Savage Circumstances | "48 Hours" Full Episodes | Forensic Files

I want people to know that Rhonda wasn't just beautiful. >> Bye, Daddy. >> People always are surprised when they
hear this. Like, no, you can't be super beautiful like her and be intelligent at
the same time. I'm like, actually, she was wicked smart. Very in love. We planned on getting
married in the summer. That was my timetable. >> They did look at wedding rings.
>> I think she she wanted one that was around 35,000 and uh I was thinking more 15,000 was my range.
>> And you and Rhonda, did you like to get outdoors >> all the time? We loved hiking. Uh we
played a lot of frisbee golf, so yeah, we were outdoors most of the time. We woke up early. She opened the drapes
and we saw a beautiful day. Okay. So, we are going to go hiking. One of the things she asked me on the drive over.
She said, "Uh, if anything ever happens to me, do you promise to watch our daughter and take care of her?"
And I go, "What are you talking about?" She goes, "I have dreams all the time that I am dead before 25."
>> Did Rhonda ever tell you that she was sensing something bad was going to happen to her?
She said that he's either going to propose to me or kill me. She wasn't happy. She just fell out of
love with him and they were fighting all the time. She had mentioned wanting to take the baby and and leave. Steve
>> started pouring down rain and thunder came and so she just started bolting down like at a full sprint running down
the trail. and what unfolded before your eyes. >> I don't know how far down it was, but
she went off the trail. >> A man hiking with Rhonda Castow says that she fell off a cliff last night.
>> Did she take a step and her feet went out in front of her? Did she tumble forward? What did you see?
>> Next question. I'm Steve Nichols and in February of 2015, I was charged and arrested for the
murder of Rhonda Casta, my fiance. We're in Hood River, Oregon. It's been 6 years, 1 month, and 26 days since Rhonda
fell off that trail to her death. And for the first time, Steven Nichols will enter a formal plea.
Accident or murder? >> Murder. Murder. >> And from a mother's heart and mind, you
are certain of that. >> I am 100% certain of that. He's evil. He's totally evil.
>> I think I've just left a path of destruction. I'm a hun basically going through women.
48 hours mystery at Eagle Creek. When you have a case where someone's falsely accused, you can't really
separate yourself from work and and home life. >> For defense attorney Mike Arnold,
>> Mr. Nichols is here with his lawyer. Representing Steven Nichols gives new meaning to the phrase full-time job.
>> You know, while I prefer to be coming home doing farm chores and listen to wildlife,
>> instead I'll be thinking about my closing argument or what the next step of the case is.
>> We are on the record in Hood River County, state of Oregon, versus Steven Wagner Nichols.
>> Nichols was arrested for murder in February 2015. accused of pushing his girlfriend Rhonda
Castow off this trail in Oregon 6 years earlier. >> To that charge, what's your plea?
>> Not guilty. >> Bail was set at $2 million. Nicholls would spend the next 14 months
in jail awaiting trial. >> I try to just take it one day at a time. I read a lot. I play chess, but really
when it comes down to it, I miss my daughter. So that's the hardest part. >> But in April 2016, with a trial date
nowhere in sight, Judge John Olsen reduced Nicholls bail to $250,000. Mike Arnold set out on a frantic mission
to gather the 10% needed in cash to free his client. So the farming defense attorney
10 >> becomes a personal banker. >> People have taken off work to be there to get him out. So, it sounds like a
small price to pay to be there when my client gets to see Freedom for the first time in a year. So, wish us luck.
>> But Arnold would need more than luck. >> We can't get the client build out until
tomorrow morning. >> He'd need an extra day to arrange for the ankle monitor required for Nicholls
release. >> So, going to hold on tight to this and go get some supper. The next day, it was a little unexpected
overnight trip in Hood River. I want recycled clothes. Looking forward to get home to my family. It's my son's first
birthday today. >> Presumption of innocence, ladies and gentlemen. >> Mike feeds the cash into the bail
machine. >> I'm very excited to to see Steve for the for the first time outside in the fresh
air. >> Two more hours. God. >> And Arnold gets his wish. >> I want to cry. Actually, I'm so happy.
But it's a bittersweet victory. We will continue to fight until I've proven my innocence.
>> Still a long fight ahead. But now I've 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 attorney end up at this moment?
It all started 11 years earlier when a stunning 20-year-old woman knocked on Nicholls bedroom door at his
home just outside Portland, Oregon. And I turn around and I look at her and my tongue pretty much hit the floor. Up
until that point, she's the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. And she's like, "Hi, my name is Rhonda."
In 2005, Nicholls, who is 10 years older than Rhonda and recently divorced, was working as a day trader.
>> I had a three-bedroom condo, and the other two rooms were just empty. >> So, he decided to get a roommate.
>> I first met Steven Nichols through the internet. I was looking for a place, a
room to rent, >> who turned out to be Rhonda's mother, Julia Simmons. He can be very charming
and, you know, somebody that's really nice. >> Rhonda's best friend, Jessica Coburn,
wasn't surprised Steven was instantly attracted to Rhonda, who was an aspiring model.
>> Tell me about this. >> That was part of her modeling portfolio. I just love it because she just looks
amazing in all of those pictures. >> Everything about her was impressive and I just immediately fell in love with
her. And what were you sensing from Rhonda? >> I felt she was into me, too. I could
tell that she valued intelligence, and I've always thought 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, his condo, his money, his, you know, his status. >> Soon, Rhonda joined her mother, Julia,
in the condo, not as a roommate, but as Steven's girlfriend. Rhonda's younger sister, Tessa, was just 9 years old at
the time. >> When I first met Steve, he was really fun because I was a little girl. He was
he was playful. You know, >> 3 years into their relationship, Rhonda and Nicholls, living together but not
married, became parents. >> You want daddy to help you a little? >> I got this for you.
>> Did you see her face? She's all >> When our daughter was born, >> it meant everything to her. She became
the focus and the center of her life. >> I loved having a niece. I was always over there and she loved playing with
jewelry just like Rhonda did. >> She's just like her mom. She loves jewelry. >> Rhonda loved being a mom but hoped to
restart her modeling career. She had gained quite a bit of weight from having our daughter. She was the heaviest she
had ever been and she felt really disgusting. >> So, Steven says the couple came up with
an adventurous plan to lose weight. >> We made it a pact that we would hike 20 or 25 of the top trails in Oregon. We'll
just start crossing them off the list. >> But Jessica says Rhonda told her about
only one planned hike. She was so happy that he was finally planning something. And all the years they had been
together, he had never put any effort into planning anything for her, >> including those plans to get married.
>> The proposal never happened. Things were 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 going to open it for you. Jessica
says Rhonda had grown unhappy and that the relationship had taken a dangerous turn.
>> She told me that he had in the recent months been physically abusive to her. >> But Nicholls claims just 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 the closest we ever were. So, when Steven is telling us
that they were planning their future together and everything was great and it was a loveydovey relationship,
is he lying to me? >> He's absolutely lying 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, actually.
>> And Julia claims Rhonda made a chilling statement to her just before the hike.
She said, "He's either going to give me a ring or he's going to throw me off a cliff."
>> On March 16th, 2009, Rhonda and Steven would set out on that fitness hike, and
Rhonda would not live to see the end of the day. >> There's a smile. Bye, Daddy.
This is probably the most hiked area in the Columbia River Gorge uh for several reasons.
One, the the sheer beauty of the hike. Three months after Steven Nichols arrest in 2015, his attorney, Mike Arnold, took
his own investigative team up the Eagle Creek Trail, where he believes Rhonda Castow, slipped
and fell to her death. Inclement weather hits and disaster happens. Between the physical evidence and the
science, there won't be much dispute about this being a tragic accident on a dangerous trail.
>> Steven Nichols says this is how the tragedy unfolded. They are heading down the trail. Rhonda was in a great mood
and jokingly she put a towel around her shoulders and was calling herself Supergirl. She broke into a run. And
according to Nicholls, at this very point, she slipped on the wet path and fell more than 150 ft to her death.
That was his story in 2015. >> I'm not going to comment on that. >> When Nicholls was forbidden by his
attorney from discussing details of Rhonda's deadly fall with 48 hours. Until now, his only account was the one
he gave to police the day of the tragedy. >> Again, something I'm not going to comment on.
>> But in 2017, Steven Nichols broke that silence. >> Either I pushed her, she jumped of her
own accord, or she slipped. >> He sat down and spoke to us about the day Rhonda Castow died. Let's get in
that time machine and go back to March 16th, 2009. We woke up early. >> Steven says Rhonda seemed focused on the
future as they drove to Eagle Creek Trail. >> She says, "I desperately need to lose
weight because they want to use me as the Maria Sherupova lookalike model." And I'm like, "Yeah, you really do look
like her." But then Nicholls claims Rhonda asked him a startling question completely out
of the blue. >> She said, "Uh, if anything ever happens to me, do you promise to watch our
daughter and take care of her?" And I said, "Of course." >> Steven says the question unnerved him,
especially since 3 months earlier, he claims Rhonda had demanded he buy life insurance.
>> She was adamant about it. I said, "Why do you want this life insurance?" and she goes, "Because I want to leave our
daughter something in case I die." >> So both Steven and Rhonda had each taken out a $1 million policy on the other.
>> He planned the whole thing was premeditated. The whole thing. >> Rhonda's mother doesn't believe a word
of Nicholls story, saying the insurance was all his idea and that 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 million dollars. He's like insurance and
then four months later she's dead. >> The couple got to the trail head where Rhonda snapped this photo of Steve later
found on her cell phone. >> The weather was excellent actually. >> But Steven says Rhonda was acting
strangely. I asked her, "Are you okay hiking on this trail?" And she goes, "I used 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 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 prim and proper. I didn't want to do that."
