00:00:14
Nikki loved Seattle. She thought it was the most beautiful city in the world. In January 2006,
00:00:26
my beloved daughter Nicole disappeared. She was my youngest daughter and the absolute
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light of my life. We thought, well, maybe somebody abducted her on the way to work.
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>> Nicole Pet stands 5' 3 and weighs about 125 lbs. >> Nicole's husband, David, whom Nicole
00:00:51
loved very much, went on television and asked the public to help us find her. >> I just want to know that you're okay.
00:00:58
say that I love you. >> A woman's body was discovered [music] yesterday off De Moines's Memorial Drive
00:01:09
in Burian. >> Got a lot of blackberry growth here and she was tucked up underneath the set of
00:01:14
the blackberry bushes. >> And what was her condition? >> She was naked. She had no clothes on
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whatsoever. >> My beautiful daughter, my sweet girl. How anyone could hurt her is just
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not feasible to me. [music] >> This murderer is still out there. He may kill another Seattle daughter.
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>> You always have to look at who would have opportunity and who might have motive.
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>> I said, "David, the the police think you did it." And he said, "The police always
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think the husband did it." >> Police say they have interviewed Pete. [music] They say he is not a suspect.
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>> It was uh true who done it initially. >> Months and years passed and there wasn't
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an arrest, but I knew who did it. So I decided to confront him myself. And when he saw me walk in, it was not
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here, Gail. Not here, Gail. >> This [music] morning, we were able to make an arrest and this person will be
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brought to justice. >> Raise your right hand, please. Do you swear or affirm? >> There was a threat of of a restraining
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order against me because I went into his place of work. I have cried my brains out every day for seven [music] years. I
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wasn't going to let her just become another case in their [music] in their files. If he can't take being confronted
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by a 72year-old woman, well, I'm sorry, but he's not much of a man if he can't handle that.
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>> [music] [music] >> When did you [music] realize something was wrong? when he called Sunday morning.
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I was at church and my husband had just come home from church. It had been a quiet morning in Surprise, Arizona. But
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now Gail's son-in-law, David, was phoning from Seattle with devastating news. Gail's husband, Rod, took the
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call. >> And so when I came home, Rod said, "Gail anne, sit down." And I said, "Well, what
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what what's [laughter] the matter?" and he said, "Well, David called and said, Nikki's gone missing."
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>> Nikki was Nicole Pet, Gail's youngest daughter. >> So, I called him and said, "David,
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what's happening?" He said, "Nikki's gone missing." I said, "Well, what do you mean by that?" He said, "We were
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supposed to go to another couple's for dinner last night and she didn't show up."
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And I haven't heard from her since. But I I I mean, I thought, "Well, somebody's
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abducted her." And so Rod and I grabbed a couple things, threw them in the suitcase, and got on the next airplane
00:04:28
and flew up to Seattle. Gail would soon join forces with her other daughter, Tanya, and they peppered
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David with questions. >> We asked if they had had a fight. He said no. I mean, we couldn't find her
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anywhere. It was such a nightmare. >> It made no sense. Nicole would never run off without contacting them. They had
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always been a close family growing up on picturesque Lake Seamish [music] just outside Seattle.
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>> How would you describe your love for Nikki? >> Oh, I don't know how. Just as deep as
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the deepest ocean and as high as the highest sky. You know, children are your heart.
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She wouldn't miss a day of calling me. Sometimes she'd call me just to say, "Mommy, I love you."
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>> She was everything to you. >> She was my everything. She was my heart. >> When the girls were little, Gail
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divorced their father. As a single mom, she juggled a family and a globe trotting career.
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>> Well, I was the steartist for Pan-Amean and I flew all over the world and sometimes my trips were quite long.
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Steartises were were really looked up to in in in our culture back then, weren't
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they? >> Yes, they were. And I just always thought of her being so elegant and glamorous and her jetet life.
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>> Glamorous and charming. Something Nicole tried emulating back at home. For a while, she became Snow White.
