00:00:00
[Music] I want people to know that Rhonda wasn't just beautiful bye daddy people always are surprised when
00:00:17
they hear this like no you can't be super beautiful like her and be intelligent at the same time I'm like
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actually she was wicked [Music] smart very in love we planned on getting married in the summer that was my
00:00:32
timetable they did look at wedding rings I think she she wanted one that was around 35,000 and uh I was thinking more
00:00:40
15,000 was my range and you and Ronda did you like to get Outdoors all the time we loved hiking uh we played a lot
00:00:49
of frisbee golf so yeah we were Outdoors most of the time we woke up early she opened the
00:00:57
drapes and we saw it's a beautiful day okay so we are going to go hiking one of the things she asked me on the drive
00:01:04
over she said uh if anything ever happens to me do you promise to watch our daughter and take care of
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her and I go what are you talking about she goes I have dreams all the time that
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I am dead before 25 did Rhonda ever tell you that she was sensing something bad was going to
00:01:25
happen to her she said that he's either going to propose to me me or kill me she wasn't happy she just fell out of
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love with him and they were fighting all the time she had mentioned wanting to take the baby and and leave
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Steve started pouring down rain and thunder came and so she just started bolting down like at a full Sprint
00:01:53
running down the trail and what unfolded before your eyes I don't know how far down it was but she went off the
00:02:03
trail a man hiking with Ronda Casto says that she fell off a cliff last night did
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she take a step and her feet went out in front of her did she tumble forward what
00:02:15
did you see next question I'm Steve Nichols and in February of 2015 I was charged and arrested for the
00:02:28
murder of Ronda Casto my fianceé we're in Hood River Oregon it's been 6 years 1 month and 26 days since
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Ronda fell off that trail to her death and for the first time Steven Nichols will enter a formal
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plea accident or murder murder murder and from a mother's heart and mind you are certain of that I am 100% certain of
00:02:59
of that he's evil he's totally evil I think I've just left a path of Destruction I'm a till the Hun basically
00:03:10
going through women [Music] 48 Hours mystery at Eagle Creek continues in 90 [Music]
00:03:52
seconds when you have a case where someone's falsely accused you can't really separate yourself from work and
00:03:59
and home life for defense attorney Mike Arnold Mr Nichols is here with his lawyer representing Steven Nicholls
00:04:07
gives new meaning to the phrase full-time job you know while I prefer to be coming home doing farm tours and
00:04:14
listening to Wildlife instead I'll be thinking about my closing argument or what the next
00:04:19
step of the case is we are on the record in Hood River County state of Oregon versus Steven
00:04:25
Wagner Nicholls Nicholls was arrested for murder in February 2015 accused of pushing his girlfriend
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Ronda Casto off this Trail in Oregon 6 years earlier to that charge what's your plea not
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guilty baale was set at $2 million Nicholls would spend the next 14 months in jail awaiting trial I try to
00:04:54
just take it one day at a time I read a lot I play chess but real when it comes down to it I miss my daughter so that's
00:05:02
the hardest part but in April 2016 with a trial date nowhere in sight Judge John Olen reduced
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Nicholls bail to $250,000 Mike Arnold set out on a frantic mission to gather the 10% needed
00:05:20
in cash to free his client so the farming defense attorney 10 becomes a personal banker
00:05:30
people have taken off work to be there to get them out so it sounds like a small price to pay to be there when my
00:05:36
client gets to see freedom for the first time in a year so wish us luck but Arnold would need more than luck we
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can't get the client build out until tomorrow morning he'd need an extra day to arrange for the ankle monitor
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required for nichels release so hold on tight to this and go get some supper the next day there a little un
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expected overnight trip in Hood River I'm on recycled clothes I'm looking forward to get home to my family it's my
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son's first birthday today presumption of innocence ladies and gentlemen Mike feeds the cash into
00:06:12