Then Nicholls says Rhonda once again asked him that unsettling question. >> She asked me if anything ever happened
to her which would I promise to take care of her daughter. >> But Rhonda may have been thinking about
more than their daughter. >> What are you saying, Stephen? >> I mean I think anyone with an ounce of
intelligence can fill in the blanks. Um, you would have to look into how many times in her past she committed suicide.
>> Attempted suicide. >> Yeah, of course. Attempted. I mean, >> Nichols says Rhonda was depressed and
shockingly that she had tried to take her own life at least three times before he even met her.
>> She's never attempted suicide. Never. He's lying. I But you know what? People
that have to make up lies are, you know, you can obviously tell they're guilty. And there's more. Nicholls claims that
Rhonda had long struggled with a serious drug problem. >> She's never been off drugs since the age
of 12. >> What kind of What kind of drugs? >> Everything. Everything. >> Alcohol, cocaine,
>> all of them. >> Marijuana, >> crystal meth, >> all of them. Heroin. >> But Rhonda's autopsy would show that she
only had traces of marijuana as well as prescription drugs for anxiety and depression in her system. Jessica Coburn
says Rhonda did suffer from postpartum depression. >> She was in therapy and that's why she
was on the prescription medications. >> Nicholls says they didn't linger on the trail for long and who decides, hey,
let's head back. uh was decided by the weather started pouring down rain and thunder came and so she just started
bolting down like at a full 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, "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 trail became
slick. I hugged the right wall pretty much on the way down. This is cascading rain. Like you can actually just see the
water flowing down the trail. >> And so take me to the time of of the fall. What do you remember? M
that part I'm not going to take you through because she did fall off and I can say I had
absolutely nothing to do either directly or indirectly with her falling off. But what Nicholls seems to be suggesting
to 48 Hours is that Rhonda may have chosen to go off that cliff. >> Did she tumble forward?
What did you see? >> Next question. >> Was it a large skid mark on the uh on the path where she had slipped and went
off? >> No, it's just a footprint. >> Just a footprint. >> Mhm. >> Steve, look at me. What you're saying is
she jumped She was going down at almost a run pace. There's a single footprint, you're
telling me, at the edge of the cliff >> and she goes over. >> That's a jump. I've laid everything out there. People
can reach whatever conclusion they want. while not saying it in so many words. She did fall off and I can say I had
absolutely nothing to do either directly or indirectly with her falling off. Steven Nichols mind games.
>> There's definitely a lot more to the story, but I'm not going to say it. So, >> manage to drop a bombshell.
>> Well, you've led me down a path to believe this was a suicide. And I don't think you can look me in the eye and
say, "Well, Peter, you're wrong." Can you? >> No. suggesting that Rhonda Castow chose to
jump to her death from Eagle Creek Trail. >> What was her point in going up there?
How to say this? I She knew she 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 our daughter would bring her happiness, and it didn't. She had a nine-month old
baby at home that she loved dearly and she loved her family. So, that's just another one of his lies to take the heat
off of himself. >> After Rhonda went off the trail, Steven says he hiked down the deep ravine.
>> What did you do when you got to her? >> Well, I held 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 back
to the trail head and dialed 911. >> The police never once asked me if it was a suicide. They never even brought up
suicide. I just answered the questions that they asked. >> Why didn't you tell them back in the day
that suicide was something she was contemplating? >> Would it have made a difference? Do you
really think >> Nicholls may have had a million reasons to keep suicide a secret?
>> If it's a suicide, life insurance doesn't pay out. So, our daughter would have gotten
nothing. >> Is Steven being self-sacrificing, having said nothing about suicide until now,
even as he stands charged with murder. you were willing to essentially take a bullet for that?
>> Or is he self-erving? >> I think Steve is just throwing all these ideas out to throw people off the fact
that he pushed her. Oh well, she killed herself because she wanted to make a better life for her daughter.
>> An investigation into Rhonda's death was immediately launched and a memorial was
held. Rhonda's family claims that you were not grieving, that you seemed unmoved by Rhonda's death.
>> The exact opposite. I was crying nonstop. When I'm really, really sad, I just I close down.
That's just the way I deal with pain. >> Shortly afterward, Steven moved across the state with his daughter to live with
family. For about 3 months after Rhonda died, I completely shut down. >> By 2013, four years had gone by and no
charges had been filed against Nicholls. He decided 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 liked
China. >> Steven packed up. I was telling my daughter, "This is our new life. Let's
make it work." >> And headed here to Wooi about 75 miles from Shanghai. I decided when I got to
China, this is a whole fresh start. And I was like, "America, all the past." >> Steven got a job teaching English to
Chinese businessmen. >> My daughter was absolutely thriving. A little over two months and she was
fluent in Mandarin. She had dance lessons. She was taking taekwond do. She was learning to play the piano.
>> And Steven began to thrive, too, falling in love with Landy Yinyan. >> She's beautiful, of course, but she's
the deepest, funniest person I've ever met. >> Steven says Landy became like a mother
to his daughter. >> And I can say this with being with so many American women. Chinese women, all
inclusive, are better partners. Sounds so insulting to American women, but they just they make better partners. They
make better wives. >> And so Steven decided to make Landy his wife after a year of dating.
>> I had actually proposed to her right before I came back to America. >> Steven flew back to the US with his
daughter in February 2015 to get married. Landy would follow a few days later. >> We were planning on getting married both
in America and China to make it official. What Steven didn't know is that the entire time he was out of the
country, investigators stayed on Rhonda's case and Julia stayed on theirs. >> I kept calling and asking why nothing
was happening. >> But something did happen. In April 2014, a secret grand jury heard evidence and
indicted Nicholls for the murder of Rhonda Castow. So 10 months later, when Steven and his daughter arrived in San
Francisco, >> they said something was wrong with my bags, and was like, "That's interesting."
>> Instead of catching his connecting flight to Oregon, Steven says authorities separated him from his
daughter. >> I'm like, "What is going on here? Something's fishy." And then, yeah,
that's when they arrested me. And I could hear my daughter in the other room crying and she goes, "I want to be back
with my dad." Steven would be extradited to Oregon and his daughter would be sent to live with
Rhonda's family. >> I was shocked. It's one of those things where you think you're in a dream and
you're going to wake up at any time. I'm like, "Okay, I'm going to wake up in China." You know, my daughter will be
nudging me. It'll be back to normal, but that never happens. >> Back in Oregon, it was like a dream.
40-year-old Steven Nichols was arrested last >> one that had come true for Rhonda's
loved 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 finally. >> We are on the record in state of Oregon versus Steven Nichols.
>> For months following his February 2015 arrest for murder. >> When you're ready, Mr. Arnold. Steven
Nichols faced pre-trial hearings on a slew of issues from evidence to motive. >> The state is present represented by
Carrie Rasmus, >> including whether there should even be a trial. Since the defense considers Ronda
Castow's death an accident, both sides called witnesses. >> Was this immediately investigated as a
murder? >> No. >> And when did it become a homicide investigation as opposed to an
accidental fall? >> Pretty much the next morning. I can tell that uh based on the injuries
that she has, she she landed predominantly on her legs and her pelvis. >> Medical examiner and forensic
pathologist Dr. Christopher Young says Rhonda's injuries were mostly below the waist.
>> The pelvis was essentially shattered. The defense argues the location of her injuries indicate Rhonda left the trail
feet first, not tumbling head over heels from a push. It's a theory that could support
Nicholls new suggestion of suicide. When you look at the relationship that the defendant then had with Rhonda Castow
and >> notes from a therapist Rhonda had been seen reveal she was depressed but not
suicidal from her relationship with Steven which she described as loveless. >> Um what the state has to prove in this
case is that the defendant did a criminal act. Prosecutors hope the judge will allow them to tell jurors about
some bad acts in Steven Nichols troubled past at his upcoming murder trial. >> Is something that obviously is is
titillating and interesting. >> The first one a shocking love triangle involving another of Rhonda's younger
sisters, Melanie, that may have provided a motive for murder. >> Do you believe that Steven was in love
with Melanie? Yes, I do. >> Jessica says Rhonda learned that Steven was having sex with Melanie.
>> And did Rhonda ever tell you how young her sister was when she first had sex with Steven?
>> She was 15. >> 15 years old. >> Yes. In fact, just after his arrest for murder, Steven was indicted on two
counts of thirdderee rape and three counts of thirdderee sodomy for allegedly having sexual relations with
an underage Melanie back in 2005. >> He did rape my daughter and I didn't want to believe it. In October 2016,
while awaiting his murder trial, you agreed to plead guilty to two counts of sexual abuse with Melanie Castow.
>> Mhm. >> And you signed your name under this statement. I had sexual intercourse with
Melanie Castow 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 just say, obviously it never happened. And I was told later, "Nope."
Um, in order to pass the sex offender treatment, you have to admit that >> even though he'd be a registered sex
offender, the law would allow Steven to still fight and regain custody of his daughter, who is in the care of the
state. >> I became desperate. I wanted my daughter back. You'll be amazed at what you're
willing to sign to stay out of prison. >> But investigators believe there really
was a relationship between Steven and Melanie. one that continued on and off for four years, right up to that fateful
last hike. Just a few hours before her death, Rhonda, who had learned of the affair, sent this text to her sister. I
don't know what to say besides, "He's a piece of He used to hurt me. I won't let
him screw us up again. When you 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 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 knew that Steve was trying to drive a wedge
between them and she I guess she figured it all out and realized what he was doing.
>> On the night of Rhonda Casau's death, the defendant didn't run to where his daughter was, didn't run to his parents.