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>> And it was, "Don't call me Nikki, call me Snow White." And then she had a very
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special Snow White smile. >> But for Nicole, life was no fairy tale. She suffered from a painful
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gynecological condition. >> When she was 13, she developed um endometriosis. And from the time she was 13 till the
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time she was 21, she'd already had three surgeries. And uh the doctors just put her on pain
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pills and pain pills. >> All those pills took their toll. And by the time Nicole got to college, she
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became addicted. >> And how long did she stay addicted before she reached that point of, "I
00:06:54
have to do something about this." >> I think she was 23 when she came home and said she needed help. She was in
00:07:02
pain and in tears and and very ashamed of herself. And yes, it was very emotional holding each other and saying,
00:07:11
you know, you'll get through this, sweetheart, and we'll we'll get you through it. And Nicole did get through
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it. After spending time in this rehab center, she swore off painkillers and began attending Alcoholics Anonymous,
00:07:26
which also helps with other addictions. And once Nikki got off of these painkillers, did she change? Was the old
00:07:35
Nikki back? Oh, absolutely. A more wonderful Nikki than ever. >> Nicole's life was coming together. She
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got a job as a receptionist at a local health club where she met her best friend, Tamara Vanderhden.
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>> She was a people person. Yeah, absolutely. Everybody loved her. >> And would you call her a strong person?
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>> When I first met her, no. No, she became a very strong person. But when I first met her, she was still
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transitioning and and wasn't quite sure of herself. >> That's when Nicole met another health
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club employee, a handsome salesman named David Pet. >> And what did she tell you about this
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guy? >> She really liked him. She saw a strength in him, I think, that she didn't see in
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herself. I think she looked at Dave as somebody that could take care of her. his strength, his confidence, you know,
00:08:34
would protect her. >> They began dating, but Nicole didn't realize she had some competition.
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>> I was 20 when I met David. >> Sabrina Strike worked in one of the health club's other locations. So, you
00:08:50
were single? >> Yeah. Yeah, I was. >> And when you met David, he was single >> essentially. Yeah.
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essentially because at some point Sabrina learned about David and Nicole's relationship. So if one of your friends
00:09:05
said to you, "So what's he like?" What would you say? >> I'd say he was a nice guy and actually
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extremely generous. He was a a very generous guy. Taking me out to lunch, taking me out to dinner, um you know,
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bringing over wine. After many romantic times with Sabrina, David proposed to Nicole.
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>> I remember that that that hurt. >> April 20th, 2002. A sad day for Sabrina, a joyous one for
00:09:38
Nicole, who married David on the sands of Hawaii. >> I'm very happy, nervous. >> It was beautiful. Very beautiful. Maui
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sunset on the beach, barefoot. It was amazing. >> It looked like Snow White was going to
00:09:53
live happily ever after, right? >> It sure did. It really looked like that. >> With her new husband and a new job at a
00:10:03
cell phone company, Nicole, at least on the outside, seemed content. And did Nikki love David?
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>> Oh, with all her heart. She was always saying, "My wonderful husband, my brilliant husband, my handsome [music]
00:10:18
husband. She loved him. >> But on the morning of January 28th, 2006, Nicole was gone. Some close
00:10:29
friends knew that Nicole had injured her back and were worried she may once again
00:10:34
become addicted to painkillers. >> In the weeks leading up to her disappearance,
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what we talked about were her back problems, the pain she was having, and how she was scared. She didn't want to
00:10:48
take the recommended dose of the painkillers >> and it scared her that she had to take
00:10:53
this again. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. >> And when David began looking through their apartment, he says he noticed an
00:11:02
empty pill bottle. 56 painkillers were missing. Nothing is worse than not knowing
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where she is. God, I love her more than life itself. >> After Nicole went missing, Gail went on
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Seattle TV to make [music] a desperate plea. If you are in control of your circumstances, please come home because
00:11:48
everybody that loves you is here. >> Nicole Pet stands [music] 5 foot three and >> as an allout search was launched.
