1 00:00:05,939 --> 00:00:08,041 - My daughter told my wife that she was going out 2 00:00:08,141 --> 00:00:10,477 to a Halloween party with her friends. 3 00:00:10,544 --> 00:00:13,614 - But that next day, nobody had seen her. 4 00:00:13,747 --> 00:00:15,682 Nobody had heard from her. 5 00:00:15,782 --> 00:00:17,743 - Her friends told us that she didn't ever show up 6 00:00:17,843 --> 00:00:20,354 to the Halloween party. 7 00:00:20,420 --> 00:00:22,122 - The police were getting leads left and right, 8 00:00:22,155 --> 00:00:23,290 people saying, hey, we saw her here. 9 00:00:23,357 --> 00:00:24,458 Hey, we saw her there. 10 00:00:24,491 --> 00:00:25,959 - Also, there were lots of rumors 11 00:00:26,026 --> 00:00:29,129 that she'd gotten involved with a guy named Spider. 12 00:00:29,196 --> 00:00:32,316 - The detectives heard that she could possibly 13 00:00:32,349 --> 00:00:34,268 be buried on his property. 14 00:00:34,334 --> 00:00:38,989 - But they kept hitting dead end after dead end. 15 00:00:39,022 --> 00:00:42,200 - And then a young woman comes to the police department 16 00:00:42,267 --> 00:00:44,127 and wants to talk to the detectives. 17 00:00:49,716 --> 00:00:52,386 - How in the hell can you do something like that? 18 00:00:52,486 --> 00:00:54,546 - It's one of the most disturbing cases 19 00:00:54,613 --> 00:00:56,490 I've been a part of due to the premeditation. 20 00:00:56,523 --> 00:01:00,294 - I've never seen such a thought-out, planned murder 21 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:02,029 in my career as a prosecutor. 22 00:01:02,062 --> 00:01:04,398 [suspenseful music] 23 00:01:04,464 --> 00:01:07,392 [tense music] 24 00:01:07,459 --> 00:01:14,491 ♪ ♪ 25 00:01:18,078 --> 00:01:22,015 - Bend, Oregon, is basically an outdoor paradise. 26 00:01:22,149 --> 00:01:25,953 Violent crime is low compared to a lot of places. 27 00:01:26,019 --> 00:01:28,088 It's a really safe place. 28 00:01:28,155 --> 00:01:30,841 But every city has its dark side. 29 00:01:34,628 --> 00:01:38,432 [soft dramatic music] 30 00:01:38,498 --> 00:01:43,403 - On November 1st, 2004, I was 12 years old. 31 00:01:43,437 --> 00:01:46,907 That night, I was home. My mom was home. 32 00:01:46,974 --> 00:01:49,509 My oldest sister, Nicole, was home. 33 00:01:49,610 --> 00:01:52,279 - My daughter, Nicole, was 21 years old. 34 00:01:52,346 --> 00:01:55,048 She had lots of friends, and she told my wife 35 00:01:55,082 --> 00:01:57,017 that she was going out to a Halloween party 36 00:01:57,084 --> 00:01:58,819 with her friends, 37 00:01:58,885 --> 00:02:00,754 and she'd be back later on. 38 00:02:00,787 --> 00:02:04,591 - I was actually a senior in high school at the time. 39 00:02:04,658 --> 00:02:06,693 And around here, it's normal for people 40 00:02:06,793 --> 00:02:09,621 to have Halloween parties on November 1st, 41 00:02:09,688 --> 00:02:10,731 especially adults. 42 00:02:10,764 --> 00:02:12,566 They want to be able to go out after 43 00:02:12,599 --> 00:02:15,602 handing out candy on Halloween. 44 00:02:15,669 --> 00:02:18,572 Nikki never said exactly whose house it was 45 00:02:18,605 --> 00:02:21,558 when she talked about the Halloween party. 46 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:29,549 On November 2nd, that next day, 47 00:02:29,650 --> 00:02:31,918 Nikki still wasn't home, 48 00:02:31,952 --> 00:02:33,645 but Nikki would leave literally 49 00:02:33,712 --> 00:02:34,988 for, like, days at a time. 50 00:02:35,055 --> 00:02:38,325 She'd find some friends, and they'd be like, 51 00:02:38,392 --> 00:02:40,610 yeah, just come stay here. 52 00:02:40,644 --> 00:02:44,931 - Nicole always wanted to check out other areas. 53 00:02:44,998 --> 00:02:47,601 And so we just figured she was going to go on out 54 00:02:47,634 --> 00:02:49,870 and do her thing for a while, and then Nicole's 55 00:02:49,936 --> 00:02:52,506 gonna show up one day just out of the blue. 56 00:02:52,572 --> 00:02:53,874 - She was 21. 57 00:02:53,974 --> 00:02:57,778 Like, oh, I'm an adult. I can do what I want. 58 00:02:57,844 --> 00:03:00,147 - But we noticed her purse was there. 59 00:03:00,213 --> 00:03:01,548 Her wallet was there. 60 00:03:01,648 --> 00:03:03,650 All of her personal effects were at the house. 61 00:03:03,717 --> 00:03:08,255 She didn't take them with her, which found that kind of odd. 62 00:03:08,355 --> 00:03:10,123 - Within a few days, 63 00:03:10,157 --> 00:03:12,626 things kind of started looking weird 64 00:03:12,659 --> 00:03:16,063 because she would have called. 65 00:03:16,129 --> 00:03:18,665 - On November 7th, Nicole's mother, Robin, 66 00:03:18,732 --> 00:03:20,650 contacted the Bend Police Department 67 00:03:20,684 --> 00:03:23,904 and wanted to report her daughter as a missing person. 68 00:03:24,004 --> 00:03:28,308 Nicole had been gone six days at that time. 69 00:03:28,341 --> 00:03:31,144 Her mother last saw her on November 1st at 7:30. 70 00:03:31,211 --> 00:03:35,849 She was picked up by a vehicle that drove her to the party. 71 00:03:35,882 --> 00:03:38,385 But Robin did not see the car, 72 00:03:38,452 --> 00:03:40,445 and she didn't know who picked her up. 73 00:03:40,545 --> 00:03:41,988 - Robin let police know 74 00:03:42,122 --> 00:03:43,890 that Nicole had been wearing a black pants, 75 00:03:43,990 --> 00:03:46,218 white tennis shoes, and a maroon polo shirt 76 00:03:46,284 --> 00:03:48,061 that had actually been issued to her dad, 77 00:03:48,128 --> 00:03:49,730 and it had the word "Bend" inscribed on it 78 00:03:49,830 --> 00:03:52,349 because her dad was a bus driver at the time. 79 00:03:52,382 --> 00:03:54,201 - We'd called her friends that we knew 80 00:03:54,234 --> 00:03:55,836 that she would probably go stay with, 81 00:03:55,902 --> 00:03:59,072 but nobody had seen her. Nobody had heard from her. 82 00:04:01,742 --> 00:04:03,443 - We made up flyers. 83 00:04:03,510 --> 00:04:05,378 We posted them everywhere, 84 00:04:05,412 --> 00:04:07,472 all the cities around Central Oregon, 85 00:04:07,572 --> 00:04:09,699 hundreds of flyers out. 86 00:04:09,733 --> 00:04:12,586 [tense music] 87 00:04:12,686 --> 00:04:15,021 ♪ ♪ 88 00:04:15,088 --> 00:04:17,157 - Nicole's mom also let police know 89 00:04:17,257 --> 00:04:19,793 that Nicole had a large group of friends 90 00:04:19,893 --> 00:04:22,429 that were kind of Gothic dressing 91 00:04:22,496 --> 00:04:25,966 and would like to hang out in the downtown Bend area. 92 00:04:26,032 --> 00:04:27,801 - One of those people said that she knew 93 00:04:27,901 --> 00:04:30,554 there was a Halloween party on November 1st, 94 00:04:30,587 --> 00:04:33,039 and it was hosted at a house that was 95 00:04:33,073 --> 00:04:36,042 being rented by Loren Bowers. 96 00:04:36,143 --> 00:04:39,212 - Loren Bowers was a friend of Nikki's from around town 97 00:04:39,246 --> 00:04:41,548 who she actually had dated, 98 00:04:41,648 --> 00:04:44,176 but they were just friends at that time. 99 00:04:44,276 --> 00:04:46,736 Loren also was a friend of the family. 100 00:04:46,770 --> 00:04:47,988 He'd come over for dinner. 101 00:04:48,054 --> 00:04:50,557 Loren would come over to, like, help my dad 102 00:04:50,590 --> 00:04:52,726 move something, fix something. 