she also told her story in a book titled the shooting of nancy howard, journey back to shore. >> my heart is broken. i would've loved to continue being the beaver cleaver family. i would've loved to continue being married to frank. because, i loved that man with all my heart. that man loved me at some point. but, it was obviously a change in who he was and is. [music playing] hello, i am andrea, this is dateline.

>> he is my superman, he was always my protector. >> i think he has been killed. he has been shot. >> this is not possible. >> she found him on the floor, the fianci that was the love of her life. >> icy road in on him, he was just laying there. >> it is a stone cold assassination. >> eight tough veteran turned target. >> somebody hated him so much they shot him through the window. >> angry colleagues at work. >> people complained about how nick talked to them. >> he has dated another number of women. >> bullet casings, carpet

fibers, bloodied clothes, who was the killer? >> we wanted answers. >> there needs to be justice. >> people are no good at getting away with murder. >> welcome to dateline. kristi said she waited 40 years for nick to come into her life. they were engaged to be married when suddenly her world crumbled. she found nick gunned down in his own home. investigators waited through a deep pool of suspects before a boost from nick's brother helped reveal the true killer. here is josh with stone cold. >> put people together in a workplace and things can develop.

friendships, rivalries, sometimes even love. most of the time it is not a problem but in this case it was deadly. >> 911. >> this is a stone cold assassination. >> one man's militant style of doing business that left a trail of bruised egos in his professional life. >> if you are not doing your job requires he will let you have it. >> and a trail of broken hearts in his personal life. >> i could tell he was a womanizer. >> by the and investigators discover a world of grudges, and a hotbed of affairs and missy love triangles. it all began with this man, nicholas mireles. >> we are constantly teasing and messing with each other.

>> john and his brother nick grew up outside of tucson. >> a prankster, he was doing something that would get him in trouble or he already did something. >> 18 months apart, john and nick were close. brothers that had each other's backs. just like his brother, nick served in the military. in 18 he enlisted in the marines, in 1990 he fought in desert storm. >> he came back a changed person. definitely more serious. >> after the war, nick returned to tucson and settled down. he married and had a son, nick junior. while he loved being a father, the marriage did not last. >> he told me he would never get

married again. >> he did but that did not work out either and he focused on work. he rose to director of maintenance at -- aerospace. bob welsch was a client that brought aircraft for service. >> he was not a people person. >> nick was tougher than a irs audit and every bit as unforgiving. at the same time he was not devious or sneaky. nick would stab you in the front. >> he did not know how to approach people and have a conversation. >> it is you are doing it wrong, start doing it right. >> john, a lieutenant colonel in the army worked at the same airpark as nick. >> he was tough, he was a hard

. very vocal and intimidating to some. >> there was one area where nick seemed popular, with women. conveniently, they employed some. >> any idea how many women he dated? >> he only admitted to but there was a lot of rumors. >> one of them changed everything. in 2016, nick nick christie. >> i liked that he was such a hard worker and he was smart. >> no immediate fireworks but as they got to know each other, they realized they both loved books, dogs and plants. >> he is a tough guy at work and here he is tending to delicate plants and talking about his dog. >> his dog smokey, a american pit bull terrier.

>> you would think he is a big scary dog and he is the most gentle dog you will ever know in your life. >> christie fell for not just smoky but nick as well. >> you sound swept off your feet. >> i was, i never knew a man like that in my life. he was my superman. he was always my protector. >> you could see it in his eyes, he was happy. he spoke to my parents about things we never thought he would talk about. >> a serial monogamous, finally settling down. >> before that, they came to a agreement, the past was a past. >> he dated a lot of women in that same company, that give you any pause at all? >> absolutely, my outlook was,

we both have a history, he is allowed to date who he wants. >> they got engaged, by 2016 they were making plans to move in together. >> he looks right at me and he said i want you to know how much i love you and appreciate everything you do for me. i remember walking into the kitchen and thinking i am so lucky. >> 24 hours after that moment came this call. >> he has been shot. >> coming up, what happened to nick? >> icy road in on him. >> curious clues in the garage. >> i noticed a bucket full of water and carpet fibers. >> blood in the bedroom.