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Nicole's friends were leaving frantic [music] voicemails looking for her. >> Girlfriend, you have a ton of people
00:12:02
worrying about you. Um, no matter what, >> I don't know what to do. Um, I hope you're okay and I hope you're somewhere
00:12:09
safe. Please give me a call. Let me know you're okay. I'm praying for you. >> We just want to know that you're okay
00:12:16
and that you're loved and everybody's here and everybody cares about you. >> And David, [music] too, made a public
00:12:22
appeal. >> She's always in contact with almost everybody she knows. >> He was telling everyone that it was not
00:12:29
like Nicole to disappear, even for a short time. If she's going to be 5 minutes late for a coffee date, she's
00:12:36
calling, you know, half an hour ahead of time and letting people know because she
00:12:39
doesn't want to put anybody out ever. I worked until 11:00. [music] I got home probably around midnight and and came to
00:12:46
bed and that's the last time I saw her. >> But off camera, David [music] seemed far
00:12:51
less concerned. >> He's just talking like matter of fact, Nikki's gone missing. He
00:12:57
didn't say, "Have you seen emotional?" He's not scared, frightened, worried. >> No. No.
00:13:04
>> And unsolicited, he offered up odd bits of information. >> And the first thing he says is, "You
00:13:10
know, we haven't been wearing our wedding rings lately." And um Nikki's been wearing her night guard during the
00:13:17
day, just just when we're going out casually. >> The night guard is a plastic mouthguard
00:13:23
she wore similar to this one to keep from grinding her teeth while she slept. >> Why would he say wearing a night guard?
00:13:32
What would that have to do with anything? >> I don't know. >> He then suggested there was something
00:13:37
sinister about those missing pain pills. >> It sounds like what David is saying is
00:13:42
that our marriage is in trouble and her prescription bottle has been emptied. The suggestion there she's left and
00:13:49
maybe she's doing herself in. >> Well, I didn't think that at the time. My mind was in such a muddle. I wasn't
00:13:55
thinking. >> You're emotional, but he's not >> exactly. After nine long days, >> a woman's body was discovered yesterday
00:14:03
off De Moines's Memorial Drive in Burian. >> Nicole's body was found in a wooded
00:14:09
field near the airport by a man walking by. She had been strangled. >> This is the area where Nicole's body was
00:14:18
found. >> Jake Pavlovich is one of the lead detectives on Nicole's case. And what
00:14:24
was her condition? >> She was naked. She had no clothes on whatsoever. Interestingly enough, the
00:14:29
bottom of her feet were clean. Uh, no cuts, no dirt, so no indication that she had walked back here or been drugged
00:14:36
back here. >> Another clue, the night guard was still in her mouth. >> That night guard really jumps out at
00:14:42
you. The only reason in my mind she has that in is because she's killed inside her own condominium. She never leaves
00:14:48
that house. Shortly after her body was found, when he was interviewed on audio tape by police, David made a point of
00:14:56
again mentioning Nicole's powerful pain pills. >> Where did you think she was at? I didn't
00:15:02
know cuz I saw the pill bottle and I freaked out. I was so scared she relapsed her. That's a lot of pills. It
00:15:08
was I thought maybe she owed or something. >> Nicole's friends like Tamara Vanderhayden were stunned when they
00:15:17
heard the news. And what was that moment like for you? [sighs] >> Dream state, you know, it's real. I knew
00:15:27
it was happening, but it was so surreal that it it didn't really hit me. >> You know, I was crying so hard I
00:15:35
couldn't see through my tears. >> In the midst of her sadness at Nicole's funeral, David made a comment to Gail
00:15:42
that threw her for a loop. David put his arms around me at that point and said, "I didn't think you'd take it so hard."
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And that just still rings in my ears. I kept thinking, "Why would he say that? Why would he say that?"
