haven't heard from her, and that wasn't very likely of her. The sisters realize immediately something is wrong when Nikki is not responding, as she normally would have, to text messages. She was bound and beaten and that he tried to drown her, but he was too tired, so that's why he poured the water on her face. Tried to drown her. Guys, in the last days, an amazing breakthrough in the search for Nikki Chang. No, we have not found her.

Starting point is 00:14:30 We have not found her body yet. But there has been an arrest. And as Franz Borkhart, a veteran trial lawyer and professor, says, well, it's a nobody case. Well, that may be true. That may be true. The same thing was said about Suzanne Morfew. Does anybody remember Suzanne Morfew to Dave Mack joining me, crime stories investigative reporter. Remember when we all went out to Salida and searched and worked

Starting point is 00:15:01 and worked that case trying to find out what happened to the mom of two Suzanne Morfew? There was an arrest of the husband. Then the whole thing was dropped and lo and behold years past and her body is found dumped in basically a burial ground out in the middle of nowhere, Dave Mack. Remember that? It didn't stay a nobody case forever, Dave. didn't. And Nancy, when they found those bones, they were actually looking for someone else. It was one of the most amazing things that ever happened. And once they got those bones, they were able to determine so many different things about what happened to Suzanne Morphew, because those bones had not been sitting out to the elements the entire time we were all looking for her.

Starting point is 00:15:45 Oh, Dave, Matt, I'm so glad you said that. So Franz Borgharts, I'm giving him a hard time, but he's actually a veteran criminal defense attorney. He is a former prosecutor. He's a professor, Louisiana State University. Franz Borghardt goes on and on about a nobody case, as if it's never happened before. Brian Fitzgibbon's joining me, Director of Operations USA, Nationwide Security,

Starting point is 00:16:12 who leads a team of investigators trying to find missing people and solve unsolved homicides. Brian, in the Suzanne Morfew case, When the body, well, it was just bones by the time her remains were found out in this wasteland area, they could actually tell, as Dave Mack just said, that she hadn't been there for the entire time since she was killed because they could tell by the way the condition of the bones. They could also tell by getting bone marrow that she had been shot with a very powerful animal sedative, a tranquilizer. And only, as I recall, correct me if I'm wrong, Dave Mack, only two people in the state had it. And one was, guess who? Barry Mooreview, her husband.

Starting point is 00:17:01 And let me just point out, Brian, before you take off, that in the home, they found one of the tranquilizer dart caps. Really? He washed it with the sheets. I mean, that said, no body cases can be tried. But can we talk about how much better it would be if we could find her remains and how are we going to do that, Brian? Yeah, certainly, Nancy. And listen, there's been approximately 700 no-body homicide cases in the last 25 years. And they have a really high conviction rate because the thing we need to remember, it's 2025. There have been crazy advances in forensic technology. All right,

Starting point is 00:17:38 the resources at play in Nikki's case, you have the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Shasta County Sheriff's Office, collaborating with those organizations. So they're going to have tremendous evidence to bear in front of a jury. Back to Kay and Chloe. First to you, Kay, I want you to listen to this. Under the laws of the state of California, we're not required to have a person's body in order to charge murder. That's what we call a no-body homicide case.

Starting point is 00:18:11 That is what we filed. And I'm sure many of you are asking, no, we've never filed that type of case in Shasta County before, but we are going to work very hard on this case. And to me, despite not finding her body, we have been provided with overwhelming evidence to prove that not only is Nikki dead, but that Tyler McCain is responsible for her murder. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Kay, what went through your mind? When you found out, Tyler McCain has finally been arrested.

Starting point is 00:18:52 Now, first of all, before you tell me that, can you please tell everybody about how he's got the girlfriend slung up in his house? We've seen many posts about potential girlfriends at the house. That speaks pretty loudly to, you know, you're not expecting your wife back. You know, it kind of reminds me of Scott Peterson, Kay, because Lacey's body had not been found yet, her pregnant body. and he had already tried to, oh, there he is in all of his splendor and glory. He had already tried to sell the house where she lived.

Starting point is 00:19:24 They lived together, expecting their first child. He tried to sell her car and ordered the porn channel. Immediately turned the baby's room into a storage room. So obviously he did not expect her to walk through the front door. Why? Because he knew she was dead. Why? Because he killed her.

Starting point is 00:19:40 Now, if you can recall Kay or Chloe, how quickly after Nikki goes missing your sister, Your look-alike sister. Did he move the first Miss Thing into their house? It was within, I think, like a week or two week. I just remember there was a lot of chatter online and a lot of people actually... I'm sorry, wait. I think my earplot, I must not be working.

Starting point is 00:20:03 Did you say a week? One week? Yeah. Continue. And there were pictures of a female at his home as well, too. So that just confirmed the story even more. You know, to you, Chloe, how did you guys find out that Nikki had only been missing a week before he moved a girlfriend and not the girlfriend, but a girlfriend? There's been a long parade of them. Sorry, Nancy, did you say how did we find out?