103 00:04:52,792 --> 00:04:55,562 So that party at Loren's is possibly 104 00:04:55,595 --> 00:04:58,131 where Nikki was going on November 1st. 105 00:05:00,767 --> 00:05:03,528 - Police went and talked to Loren Bowers. 106 00:05:03,628 --> 00:05:05,263 He did indicate that he had been 107 00:05:05,297 --> 00:05:08,800 really good friends with Nicole and Nicole's family. 108 00:05:08,867 --> 00:05:12,279 - Also present at the house was Loren's girlfriend, 109 00:05:12,345 --> 00:05:16,917 and the other roommate was Craig Whiting. 110 00:05:16,950 --> 00:05:20,045 - They all knew Nicole and were friends with Nicole. 111 00:05:20,111 --> 00:05:22,147 But all of them said that she hadn't 112 00:05:22,214 --> 00:05:23,824 been to the Halloween party. 113 00:05:23,924 --> 00:05:28,553 ♪ ♪ 114 00:05:28,653 --> 00:05:31,231 - We knew Craig Whiting through Loren. 115 00:05:31,331 --> 00:05:32,699 Because at, one point, he actually 116 00:05:32,766 --> 00:05:35,160 lived with us for about six months 117 00:05:35,227 --> 00:05:38,438 because he didn't have a permanent residence, 118 00:05:38,471 --> 00:05:40,106 and we gave him one. 119 00:05:40,173 --> 00:05:43,143 - At the time, Craig didn't have much money, 120 00:05:43,176 --> 00:05:45,445 and my parents were trying to help him 121 00:05:45,512 --> 00:05:48,114 get his life in order. 122 00:05:48,248 --> 00:05:50,584 - Detectives back then wanted to get a statement 123 00:05:50,650 --> 00:05:52,619 from each person at the house 124 00:05:52,652 --> 00:05:56,389 and people that were at the party. 125 00:05:56,456 --> 00:05:58,959 - We knew that Loren had a criminal history, 126 00:05:58,992 --> 00:06:01,862 and he had been in prison before, 127 00:06:01,928 --> 00:06:04,364 but we didn't have any type of evidence 128 00:06:04,431 --> 00:06:05,765 that would give automatic grounds 129 00:06:05,832 --> 00:06:08,501 for a search of his residence. 130 00:06:08,568 --> 00:06:11,137 - Also Loren and everyone else in the house 131 00:06:11,171 --> 00:06:13,473 that lived with him was cooperating with police, 132 00:06:13,506 --> 00:06:15,642 and there was nothing indicating 133 00:06:15,675 --> 00:06:18,870 they would be linked to Nicole being missing. 134 00:06:18,937 --> 00:06:22,482 - We have a young woman who's 21 years old 135 00:06:22,515 --> 00:06:23,875 who gets into a vehicle voluntarily, 136 00:06:23,942 --> 00:06:25,485 and then she doesn't return. 137 00:06:25,518 --> 00:06:27,687 Maybe there was a different Halloween party, 138 00:06:27,754 --> 00:06:30,757 but detectives don't have a lot of information to go on, 139 00:06:30,824 --> 00:06:33,460 so they talk to Nicole's family 140 00:06:33,526 --> 00:06:35,462 to try to create somewhat of a picture 141 00:06:35,528 --> 00:06:37,664 of who Nicole was as a person 142 00:06:37,697 --> 00:06:39,816 to help this investigation. 143 00:06:41,134 --> 00:06:44,062 [somber music] 144 00:06:44,129 --> 00:06:46,172 ♪ ♪ 145 00:06:46,206 --> 00:06:47,866 - We were a really close family. 146 00:06:47,899 --> 00:06:50,410 Like there's no ifs, ands, or buts about that. 147 00:06:50,510 --> 00:06:52,579 ♪ ♪ 148 00:06:52,646 --> 00:06:56,216 Nikki still lived at home, and she was the oldest. 149 00:06:56,249 --> 00:06:58,084 She'd helped me get ready for dances, 150 00:06:58,184 --> 00:07:01,521 and we'd just like, dance around, have fun. 151 00:07:01,554 --> 00:07:03,248 And my mom and Nikki, their personalities 152 00:07:03,315 --> 00:07:04,591 were a lot alike as well-- 153 00:07:04,691 --> 00:07:06,551 very loud, outgoing personalities. 154 00:07:06,584 --> 00:07:09,529 But Nikki's completely daddy's girl. 155 00:07:09,562 --> 00:07:12,590 - She was kind of a tomboy. 156 00:07:12,657 --> 00:07:14,659 She liked to go hunting and fishing with me, 157 00:07:14,759 --> 00:07:17,037 go out cutting firewood. 158 00:07:17,103 --> 00:07:19,439 Well, I got out of the Marine Corps in 1987, 159 00:07:19,506 --> 00:07:22,642 and she was actually getting ready to join the Marine Corps 160 00:07:22,709 --> 00:07:25,578 herself and then get the schooling to be-- 161 00:07:25,612 --> 00:07:27,172 she wanted to be a marine biologist. 162 00:07:27,272 --> 00:07:30,050 That was her dream in life, working with dolphins. 163 00:07:30,083 --> 00:07:34,412 She even had a tattoo on her shoulder of a dolphin. 164 00:07:34,446 --> 00:07:36,723 And she loved children. 165 00:07:36,756 --> 00:07:39,517 Back then, Nicole was a babysitter, 166 00:07:39,617 --> 00:07:42,095 so that's what she did for a living. 167 00:07:42,162 --> 00:07:43,955 - Me and my sister, Nicole, were best friends. 168 00:07:44,022 --> 00:07:45,565 It was like the oldest and youngest. 169 00:07:45,699 --> 00:07:47,567 But as she was getting older, 170 00:07:47,667 --> 00:07:51,087 she started hanging out with probably not the best 171 00:07:51,121 --> 00:07:53,406 ideal people to be around. 172 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:55,742 - Nicole had several boyfriends. 173 00:07:55,775 --> 00:07:58,411 I didn't really know them individually 174 00:07:58,478 --> 00:08:00,580 because she got over 18. 175 00:08:00,647 --> 00:08:03,933 Pretty much do what she wanted to. 176 00:08:03,967 --> 00:08:06,820 [tense music] 177 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:08,154 ♪ ♪ 178 00:08:08,254 --> 00:08:09,923 - Talking with the parents and the family, 179 00:08:09,956 --> 00:08:11,624 the detectives find out that Nicole recently 180 00:08:11,691 --> 00:08:13,426 broke up with a boyfriend 181 00:08:13,460 --> 00:08:16,896 about a week or so before this Halloween party. 182 00:08:16,996 --> 00:08:18,932 - In my eyes, he was not a good person. 183 00:08:19,065 --> 00:08:23,436 They hadn't dated super long, but Nicole had even told us 184 00:08:23,503 --> 00:08:25,663 he had gotten physical with her before 185 00:08:25,730 --> 00:08:28,308 and argued with her a lot. 186 00:08:28,375 --> 00:08:31,069 And from what I understand, he had been in and out of jail, 187 00:08:31,136 --> 00:08:33,446 so he had a really bad history. 188 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:36,633 - Hearing that this relationship was toxic, 189 00:08:36,666 --> 00:08:39,010 obviously, that is somebody that the detectives 190 00:08:39,077 --> 00:08:40,787 wanted to contact, because sometimes 191 00:08:40,820 --> 00:08:43,256 relationships can end poorly. 192 00:08:43,356 --> 00:08:46,309 - When somebody goes missing after a breakup like that, 193 00:08:46,342 --> 00:08:47,627 you never know. 194 00:08:47,660 --> 00:08:49,662 So it was definitely a thought that he could 195 00:08:49,696 --> 00:08:52,198 have done something to Nikki. 196 00:08:53,858 --> 00:08:55,902 - Nicole's ex-boyfriend 197 00:08:56,002 --> 00:08:58,571 seems dubious because, conveniently, 198 00:08:58,671 --> 00:08:59,739 they just broke up, 199 00:08:59,806 --> 00:09:01,107 and he doesn't know where she is. 200 00:09:01,207 --> 00:09:03,935 - And then we heard that a body had been found. 201 00:09:04,035 --> 00:09:05,712 - It was a female that fit generally 202 00:09:05,779 --> 00:09:07,814 the description of Nicole. 