00:15:59
>> And then he did something else that started her thinking David was not behaving like a grieving husband. After
00:16:07
Nicole's body was cremated, David gave her ashes away to an acquaintance. He said he'd given them to Jeffrey, who is
00:16:16
the real estate guy who sold them the condo. >> David gave his wife's ashes to their real estate
00:16:24
agent. >> Yes. >> Why would he do that? >> I asked him that and he he said, "I didn't want to take them home." And I
00:16:30
said, "Well, why didn't you give them to me?" >> He also gave away Nicole's beloved pets
00:16:36
to people who barely knew her. Nicole's friends from her AA group like Dave Tillzer had been skeptical about David
00:16:45
almost from the beginning. >> I thought it was a random act at first. You know, somebody just, you know,
00:16:50
here's this beautiful girl, grabbed her, abducted her, broad daylight, of course,
00:16:56
but then when I started seeing the behavior, right away I said, "No." >> Nicole's friends had noticed David's
00:17:06
aloofness in the past. Looking in his eyes, you can't see emotion. That scares me because that tells me that person is
00:17:14
is blocking something they don't want you to see inside of them. >> Tilzer says, "David always made Nicole
00:17:20
feel insecure." >> She looked up at me and she goes, "Do you think I'm beautiful?" And I said,
00:17:26
"Nikki, you're beautiful inside and out." I said, "Why?" She said, "Oh, it's David. He's being really mean to me."
00:17:34
>> Mean was just the [music] beginning. David continued his secret relationship with Sabrina even during his marriage.
00:17:43
Did you eventually have a sexual relationship with David? >> Um, an actual truly sexual relationship
00:17:50
oddly didn't happen until after they were married. >> Was David someone that you
00:17:56
wanted to spend the rest of your life with? >> I pictured it. Somehow Nicole uncovered
00:18:02
the affair with Sabrina, who she tried to confront by calling from David's cell phone. You were now the other woman.
00:18:10
>> Yeah. Um, then I I was now pinned. I was now People knew. >> Was that embarrassing for you?
00:18:16
>> It was incredibly embarrassing. >> Sabrina broke up with David well before Nicole disappeared.
00:18:23
>> I know I've made a very big mistake and I'm not the same person that I was. I
00:18:29
have a husband that I am incredibly committed to. That's nothing like who Dave was.
00:18:36
>> Gail knew nothing of David's cheating. >> But given David's tasteless remark at
00:18:41
the funeral service, she took to heart what the priest said in his eulogy. >> When the priest spoke of evil, he looked
00:18:50
straight at David. And Rod and I looked at each other and we started adding everything up. We said, "How could we be
00:18:59
so stupid?" Because he almost told us in several occasions with hints that he gave us.
00:19:06
>> But hints don't make a murder case. And police did nothing more than question
00:19:12
David Pet. As months passed, Gail went from being a shocked mom steeped in sadness [music]
00:19:19
to a tiger mother determined to avenge her daughter's murder. Every month she called the police to push them to
00:19:27
[music] keep working on the case. >> You know, please, you've got to do something. I mean, a life is gone here.
00:19:35
A very precious life, and we need justice for her. >> And you were persistent. You were a
00:19:40
pitbull. You would not let go of this, would you? >> Yeah. I hate to think of myself as a
00:19:44
pitbull, but I was. [laughter] Gail began a personal campaign of harassment, even leaving a blonde wig
00:19:52
with fake blood on David's doorstep. This is psychological warfare. >> Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. I couldn't
00:20:00
get to him any other way. Like I said, he wouldn't talk to me. >> [music] >> I locked myself in my bedroom and hardly
00:20:29
left. I just cried and cried. I knew I'd see her again in heaven. Gail Schneider had no doubt in her mind
00:20:44
that David Pet had killed her daughter. But four long years passed without any arrests.
00:20:53
>> I really felt that not only did David take my sister, that he took my mom as well.
00:20:59
>> Despair turned into hope in 2010. That's when Jake Pavlovich and Mike Melis of
00:21:06
the King County Sheriff's Department were assigned to the case. >> Mike got the case first and he called me
00:21:12
and he said, "Gail, my name is Mike Melis and I'm going to be the last detective on this case." And I said,
00:21:19
"Oh, Mike, I love you. I'm coming to see you." >> She made it very clear to us. She would
00:21:23
be calling us on the phone the 28th of every single month. And frankly, I've heard that before. I've heard parents or
00:21:30
family say, "I'm going to call you and keep keep on you on this case." But she was like clockwork.