Starting point is 00:20:29 Yes. Yeah. It was posted online on, there was a few Justice for Nikki pages up on Facebook and it was posted online and then there were also pictures as well too. Wait, are you telling me he posted photos of the. The other woman on the Justice for Nikki Page? There were people who would drive by Tyler's house just to kind of see what was going on. And they were seeing the same female that was outside of his home with Tyler. And then someone from the girl, her family members were also concerned because they've also found out that their sister had been staying at Tyler's home. And so that's kind of how we found out also as well to confirm the story even more.

Starting point is 00:21:13 Lauren Conlin joining me, investigative reporter, star of pop crime TV on YouTube. Lauren Conlin, of course, I'm sure when I go back to him, Franz Borghardt is going to say, that means nothing. That doesn't prove he's a murderer just because he's a cheater. What do you know about all the girlfriends? Well, the community has really rallied around helping Nikki and being there for Chloe and Kay and the children. So I saw these pictures in the Facebook group, and I was shocked. But Nancy, I want to point out that, you know, you mentioned this case started out as a missing

Starting point is 00:21:48 person's case, but it wasn't until March of 2025 that it was actually deemed a homicide case. And that is when they actually were able to serve a search warrant to Tyler and search Tyler and Nikki's home in Anderson, California. And, you know, we still don't know what they found in that search. It is still very unclear. But we know at that point, they deemed Nikki a victim of a homicide based on the evidence gathered information learned from interviews and the fact that no one in Nikki's family has seen or heard from Nikki since her disappearance the detectives has determined that Nikki is a victim of homicide a young mom Nikki Chain is still missing she was beaten

Starting point is 00:22:33 horribly her mouth was covered in tape cold water was poured on her she thought that was going to be the end that was going to be the time he did it And she was scared, scared to death. She was scared for her life. And she did state that the next time, if it were to ever happen again, could be it. Nikki, missing, believed dead. In the last days, finally, an arrest. What is a smoking gun?

Starting point is 00:23:00 We think we know. Listen. Counts 10 through 12 are for various violations occurring on April 1st of this year after Nikki had been reporting, reported missing for almost an investigation. entire year, McCain was observed throwing items out of his vehicle. And when he was pulled over on his possession was a burnt California driver's license for Nikki McCain. So isn't it correct, Dave Mack? One of the last times we know Nikki Chang was alive. She was driving her truck, which was found in a very obscure area abandoned. She was driving the truck, right? Correct. She was

Starting point is 00:23:37 actually driving her mother-in-law and presumably with her driver's license. right? That would be correct. So explain to me, Lauren Conlin, how husband Tyler McCain is busted throwing out her burned driver's license, which we believe was on her the last time she was seen alive. Tell me how that happened. Yes, he was pulled over in April of 2025 after he was seen kind of unable to stay in the correct lanes. And then as the report mentioned, he was seen throwing various things out the window. And detectives located his wallet and inside his wallet was Nikki's California driver's license, which investigators said had partial burn damage to it. And Nancy, remember in July of 2024, a fire spread across Tyler and Nikki's property of almost

Starting point is 00:24:33 98 acres. You're seeing shots and video of the fire right now. Lauren Conlin, How does the fire fit into everything? So he is burning evidence and, uh-oh, it got out of control? I mean, we don't know that for sure, Nancy, but I think that many of us surmise that this is the case here. And again, with Nikki's body not being located yet, you know, my head also goes that way. But, you know, you mentioned Scott Peterson. In March of 2025, you know they had eyes on Tyler. They brought him in to this press conference where they made him speak.

Starting point is 00:25:09 again, just like Scott Peterson, and it is so uncomfortable to watch, in my opinion, Nancy. Tyler appears to be uncomfortable himself. He says things like, I'm just here in support. He actually even says, I'm sorry. And I just, you know, I can't imagine what was going through at that time. But again, I want to give props to law enforcement who have worked so diligently over the last year to get this arrest. of that awkward press conference. You're absolutely right, Lauren Conlon. Let's take a look at Tyler McCain, blathering. I'm John McCain. My husband, Nikki, McCain. First of all, I think of the sheriff's office, FBI for getting involved. Any efforts that are

Starting point is 00:26:01 give my help to my wife home, you know, safe me. We miss you. I don't know to say. I haven't been in the public guys, and I haven't done very well with it. I apologize to everyone, especially my children. My wife's family, mine is as well.

