Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - “The Missoula Mauler” Wayne Nance Pt. 2

Episode Date: January 28, 2021

By 1984, Nance had revamped his reputation and settled into a comfortable routine in his hometown. But as he grew fixated on his boss, his nice-guy exterior evaporated, revealing a cold and calculating killer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of this killer's crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder, rape, and assault that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. Christmas cheer permeated the shook family residents. The family of five had just put down roots in the small town of Hamilton, Montana, and they were eager to make this holiday season special. As Mike played Christmas music softly on the stereo, His wife, Teresa, baked cookies with their four-year-old son, Luke. Luke was especially excited about this year's festivities.

Not only was the sweet smell of sugar cookies wafting throughout the house, a tree stood proudly in the living room, waiting to be decorated. Now all he needed was Santa to arrive and deliver the presents. When a knock came at the front door, little Luke scrambled to open it. But instead of jolly old St. Nick, a man with bright red, hair and glasses stood on the front stoop. There was a knife in his belt and a gun in his hand. This stranger wasn't there to dole out gifts. He was there to kill. Hi, I'm Greg Poulson. This is Serial Killers, a Spotify original from Parkast. Every episode,

we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today, we're taking a look at Wayne Nance, the sadistic secretive man, also known as the Missoula Mollah. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Last time, we explored Wayne's troubled adolescence, detailing how his early interest in Satanism fueled his transformation, from troubling child to calculated murderer. Today, we'll examine the drastic shifts in Wayne's modus operandi and discuss what happened when one of Wayne's targets fought back.

We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Bonnie and Clyde, the lonely hearts killers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. These are infamous criminal duels. But you don't need to break any laws to find your perfect business partner because you have Shopify. It's the commerce platform that can help you with literally everything.

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Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly Big Board Buckslot Machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history. Club Serrano members can earn daily instant prizes and secure a spot in the finale May 29th.

Don't pass go and own it all. Only at Yamava, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You win? Details at yamava.com must be 21-20. Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. By the fall of 1984, 28-year-old Wayne Nance had completely turned his life around. Once considered the social outcast of Missoula, Montana, he was now regarded as a loyal friend and dedicated employee at both Conlin's furniture and a local bar called The Cabin. Julie Slocum, one of his co-workers from the cabin, was especially taken with Wayne and had harbored a crush on him for years. So when planning her birthday festivities that year, she made sure to invite him to the party. On the big night, a large group of young Missoulins crowded into Julie's apartment and proceeded to dance the night away.

Julie tried her best to have a good time, but it was difficult to enjoy herself without Wayne by her side. As she greeted each guest, she kept her eyes on the door, waiting for him to arrive. But when Wayne finally made his entrance, Julie's heart sank. Wayne had brought 16-year-old Marcy Bachman along with him. Marcy was beautiful, with shapely curves and the perfect smile. She had drifted into Missoula only a month earlier, and now it seemed that the two were inseparable. Wayne and Marcy stayed arm-in-arm throughout the event.

Giggling and kissing in the corner of the room. Even worse, everyone remarked that they were the picture of happiness, and Julie felt forced to politely agree. She resigned herself to the fact that Wayne was taken for good. Little did she know, it wouldn't last long. Shortly after her birthday, it's believed that Wayne invited Marcy for a walk, deep in the Missoula Woods. The couple were known to have an enthusiastic sex life,

So it's possible that Marcy believed the two were about to engage in a late-night dalliance beneath the stars. Instead, Wayne led the teen to a shallow grave near the Bonner Dam. Then he pulled out a gun and shot her three times in the head. Later, when asked about Marcy's whereabouts, Wayne solemnly replied, she's gone. At this stage, it's important to note that because Wayne never confessed to any of his crimes, Much of his story relies on educated guesswork. So, although we've done our best to bring you the most accurate version of events, there's still an element of doubt that lingers.

Following Marcy's disappearance, most of Wayne's friends assumed that the two had simply broken up. At the time, Marcy was believed to be a drifter who frequently moved around. In reality, she was a teenage runaway. Perhaps Marcy's deception had finally come to light, enraging her devoted boyfriend. Maybe not. Either way, the reason why Wayne allegedly pulled the trigger on his lover will forever remain a mystery. However, it seems that he was greatly affected by her death. Following Marcy's disappearance, Wayne was noticeably sullen and depressed, quick to irritate, and easily distracted.