The first person to whom he went was Melanie. Melanie Castow. >> And it's not the only allegation Nichols
has faced involving a minor. Less than 6 months after Rhonda's death, he was charged with five counts of sex abuse
for allegedly touching a 13-year-old girl on the buttocks. He claims that didn't happen, but something else did.
You sent sexually suggestive texts to her and a selfie with your shirt off and you agreed to a plea deal in this case.
>> Yeah, that was definitely I was in the wrong on that one. Um, in terms of sending the photo,
that was >> No kidding. >> Yeah, >> that's terrible. It's disgusting. >> It is. >> Nicholls pleaded guilty to one count of
sexual harassment. I have been emotionally abusive at times to people, but I've never physically hurt anyone.
>> Prosecutors don't agree and want a jury to see this picture taken by Rhonda showing red marks left from an alleged
physical encounter with Nicholls. >> Right before they went on their hike, they had they had a little scuffle on
the stairs and he put some bruises on her back and she took pictures of them in the mirror. And there are allegations
of another physical assault of a woman with eerie similarities to what Nicholls stands accused of now. Allegations made
by his ex-wife. >> He did try to push his wife over a balcony in China. In November 2003,
Steven was still married to his ex, an American woman and living in China for the first time when his spouse accused
him of trying to suffocate her and throw her over the railing of their eighth floor apartment.
>> We were both holding on to each other's clothing and we were both yelling. Nicholls denies the claim and was not
charged with the crime in China. But Oregon court documents show a witness confirmed Nicholls ex-wife's account.
As Nicholls awaits trial in the death of Rhonda Castow, he has some pleasant distraction.
>> My Chinese fiance Landy is arriving here in about an hour. I'm nervous. I'm excited.
visits from his fiance. >> Hello. >> Today I had my first court appearance. The case was involving my daughter.
>> At our request, Steven Nichols has kept a video diary while out on bail. >> Blue sky, many, many trees,
>> including Landy hiking to that fateful spot on Eagle Creek Trail. >> Very beautiful, but a little dangerous.
And on the eve of his trial, >> 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 Nicholls is convinced there will be many more happy days ahead.
>> I had nothing to do with Ronda Casau's death. I had nothing to do with Rhonda Caso's
death. >> You didn't push her. >> No. >> What is it? What is it? What is it? >> So, you you're telling us you are
completely innocent of these charges? >> Yes. >> There's a smile. In May 2017, following several hearings
about what evidence could be used against Steven Nichols, which would include his plea to having sex with
Melanie, it looked like his true day in court, was finally on the horizon. >> And then I got a call from Carrie
Rasmmanson, the prosecutor, and she slowly told me the news about him taking a plea. To Julia's shock and horror,
there had been a settlement conference with the prosecution and the defense agreeing to allow Nicholls to plead
guilty to lesser 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. Please don't don't plead out." >> But prosecutors knew their case against
Nicholls could fail. >> For years, the district attorney's office has believed that Mr. Nichols is
responsible for the death of Rhonda Castow. But this case is 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 criminally negligent homicide?
>> Guilty. >> And to the charge of coercion? >> Guilty. >> People take p for all sorts of reasons.
Most of the time, innocent people plead guilty in order to gain an advantage or meet a goal. In this case, um this is
Mr. Nichols purchasing um insurance. There's now a 0% chance that Steve goes to prison for murder, that a jury gets
it wrong. >> Nicholls was given credit for time served while awaiting trial. He remains
on parole for 3 years. His ankle monitor was removed and his days behind bars are
over. This plea deal, is it justice to you? >> No, it's not justice. I felt like it
happened out of nowhere. I'm still completely blown away by the the decision that was made in this.
>> You destroyed my whole family. >> Still firmly believing Nicholls is a murderer. Rhonda's mother, Julia, was
allowed to address the court. >> I don't see how you could do that. How you could take a mother away from their
child like that by killing her? That's just horrible. Steve, I'll just buy my time and wait until you screw up or when
you die because I know you're going to go to hell for what you did. >> Nicholls claims he took the deal for
just one reason. Time was running out 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 problems with the juvenile uh court system that the longer
you wait, the harder it is to get a child returned to parent. But having now admitted to inappropriate behavior with
a 13-year-old girl, pleading to having sex with Rhonda's underage sister, and playing a role in Rhonda's death,
Nicholls chances of regaining custody of his daughter are in jeopardy. >> I think I've just left a path of
destruction. I'm a Tilla the Han basically going through women. Unable to leave Oregon until his parole expires in
2020, Steven broke up with his fiance, who had returned to China. >> I'm alone about 99% of the time. I never
go out. I have nobody. >> Then for the second time in our 48 hours interview, Nicholls brings up the topic
of suicide, but this time he's not speaking about Rhonda. If I don't have my daughter, then 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 suicide questions. Um, I'm not going to answer that, but like I
said, I if I don't get my daughter back, I'm done. I'll just say that. >> Yeah, right. I doubt that. He's too
narcissistic, egotistical, sociopath. There's no way he would take his own life. He's just said that to get
sympathy. >> And if your granddaughter were to be placed back into his custody, what do
you think would happen? >> She would not be a normal child. She would be emotionally and mentally abused
and possibly physical. And then just when we thought this story had come to an end, our interview with
Nicholls took a turn into the 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 Rhonda's last
moments of life that day in 2009, comparing her to a wounded soldier. Let's say you're in a war situation and
you're with your buddy and I don't know, he he takes a landmine or a grenade or something. You're 100% certain this
guy's going to die. >> Remember, Nicholls climbed down 150 ft to where Rhonda's broken body lay.
>> Was she alive when you got to her? >> Now we're And that's the part I'm not going into.
Is Steven Nichols about to admit something? >> Did you put Rhonda out of misery that
day? >> Let me ask you, if you shoot your war buddy because you see how much pain he's in,
is that murder? >> What do you say? >> I say no. Of 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 justified as of that point. You are putting someone out of their misery
that essentially has zero chance of survival. >> And is that what you did? >> That's of course that's not what I'm
saying. I'm just saying well you brought this up. You brought up this whole >> it seems a dangerous word game. Nicholls
stood on the cliff's edge, then took a step back. A final twist in a tragedy where only Nicholls knows the real
ending. >> It's all hypothetical cuz I'm telling people, you know, think think outside
the box. Like there's always other options there. The one thing that still really bothers
me and brings me back, I can't see on TV anybody getting their throat cut. When I
see that on television, it just almost paralyzes me. It was a bright sunny evening in a
suburb of Chicago. I was working at a shopping mall. I was 17 years old and I had just graduated from high school.
I was excited to go to a graduation party. So, I had asked my boss if I could get off of work early. And uh
where we had to park was a lot that was the employee lot across the street. And I had a CD in my hand as I'm singing
out loud. And as I'm walking, I almost felt like there was somebody behind me. And I stopped and I turned around and
about 10 or 15 feet there was somebody that was following me. And I glanced around and there was
nobody else in the parking lot. And a lot of my gut instinct told me to run, to get away, but I I didn't listen.
And I walked towards my car and I put my key into the lock and all of a sudden this shadow came up to my left and I was
grabbed from behind and there was a knife press at my throat. I offered him the money that was in my
purse and he said, "It's not your money that I want." And those words just made my stomach drop. I was so scared. And
his car was parked just a couple of steps away from mine. And with the knife still held at my throat, he threw me
into his car. And he had taken my wrists and used plastic zip ties and bow my hands behind
my back. And he had taken these band-aids and put them to conceal my eyes. And after he put the band-aids
over my eyes, he put sunglasses on my face. Everything happened so methodically.
And I knew in my gut that this was not his first crime. He started to drive slowly out of the
mall parking lot. And he didn't know this, but I was able to wrigle my hands free. and I kept them behind my back and
I surveyed the situation. He didn't know that I could see, but I could see down to either side, to the left and to the
right. I saw that my seatelt was on, the knife was put down at that point, and he's got both hands on the steering
wheel. And I thought to myself, if I could just get out of the car, even if I rolled out, if I broke a leg or broke my
arm, at least I'd be free. And so I can remember just taking a huge deep breath and trying to undo the seat belt and get
out of the car door, but he was too fast. And he grabbed me by my shirt with both
hands and he said, "You try that again and your face won't be so pretty anymore." That's when I realized that
this could potentially be the last day of my life. that this guy might kill me. How does somebody survive something like
this? In 25 years of being a reporter, that's probably one of the most consistent
questions. This young woman had the guts to try to jump out of a moving car to try to save herself. Would you do that?
I don't know if I could do that. You don't know until you're there. To this day, it still haunts me to think
that he had stalked me. It struck me as very odd that his car was parked so close to mine and there
was nobody else in the parking lot. After I tried to escape, he took my hands behind my back in a very forceful
way and tied them really tight behind my back with these zip ties. And I remember
saying to him, "You need to loosen these. I can't feel my fingers." And there was no emotion. He said,
"Nothing." And I remember getting this image of my mom getting a phone call that I had been murdered. And I remember
at that point I started to cry and the tears had loosened the band-aids and I was able to see even a little bit more.
And I made a vow to myself in that car. I said, "If I get out of this alive, he is not going to get away with it." And
it was a conscious decision to remember every detail that I could. And I noticed that there was a city
sticker on the windshield of his car. And I tried to remember the year and the city. The antenna was broken and taped.
There was a beaded seat cushion on his seat. Looking towards my left, I could see the
profile of his face. And he was in his, I would have guessed, late 40s, early 50s, but really thick glasses. His hair
was disheveled and his car was very messy. It was a Trans Am with bucket seats. And at this
point, we were on the expressway. So, we were driving, I would guess, for maybe 45 minutes to
an hour. I'm not exactly sure. on the expressway, I noticed that there was a sign for the town Wakanda trying to
catalog. And then as he pulled off the expressway, I noticed all these street names were presidential names. So in my
head, I'm cataloging all these presidential names. He had pulled off of the expressway
and into a forest preserve. And I glanced around and there's no one around. And as the car stopped,
my body just stiffened. He asked me what dress size I was and I could hear him rustling in the back and
I heard a styrofoam cooler and he pulled out this evening gown and he ordered me to disrobe in the car.