Starting point is 00:26:32 I'm just here in support. So anything that I can do, I want to do that. Straight back to veteran trial law. you're a former prosecutor, now defense attorney, Franz Borghardt, I guess you always tell your clients, keep your pie hole shut, because he's there saying, uh, we miss you, like somebody had to pinch him to say it. I can't wait until they play that for the jury. What about it, Franz? It really makes my life easier when they keep their mouth shut. Um, and you know what? The funny thing is, Nancy, had he been quiet like a morning husband? I think he probably understood that. But that

Starting point is 00:27:08 statement, not good for his defense. Yeah, he's talking, Franz, about how much he misses Nicky. I guess he and his girlfriend were really missing her a lot, Franz. Well, you got to prove that that's his girlfriend. A social media post in 2025 of somebody with you is not necessarily a relationship, so we're going to have to give him a little bit of reasonable doubt on that. Oh, nothing can make me happier than to put Ms. Thing up on the stand and cross-examine her about when she started having sex with Tyler McCain.

Starting point is 00:27:37 What was it the night, Nikki, Nikki went missing? I can't wait to do that. Thank you. That's an excellent idea, Franz. To Kay and Chloe question, which one of you were standing directly by him during that press conference? That was me, Kay. How did that feel? Did you just want to give him a little finger necklace? I actually wanted to encourage him to speak more. I knew he had more to say and I tried to make eye contact and be supportive to see if he would speak more. But yes, deep down, it was very difficult. I'm curious, Chloe, what was going through your mind at the time? He was talking about how much he missed Nikki. I was expecting a little bit more from him, just kind of like what Kay was saying, trying to encourage him to say more. I actually didn't know what to expect when

Starting point is 00:28:27 he was speaking, but the whole time I was like, what, what? That's all you could have said. You couldn't say like, I love her so much. I wish she was home. I just wish he would express something more like a husband who was really missing their wife, but I got the complete opposite. But you know he shacked up with other women and not just one. So anything he said about missing her would have been a big fat lie, Chloe. And that's true. I think it just showed exactly what type of person he was and showed how little he cared for Nikki. Well, I guess that's the perfect segue for Franz Borghardt to talk about how this is not a miscgeniality contest. We don't have to like him.

Starting point is 00:29:04 We just have to find out if there's evidence to convict him. But his whole spiel about please bring Nikki home reminds me of somebody else. Somebody named Chris Watts. I want my family back. Like I want them safe and I want them here. Like this house is not the same. I want everybody back. That's why everybody I need everybody back here and everybody's safe.

Starting point is 00:29:25 From our friends at K-U-S-A. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace I mean, come on, Brian Fitzgibbons. How many times have you seen the PURP trying to make themselves cry, making a tearful plea? Now, I've got to give it to Susan Smith. She actually did drum up some tears when she begged for the return of her two boys that she killed. So, Brian, what do you make? And I'm glad Lauren Conlin brought it up.

Starting point is 00:29:57 I was talking about the burned driver's license of Nicky's found in his wallet and he's trying to get rid of it. There was that fire on his property and it was chalked up to a catalytic converter. Wow. Okay. So his wife goes missing, the wife that he has been terrorizing, binding, putting duct tape over her mouth, beating her, beating her, trying to drown her. She goes missing. Suddenly a fire breaks out.

Starting point is 00:30:23 And now we have her partially burned driver's license. but Fitzgibbon's first, his plea for Nikki's return. Really perplexing, Nancy, and the hubris for him to get in front of a camera is shocking, right? And, you know, when we're talking about these fires, and they're fires plural, right? We have the one at the Olinda Road residence, but there are other fires at properties associated with McCain that I think we're going to see come out in trial may be connected to this case. Well, it doesn't bode well for finding her remains. He is a firebug, because, you know, Brian, I probably need to shrink, Dr. Bethany, to explain this in her jargon. But you always see a purr falling back on that with which they are familiar.

Starting point is 00:31:10 Here's Scott Peterson, perfect example. He likes to fish. So where did he dispose of Lacey and Conner's bodies? One of his fishing holes, right? This guy is a firebug. He's connected, as Brian Fitzgibbons pointed out, to several arsons. Several burning incidents, let me rephrase. That makes me think, when you don't know a horse, look at his track record.

Starting point is 00:31:33 That's probably what he did with Nikki's body. And wasn't Chris Watts associated with the oil industry, if I recall correctly? And that's where he secreted his wife and daughter's bodies. So that was a similar one. It's not just associated. It's not just associated. You're dead on again. He took his wife, Shanan's body, and the daughters of his two little girls, Bella and Celeste.

Starting point is 00:31:54 and put Bella and Celeste in oil drums and buried Nikki there on the Anadarko oil fields in a shallow grape where she had coffin birth. Postmortem, she gave birth to baby Nico. There would have been their first son. You're right. Another good example, Dr. Bethany. I'd be curious about what the children saw, what's the new girlfriend experiencing, what did the extended family see? This is a firebug and this is a rageaholic who's just going to keep doing it again and again. I think until he's behind bars. To Nikki's sister Chloe, Chloe, how many children did Nikki have with McCain? Tyler and Nikki have four children together. So now they don't have a mom.