He was acting like someone who was dealing with the stress of something far worse than a simple breakup. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. Please note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for this show. Thanks, Greg. According to psychiatrists Bruce Harry and Philip Resnick, some killers experience the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder after committing a murder. From what we know about Wayne's behavior at this time, it seems to align with this theory. Numerous studies have emphasized the psychological after effects of killing as displayed by soldiers, But doctors Harry and Resnick focused on men who murdered off the battlefield,

men who shared a particular profile. The participants of the study all endured particularly difficult childhoods. They each also killed a woman with whom they'd had a romantic relationship. After the murder, these men began to display signs of emotional distress. These negative feelings were exacerbated by the fact that these men had to keep their murders a secret. Those who kill in combat are afforded a measure of emotional support from their peers and their country at large, which can help alleviate symptoms of PTSD. However, these killers experienced the aftershocks of their murders alone, which made their

symptoms worse. It's possible that because he was unable to come clean about Marcy's death, Wayne retreated into his own head to deal with the trauma of killing her. And though it seems like Wayne tried to shelter the emotional burden alone, his co-worker Julie noticed that something was wrong and tried to console him, but Wayne refused to talk about Marcy at all. In fact, he quit his position at the cabin and started avoiding Julie altogether, causing a serious rift in their relationship.

As the year came to an end, Julie accepted that a relationship with Wayne was not in the cards and started dating a new man, but she didn't forget about Wayne and Marcy entirely. In January of 1985, Julie and her new boyfriend, Craig, watched a crime-stopper segment on the TV. The report detailed the discovery of a body near the Missoula Mountains, just below the Bonner Dam. As the host described the corpse, a sinking feeling washed over Julie. The curvy body, the Auburn hair, the perfect teeth. They were describing Marcy to a tea.

Craig had met Marcy too and agreed that the similarities couldn't be ignored. So Julie called the hotline and told investigators that she may know the identity of their Jane Doe. She considered mentioning that Marcy had been dating Wayne when she disappeared, but ultimately decided not to. She didn't want to think that Wayne had anything to do with Marcy's death. The detective took down her statement, but without the crucial information about Wayne, it did little to help the investigation. Julie never heard back from the Missoula police.

It's possible that the authorities overlooked her tip because Julie gave the Marcy's alias, Robin, instead of her real name. It's also possible that their attention was split between this Jane Doe and another. Around this time, investigators received new information regarding a 1980 cold case. In February of 1985, investigators finally learned the identity of another teenage body found mere miles, from Marcy's corpse. Her name was Devana Nelson. In 1978, Devana's mother reported the 15-year-old Seattle native missing.

Then in 1980, her remains were discovered hundreds of miles away in Missoula, right near the Bonner Dam. It's believed that Wayne abducted and murdered Devana after she hitched a ride with him in Seattle. However, because Devana was found so far from home, and because her body was significant, significantly decomposed. It took authorities five years to discover who she was. Other than the location of the bodies, there was no evidence suggesting that the same person had killed both Devana and Marcy. Devana had been stabbed while Marcy was shot, and their murders occurred years apart, so no one thought to link them. As authorities strove to discover the truth throughout the early months of 1985,

28-year-old Wayne's mood appeared to gradually lighten. He said, seemed like the same old Wayne again. Unfortunately, the same old Wayne isn't a comforting thought. It's believed he began using his job as a furniture delivery man for his own sadistic pleasures once more. In addition to canvassing the apartments of potential victims, Wayne reportedly began making frightening phone calls. In the spring of 1985, Conlin's furniture store received a flurry of complaints.

The customers all claim that shortly after receiving, leaving a delivery from the store. They started getting obscene, anonymous calls. One woman was so frightened by the calls that she changed her number. Another was sure that the person on the other end of the line was the delivery guy she'd met at her door. If anyone at Conlands had thought to check their records, they would have noticed that Wayne had delivered furniture to each of the women in question. However, it seems no one thought to follow up on the disturbing complaints. Instead, Instead, they chalked the phone calls up to a random prankster. However, even if they had checked the logs, it's probable they still wouldn't have taken the

complaints seriously. Around Conlands, Wayne was known as a friendly, hard worker. He took on extra deliveries, and he was always happy to lend a helping hand. Following high school, Wayne's reputation was tarnished by his suspected involvement in the brutal murder of Donna Pounds. But after years of careful work, he was now considered an upstate. standing employee and friend. Perhaps that's why he felt beyond reproach and decided to strike again. During the summer of 1985, someone in Montana crossed paths with a still unknown young woman of

mixed Caucasian and Asian descent. Her attacker let her deep into the wilderness, shot her twice in the head, then left her body to rot in a parched mountain creek. In September, a local Missoula bear hunter discovered part of the victim's skull and contacted the authorities. The creek where this body was found was only three miles from the site where Devana and Marcy were discovered. This time, Captain Larry Weatherman of the Missoula Police Force felt certain that the same man was responsible for all three murders.

