Serial Offender /// Part 1 /// 667 | Forensic Files

[Music] is it possible to predict the unpredictable can 3D printed life-size organ models help to map out complex
surgeries ahead of time is it possible it already is right here Mayo Clinic you know where to
go when it comes to Quality sleep Ashley has you covered with top mattress brands
at winning prices and with special financing options available you can snooze now and pay later plus your
mattress purchase helps give the gift of better sleep to children in need and US
Special Operations forces visit your local Ashley store or shop online today and make every snooze count financing is
subject to credit approval see store or ashley.com for details [Music] [Music] welcome to True Crime garage Wherever
You Are whatever you're doing thanks for listening I'm your host Nick and with me
as always is a guy with a reminder that here in the garage we don't ask you where you're going and we don't care
where you've been here is the captain all we care about is that you took a shower and you brush your teeth you
filthy animals it's good to be seen and good to see you thanks for listening thanks for telling a
[Music] friend today in the garage we are drinking Beauty and the Venom by our brilliant friends over tactical Brewing
Company Beauty and the Venom is a New England IPA with HBC 586 experimental hops whatever that is and yika chief
hops it's as the name says hazy and of course it's citrusy as well garage grade four out of five bottle caps and let's
give some praise and cheers to our good friends for helping us fill up the fridge first up shout out to Susan and
Rio Vista and a big we like goes to Holly in Mckenna Texas and last but certainly not least we have Alison
gannie from Ying New Jersey everyone we mentioned well they went to True Crim garage.com and clicked on the Pint glass
and for that we thank you yeah BW areu in beer run if you'd like to support this show and get a little knowledge for
the Noggin check out the one and only Nick Edward's new book the deli murders the quest to find the man on on the
bridge you can order your copy wherever you get your books you can go to amazon.com and search Nick Edwards pop
right up and it helps support the show and that is enough of the business thank you Captain all right everybody gather
around grab a chair grab a beer let's talk some true [Music] crime [Music] 32-year-old real estate broker Nikki
Cleveland placed the following ad in her local paper hoping the classified ad would lead to some interest and a
property she was listing and hoping to sell the ad ran on a Monday and read North Yarmouth swim canoe read and relax
investigate this unusual 3/4 acre seasonal property with royal River Frontage rustic three- room cabin was
screened in porch very secluded but only 2 miles from Main Street owner financing
available call Nikki Cleveland of Acres Associates and then Nikki provided readers with two phone numbers one her
office number and two her personal line a few days later Nikki agreed to meet with a potential buyer at the secluded
property around 2 in the afternoon she went alone she vanished her car was found less than a mile from the
property this was true crime [Music] garage [Music] Nikki Cleveland was a young realtor in
Cumberland County Maine in early July of 1981 Nikki listed a secluded property for sale that included a rustic Camp She
advertised the property for sale in the local papers with her phone number one a
phone number at her employer's office Acres Associates and because it's 198 won and she does not want to run the
risk of missing an opportunity to speak with a potential buyer Nikki was courtious enough to list her home phone
number as well during the Fourth of July weekend her phone rang and her husband Robert Cleveland answered it on the line
was a male caller and the male caller asked to speak with Nikki Robert informed the man that Nikki was not home
at the moment and if the man wished Robert would gladly take the callers in information and Nikki would get back to
him the man on the other end said he was interested in the secluded Cottage property that Nicki had listed in the
paper he told Robert that there was no need for a message that he would call back and speak with Nikki the mail
caller kept his word as he did call back this was 6 days later on July 12th and again Nikki's husband Robert answered
once again Nikki was not available Robert again offered to take the man's information and have Nikki call him back
the man on the other end of the call said he was a riter passing through the area and he was interested in buying the
North Yarmouth property but he would of course need to see it first he declined to give his name or information and once
again said he would call back and speak with the listing agent Nikki Cleveland later it was discovered that on that
same day July 12th a male caller all also called Nikki's office inquiring about the property for sale later on
that same day captain we're still on the 12th here the caller managed to get Nikki herself on the phone and the two
of them made arrangements to go and see the property on the following day July 13th with an appointment set for between
1 and 2 in the afternoon Nikki was very excited at the possibility of selling the cottage rather quickly and she told
her husband Robert that she had an appointment the next day to show the property to the man who had called the
following day Nikki borrowed her mother's station wagon so she could drive out to show the property to the
man to reach the listed property one must walk or drive along a dirt road across the property of a one Mrs gay Hoy
Mrs Hoy had erected a gate across the road this is to prevent the road from becoming a public right of way and both
ho and the owner of the listed property typically kept the gate closed Mrs Hoy was in the habit of actually going out