203 00:09:07,881 --> 00:09:11,050 - The main suspect is talking, and I thought, 204 00:09:11,151 --> 00:09:13,420 oh, my gosh, is he going to spill it? 205 00:09:13,486 --> 00:09:15,622 - They had planned on killing her because 206 00:09:15,688 --> 00:09:18,016 she was doing the right thing. 207 00:09:25,248 --> 00:09:28,026 [soft dramatic music] 208 00:09:28,126 --> 00:09:32,063 ♪ ♪ 209 00:09:32,130 --> 00:09:34,574 - Anytime there's a missing persons case, 210 00:09:34,641 --> 00:09:37,010 police are naturally gonna look to the people 211 00:09:37,076 --> 00:09:39,913 who are closest to the missing person. 212 00:09:40,013 --> 00:09:44,150 And so in Nicole's case, she had had a boyfriend, 213 00:09:44,217 --> 00:09:47,145 and they had broken up not very long 214 00:09:47,212 --> 00:09:50,390 before she went missing. 215 00:09:50,490 --> 00:09:53,193 - The detectives contacted the ex-boyfriend, 216 00:09:53,259 --> 00:09:57,188 brought him in for questioning, and with some phone calls, 217 00:09:57,255 --> 00:09:59,766 they could corroborate his whereabouts 218 00:09:59,799 --> 00:10:01,659 on November 1st. 219 00:10:01,693 --> 00:10:04,070 - Then he tells police that 220 00:10:04,137 --> 00:10:06,473 he has no idea where Nicole was. 221 00:10:06,539 --> 00:10:09,642 This is still seeming dubious to the police, 222 00:10:09,709 --> 00:10:11,811 so they ask him to do a polygraph. 223 00:10:11,878 --> 00:10:13,371 - He passed the polygraph. 224 00:10:13,438 --> 00:10:15,940 And so detectives pretty much ruled him out 225 00:10:16,007 --> 00:10:17,784 as a suspect at that point. 226 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:22,947 - One of the challenges in this case was 227 00:10:23,014 --> 00:10:25,024 detectives were receiving a lot of information 228 00:10:25,091 --> 00:10:28,027 from local residents about locations 229 00:10:28,094 --> 00:10:29,621 on where Nicole had been seen. 230 00:10:29,721 --> 00:10:31,881 - There was a news report about it 231 00:10:31,948 --> 00:10:33,391 on our local television station, 232 00:10:33,458 --> 00:10:36,728 so people thought they saw Nicole on a bus. 233 00:10:36,761 --> 00:10:39,222 They saw her downtown. 234 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:42,976 - But all of them were dead ends. 235 00:10:45,445 --> 00:10:48,314 So all we could do is just put up more flyers 236 00:10:48,381 --> 00:10:50,383 and just continue to look. 237 00:10:50,450 --> 00:10:54,754 - I hold my emotions in better than most people, 238 00:10:54,821 --> 00:10:59,075 but we never gave up hope that she was out there somewhere. 239 00:11:00,493 --> 00:11:02,287 I never stopped looking. 240 00:11:08,067 --> 00:11:11,004 [tense music] 241 00:11:11,104 --> 00:11:13,932 ♪ ♪ 242 00:11:13,998 --> 00:11:17,277 - Our detectives continue to work on following up leads, 243 00:11:17,343 --> 00:11:19,771 and a few months after the initial missing persons report, 244 00:11:19,837 --> 00:11:22,966 there were lots of new rumors going around amongst 245 00:11:22,999 --> 00:11:25,410 kind of the friends and people that hung out 246 00:11:25,476 --> 00:11:28,012 in the Drake Park area, known as the Park Rats. 247 00:11:28,079 --> 00:11:31,482 - The Park Rats were young adults that were drug users. 248 00:11:31,583 --> 00:11:33,993 Nicole was a young 21-year-old. 249 00:11:34,060 --> 00:11:36,329 She's trying to navigate her way through this world, 250 00:11:36,396 --> 00:11:38,590 and she, like many other people, 251 00:11:38,623 --> 00:11:40,325 made some poor decisions along the way 252 00:11:40,425 --> 00:11:42,468 and kind of got caught up in a group of people 253 00:11:42,569 --> 00:11:46,531 that were probably not the best for her. 254 00:11:46,631 --> 00:11:49,409 - The Park Rats said that Nicole had gotten involved 255 00:11:49,475 --> 00:11:51,711 with a guy named Devin, who we actually knew 256 00:11:51,811 --> 00:11:54,097 had a street name of Spider. 257 00:11:55,031 --> 00:11:57,542 - Spider was kind of like the leader of the pack, 258 00:11:57,642 --> 00:12:00,186 the leader of the group down in Drake Park. 259 00:12:00,286 --> 00:12:03,114 And he was a known troublemaker. 260 00:12:03,147 --> 00:12:05,008 He scared people, so to speak. 261 00:12:05,041 --> 00:12:07,977 That's why some people thought that they were a gang. 262 00:12:08,044 --> 00:12:10,622 And from what I understand, Nicole had actually 263 00:12:10,688 --> 00:12:12,899 gone out with him at one time. 264 00:12:12,966 --> 00:12:14,993 Of course, I didn't like it at all. 265 00:12:15,059 --> 00:12:16,736 - Spider actually went to school 266 00:12:16,836 --> 00:12:19,205 with my sister for a while. 267 00:12:19,305 --> 00:12:20,840 He did have a really bumpy past. 268 00:12:20,907 --> 00:12:23,042 He is one of those who had been in and out of jail. 269 00:12:23,109 --> 00:12:27,238 - We were told at one time that Spider and his group 270 00:12:27,305 --> 00:12:30,850 were into, like, satanic-type rituals 271 00:12:30,917 --> 00:12:34,812 and that they tried to get Nicole involved in that. 272 00:12:34,879 --> 00:12:36,856 - So it was definitely a thought that he 273 00:12:36,923 --> 00:12:40,159 could have been part of Nikki's disappearance. 274 00:12:40,226 --> 00:12:42,679 - Then somebody with a lead called the police department 275 00:12:42,745 --> 00:12:44,063 saying that Nicole could possibly 276 00:12:44,163 --> 00:12:46,691 be buried on his property, 277 00:12:46,758 --> 00:12:48,935 and they didn't want Spider to be able to have 278 00:12:49,035 --> 00:12:51,337 the time to move the body. 279 00:12:51,371 --> 00:12:53,473 So they contacted the National Guard 280 00:12:53,539 --> 00:12:56,042 and were trying to get a radar unit 281 00:12:56,109 --> 00:12:59,345 that flies over and detects ground disturbances 282 00:12:59,412 --> 00:13:01,414 using ground-penetrating radar. 283 00:13:01,514 --> 00:13:04,567 But the National Guard determined that the trees 284 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:07,111 were so dense that their technology would not 285 00:13:07,211 --> 00:13:08,621 help us in this investigation. 286 00:13:10,415 --> 00:13:12,258 - Detectives were able to contact Spider 287 00:13:12,358 --> 00:13:13,876 and get him to come down to the Bend Police Department 288 00:13:13,943 --> 00:13:15,695 for an interview. 289 00:13:15,762 --> 00:13:18,231 Spider was cooperative, and he said if he knew 290 00:13:18,298 --> 00:13:20,049 where she was, he would tell her parents 291 00:13:20,116 --> 00:13:21,959 'cause he could tell how distraught and upset 292 00:13:22,026 --> 00:13:24,370 her parents were since she had gone missing. 293 00:13:24,437 --> 00:13:26,806 He did recount the last time he had seen her 294 00:13:26,839 --> 00:13:29,609 was at a Halloween party. Confusing. 295 00:13:29,709 --> 00:13:31,744 Not the same Halloween party that happened 296 00:13:31,811 --> 00:13:34,739 on November 1st with Loren Bowers and that crowd, 297 00:13:34,806 --> 00:13:37,150 but a true Halloween party on Halloween. 298 00:13:37,250 --> 00:13:39,277 He described how her and some of their other friends 299 00:13:39,377 --> 00:13:41,446 actually went trick-or-treating for a while, 300 00:13:41,546 --> 00:13:43,990 and then they came back and all fell asleep. 