the bail machine I'm very excited to see Steve for the for the first time outside
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in the fresh air two more hours and Arnold gets his wish I want to cry actually I'm so happy but it's a
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Bittersweet Victory we will continue to fight until I proven my innocence but still a long fight ahead but now I've
00:06:40
got him out with me so we can work on this as a team so this is a big deal but how exactly did Nicholls and his
00:06:47
attorney end up at this moment it all started 11 years earlier when a stunning 20-year-old
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woman knocked on Nicholls bedroom door at his home just outside Portland Oregon and I turn around and I look at
00:07:06
her and my tongue pretty much Hit the Floor up until that point she's the most beautiful woman I have ever seen and
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she's like hi my name is Rhonda in 2005 Nicholls who was 10 years older than Rhonda and recently divorced
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was working as a day trader I had a three-bedroom condo and the other two rooms were just empty so he decided to
00:07:30
get a roommate I first met Steven Nicholls through the internet I was looking for a place a room to rent who
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turned out to be ronda's mother Julia Simmons he can be very charming and you know somebody that's really nice ronda's
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best friend Jessica curn wasn't surprised Steven was instantly attracted to Rhonda who was an aspiring model tell
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me about this that was part of her modeling portfolio I just love it because she just looks amazing in all of
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those pictures everything about her was impressive and I just immediately fell in love with her and what were you
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sensing from Rhonda I felt she was into me too I could tell that she valued intelligence and I've always thought
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that that's one of my strongest assets I think she was attracted not so much to his looks but to his his uh what he had
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his condo his money his you know his status soon Ronda joined her mother Julia in the condo not as a roommate but
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as Steven's girlfriend ronda's younger sister Tessa was just 9 years old at the time when I first met Steve he was
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really fun because I was a little girl he he was playful you know three years into their relationship Ronda and
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Nicholls living together but not married became parents don't Daddy help you a little I me that's was pretty did you
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see her face she's all no when our daughter was born it meant everything to her she became the
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focus and the center of her life I loved having a niece I was always over there and she loved playing with jewelry just
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like Rhonda did she's just like her mom she loves jewelry Ronda loved being a mom but hoped to restart her modeling
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career she had gained quite a bit of weight from having our daughter she was the heaviest she had ever been and she
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felt really disgusting so Steven says the couple came up with an adventurous plan to lose
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weight we made it a pack that we would hike 20 or 25 of the top trails in Oregon we'll just start Crossing them
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off the list but Jessica says Rhonda told her about only one planned hike she was so happy that he was finally
00:09:58
planning something and all the years they had been together he had never put any effort into planning anything for
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her including those plans to get married the proposal never happened things were
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tough after the baby was born he wasn't around as much I think she held on for longer for the sake of the baby daddy
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going to open it for you Jessica says Ronda had grown unhappy and that the relationship had taken
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a dangerous turn she told me that he had in the recent months been physically abusive to her but Nicholls claims just
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the opposite was true we wouldn't argue at all we were spending a lot of time together so I would think that would be
00:10:47