And at that moment he had untied my hands in order for me to get my jacket off. And I thought to myself, should I
run? And I didn't know where I was, but I I had this image of me running through
the woods and him catching me and cutting my throat. So, I just decided to do whatever I could to get out of the
situation alive. And I could feel my heart beating in my chest so fast. And he put this evening gown on me that he
had taken from the back seat. And when he zipped up the side zipper, it fit me like a glove. And I can remember feeling
just like that. You're part of someone's sick psychological fantasy. And then over this dress, he put on
another blue satin dress. and then another red silk jacket. And with every layer of clothes he put
on, I just felt farther and farther away from myself. After he dressed me in in this
ridiculous satin clothing, I was sexually assaulted in the car. And at that moment, I didn't know if if this
experience was over, if it's going to get worse, am I going to be killed? And through that entire experience, it
was the not knowing was the most terrifying. There was some tears that had fallen
down my cheeks. So he had taken this silk handkerchief and he said, "Your mascara is running." And he wiped the
tears from my face and it just gave me the chills, made me sick to my stomach. And he wound up driving again. And I
didn't know where we were going. And he was driving up this parking garage and he pulled over
up at the top floor. He opened the door to that stairwell of the parking garage and he threw me in
and he ordered me to count to 100. And I can remember walking down these steps and I found myself in an auto repair
shop and there was somebody, this man was looking down doing his paperwork and he looked up at me and his face just
fell and he said, "Oh my god, what happened to you?" And I couldn't even answer. I was just in shock and he said,
"I'm calling the police." >> Shberg 911. >> And I also had to speak to the 911 dispatcher.
>> Hello. >> Hello, ma'am. Yes. >> Can you tell me what your name is? >> Angela.
>> Are you okay? >> Yeah. >> Just real brief. Were you forced into your own vehicle or someone else's?
>> No. >> Okay. Can you tell me anything about the car? Did you get the license plate or
the color? >> The license plate. Um, it was looked like it was a Trans Am. It was looked
like it was brown. All I can tell you, he blindfolded me. >> Did he sexually assault you in any way?
>> Yes. >> Okay. Is that the officer there, ma'am? >> Yeah. >> Okay. He'll take care of you. Okay.
>> Okay. Bye-bye, Angela. After the 911 call, I had to make the scariest call I've ever had to make, and
that was to my dad. My dad has always tried to protect me. When I was young, I had the earliest
curfew out of any of my girlfriends. I had to be home way earlier than anybody else. And I said, "Dad, listen.
Something bad happened to me. We called the police and we're going to need to go
down to the police station. Angela was very lucky to be alive. We were talking about why he didn't kill
her. I mean, he drove her to an area where there was nobody around. He came very prepared, which made us
think that this guy has probably done this before. When this incident did take place in a large mall parking lot in the
daylight, we were concerned that the offender was not afraid to do this and that he would definitely repeat again if
he wasn't caught quickly. >> And at that point, he was still on the loose. So, there was also that fear of
did did he know where I lived? I sat down with the two detectives and they said to me, "Angela, we're going to
do everything we can to catch this guy. We have daughters of our own." So, they wanted me to recount everything that I
could remember. And I remember telling them about the car, that it was a brown Trans Am, an older model, the city
sticker that was on the windshield, the broken antenna, everything that I could remember.
She was able at the age of 17 to maintain composure to try and remember every detail of this offender, what he
looked like, his vehicle, um the route they were taking. In my 29 years of doing this job, Angela is by far the
best witness that I've ever dealt with. >> Then they said, "Is it okay if we take
you for a ride? We want to go back and drive that same route that he took you and also drive to the forest preserve
where you were sexually assaulted. Is that okay? And it was so eerie to to relive that
experience just a couple days later to see those same street signs, to go that same route, to try and find that exact
spot that he had parked in that forest preserve. And then when they got back to the
police station, they wanted to sit down and do a sketch of his face. >> Angela said that he had brown untidy
hair. He had thick lens glasses. He had a couple days stubble or growth and that
he's about 170 to 185. Once the composite sketch was completed, we put it out to the surrounding department and
we put it out to the media. I was scheduled to work the afternoon shift as a detective with the Wheeling
Police Department. Uh that morning, I was home. I was watching the 11:00 a.m. news and a story came on about a
kidnapping and sexual assault which occurred at the Woodfield Mall in Shamberg. Upon seeing the composite and hearing
the description of the vehicle, it was like, "Holy cow, there's no doubt in my mind who did this." This was the same
man that we have done surveillances on in the past. I then grabbed my stuff and headed into
work a few hours earlier. I contacted the Shamberg Police Department. The name of the man they
were looking for is Robert Copa and he was a convicted and parrolled killer. >> He had decades
of different crimes from sexual assault, rape, kidnap, and he had murdered a 15year-old girl. And to hear that word
murder, it just it it felt like all the breath had been sucked out of my chest. He was sentenced to 30 years and then
served half the time for good behavior. And he was on parole for only a year and
a half when he kidnapped me. Robert Copa is a convicted killer. But in all the time that he was in
prison, he never got any psychological help. He refused all counseling. And because of that, his own parole officer
was so concerned that this guy was going to be back out on the street. He called
the local police department to let them know. >> At the time, no one was very happy that
a convicted killer only served 15 years out of a 30-year sentence. My feeling was that this person needs to be put
away forever. >> We thought, now we know who you are. We got you identified. Now we just need to
grab you. And when we pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex, we saw the
vehicle, a brown Trans Am that matched the description of what Angela told us. This is the actual vehicle that Robert
Copa used to kidnap Angela with the broken antenna, with the duct tape, with the beaded seats in the driver's seat,
uh, with the village sticker in the windshield. When we searched Mr. Copa's vehicle, we found a knife with a black
handle. We also found flex cuffs in the vehicle that matched. We also found band-aids in there uh, that matched what
Angela was um, had on her eyes. Uh there was also a styrofoam container in the back seat. When we arrested Mr. Copa, he
was very quiet, very cooperative, no emotion whatsoever. He didn't even inquire as to why we were there.
When I walked in to pick him out of the lineup, it was really scary to see his face again.
All that was separating us was this glass. And even though there was four other men dressed in the exact same
outfit, I knew exactly which one he was, all of them were holding different numbers and I said number three without
question. >> Detectives went into his apartment and we recovered women's clothing, evening
gowns, dresses that matched what Angela had to wear during her attack. We knew that we had a very strong case against
Mr. Copa. >> Unfortunately, that was not the end of it. It took another four years before
Copa actually went to trial. And when he finally did get to trial, his public defenders had an interesting take on his
defense. They tried to convince the court that their client was insane. Statistically speaking, I shouldn't be
alive today. When someone gets into a perpetrator's car, they don't make it out. And you know, for my mom, she would
rather not talk about it. And I understand because it makes her think of the day that she potentially almost lost
her daughter. Knowing what evil exists in the world and knowing what people can be capable
of is something that I'm I'm going to have to deal with forever. The list of charges against Robert Copa are so ugly
and terrifying. Kidnapping, armed violence, sexual assault. Hearing all the details of what happened to Angela
that night, plus Copa's lifelong history of violence, his public defenders knew they would have a very difficult time
trying to seed a jury that would have any sympathy for this guy. So, they decided to gamble and they requested a
bench trial. A bench trial is when a judge decides the case instead of a jury. >> You do carry a burden. uh as a
prosecutor and it becomes your personal responsibility to make sure that this guy doesn't go out and hurt somebody
else. Robert Copa pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and the defense strategy was
to show that he had had over the years a series of head injuries including a motorcycle accident which had given him
uh traumatic brain damage and uh affected his impulse control. And so this was not a who done it. Everyone
knew who did it. Uh it was why he did it. It felt like a slap in the face to me.
Never once did I feel like he was not in control of himself because he controlled
the entire situation from the moment that he put that knife to my throat. >> If this was an impulse act, in my
opinion, it would have happened right there in the mall. It would have been quick, over, done, and gone. He's not
going to have the dresses there in the vehicle. He's not going to have all these tools of his trade, you know, for
lack of better words. He's not going to have all that. It doesn't make sense. >> Testifying was a really, really
difficult experience. and seeing him in court and he just stared at me and I remember having my hands kind of clasped
in front of me and just digging my nails into my hands because it was just such a
because it's not only the experience of you testifying but also being cross-examined by the defense attorney.
>> As a witness, Angela was strong. She uh stood right up in the witness box and
pointed directly to Mr. Copa and said, "That's him right over there." This incident had obviously been seared into
her mind and she remembered the details years later as if it had happened to her
the day before. >> It took the judge only 15 minutes to find Copa guilty of all the charges. But
convicting Copa of the violent crimes he'd been accused of was never really the problem. The problem was trying to
keep him off the street so he couldn't do it again. But this time around, it was life in prison with no parole. So
this time around, he went away for good. When the judge said that he was being sentenced to life with no possibility of
parole, this wave of relief just washed over me, feeling this this sort of peace
to know that he wasn't going to hurt anybody else again. In my opinion, this wasn't the police
that made this case. This was Angela. It doesn't happen often where everything aligns up this way. The stars align. So,
it was really nice that this one worked out the way it did. the fact that all those details that I had remembered that
they were able to use my testimony in court as they said to kind of seal the deal to put him away for life was a very
powerful feeling. And I knew that I couldn't just stop after the trial. I really made a promise to myself that I
was going to turn these negative feelings of anger into activism. And I chose to become public with my story and
to show my face and to not be the silent victim because I knew that this issue of
sexual assault was bigger than me and it was bigger than my story. >> Angela Rose
>> and I founded an organization called PAVE and it's promoting awareness victim
empowerment. I felt this calling to speak out about this experience that happened to me, but also help other
people use their voice. All along this journey, people would stop me and say, "Angela, thank you for your voice
because this happened to me." I was raped when I was 16 years old and that was the beginning of hell for the
next three years of my life. I heard about Delane's case and I knew after hearing her story that I had to
get in touch with her. And you know, I started crying because it was the first time that someone actually had taken it
upon themselves to go out of their way to try to help me. She was always so open with us that
I couldn't imagine there was any secrets. Delaney was always a happy, bubbly, bouncy kid. She played every sport and
every sport she played, she played well. Delaney had a lot of friends. Her birthday parties were always big events.