>> the floor was sticky and smelled like mouthwash. >> this was the man i was supposed to marry, this is not possible. >> when dateline continues. lin . but trelegy has shown me that there's still beauty and breath to be had. because with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open and prevents future flare-ups. and with one dose a day, trelegy improves lung function so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing,

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believe i get to be his bride. i was excited i waited 40 years for him. >> kristi and nick were engaged to be married. >> every morning started with a text or a call, good morning, i love you, have a great day. every night, same thing. >> so when kristi woke up monday, july 18, 2016 and saw that nick had not called she was immediately concerned. >> i am rationalizing of course, maybe he got stuck on a call with his boss or maybe he slept in. >> a few hours later, still no word from nick. so kristi drove to nick's house and went upstairs to the master bedroom. the door was barely open. >> i zeroed in on him. he was just laying there.

just full of bullet holes. >> he has a bullet whole in his head. >> this was the man i am supposed to marry. this is not possible. the police arrived and the nightmare began. >> we received a message advising there was a homicide and a entire unit needed to respond. >> sheriff's detective jennifer garcia had been in the homicide unit for seven months. this was a call she had prepared for. ever since she was a little girl and saw her grandfather in uniform. >> it was something i always wanted to do. >> now here she was, lead detective in the biggest murder investigation in tucson. she began by walking through

the scene, nick's house, starting in the garage. >> i noticed a bucket full of water and carpet fibers. >> inside the cabinet under the kitchen sink was open. in the living room, cleaning products left out and in the backyard with a large pit bull. >> whoever lived there let the dog out. or the killer had. >> yes. >> as the detective went upstairs she saw holes in the wall, at the top the bedroom door was ajar. >> i admittedly saw the bloody fort of nick. i opened the door and i saw his naked body laying there riddled with bullets. >> a lot of people will tell you, when there time comes they want to die at home, very few say they want to go the way nick did, in his bedroom alone with his killer in a hail of bullets.

nick had been shot eight times including ones in the middle of his four head. >> they shot through his window and assassinated him. >> then came through the window and shot him more. >> yes. >> the detective believed the killer climbed on the roof outside of his window. she found blood. >> maybe the killer cut himself on the glass in the window. >> there was blood on a mouthwash cap in his bedroom. >> the floor was sticky and smelled like mouthwash, we felt whoever did this tried to clean up tracks. >> in the bedroom more evidence the killer tried to clean up. >> it appeared the rug was cut, half of it was gone.

>> the detective believed the killer bled so heavily on the rug that he or she cut it and took it out of nick's house. there was also evidence the killer failed to get rid of. her team recovered 11 shell casings each with a unique five- star stamp. this was odd, 11 shots but none of the neighbors called 911. >> early on the detectives i was working with believed a silencer was used. >> one neighbor said she heard a noise at 4:30 am but was not sure what it was. investigators believed that could be next time of death. while detective garcia worked the scene, two other detectives went to john's office to tell him what happened. then john had to break the news to his mother.

>> that was one of the toughest things i ever did in my life. >> kristi also wrestled with her new reality, a life without nick. >> i went from this amazing life to being traumatized and complete disbelief. >> while nick's family faced the loss of a man they loved, investigators began to learn what knicks coworkers and exes already knew, he was not a loved by everyone, not by a long shot. >> coming up, angry colleagues on the job. >> people complained about how nick talked to them. >> accepted that was what was nick was being paid for. >> were any angry enough to kill? >> the list was very long. >> when dateline continues. lin

josh mankiewicz: often at "dateline," we tell you the stories of murder victims who lit up a room or who didn't have an enemy in the world. rale often in dateline we te you the stories of murder victims that lit up a room or did not have a enemy in the world. not so much with nick, he knew how to light up a room but depending on the room, there may have been people in it that wished him ill. that was true in his personal

life and at work. >> the question for investigators, which side of nick's life caught up with him? detective garcia quickly began to find out how much of nick's leatherneck exterior rubbed people the wrong way? he was the hr director. >> i did have exit interviews were people complained about the way nick talked to them. >> accept that was what he was paid for. >> he was brought in to be the hammer. >> when you are hired to be a hammer, sometimes everything and everyone starts looking like a nail. >> it looks like there may be a lot of people you want to be talking to in the office. >> the list was long. >> a lot of them were petty grievances like a safety inspector.

he told investigators nick gave him a long time for parking his car in a restricted area and accused him of using a personal tablet computer during working hours. >> anybody you know that wants to kick his ? >> no. >> not over a parking spot but then detective garcia started learning about the other part of nick's life. >> this guy made a lot of women angry. >> his second ex-wife once threatened to kill him. he ex-girlfriend slipped into his house and nick woke up to find her watching him and a new girlfriend while they slept. then there were next romantic entanglements at work. >> we did not have a fraternization policy. >> nick took advantage of that. >> from what i heard. he would deny it to me and i questioned him.

