Search Captions & Ask AI

Tim Watkins /// Part 2 /// 285

March 06, 2019 / 51:38

This episode covers the life and criminal history of Daniel Nations, including his connection to the Delphi murders and the Tim Watkins case. The hosts discuss Nations' violent past, his military service, and various run-ins with the law.

Nations was born on October 18, 1985, and raised in Chesnee, South Carolina. His mother, Rebecca Smith, was murdered by her brother in 2002. Nations has a history of criminal behavior, including public indecency and domestic violence, leading to multiple arrests and a lenient judicial response.

The episode details Nations' life leading up to the Delphi murders in 2017, including his military service, mental health issues, and his unstable living conditions. The hosts highlight his violent temper and interactions with landlords and employers, painting a picture of a troubled individual.

As the discussion progresses, the hosts consider Nations' potential involvement in the murders of Tim Watkins and the Delphi girls. They analyze the lack of evidence linking him to the crime scenes and the ongoing investigations by law enforcement.

The episode concludes with reflections on the challenges of solving cases with no clear suspects and the importance of public assistance in bringing justice to victims like Tim Watkins.

TLDR

Daniel Nations' violent past is examined, linking him to the Delphi murders and Tim Watkins' case.

Episode

51:38
00:00:07
[Music] [Applause] [Music] welcome to true crime garage wherever you are whatever you are doing thanks
00:00:45
for listening I'm your host Nick and with me as always ladies and gentlemen the creator of all of the garage office
00:00:52
gossip he is the watercooler captain I don't start the fires I just add the gasoline that's good to be seen and it's
00:01:00
good to see you thanks for listening thanks for telling a friend [Music] this week we are drinking intergalactic
00:01:11
juice hunter by odd 13 brewing in Lafayette Colorado this is a New England style IPA nice and hazy brewed with
00:01:18
galaxies and a morello hops and an ABV of 8% garage grade four and a five bottle caps and thanks to some of our
00:01:28
dedicated friends of the garage first up we raise a glass to Melissa and Thornhill Ontario Canada and a big we
00:01:35
like your jib to Eric and Madison Wisconsin next up we have a thank you that we want to send out to Daniel in
00:01:42
Melbourne Australia he says listening to TCG at work puts a spring in his step and a big cheers to Joanne and Whitman
00:01:51
Massachusetts next up we have Lauren a Buckeye fan fo lyfe in Savannah Georgia and next a big cheers to Jennifer C and
00:01:59
the parts that are unknown Thanks to everyone for fuelling the flying garage ship for this week's show if you want to
00:02:06
put a little beer in the gas tank for next week go to true crime garage calm and click on the donate button and this
00:02:12
is the last week to preorder your true crime Garage plumbing company t-shirt if you don't order this week use a piece
00:02:23
of [ __ ] and that's enough of the business all right Thank You captain everybody gather round grab a chair grab
00:02:30
a beer let's talk some true crime let's get right into what we know about Daniel nations he was born on October 18
00:02:52
1985 his life has been plagued by violence and dysfunction he never knew his father who was in prison for child
00:02:59
molestation he was raised by his grandparents in Chesnee South Carolina with visitation to his mother Rebecca
00:03:07
Smith on weekends and holidays in November of 2002 when he was 17 years old Nations was staying with his mother
00:03:17
Rebecca when she was murdered by her brother James jr. Cummings her body naked but for underwear in a cast on a
00:03:28
broken arm she suffered in a fight with her boyfriend was dragged into the woods
00:03:33
and covered by leaves Rebecca's autopsy revealed that she had cocaine in her system and had been stabbed twice and
00:03:40
had a broken jaw and nose nation's grandmother says she asked nations and his wife to move off of her property
00:03:50
years ago and hasn't spoken to him since it's unclear where nations was between the ages of 17 and maybe about 22 or 23
00:04:00
but at some point he went into the Marines he was dismissed after about four years for general uh non herbal
00:04:09
meaning his performance was satisfactory but he failed to meet all expectations of conduct for a Marine during his
00:04:18
service in the military nations claims to have developed PTSD and severe anxiety disorder it's possible that
00:04:26
these mental afflictions are likely why he would end up being treated leniently by the judge in the hatchet case but the
00:04:35
hatchet case was far from his first run-in with the law yeah cuz nation has a pretty long criminal history he has
00:04:43
convictions for public indecency in North Carolina that stem from to 2007 incidents where he was masturbating in
00:04:51
public deliberately exposing himself to more than one victim poni louis c.k for these 2007 offenses nations served
00:05:01
two years in prison and was required to register as a sex offender after his release he moved to Indiana where he was
00:05:09
required again to register as a sex offender and did so in Carroll County but he failed to register as a sex
00:05:17
offender in Johnson County as required he had no fixed address and was living under bridges and at camp sites although
00:05:25
we don't know if that was still the case during the time frame when the Delphi murders took place in 2015
00:05:32
nation seems to have really started into a downward spiral he was arrested in March of 2015 on marijuana charges he
00:05:42
was arrested in July for pleasuring himself in peeping in the stall of a woman's restroom at a gas station in
00:05:50
Indiana this guy's just a sicko in November he failed to appear in court for the ndu indecency charge and was
00:05:57
arrested and negotiated a one-year suspended sentence in December he was arrested for domestic battery for an
00:06:04
incident where he punched his wife Caitlin in the face breaking her nose in front of their children he served 99
00:06:11
days in jail for that offense yeah it seems like they're giving this guy a little bit too many chances and
00:06:18
negotiating things that they shouldn't be in 2016 nations managed to be arrested only once you know good for him
00:06:28
this was for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia with that that's just
00:06:33