00:21:35
>> I just bugged them to death. >> Gail was still keeping track of David, who was seeing other women and had even
00:21:44
become a father with one of them. >> That really hurt because Nikki wanted a baby so badly.
00:21:51
[music] Pouring over the old case file, the new detectives became convinced Nicole had been strangled in her bed
00:21:59
while wearing her night guard. >> She's not going to have that in her mouth. She's not going to wake up, brush
00:22:04
her teeth, and then put it back in and leave the apartment. She's killed inside her own condominium. She never leaves
00:22:11
that house. Inside Nicole's car, which was recovered 20 miles from where her body was found,
00:22:19
was DNA from both Nicole and David. >> When the people from the crime lab swapped the windshield wiper knob, the
00:22:28
steering wheel, and the gear shift knob, Dave's DNA was there, uh, much more of his DNA than Nicole's,
00:22:34
>> which told detectives, >> Dave Pet drove that car. Detective Melis then decided to take a second look at
00:22:42
where David worked. >> Behind me is a 24-hour fitness building where Dave Pets worked during January of
00:22:48
2006, the month leading up to Nicole's death. >> He became fascinated by security camera
00:22:53
video recorded hours after Nicole disappeared. >> You can see on the surveillance images
00:22:59
that Dave was at the front counter at 11:48 in the morning. He leaves and he's out of camera range. Two minutes later,
00:23:06
records show a call from Nicole's cell phone is answered at the front desk at the gym. It lasts 21 seconds. Then David
00:23:17
walks back in. >> He makes a phone call with Nicole's phone. Basically, to make it look like she's
00:23:23
still alive, >> supporting that theory, Melis learns which cell tower pinged during that
00:23:31
call. The tower that connected Nicole's phone for that phone call was right there about 188 yards. It's called cell
00:23:40
site number 75. Detectives now felt they had enough evidence to seek an arrest warrant. When
00:23:46
he pulled in the driveway, he parked right over here in the >> In March 2012, more than six years after
00:23:53
Nicole's murder, Detective Pavlovich came to the bank where David Pet worked as a manager to make a withdrawal.
00:24:01
>> We met him right in the middle of the driveway here and I walked up and I introduced myself. I said, "Hey Dave,
00:24:06
I'm Detective Pavlovich with the sheriff's office. I'd like to talk to you about Nicole's case. You got a
00:24:10
minute?" And he looked down at me and said, "You know, I've really got to get my bank open. Maybe we can talk later.
00:24:16
Maybe later, but not now. I got to get my bank open. And so we walked him back out to the car, put the handcuffs on,
00:24:22
and placed him under arrest. >> At the arraignment, it was my 71st birthday, and it was the best birthday
00:24:32
present I've ever had in my life. >> Is your true name Martin David Pets? >> Yes. to see David Pets with shackles on
00:24:41
his arms and feet and that orange jumpsuit. I've never had a better gift in 71 years.
00:24:51
>> Please rise. The Spirit Court of the State of Washington King County is now in session.
00:24:56
>> On September 9th, 2013, David Pet went on trial. >> Sorry. Would you bring the jury in,
00:25:02
please? Because prosecutors couldn't prove premeditation, he was charged with seconddegree murder.
00:25:09
>> This was not a shooting on a busy street with 15 witnesses. >> Prosecutor Carla Carlstrom.
00:25:16
>> When someone is killed in the privacy of their own home when no one else is around, sometimes you can get away with
00:25:23
murder. The defendant had it all figured out. He'd done the big things right and
00:25:29
he almost got away with it. But it's the little things that can do you in. >> What happened to Nicole is a mystery.