But in the summer of 2011, we noticed some started out as subtle changes that became major changes and we couldn't
figure out what it was. She was starting to have panic attacks and she would just
say, "Nothing's wrong, Mom. I'm just I'm just nervous about school starting. It was June 3rd, 2011. Uh it was the
last day of school, so everyone was really excited. We decided to go to the beach to
celebrate the last day. Um me and my two girlfriends went, hung out for a little while, and then we
came back to my house because my parents weren't home. My two friends invited boys over to my
house. We smoked marijuana. Um, I had never done it before, so I was really nervous,
but I figured why not? My parents aren't home, so I just decided to try it for once.
We were all sitting around the table, you know, just laughing, enjoying the night. Uh, I started to get really
laded, so I got up and walked to my bedroom and decided just lay down and kind of rest. And I closed the door.
And, uh, eventually I heard like whispering and footsteps. Then realized that it was the two boys. And at that
point, like I knew something was wrong and they came in and they raped me. I remember being like so scared and I
remember tears like streaming down my face, you know? I just remember feeling the guilt of like, you know, this is my
fault. I can't tell anyone. At the end of August in the summer of 2011, I got a call from one of Delin's
friends moms and she told me that her daughter had come to her out of concern because Delaney had divulged to her a
secret that she couldn't hold, that Delaney had been sexually assaulted by two boys in her school.
And at first, I told that mom, "No, you know, this is my kid. I would know if something like this happened because I'm
a good mom. So, we were in the car and we pulled in the driveway and I turned to her and I
said, "You need to look me in the eye and tell me whether this happened." And she started to cry and she just nodded
her head and she couldn't look me in the eye. And there's no there's no handbook
that says how to handle those moments, but I knew I had a major battle on my hands. I just didn't know
how big it was going to be. Her dad and I knew that it was important to report it to the police and she just
kept saying, "They're going to kill me, Mom. They're going to kill me. They're coming after me. They're going to kill
me. I'm not going to report. If you make me do it, I will lie. I will say it didn't happen." One of the two boys that
Delaney says raped her was only 16 years old, a minor in the eyes of the law, so
we're not going to use his name. But the other was 17 years old. Shane Vipondo. This is a kid who was very well known,
very well-liked at her high school. He was an athlete. Every single person on campus knew who Shane Vondo was. He was
the popular kid. He was the one who everyone looked up to and respected. He basically owned the school.
That entire summer, I never came out of the house. I never again slept in my bed. Uh, I slept on the couch and I can
honestly tell you the first day of school when I went back, it was probably the most terrifying day.
There were rumors about, you know, like what had happened over summer, what had gone down. There was definitely a lot
of, you know, whispering in the hallways and, you know, when I was at my locker,
I'd look across the hall and people would be staring at me talking. There'd be a group that would form and they
would all face in my direction and start talking like out loud about how I was a
[ __ ] and I was a [ __ ] Months go by and Delaney is still refusing to go to police. She's also still being taunted
daily at school and in her town and feels utterly alone until one day she realizes she's not alone. She's
absolutely devastated when she discovers that Shane has allegedly raped another girl. This girl is only 14 years old. I
can't even explain the amount of guilt that I felt because I hadn't reported it and because I hadn't gone through with
it and stopped him and because I felt like I was, you know, too afraid to be able to stand up against him that he had
gone and done it to another person. So I went and I found her and I remember sitting down next to her and looking at
her and putting my arm around her and I said, "We need to report this. So, what happened?
>> I did not know what was going on. I was kind of just like faded. I didn't really
like say anything. I kind of just said like, "I'm really tired. Can I just like go to sleep?" Like, "I'm really tired."
I said that over and over again. And it lasted for probably um 45 minutes or more. The two young men
are arrested. The 16-year-old is charged as a juvenile and his record is now sealed. But Shane Velando was charged as
an adult and now one of the most popular boys in high school was facing potential
jail time. After the boys were arrested, the tormenting got 10 times worse. She was getting threats on Facebook and in
texts, things like snitches need stitches and a lot of you just wanted to have sex with two guys. I
remember there was one post on Facebook that it was a conversation between two people and one of the comments was like
I just want to beat her up and then the next comment was another person saying how about I attack her, knock her out
and you can spit on her. There was another one that said, you know, um, I can't believe you haven't disappeared.
Um, we're going to make you disappear. But these people were all hiding behind a computer screen or be behind a phone.
I was terrified to the point I dropped out of school. I was homeschooled the last month. I couldn't even finish my
junior year of high school. It wasn't surprising that Delaney was experiencing this harassment after
reporting her sexual assault. A lot of young rape victims go through very similar things. The two boys that
raped Delaney were students at a private Catholic high school. They were not the
type of people that society sees as a rapist. So, it was easy to pass blame onto a young girl who was high on
marijuana and judge her and say she's lying about what happened to her. If I came to you and said, "My child has
cancer." Your first response would most likely be, "Oh my goodness, how can I help?
What can I do?" You know, but if I come to you and say my child was raped, what I get a lot of, including by good
friends of mine, was she drinking? What was she wearing? Who was she with? My daughter made one mistake
that thousands of kids make. >> The day I hit complete rock bottom. I got probably 50 text messages from
different people um all saying the same things. How could you do this? You are a
liar. She locked herself in the bathroom and I knew I knew. So we broke open the door.
She was laying on the bathroom floor. And I scooped her up in my arms and I said, "What did you do?" And I look up
in the mirror and she had written on the mirror, "I'm so sorry. friends that I talk to every day
wouldn't even look at me in the hallway. Um, and it was their parents that wouldn't look at me. They like, you
know, it would be my old softball coaches, my old, you know, second grade teacher.
people in our town that I was very, you know, familiar with wouldn't even look at me in the eye because they were so
disgusted of what I did. So, it was at that point that I I wanted my life to end. I didn't want to be
there anymore. I didn't want to live. I didn't want to go through this. I decided, you know, to take my own life.
I took a bottle of pills. I wanted my life to end. And I literally remember my parents
taking me to the hospital and thinking to myself, why didn't I take more? And she turned to me and said, "Go ahead,
mom. Go ahead. Yell yell at me." And she goes, "I've lost everything. I lost my school.
I've lost my friends. So these are moments that you think, God, if just one kid had stood up with her.
If one kid had just said, "I believe you." It would have changed so much. I think a lot of people would say,
"Get tougher skin. You reported the crime, so you're expected to follow through with the consequences.
For people like Delaney, it wasn't just words. It was very deep to her and it ate her up
alive. And Delaney didn't think that she could go through with it. She didn't think she
could go through with the entire process of prosecution because it's such a long and lengthy
process and it's so emotional and it's so draining and I shared with her how I was a sexual assault victim
and she realized that she's not alone and she doesn't have to go through it alone. The fact that she confided in me
gave me more strength to be able to testify. In the case of the 14-year-old girl,
Shane Velando was convicted by a jury of three counts of unlawful sex with the minor, also known as statutory rape. In
Delane's case, the prosecutor offered him a plea deal. He took it, pleading guilty to one more count.
>> Shane Vilipanda was sentenced to one year in county jail and five years probation, during which he must register
as a sex offender wherever he lives. Him registering as a sex offender was the biggest part of the plea that was
important to me. He's not going to be able to move anywhere without people knowing exactly who he is. Even though
the case is over and Shane was sentenced, it's not something that just goes away. Her entire identity for the
rest of her life will have this lingering. So I think that for a Delaney, the healing process has just started.
Even though I'm in college in another state, I do come home, you know, every so often to visit my family. Uh but it's
not the same. I still can't sleep in my old bedroom. They built another room inside the
garage for me. It's not my home anymore. It's more just a place I go to visit my
family. For Delaney, the ordeal was far from over. One night, she logged on to Facebook only to discover that a friend
of Shane's, a local rap artist named Anthony Marillo, had written a really nasty song about her. And he recorded
it. It not only disclosed her full name, but the 14year-olds as well. And it seemingly went on to threaten her.
About 2 o'clock in the morning, we get a call and her dad Chris answers the phone
and the only words he hears out of her sobbing is, "Daddy, I'm so scared. I'm so scared." She was terrified.
>> I knew that this had to immediately go to the police because I was scared for
my life. You know, I thought I was going to be killed. Wannabe rapper Anthony Mario is facing
two felony counts for threatening to kill two rape victims in a song he posted online.