301 00:13:44,023 --> 00:13:47,160 The next day, November 1st, somewhere later in the day, 302 00:13:47,260 --> 00:13:50,488 around noon, Spider said that he took Nicole back 303 00:13:50,588 --> 00:13:54,067 to her house, dropped her off, and then left. 304 00:13:54,133 --> 00:13:56,260 Detectives talked to other friends 305 00:13:56,327 --> 00:13:58,404 and were able to verify Spider's story 306 00:13:58,471 --> 00:14:00,331 but still we're concerned he may have something 307 00:14:00,398 --> 00:14:01,999 to do with Nicole's disappearance, 308 00:14:02,100 --> 00:14:03,743 so they asked him if he'd be willing to take 309 00:14:03,776 --> 00:14:07,313 a polygraph test, and he said he would do so. 310 00:14:07,413 --> 00:14:08,881 They asked him, was he involved 311 00:14:08,948 --> 00:14:10,450 in Nicole's disappearance? 312 00:14:10,516 --> 00:14:12,585 Did he know where Nicole currently was? 313 00:14:12,652 --> 00:14:14,787 Did he cause Nicole's death? 314 00:14:14,854 --> 00:14:17,014 And he passed all of those questions. 315 00:14:17,115 --> 00:14:20,518 So the detectives at that time felt pretty confident 316 00:14:20,618 --> 00:14:22,945 that they could rule out Spider as being part 317 00:14:23,012 --> 00:14:25,623 of Nicole's disappearance. 318 00:14:25,690 --> 00:14:27,525 - By this point in the investigation, 319 00:14:27,592 --> 00:14:29,669 detectives had already sent out subpoenas 320 00:14:29,736 --> 00:14:31,704 for Nicole's cell phone, 321 00:14:31,738 --> 00:14:34,866 her credit cards, her debit cards. 322 00:14:34,932 --> 00:14:37,001 If a person were alive, they would normally 323 00:14:37,101 --> 00:14:41,372 be using these things, but there was nothing. 324 00:14:41,472 --> 00:14:43,441 Her mother recognized she's been hanging around 325 00:14:43,508 --> 00:14:46,043 some really bad people, and there was something 326 00:14:46,144 --> 00:14:50,214 in Robin that felt that something bad 327 00:14:50,314 --> 00:14:51,758 had happened to her daughter. 328 00:14:51,824 --> 00:14:53,885 Mother's intuition? I don't know. 329 00:14:53,985 --> 00:14:56,496 - And detectives just kept hitting 330 00:14:56,562 --> 00:14:59,198 dead end after dead end. 331 00:14:59,298 --> 00:15:01,501 - They didn't know what happened. 332 00:15:01,601 --> 00:15:03,528 [soft dramatic music] 333 00:15:03,628 --> 00:15:08,174 A few months after that, a body had been found 334 00:15:08,274 --> 00:15:10,159 closer to the Portland metropolitan area. 335 00:15:11,669 --> 00:15:13,037 - It was a female 336 00:15:13,137 --> 00:15:15,748 that fit generally the description of Nicole. 337 00:15:18,251 --> 00:15:21,220 - I thought Nicole was out there still alive, 338 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:25,224 but we got a call saying that they found a girl's body 339 00:15:25,324 --> 00:15:27,585 about the same age and body style 340 00:15:27,685 --> 00:15:29,353 and all that stuff, and I couldn't believe it. 341 00:15:29,420 --> 00:15:31,097 Nicole was gone. 342 00:15:31,197 --> 00:15:33,132 So the one thing I asked him, I said, 343 00:15:33,166 --> 00:15:35,092 well, look on her left shoulder. 344 00:15:35,159 --> 00:15:37,203 If she's got a tattoo of a dolphin 345 00:15:37,303 --> 00:15:40,773 on her left shoulder, that might be her. 346 00:15:45,336 --> 00:15:48,114 [suspenseful music] 347 00:15:48,214 --> 00:15:50,049 ♪ ♪ 348 00:15:50,149 --> 00:15:53,377 - And my parents got the message from the detectives 349 00:15:53,444 --> 00:15:55,780 here in Bend that, in Portland, 350 00:15:55,880 --> 00:15:58,925 a body had been found that matched Nicole's description. 351 00:15:58,958 --> 00:16:01,828 It was kind of like a gut shot. 352 00:16:01,861 --> 00:16:05,965 The last thing you want to hear is your person's been killed. 353 00:16:06,032 --> 00:16:09,769 - Portland is only a three-hour drive from Bend, 354 00:16:09,869 --> 00:16:12,071 so this was a strong lead. 355 00:16:12,104 --> 00:16:14,040 - Also, at one point before 356 00:16:14,106 --> 00:16:16,108 she went missing, Nicole had left, 357 00:16:16,209 --> 00:16:17,902 went to Portland. 358 00:16:17,969 --> 00:16:21,380 And so my parents were thinking maybe she had gone up again. 359 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:23,883 And this was Nicole. 360 00:16:23,916 --> 00:16:26,586 - It was just excruciating waiting 361 00:16:26,686 --> 00:16:30,656 to find out if this body that was found is my sister. 362 00:16:32,625 --> 00:16:34,894 - But the detectives at that time 363 00:16:34,961 --> 00:16:37,163 found out ultimately, it wasn't her 364 00:16:37,230 --> 00:16:39,398 because it didn't have the same very unique 365 00:16:39,498 --> 00:16:43,002 dolphin tattoo that Nicole had. 366 00:16:43,069 --> 00:16:46,163 - It was a relief, period, because there's still hope 367 00:16:46,264 --> 00:16:48,608 that she's still out there. 368 00:16:48,708 --> 00:16:50,776 OK, what next? 369 00:16:50,877 --> 00:16:53,913 [crows cawing] 370 00:16:53,980 --> 00:16:57,583 - As this case moved on through the months following, 371 00:16:57,650 --> 00:17:00,444 the detectives continued to track down leads. 372 00:17:00,511 --> 00:17:02,121 But at some point, they don't really have 373 00:17:02,221 --> 00:17:03,614 a lot of updates to give. 374 00:17:03,681 --> 00:17:05,725 And as an investigator, that's really frustrating. 375 00:17:05,791 --> 00:17:07,927 It can also be discouraging. 376 00:17:07,994 --> 00:17:10,429 - Well, I always had the thought in my head 377 00:17:10,530 --> 00:17:12,765 that Nicole was gonna show up. 378 00:17:12,832 --> 00:17:16,135 I mean, driving around Bend in my bus, and all day long, 379 00:17:16,202 --> 00:17:19,872 every person I saw that resembled her, 380 00:17:19,972 --> 00:17:22,542 I looked, and I had to make sure that it wasn't her. 381 00:17:22,608 --> 00:17:24,468 - We still thought, she'll come home, 382 00:17:24,535 --> 00:17:28,014 even if it's ten years from now. 383 00:17:28,114 --> 00:17:31,050 [dramatic music] 384 00:17:31,150 --> 00:17:34,854 ♪ ♪ 385 00:17:34,954 --> 00:17:36,956 - The way our department works is that, every three years, 386 00:17:36,989 --> 00:17:38,624 we rotate our detectives. 387 00:17:38,691 --> 00:17:43,296 So in January of 2007, we have a new rotation, 388 00:17:43,396 --> 00:17:46,465 and I was promoted and given the Nicole Hutchings 389 00:17:46,532 --> 00:17:49,168 missing person case, leading our investigation. 390 00:17:49,268 --> 00:17:51,629 And I didn't have much. 391 00:17:51,696 --> 00:17:55,041 I had a lot of police reports that were chasing dead ends 392 00:17:55,074 --> 00:17:56,576 that never materialized. 393 00:17:56,676 --> 00:17:58,511 ♪ ♪ 394 00:17:58,611 --> 00:18:00,179 But having fresh eyes on this case, 395 00:18:00,212 --> 00:18:03,215 you go in there with, like, this renewed energy of like, 396 00:18:03,249 --> 00:18:05,151 I'm gonna solve this. 397 00:18:05,217 --> 00:18:06,644 - First with our new detectives, 398 00:18:06,711 --> 00:18:09,847 a lot of us were tasked with sending out letters and faxes 399 00:18:09,914 --> 00:18:12,316 to different jails, different hospitals, 400 00:18:12,383 --> 00:18:14,126 running credit checks. 