and checking people and making sure that only what she called were authorized people went down this road so this road
Captain it's built and it's there for these two Property Owners to use the purpose of the gate is so that people
aren't just randomly driving down this road there's no reason for anybody to go down this road unless they are going to
one of these two properties so if you don't live there or you're not visiting there you shouldn't be there but is
there anybody living at this property at the time no so we have Mrs Hoy who lives
at her property and then the property that's listed for sale is unoccupied at the time of July
1981 now around the appointed time Nikki parked the station wagon that she borrowed from her mother near the gate
and walked down the long dirt driveway the neighbor Mrs Hoy witnessed this from her window Mrs Hoy had several dogs and
they would alert her when someone would pull up to the gate Mrs hoit did not know Nikki by name but noted the woman
walking the long drive to the listed property that this woman was wearing a blue rain jacket later Nikki's husband
Robert Cleveland would tell police that the last time he saw his wife on that same day she was wearing a blue rain
jacket so we know this is one and the same here Mrs hoit noticed that the woman was gone for a very long time as
she would later tell police in fact she never saw the woman come back out from the property instead the next time her
dogs got to barking Mrs Hoy decided she would go outside and request to see the identification she thought it would be
the woman walking back to her car the woman in her blue rain jacket but to Mrs Ho's surprise it was not a woman on foot
that got the attention of her dogs but a blue green car that was coming up the road rather quickly across Mrs hoy's
property Mrs Hoy yelled at the car to stop but it didn't it didn't even slow down as the vehicle passed the driver a
male turned his head smiled and waved hello to Mrs Hoy and then sped off so this male driver he drives off Smiles
waves but Nikki's car that she was borrowing stays at the property by the gate and in fact Nikki's never seen
alive again she was reported missing by her family and the police were out searching for her and the search was
made public very quickly now because the vehicle was left at the scene and a male
driver was spotted driving away rather quickly police openly feared the worst they said that we are suspecting Foul
Play In This Woman's disappearance Nikki was described in the papers as Caucasian age 32 with long
brown hair and she wore glasses Nikki's family agreed with the police's assessment within a day or two Robert
Cleveland told the newspaper reporters that he too suspected Foul Play because Nikki had never been gone for more than
a couple of hours so possibly there's Foul Play and if there is Foul Play then obviously our best eyewitness is Mrs Hoy
yeah the best lead that police will have will probably be this eyewitness so Mrs
Hoy says that she saw a man drive out of the property now she gave a vague a rather vague description of the vehicle
to police basically just saying it it was a blue green vehicle and it was moving rather quickly but she did say
she was was able to focus in on the man who was driving the vehicle and she said
that the man appeared to be alone she thought she might see the woman in the blue rain jacket with the man but as far
as she could tell there was nobody in the vehicle with this man who waved to her and Mrs hoit described this man as
someone in his late 20s or early 30s with a full mustache and bright white teeth she said that he smiled and waved
at her as he drove by he was not wearing glasses and she could not recall the color of his hair so police put together
a sketch based off of this information from Mrs Hoy and of course they release it to the public hoping that somebody in
the public can lead them to this man so they can talk to him and ask about what happened to Nikki Cleveland so just go
over this timeline again so it's not confusing right so we have Nikki who listed the property in early July her
husband Robert Cleveland said that when the property was first listed they received several calls this was on or
around July 6th Robert believed that the man who called on the 6th and did not leave his name was the same man that
called again on July 12th once again not leaving his name or information he says to police that he
believes that same caller called back and spoke with Nikki again on the 12th and the two of them arranged for an
appointment on July 13th the following day so things are happening happening relatively quickly they have Mrs Hoy as
a possible eyewitness and we also have Robert Cleveland the husband as a possible ear witness who says I believe
I spoke to the same man twice and I believe that that man then got Nikki on the phone and made the proper
Arrangements but as things stand on July 13th captain Nikki is missing the car is
left at the scene and the police are kind of stumped as to what could have happened to this woman or where she
could be now 10 days later it was more bad news because there was really nothing going on with the case as far as
any good leads to find Nikki Cleveland there were reward offers that went out there were photographs of Nikki that
were published in the papers and put on on the news channels but none of this produced any useful leads to police in
fact they even consulted with psychics and hypnotist very early on in this investigation so the psychics and the
hypnotists could come up with nothing as well now as far as the hypnotists go it's my understanding that the reason
they were using a hypnotist was because they were hypnotizing Mrs ho the eyewitness to see if there might be
something else that she could recall about that day or about the driver or his vehicle and none of this provided