the closest we ever were so when step is telling us that they were planning their
00:10:53
future together and everything was great and it was a lovey-dovey relationship is he lying to me he's absolutely lying
00:11:02
to you I've I've witnessed their fights i' I was on the phone a couple of times when they were in a physical fight
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actually and Julia claims Ronda made a chilling statement to her just before the hike she said he's either going to
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give me a ring or he's going to throw me off a [Music] cliff on March 16 2009 Ronda and Steven would set out on
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that Fitness hike and Ronda would not live to see the end of the day there's a smile bye daddy
00:12:00
[Music] this is probably the most hiked area in the Columbia River Gorge uh for several
00:12:11
reasons one the the sheer beauty of the hike 3 months after Steven Nichols arrest in 2015 his attorney Mike Arnold
00:12:21
took his own investigative team up the Eagle Creek Trail where he believes Ronda Casto slipped
00:12:30
and fell to her death inclement weather hits and disaster happens between the physical evidence
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and the science there won't be much dispute about this being a tragic accident on a dangerous
00:12:45
Trail Steven Nichols says this is how the tragedy unfolded they are heading down the trail Ronda was in a great mood
00:12:53
and jokingly she put a towel around her shoulders and was calling herself Supergirl she broke into a run and
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according to Nicholls at this very Point she slipped on the wet path and fell more than 150 ft to her
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death that was his story in 2015 I'm not going to comment on that when Nichols was forbidden by his
00:13:19
attorney from discussing details of Rhonda's deadly fall with 48 hours until now his only account was the one he gave
00:13:28
to police the day of the tragedy again something I'm not going to comment on but in 2017 Steven Nichols broke that
00:13:36
silence either I pushed her she jumped of her own accord or she slipped he sat down and spoke to us about the day Ronda
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Casto died let's get in that time machine and go back to March 16th 2009 we woke up
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early Steven says Rhonda seemed focused on the future as they drove to Eagle Creek
00:14:05
Trail she says I desperately need to lose weight because they want to use me as the Maria Sharapova lookalike model
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and I'm like yeah you really do look like her but then Nicholls claims Ronda asked him a startling question
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completely out of the blue she said uh if anything ever happens to me would you promise to watch our daughter and take
00:14:27
care of her I said said of course Steven says the question unnerved him especially since 3 months earlier he
00:14:36
claims Ronda had demanded he' buy life insurance she was adamant about it I said why do you want this life insurance
00:14:43
and she goes because I want to leave our daughter something in case I die so both
00:14:49
Steven and Ronda had each taken out a 1 million doll policy on the other he planned the whole thing was premeditated
00:14:59
the whole thing ronda's mother doesn't believe a word of Nichol's story saying the insurance was all his idea and that
00:15:08
Nicholls the day trader had an ulterior motive he had lost a bunch of money the year before he lost like a quarter of a
00:15:15
million dollars is the insurance and then four months later she's dead the couple got to the trail head
00:15:23
where Rhonda snapped this photo of Steve later found on her cell phone the weather was excellent actually but
00:15:31
Steven says Rhonda was acting strangely I asked her are you okay hiking on this Trail and she goes I used
00:15:40
to come up here with a bottle of vodka and a bag of weed she goes I'll be fine so I said okay they hiked up a few
00:15:54
miles uh I remember we kissed for a little bit um I remember she wanted to have sex and I said no like I'm very
00:16:03
prim and proper I didn't want to do that then nichel says Rhonda once again asked
00:16:09
him that unsettling question she asked me if anything ever happened to her which would I promis to take care of her
00:16:16
daughter but Rhonda may have been thinking about more than their daughter what are you saying
00:16:23
stepen I mean I think anyone with an ounce of intelligence can film in the blanks
00:16:30
um you would have to look into how many times in her past she committed suicide attempted suicide yeah of course
00:16:38
attempted I mean Nicholls says Rhonda was depressed and shockingly that she had tried to take her own life at least
00:16:46
three times before he even met her she's never attempted suicide never he's lying
00:16:54
I but you know what people that have to make up lies are you know you can obviously tell they're guilty