401 00:18:14,193 --> 00:18:15,361 But at this point, 402 00:18:15,394 --> 00:18:16,829 nobody had heard anything from Nicole 403 00:18:16,896 --> 00:18:18,014 in about two years. 404 00:18:21,334 --> 00:18:24,503 - Next, I started to look into all the prior reports, 405 00:18:24,570 --> 00:18:28,099 trying to determine was there anything that we'd missed. 406 00:18:28,199 --> 00:18:31,177 And I noticed we had a couple early-on suspects 407 00:18:31,210 --> 00:18:33,070 and planned to re-interview them. 408 00:18:37,283 --> 00:18:38,751 - So as we were developing our plan 409 00:18:38,784 --> 00:18:41,887 to speak with this group of suspicious people, 410 00:18:41,954 --> 00:18:43,456 a young woman named Shannon comes 411 00:18:43,556 --> 00:18:46,158 to the Bend Police Department into the lobby 412 00:18:46,225 --> 00:18:48,127 and wants to talk to the detectives. 413 00:19:04,210 --> 00:19:07,213 - She said that her boyfriend killed Nicole Hutchings. 414 00:19:07,313 --> 00:19:09,774 [suspenseful music] 415 00:19:09,807 --> 00:19:11,417 Her boyfriend... 416 00:19:11,517 --> 00:19:12,985 is Loren Bowers. 417 00:19:13,085 --> 00:19:17,990 ♪ ♪ 418 00:19:29,668 --> 00:19:31,270 - As soon as Shannon comes in, 419 00:19:31,337 --> 00:19:33,806 that revives this entire investigation. 420 00:19:33,839 --> 00:19:35,800 It changed everything. 421 00:19:35,833 --> 00:19:37,677 - Shannon told us she couldn't live 422 00:19:37,777 --> 00:19:40,179 with herself anymore because of the information she had 423 00:19:40,279 --> 00:19:41,380 and that her heart was just broken 424 00:19:41,414 --> 00:19:43,416 for what had happened to Nicole, 425 00:19:43,516 --> 00:19:46,852 and I believed her. 426 00:19:46,952 --> 00:19:48,821 - This is a huge break in the case. 427 00:19:48,921 --> 00:19:50,656 Shannon, who had been interviewed 428 00:19:50,756 --> 00:19:52,825 during the first investigation, 429 00:19:52,858 --> 00:19:55,661 indicated that she and Loren Bowers had been 430 00:19:55,761 --> 00:19:58,789 together for several years. They have a son together. 431 00:19:58,856 --> 00:20:01,000 And she starts to tell us really good details 432 00:20:01,100 --> 00:20:04,128 about the Halloween party at Loren Bowers' house 433 00:20:04,195 --> 00:20:06,831 on November 1st, 2004. 434 00:20:14,380 --> 00:20:17,650 - So Loren's friend, Craig Whiting, 435 00:20:17,750 --> 00:20:19,310 was involved as well. 436 00:20:19,376 --> 00:20:21,554 For all of us, it was pretty shocking 437 00:20:21,654 --> 00:20:24,490 because both of them initially had been interviewed 438 00:20:24,523 --> 00:20:26,225 as well as Shannon 439 00:20:26,325 --> 00:20:27,560 and were cooperative with the investigation. 440 00:21:25,351 --> 00:21:28,087 [ominous music] 441 00:21:28,220 --> 00:21:31,290 ♪ ♪ 442 00:21:31,423 --> 00:21:33,993 - A lady named Shannon comes into the police department. 443 00:21:34,059 --> 00:21:35,995 Shannon's boyfriend is Loren Bowers. 444 00:21:36,061 --> 00:21:39,398 And Shannon says Loren and Craig Whiting 445 00:21:39,465 --> 00:21:42,101 killed Nicole Hutchings. 446 00:21:42,134 --> 00:21:44,703 She was obviously very scared of Loren, 447 00:21:44,770 --> 00:21:46,071 and we wanted to protect her, 448 00:21:46,138 --> 00:21:48,090 and we're trying to be compassionate 449 00:21:48,123 --> 00:21:50,434 as now she was gonna become one of our key witnesses. 450 00:21:51,911 --> 00:21:54,096 Shannon decided that she just wanted to take 451 00:21:54,129 --> 00:21:57,550 her and her son and start a new life away from Loren. 452 00:21:57,616 --> 00:21:59,101 This is kind of what motivated her 453 00:21:59,134 --> 00:22:00,819 to come to the police department. 454 00:22:29,848 --> 00:22:31,784 [suspenseful music] 455 00:22:31,884 --> 00:22:34,178 - After all these years of frustration 456 00:22:34,311 --> 00:22:35,354 and all these dead ends, 457 00:22:35,454 --> 00:22:37,156 now we have something to work on. 458 00:22:37,289 --> 00:22:40,025 What we have are a lot of corroborating statements, 459 00:22:40,092 --> 00:22:42,494 which are good. 460 00:22:42,595 --> 00:22:45,114 But what we don't have is a body. 461 00:22:51,203 --> 00:22:53,672 - While police may arrest on probable cause, 462 00:22:53,772 --> 00:22:55,199 that's a much different standard 463 00:22:55,332 --> 00:22:56,775 than proving beyond a reasonable doubt 464 00:22:56,842 --> 00:22:58,677 that somebody murdered Nicole. 465 00:22:58,777 --> 00:23:02,281 A really good way to think about a no-body homicide 466 00:23:02,348 --> 00:23:04,049 is let's say you have a situation 467 00:23:04,183 --> 00:23:06,210 where somebody hears what they think 468 00:23:06,343 --> 00:23:08,020 is violence in a home, 469 00:23:08,053 --> 00:23:11,982 and maybe there's a weapon or something where you say, 470 00:23:12,049 --> 00:23:14,176 hey, we don't have a body, but somebody was either 471 00:23:14,209 --> 00:23:15,961 seriously injured or killed here. 472 00:23:16,028 --> 00:23:17,563 We didn't have that. 473 00:23:17,663 --> 00:23:20,399 - Without the body, we needed a confession. 474 00:23:20,532 --> 00:23:23,035 Without the confession, we were not 475 00:23:23,135 --> 00:23:24,536 going to be successful in this prosecution. 476 00:23:24,637 --> 00:23:28,641 [tense music] 477 00:23:28,707 --> 00:23:31,860 - So we asked Shannon if she would be willing 478 00:23:31,894 --> 00:23:34,013 to wear a wire with Loren Bowers, 479 00:23:34,113 --> 00:23:36,315 and we could have them meet in maybe 480 00:23:36,382 --> 00:23:38,784 a public area, like a park. 481 00:23:38,851 --> 00:23:42,154 And she said she would be willing to do that. 482 00:23:42,221 --> 00:23:45,024 - Weeks later, Loren and Shannon, 483 00:23:45,090 --> 00:23:46,850 they're having a child visitation. 484 00:23:46,917 --> 00:23:47,993 And while the child was playing, 485 00:23:48,060 --> 00:23:50,062 she would try to get information out 486 00:23:50,162 --> 00:23:52,665 of Loren's mouth about the murder 487 00:23:52,698 --> 00:23:55,351 so that we could prosecute this successfully. 488 00:23:56,769 --> 00:23:58,429 - We had myself and other detectives 489 00:23:58,562 --> 00:24:00,406 close by as a protection detail 490 00:24:00,539 --> 00:24:04,243 if things, you know, did go sideways. 491 00:24:04,343 --> 00:24:07,529 - Then we saw Loren approach Shannon. 492 00:24:09,606 --> 00:24:11,116 And they start talking. 493 00:24:42,214 --> 00:24:45,651 [dramatic music] 494 00:24:54,994 --> 00:24:58,063 - When the district attorney, Wells Ashby, heard 495 00:24:58,097 --> 00:25:00,824 "I got rid of her," we looked at each other 496 00:25:00,958 --> 00:25:03,002 and goes, "We've got enough." 497 00:25:03,135 --> 00:25:04,161 Let's bring them back to the station 498 00:25:04,294 --> 00:25:05,838 to do a complete interrogation. 