any additional information for them to work from I'm just saying I I don't know if I'd trust myself being hypnotized I I
couldn't be responsible for what I was going to say or my actions all the Dirty Secrets Finally Revealed yeah
everybody's asking me when my book is coming out uh my coloring book will be coming out in 3 weeks those sell really
well uhhuh the lead investigating Agency on this missing person's case will be the Cumberland County Sheriff's
department and they were openly talking about how little they had to go on in this investigation and in fact the
sheriff is quoted as saying the FBI can't get involved because we have nothing to give them right now then two
days later after the statement of hey we've reached out to psychics and hypnotist and they're coming up with
nothing as well we're now at July 25th so she's been missing since the 13th police announced that they were in
conversations with the Boxford police in Massachusetts this is because the Boxford police reached out to them
this after reading about Nikki Cleveland's disappearance that's because they had what they belied to be a
similar case seven years prior this is when a real estate broker her name was Marsha Nolan age 22 she was killed July
24th 1974 at one of those model home sites they wanted to compare notes with Cumberland County Sheriff's Department
to see if there were any similarities in the two cases maybe they were connected
maybe the same perpetrator involved in both cases well it doesn't take a genius here in the garage to know if the last
time she's seen is showing a house and her vehicles at that house that's the person you want to be looking for is the
person she showed that house to exactly and in the defense of the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department they were on
drugs at the time well Nikki's case in my opinion I I think you have all kinds of complications troubling complications
to your investigation simply put it's you have no body you have no crime scene we talk about this often here in the
garage there's typically more than one crime scene and here you're missing one of those crime scenes and in fact you're
looking for this person at this time when you have no proof that she is actually dead and
unfortunately 5 days later July 30th that that's going to change because a man working on a road in a wooded area
this is about 60 mil away 60 miles from the property that Nikki listed for sale this man working discovers a body the
man said he was working in the area when a strange odor led him into the wooded area into the horrific find and of
course he calls the police immed imately and it wouldn't take long before they would identify the body to be that
of the missing 32-year-old woman Nikki Cleveland yeah you know we've covered so many cases hundreds and hundreds and you
hear these stories of you know Joel rifken comes to mind when he's driving his car and there a police officer comes
behind him and starts smelling this odor and that odor if you ever smelled it you'll never forget that but I couldn't
imagine smelling that out in the in a wooded area cuz I'd be I'll just tell you I'd
be a little chicken [ __ ] to to follow that scent I've never smelled that odor so I don't know if it's the same
but where I live especially this time of year captain in the spring I get a lot of dead animals near my property and so
I discard of them and I know that smell and I've followed that smell to get the carcass off of my property so I
understand what this uh this man but but but think about this is this is what law
enforcement knows she was talking to somebody she goes to show up property so of course we want to talk to this
individual and we don't have a lot of information coming from the eyewitness so much so that we're going to try to
hypnotize her to get more information but what information do we have from her the guy pulls out he waves and smiles
blue green car mustache and bright teeth as she said no glasses and she couldn't recall the
color of his hair and up until finding Nikki Cleveland in this wooded area 60 miles away if you're an investigator you
got a couple of things that that are nagging at you one you have this eyewitness who cannot
confirm 100% that it was Nikki Cleveland that she saw walking that day right other than her husband saying last time
I saw her she's wearing a blue raincoat and Mrs Hoy the neighbor saying the woman I saw was wearing a blue raincoat
she walked to the property and I never saw her leave and her vehicle never left left and then your other piece that
you're working from is the husband Robert Cleveland who says yeah I talked to a guy on the phone a couple times who
refused to leave any information with me I believe it's the same guy that talked
to Nikki and that scheduled the appointment to meet her on the 13th I I tell you Captain I think the
investigators on this one if I had to wager a Franklin I would bet that there were some at the sheriff's department
that were concerned about the husband oh absolutely you have to look at the Inner
Circle and and he could be making up this caller for all you know but I do want to just point out that you've been
wagering a lot of Franklin since you wrote a book and I'm winning baby I'm always winning now when they find the
body it wouldn't take them long to identify that to be that of the missing woman Nikki Cleveland but initially all
police were saying is that she had been shot in the head more than once and the body had been there for some time at
least 10 [Music] days this show is sponsored by better help do you look forward to the holidays
maybe you struggle with seasonal Blues this time of year can be a lot and it's natur to feel some sadness or even
anxiety about it but adding something new and positive to your life can counteract some of those feelings