00:16:59
and there's more Nicholls claims that Rhonda had long struggled with a serious drug problem she's never been off drugs
00:17:07
since the age of 12 what kind of what kind of drugs everything everything alcohol cocaine all of them
00:17:14
marijuana crystal meth all of them heroin but ronda's autopsy would show that she only had traces of marijuana as
00:17:23
well as prescription drugs for anxiety and depression in her system just Jessica curn says Rhonda did suffer from
00:17:32
postpartum depression she was in therapy and that's why she was on the prescription
00:17:39
medications Nicholls says they didn't Linger on the trail for long and who decides hey let's head back uh it's
00:17:47
decided by the weather started pouring down rain and thunder came and so she just started bolting down like at a full
00:17:56
Sprint running down the trail now I've been on that trail it's a narrow Trail it is very narrow did you yell at her
00:18:04
hey what are you doing stop Walk we're walking down um I don't think I screamed anything at her Nicholls says the Steep
00:18:12
Trail became slick I hugged the right wall pretty much on the way down this is cascading rain like you can actually
00:18:21
just see the water flowing down the trail and so take me to the time of of the Fall
00:18:29
what do you remember that part I'm not going to take you through because she did fall
00:18:43
off and I can say I had absolutely nothing to do either directly or indirectly with her falling
00:18:55
off but what Nicholls seems to be suggesting to 48 hours is that Rhonda may have chosen to go off that Cliff did
00:19:04
she tumble forward what did you see next question was a large skid mark on the uh on the path where she had
00:19:16
slipped and went off no that's just a footprint just a footprint mhm Steve look at me what you're saying is she
00:19:26
jumped she was going down at almost a run un Pace there's a single footprint you're telling me at the edge of the
00:19:33
cliff and she goes over that's a jump I've laid everything out there people can reach whatever conclusion
00:19:49
they [Music] want see how prosecutors believe Rhonda fell to her death on Facebook at 48
00:20:07
[Music] hours while not saying it in so many words she did fall off and I can say I
00:20:22
had absolutely nothing to do either directly or indirectly with her falling off [Music]
00:20:30
Steven Nicholls mind games there's definitely a lot more to the story but I'm not going to say it so manage to
00:20:39
drop a bombshell well you've led me down a path to believe this was a suicide and I
00:20:46
don't think you can look me in the eye and say well Peter you're wrong can you no suggesting that Ronda Casto chose to
00:20:58
jump to her death from Eagle Creek Trail what was her point in going up there how to say this I she knew she
00:21:07
wasn't living past the age of 25 she knew that for a reason she just wasn't a happy person and she thought that having
00:21:15
our daughter would bring her happiness and it didn't she had a 9-month-old baby at home that she loved
00:21:21
dearly and she loved her family so that's just another one of his lies to take the heat off of himself after Ronda
00:21:29
went off the trail Steven says he hiked down the deep ravine what' you do when you got to her well I hold
00:21:37
her that's the first thing I did when I got there with no cell service to call for help Nicholls says he made his way
00:21:45
back to the trail head and dialed 911 the police never once asked me if it was a suicide they never even brought up
00:21:53
suicide I just answered the questions that they asked why didn't you tell them back in the day that suicide was
00:22:00
something she was contemplating would it have made a difference do you really think Nicholls may have had a million
00:22:07
reasons to keep suicide a secret if it's a suicide life insurance doesn't pay out so our daughter would have gotten
00:22:21
nothing is Steven being self-sacrificing having said nothing about suicide until now even as he
00:22:28
stands charged with murder you were willing to essentially take a bullet for that or is he self-serving I think Steve
00:22:37
is just throwing all these ideas out to throw people off the fact that he pushed
00:22:42
her oh well she killed herself because she wanted to make a better life for her daughter an investigation into ronda's
00:22:48
death was immediately launched and a memorial was held ronda's family claims that you were not grieving that you
00:22:57
seemed moved by Rhonda death the exact opposite I was crying nonstop when I'm really really
00:23:10
sad I just I close down that's just the way I deal with pain shortly afterward Steven moved
00:23:18
across the state with his daughter to live with family for about 3 months after Rhonda
00:23:27
died I completely shut down by 2013 4 years had gone by and no charges had been filed against Nicholls he decided
00:23:37
to start a new life in a new land so how does a kid from Oregon end up in China i' had been there before and I like
00:23:45