>> Like when they started playing the song, I was I thought I was prepared, but I
wasn't. And as it like kept going, the worse it got, the worse I got. In the end, the judge dismissed the
felony charges against Anthony Marillo, saying although the lyrics were offensive, they were not genuinely a
threat to anyone, including Delaney. Marillo's attorney had argued that the lyrics were actually protected by the
constitutional right to free speech, and essentially the judge agreed. The prosecution, however, strongly disagreed
and plan to appeal. This isn't just words. This is a message to her. They wanted to torment her and that's what
they did. >> It is heart-wrenching to know what Delaney and what so many other survivors
of sexual assault go through, the bullying, the victim blaming. One of the reasons why I wanted to reach out to
Delaney was just to give her hope. I know your heart's broken's here. Music for me has always been an
escape. And I think for a lot of survivors of trauma, putting their feelings into music can be really
therapeutic. I remember her talking to me and pausing and saying, "Delie, do you realize that
you're not a victim? That you're a survivor. She is my guardian angel because she's
watching over me." >> I remember one day waking up and thinking, you know what? I want to make
a difference. I want to introduce to you a very good friend of mine, DELANEY HENDERSON.
I AM A survivor and I can tell people my story and let them know that you're like
you're not alone, that you're not on your own like I was and you never will be. Whatever I do in my life, I want to help
people. I was put in this situation for a reason and I came out of it for a reason.
I need someone. >> It's very important to move on. I am in love with my best friend and it's just
an incredible new chapter of my life. When you go through something like that, you do carry it for the rest of your
life. I mean, it changes a part of you. And so to hear that Delaney called me her guardian angel makes me feel
like I've lived my life for something. Hi, this is Con and I'm going to talk to you about social anxiety. Social
anxiety, depression, it's controlling me and there's people that love me. I have
a great mom, great dad, but I'm so depressed. >> We spent the day walking the beach and
we had a conversation and I asked him about school and he's like, um, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. And I said,
you know, don't worry about it. Everything is going to be okay. >> It was a nice day out with the family.
>> Nothing to give any hint of what was to come later in the day. There was no indication that anything was going on.
>> I've created a monster out of myself past few years because of my depression.
Racing thoughts, suicidal thoughts. >> Do you remember when is the last time you saw your brother?
>> He was like going out the door. I thought he was just going to his friend's house. You got up in the
morning and how did you know he hadn't come home? >> He wasn't there and we just like
couldn't find him. >> This is not like Conrad not to come home. Then they found his body and
around 5:30 in the afternoon and he died in his truck. Carbon monoxide poisoning.
I will live with this forever. Um the pain >> right away we heard from investigators
that medical examiner found that it was a suicide. It wasn't until they started looking at his phone that they realized
that there was something else going on here because on that phone were hundreds and hundreds of texts from Michelle
Carter to Conrad Roy urging him to end his life. >> You can't think about it. You just have
to do it. You said you were going to do it. Like I don't get why you aren't. And
Michelle Carter admittedly said, "Do it." She was kind of making fun of him for for not taking his own
life. >> I thought you really wanted to die, but apparently you don't. I feel played and
just stupid. You're going to have to prove me wrong because I just don't think you really want this.
>> And she kept pressuring him to do it. >> You're ready and prepared. All you have
to do is turn the generator on and you be free and happy. No more pushing it off. No more waiting.
There was one point where he actually got out of the truck. >> Mhm. >> And changed his mind.
>> Yeah. He was scared >> and she told him to go back in the truck. >> Yes. >> Carter charged with involuntary
manslaughter. >> She faces up to 20 years in prison. >> This is totally out of left field. I
coached Michelle. I know her as a good kid. >> I don't believe that she has a conscience. She knew exactly what she
was doing and what she said. >> Hang yourself, jump off a building, stab yourself. I don't know. There's a lot of
ways. >> And it's the texts that become the weapon. >> How could she cause a death when she was
35 m away? In these circumstances, this is almost akin to loading the gun and handing it over. Who knows? Who knows
when you have your hand in the trigger when you're sending a text? and it's not realistic
what what's going in my head that keeps on piling and piling and piling. One month before 18-year-old Conrad Roy
took his own life, when the minds of many teens wandered to carefree summer days, Conrad's thoughts were more
serious, introspective. >> I need to be comfortable in my skin. >> Sitting at his computer and his home in
Fair Haven, Massachusetts, Conrad recorded his thoughts on coping with his depression.
>> I need to relax. I really do. He wanted to excel. He was just wanted to be this like great
person. But in my eyes, >> Conrad's mother, Lynn, explains that her son could be his own toughest critic.
>> It was rough on himself. He really really struggled with um just disappointing
I think myself and his dad. >> The sooner I like myself, the better I'm going to be. Lroy thought her son was
getting better. >> I I do have a lot going for me. >> He was getting professional help and on
an anti-depressant Selex Alexa. He had been licensed to be a tugboat captain like his dad.
>> That's a huge accomplishment to be a captain. had just graduated high school and college with a scholarship
was on the horizon >> and he was doing everything that was positive that was, you know, looking
towards his future. But on July 12th, 2014, Conrad drove to a parking lot and using
a gasoline powered water pump, sat in his pickup truck as it filled with carbon monoxide, knowingly inhaling the
deadly fumes, killing himself. All the while, his friend Michelle Carter, then 17, was encouraging Conrad
from more than 30 miles away on her phone to take his own life. I don't understand why you would want someone
that was so beautiful inside and out that had so much that was such a kind person
to die. >> How do you describe what this young woman did? >> I cannot only only she she can. The intersection
of the lives of Michelle Carter and Conrad Roy has left a trail of heartbreak and questions about the
circumstances that led to such a tragic death. >> He's one of the kindest persons. He grew
up very sensitive, very humble and kind, >> happy child. >> Very happy. Many pictures of him
smiling, laughing until he became a teenager. And I don't know if it was the hormones. He just, you know, became
anxious. >> Conrad was the oldest child in the family with two sisters, Morgan and
Camden. Lynn and Conrad's father separated when Conrad was 16, and their divorce hit him especially hard. I
>> think he was just more worried about me. That's what boys do. They worry about
their moms um a lot. Conrad would confide in his friend Ariana Taylor as they spent hours
walking along the water. >> He didn't really wasn't able to explain it to me in a way that I could
understand. So, he kind of just described it as a darkness and how there would be times where he just kind of
wanted to isolate himself from everybody. >> Conrad's anxiety and self-doubt had
troubled Lynn since he was 16. He started uh having trouble sleeping and we got him treated and then he had his
first uh suicide attempt a year after the age of 17. >> Conrad had overdosed on acetaminophen.
>> I worked in a psychiatric hospital and I never imagined that one of my children
would um have those feelings. >> Do you think he really intended to kill himself at that point? He did contact a
friend. >> That friend was Ariana. >> He told me that he was really sick and that his mom had just left and that he
wanted her to come back. >> Ariana immediately got in touch with Conrad's parents who brought him to the
hospital. >> He told me, "Mom, I will never do that again." He was sorry. And I was sorry as well
that he felt that way. The fact that he wanted you to call his mother, what does
that say to you? >> It just says that he was calling out for help, >> that he didn't actually mean what he was
doing, but he really needed help and that this was the only way he kind of thought that he would really get help.
>> And that help seemed to be working. >> He actually was getting a lot better. He
told me about how he was going out and he was going to like, you know, the high school parties and just hanging out with
everybody. I was like, "That's amazing." Michelle Carter was another friend of Conrads. They met in 2012 while both
were vacationing in Florida. Conrad and his sisters were visiting relatives who happened to know Michelle.
>> How would you describe Michelle? Friendly. >> Yeah, she's really friendly. She always
made Conrad laugh. >> As it turned out, Michelle lived just a few towns over from the Roy in
Massachusetts. And the relationship continued after the vacation. But while Michelle called Conrad her
boyfriend, his family says the two rarely saw each other. And like so many teens, their interactions were mostly
over text messages. >> Had your son ever mentioned Michelle Carter? >> Yes. After they met in Florida? I met
her 2013 at his baseball game and that was the only time I ever met her. Second time was at his week. Michelle and
Conrad shared something in common that Lynn did not know. Michelle had her own struggles, including an eating disorder,
and both teens at times took anti-depressants. >> You know, probably the attraction was
they both had their issues. >> Softball coach Ed McFarland has known Michelle Carter and her family for a
decade. The Michelle he knows is an ideal teammate. >> I've never seen her do a mean thing.
I've never seen her be mean. Michelle's high school yearbook paints a picture of an active, well-liked
student. One voted class clown and most likely to brighten your day. But that would not be how her actions would be
described on the last day of Conrad's life. That day started out seemingly happy for
Conrad, spending time with his family. That morning on the 12th, what was his mood like?
>> He was fine. He wanted to, you know, go to the beach with the girls. >> While there, Camden at one point noticed
her brother sitting alone texting. Did you know who he was texting with? >> No. >> Now you think he was texting with
Michelle Carter? >> Yeah. >> But you didn't know that at the time >> and what was his demeanor?
>> I don't know. He I don't know. He kind of seemed like anxious like when he was
like texting. Conrad then took his sisters out for ice cream where his mood seemed to lift.
>> I mean, when you think back on that, would you have ever guessed there was anything wrong that afternoon?
>> After going home, Conrad left at about 6:00 p.m. telling his mother he was going to see a friend.
>> And I asked him if he was going to be back for dinner, and he said he didn't think so. And that was the last words
that he spoke to me. It was July 12th, 2014, the heart of summer in New England. Conrad Roy had
headed out in his pickup truck around 6:00 p.m. As the evening passed, Lynn checked to see when he'd be home.
>> And I texted him, I don't know, before I went to bed, maybe around 10:30, 11, and
then I texted him again in the middle of the night. Conrad didn't respond. Still, Lynn
figured everything was okay. She believed he had beaten back much of his anxieties.
That night, Conrad's sister, Camden, unexpectedly heard from Michelle Carter, that 17-year-old who had battled her own
mental health issues and lived about an hour away. How surprised were you that you suddenly got a text from Michelle?
And I thought she was just like just like his friend. And but in the text she said like we're boyfriend and
girlfriend now. And I was just like I looked at my mom I was like they are >> whether teenage love or something else.