But narrowing in on a suspect was difficult. While Devana's identity was known, that two other victims were still Jane Doe's. As a result, it was hard to create any kind of profile for their killer. She's named the latest unidentified body, Chrissy Crystal Creek, after the stream she was found near. It's widely believed that 30-year-old Wayne Nance was her killer. There's no definitive proof, but there also aren't any other suspects. A few short months later, in November of 1985, another horrific crime hit Missoula.

On the night of December 12th, 32-year-old Teresa Shook baked sugar cookies, while her husband, 34-year-old Mike relaxed on their brand-new sofa from Conlands. They had just moved into their house in Hamilton about 45 miles south of Missoula. Teresa and Mike's three children were scattered about. Matt, their second grader, was already in bed fast asleep. Luke, their four-year-old, was helping his mom with the cookies, and two-year-old Megan was playing on the floor near her dad. Shortly after 9 p.m., the family heard a knock on their front door. Teresa and her, and and Mike were likely confused. They weren't expecting anyone to come calling.

But before they had a chance to wonder who their late night visitor might be, Luke ran to the front door to invite the stranger in. A man stood in the doorway and adjusted his glasses, perhaps a little surprised that the door had been answered so quickly. Mike and Teresa didn't recognize the wild-eyed redhead standing in front of their son. However, they clocked the knife in his belt

and the gun in his hand. As they scrambled to the entryway, Luke asked Wayne who he was. Wayne stared down to the toddler for a moment. Finally, he said, I'm Conan the Barbarian. Then he pushed his way in, raised the gun, and fired. Coming up, Wayne terrorizes the Shooks. Listeners, this month marks 60 years since John F. Kennedy

became the 35th president of the United States, ushering his already prominent family into the highest enclaves of political power. But behind their storied successes lie secrets and scandals so severe, if it were any other lineage, they would have been left in ruin. This January, to commemorate this iconic milestone, dig into the dramas of a real-life American dynasty in the Spotify original from Parkcast, The Kennedys. Crime, History, Mystery. This exclusive series from Spotify, features your favorite podcast hosts, examining one of the world's most formidable families from all angles.

Whether it's assassinations and conspiracies, corruption and cover-ups, international affairs, and extramarital ones too, discover all of the Kennedy family's most controversial moments, all in one place. You can binge all 12 episodes of this limited series starting on Tuesday, January 19th. Follow the Kennedys free and exclusively on Spotify. Are you looking for support in your weight management journey? Zepbound terseptitide may be able to help. Zepbound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with obesity.

Or some adults with overweight who also have weight-related medical problems to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off. Zepbound is approved as a 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5 or 15 milligram injection. Zep bound contains a 2.5. terseptide and should not be used with other terseptide containing products or any GLP1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if Zepbound is safe and effective for use in children. Don't share needles or pens or reuse needles. Don't take up allergic to it. Or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer, or if you've had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. Stop Zepbound and call your doctor if you have severe

stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction. Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia if you're nursing, pregnant, plan to be, or taking birth control pills. Taking Zepbound with a sulfonel urea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-9979 or visit zepbounds.lily.com. Now back to the story. On the evening of December 12, 1985, an intruder forced his way into the home of Teresa and Mike shook.

He brushed past their four-year-old son Luke and shot Teresa in the ankle, letting the family know that he meant business. As Mike jumped to defend his wife, Teresa hobbled into the kitchen, pushing Luke and their two-year-old daughter Megan behind her. The exact details of what happened next are unknown. But the police pieced together the following story. Mike grabbed a brass candlestick from their living room and attacked the man. Teresa joined in the fray, hitting Wayne with a tennis racket that was lying on the floor.