when he's top four things do bright think about how many times he probably pulled out this little wanker and
00:06:38
started pulling the PUD and didn't get in trouble for it well this offense included driving without a license as
00:06:45
well an early 2017 nation's initially checked in with law enforcement weekly as required by his sex offender status
00:06:54
he checked in on February 14th as scheduled that is the day the Abbey and Libby's bodies were discovered he was
00:07:02
arrested and jailed for four days in January of 2017 question for you and he might not know this but was that the
00:07:09
first time he started checking back in no he was actually checking in I have his his extended record if you want to
00:07:17
so he kin to that versa well but the overall thing was he was checking in for a while it wasn't just the first time he
00:07:24
started checking back in well so my records that I found were related to 2017 they start in 2017 so on January
00:07:37
31st Daniel Nations checked in with law enforcement per his requirement to register as a sex offender then he
00:07:46
checked in again on February 7th February 14th when the bodies were found so he was required to check in weekly
00:07:53
and as far as I can find his weekly check-ins started on the 31st of January that could be incorrect
00:08:02
but we do have regular check-ins on the week weekly as scheduled right starting the last day of January in 2017 and did
00:08:12
he have any more public games of flicky flicky um I don't believe so but he still had run-ins with the law so you
00:08:23
know the the really big time in question will be February 13th and February 14th
00:08:28
you know when when the girls are missing when the bodies are found we know he checked in on the 14th and we also know
00:08:34
that he did serve four days in jail in February this for failure to appear in an earlier eviction case right he was
00:08:44
released after those four days and he did continue to check in notifying of a change of address to the Greenwood motel
00:08:52
in Indiana this was on April 12th he was arrested again on April 25th for marijuana possession and a driver's
00:09:00
license violation and he failed to appear in court as required in July of 2017 now this is because on May 12th he
00:09:10
checked out of the Greenwood motel and as he says he went to Colorado on that day right but we can't be 100% sure of
00:09:19
that mm-hmm when Abby and Libby were killed on February 13th Daniel Nations was work
00:09:25
for a construction company in Zionsville Indiana which is about an hour's drive from Delphi during his time living in
00:09:34
Indiana nation's rented various apartments and people who interacted with him had some choice words to say
00:09:40
about him now what that's healthy well we'll get into that tell me what they said Nations
00:09:46
Caitlyn and his kids and their kids I'm sorry were evicted by Bernice rigs after
00:09:53
racking up $1,000 in property damage another landlord Randy Hamilton rented Nations and his family a house in
00:10:01
Martinsville Hamilton and he had this to say about Daniel Nations quote he's a damn nut I'll tell you that he's the
00:10:10
weirdest person I've ever met in my life he had a zero tolerance temper he chopped trees in a chair with a hatchet
00:10:17
in a fit of anger Hamilton said a woman who employed nations on her farm in Martinsville
00:10:24
she told CBS Denver that quote he was definitely not a good guy and he had a very bad temper he trashed the apartment
00:10:33
she rented him frequently became violent destroyed property and even threatened one of her family members with a hatchet
00:10:40
and this woman goes on to say that it got so bad that she had to get police and the courts involved to have him
00:10:47
forcibly removed by court Warren yeah here's this lady trying to rent him out of place trying to give him a job he
00:10:53
destroys the place and then he won't even leave mm-hmm yeah and it actually appears that before even before he was
00:11:01
arrested in Colorado that Nations was being looked at as a potential suspect in the Delphi case from what I could
00:11:09
find it looks like on July 18th of 2017 the indiana state police began investigating nations because he failed
00:11:17
to check in since april of that year and he departed from his known address the the motel of course we now know that
00:11:27
they would find him in Colorado this being in September of 2017 pursuant to the tip about his similarity to the
00:11:36
Delphi suspect sketch at the time of Tim Watkins murder nations and his wife Caitlin and their
00:11:43
two little kids were living out of their car and at campsites throughout Colorado
00:11:48
nations brother Edward Lyles had been assaulted and murdered in Colorado Springs in early 2017 he was
00:11:57
kicked in the head by steel toe boots Edwards murderer Matthew stroker was sentenced on the same day that Tim
00:12:08
Watkins was killed and this murderers lenient sentence of only 16 years some have speculated could have caused
00:12:16
nations to go off the deep end and lash out at the first person that he saw or that happened by know when Nations was
00:12:25
arrested in Colorado there is an interesting sidenote right before he was arrested he and
00:12:31
Caitlin pawned an unknown item at a local pawn shop now presumably it was something not linkable to Tim Watkins or
00:12:41
police would have noted that right if the if the pawnshop was honest mm-hmm oh this is where I had his his some of his
00:12:51
description Daniel nation's physical description it's worth noting that the arrest affidavit listed nations as being
00:13:00
a hundred and seventy pounds with brown eyes and hair and his residence was listed as transient so I didn't take him
00:13:10
just from seeing the mugshot I didn't peg him for 170 pounds but still probably not as big as what the bridge
00:13:17
guy looks like yeah well [ __ ] weighs a little more Caitlin told his wife Caitlin told
00:13:23
Colorado investigators at the time that she was that she not Nations was the owner of the 22 rifle that she purchased
00:13:33
it she says for protection after their car was broken into and Caitlin had her own problems as well and was wanted in
00:13:41
the Carolinas on a failure to appear in court for what I I don't know right but just because she has ownership of the
00:13:51
gun or have an ownership of the gun you know Nations has access to the gun yes and
00:13:58
that's what's so tricky about this and then you have the added fact of the lenient sentence for his brother's