China Steven packed up I would telling my daughter this is our new life let's make it work and headed here to wooi
00:23:55
about 75 mil from Shanghai I decided when I got to China this is a whole fresh start and I was like America all
00:24:03
the past Steven got a job teaching English to Chinese businessmen my daughter was absolutely thriving a
00:24:12
little over 2 months and she was fluent in Mandarin she had dance lessons she was taking Taekwondo she was learning to
00:24:20
play the piano and Steven began to thrive too falling in love with Landy yinyan she's
00:24:29
beautiful of course but she's the deepest funniest person I've ever met Steven says Landy became like a mother
00:24:37
to his daughter and I can say this with being with so many American women Chinese women all inclusive are better
00:24:45
Partners sounds so insulting to American women but they just they make better Partners they make better wives and so
00:24:51
Steven decided to make Landy his wife after a year of dating I had actually proposed to her right before I came back
00:24:59
to America Steven flew back to the US with his daughter in February 2015 to get married Landy would follow a few
00:25:08
days later we were planning on getting married both in America and China to make it official what Steven didn't know
00:25:16
is that the entire time he was out of the country investigators stayed on Rhonda's case and Julia stayed on
00:25:24
theirs I kept calling and asking why anything nothing nothing was happening but something did happen in April 2014 a
00:25:33
secret grand jury heard evidence and indicted Nichols for the murder of Ronda Casto so 10 months later when Steven and
00:25:42
his daughter arrived in San Francisco They said something was wrong with my bags I was like it's interesting instead
00:25:50
of catching his connecting flight to Oregon Steven says authorities separated him from his daughter I'm like what is
00:25:58
going on here something's fishy and then yeah that's when they arrested me and I
00:26:02
could hear my daughter in the other room crying and she goes I want to be back with my dad Steven would be extradited
00:26:08
to Oregon and his daughter would be sent to live with ronda's family so I was shocked so one of those things where you
00:26:14
think you're in a dream and you're going to wake up at any time I'm like okay I'm
00:26:18
going to wake up in China you my daughter will be nudging me I'll be back to normal but that never happens back in
00:26:25
Oregon it was like a dream 40-year-old Steven Nichols was arrested last one that had come true for ronda's loved
00:26:33
ones and I just I was busted out crying it was amazing I couldn't believe it I was just like after all this time
00:26:39
finally we are on the record in state of Oregon versus Steven Nichols for months
00:27:04
following his February 2015 arrest for murder when you're ready Mr Arnold Steven Nichols faced pre-trial hearings
00:27:11
on a slew of issues from evidence to motive the state is present represented by car rasmon including whether there
00:27:19
should even be a trial since the defense considers Ronda casto's death an accident both sides called Witnesses was
00:27:27
this a mediately investigated as a murder no and when did it become a homicide investigation as opposed to an
00:27:33
accidental fall pretty much the next morning I can tell that uh based on the injuries that she has she she landed
00:27:43
predominantly on her legs and her pelvis medical examiner and forensic pathologist Dr Christopher Young says
00:27:51
Rhonda's injuries were mostly below the waist the pelvis was essentially shattered the defense argues the
00:27:59
location of her injuries indicate Ronda left the trail feet first not tumbling head over heels from
00:28:08
a push it's a theory that could support Nicholls new suggestion of suicide when you look at the relationship that the
00:28:16
defendant then had with Ronda Casto and at the same notes from a therapist Rhonda had been seen reveal
00:28:24
she was depressed but not suicidal from her relationship ship was Steven which she described as
00:28:31
Loveless um what the state has to prove in this case is the defendant did a criminal act prosecutors hope the judge
00:28:38
will allow them to tell jurors about some bad acts in Steven Nichols troubled past at his upcoming murder trial is
00:28:47
something that obviously is is U titillating and interesting the first one a shocking love triangle involving
00:28:55
another of ronda's younger sisters Melanie that may have provided a motive for murder do you believe that Steven was in
00:29:04
love with Melanie yes I do Jessica says Ronda learned that Steven was having sex
00:29:11
with Melanie and did Ronda ever tell you how young her sister was when she first
00:29:17
had sex with Steven she was 15 15 years old yes in fact just after his arrest for murder Steven was indicted on two
00:29:26
counts of third degree rape and three counts of thir degree sodomy for allegedly having sexual relations with
00:29:34
an underage Melanie back in 2005 he did rape my daughter and I didn't want to believe it in October 2016 while