Unfortunately, the intruder managed to knock the weapons out of their hands and overpower them. He ordered Teresa to return to the kitchen while he tied Mike up in the living room. Then Wayne stabbed him in the chest. Mike fell onto his side as blood pooled beneath his body. Then the intruder pointed the gun at Teresa and ordered her to take him to her bedroom. On their way, he allowed Teresa to put Luke in his bedroom and Megan in her crib. However, Megan's crib was located inside her parents' room, so she was forced to watch what happened next.

The toddler screamed as the man tied Teresa down and raped her. When he was finished, he stabbed her in the chest. After killing Teresa, the man left Megan in the room with her mother and started rummaging through the family's belongings. He stole Mike's collection of silver dollars, a hunting knife, and a plaster statue of an elk. Then he left. The Shook's children had no idea what to do. Matt, their second grader, had slept through the entire ordeal. Meanwhile, four-year-old Luke was too afraid to move, and little Megan was in her crib, wailing next to her mom's dead body.

For the next few hours, the kids remained in those positions. Eventually, Luke heard someone enter the house and crept into the hallway to see who it was. As Luke peered around the corner, a chill went down his spine. His parents' killer had returned. It's assumed that the intruder wanted to get rid of any evidence that might link him to the crime, including the young witnesses who are still inside. To that end, he piled together pieces of wooden furniture and magazines, then set it all ablaze. As soon as Luke saw the flames, he ran back into his room to hide.

moments later the man crept out of the house, shutting the door tightly behind him. But what he didn't know was that Mike Shook had built his new house to be almost airtight. By shutting the door, Wayne cut off the oxygen supply to the fire. The flames died down quickly, and though the furniture smoldered throughout the night, it never lit up again. Unfortunately, that didn't mean the children were in the clear. The burning magazines emitted innoxiously. gas, which permeated the entire home.

When Matt finally woke up, he jumped out of bed and found his younger brother, Luke. The boys remembered that they were supposed to stay low to the ground in case of a fire, but as they crawled along the carpet for safety, they fell unconscious. Across the hall, two-year-old Megan slipped into a coma. The following morning, a family friend named Greg arrived at the shook home to drop off his son Jesse. Teresa often babysat Jesse while Greg was at work. After knocking on the door and receiving no answer, Greg decided to investigate. He discovered that the front door was unlocked, and when he pushed it open, he was hit with the smell of smoke and toxic fumes. He covered his face with

his sleeve and peered into the living room, where he saw Mike lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Miraculously, despite the exposure to poisonous gas, all three children were alive, but they were in critical condition. Megan's lungs had collapsed, and Matt and Luke were still unconscious as an ambulance raced them to the hospital. Eventually, the kids were airlifted to Denver, where doctors hoped they would receive better care in a city hospital burn unit. As the shook children fought for their lives, Wayne celebrated the holidays with his father, Christmas This morning in their home was filled with peace, happiness, and of course, gifts. Wayne handed his gift to George, who carefully unwrapped the package and smiled as he took

in the plaster elk his son had given him. He had no idea the statue was stolen goods, taken from the Shook's home. It's not unusual for serial killers to take trophies from their victims. As we've discussed in the past, numerous psychological studies have suggested that murderers may take these souvenirs in order to look at them and relive their kills later on. In his book Mind Hunter, FBI agent and criminal profiler John Douglas asserts that some serial killers take this practice one step further and give these trophies as gifts. According to Agent Douglas, they usually present these souvenirs to their true object of their

resentment or hostility. Seeing this person handle the trophy allows the killer to feel a sense of control and power over the one individual he hasn't been able to dominate. Wayne's father was known to have issues with aggression and went to prison for robbery and assault when Wayne was just 13. Although they picked up their relationship when George was released, it's possible Wayne never got over his father's abandonment. Giving George the stolen elk might have given Wayne a feeling of authority over the man who'd made him feel so helpless as a child.

It's certainly possible that George had no idea Wayne harbored any feelings of resentment. It's also possible Wayne gave the gift as a gesture of actual love. While George had missed out on several years of Wayne's childhood, he cared deeply for his son. He'd been the one to shield Wayne from the unwanted stares and whispers following the Donna Pound's murder investigation, and later his dismissal from the Navy. To George, the elk statue might have represented a turning of the tide,