therapy can be a bright spot something to look forward to to make you feel grounded and to give you the tools to
manage everything going on if you're thinking of starting therapy give better help a try it's entirely online designed
to be convenient flexible and suited to your schedule just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a
licensed therapist and switch therapists at any time for no additional charge find your bright spot this season with
betterhelp visit betterhelp.com garage today to get 10% off your first month that's betterhelp
hp.com garage is it possible to predict the unpredictable could surgeons use a patient's own Anatomy to create 3D
printed life-size organ models to map out challenges ahead of time making surgery more precise efficient and less
invasive is it possible it already is because every day we're doing what's never been done learn more at
mayoclinic.org Sloss mayoclinic you know where to go dreaming of overseas Adventures or
connecting more deeply with family from afar Rosetta Stone Bridges the language Gap I've tried others but Rosetta
Stone's immersive lessons and voice feedback technology are game changers dive into 25 Languages by learning
intuitively just like when you were a kid and here's the holiday Sparkle grab a lifetime membership now and save 50%
gift yourself the world head to rosettastone.com now and save 50% want to grow your business in the
next 12 months it starts with your culture ins sparity a leading HR provider since 1986 can help your
business create a culture that drives growth download their free ebook the future of business is culture at
insperity.com with the right people processes and values in place your company can realize its full potential
set your business up for growth download the free ebook at insperity.com Insperity HR that makes a
[Music] difference all right we are back cheers mates and a big cheers to First Time
author you know him you love him he's number one in your hearts and number two in your farts the colonel cheers to you
mate let me be the first to wish all of our beautiful listeners a wonderful and Happy Star Wars Day May the 4th be with
you all the police notified Nikki's parents immediately after she was identified they notified her attorney as
well and then her husband and then telling the newspapers quote we had an awfully hard time finding the husband we
learned that the body was positively identified using dental records police also announced that this would be a
joint effort to solve this homicide case investigating the case we would have three officers from the Cumberland
County Sheriff's Department we would have the state police joining in on the investigation they were dedicating two
officers and the Attorney General's office was investigating as well they did say that they had some
leads but obviously they say we can't say what our leads are some additional details were released to the public in
the coming days and they were as follows the body found was in South Berwick she had been bound gagged with
her own panties and 5 Ines of tape wrapped around her mouth she was shot twice in the head and they confirmed
that she had been dead for 2 weeks but she had been alive when she arrived to the woods with the killer because
they're saying the evidence is telling the investigators that unfortunately our victim was killed where she was
found she was executed in those woods but then we get this bit of news this here is is real bizarre and I'm going to
read I'm going to read the exact article as it were back in 1981 the headline is
two deaths puzzling the deaths of Portland real estate broker Nikki Cleveland and an unidentified woman
whose body was discovered August 9th in unity New Hampshire are baffling investigators in both States remember
Nikki is in Portland Maine we have an unidentified body that was found about 9 days later after Nikki was
discovered and the article goes on to say that the cases are not related they say but in both instances an anonymous
telephone caller claimed to have information about the deaths but neither call provided police with any useful
information the unidentified body was clothed in a white sleeveless blouse with a large rose-colored butterfly
pattern and bulky maroon sweater two copper Rings were found on the body's right hand Mrs Cleveland disappeared
July 13th and her body was found near new the New Hampshire border dead from gunshot wounds this is rather intriguing
but also incredibly infuriating at the same time think right so you have a caller a person an anonymous caller
calls in in both cases not really providing information but says that they have information well we essentially
have two Anonymous or maybe the same Anonymous client show me these houses and then like you said you have
uh eyewitness and if she's correct Mr bright teeth is smiling and waving and could have a body in his car or a live
victim in his car and then this Anonymous person is now anonymously calling the police well
and I believe Captain what we're dealing with here is two separate callers potentially because the way that some of
the other reports read makes it sound like in Nikki Cleveland's case that the caller was saying I have
information about the the murder I can provide you with information that will help your investigation but I'm I want
you to pay me for my information I will give you the information for a price that is not reported in the unidentified
woman's case of the body that was found 9 days later what a salty bag of [ __ ] right and the other thing too is note
that the article clearly states that law enforcement is telling reporters they don't even though we have a similar
situation in both cases we don't have anything and we don't have any reason to believe that the two cases
are related so I'm on your side here Captain I cannot stand when and and for the life