00:14:05
murderer alright so we have a guy that that's your motive if you break this down in its in its simplest form we have
00:14:13
a guy that is described by everyone before he even gets to Colorado he's described by people in Indiana as a
00:14:21
strange dude that has a horrible violent temper well yeah they call them nuts yeah and that's not just because he goes
00:14:28
around showing everybody his nuts it's not some clever nickname so we have this guy that has a known violent temper then
00:14:36
on top of that we know that he has access to a gun to a firearm on the same day that Watkins went missing his
00:14:45
brother gets this lenient sentence for or I mean his brother's murderer gets a lenient sentence yeah so it's almost
00:14:52
like justice is not done my brother was killed justice should be done oh you're not
00:14:58
gonna do justice well I'm gonna go kill somebody and let's see how you like that
00:15:02
mm-hmm yeah I mean we're discussing a guy that doesn't reason well with with anything
00:15:08
no you know to the point of waving a hatchet at people yeah do we have a situation where he's out in the middle
00:15:17
of nowhere and comes across this biker Tim Watkins all by himself and decides to take out all of his anger and
00:15:24
frustrations on just some random stranger yeah because we know that Tim would confront somebody if he thought
00:15:31
somebody was doing something wrong and so was nations doing something and then Tim said hey buddy you shouldn't do that
00:15:38
here you shouldn't shoot your gun over here cuz there's people riding their bikes
00:15:41
and then nation just lost it you also have to wonder too could the the shot that took out Tim Watkins tire on his
00:15:49
bike could that have just been an accidental thing right and then and then Watkins might fly off off the chain
00:15:58
there real quick it because we're talking about expensive bikes we're also talking about a guy that we we have his
00:16:05
wife saying hey yeah he worked hard and he worked at these bike repair shops and at these
00:16:10
bike shops and so on and so forth but money seemed to be an issue inside their marriage does did Watkins finally have
00:16:19
enough of it saying to himself you know I've spoke to I've been nice about this as long as I could have possibly been
00:16:26
nice about it Brian I've confronted many people that have been out here illegally
00:16:30
shooting their guns and now this Yahoo accidentally just destroyed my bike and maybe he's not so friendly when he
00:16:41
approaches this person be it nations or somebody else yeah whether that first shot just had been an accident that led
00:16:48
to to a road rage situation where where the one man is holding a gun and the other ends up being a murder victim
00:16:56
right and again how far is he off of this trail and with a flat tire then you got to carry this bike back so it's you
00:17:04
could be super-pissed in September of 2017 Daniel Nations was being looked at by Colorado law
00:17:12
enforcement for the Tim Watkins case as well as the hatchet menacing allegations
00:17:18
and the possible connection with the murders in Delphi now he seems to be in a lot of hot water as a potential
00:17:25
suspect in two murder cases for one thing they'll Paso County authorities seemed very interested in him for the
00:17:33
Tim Watkins murder but unbelievably although investigators questions question nations about Watkins
00:17:41
they say they thoroughly investigated him they never named him as a suspect in Tim's murder my problem is we have
00:17:50
reason to believe that it was a 22 used in his death we have nations with the ability to have a 22 so that lines up
00:18:00
but also that we have tests that can't be run on these guns or on the bullets the only thing that's going to seem to
00:18:09
really stick here is the hatchet charges we're you know in nations denied threatening anyone with a hatchet he
00:18:17
told authorities that he was just yet people and shaking his fist sure but the hatchet found in his car and the
00:18:25
multiple witness reports we have multiple witnesses reporting the same thing seemed to clearly be enough to
00:18:32
bring the charges against this guy well he's a lifelong criminal I mean you can't believe what he says three months
00:18:38
after his arrest prosecutors cut a deal with nations that allowed him to plead guilty to one
00:18:44
felony menacing charged in the weapons possession charge and he actually received no jail time for this he got
00:18:51
three years probation in the plea deal well the problem I have with this turd Turkey is that he keeps getting these
00:18:59
chances it seems like and chances that most people shouldn't get hmm and I just wonder if they're like you said is there
00:19:07
something with the military PTSD or or anything where where is there something in the file that they're being so
00:19:15
lenient because I mean being on it being out in the woods and threatening people
00:19:21
with a hatchet should be taken serious well I'm certain that it probably was I wonder if we have a situation where
00:19:30
there's extenuating circumstances here that write that okay so we're talking about an area that people probably
00:19:37
travel to to stay be it for camping or any other reason I wonder if some of these people that he threatened if they
00:19:47
were out-of-towners these are people that you would need to testify against him in court right I mean who knows what
00:19:54
their level is personally are they willing to travel out of town take a day off of work to testify against this guy
00:20:03
meanwhile they might have the prosecutor telling them there's not going to be a court date because he's going to plead
00:20:08
guilty and therefore I think that we we have this this plea deal that's worked out it was probably fairly lenient
00:20:17
coming from the prosecutors end but again it could be his some of his background may have led to it being what
00:20:26
is ultimately I think I don't see how anybody can look at it other than a lenient sentence yeah it's almost like
00:20:32
he's getting these free passes out of jail here you go detectives told Tim Watkins family that they had no
00:20:39
evidence to link nations to the murder scene ballistic tests were inconclusive because the bullet inside Watkins was
00:20:48
too deformed to to match to a possible murder weapon and according to local media DNA tests were also inconclusive
00:20:57
though it's unclear whether nations submitted DNA or what DNA might have been found if any in any event Nations