>> because you were the hr director. >> long before nick met kristi, he was involved in a relationship that caught the detectives attention. claudia banks worked in administration. she and nick dated for six months. >> he was awesome. >> claudia told the detective she had a good relationship with nick, however that came at the expense of somebody else, her ex-boyfriend justin skinner. >> claudia moved in with nick and broke up with justin almost in the same breath. >> that is right. >> claudia tried to cut off all contact with justin. >> after the breakup it was reported that he had followed claudia while she was driving and nick was in the vehicle.

>> justin also unexpectedly can by her home a couple of times. the day nick's body was discovered she went out with her mom. >> we went to the circle s. >> the bar on the outskirts of town where she saw justin. >> did he have any marks on him? >> i saw him and walked away. >> the next day justin left a note on her front gate about her ex-boyfriend. >> i heard what happened, i am really sorry, if you need anything let me know. >> claudia directed the detectives attention to another ex-girlfriend from knicks past. >> before me he was dating a girl, jessica. >> jessica, another girlfriend

from the company, they dated for six months, even let together for a while. >> she seemed nice. >> the detective learned that did not last. nick abruptly kicked jessica out of his house and life and moved claudia into but. then garcia learned about some thing that happened shortly after claudia and nick started dating. >> jessica showed up and saw her vehicle in the driveway and was upset, banging on the door saying i know she is in there. >> nick told his brother about the just stop with jessica. >> he thought that was amusing? >> he said there is going to be drama i can already tell. >> a day after nick's murder john's kids snapped these photos of a woman poking around nick's house. >> my children were adamant it

was jessica. >> is it significant that nick was murdered almost a year after his breakup with jessica? >> i found it odd. >> the number of scorned lovers and nick's pass was enough to warrant a scorecard and investigators were not done counting. there were more answers to be discovered, in a place where so much of nick's social life was centered, aerospace. >> the mystery woman and nick's house, was it a angry x? >> coming up. a lovers triangle and a tightening circle of suspects when dateline continues. itchy eyes.

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were reported friday across six states, mostly in nebraska and iowa where homes were leveled. fewer than two dozen people suffered injuries. the fda says traces of the bird flu virus were found in samples of pasteurized milk. as of thursday the flu had been detected in 33 hertz. south dakota ohio and texas were included. now back to dateline. dateline. rookie detective jennifer garcia will come back to dateline. when nick was murdered, rookie detective jennifer garcia took a deep dive into his complicated personal life. there she found a web of scorned lovers and wondered if one of them wanted him dead. meanwhile as next loved ones grieved, the woman that stole his heart was also feeling another emotion.

here is josh with stone cold. >> in the days after his murder, his fiancie was living in fear. >> i jumped at every sound. i family was scared. >> did he express any indication that some relationship he had before was something he was scared of now in terms of your safety? >> no, nick was my protector above all else so i do not know if you would have said anything to me, not wanting to murder worry me. >> perhaps there was reason to be worried. the detective spent time charting the romantic geometry of nick's love life free kristi. >> it all comes back to their employment, they all worked at the same place. nick had been dating jessica

and quickly began to date claudia. >> bob wills, nick's friend any client remembers how jessica reacted to the breakup. >> whenever nick was in the same room there was no smiles out of her, i could tell it was not a good atmosphere. >> nick ever say why they broke up? >> no and it was none of my business. >> it was detective garcia's business, she eventually interviewed jessica on tape. yes. >> that is the kind that will make people feel bruised, angry and maybe vengeful. >> yes. >> he kept denying it, i drove by his house and took a photo

of her truck. >> was his family right? was she the woman they saw poking around his house? >> it was not me. >> it turned out she was telling the truth, detective garcia ran the mystery woman's license plate and found it belonged to a mother looking for her missing son, not jessica. >> do you think this should have happened to nick? >> nobody deserves that. >> she told detectives she was home with her young daughter at the time nick was killed which was not a airtight alibi. detectives also needed to speak with the other scorned lover in the story, claudia's ex- boyfriend justin skinner. in the nick, jessica, claudia triangle, he was the square

that did not fit. >> you were in a relationship with claudia when? >> she left almost on the day a year ago. >> detective garcia and her colleagues spoke with justin at his home. he told them he loved claudia and had plans to marry her and then she ended's. >> i never expected it to go as south as it did so i was really hurt by it. >> he is showing all of the earmarks of somebody you need to be wary of. >> justin's alibi, the circle s saloon, the same bar claudia saw him the night nick was murdered. >> where did you go? >> home. >> video confirmed his presence until midnight however his story that he then went home with harder to prove.