of me never will understand why somebody would want to interfere with an investigation if it wasn't to cover
their own tracks I mean right remember the we've seen it in other cases and in one case
that we've not covered that we saw it in infuriated the hell out of me was the Boston Marathon
bombing police in that case were asking the public for help they needed the public to look at images that they were
putting out and and and send images anybody that was at the marathon that day taking pictures using your
smartphone send us your pictures so we can use these to try to identify the bomber people sent people on the
internet were photoshopping bags to appear to have been abandoned In Crowd of people and sending them to the FBI
and to the police right okay when when your fellow man needs you the most you step in and in and interfere with an
investigation yeah ridiculous I mean take a wild guess if you had to guesstimate how many individuals have
emailed you in the last s years and said I have some information about a case would you like
to know about it or I have a possible suspect or a possible lead one or two a week when we do an unsolved case and
it's like don't don't tell us about it tell law enforcement well don't slam the door
shut because I I'm please tell somebody please tell somebody if you prefer to tell us we are here to to listen but
there but there's been several that won't okay send me the information I'm interested email me the information
no I I'll tell you if it's on the phone and it's like look if you're not willing to email the information then at
least send it to law enforcement later the police would be able to identify the body that was found August
9th and we would learn that that body was that of Mary Elizabeth critchley now some of our listeners are recognizing
that name and that's because she is one of the victims or believed to be one of the victims of the
Connecticut River Valley killer and we covered that case in episodes 636 and 637 on your true crime garage radio
dial one thing that's before we get too far into the weeds here Captain one thing of interest to me that we didn't
cover and did not uncover when looking for information in that case was this Anonymous phone call
in critchley's case could it have been something could it have been from the serial killer
himself we know that they like to communicate with with law enforcement or with the media at times and so that
that's a real interesting angle in that case that's also a case that has a lot of confusion they're not certain what
victims are connected what victims are tied together but wouldn't you love to hear a recording of that conversation
you know that I would Captain because that is going to tell you which way to Leen is the demeanor of the
caller well and in critchley's case it's believed that she was hitchhiking at the
time because she was last seen July 25th 1981 near the exit of the Massachusetts Turnpike in Farmingham
Massachusetts Mary was dropped off at that location by a friend saying that she was going to hitchhike to Waterbury
Vermont where she lived with a friend Mary was attending classes at the University of Vermont at the time of her
death keep in mind though she's later found in unity New Hampshire the medical examiner unable to determine the cause
of death and they State based off of the condition of the body and the decomposition that took place with the
body they do rule it a homicide but we have our victim Nikki Cleveland who's found not terribly far from the New
Hampshire state line and so at the time I'm sure they were looking into this and
and confirming if they had any reason to believe that the two were connected now
this case Captain like you said you're trying to figure out who was that caller that caller is probably our best lead in
this case and police spent a lot of time trying to figure out who that caller was
now we would get updates on Nikki Cleveland's murder case once or twice a year for the next five
years and in fact at one point the police were asked if the case was closed due to no new information no no new
leads right if the case was cold enough that they would refer to it as a closed case and they in fact said yes this case
is is closed we got nowhere to go with this thing so it was sitting there on the Shelf looking like it wasn't going
to be solved and in fact we have information that came out that police said you know we ain't talking the case
is closed there's nothing to talk about but that my friends is all going to change in June of
1986 June 28th 1986 the Sun Journal newspaper has a headline on page two that says Nikki Cleveland homicide case
reopened and the article states that the 1981 gunshot slang of Portland real estate agent Nikki Cleveland is getting
renewed attention from homicide investigators but they are keeping mum about new developments that placed the
case back on the front burner the Assistant Attorney General this is Thomas Goodwin said to the paper
regarding the case it's very open the case is very open we've just had some developments recently on the case
there're stating now in the years since the slaying officials did disclose that the victim's hands had been
tied and one ranking State prosecutor familiar with the case described The Killing as a cold blooded
execution so our victim her hands were tied and and keep in mind we have this tape this wrapping of 5 in worth of tape
over her mouth and to be clear it's not like somebody ripped off a piece of tape
and put it over her mouth they gagged her with her underwear and then wrap the tape around
her her head to quiet her and if the man in the vehicle is the person respon responsible
here we have Mrs ho who says she never she didn't see anybody in the vehicle with him so he must have kidnapped Nikki
Cleveland from the house I guess placing her in the trunk of his car to transport her because we