00:21:07
was released from jail in Colorado in January of 2018 with just probation he remains among multiple that's air quotes
00:21:17
multiple people of interest in the case said Kurt Smith and El Paso sheriff's detective he says quote it would be nice
00:21:26
if he gave a truthful statement to police and he continued saying that's about the best thing he could do for
00:21:33
himself to exclude himself from the Tim Watkins murder case yeah but Indiana's not gonna be done with them and they're
00:21:40
gonna extradite him from Colorado yeah that's because he's facing charges in three counties for among other offenses
00:21:47
failure to register as a sex offender and possession of marijuana now for this he pled guilty and served some time in
00:21:55
multiple jails in early July he returned to Colorado Springs to that area to try
00:22:01
to regain custody of his children who were taken by Children's Services and were now the subject of a custody
00:22:10
dispute between Daniel nations and his wife Caitlin who had divorced him nations gave a lengthy sorrowful
00:22:19
interview to Colorado Springs Gazette in August in which he called the Watkins allegations preposterous and said quote
00:22:28
I'm not what they made me out to be and quote he told the paper that he wants to
00:22:33
clear his name that he is a victim of all the rumor and speculation about Delphi and the Mount Hermon incidents
00:22:42
nations admitted only to illegally possessing a firearm and for failing to register as a sex
00:22:48
offender in Colorado he said he took the plea deal in the hatchet case just to avoid jail time and that he did not
00:22:55
threaten anyone with a hatchet and nation said he has too much self-respect as a former Marine to dress sloppily
00:23:05
carry extra weight and have longer hair like the Delphi composite sketch suspect
00:23:11
he also said he has an alibi he was at his wife's ultrasound on the day of the Delphi murders and that he
00:23:21
gave his DNA to the Indiana State Police now it is worth noting that Caitlin did
00:23:28
apparently have an ultrasound appointment that day but she says she thinks nation's was with her but cannot
00:23:37
be certain no nations also told the newspaper that his children are his life and that any run-ins with people in the
00:23:45
Colorado woods he may have had were because he was trying to protect his kids mountain bikers were zooming by too
00:23:53
close to their tent so he placed logs on the path and had a confrontation with one rider while he happened to be
00:24:00
holding a hatchet the episode on the road he said was when another car almost ran them off the road endangering his
00:24:08
family he admits to having anger issues driven by his PTSD but says that he would never attack anyone but we know he
00:24:19
attacked his wife Caitlin who has said that she is afraid of him she said publicly she is afraid of him
00:24:38
done disappeared is the og true crime parody podcast that's become a word-of-mouth hit first and foremost a
00:24:47
parody of the hit podcast up and vanished done disappeared also features spoofs on every podcast you can think of
00:24:54
and their host like my favorite murder sword and scale armchair expert Nancy Grace and many many more as well as
00:25:03
brutally satirical ads for real products like blue apron simply safe and zipper cruder host John David Buddha is not a
00:25:11
podcaster he's a claim filmmaker but has never made a film done disappeared is soon to become a TV show a major motion
00:25:20
picture a board game a children's book a VR experience in an oil painting seasons
00:25:28
1 & 2 are available everywhere you get podcast new episodes of season 3 drop every Sunday and a day early on Himalaya
00:25:38
yeah what I love about done disappeared is that you can pop on an episode some of them are very short like 10 minutes
00:25:45
or so and they'll just put a smile on your face but the story the plotline is intriguing
00:25:52
as well download the app or visit Himalayan calm and follow done disappeared you won't be
00:25:58
disappointed headspace is your guide to health and happiness it'll teach you the
00:26:04
life-changing skills of meditation and mindfulness in just a few minutes a day in fact just 10 days of headspace has
00:26:11
proven to reduce stress by 14 percent and increase happiness by 5 percent not to mention four weeks of headspace
00:26:18
improve focus by 14% headspace has hundreds of meditation sessions on everything from stress to sleep guided
00:26:27
exercises help you add a touch of mindfulness to daily activities like cooking commuting cleaning eating and
00:26:35
more while s.o.s exercises they're there for you during any meltdown moments or if you need a mini meditation on a busy
00:26:44
day I always wanted to focus on meditation and mindfulness tried other programs they didn't work
00:26:50
check out headspace today start your journey towards a healthier happier life by subscribing to headspace sign up now
00:26:58
at head space.com slash garage to get a free month trial sign up online at head space.com slash garage for a free month
00:27:06
trial and start meditating today all right cheers mates cheers to you captain and for I'm cheering the glass
00:27:24
right now we have a glass between us now let's do so I can't cheers you directly
00:27:31
I'm just cheering the glass that now separates us well for all of our old episodes where there wasn't glass
00:27:38
between us go to the stitcher app download it it's free and check out our bonus weekly show called off the record
00:27:44
on stitcher premium yes yes we are like Howard Stern and Robin Quivers they've they've had to separate us alright so
00:27:52
where we left off was they they basically said hey we don't think nation was involved as far as Tim's death or at
00:28:01
least they can't connect him to the crime scene right and so we're taking them back to Indiana because there's
00:28:09
possibility he's involved with the Delphi murders but he'll he'll eventually move back to Colorado or at
00:28:18
least go there to attempt to gain custody of his children what we do have is some statements from police regarding
00:28:25
could Daniel nations have been involved in the deaths of Abby and Libby and this
00:28:31
comes from October 3rd in 2017 when the Indiana State Police stated that they could not specifically include or
00:28:41
exclude Daniel nations as a suspect in the Delphi homicides right but on the anniversary of Liberty Germain and
00:28:51