>> his roommate stated he was not sure if he was actually in his room or not. >> then there was this. >> i am seeing scratches on your arm, how did those happen? >> landscaping. >> when she asked to photograph the scratches and take a dna sample justin said no. >> that had to make you sit up straight. >> coming up. >> we wanted answers and we were not getting them quickly enough. >> nick's brother is about to turn detective. could he give the true detectives the lead they need? >> you will not believe this, i just dealt with that guy a few months ago. >> when dateline continues. tel now there's skyrizi, so you can show up with clearer skin... ...and show it off.

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josh mankiewicz: pima hecounty sheriff's detectivet. jennifer garcia was suspicious of nick's ex's ex, justin skinner. o jennifer garcia was suspicious of nick's axis x, justin skinner. he seemed to have opportunity and motive to kill nick. so when justin did not want to give a dna sample -- >> i thought he might be the guy. >> after a little persuasion, his cooperation plus statements from people at the bar and claudia were enough for detective garcia. >> we were able to rule him out quickly. >> the family was waiting impatiently for a arrest. >> your loved one had just been

murdered and we wanted answers and we were not getting them quickly enough. >> it is a place where everyone seems to know everyone else. while detectives were examining next torment past, john started doing detective work of his own, by talking with nick's coworkers. he told the hr director how the suspect had been cut. >> he called me and said you will not believe it but this guy i had concerns about and filed a grievance against nick has bandages on his arm. >> james, one of the coworkers police already spoke with. jeff said just 11 days before the murder, he went to him with a complaint about nick and with

it, a warning. >> he said if i do not handle it he has his own way of handling things and bolted out of my office. >> you knew him, nick talked about him as a issue but not afraid of him. >> the detective interviewed him again. he told her he spent the sunday with his family and said he and his wife went to bed at 9:00 and got up around 5:00 which would have been a hour after knicks murder. >> if i contact you wife she will tell me this is where you were on sunday. >> i would hope so. >> he answered all of the questions i had and the interview ends. >> two minutes later there was a knock on your door. >> james came back and he tells us i need to tell you the truth. >> a confession?

not to murder. james owned up to slipping. >> what was the part you are not forthcoming about? >> jessica and i have slipped. >> as in had a affair with knicks ex-girlfriend, jessica. >> she broke it off quickly because she did not want to be the other person. >> now detective garcia had somebody knew she wanted to talk with. james wife, serena. >> i know he fell off the marital bandwagon. >> she said james told her about the affair weeks earlier, there were going through counseling and working on the marriage. when the detective asked her about the night of nick's murder -- >> it was the same as james. >> they hung out during the day

you went to bed together and woke up together. >> yes. >> if serena was telling the truth, james could not be the killer. as the detective pondered that, knicks brother john kept up his own investigation. he mentioned the name to a childhood friend. remember how tucson can be a big small town? >> he said you will not believe it i just dealt with that guy a few months ago. >> john's friend owned a machine fabrication shop, he was looking for a tool to fix a silencer. >> he is repairing a silencer a couple of months before your brother's murder. >> correct, i contact detectives and give them the information. >> the detective obtained a search warrant for james home.

her team found 18 boxes of 45 caliber ammo all with the distinctive five-star stamp and to spent showcasing's that matched the ones found at nick's house. >> the same gun fired bullets at the crime scene and the casings in his garage. >> inside the house investigators not find the gun itself but they did find this empty box for a combat 45 which they believed was the murder weapon. the search warrant also turned up a empty box for a silencer that would fit on that gun. what's more, investigators found carpet fibers in the back of the vehicle which matched both fibers found in knicks garage and the cut up rug in knicks bedroom and then there was this. >> in the master bedroom closet

on the top shelf detectives noticed a pair of work pants that looked like they had blood on them. >> that same day james was arrested while carpooling to work. in the drivers seat was of all people, jessica. she said she was giving him a ride. four days after knicks murder, newly minted homicide detective jennifer garcia made a arrest. >> how did it feel? >> pretty good that i got the right person for this crime. >> maybe but this case still had to go to trial and james still had a alibi. that is until a lifetime movie changed everything. >> coming up. >> she calls and says i have a new story to tell. >> a lie told in fear. >> i did not want to tell that

life. >> the courage to reveal the truth. >> i slept all night without nightmares. >> when dateline continues. choose advil liqui-gels for faster, stronger and longer-lasting relief than tylenol rapid release gels

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mobile savings are calling. visit xfinitymobile.com to learn more. doc? welcome back. james lapan was under arrest for the murder of nick morelos. a search of his property revealed a mountain ib welcome back, james was under arrest for the murder of nick. a search of his property revealed a mountain of evidence.