499 00:25:10,776 --> 00:25:13,212 - A few days later, the plan was to pick up 500 00:25:13,278 --> 00:25:16,006 both Craig and Loren simultaneously 501 00:25:16,140 --> 00:25:17,483 so they didn't have an opportunity 502 00:25:17,616 --> 00:25:19,485 to call the other person and tip somebody off. 503 00:25:19,518 --> 00:25:22,988 - On March 12th, 2007, we were able to watch 504 00:25:23,122 --> 00:25:25,182 Loren and watch Craig early that morning 505 00:25:25,315 --> 00:25:29,028 and have our patrol units conduct a traffic stop. 506 00:25:29,161 --> 00:25:31,030 They're on opposite sides of town. 507 00:25:31,163 --> 00:25:32,481 During those traffic stops, 508 00:25:32,514 --> 00:25:35,150 we have detectives randomly show up and say, 509 00:25:35,184 --> 00:25:36,769 hey, we're part of the cold case. 510 00:25:36,802 --> 00:25:39,171 We know you were initially contacted 511 00:25:39,204 --> 00:25:40,806 and interviewed on the Nicole Hutchings 512 00:25:40,873 --> 00:25:42,307 missing persons case. 513 00:25:42,374 --> 00:25:44,009 Would you be willing to come down to the police department 514 00:25:44,042 --> 00:25:46,412 and answer some more questions? 515 00:25:46,478 --> 00:25:49,448 And both Loren Bowers and Craig Whiting 516 00:25:49,515 --> 00:25:51,116 voluntarily agreed to come down to 517 00:25:51,183 --> 00:25:53,085 the police department, and then one of the detectives 518 00:25:53,152 --> 00:25:57,689 had the great idea to have them pass each other in the hallway. 519 00:25:57,790 --> 00:26:00,426 - When a co-defendant sees another co-defendant, 520 00:26:00,492 --> 00:26:02,061 it's gonna make that person think, 521 00:26:02,194 --> 00:26:05,697 is that other guy talking? Maybe I should start talking. 522 00:26:05,764 --> 00:26:09,001 And if you talk first, maybe you get the best deal. 523 00:26:09,101 --> 00:26:12,171 - When they saw each other, Loren Bowers' face 524 00:26:12,237 --> 00:26:16,642 literally just dropped like, oh, my God. 525 00:26:16,708 --> 00:26:19,878 - So we're either gonna really break this thing open, 526 00:26:19,978 --> 00:26:22,080 or these two are gonna ask for an attorney 527 00:26:22,181 --> 00:26:24,583 and we're moving ahead with a no-body homicide. 528 00:26:28,687 --> 00:26:32,291 - We started our interview with Loren Bowers. 529 00:26:32,357 --> 00:26:35,394 He didn't know we had the body wire from Shannon, 530 00:26:35,527 --> 00:26:38,030 and we wanted to lock him into a statement 531 00:26:38,096 --> 00:26:40,015 about what happened to Nicole. 532 00:27:15,934 --> 00:27:17,794 - We had Loren's previous statement 533 00:27:17,928 --> 00:27:21,773 where he confessed on the wire, and now we have him lying. 534 00:27:21,807 --> 00:27:24,276 Loren begins crying 'cause he knows 535 00:27:24,309 --> 00:27:27,479 in the other interview room, Craig is going to be talking. 536 00:27:32,476 --> 00:27:34,778 - It was most of our detectives' belief 537 00:27:34,811 --> 00:27:37,122 that Craig Whiting would be the one to ultimately 538 00:27:37,256 --> 00:27:39,082 break first and tell us the truth. 539 00:27:39,149 --> 00:27:40,559 That's because he didn't really have 540 00:27:40,626 --> 00:27:42,461 much of a criminal history. 541 00:27:42,528 --> 00:27:44,621 - The detective asked some fairly basic questions. 542 00:28:02,306 --> 00:28:05,417 - And then the detectives started really 543 00:28:05,484 --> 00:28:07,352 moving up tempo with the questions. 544 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:23,335 - You could tell that Craig Whiting 545 00:28:23,435 --> 00:28:25,938 was getting nervous, and we just saw him take 546 00:28:25,971 --> 00:28:27,839 this huge breath. Just... 547 00:28:27,940 --> 00:28:29,641 [breathes deeply] 548 00:28:29,675 --> 00:28:31,810 And I thought, oh, my gosh, 549 00:28:31,843 --> 00:28:35,514 is he gonna finally describe his role 550 00:28:35,647 --> 00:28:39,009 and Loren's role in Nicole Hutchings' murder? 551 00:28:44,323 --> 00:28:46,892 [tense music] 552 00:28:48,627 --> 00:28:50,963 - Our detective was interviewing Craig Whiting, 553 00:28:51,063 --> 00:28:52,431 trying to get the truth about his 554 00:28:52,531 --> 00:28:56,034 and Loren Bowers' involvement in Nicole's death 555 00:28:56,101 --> 00:28:57,819 and hopefully break this case wide open. 556 00:29:04,968 --> 00:29:08,580 - It was shocking because within the first five minutes 557 00:29:08,647 --> 00:29:11,416 of the interview, Craig starts a confession. 558 00:29:35,265 --> 00:29:37,609 - Craig explained that Nicole, when she was serving 559 00:29:37,709 --> 00:29:40,245 as a nanny, one of the children had disclosed 560 00:29:40,312 --> 00:29:42,939 to her that Loren had abused her 561 00:29:43,006 --> 00:29:45,083 and touched her in a criminal way. 562 00:29:45,117 --> 00:29:47,411 Nicole confronted Loren about that, 563 00:29:47,444 --> 00:29:49,521 and Loren denied that. 564 00:29:49,621 --> 00:29:50,922 - And ultimately her having that knowledge 565 00:29:50,989 --> 00:29:52,749 and her indicating that she was gonna come forward 566 00:29:52,783 --> 00:29:56,753 to authorities, that is what caused Loren 567 00:29:56,787 --> 00:30:00,365 to want to kill her so she couldn't ruin his life. 568 00:30:00,465 --> 00:30:02,401 - That's a substantial motive. 569 00:30:02,434 --> 00:30:04,403 So Loren creates a fake party. 570 00:30:04,436 --> 00:30:06,738 Even though Nicole confronted Loren 571 00:30:06,805 --> 00:30:08,473 about sexually abusing a minor, 572 00:30:08,573 --> 00:30:11,777 she accepted the invitation and was trusting enough 573 00:30:11,810 --> 00:30:13,111 to go to that party that night 574 00:30:13,178 --> 00:30:15,397 because Craig and her other friends will be there. 575 00:30:26,758 --> 00:30:30,328 - Craig said that Loren made Nicole a drink, 576 00:30:30,429 --> 00:30:32,964 and it was rum and Coke laced with Vicodin. 577 00:30:33,031 --> 00:30:35,500 Nicole consumed it, became very, very intoxicated, 578 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:37,302 to the point where she passed out. 579 00:30:37,336 --> 00:30:39,671 - Craig said they placed her in a truck, 580 00:30:39,738 --> 00:30:40,939 left the party, and went out into 581 00:30:41,006 --> 00:30:43,175 the Deschutes National Forest. 582 00:30:54,745 --> 00:30:57,180 - At first, Craig didn't describe himself being 583 00:30:57,247 --> 00:30:59,157 involved in striking Nicole, 584 00:30:59,191 --> 00:31:01,793 but the detectives pressed on, and Craig Whiting eventually 585 00:31:01,927 --> 00:31:05,030 said, I struck her first. I delivered the first blows. 586 00:31:18,677 --> 00:31:20,479 - And then he said Loren continued 587 00:31:20,545 --> 00:31:23,482 beating her until Nicole went unconscious, 588 00:31:23,615 --> 00:31:25,050 and she's dead. 589 00:31:49,900 --> 00:31:52,244 - Craig said they marked the grave with a burnt log. 590 00:31:52,310 --> 00:31:54,746 That way, if they ever needed to come back and move the body, 591 00:31:54,813 --> 00:31:56,164 they would know where to find it. 592 00:32:31,441 --> 00:32:34,119 - Craig was truly remorseful, but it's really hard 593 00:32:34,186 --> 00:32:36,988 to understand why Craig Whiting would go along with this plan. 594 00:32:37,055 --> 00:32:38,615 - He didn't ask you to move a couch. 595 00:32:38,682 --> 00:32:41,560 He asked you to kill somebody. Sorry don't count, bro. 596 00:32:41,593 --> 00:32:43,895 - Hearing everything that Craig's saying-- 597 00:32:43,929 --> 00:32:46,364 Craig and Loren had dug the grave. 598 00:32:46,465 --> 00:32:49,901 They had planned the party to lure Nicole out of the home. 599 00:32:49,935 --> 00:32:52,462 And then let's spike her drink so she gets 600 00:32:52,529 --> 00:32:54,840 impaired to the extent that she can't resist, 601 00:32:54,940 --> 00:32:56,775 that she doesn't know what's going on. 602 00:32:56,808 --> 00:32:59,102 They had thought of everything. 