00:25:38
>> David's lawyer, Cooper Offenbacher. >> The state's case, which is based on these surrounding circumstances, what we
00:25:47
call circumstantial evidence. It's not based on any direct evidence. And it's not going to show that David Petle's
00:25:57
life. Precisely the challenge facing the prosecution, the circumstantial nature of their case. Key to their strategy,
00:26:06
David's motive for murder. His lust for other women while married to Nicole. >> You said he came up to your place after
00:26:14
dropping you off. >> Um, and what happened at your place? >> We had sex. >> There was no shortage of witnesses.
00:26:21
>> I'd like to direct your attention to one night in particular where there was some
00:26:26
physical contact. Do you remember that? >> Yes. >> Okay. And who did it involve?
00:26:31
>> Me and Katie and Dave. >> Okay. And just tell us what happened. >> It was just the three of us kissing.
00:26:36
>> Ironically, David insisted in his police interview that he wasn't that interested
00:26:42
in sex. >> I don't have much of a libido. It's kind of opposite roles of what the stereotype
00:26:47
is. >> But in fact, he had once put ecstasy in Nicole's drink to get the kind of sex he
00:26:54
wanted. He told me that he would put it in her Red Bull. He was just trying to loosen her up to get her to do a
00:27:00
threesome. And >> to show David's true feelings for Nicole, they brought his former longtime
00:27:06
girlfriend Sabrina to the stand. >> I asked him why he was getting married. And he said that at that point it was
00:27:16
too late to back out of it. It was all damning testimony, portraying David as coldhearted and selfish.
00:27:24
>> Raise your right hand, please. Do you swear or? >> But to seal the deal, prosecutors drew
00:27:29
on their strongest weapon and David's biggest nightmare. >> And I said, "How do you look at yourself
00:27:36
every morning when you shave? [music] I was going to just make it my lifetime work to make sure that there is justice
00:27:57
for her. >> Gail's 7-year quest for justice for her daughter Nicole now dramatically rests
00:28:08
entirely on her shoulders. State calls Gail Shiner. >> Raise your right hand, please. He's
00:28:14
wearing a back brace because of a recent surgery. Gail looked down at her son-in-law seated at the defense table.
00:28:22
She finally gets to tell a jury her story. Starting the day after Nicole went missing. When he opened the door
00:28:30
and he's walking us back to her bathroom, he said, "Lately, we haven't been wearing our wedding rings, and
00:28:38
Nikki's been wearing her mouth guard when she goes out." And then when we got to the bathroom, he showed us an empty
00:28:45
bottle of pills. >> At last, Gail gets to tell jurors about that one sentence of David's that has
00:28:52
haunted her. >> Did he make any comment to you in relation to Nicole's death at that
00:28:56
funeral? >> You know, he did. It was a really strange thing, but he put his arms
00:29:01
around me and said, "I didn't think you'd take it so hard." >> But when the defense attorney, Cooper
00:29:07
Offenbacher, gets to cross-examine Gail, he basically accuses her of harassing and taunting [music] an innocent man.
00:29:16
>> Miss Schneider, over the years, you have contacted David regarding the circumstances surrounding
00:29:23
Nicole's disappearance. Is that fair to say? And on more than one occasion, you have
00:29:31
called him in the middle of the night, 12:30 on a Friday night, and left him a voicemail asking where he was on January
00:29:37
28th. >> Yeah, just about the time that I figured it she was murdered. >> Gail won't back down. She is proud of
00:29:45
her psychological campaign against David, including that wig incident one Halloween. You and a friend took a
00:29:54
blonde wig and put some red ink on it and hung [clears throat] it in a bag on David's doororknob. Is that correct?
00:30:00
>> I thought we just threw it on his doorstep, but maybe we did. I don't remember.
00:30:04
>> But one way or the other, you put that near the condo. >> Yep. >> Often Bacher recounts the times that
00:30:10
Gail showed up at David's workplaces. Once Gail handd delivered a message to her son-in-law.
00:30:18
And what you wrote on the note to David was, "David, we're planning to buy a house just a few minutes from here, and
00:30:26
I will be in here every day to make your life as miserable as you've made mine."