Michelle was sending out the word. Had anyone heard from Conrad Roy? >> And what did she text you exactly?
>> She was like um hey Camden like do you know where your brother is? Was that unusual for him not to come home?
>> Oh yeah, absolutely. That was not like him at all. >> It was sunrise and still not a word.
>> So in the morning I went to by Ariana's house and he wasn't there. >> And so that's when I began to search
where is he? What happened? >> We went by dad's house. There's no sign of him. Maybe an hour later, I felt like
like this um rush go through my body that I've never felt in my life. And I felt at that point that he wasn't with
me. >> On the afternoon of July 13th, police found him inside his pickup truck parked
at the local Kmart, his cell phone right next to him. >> And he died in his truck. Carbon
monoxide poisoning. >> Like got in the car and my mom was just like crying like the most I ever seen her,
Kai. And she was like, "He's gone." And like she was just like, "Your brother's gone."
>> It still hurts just as much as it did then, doesn't it? >> I will live with this forever. Um the
pain. >> I don't get why it happened. Why did it happen? Why did it happen to him? And
Michelle seemed to take Conrad's death as hard as anyone. Once again, a text was her choice of communication. This
time to Lynn. I am so very sorry. Conrad meant so much to me. No one questioned the suicide until cops got a hold of
Conrad Royy's phone. It would prove to be an investigation like no other. No gun, no knife, no crucial DNA in this
case. Only this, a trail of words starting with those on the cell phone. Messages with Michelle Carter.
>> And once investigators found this dialogue, they knew that there was something else
up and they wanted to get to the bottom of it. >> Former Boston Herald legal columnist and
48 Hours consultant Bob McGovern. And so this thing turned from a suicide investigation into a homicide
investigation. >> Michelle seemed to be encouraging Conrad not to live, but to die. Text flew
between the two of them for more than a week. Right up to the moment he took his
own life. I'm determined. I'm happy to hear that. When you get back from the beach, you got to do it. No more
thinking. Yes. No more thinking. you need to just do it. But now with Conrad Roy dead, Michelle
seemed devastated, acting as if his death was a total surprise. When it came to the funeral, she sat up close to kind
of where the family area was. I always described her seen as the grieving widow. She was just
um constantly like sobbing. >> And two months later, Michelle even held a fundraiser to honor Conrad in her town
of Planeville. That fall, investigators interviewed Michelle Carter at her high school.
>> Did you do you think you had contact with him that day? >> I think so. >> But Michelle's story was riddled with
holes and police weren't buying it. They poured through her cell phone. Her texts
ranged from urgent to ominous. Like one sent to her friend Samantha Boardman on July 12th at 8:02 p.m. just minutes
after police believe Conrad killed himself. He just called me. I heard moaning like someone was in pain and he
wouldn't answer when I said his name. That text was followed by another. I think he just killed himself.
Michelle was texting her friend, but what she wasn't doing was calling for help. And there was at least one more
text found on Conrad's phone that now seems telling. Only moments before he died, Michelle asked him this. Did you
delete the messages? Police would extract more than a thousand deleted text messages between Conrad and
Michelle. Some showed his fear and reluctance to take his life on the very day he died. I don't know. I'm freaking
out again. I do want to, but like I'm freaking out for my family. But even as Conrad panicked and
considered abandoning his plan to die, Michelle egged him on. She described it to her friend Samantha that September in
this text. Sam, his death is my fault. Like honestly, I could have stopped him. I was on the phone with him and he got
out of the car because it was working and he got scared and I effing told him to get back in.
The road to justice would be complicated. Massachusetts has no law against encouraging or assisting
suicide. And Michelle was miles away when Conrad died. >> People don't realize in our generation
texting does a lot. It's like having the person right there in front of you when
you're texting somebody. >> And the Supreme Court of Massachusetts seems to agree. In the summer of 2016,
the court ruled that even though Michelle was an hour away when Conrad Roy died, she had a virtual presence
that night in that pickup truck. It's a controversial legal theory born out of a
digital world. And so nearly 3 years later, Michelle Carter will stay on trial in this courtroom for involuntary
manslaughter. Michelle's attorneys, fearing how the text would play, advised her to wave her
right to a jury trial. She put her fate in the hands of a veteran judge, Lawrence Mones.
>> Are you doing that of your own free will, knowingly and voluntarily? >> Yes. >> See more of Michelle Carter's texts to
Conrad Roy on Facebook at 48 hours. She assisted and devised and advised and planned his suicide.
>> Inside this Massachusetts courtroom, Michelle Carter, now 20 years old, looks
more like a prep school student than a criminal defendant. And on July 12th, 2014, as his truck was filling with
carbon monoxide, he was scared. He got out. It was the defendant on the other end of the phone who ordered him back
in, then listened for 20 minutes as he cried in pain, took his last breath, and died.
>> The alleged weapon in this case, Michelle Carter's own words. What she did in theory, according to the
prosecutors, is she recklessly caused Conrad Royy's death. >> The state's case revolves around
Michelle's chilling text messages to Conrad as he was apparently having second thoughts the day he took his
life. >> The defendant texted Conrad, "You can't think about it. You just have to do it.
You said you were going to do it. I don't get why you aren't." >> And then there was this. 10 days before
he died. Michelle sent him this text message assuring him not to worry about his family's feelings. Yeah, they'll
probably blame themselves for a while, but they will get over it and learn to accept it. A notion that baffles and
upsets Conrad's mother. >> I think she needs to be uh held responsible for her actions cuz she knew
exactly what she was doing. Lroy testified that on the last day of his life, Conrad was in a good frame of
mind. >> He was eating tortilla chips and guacamole on the way to the beach. >> In um July of 2014, did he ever mention
he wanted to harm himself? >> No. I knew he was a little depressed, but I thought it was he was doing
great. But prosecutors contend that Michelle and her incessant texting had immense influence over Conrad. Even
though Michelle was more than 30 miles away from him when he took his life, that her virtual presence caused him to
do it. >> She helped him devise a plan to kill himself using a combustion engine to
poison himself with carbon monoxide gas. >> Michelle sent Conrad this text message.
I'm not going to sleep until you are in the car with a generator on. Your honor,
this case is a suicide case. It is not a homicide. >> But defense attorney Joseph Cataldo
painted a very different picture. >> The evidence of the texting is overwhelming that Conrad Roy was on this
path to take his own life for years. Michelle Kata was not present. Michelle Kata had been texting with him. She did
not physically see this individual for over one year. The defense brings up Conrad's acetaminophen overdose when he
was 17 and claims he had been suicidal for years, in part because of his parents' divorce and he had a
contentious relationship with his father. And if the judge is considering Michelle's text messages, he should look
at all the messages between the teenagers. Even up to a month before Conrad's death, Michelle seemed like a
concerned friend, trying to help a socially awkward and emotionally fragile Conrad. On June 19th, Michelle texts
Conrad, "Are you 100% positive you're never going to commit suicide? Be honest with me. Do you think about doing it?"
"No, I'm not." In other messages, she talks about wanting to take him to a therapist or a mental health hospital.
But on July 1st, 11 days before his suicide, text between Michelle and Conrad took a sinister turn. Prosecutors
let the words tell the story. >> She talked him out of his doubts point by point. She assured him that his
family would understand why he did it. She researched logistics. Michelle had been sending Conrad suggestions on how
to kill himself for weeks. Hanging is painless and takes like a second if you do it right.
But what would drive anyone to send a text like that? Prosecutors say Michelle was desperate for friends and attention.
And she got it when she talked about her suicidal boyfriend. Just days before he
died, she sent texts to girls she wanted to be close with in an effort to get their attention and sympathy.
>> Lexi, please. >> Pretending Conrad was missing. >> Do you remember getting a message about
Conrad being missing? >> Yes, >> he's missing like they don't know where he is. >> Prosecutors say Conrad still being alive
presented a problem for Michelle. She could be exposed as a liar. So, it was important he kill himself.
On July 12th, the night he did take his life, Conrad drove to a Kmart parking lot and texted Michelle, "Leaving now.
Okay, you can do this. Okay, I'm almost there." That was the last text Conrad ever sent
to anyone. But there was also a 46-inute phone call. Michelle called him. She was the
last person to speak with him. After that call ended, Michelle texted her friend Samantha.
>> I'm going to ask you to read that text message, please, aloud. >> Sam, he just called me and there was a
loud noise, like a motor, and I heard moaning like some was in pain and he wouldn't answer when I said his name. I
stayed on the phone for like 20 minutes and that's all I heard. >> Then 27 minutes later, Michelle sent
Samantha another text message. >> I think he just killed himself. Prosecutors say Michelle within hours
began building a virtual alibi. Knowing that he was likely dead, she began acting like a concerned friend, sending
Conrad this text message. I'm scared. Are you okay? I love you. Please answer. Michelle showed little emotion at the
trial. Her defense relies on this psychiatrist, Peter Ban, to explain her behavior, even though he was not
treating Michelle at the time. He testifies that she was involuntarily intoxicated by an anti-depressant drug
she started taking 3 months earlier. Selea, >> she was imshed in a delusion where she's
thinking that it's a good thing to help him die. But prosecutors completely dismiss that theory.
>> She does not tell the Roy family about being on the phone with Conrad the night
before, does she? His dead body is in a car 24 hours, and she withholds that information.
>> Inexplicably, Michelle sent more than 80 texts to Conrad after he died. In some,
she even apologizes for not saving him. But it wasn't just Conrad she texted. The prosecution is hoping the judge pays
particular attention to this text that she sent to her friend Samantha a week after Conrad's body was discovered.