do know that she was alive when they entered that wooded area yeah and then the sick son of a [ __ ] just smiles and
waves and on his way 6 what did you say 60 Mi down the road 60 Mi down the road to dump the body but then you wonder if
he's not if there's no gloves is there fingerprints on that tape can you pull DNA from that tape well what they end up
doing this is a weird case because the statement that the case is closed and that they have no information they got
nothing to go on for all of these years what we find out in the end is that they
had traced the phone calls they were they they were able to get the phone number where those calls came from that
went to her office office asking about the property and to her home right but don't you think it's highly
irresponsible to say the case is closed I agree 100% here's where I think the problem
is you're the problem me the problem I think with this case is it's the old and we've heard this more than a dozen times
Captain we know who did it we just don't have enough proof right for an arrest and a
conviction and well you might have enough to arrest them but that doesn't mean that once you go to trial you're
going to have anything the phone records told police that the phone calls came from the home of a one William
mesus William mcus was apprehended and arrested July 26 1982 so just a couple days
shy of one year from finding Nikki Cleveland's body right but William mesus was arrested in North
Carolina now he was arrested on outstanding charges of rape kidnapping robbery and
burglary all for incidents that took place in New Hampshire and earlier and prior to July
1982 police caught up with him at the home of one of his friends in North Carolina shameful that this guy has any
friends at all yeah I wish I had one friend the details of those charges Captain the reports states that William
mcus knocked on a door and a woman answered and then he pulls a knife on her and orders her to remove her
clothes so he goes in with the the attempt to rape this woman in her home at knife
Point well mcus it's going to be a bad day for William mcus okay because the woman was
hosting a party and while she's alone when he enters the home people that are attending the party
start to show up thankfully and they and they catch this man in the act and later
mcus would tell a cellmate quote people started coming from everywhere men women
and children it was like a damn Mark brother movie yeah well thank God people didn't show up fashionably late that's
so he's arrested and he was also wanted in the great state of Massachusetts for rape and robbery charges as well based
off of this information and the phone calls it's looking like he's going to be wanted in the state of Maine as well but
you know that some Karen is all upset cuz she made a very nice and brosia salad that's not that nobody ate because
there was an attack happening New Hampshire authorities figured out that William
mhm was actually a one Joel Bill caulk wanted in seven different towns and counties in California for a long string
of rapes and robberies but New Hampshire wasn't going to just hand this man over
to California law enforcement because they were the ones that caught him and keep in mind he's facing charges in
their state well I've said it once on the show I'll say it again I I I do not like it's a it's a red flag they're
normally horrible people that use fake names but guess what Joel bill coock you are a piece of [ __ ] so just to
keep this neat and tidy here Captain police traced phone calls from Nikki and Robert Cleveland's home and calls to the
Acres reality office on the dates when Mr Robert Cleveland said the man had called and asked to speak with Nikki
about the property that she was listed and and selling they find her vehicle there at that
property they traced the calls to a home in Booth Bay Harbor the man who lived there was this William John mesus AKA
Joel Bill caul but investigators in Maine in 1981 didn't know that that was a fake name they didn't know who this
William John mesus really was right so Joel Bill cooch had been living in the state of Maine since May of 1981 think
about that he's May of 1981 and then this murder takes place in July and we know that he's wanted for
prior rapes in kidnapping whatever is driving this guy he can't keep it at Bay because he's only in May he's already
he's already on the on the run and he's only in Maine for a couple months before
he abducts and kills this poor woman right so he's living in Maine since May of 1981 as William mcus
he once he's there he establishes himself in in the community rather quickly uh he had a wife and son in
California and he sends for them to come and join him in Maine he's working as electrician
at Luke's boat yard in East Booth Bay Harbor and as a Mater D at a local restaurant he also worked for a period
of time as a tennis pro at the booth Bay Harbor YMCA he coached Little League the people
who knew him in Maine said he was a very outgoing and very friendly guy he seemed
to be very smart one woman a Barbara Schuler said he was quote friendly and easy to get
along with now little did they know that he was living under this fake name of William John mesus right a name that he
stole from a headstone of a child that had passed away in 1956 well we've seen this to be a common practice
whether and they don't have to be a criminal somebody could want to go missing and they assume a identity of a
child that has already passed away I've heard more than one person tell me Nick your show gives more tips of the trade
to criminals than any show out there shame on you and you know what they might be right but we're just telling it
like it is and back in the day in the ' 80s and the 70s it was so common that when people would steal an identity or
create an identity for themselves they would just go to a graveyard they would go to a cemetery and pick a name off of