Not only was Wayne making money of his own, he'd become a responsible young man who cared about his family. But as George reflected on his son's growth and kindness, police scrambled to solve the shook murders. At that stage, the authorities hadn't realized that the plaster elk was missing. The shook home was still considered an active crime scene, so family and friends weren't allowed back inside. If people close to the family had been able to search the house, they certainly would have been noticed the few things that were missing. All of the items that Wayne took were extremely special to Mike Shook. The elk was a one-of-a-kind statue, handmade by Mike's sister-in-law, and the hunting knife was a personalized gift from his father. Without those key clues to help them, the police

were left with little to go on. And although the young children were witnesses to their parents' murder, they were all far too traumatized to be useful to the investigators. The police tried to question and four-year-old Luke about the man who appeared at the door that evening, but the poor boy wasn't much help. He mumbled his words and seemed to barely remember the events of that fateful night. Because Luke was unable to provide reliable witness testimony, police worked exclusively from the evidence they recovered from the crime scene, and it wasn't much.

They had a stray bullet from the gun that shot Teresa, some semen found inside her body, and a stray red hair. Unfortunately, DNA sampling wasn't advanced enough yet to determine who exactly left the seaman and hair behind. As a result, the Hamilton Police Department's investigation crawled to a stop. After six months of keeping the crime scene under wraps, they finally allowed the Shook's extended family back into the house. In July of 1986, Mike's parents combed through the home, gathering up anything not ruined by fire, gas, or fingerprint. print dust. Mike's dad noted that the hunting knife and the plaster elk were missing. However,

because the house was in such disarray, he wasn't sure if they'd been taken or just destroyed. It was a vital clue that might have led investigators to Wayne, but it fell through the cracks. However, in early August, the Hamilton Sheriff allowed a piece about the shook murder investigation to be printed in the Missoulean newspaper. He made sure that the article claimed that their department had a suspect in mind and that they were in the process of sending additional evidence to the lab. Of course, these were all lies. The sheriff hoped that the murderer would read the paper and worried that the police were on to him. Hopefully, the culprit would be so spooked that he would attempt another crime to relieve the stress. In that case, the police could potentially

catch him in the act and lock him up for good. It was a risky gamble. The sheriff's tactics seemed to work. It's believed that 30-year-old Wayne read the article and started to panic. He tried to keep his paranoia under wraps, but his coworkers at Conlands noticed a change in his demeanor. He'd always been flirty with the women in the office, but shortly after the peace in the Missoulean, Wayne ramped up his displays of affection for his married boss, Chris Wells. He struck up uncomfortable conversations, stared at her longingly, and even gifted her necklace, one that he later found in her trash can. Then, for her 33rd birthday, Wayne surprised Chris with a ceramic turtle-shaped paperweight and a card. She smiled politely as she unwrapped the turtle,

but her face fell when she read what Wayne had written in her card. It read, since you didn't seem to enjoy the jewelry that I gave you, maybe you'll appreciate a piece of artwork. I may be slow and cold-blooded, but only time will tell. Chris felt a shiver run down her spine. Wayne had been a fixture at Conlin's furniture for years, but lately he was becoming downright creepy. She didn't quite understand what he had written inside, but she knew something felt wrong.

Wayne immediately picked up on Chris's negative energy and became deeply upset. It reminded him of his adolescence, when all of the neighborhood boys and girls thought he was strange and avoided him at all costs. Eventually, Wayne's wounded pride turned into resentment, but his anger wasn't directed at Chris alone. It was also aimed at her 35-year-old husband, Doug. Although he didn't know much about Doug, that didn't stop Wayne from disliking him. That he was married to Chris was enough to earn Wayne's scorn,

and Wayne discussed his hatred for Doug any chance he got. Everyone at Conlands could see that Wayne's interest in Chris had become a full-blown obsession. His coworkers dreaded talking to him because they knew he would inevitably bring her up. Unfortunately, the resulting solitude only made Wayne slip deeper into the dark corners of his mind. Wayne wanted Chris for himself so desperately that he began crafting a plan to get dug out of the way for good. It would be easy enough to carry out. After all, he knew just where she lived. Coming up, Wayne's final deadly house call.

Now back to the story. During the summer of 1986, 30-year-old Wayne Nance reportedly obsessed over his boss, 33-year-old Chris Wells. He started concocting a plan to get her alone and to cut her husband out of the picture once and for all. On September 4th, he was ready. to put the plan into action. That night, Wayne made his way to Chris's Missoula home,

parked his truck nearby, and waited. At some point in the evening, Chris's husband Doug returned home from a night out with his friends. As Doug started for the front door, Wayne climbed out of his truck and hid behind some bushes. Wayne watched with a jealous rage as Chris greeted Doug with a big hug and kiss. A few minutes later, Wayne was still so worried wrapped up in his own fury, but he didn't notice Doug carrying a bag of trash outside.

