11x01 - Naughty or Nyce

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: a beautiful mail-order bride, her

Millionaire husband, and the gardener -- as unusual a love

Triangle as you'll ever find -- until one of them die in a

Suspicious car crash.

Was this truly an accident or something more sinister?

Was this truly an accident or something more sinister?

It was a cinderella story.

Dr. Jonathan nyce, a -year-old pharmaceutical executive,

Entrepreneur, and millionaire, met his beautiful, young,

Filipino wife, michelle, through a classified ad.

She was a mail-order bride.

Not only did he promise her, or represent to her a better way

Of life for her, it was a better way of life for her family.

He sent money back to the family, helped some of her

Nieces and nephews go to school.

Narrator: michelle and jonathan married in the

Philippines, moved to the united states, had three

Children, and lived a life of comfort and affluence.

I know there was an age difference.

I know he worked long hours.

But other than that, I mean, it's just, basically, they're

Married with kids.

Narrator: but after years of marriage, the walls started

To crumble ever so slightly when jonathan got an anonymous

Telephone call.

[ Telephone rings ] hello?

Dr. Nyce, I'm having an affair with your wife, and

Here's some proof.

[ Filipino accent ] <span tts:fontstyle="italic">i want to <span tts:fontstyle="italic"> see you again.</Span></span>

<Span tts:fontstyle="italic">when can you do it?</Span>

<Span tts:fontstyle="italic">any time you want.</Span>

He clearly recognized his wife's voice.

She was filipino.

She had a very distinctive voice, and he knew it was her.

It appeared that there was sexual activity taking place.

Narrator: the caller demanded $, or else he would

Embarrass dr. Nyce by releasing the tape to the couple's friends

And business associates.

Nyce immediately confronted his wife, michelle.

She states that, yes, she did have the affair, that the

Individual she had the affair with is an employee at a

Landscaping company.

Narrator: his name was miguel dejesus.

He was years old.

They met when dejesus was doing work on the nyces' yard.

When questioned by police, dejesus denied making the phone

Call trying to extort money from the couple.

Miguel dejesus was a guy who had several different

Social-security numbers, was living with another woman -- I

Think she was a common-law wife -- had gotten another woman

Pregnant and refused to pay child support.

I mean, he was not an upstanding character by anybody's estimate.

Narrator: michelle promised to end the affair, and jonathan

Filed charges against dejesus for the alleged extortion

Attempt.

The story she told me is this guy was following her, stalking

Her, and that since he realized they have a big house and stuff,

That he wanted to get some money from them.

Narrator: a local magistrate issued a restraining order.

The gardener and michelle were not to have any contact

With each other again.

The judge even asked dr. Nyce, "well, how far does he

Have to say away from her?" And dr. Nyce just clearly and

Coldly said, "stay away from my wife."

Narrator: but the story didn't end there.

Five months later, michelle nyce was found dead in her car, which

Was found down an embankment near a shallow creek.

It looked as if the car swerved off the snow-covered road.

Very isolated.

It just so happened, the night prior to this, we had a rather

Large snowstorm.

Narrator: but there were a number of suspicious clues.

There were footprints leading away from the passenger side of

The car.

The footprints do say that someone was there and left the

Scene.

It appears that someone had gotten out of the vehicle and

Left the scene.

Narrator: there was blood on the outside of the car and a

Blood pattern on the driver's seat inconsistent with an

Accidental head injury.

And perhaps most telling, michelle wasn't wearing shoes.

The bottom of her stockings were dirty, so obviously, at

Some point, she was walking around in her bare feet, with

The stockings, without shoes.

So, that was a red flag right there.

Narrator: there were a pair of women's brown shoes on the

Passenger's side of the car, a color that didn't match her dark

Blue outfit.

It was becoming clear to investigators that this was no

Accident.

Narrator: although michelle nyce was found dead in

Her car, investigators didn't believe she was driving when the

Car ran into the ditch.

She's a very short woman -- no more than '", '" tall,

And the car is reclined -- the driver's seat's reclined all the

Way back.

Narrator: at michelle's autopsy, the medical examiner

Found evidence of not one head injury but several.

She had four separate lacerations -- three in the

Forehead area that were separate, one to the top of the

Head.

This would be inconsistent with a car crash and more consistent

With blunt-force trauma.

Narrator: michelle had cuts and bruises on her hands, what

Appeared to be defensive wounds.

This death, in my opinion, is clearly a homicide.

Narrator: the shoe impressions found in the snow

Leading away from the vehicle, across the creek, and up to a

Nearby road were from a man's boot.

This was a secondary crime scene.

This is not the location where this happened.

The location is somewhere else, but this is where the body was

Left.

Narrator: on the night of the m*rder, michelle worked the

Evening shift at the cosmetics counter of a local department

Store.

She left around : p.m.

She told her husband she was going out for a drink with her

Girlfriends.