Abigail Williams death this is in February of 2018 the state police superintendent Carter
00:28:59
announced Nations was quote not a person that we care a whole lot about at this point in time and quote they went on to
00:29:12
say that until the perpetrator is caught nations will technically remain a person
00:29:16
of interest in the case but Carter said that they've talked to many persons of interest and identified these persons of
00:29:25
interests have been identified in 30,000 tips right and he stated that we feel confident that there
00:29:33
was no involvement for those of you who believe that nation's resemblance to the
00:29:38
sketch is uncanny that can be hard to swallow and and I know that he remained and probably will remain a suspect in
00:29:46
that case as far as you know the internet sluice go in that population right here's the thing though that's
00:29:55
tricky about the Delphi case and about Daniel nations as being a possible suspect is there any reason to believe I
00:30:06
mean it doesn't take much to jump to the leap that possibly there was DNA found in the Delphi case and that they took a
00:30:15
sample from Daniel nations and it excluded him yeah that's the speculation right I mean we don't know for certain
00:30:23
if there was DNA that was found in that case but you know if there was I mean for them to say that he's I mean what
00:30:32
was the quote he's he's not someone we really care a whole lot about at this point in time
00:30:38
yeah regarding their investigation I'm guessing they don't because if they did and they tested him and he didn't match
00:30:44
then they would say we cleared this individual and it's time to move forward mm-hmm but I mean we speculated for day
00:30:52
one whether or not they had DNA and the Delphi murders and I'm saying they don't
00:30:57
because all these guys that keep coming forward as possible suspects it takes some time normally a couple weeks and
00:31:04
then they say we're not really interested in that person they're not clearing people well you can clear
00:31:10
people if you have DNA right and I just don't think they do well the other thing
00:31:15
too I've heard Daniel nations voice in several interviews and it doesn't line up with the audio that we have from the
00:31:24
Delphi murders that's invite on the hill clip right and that's just in my untrained ear I I want to throw this
00:31:32
caveat out there that I think that the audio clip from the Delphi case the down the hill clip I almost feel like it's
00:31:40
too fast too short to really try to line it up with the with somebody else's you know a sample of their voice from
00:31:48
something else the other thing too which would be difficult for Daniel nations to
00:31:55
be the perpetrator it certainly throws a wrench in the possibility is okay so that's it we have
00:32:03
this questionable alibi was he at the ultrasound with his wife that day or was he not right she's afraid of him too so
00:32:11
is she making this stuff up well but no she's the one that says I I don't I can't say for certain that he
00:32:17
was there right she says I think he was there but I can't say 100% but I think they normally have multiple times where
00:32:24
they duel an ultrasound so that's where she could be confusing where it's like and was he there at that one or was it a
00:32:31
different one the thing that's not in question is she did have one scheduled for that day that seems to be that's
00:32:38
that's been combed over you know and and looked through already that did happen there was one scheduled for that day so
00:32:46
where I'm going with this is let's say if he was there then that excludes him he has he has a legitimate alibi he
00:32:54
couldn't have been right the bridge guy yeah but if if he wasn't there with her the thing that puts the throws a wrench
00:33:02
into that investigation as him being a suspect Daniel nations in his wife Caitlyn they shared a vehicle and he
00:33:10
lived quite a ways away from Delphi if she was at the ultrasound with their vehicle and he was not he may still not
00:33:17
have had the ability right to transport himself to the Delphi area how did how did he get there right yeah so yeah that
00:33:26
becomes a big question and I know that Daniel Nations his whole thing kind of hijacks this storytelling of Tim walkins
00:33:36
case yeah and I mean it really does it really overshadowed Tim walkins case and of course the Delphi case was national
00:33:45
news yeah but I I think it's irresponsible and in the Tim watch its case to even rule Daniel nations out
00:33:52
well I don't think I don't think you can and I don't know that I don't think their statement I mean we're not talking
00:34:00
about area that has a ton of crime and yes there's people shooting guns a lot so
00:34:05
there's multiple possibilities of an accidental shooting that is then taken to the next level but we have a crazy
00:34:14
guy that's what people call him that's what people that knew him common nut he's in that area and he is threatening
00:34:23
people with a violent weapon and on top of that he has access to a gun that can in somebody's life within a couple
00:34:32
bullets hm and he's the number one suspect and the Tim Watson case as far as I'm concerned and and if law
00:34:41
enforcement doesn't have leads and they have nothing to go on go back around again with Daniel nations let's see if
00:34:50
you can come up with something right right and I don't think that they've cleared him you know because their
00:34:56
statement is just simply we cannot connect him to the crime scene we have nothing linking him to the crime
00:35:02
scene wandah which doesn't mean we're there like nope this isn't our guy they're still leaving that door open
00:35:08
right and there could be some avenue that they're going down and trying to connect them to that they're just not
00:35:14
making public now Tim Watkins murder case is it's still considered an open case I don't I don't know that it's been
00:35:22
technically ruled a cold case at this point and I know nowadays that's not really a phrase that investigators like
00:35:30
to throw around and I think in case right and I think it would be irresponsible to do so and they here's
00:35:39
what we do know though that more than 250 leads came in to the El Paso County Sheriff's Office following the shooting
00:35:47
including the most recent substantial there was a there was some hope for this case in March of 2018 there was a they
00:35:58
publicly stated that there was a lead that came in that they were very interested in my guess is that it didn't