603 00:32:59,135 --> 00:33:01,012 The evidence supporting premeditation 604 00:33:01,079 --> 00:33:02,981 for murdering Nicole is staggering. 605 00:33:05,083 --> 00:33:07,986 - After talking to Craig, the senior detective went back 606 00:33:08,053 --> 00:33:10,288 to continue interviewing Loren, said, hey, 607 00:33:10,322 --> 00:33:11,781 Craig's kind of told us what happened, 608 00:33:11,815 --> 00:33:13,950 but he tries to blame everybody else at the party. 609 00:33:19,331 --> 00:33:21,867 - And so this is the classic hey, I didn't do it, 610 00:33:21,933 --> 00:33:23,935 but if I did, I did less than the other guy. 611 00:33:24,002 --> 00:33:25,962 That's nothing new in our line of work. 612 00:33:37,115 --> 00:33:39,467 - So the murder weapon was a tire buddy. 613 00:33:39,501 --> 00:33:41,453 And the end of it has a metal ring, 614 00:33:41,486 --> 00:33:44,247 and truck drivers use it to hit tires to make sure 615 00:33:44,314 --> 00:33:45,315 there's air in the tire. 616 00:34:12,017 --> 00:34:13,318 - Watching this was amazing. 617 00:34:13,451 --> 00:34:16,655 Now we have both Loren and Craig finally saying, 618 00:34:16,755 --> 00:34:19,357 we were both involved in Nicole Hutchings' murder. 619 00:34:19,424 --> 00:34:21,660 - During the interviews, other Bend police detectives 620 00:34:21,693 --> 00:34:25,564 served a search warrant for where Loren currently lives, 621 00:34:25,664 --> 00:34:28,700 the house of where the Halloween party took place, 622 00:34:28,733 --> 00:34:31,603 and also for the other suspect, Craig Whiting's residence. 623 00:34:31,703 --> 00:34:34,172 - The residence where the party had taken place 624 00:34:34,205 --> 00:34:36,508 had been vacant now for about a year or so, 625 00:34:36,541 --> 00:34:39,277 but in the pellet stove, we were able to find 626 00:34:39,377 --> 00:34:41,513 remnants of a shirt. 627 00:34:41,546 --> 00:34:44,950 Nicole's father was a bus driver, 628 00:34:45,050 --> 00:34:46,718 and they were issued shirts. 629 00:34:46,785 --> 00:34:49,554 And when her mother last saw her on November 1st, 630 00:34:49,621 --> 00:34:52,190 Nicole was wearing one of her dad's shirts. 631 00:34:52,290 --> 00:34:54,526 We took it to the Oregon crime lab, 632 00:34:54,593 --> 00:34:56,820 and they determined that it was the same fabric 633 00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:59,497 from the same color lot. 634 00:34:59,564 --> 00:35:02,600 Also outside, we were able to find an area 635 00:35:02,667 --> 00:35:04,803 where they tried to burn something. 636 00:35:04,869 --> 00:35:08,206 We did not recover the actual tire buddy, 637 00:35:08,273 --> 00:35:10,642 the murder weapon, but we found the same type 638 00:35:10,742 --> 00:35:13,111 of ring that would be on a tire buddy. 639 00:35:21,686 --> 00:35:23,755 - I've never seen such a thought-out, 640 00:35:23,788 --> 00:35:27,959 premeditated, planned murder in my career as a prosecutor. 641 00:35:31,896 --> 00:35:35,200 - In fall of 2004, Nicole confronted Loren 642 00:35:35,300 --> 00:35:37,869 about sexually abusing a minor. 643 00:35:37,936 --> 00:35:39,404 - She also threatened to contact 644 00:35:39,471 --> 00:35:41,973 DHS and the authorities. 645 00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:44,242 - So Loren convinced Craig to help him kill Nicole 646 00:35:44,275 --> 00:35:46,136 because that was the only way Loren could 647 00:35:46,202 --> 00:35:48,179 avoid going back to prison. 648 00:35:48,279 --> 00:35:50,148 - Loren planned a Halloween party, 649 00:35:50,248 --> 00:35:53,276 which was a complete sham, to isolate Nicole. 650 00:35:55,153 --> 00:35:56,855 - The night before the party, Loren and Craig 651 00:35:56,921 --> 00:35:59,491 drove to an isolated area outside the town 652 00:35:59,557 --> 00:36:01,259 and dug a hole. 653 00:36:01,359 --> 00:36:03,194 - The next night at the Halloween party, 654 00:36:03,261 --> 00:36:06,631 they spiked Nicole's drink with Vicodin. 655 00:36:06,698 --> 00:36:08,099 She would become unconscious, and they could get her out 656 00:36:08,133 --> 00:36:10,627 of the house without any resistance. 657 00:36:10,660 --> 00:36:14,272 Craig and Loren drove her out of town 658 00:36:14,305 --> 00:36:15,907 back to the site in the woods where they had 659 00:36:16,007 --> 00:36:17,609 dug the hole the night before. 660 00:36:17,742 --> 00:36:20,345 - They hit her over the head with the tire buddy, 661 00:36:20,412 --> 00:36:23,173 take her clothes off of her, push her into the hole, 662 00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:25,583 and then fill it with dirt. 663 00:36:25,650 --> 00:36:27,952 And then Loren takes a partially-burnt log 664 00:36:27,986 --> 00:36:29,454 and places it over the grave 665 00:36:29,521 --> 00:36:31,681 so that he has a marker for future reference. 666 00:36:31,748 --> 00:36:33,291 - The men returned to the party 667 00:36:33,425 --> 00:36:35,694 and burned the clothes, which were clearly evidence. 668 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:38,588 - Loren instructed Craig and everyone else who had been 669 00:36:38,655 --> 00:36:40,331 at the party to tell investigators 670 00:36:40,365 --> 00:36:43,193 that Nicole had not been at the party. 671 00:36:43,259 --> 00:36:48,139 So on March 12th, 2007, Loren Bowers and Craig Whiting 672 00:36:48,206 --> 00:36:51,601 were both arrested for the murder of Nicole Hutchings. 673 00:36:51,668 --> 00:36:55,013 - Now we need a body. 674 00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:56,581 - It was very important to being able 675 00:36:56,648 --> 00:36:59,484 to best prove the case, but more important than that, 676 00:36:59,551 --> 00:37:01,711 we wanted to tell her parents that we'd arrested 677 00:37:01,778 --> 00:37:04,222 the two of them and then bring Nicole home 678 00:37:04,289 --> 00:37:06,216 so her family could have their proper closure 679 00:37:06,282 --> 00:37:07,992 and proper burial. 680 00:37:08,026 --> 00:37:10,095 Loren and Craig had both admitted to burying her 681 00:37:10,161 --> 00:37:12,831 out on the Deschutes National Forest property, 682 00:37:12,864 --> 00:37:14,891 and they gave us the general area. 683 00:37:14,958 --> 00:37:16,851 - But they had been drinking that night, 684 00:37:16,885 --> 00:37:20,021 and they didn't know exactly where the body was. 685 00:37:20,054 --> 00:37:23,358 I mean, there's nothing out there but trees and mud. 686 00:37:23,391 --> 00:37:26,244 - It would be trying to find a needle in a haystack. 687 00:37:32,434 --> 00:37:35,203 [tense music] 688 00:37:35,236 --> 00:37:37,580 - Loren and Craig had both admitted to being involved 689 00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:41,726 in Nicole's death, and we were able to get them 690 00:37:41,793 --> 00:37:43,511 to agree to take us out and find 691 00:37:43,578 --> 00:37:45,013 where her body was buried. 