Starting point is 00:32:37 I'm just thinking about the genesis, how her disappearance, how her disappearance. parents and death occurred. We don't know all the answers, but we do believe we have a motive that McCain murdered his wife, Nikki, the mother of four, to stop her from testifying against him in that horrible domestic violence episode. It is our belief that Tyler McCain murdered his wife, Nikki McCain, to prevent her from testifying in the domestic violence case. This enhancement elevates the murder charge from a sentence of 25, life to life without the possibility of parole. Had we gone forward with the domestic violence case in 2024, we would not have been able to prove that case without her testimony without also

Starting point is 00:33:22 having to prove that McCain caused her disappearance. Count nine charges forgery occurring May 29th, again after Nikki went missing around May 18th. Shortly after Nikki was reported missing, this forgery charge results out of a forge signature on a joint. tax return check that we believe that Tyler McCain forged her signature to cash that check. Oh my stars. According to prosecutors, he killed her and then forced her name to get the tax return. Chloe Silly and Kay Ford with us, the Nikki sisters who have been fighting for justice for Nikki since day one. To Kay, do you believe and have you been led to believe that her remains will be found? I feel confident with the evidence that

Starting point is 00:34:11 the detectives have collected. And also the, I do have confidence in our community. I, although I don't believe her body is known at this point, I, I do feel good about people coming forward. We have already been receiving a lot more tips as of Tyler's arrest. And yeah, I do think that we're going to recover her body. I'm very curious about this smoking gun that was the final straw and led to the arrest of Tyler McCain and what prosecutors say is the murder of Nikki Chang. I'm curious, Dr. Bethany Marshall, could you explain why he would have kept Nikki's driver's license in his wallet? I don't think it's that deep or mysterious. I think he needed her ID so he could continue to take advantage of her financially. He's already forging a signature on a tax

Starting point is 00:35:01 return. All right. I think we'll find more love fraud, love swindling financial malfeasance. I I think we'll find that he had many reasons to have her gone, that this was not just an outcropping of domestic violence that went too far, that he already had other girlfriends, that he probably stood to gain financially in some way. He needed her out of the way. So what better way to take advantage of somebody who's already gone than to hold on to all their identification? I think he found, could find a million uses for that driver's license, Nancy, because obviously if it's burned, he was. in the process of incinerating something and then he went in and retrieved it. So why would he retrieve it if he didn't want to use it in some way? You know, Brian Fitzgibbon's, I think that there is more to it because I've seen investigated, prosecuted so many cases where killers keep mementos of their victims. And I've always found it curious for them. It's like I would keep ticket stubs or photos or programs of when the twins had an honor event. That means something to me. to just look at it, you may not even know what it is, but I would know what it is. I think it's not

Starting point is 00:36:13 just to use her ID for practical purposes. He had it with all of his other pictures and things he kept in his wallet. He kept that. He kept that after exercising complete and total control over her, binding her hands and feet, putting duct tape over her mouth, beating her, trying to drown her. And even after he killed her, according to prosecutors, he kept that so he could see it. it every day. Yeah, that was a really shocking development, Nancy. And it goes against, you know, one of the things that Tyler had told Nikki's family early on is that she had left on her own volition. Okay. So, you know, when we take those pieces of information together, why would she leave without her driver's license? And then why would he keep it and not advise Shasta County

Starting point is 00:37:00 sheriffs that he had it and that she didn't have it in her possession? Lauren Collin, uh, joining us Popcrime TV. I still don't get why these women are, attracted to Tyler McCain. I don't get it. I look at him. I say the devil. What's special about him? What does he have other than his wife's house? No, I'm with you. I mean, without knowing the guy, I don't know, Nancy. Is it the bad boy thing? I have no idea. I can't even speculate on that. But one other thing I want to point out, I thought Brian made some really great points. But prosecutors also described an overwhelming odor of decomposition coming from the bed of Nikki's truck where they found a sheet and it had Nikki's blood on it. You heard the Nikki sisters stating that

Starting point is 00:37:46 since Tyler McCain's arrest, more tips are coming in. There is currently a $30,000 reward still in place for information regarding Nikki's remains $30,000. If you know, or think you know anything, but the location of Nikki or her remains, please. Dial 530-245-6-5-40. Repeat, 530-245-6-5-40. It ain't over yet. While we wait for justice to unfold, we remember an American hero, Detective Anthony Stanley,

Starting point is 00:38:27 Orster Creek, PD, Texas, killed in the line of duty, leaving behind grieving daughters, Kristen and Shelby, American hero, Detective Anthony Stanley. Nancy Grace, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an IHeart podcast.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Nikki Missing: “Smoking Gun” Cracks Case Of Missing Mom Wide Open

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