00:36:05
it didn't go anywhere because I mean here we are a year later and that doesn't seem to have materialized into
00:36:12
anything yeah the the term cold case that that's probably more for Hollywood hmm and that kind of thing but uh yeah
00:36:22
it doesn't seem like they have much to go off of and specially when you can't test the bullets mm-hmm I mean that's a
00:36:29
big piece of evidence and you take somebody like nations or you take anybody that caliber a brainless saying
00:36:41
that would possibly be able to go from an accidental shooting to homicide you're talking about his bodies 50 yards
00:36:54
Tim Watkins body was 50 yards roughly from his bicycle and they didn't find him and they were searching for him
00:37:03
right so hopefully one day somebody's hiking or riding their bike and they stumble upon a gun and maybe that will
00:37:18
be the big break hmm because with all this less let's just say Daniel nations had another gun that he could have
00:37:28
easily disposed of this gun and if somebody was if somebody was of the right mind why I can't say that because
00:37:39
there would be a murderer but if they're trying to actually cover up the fact that they murdered somebody
00:37:44
you again its vastness where you could bury a gun and nobody's gonna find it mm-hmm well we also have that we still
00:37:53
have the lawsuit to get through this was the one that was brought forward by the
00:37:59
Gazette by the newspaper yeah because there's some interesting stuff that is brought to light due to
00:38:05
that lawsuit so on July 20th this is of 2018 of last year in the course of testimony during the lawsuit initiated
00:38:15
by The Gazette remember they're seeking the release of Tim Watkins autopsy reports the newspaper was looking for
00:38:23
information as to the number of shots the bullet trajectory and distance and any wounds to the body a prosecutor and
00:38:33
top investigator on the case both testified during this lawsuit and during their toasts testimony they said that
00:38:41
unless new clues surface an arrest is unlikely while authorities hope that someone comes forward with new
00:38:48
information the hunt for Watkins killer or killers has otherwise potentially turned into a cold case this is what we
00:38:58
talked about last week captain when you and I first started talking about Tim Watkins case and we actually have had
00:39:06
his case on the books for what a handful of weeks if not a couple months well and
00:39:13
so we both kind of briefly looked into this as we were leading up to this week but last week was the first time that
00:39:21
you and I spoke about it in our in our interesting weekly meetings that we have yeah where I become a psychopath and
00:39:30
pick up the phone and give you a call and like they used to do in the 80s I feel like we have a couple of
00:39:37
scenarios here that are possible and so a lot of times look I like to look at things like this you look when you have
00:39:46
when you have when you go to a crime scene let's say you have things items that you could find that could lead to
00:39:55
evidence but in some sense if you have nothing there that too is evidence so what I like to do is when we look at
00:40:03
these cases not just look at the case itself but look at the investigation to try to get some insight into what may be
00:40:10
law enforcement who have the details of the cases that know the specifics about the cases what what are they working
00:40:19
what angles are they working to try to for us on the outside looking in to figure out what is likely has happened
00:40:27
here and I really feel like the holding back of the autopsy it kinda and this is
00:40:36
not this is not going to be this is going to be a bit of a debbie downer moment I think
00:40:41
for the investigation but again this is just my speculation I think that the holding back of the autopsy to me shows
00:40:49
that they law enforcement might firmly believe that this is a stranger on stranger attack then it was a stranger
00:40:57
on stranger murder and that they need to hold back what little information the murderer would have that nobody else
00:41:08
would have right and confessor right if they if they happen along if they happen
00:41:14
to come across the right person the actual perpetrator and they get into a situation where they're questioning them
00:41:22
to get information that only he or she or they could deliver and why I say that this is probably a debbie downer moment
00:41:33
for I believe for the investigation is that these stranger on stranger attacks are so difficult to solve
00:41:42
yeah these cases are incredible I mean a regular murder case can be quite difficult on its own but then you factor
00:41:50
in that they have the to have no connection to one another the the victim and the perpetrator have no connection
00:41:56
to one another other than they happen to be in the same place at the same time when the murder occurred and if they
00:42:02
can't get any ballistics from any of the gunshots that's I mean now you can't even link your victim to a possible
00:42:11
murder weapon so unfortunately I feel like unless they end of talking to the right person or like they say unless new
00:42:22
clues come to the surface unless the public comes forward and says something then this case might go cold the other
00:42:31
thing though here and now I'm going to put in a little criticism if in fact they do know what kind of caliber of gun
00:42:40
was used I think that law enforcement should release that information and I say that because that might be the only
00:42:49
thing that you can connect your perpetrator to this crime because if you're asking the public for
00:42:56
help maybe somebody can remember look this happened this likely happened when most people would have been at work it
00:43:04
was during the during the day time during the week so is there a wife out there somewhere or a relative or a
00:43:12
friend out there somewhere that knows you know what I remember talking to so-and-so they told me they were going
00:43:20
out to this area and two-sport shoot that day yeah and they took their gun oh I've been out hunting with him or her
00:43:29
I've been I've been out shooting with this individual and they have that caliber of gun well at the very least I
00:43:36
could call it in and say hey look this person is a good I believe they are a good person
00:43:41
but I just want you to be aware they own that caliber of gun they told me they were sports shooting in that area around