They have to go through his phone and see if anyone encouraged him to do it on texts and stuff. They read my messages
with him. I'm done. His family will hate me and I could go to jail. Her actions, your honor, on July 12th,
2014 caused the death of Conrad Roy. They were reckless, and she knew it. >> According to the prosecution, Michelle
Carter helped put Conrad Roy in his grave. It was a felony and she caused serious bodily harm.
>> According to the defense, she didn't know what she was doing. >> Good morning.
>> She was psychotic, delusional, involuntarily intoxicated from taking the anti-depressant Selexa.
>> Michelle Carta underwent an involuntary intoxication in June and July >> to prominent child and adolescent
psychiatrist Dr. Harold Coplowitz. That makes no sense at all. Though not a witness in this case, he says those
drugs called SSRI are remarkably safe. >> They don't make you delusional. They don't make you psychotic.
>> And they don't make you intoxicated. >> They don't make you drunk. >> Dr. Coplowitz believes the act of
texting was more mindaltering than any drug. >> And the problem with text is that it
separates you. It makes you feel less responsible. But no amount of distance can explain her behavior, especially the
prosecution's contention that Michelle ordered Conrad back into the truck, says the doctor.
>> It's very hard to understand where the man says to a friend, listen, I'm feeling pain. I don't want to do this.
I'm going to get out of the car. There there's no way to seem to make sense of the fact that someone then says a friend
says get back in the car and kill yourself. This really has a vicious and a very very malicious quality to it.
>> No matter how malicious, Dr. Coplowit says Michelle really couldn't have convinced Conrad to kill himself if he
hadn't already been suicidal. So while Michelle could not force Conrad to kill himself, she could enhance his
risk of killing himself. She could encourage him to complete the act because he was already on his way. And
simultaneously, she could have screamed out for help, which might have prevented
this deadly outcome. >> I want to recover from this. And I feel like I haven't recovered from it yet. I
feel like I still have A long way to go. >> Clearly, these heartbreaking videos now
posted on YouTube show a young man looking for that different outcome, says Dr. Coplowitz.
>> You expose yourself like this, it says, "Please help me. >> I've created a monster out of myself
past few years because of my depression." >> Sadly, Conrad Roy is not alone. According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, we lose approximately 4600 young people between the ages of 10 and 24 to suicide each
year. One reason is that teenagers are simply more prone to depression. Another reason, they're more susceptible to peer
pressure. which is why the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why has caused such an uproar. In the
show, a teenage girl dies by suicide and leaves 13 recordings to other teens whom
she blames. >> I think it's one of the most dangerous programs on the air right now for the
simple reason that it glamorizes suicide. Unfortunately, suicide's very contagious. We know that teenagers who
watch these kind of TV programs are more likely to think about suicide, are more
likely to attempt suicide, are more likely to commit suicide. >> It appears that Michelle Carter may have
been one of those teens influenced by what she saw on TV. Not 13 Reasons Why, but perhaps an episode of Glee. When an
actor on Glee died of an overdose in real life, the show wrote his death into the script. Listen to the similarities
between what the character Rachel says about the loss of her boyfriend and what Michelle later says about losing Conrad.
>> I had it all planned out and we would live happily ever after. >> It's a good plan.
>> Did you tell him? >> I didn't have to. He knew. >> Michelle's text to a friend after
Conrad's death is almost word for word. I had it all planned out. He knew, too. I didn't have to tell him.
>> He was my person. >> Michelle writes the exact same line. He was my person. Poor her. Her
boyfriend died. They were going to get married one day, and now she's the grieving girlfriend. According to the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, it all boiled down to that starring role as the grieving girlfriend.
>> The Commel's position, your honor, is that she wanted attention. >> After six days of testimony,
closing arguments begin. >> The defense is up first. >> The evidence actually establishes that
Conrad Roy caused his own death. Joe Cataldo reminds the judge that Conrad had attempted suicide before and
points to a text Conrad wrote to Michelle. >> There's nothing anyone can do for me
that's going to make me want to live. It's very bad to hear, but I want to let you know that truthfully.
>> The decision to die was Conrad's, not Michelle's, says Cataldo. He created this situation, your honor.
>> Most importantly, Michelle was nowhere near Conrad when he killed himself. >> There's no evidence that Michelle Carter
has any physical actions whatsoever in this case with Conrad Royy's decision. It was all of his physical activity.
>> But prosecutor Katie Rburn gets the last word. >> Although she wasn't physically present,
she was in his ear. She was in his mind. She was on the phone and she was telling
to him to get back in the car even though she knew he was going to die. She absolutely knew it was wrong. And she
absolutely caused the death of this 18-year-old boy. And I ask you to find her guilty.
Three days after Judge Monz began his deliberations, two families prepared themselves for his verdict.
>> Mr. Roy. >> For the Carter family, freedom is at stake. For the Roy, it's about justice
for their son. >> She instructs Mr. Roy to get back into the truck. well knowing of all of the
feelings that he has exchanged with her, his ambiguities, his fears, his concerns.
>> The judge said Carter caused a dangerous environment. And under Massachusetts
law, she had a duty to save him. >> She called no one. She did not issue a simple additional instruction. Get out
of the truck. Miss Carter, please stand. This court, having reviewed the evidence and applied
the law thereto now finds you guilty on the indictment charging you with the involuntary
manslaughter of the person Conrad Roy III. >> Guilty. >> This court has >> a verdict that is groundbreaking in
terms of recognizing the deadly power of words, but one that leaves no winners. just heartbreak.
>> I know we all wish that he had the opportunity to grow up into adulthood to become a tugboat captain and to enjoy
his future. >> Nearly 7 weeks after being convicted, >> Michelle Carter, who is out on bail,
arrives for sentencing yourself, >> where hostile words greet her. >> She could face 20 years in prison.
Please remain standing for one moment while you are sworn. >> First, Conrad's father and sister recall
a life cut short. >> Not a day goes by with without him being my first thought waking up and my last
thought going to bed. >> Michelle Carter exploited my son's weaknesses and used him as a pawn in her
own well-being. She has not shown any remorse. Where was her humanity? The prosecutor reads a
statement from Conrad's mother, Lynn, who found it too difficult to speak. >> I do not know where to begin. I pray
that his death will save lives someday. >> Lynn wants to make it a crime to encourage suicide.
>> I pray that a law comes so forth so that another mother does not have to endure
what I am. I do not believe that another can go on to encourage someone to take their life
and it can be okay. >> The prosecution asks that Carter served 7 to 12 years behind bars.
>> She has shown no remorse and in fact after Conrad's death she sought attention and sympathy for herself. All
she had to do was say get out of the car. Michelle Carter does not speak at sentencing, but her attorney does and
asks for probation. >> Miss Carter does regret what happened. She also sent a letter to the probation
department where she accepts uh responsibility. This is a terrible, terrible tragedy and uh she very much
regrets this and praise your honest judgment of leniency. >> Then Michelle Carter learns her fate.
Miss Carter, please stand. >> He sentences Michelle Carter to 15 months behind bars. A sentence that does
not please the defense who appealed the conviction. >> We're asking you, your honor, to stay
the jail sentence until we can have our day in court. >> The judge takes the request seriously,
recognizing the significance of this case. The conviction may be reversible, but the time spent in prison is not.
>> And then makes a stunning announcement. >> That a grant of a stay through the
Massachusetts court system only is warranted. >> A stay meaning Michelle Carter would be
out on probation, not in jail, while her appeal made its way through the Massachusetts courts. It was a decision
that disappointed Lyn Roy and her daughters. >> We're just going to honor his life um
and do it in the most best way we can. We want him to be proud of us. >> All right.
>> In February of 2019, Michelle Carter's conviction was upheld. >> Miss Carter will now be taken into
custody >> and she began serving her 15-month sentence. Her lawyers appealed to the US
Supreme Court. The court declined to hear that appeal. In response, her lawyers issued the following statement.
We are deeply disappointed that the Supreme Court has decided not to review Michelle Carter's wrongful conviction.
Lyn Royy's focus now is on changing laws. >> What would you like there to be? >> What kind of law?
>> I would love one in honor of him. Uh his name Conrad's Law. >> There's people that love me. I have a
great mom. My son mattered. He matters. Will always matter. Someone that had a family and future and
mom and dad. I will never get over him. a beautiful ballerina, a troubled marriage, a deadly confrontation.
>> She tells the neighbor, "I shot Doug in self-defense." >> Was she genuinely afraid or just trying
to get her way? >> Underneath those white feathers, she's an evil woman. She's the black swan.
>> 48 Hours, Saturday at 10:9 Central on CBS.

"48 Hours" cases that involve frightening circumstances in these true-crime investigations. Watch the YouTube mini-marathon, which includes "Mystery at Eagle Creek," "Live To Tell: I Remember Everything" and "Death by Text."

00:00 Mystery at Eagle Creek 42:24 Live To Tell: I Remember Everything 1:25:35 Death by Text

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

The episode details Rhonda Castow's tragic death and the murder trial of her fiancé Steven Nichols, exploring conflicting narratives and emotional fallout.

Key points

Steven's Emotional Release. After 14 months in jail, Steven Nichols is released on bail, but the fight is far from over.
The Proposal That Never Happened. Despite planning a future together, Steven never proposed to Rhonda, leading to her unhappiness.
Steven's Arrest. After returning to the U.S., Steven is arrested under mysterious circumstances.
A Mother's Pain. Rhonda's mother confronts Nicholls in court, expressing her anguish.
Angela's Ordeal. Angela recounts the terrifying moments of her abduction and assault.
Identifying the Attacker. Angela identifies her attacker in a lineup, a chilling moment of recognition.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I want to cry. Actually, I'm so happy.

Mike Arnold's emotional reaction to Steven's release.

6:25WatchJun 27, 2026

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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