But the owner of a nearby motel told police michelle was there

That night in a room with a man he identified as miguel dejesus,

The gardener she had been involved with a year earlier.

Michelle had reached out to the gardener and wanted to get

Together with him.

He agreed to do so.

Narrator: when questioned, dejesus admitted having sex with

Michelle that night but insisted he had nothing to do with her

m*rder.

He said michelle left in her car around midnight and that he went

Home to his wife.

He was with michelle that night.

He told us what they did, where they went, and, again, all of

That was verified.

Narrator: dejesus did reveal one surprising piece of

Information.

He claimed michelle planned to divorce her husband.

I would never in a million years believe that she would

Leave the kids for the gardener.

Narrator: despite outward appearances, investigators

Learned the couple was broke.

Jonathan's company went bankrupt before he could bring his new

Drug to market.

He was developing a new asthma-type drug, and he was a

Successful scientist.

Unfortunately, it does not appear that he was as good a

Businessman as he was a scientist.

Narrator: and friends told investigators that michelle had

Recently caught jonathan in a huge lie.

She went into this marriage thinking that he was years

Younger than he actually was, and that did not come to light

Till , years into their marriage.

She was very upset about it, but it was one of those things

That they already have kids.

They were married.

She can't do anything about it.

She was a young woman, and she liked to go out dancing, and

He, for a couple of months, tried to keep up with that.

He even said, "I took viagra."

He was just trying to keep up with his younger wife.

Narrator: jonathan said michelle never came home after

Work.

He said he was home with the children and never left.

Armed with warrants, police searched dejesus's apartment and

The nyces' home, looking for shoes or boots that matched the

Shoe impressions or clothing with the victim's blood.

The search went on for a number of days.

We never could find the shoes 'cause we looked saturday, we

Looked sunday, and on monday, there was actually talk of

Knocking in walls and vents to see where these shoes could be.

Narrator: investigators now had two suspects.

The question was who had the stronger motive and was there

Any forensic evidence to prove it?

Narrator: when dr. Nyce learned his wife, michelle, was

With her lover earlier on the night she was k*lled, he was

Inconsolable.

I just never seen him that way.

He was just really sad and upset about michelle, and we all

Hugged each other, and we were all crying, and then the kids

Were crying.

You know, he just told them that maybe five minutes ago prior to

Us coming.

Narrator: but police found evidence that jonathan knew

Michelle had resumed her love affair with the gardener.

On his desk was this poem jonathan had written.

Your stainless steel heart, like a Kn*fe, rips open my soul

To bleed, unattended, dying.

You call me on the telephone and tell me not to worry.

When, oh, when will my dying end?

Narrator: with a warrant, investigators searched the

Nyces' home.

Although they didn't find any shoes that matched the

Impressions found in the snow near michelle's car, they did

Find some suspicious items in the garage.

One was a baseball bat that looked clean, but it was tested

With phenolphthalein and was positive for the presence of

Blood.

However, it was impossible to determine whether it was human

Or animal blood.

And they found jonathan's clothes soaking in the washing

Machine.

The water appeared to be pink.

Unfortunately, we couldn't do a presumptive test of blood for

It.

Was is blood that caused that pinkish tint?

Maybe.

Narrator: but perhaps the most surprising discovery in the

Nyces' home was a pair of men's loafers, and on the bottom was a

Mysterious substance that couldn't be identified.

Scientists tested the substance with infrared analysis.

The amount of light the samples absorb and reflect can identify

What the chemical makeup of the substance is.

That test revealed there were four different kinds of glue on

The bottom of the loafers.

But why would there be glue on the bottom of his shoes?

Investigators found the answer when they discovered pieces of

Plastic hidden throughout the nyces' home.

Pieces were hidden in children's toy boxes, there was

A christmas-tree box that had a couple pieces in it.

Narrator: the pieces looked like the bottoms of a pair of

Boots.

You were wondering, "did they get all the parts?

If I'm missing a part, would I be able to put the toe to the

Heel if there's that one critical section missing?"

Narrator: as if he were putting together a jigsaw

Puzzle, ed gainsborg attempted to reassemble the sole of the

Boots.

Piece by piece, it came together.

The pieces were to the soles of a pair of men's boots, size .

And forensic tests identified glue on the pieces of plastic

That matched the glue found on the bottom of jonathan nyce's

Loafers.

We found all four glues on both surfaces.

We also had a physical match between the way the glue broke

When he tore the sole off of the shoe.

Narrator: gainsborg compared the reassembled sole to a scale

Photo of the bootprint left in the snow near michelle's body.

The problem is it's snow, and snow melts, and so very quickly,

The detail will disappear, and that's what happened in this

Case.

Narrator: still, some detail remained in the photograph.

There was enough detail to say that it was the same

Manufacturer's design and size.

Narrator: but why were the soles to a pair of boots glued

Onto a pair of loafers?