As soon as Doug stepped onto the driveway, he spotted the figure hiding in the bushes. He demanded to know who was there, and Wayne reluctantly stepped out from the shadows. He introduced himself as one of Chris's co-workers and said, I saw something out here. If you have a flashlight, you better get it. Doug was so shocked to recognize the man peeping into his home, but he didn't even question what Wayne was doing there. In a haze of confusion, Doug turned to get a flashlight from the garage. Almost immediately, Wayne ran up and struck Doug on the head with a small black baton. Doug fell hard onto the concrete, and Wayne dragged his unconscious body into the house.

Meanwhile, Chris was upstairs and didn't initially hear any commotion on the first floor, but as soon as Doug came to, he started throwing punches at Wayne. Hearing the scuffle, Chris realized, something sinister was going on downstairs. She made her way down to the living room and saw Doug wrestling with Wayne. When she ran to help her husband, Wayne produced a gun and ordered the couple to separate. Chris pleaded with Wayne to leave them alone and asked why he was doing this. Wayne made up an excuse about needing money, then pulled a clothesline out of his pocket and ordered Chris to tie Doug up.

With Doug restrained, Wayne carried Chris up the same. where he tied her to the bed. Then he went back down to the living room to deal with Doug. According to Doug, this was when Wayne grew noticeably excited. Wayne told Doug that he wanted to get him as far away from Chris as possible and forced him to hobble down into the basement. Over the next half hour, Wayne vacillated between the upstairs bedroom and the basement, checking in on Chris and Doug to make sure they were still secured.

If he had a plan as to what he wanted to do with them, he hadn't yet enacted it. Eventually, Wayne gathered the courage to carry out his deadly plan. On one of his trips to the basement, he knelt in front of Doug and stabbed him in the chest. Doug watched through half-closed eyes as Wayne pulled his bloody knife out of his body, then wiped it clean on Doug's pants. According to Doug, Wayne stared at him as he bled out onto the floor, looking down at his victim with complete and utter dispassion. The callousness of the entire ordeal suddenly enveloped Doug,

and when Wayne walked back upstairs, Doug was filled with a surge of rageful energy. He freed himself from his bindings and stumbled over to the bench where he kept his hunting rifle. He loaded it with a cartridge, then heaved himself up the basement steps. Doug felt sure that he was going to die, but was deterred. to take his murderer down with him. He slowly made his way up to the living room, where he started making noise at the base of the stairs. He hoped the noise would get Wayne to come back down,

where Doug could get a clean shot off, without putting Chris in any more danger. Doug's plan worked. As soon as Wayne realized his captive was free, he ran out of the bedroom. When Wayne appeared at the top of the stairs, Doug aimed his rifle and shot Wayne in the side. Wayne fell to the ground screaming.

Doug made his way up to the landing and slammed the butt of the rifle into Wayne's head. Instead of fighting back, Wayne started crawling back towards the bedroom. No matter how many times Doug smashed Wayne's head and neck with the rifle, Wayne seemed determined to return to Chris. Blood trailed the two men as Doug followed Wayne down the hall and into the dimly lit bedroom. Chris watched from the bed as her husband, ferociously beat Wayne, who was crouched in a corner. At some stage, Doug was distracted, which gave Wayne a second to pull his own gun out of his pocket

and fire a bullet into Doug's thigh. Wayne grinned through bloody teeth as Doug fell to the floor. Then Wayne started to reload. At that moment, Doug remembered the second gun he kept in his nightstand. Fueled by adrenaline, Doug leapt across the bed, grabbed the gun, and prepared to shoot Wayne. But just at that moment, another shot rang out in the room. But Wayne hadn't shot Doug, and he hadn't shot Chris. According to Doug, Wayne accidentally shot himself in the head, and as there would-be killer lay slumped over, slowly dying, Doug and Chris called the police.

When the police and paramedics arrived, Chris pleaded with the EMTs to focus solely on her husband, but they loaded both men into the same ambulance and took them to the hospital together. Luckily, Doug survived his injuries. However, 30-year-old Wayne Nance succumbed to his injuries and died later that day. News of the deadly home invasion spread quickly. In nearby Hamilton, Bob Shook saw the story on the local news station. He realized that his son, Mike and daughter-in-law Teresa had bought their furniture from the same place that Wayne had worked. Maybe he had something to do with their deaths.