james did have a alibi, his wife serena said he was with her the night of the murder. could a tv movie get serena to flip her script? the real story was about to be revealed. here is the conclusion of stone cold. >> i assume he was a rain. >> serena met her future husband james at a dance class. >> every week he can sliding up and he says when do i get to throw my name in the hat? i say maybe never, go away. >> serena, a sergeant first class in the army and a self the described alpha female. >> with james and our strong

personalities, we were on the same page and things were going amazing. >> in 2010 at james's request they entered into a covenant marriage. >> it is recognized before a god and state and it is a lot harder to get divorced. >> less than a year into the marriage james father died and serena says something in her husband changed. he became controlling and frightening. serena recalled a disagreement in which she wanted to step away from him to check on the children. >> he was holding onto my biceps and he said we will finish this discussion and immediately following that he said the children are replaceable and we can make more and i am not.

i was thinking you are replaceable. i did not say it. >> what would have happened if you set it? >> i do not know. i had to pick my battles and i chose to protect the children. >> which is why she turned a blind eye to her husband's affair with jessica even when james invited jessica home for dinner. >> what kind of hosted did he expect you to be? >> i was the one cleaning up the kitchen. >> for your husband's mistress? >> yes. >> did he enjoy humiliating you like that? >> absolutely. it was a power thing. >> serena cook dinner for her husband and his lover and listened to them talk about nick. >> james used to pick on her, wide not go back to nick?

>> there was some jealousy there. >> definitely. >> now james only possible hope in trial was serena and her statement that her husband was asleep next to her. now, a little bit of drama was about to spawn a lot more. in december 2017 as james sat in a county jail cell, his wife of seven years sat in a hotel room during a work trip watching a lifetime movie about a abusive controlling husband. >> seeing that made me realize the fact that it is a pattern that will get worse and if he had not been arrested this is the direction my life is going. >> it took months but eventually serena found the courage to pick up the phone.

the chief trial counsel. >> we bring her in for a interview. >> when you talked to police previously, what the july about? >> the fact that he did not leave the house, he did. >> serena told prosecutors what really happened the night nick was killed. she said she and james went to bed at 9:00. later that night she saw james in bed and then when she woke up in the morning he was gone again. >> while i was in the shower he had come in. his arm was bloody. he looked at me and said i was home all night and we worked out this morning. >> he did not tell you why he needed the alibi. >> no. >> when james ordered her to lie to investigators -- >> you did not want to tell

that life. >> i did not, out of fear i did. >> and told that movie made her tell the truth. >> how did that feel? >> for the first time in a long time i slept all night. without nightmares. it was terrifying and relieving at the same time. >> after james was arrested for knicks murder the case against him only got stronger. his dna was found all over knicks bedroom and nick's blood was on the pants recovered at the home, with the overwhelming dna evidence and serena's testimony and the firearms analysis evidence, jurists did not need much time to reach a verdict. >> we the jury find the defendant james, guilty of first-degree murder. >> you are not required to offer a mode of what was it?

>> obsession and hatred tied up around nick and jessica. >> jessica, james mistress and nick's former girlfriend. the prosecutor called her as a interest but his interest was not what she said but what she might have done. >> i cannot prove she had involvement but i cannot rule it out, we have text from the evening of the murder that are pretty disturbing. >> at 6:36 pm james sent this text to jessica, pitbull. jessica replied, his dog, smokey. >> then james instructed jessica to delete all of the texts. >> why are you talking about nick's pitbull the night he is murdered? >> jessica testified they

talked about getting a dog like smokey for her daughter, that said investigators still wonder if she was feeding james information about nick. remember smokey was found in the backyard. did james put him there, was he able to pacify the dog based on help provided by jessica? we wanted to ask her about that but she declined to be interviewed. >> if she committed a murder or played a part, she is getting away with it. >> we could not find evidence. >> or she is not guilty. >> as for serena and james, they divorced in 2019. serena still worries what effect james may still have on her and her children's lives. >> will you ever be free of this guy?

>> when god hits his off switch. >> james will most likely be in prison when that happens, he was sentenced to life. kristi who waited 40 years to meet nick now faces the rest of her life without him. >> you will always be my superman, i will always love him. >> even in the middle of morning his brother, john takes some comfort and how he helped solve knicks murder. >> you still have his back. >> absolutely. >> i guess that never ends. >> no. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. thank you for watching. watchin [music playing] -- hello. this is "dateline." enough that i before angila