off of a headstone and that's what this Joel Bill caul did when he needed to become somebody else because he's on the
run from California authorities because he's out committing a bunch of rapes in California yeah but we also give I think
pretty good tips on how to survive or things that you can do to make sure that your killer is caught and how to catch
the bastards yeah and here's a tip for all your criminals that are listening turn yourself in if you do I'll send you
a free shirt a free shirt from the garage store Curtis I'll even sign it turn yourself in the more you know so
one thing we do know here Captain is that it clearly took police in Maine several years to put together their case
against this man now there was probably not a big rush here because he's already
incarcerated at the time so they knew where to find him if they ever built that case against him remember he was
picked up the following year in North Carolina so he was only free of this murder and other charges for less than a
year police said that he was a suspect for a long time before the formal charges were brought against him and
here is the evidence that they said that they had against this individual the bullets removed from Nikki skull were
traced back to a gun that Joel caul had admitted to a detective that he had stolen from a resident that he burgled
in California mhm and that he told the detective in a conversation that he had used the gun
thereafter in the course of quote criminal activity later when this thing goes to
trial all the years later a man named Roy Denny testified that his 22 caliber Smith and Wesson had been stolen from
his Union home back in 1980 main state police detective Richard Arnold testified that the bullets that
killed Nikki were compared to bullets that were fired at a shooting range before the gun was
stolen and both sets of bullets were quote fired from one particular firearm and no other according to the state
detective what happened here is somehow they piece together this information that the
caller is this other guy who's arrested a year later once they figure out who this other guy is and all the charges
he's he was wanted for in California he clearly skipped out on California went from one corner of the
country all the way to the furthest Corner away in Maine to hide out but doesn't do a damn good job of it
because he he sends for his wife and kid which is a little weird you would think that the California authorities
would have picked up on that but he's on the run and they they finally start piecing this stuff
together this guy that gets picked up in North Carolina he's this he he's going by an assumed name a name that he stole
and by the way he's wanted for all of these robberies uh thefts and rapes in California well it's through this
interviewing process he's he's admitting to his crimes in New Hampshire right so he
admits to all of these crimes in New Hampshire well California detectives are like well if he's talking now and they
have him in custody we need to get there and talk to them because what they were
doing they were sending questions to the detectives in New in New Hampshire mhm and Joel caulk is not admitting to
anything that he was charged with in California to the New Hampshire detectives so detectives in California
are like we need to get out to New Hampshire to talk to this guy yeah very strange behavior and but maybe it's as
simple as he felt more connected to them because they're in person so like you said law enforcement needs to get out
there and see if they can make a connection with him and maybe he will admit to these other crimes
because somebody that's this sick and then we know moved and like you said the small time period of when he moved to
when Crimes start happening again this guy definitely has a history well and it's not just this phone call or the
phone calls that connect him to the murder it's more so the gun and here's what ends up happening
California law enforcement they're like yeah we're not not going to go to the expense of sending a detective out to
New Hampshire to question this guy that's going to be locked up in New Hampshire even though he's admitting to
New Hampshire crimes we're not going to we're not not going to go to the trouble
so the lead detective in those rape cases decides you know what I'm going to take a vacation take a couple days off
from the job I'm gonna fly out to the great state of New Hampshire and arrange with authorities there to sit in and
talk to Mr Joel and while he's there he gets this Joel caulk to admit that he stole this
gun from a resident in California and he used it for other criminal activity that
is the connecting piece to the murder and so the detectives from Maine armed with this information they keep
going to this shooting range that the gun owner used to go to they need to find bullets to try to match them to the
bullets found in the victim because they have the crime scene now they have the body they have no
murder weapon and it's through the ballistic test and finding those old spent shells and I'm sorry the it's
through the ballistics of those bullets that were fired at the gun range that they were
able to determine yes that gun that this guy admitted to stealing and using in other criminal activity is our murder
[Music] weapon join us here back in the garage same bat Time same bat Channel love you
thanks for the support thanks for Tona friend until tomorrow be good be kind and don't
[Music] litter is it possible to predict the unpredictable could surgeons use a patient's own Anatomy to create 3D
printed life-size organ models to map out challenges ahead of time making surgery more precise efficient and less
invasive is it possible it already is because every day we're doing what's never been done learn more at
mayoclinic.org Sloss mayoclinic you know where to go