Bob called the Missoula Police Department and told Captain Weatherman what he suspected. He also made sure to mention the missing elk and hunting knife and asked investigators to see if they were at Wayne Nance's house. Less than 24 hours later, police found both items at Wayne's, making him the primary suspect in the shook murders. They also discovered photos of Wayne with a young woman who matched the description of the body found near the Bonner Dam two years prior. Wayne's father, George, identified the woman in the picture as Wayne's ex-girlfriend Marcy Bachman, who he knew was Robin. Marcy's skull was shipped to a forensic lab in Colorado, where the head was matched to the photograph. Because of these revelations, the murder of Davana

Nelson is also believed to have been committed by Wayne. After all, he had been in Seattle at the time of her disappearance, and he dumped Marcy's body in almost the same spot as Divanas. And years after he'd been questioned by police, Wayne was retroactively implicated in the 1974 murder of Donna Pounds. The evidence had always pointed in his direction, and now that a fuller picture of his criminal life emerged, it seemed almost certain. In particular, his habit of tying up victims before killing them convinced the police

that they had the right man. However, George Nance refused to accept that his son had possibly committed so many crimes. He tried to convince detectives that Wayne had been having a consensual affair with Chris and that Doug was the aggressor. George believed that Wayne may have accidentally hurt Doug out of self-defense, but he definitely didn't commit any of the other crimes they were trying to pin on him. The police likely understood George Nance's instinct to defend his son. It was the kind of behavior they'd seen from parents and parents,

relatives of criminals before. Surprisingly, there aren't an abundance of studies that examine why family members insist on protecting their loved ones at all costs. Perhaps that's because, from an evolutionary standpoint, the reasons seem obvious. Scientists like Charles Darwin have observed that mammalian parents are programmed to keep their children safe from harm no matter what. Yes, Wayne was dead, but his reputation would live on. so George followed his parental instinct

to shield Wayne from the judgments and proclamations that would surely destroy his legacy. Of course, another primitive defense mechanism was likely at play here as well. George Nance was in denial about Wayne's true nature. Psychologist Anna Freud introduced the concept of denial as self-protection in her 1936 book, The Ego and Mechanisms of Defense.

Accepting that his son may have been a, a serial killer was simply too painful for George to endure. So it's understandable if he wanted to believe that the police were mistaken about Wayne. Wayne Nance's story is one of those difficult tales where untangling fact from conjecture seems impossible. Even when agreed upon nuggets of truth emerge, the waters are still muddied by rumor and opinion.

Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that a verifiable version of events will ever emerge. On serial killers, we strive to unpack and demystify the stories surrounding the worst criminals. But sometimes the fog surrounding a killer is too thick, the strands of their story too hopelessly tangled. Wayne Nance died never having been convicted of a crime. Even though there are at least some deaths he seems likely to have had a hand in, there are others that are even less certain. So what do we do when a full picture eludes us?

what can we say when guesses are all we've got? The answer, maddeningly, is nothing. Thanks again for tuning it to serial killers. We'll be back soon with a new episode. For more information on Wayne Nance, amongst the many sources we used, we found, To Kill and Kill Again,

the terrifying true story of Montana's baby-faced serial sex murderer by John Coston, extremely helpful to our research. You can find all episodes of Serial Killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. We'll see you next time. Have a killer week. Serial Killers is a Spotify original from Parcast. Executive producers include Max and Ron Cutler, sound designed by Michael Motion, with production

assistance by Ron Shapiro, Carly Madden, and Joshua Kern. This episode of Serial Killers was written by Ellie Reed, with writing assistance by Jane and Joel Callan. Fact-checking by Haley Milliken and research by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood. Serial Killers stars Greg Poulson and Vanessa Richardson. Fiction, fame. Discover the real story behind one of history's most formidable families

in the Spotify original from parcast, The Kennedys. Remember, you can binge all 12 episodes starting on Tuesday, January 19th. Listen free and exclusively on Spotify. A beloved 75-year-old man washing up getting ready for bed is brutally beaten and killed. Despite an exhaustive investigation, the killer avoids arrest and then strikes again. I'm Global News crime reporter Nancy Hixed. You might listen to a lot of true crime podcasts this year, but they're not crime beat. Search for and follow the award-winning podcast Crime Beat on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music,

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