Dr. Nyce had a pair of moccasins, and then he had

Gotten a pair of work-type boots, and he had somehow used a

Saw to shave the sole off of the boot, and he put it on the

Bottom of a pair of moccasins and glued them on there.

I guess for comfort reasons so he could go outside without

Wearing out the sole of the moccasin.

Narrator: this forensic evidence suggests that

Jonathan nyce wore these loafers on the night of the m*rder,

Leaving the impressions in the snow.

When he got home, he removed the soles he had glued on, cut them

Up, and tried to hide the pieces throughout the house, thinking

That no one would ever suspect what he did.

I think it was very crucial.

It was a pretty good circumstantial placement of

These shoes at the scene of the crime, leading away from the

Crash site.

Narrator: lastly, scientists found tiny spatters of blood on

The garage wall.

And they also found bloody towels hidden in the chimney.

Dna testing identified the blood as michelle's.

Based on the forensic evidence, prosecutors now had a pretty

Good idea what happened on the night of michelle's m*rder.

Quite simply, he's just a coward -- bottom line.

Narrator: there was no question that jonathan nyce knew

His wife had resumed her affair with their gardener,

Miguel dejesus.

The poem found on jonathan's desk proved it.

But prosecutors do not believe dejesus had anything to do with

The extortion attempt a year earlier.

They think jonathan fabricated the call in order to make the

Affair public to humiliate his wife and get the court order to

Keep dejesus away so he could rebuild his marriage.

But jonathan's pharmaceutical business went bankrupt.

Michelle was forced to take a job at the cosmetics counter of

A department store and apparently lost interest in

Staying married, so she resumed her affair with dejesus.

And jonathan realized it when he called michelle on her cellphone

And there was no answer.

[ Ringing ] on the night of the m*rder,

Michelle came home around midnight.

Well, look who's home.

Narrator: and prosecutors say there was an argument.

I live here, don't i?

Why wouldn't I come home?

I've been calling your cellphone.

You're not answering.

My cellphone battery d*ed.

Narrator: michelle packed a suitcase.

Whether it was to leave temporarily or permanently is

Unclear.

You're questioning me.

You're lying to me.

Get back here.

I'm not done yet.

I'm leaving.

I can't stay with you in this house anymore.

Narrator: in the garage, the forensic evidence suggests the

Fight turned violent.

Jonathan grabbed a baseball bat and struck her repeatedly in the

Head.

To cover up the crime, jonathan pushed the driver's seat of

Michelle's car all the way back, put her body inside, grabbed a

Pair of her shoes and the suitcase, then drove one mile to

The nearby creek.

He maneuvered the vehicle down the slight embankment and staged

The accident.

The foot impressions leading away from the car tied

Jonathan nyce to the scene.

Prosecutors think he walked the one mile back to their home.

Later, jonathan cleaned the blood from the garage, but tiny

Amounts of blood spatter remained.

He also removed the soles he glued to the bottom of his

Loafers, cut them up, and tried to hide pieces throughout the

House.

Police arrested dr. Nyce and charged him with his wife's

m*rder.

He just started to sob uncontrollably and admitted to

Causing the injuries to michelle.

Narrator: jonathan claimed that michelle att*cked him first

With a Kn*fe, but investigators found no evidence of a Kn*fe

Like the one he described.

He said he opened the door to assist her out of the car and

That in this dark garage, she lunges at him with a stiletto.

He says as she's coming out of the truck, she falls, she hits

Her head, and that's allegedly what causes the injuries.

Narrator: no one believed his version of events.

I will have a separate meeting with someone regarding

Reduction of bail.

It was ridiculous.

It just made absolutely no sense.

If this is truly an accident, why would he go to that extent

To try to hide evidence from the police?

If it was an accident, you could just report it.

Narrator: at the trial, the defense team argued that

Michelle's affair constituted provocation.

The judge permitted the jury to consider that possibility.

When the defense attorney cross-examining miguel dejesus

Said, "by the way, did you use a condom?" And he said no -- and I

Glanced over at the jury, and I saw one of the women sort of

Like shake her head.

Narrator: the jury found jonathan nyce guilty of the

Lesser charge of passion-provocation

Manslaughter.

He was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Prosecutors, friends, and family were appalled.

Instead of getting a divorce, you can just k*ll your wife.

I don't think that's a good lesson to learn from this story.

The jury has to believe that he was indeed provoked and also

That between the provocation and the m*rder, he had no time to

Calm down.

After you already know about

The affair, if that's still passion provocation...um -- I

Just don't think it fit in this case.

Narrator: but prosecutors say without the forensic evidence,

Nyce might not have been convicted at all.

We have the forensic evidence of the shoes actually being

Pieced back together to show the extent to which the defendant,

Dr. Nyce, went to cover up this crime.

In my opinion, without the forensic evidence, it would not

Have been possible to even charge dr. Nyce with this case,

With the m*rder of his wife.