Serial Offender /// Part 1 /// 667

Part 1 of 2

www.TrueCrimeGarage.com

Nikki Cleveland was working as a Real Estate agent. She listed a unusual property for sale. The property was not occupied. It was a secluded 3/4 acre property with river frontage. Perfect for relaxing, swimming and canoeing. The property received some attention from an ad she ran in the local paper. One day she went to show the property and she never came home. Join us for a true crime story of a most unusual Serial Offender.

Beer of the Week - Beauty in the Venom by Tactical Brewing company

Garage Grade - 4 out of 5 bottle caps

Our other show “Off The Record” (OTR, if you’re nasty) is back by overwhelming popular demand and it’s available now. Right now you can subscribe to Off The Record via your apple podcast app. Subscribe for a full year and get 16% off!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com (https://pcm.adswizz.com) for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Brief Summary

Nikki Cleveland was murdered in 1981; her killer was identified through phone records and ballistics evidence.

Key points

Nikki Cleveland's Disappearance. Nikki Cleveland, a real estate broker, vanished after meeting a potential buyer.
The Search for Nikki. The police's search for Nikki Cleveland intensifies as fears grow for her safety.
Body Discovered. A man working in a wooded area discovers a body, leading to a grim revelation.
Anonymous Calls and Confusion. Two anonymous callers claim to have information about two separate murder cases, but provide no useful leads.
Nikki Cleveland Homicide Case Reopened. The 1981 murder of Nikki Cleveland gains renewed attention as new developments arise.
William Mesus Arrested. William Mesus, a suspect in Nikki Cleveland's murder, is apprehended on unrelated charges.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Nikki vanished after showing a property to a potential buyer.

The mysterious disappearance of Nikki Cleveland.

4:40WatchNov 16, 2023

Tension

75/ 100High tension

More from True Crime Garage TV

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.