692 00:37:45,079 --> 00:37:47,699 - They were very vague about where the body was, 693 00:37:47,799 --> 00:37:51,861 and the Deschutes National Forest out there is vast. 694 00:37:51,928 --> 00:37:54,506 And it's a very, very desolate area. 695 00:37:54,572 --> 00:37:58,543 - Loren took us out of town about 20 minutes to an area. 696 00:37:58,643 --> 00:37:59,844 He was pretty confident 697 00:37:59,911 --> 00:38:01,780 it was the correct general area. 698 00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:03,982 - We went down all these different roads. 699 00:38:04,048 --> 00:38:06,518 We were out there for ten hours with nothing, 700 00:38:06,584 --> 00:38:08,536 and it was really deflating. 701 00:38:08,603 --> 00:38:11,114 [dramatic music] 702 00:38:11,181 --> 00:38:14,083 Then Loren was eventually able to isolate 703 00:38:14,184 --> 00:38:16,619 the specific area where Nicole was buried. 704 00:38:16,686 --> 00:38:20,248 We quarantined it off. We brought cadaver dogs in. 705 00:38:20,281 --> 00:38:22,967 - The cadaver dogs alerted on a burnt log. 706 00:38:23,067 --> 00:38:26,629 - Craig had told us that when they buried Nicole, 707 00:38:26,729 --> 00:38:30,266 Loren had placed a partially-burnt log 708 00:38:30,366 --> 00:38:32,468 over the grave as a marker. 709 00:38:32,569 --> 00:38:34,512 - A specialist from the crime lab 710 00:38:34,546 --> 00:38:36,648 begins to slowly dig that area because we don't want 711 00:38:36,748 --> 00:38:38,483 to lose evidence if we find the body. 712 00:38:38,550 --> 00:38:42,712 - As the technician is digging down further, 713 00:38:42,745 --> 00:38:46,291 she ends up striking what she believes is a skull. 714 00:38:46,391 --> 00:38:49,327 [ominous music] 715 00:38:49,427 --> 00:38:51,654 ♪ ♪ 716 00:38:51,721 --> 00:38:53,932 The burial was 7 feet down, 717 00:38:54,032 --> 00:38:55,658 so it was beyond the frost line, 718 00:38:55,758 --> 00:38:57,160 and it was beyond the bug line. 719 00:38:57,260 --> 00:39:00,338 So there was no deterioration on the body. 720 00:39:00,371 --> 00:39:03,441 Nicole had a dolphin tattoo on the back of her shoulder, 721 00:39:03,508 --> 00:39:06,236 and you could clearly see that there was 722 00:39:06,302 --> 00:39:07,837 a dolphin on the body. 723 00:39:07,904 --> 00:39:11,149 We knew that we had Nicole. 724 00:39:11,249 --> 00:39:14,177 [somber music] 725 00:39:14,244 --> 00:39:16,346 ♪ ♪ 726 00:39:16,446 --> 00:39:19,182 - The medical examiner was able to let us know 727 00:39:19,282 --> 00:39:21,793 that she had some severe skull fractures. 728 00:39:21,860 --> 00:39:24,362 - Nicole's cause of death was determined 729 00:39:24,395 --> 00:39:26,447 to be blunt force trauma. 730 00:39:26,514 --> 00:39:28,766 - Everything matched Loren and Craig's statements 731 00:39:28,833 --> 00:39:30,468 about using that tire buddy. 732 00:39:30,535 --> 00:39:34,372 So that was the last piece of evidence we needed 733 00:39:34,405 --> 00:39:36,099 to bring the whole story together. 734 00:39:36,165 --> 00:39:38,368 - Having found Nicole's body, 735 00:39:38,434 --> 00:39:40,878 we're able to communicate with the family. 736 00:39:40,979 --> 00:39:42,372 Your daughter was murdered. 737 00:39:42,472 --> 00:39:44,048 We're moving forward with this case. 738 00:39:49,420 --> 00:39:51,256 - Like 10:15 at night, 739 00:39:51,289 --> 00:39:53,424 we're all getting ready for bed. 740 00:39:53,458 --> 00:39:55,493 They're knocking at the door, and I opened the door. 741 00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:59,822 I'm looking at the police chief and the chaplain. 742 00:39:59,856 --> 00:40:04,335 And they said, we got some news for you. 743 00:40:04,402 --> 00:40:08,239 We found Nicole. She is deceased. 744 00:40:08,339 --> 00:40:09,841 My wife, she turned around 745 00:40:09,941 --> 00:40:13,745 and just lost it, totally lost it. 746 00:40:13,845 --> 00:40:15,705 She wasn't missing anymore. 747 00:40:15,805 --> 00:40:18,049 ♪ ♪ 748 00:40:18,149 --> 00:40:22,687 - I just fell to the floor. All hope was shattered. 749 00:40:22,787 --> 00:40:25,848 And it's not just somebody who passed away. 750 00:40:25,915 --> 00:40:27,258 They were taken. 751 00:40:31,087 --> 00:40:36,159 - When they told me who it was that they had in custody, 752 00:40:36,192 --> 00:40:39,504 I had to ask them to repeat it a couple of times 753 00:40:39,570 --> 00:40:41,039 because I did not want to believe it was Craig 754 00:40:41,105 --> 00:40:43,708 and Loren because they were so involved 755 00:40:43,775 --> 00:40:47,770 in her last few years of life. 756 00:40:47,870 --> 00:40:50,415 Craig lived with us for six months. 757 00:40:50,481 --> 00:40:52,175 Loren had been in our house on numerous-- 758 00:40:52,241 --> 00:40:53,443 he had dinner with us. 759 00:40:53,543 --> 00:40:56,521 - They helped us look for her. 760 00:40:56,587 --> 00:40:59,857 How in the hell can you do something like that? 761 00:40:59,924 --> 00:41:02,794 - We were told that they had planned 762 00:41:02,894 --> 00:41:04,729 all this out ahead of time. 763 00:41:04,796 --> 00:41:07,757 We want to know why. 764 00:41:07,857 --> 00:41:11,252 The police chief told us that Nicole was babysitting 765 00:41:11,285 --> 00:41:14,472 this girl who went to Nicole and explained 766 00:41:14,572 --> 00:41:18,109 that Loren was touching her. 767 00:41:18,176 --> 00:41:20,044 Nicole went into action 768 00:41:20,111 --> 00:41:22,038 right away and confronted Loren, 769 00:41:22,105 --> 00:41:24,540 and because he didn't want to go back to prison, 770 00:41:24,607 --> 00:41:27,051 he turned around and killed my daughter. 771 00:41:27,118 --> 00:41:30,446 And we were told that Craig Whiting did it 772 00:41:30,546 --> 00:41:32,256 because he just wanted to help out a brother 773 00:41:32,323 --> 00:41:34,225 or help out a friend. 774 00:41:34,292 --> 00:41:36,828 Unbelievable. I was numb. 775 00:41:38,955 --> 00:41:41,466 - Loren Bowers and Craig Whiting both ultimately 776 00:41:41,566 --> 00:41:45,236 pled guilty to aggravated murder and kidnapping. 777 00:41:45,303 --> 00:41:48,131 They received a true life sentence, 778 00:41:48,231 --> 00:41:50,775 meaning they would never have a possibility for parole, 779 00:41:50,842 --> 00:41:53,436 so they will both spend the rest of their lives in prison. 780 00:41:53,503 --> 00:41:56,814 - Of the hundreds, probably thousands of cases 781 00:41:56,914 --> 00:41:59,617 that I've prosecuted in my life, 782 00:41:59,684 --> 00:42:01,619 there's nothing like this case. 783 00:42:01,686 --> 00:42:04,555 And I just don't think I'll see another case 784 00:42:04,622 --> 00:42:08,484 or investigation like this. I hope I don't. 785 00:42:12,697 --> 00:42:15,733 - It's a big void with Nicole not being here. 786 00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:18,961 She would be 42 years old right now. 787 00:42:19,028 --> 00:42:20,455 - I want everyone to know my sister 788 00:42:20,521 --> 00:42:22,265 got killed because she was doing 789 00:42:22,331 --> 00:42:26,978 the thing that every human being should be doing. 790 00:42:27,045 --> 00:42:29,313 - My sister was trying to save a little girl 791 00:42:29,414 --> 00:42:32,583 who was being hurt, and her life was taken for it. 792 00:42:32,650 --> 00:42:35,319 If that does not signify somebody being a hero, 793 00:42:35,420 --> 00:42:36,721 I don't know what does.