00:43:48
that time I mean yeah is it is it the the significant breadcrumb trail that you would hope for no but it's also a
00:43:58
lead it's one more person to talk to it's something right right so I hope that if they do have if they know the
00:44:07
caliber of weapon that was used in this murder I hope that they come out and tell us at some point they might not
00:44:15
need to release the entire autopsy for us to have that information it could still be helpful the thing with the
00:44:23
autopsy though and we talked about some speculation where somebody interviewed kind of described what they saw when
00:44:32
they were there when they found Tim's body and I think what were probably another thing that that kind of suggests
00:44:41
to me that this might be stranger on stranger we talked about the scenario of Watkins possibly approaching this
00:44:48
individual right well the person in the interview said that there was possibly a
00:44:54
gunshot wound to the hand that to me almost seems like I mean can you kind of picture that in your head captain where
00:45:02
maybe the the first shot is an accidental shot that hits the front or hits the tire of tim's bike huh tim gets off
00:45:10
the bike and decides to approach the person and rat and then they raise their gun and as a natural reaction you're
00:45:17
going to do a couple things you're gonna hit the deck you're gonna you're gonna run or you're going to put your hand up
00:45:24
and i wonder if he confronted the person or saw that that to me kind of points to
00:45:30
the the the suggestion that he was looking and facing the person as they wrote as they raise the gun to him yeah
00:45:38
it's just it's sad overall though because tim seemed like such a great guy seemed like somebody like you said in
00:45:46
his 60s but somebody that you'd love to hang out with have a beer with yeah well
00:45:50
well in those those type of people that are very passionate about something they
00:45:55
can be in fashion they can be inspirational when you when you meet them and when you speak with them you
00:46:01
know one of the reasons why we love going to chrome calm right it's not so much that you know you could have a beer
00:46:06
with tim and you'd be like man i'm getting right into mountain biking tomorrow it's more so that you see
00:46:11
somebody that's so involved in something that they love and care about that it could simply inspire you to dive further
00:46:19
into something that you love and care about something that interest you now one thing we didn't go into much detail
00:46:26
of but i think we should discuss it here captain is the other cyclist that was shot in colorado there was no connection
00:46:35
or at least there's never been an announced connection to Tim's case to the other case of a cyclist shooting in
00:46:44
Colorado yeah correct so the details of that case are this and in May of 2015 John Jacoby was murdered while biking on
00:46:53
a rural road in Windsor Colorado near Fort Collins he was shot twice sometime around 10:15 a.m. the caliber of bullets
00:47:03
has not been released Jacoby was known throughout town as a friendly grocer grocery store clerk
00:47:11
right and parks system worker and he rode his bike everywhere there was seemingly no motive or reason for the
00:47:19
jacobi murder police have forensic ly linked this case to an April 2015 shooting of Cory Romeo
00:47:30
I'm sorry Romero as she was driving on harmony Road in Fort Collins about five miles from where Jacoby was shot these
00:47:40
incidents took place two years prior to Tim Watkins death and 115 miles away from Palmer Lake but both of these so
00:47:50
these cases really far away are pretty far away but they have been forensic ly linked together and they both are
00:47:57
unsolved to this day yeah and then again you wonder is there a lone sniper somewhere hmm and as there are other
00:48:08
shootings that have not been reported because they've been misses and people just took it up you know with the idea
00:48:15
that I was on the trail or not man a bullet almost hit me well was that bull it an accident or was it on purpose well
00:48:22
and then maybe possibly a different gun used in this right in Watkins case the most recent development in Watkins case
00:48:31
the trailhead to Limbo Canyon off of Mount Hermon Road where Tim was found was blocked off again with crime scene
00:48:39
tape put up this was in August of 2018 nearly a year after Tim's murder right now the El Paso County Sheriff's Office
00:48:47
spokesperson jackie kirby would not confirm whether the activity was related to the Watkins case only saying that the
00:48:56
crime tape and trail closure is part of an active investigation yeah okay we can
00:49:03
read between the lines meanwhile a year ago someone put up a sign along the trail near where Tim was found reading
00:49:11
to whomever killed Tim Watkins leave a time and date and location let's finish this up you will not win this is not
00:49:21
your Mountain this is our Mountain this is Tim's Mountain the sign is no longer there but the frustration remains rest
00:49:30
in peace Tim Martin's well Colonel do we have any recommended reading why captain yes sir we do
00:49:48
this week we are recommending shallow graves the hunt for the New Bedford highway serial killer this was actually
00:49:55
a gift this book that I'm holding right here somebody sent me this for Christmas
00:50:00
and I failed to bring along with me their name but you know who you are you know who you are that's right I'm
00:50:08
talking to you and thanking you but thank you whoever you are not only want to thank them for this wonderful gift
00:50:15
but I did I just completed the book and it's very good so check out shallow graves the hunt for the New Bedford
00:50:21
highway serial killer this is a case that I think sending this book was hopeful inspiration that we would one
00:50:29
day cover this case right and it's about nine women aged 19 to 30 six who were strangled and left along the highways
00:50:38
circling New Bedford Massachusetts back in 1988 shallow graves check it out you can go to true crime garage com click on
00:50:47
the recommended page and we will have that listed there for you and for everything through crime garage
00:50:52
check out true crime garage com and until next week you better be good be kind and don't live
00:50:58
[Music] [Applause] [Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 70
    Most heartbreaking
  • 60
    Most shocking
  • 60
    Most controversial