00:29:45
awaiting his murder trial you agreed to plead guilty to two counts of sexual abuse with Melanie Casto MH and you
00:29:54
signed your name under this statement I had sexual intercourse with with Melanie
00:29:59
Casto twice Steven insists his admission was false did you have sex with her no I'm like well can I take a plea and then
00:30:09
just say Obviously it never happened and I was told later nope I'm in order to pass the sex offender treatment you have
00:30:15
to admit that even though he'd be a registered sex offender the law would allow Steven to still fight and regain
00:30:23
custody of his daughter who is in the care of the state I became desperate I wanted my daughter back you'll be amazed
00:30:31
at what you're willing to sign to stay out of prison but investigators believe there really was a relationship between
00:30:37
Steven and Melanie one that continued on and off for 4 years right up to that fateful last hike just a few hours
00:30:47
before her death Ronda who had learned of the affair sent this text to her sister I don't know what to say besides
00:30:55
he's a piece of he used you to hurt me I won't let him screw us up again when you
00:31:01
need me I am waiting this Rhonda sounds like somebody that doesn't care much at all about you she's angry with you does
00:31:09
sound like she's angry I have no idea why she sent those but Julia says she knows why she loved her sister and she
00:31:18
knew that Steve was trying to drive a wedge between them and she I guess she figured it all out and realized what he
00:31:25
was doing on the night of Rhonda casto's death the defendant didn't run to where
00:31:33
his daughter was didn't run to his parents the first person to whom he went was Melanie Melanie Casto and it's not the
00:31:44
only allegation Nicholls has faced involving a minor less than 6 months after ronda's death he was charged with
00:31:52
five counts of sex abuse for allegedly touching a 13-year-old girl on the bus he claims that didn't happen but
00:32:01
something else did you sent sexually suggestive texts to her and a selfie with your shirt off and you agreed to a
00:32:10
plea deal in this case yeah that was definitely I was in the wrong on that one um in terms of sending the
00:32:18
photo that was no kidding yeah that's terrible it's disgusting it is Nicholls pleaded guilty to one count of sexual
00:32:28
harassment I have been emotionally abusive at times to people but I've never physically hurt anyone prosecutors
00:32:36
don't agree and want a jury to see this picture taken by Rhonda showing red marks left from an alleged physical
00:32:44
encounter with Nicholls right before they went on their hike they had they had a little scuffle on the stairs and
00:32:51
he put some bruises on her back and she took pictures of them in the mirror and there are allegations of another
00:32:57
physical assault of a woman with Eerie similarities to what Nicholls stands accused of now allegations made by his
00:33:06
ex-wife he did try to push his wife over balcony in China in November 2003 Steven
00:33:13
was still married to his ex an American woman and living in China for the first time when his spouse accused him of
00:33:21
trying to suffocate her and throw her over the railing of their eighth floor apartment we were both holding on to
00:33:29
each other's clothing and we were both yell Nicholls denies the claim and was not charged with a crime in China but
00:33:37
Oregon court documents show a witness confirmed Nicholls ex-wife's account as Nicholls awaits trial in the
00:33:49
death of Ronda Casto he has some pleasant distraction my Chinese fiance Landy is arriving here in about an hour
00:33:59
I'm nervous I'm excited visits from his fiance hello today I had my first court appearance the case was involving my
00:34:11
daughter at our request Steven Nichols has kept a video diary while out on bail Blue Sky many many Big Trees including
00:34:21
Landy hiking to that fateful spot on Eagle Creek Trail very beautiful a little dangerous and on the eve of his trial
00:34:33
we're at the top of Spencer but in Eugene love the hike this is one of the happiest days of my life a defiant
00:34:40
Nichols is convinced there will be many more happy days ahead I had nothing to do with Ronda casto's death
00:34:51
[Music] I had nothing to do with Rhonda casto's death you didn't push her no what is it what is it what is it
00:35:17
so you you're telling us you are completely innocent of these charges [Music] yes there's a
00:35:26
smile in May 2017 following several hearings about what evidence could be used against Steven Nichols which would
00:35:34
include his plea to having sex with Melanie it looked like his true day in court was finally on the horizon and
00:35:43
then I got a call from Carrie rasmuson the prosecutor and she slowly told me the
00:35:50
news about him taking a plea to Julia's shock and horror there had been a settlement conference with the
00:35:57
prosecution and the defense agreeing to allow Nicholls to plead guilty to lesser
00:36:03
charges I started to cry I got really upset I just said I was screaming on the phone to Carrie no no you can't do this
00:36:11
please don't don't plead out but prosecutors knew their case against Nicholls could fail for years the
00:36:17
District Attorney's office has believed that Mr Nichols is responsible for the death of Rhonda Casto but this case is
00:36:26
not about belief it's about the facts that can be presented to a jury at trial what is your plea to the charge of
00:36:34
criminally negligent homicide guilty and to the charge of coercion guilty people take pleas for all sorts
00:36:42
of reasons most the time innocent people plead guilty in order to gain an advantage or meet a goal in this case um
00:36:50
uh this is Mr Nichols purchasing um Insurance there's now a 0% chance that Steve goes to president for murder that
00:36:58
a jury gets it wrong Nichols was given credit for time served while awaiting trial he remains on Paro for 3 years his
00:37:07
ankle monitor was removed and his days behind bars are over this plea deal is it justice to you
00:37:17
no it's not Justice I felt like it happened out of nowhere I'm still completely blown away by the the
00:37:24
decision that was made in this you destroyed my whole family still firmly believing Nicholls
00:37:32
is a murderer ronda's mother Julia was allowed to address the court I don't see how you could do that how you could take
00:37:39
a mother away from her child like that by killing her that's just horrible Steve I'll just buy my time and wait
00:37:45
until you screw up or when you die cuz I know you're going to go to hell for what
00:37:49
you did Nicholls claims he took the deal for just one reason time was running out
00:37:55
to regain custody of his daughter if I waited over a year to go to trial I probably had a 0% chance there's um some
00:38:03
problems with the juvenile uh court system that the longer you wait the harder it is to get a child return to
00:38:09
parent but having now admitted to inappropriate behavior with a 13-year-old girl pleading to having sex
00:38:16
with ronda's underage sister and playing a role in ronda's death Nicholls chances
00:38:22
of regaining custody of his daughter are in Jeopardy I think I've just left a path of Destruction MAA the Hun
00:38:30
basically going through women unable to leave Oregon until his parole expires in
00:38:36
2020 Steven broke up with his fiance who had returned to China I'm alone about 99% of the time I never go
00:38:46
out I have nobody then for the second time in our 48 Hours interview Nichols brings up the
00:38:54
topic of suicide but this time he's not speaking about Rhonda if I don't have my daughter then
00:39:02
it's pretty much game over for me I'm I'm checking out so you're saying you'll take your own life um I hate all the
00:39:10
suicide questions um I'm not going to answer that but like I said I if I don't get my daughter back
00:39:17
I'm done I'll just say that yeah right I doubt that he's too narcissistic egotistical
00:39:28
sociopath there's no way he would take his own life he's just said that to get sympathy and if your granddaughter were
00:39:36
to be placed back into his custody what do you think would happen she would not be a normal child she would be
00:39:43
emotionally and mentally abused and possibly physical and then just when we thought
00:39:53
this story had come to an end our interview with Nichols took could turn into The
00:40:01
Surreal I'm trying to think of a way to think of this for the first time he talks about what may have happened in
00:40:08
Rhonda's last moments of life that day in 2009 comparing her to a wounded soldier let's say you're in a war
00:40:17
situation and you're with your buddy and I don't know he he takes a land mine or
00:40:23
a grenade or something you're 100% certain this guy's going to die remember Nicholls climbed down 150 ft to where
00:40:31
ronda's broken body lay was she alive when you got to her now and that's the part I'm not going
00:40:45
into is Steven Nichols about to admit something did you put Ronda out of misery that day let me ask
00:40:55
you if you shoot your War bud because you see how much pain he's in is that murder what do you say I say no of
00:41:05
course not so to me that's a Justified I don't want to say homicide but I mean technically it is homicide but it's
00:41:14
Justified as of that point you are putting someone out of their misery that essentially has zero chance
00:41:21
of survival and is that what you did that's of course that's not what I'm saying I'm just saying
00:41:28
well you brought this up you brought up this whole it seems a dangerous word game
00:41:34
Nicholls stood on the Cliff's Edge then took a step back a final twist in a tragedy where only Nicholls knows the
00:41:43
real [Music] ending it's all hypothetical cuz I'm telling people you know think think
00:41:53
outside the box like there's always other options there [Music] they killed Fabio fab here for another
00:42:41
Fab style Friday faia was fabulous I love it we call them the knock knock burglar it was like a Twist in a
00:42:54
nightmare I'm like you sure CBS News original reporting [Music]