00:30:31
The new detective has vowed to get you, you murderer. How do you live with yourself?
00:30:37
>> Yep. Yes, sir. That's exactly what I said. >> But Gail didn't stop there. >> And didn't you also tell the other
00:30:44
employees in the bank that he had murdered your daughter? Well, as he is making sure I walk out. He just couldn't
00:30:50
stand to have me around. I just said he murdered my daughter. Hey, you know, my life has been I have
00:30:59
cried my brains out every day for seven years. If he can't take a being confronted by a 72year-old woman, well,
00:31:09
I'm sorry, but he's not much of a man if he can't handle that. You got some guts, Gail. You got some
00:31:17
guts. You were in his face. You were letting him know you're not getting away with this.
00:31:24
>> Yes. >> Mother-in-law from hell, right? >> Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Well, you know, Peter,
00:31:28
you have children. You know how you love them. You You do anything for your children. If I didn't have Tanya and and
00:31:36
Rod, I would have I would have forgot what my religion tells me, and I would have killed myself. I didn't want to
00:31:43
live. >> Be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing about the truth. >> I do, your honor.
00:31:48
>> Prosecution's case goes on for 10 days with 57 witnesses. When it's the defense's turn, lead attorney David
00:31:57
Allen has a strategy to suggest that Nicole had become a drug addict again, living on the edge.
00:32:06
Your >> honor, the defense calls Dr. Carol Wayne to the stand. Raise your right hand.
00:32:12
>> Dr. Way was Nicole's physician. She was treating Nicole for that back injury in
00:32:17
the months before her death. Way knew all about Nicole's history with pain pill addiction.
00:32:24
>> She called the office on November 30th and reported that she was taking Vicodin
00:32:30
and ibuprofen and the the Flexeril had not been effective. >> Okay. And did you prescribe pain
00:32:37
medication? Yes, I gave her more pain medication on that date. >> What type of medication or what was the
00:32:43
name of it? >> It was more Vicodin again. >> In December, 6 weeks before she died,
00:32:49
Nicole tells Dr. Way that she had been taking another narcotic painkiller prescribed by a different doctor.
00:32:58
>> She was taking Oxycodone, one half to one pill every four to six hours. Oxycodone, a powerful,
00:33:05
potentially addicting drug contained in Percoet. >> Did you prescribe her additional
00:33:12
medication at that visit on December 12th? >> Yes, I gave her 30 tabs of Percoet.
00:33:21
>> Nicole had become more desperate, telling Dr. Way that her pain was unrelenting and demanding more pain
00:33:28
medication. Her descriptive word for her pain is screaming. Screaming pain. >> And you were seeing her once a week?
00:33:35
>> I was. >> And was that because of your concerns about addiction? >> Addiction and her medical problem that
00:33:43
she by that time had had enough narcotics prescribed to her that she may well be currently addicted again, but of
00:33:52
necessity because of her pain. >> With that, if you'll give your attention to counsel.
00:33:57
>> The ability. The defense rests. >> David Pet is all alone with no family support in the courtroom [music] as
00:34:06
closing arguments begin. Prosecutor Kristen Richardson. >> We know Nicole Pets now. We know her
00:34:14
husband, the defendant. We know how she died. We know how he lied. Miss Pet was going
00:34:23
through some very difficult times with her back injury and her addiction. And addiction is a
00:34:33
terribly powerful malady. She did fall off the wagon really, really badly. >> Rebuttal.
00:34:39
>> Thank you. The defendant killed her. Nicole Pets thought up until those last few minutes that she had married the man
00:34:47
of her dreams. That dream in those minutes turned into a nightmare. >> On October 10th, the jury gets the case.
00:34:55
A full day of deliberation comes [music] and goes. The jury of five women and seven men leaves for the weekend and
00:35:04
still no verdict. >> My greatest fear is that some girl on the jury will say, "Oh, he's too
00:35:12
good-looking to do something like that." Could David's charms with the ladies be
00:35:17
working for [music] him one more time [music] please rise in session. >> Bring the jury in.
00:35:45
7 [snorts] years, 8 months, and 17 [music] days since Nicole Pet was murdered. >> Please be seated with the exception.
00:35:52
>> It's judgment day. >> Has the jury reached a verdict? We haven't. [sighs] >> Oh, so so scary.
00:36:00
>> You don't know which way this is going to go. >> You don't. The tension is almost unbearable as
00:36:10
mother and daughter await to learn David Pete's fate. >> We the jury find the defendant Martin
00:36:17
David Pety of the crime of murder in the second degree as charged signed [snorts] by the
00:36:23
presiding jury. Is this the verdict of the jury? >> It is. Yes, it is. >> Justice for Nicole at last.
00:36:30
>> Yes, your honor. >> Guilty. >> Number two. >> Guilty. It was the best moment. Made all
00:36:38
my mom's hard work finally paid off. >> Juror number 12, is this your verdict? >> Yes.
00:36:43
>> She will [snorts] be able to rest. >> Tears of joy and also love for everybody
00:36:50
that was there supporting us, the jury, just love. I wanted to hug every single person in there.
00:36:58
And if the verdict was anything but guilty, I know I would have lost my mom forever. Handcuffed, a stonefaced David
00:37:07
Pets is led past Nicole's family. >> What the hell, Pet? >> Do you look at you? >> No. He's a coward.
00:37:19
>> Gail. >> More than seven years you've waited for this moment. When you heard the word
00:37:24
guilty, Gail, what that moment was like for you? >> Oh, absolutely. Uh I just wanted justice for my daughter
00:37:32
and we got it. >> Yeah, we did it. These last seven and a half years have been torture for us.
00:37:38
She'll never come back and I'll never get to hold her again. And by the horrible way she was murdered, I didn't
00:37:44
ever get to kiss her goodbye. I never got to say goodbye to her. Martin David Pets is a low-life scumbag,
00:37:57
a cheater, a manipulator. I wish I could think of more words, but he's the devil to me.
00:38:05
>> And where do you go from here? Uh, >> certainly David's going to appeal this.
00:38:09
There are appeal issues. >> Pete's defense attorney, David Allen, says he will fight on,
00:38:15
>> but do you believe the jury was wrong in in their decision? >> Uh, let's have another question.
00:38:21
>> For the detectives who brought this cold case back to life and promised Gail they
00:38:26
would solve it, there is vindication. When this group of detectives that have worked on this case for so long, the
00:38:33
common sense was that Dave Pets was the killer and nobody else. I think Dave Pet
00:38:38
is a guy who got in over his head emotionally and couldn't control himself. >> Is he a psychopath?
00:38:44
I'm not an expert in that. What I will tell you is that he strangled his own wife in his own condominium and then
00:38:52
continued to live there. Is that the definition of a psychopath? Maybe not the classical one you'll find in a book,
00:38:57
but it certainly rings true with me. >> In a case where no obvious motive stood out, it is left to those who knew Pete's
00:39:05
best to speculate. >> Why do you think David killed? >> I don't think that he thought she was
00:39:12
the perfect woman, not representing what he saw as what he deserved, what his life should have looked like. um the
00:39:22
wealth, you know, the right car, >> things like that. >> And in a private moment, alone in her
00:39:28
room just hours after David had been convicted, Gail says she spoke aloud to her beloved daughter.
00:39:36
>> We did it, honey. We did it. You knew we would. >> The photo that they have of Nicole with
00:39:42
the halo for her Halloween costume, she was an angel and now she is a real angel. and
00:39:52
I miss her. >> Gail now hopes that with Justice, her final challenge will be to find the
00:40:00
compassion to forgive. >> I know she had forgiven him the minute her soul left her [music] body because
00:40:06
that was Nikki. So, I just need to get to that point where [music] I can forgive him, too.
00:40:29
>> [music] >> Hey. [music] Hey. Hey. [music] >> [music]