Episode Highlights

  • Daniel Nations' Troubled Past
    Born into violence and dysfunction, Daniel Nations faced a tumultuous upbringing that foreshadowed his later criminal behavior.
    @ 02m 55s
    March 06, 2019
  • A Pattern of Violence
    Nations has a long criminal history, including public indecency and domestic battery.
    @ 04m 39s
    March 06, 2019
  • The Hatchet Incident
    Nations was arrested for threatening people with a hatchet, raising concerns about his violent tendencies.
    @ 18m 12s
    March 06, 2019
  • Probation Instead of Jail
    Despite his criminal history, Nations received probation after pleading guilty to a felony menacing charge.
    @ 18m 42s
    March 06, 2019
  • Claims of Innocence
    Nations insists he is a victim of rumors and speculation surrounding the Delphi murders.
    @ 22m 33s
    March 06, 2019
  • Caitlin's Fear
    Caitlin publicly expresses her fear of her husband, raising concerns about his behavior.
    “She said publicly she is afraid of him.”
    @ 24m 24s
    March 06, 2019
  • Done Disappeared Podcast
    A unique true crime parody podcast that has gained popularity for its humor and creativity.
    “Done Disappeared is the OG true crime parody podcast.”
    @ 24m 38s
    March 06, 2019
  • Podcast Episodes
    The episodes of Done Disappeared are short and enjoyable, perfect for a quick listen.
    “You can pop on an episode and they'll just put a smile on your face.”
    @ 25m 45s
    March 06, 2019
  • Investigation Concerns
    Discussion on the ongoing investigation and the implications of Daniel Nations as a suspect.
    “I think it's irresponsible to rule Daniel Nations out.”
    @ 33m 54s
    March 06, 2019
  • Tim's Character
    Reflecting on Tim's life and the impact he had on those around him.
    “Tim seemed like such a great guy.”
    @ 45m 40s
    March 06, 2019
  • The Mystery of Tim Watkins
    Tim Watkins was found murdered, leading to an active investigation with no clear suspects.
    “Is there a lone sniper somewhere?”
    @ 48m 01s
    March 06, 2019
  • A Sign of Frustration
    A sign was placed near Tim's murder site, urging the killer to come forward.
    “You will not win this is not your Mountain.”
    @ 49m 14s
    March 06, 2019

Episode Quotes

  • Justice should be done.
    Tim Watkins /// Part 2 /// 285
  • I'm not what they made me out to be.
    Tim Watkins /// Part 2 /// 285
  • She said publicly she is afraid of him.
    Tim Watkins /// Part 2 /// 285
  • I think it's irresponsible to rule Daniel Nations out.
    Tim Watkins /// Part 2 /// 285
  • Tim seemed like such a great guy.
    Tim Watkins /// Part 2 /// 285
  • This is not your Mountain, this is our Mountain.
    Tim Watkins /// Part 2 /// 285

Key Moments

  • Intergalactic Juice01:07
  • Criminal History04:39
  • Domestic Violence06:04
  • Caitlin's Fear24:24
  • Podcast Joy25:45
  • Investigation Doubts33:54
  • Tim's Legacy45:40
  • Active Investigation48:56

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown