1 00:00:05,290 --> 00:00:12,010 In this episode of American Greed... That woman had a gift. She had some sort 2 00:00:12,010 --> 00:00:13,470 voodoo magic over these men. 3 00:00:13,730 --> 00:00:17,510 What Nanette Johnston wants, Nanette Johnston gets. 4 00:00:17,890 --> 00:00:19,990 And her sorcery has one aim. 5 00:00:20,250 --> 00:00:21,830 Turning sex into money. 6 00:00:22,270 --> 00:00:24,830 She was a gold digger. It was obvious. 7 00:00:25,150 --> 00:00:27,790 And he went for that? How smart is that? 8 00:00:28,250 --> 00:00:33,070 She steals multi -millionaire Bill McLaughlin's heart. Then she steals his 9 00:00:33,070 --> 00:00:34,070 fortune. 10 00:00:34,220 --> 00:00:38,780 But when he becomes suspicious of her spending, this femme fatale's options 11 00:00:38,780 --> 00:00:43,980 deadly. He must die or the money dries up. Nanette needs to find somebody 12 00:00:43,980 --> 00:00:49,160 enough, violent enough, and mean enough that she can manipulate him to commit a 13 00:00:49,160 --> 00:00:53,480 murder. Enter former NFL linebacker Eric Naposki. 14 00:00:59,470 --> 00:01:04,410 But after nearly 15 years, no one is arrested for Bill McLaughlin's murder. 15 00:01:04,690 --> 00:01:11,370 And many wondered if anyone ever will be. You can stay on my head for my whole 16 00:01:11,370 --> 00:01:16,490 entire life and we will grow old together. You will die and I will stay 17 00:01:16,750 --> 00:01:22,630 But you will never, ever, ever find any reason to think that I had any motive to 18 00:01:22,630 --> 00:01:23,630 kill someone. 19 00:01:45,450 --> 00:01:46,570 She is a killer. 20 00:01:47,090 --> 00:01:51,490 That woman is responsible for the murder of Bill McLaughlin. 21 00:01:52,150 --> 00:01:58,950 That woman is 46 -year -old Nanette Johnston. And in January 2012, she 22 00:01:58,950 --> 00:02:01,430 trial for the murder of her former fiancé. 23 00:02:02,110 --> 00:02:06,990 The couple is together for nearly three years when Bill McLaughlin is gunned 24 00:02:06,990 --> 00:02:10,889 down at his Newport beach home on December 15, 1994. 25 00:02:12,170 --> 00:02:16,230 The minute his heart stops beating, there is one obvious suspect. 26 00:02:16,690 --> 00:02:21,190 At 9, 10, and one second, Lynette Johnston became a millionaire. 27 00:02:21,450 --> 00:02:26,250 By now, Johnston has already been convicted in the court of law for 28 00:02:26,250 --> 00:02:30,470 half a million dollars from McLaughlin and convicted in the court of public 29 00:02:30,470 --> 00:02:32,790 opinion for being a greedy girlfriend. 30 00:02:33,830 --> 00:02:37,490 But her defense wants to ask the jury one last question. 31 00:02:38,030 --> 00:02:41,590 Hate her as much as you want for being a thief, a liar. 32 00:02:42,370 --> 00:02:44,610 She's lost, whatever you want to call her. 33 00:02:45,150 --> 00:02:46,970 Can you call her a murderer? 34 00:02:48,130 --> 00:02:53,050 I guess, if truth be told, she just had some very appealing attributes that she 35 00:02:53,050 --> 00:02:54,050 used very well. 36 00:02:54,650 --> 00:02:59,530 She distracts you over here with her beauty, her looks, her body. 37 00:03:00,150 --> 00:03:04,690 And meanwhile, she's got a whole other agenda, and that's in full swing. 38 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:10,900 Before Nanette Johnston ever meets Bill McLaughlin, she sharpens her 39 00:03:10,900 --> 00:03:16,100 manipulative skills on Tom Reynolds in 1990 while he works the door of a 40 00:03:16,100 --> 00:03:18,200 nightclub in Orange County, California. 41 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:21,420 We basically met. Things hit off rather well. 42 00:03:21,620 --> 00:03:26,660 She came back to my place, which was down in Newport. And before I knew it, 43 00:03:26,660 --> 00:03:27,660 had moved in. 44 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:29,920 It was not pre -designed. 45 00:03:30,420 --> 00:03:32,600 Looking back, I kind of wonder how it happened. 46 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:38,760 Johnston essentially moves in immediately, and Reynolds quickly 47 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:42,080 a taste for the finer things at his expense. 48 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:48,400 She was very focused on money and where it was coming from and how much was 49 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:53,900 around. We went out and got all new furniture. It was redecorated, you know, 50 00:03:53,900 --> 00:03:58,780 to bottom. New couch, new bed, new TV. Everything was done in whitewash from 51 00:03:58,780 --> 00:04:00,760 upstairs to downstairs. 52 00:04:01,470 --> 00:04:04,590 She had a gift. She, that woman, had a gift. 53 00:04:05,210 --> 00:04:09,930 Orange County Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy says that engulfing men in 54 00:04:09,930 --> 00:04:15,510 sex, lies, and vagaries is standard operating procedure for Nanette 55 00:04:15,630 --> 00:04:19,529 This is what she does. She meets men, she manipulates them, and she destroys 56 00:04:19,529 --> 00:04:20,529 their lives. 57 00:04:21,110 --> 00:04:22,210 Everybody's got a talent. 58 00:04:22,490 --> 00:04:23,490 That's her talent. 59 00:04:24,250 --> 00:04:30,070 And one day, Reynolds realizes he isn't the first to fall prey to Johnston's 60 00:04:30,070 --> 00:04:35,270 talents. An ex -boyfriend came by at one point. I found him lurking, literally 61 00:04:35,270 --> 00:04:39,550 stalking, walking back and forth in front of the house, and he was trying to 62 00:04:39,550 --> 00:04:40,550 track her down. 63 00:04:40,970 --> 00:04:46,050 She had deceived him in some way. You know, they had been involved, and she 64 00:04:46,050 --> 00:04:50,430 gotten money from him, and when she had done that, the relationship he thought 65 00:04:50,430 --> 00:04:52,150 existed did not. 66 00:04:52,840 --> 00:04:56,140 It seems to be a pattern with Nanette Johnston. 67 00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:02,680 You start thinking about how did this whole situation come about because there 68 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:07,980 really was no planning, wasn't any formality to it. It was just here I was 69 00:05:07,980 --> 00:05:10,820 the middle of it, which is pretty much as he had described it. 70 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,680 He said all of a sudden he looked around and things were gone, money was gone, 71 00:05:14,740 --> 00:05:15,699 and she was gone. 72 00:05:15,700 --> 00:05:17,000 And I'm like, well. 73 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:21,880 Everything so far, but not the gun part, and that really started making me 74 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:22,880 wonder. 75 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:27,140 Perhaps this relationship isn't all sunshine and roses. 76 00:05:27,540 --> 00:05:31,760 I found a lockbox, and that lockbox had a canceled check. 77 00:05:32,100 --> 00:05:37,180 That canceled check was made out to a magazine that we don't have a 78 00:05:37,180 --> 00:05:42,720 subscription. I looked up what magazine it was, and it was a hookup magazine. 79 00:05:43,550 --> 00:05:48,150 So I just went by the dates, found that issue, and lo and behold, it's in bull 80 00:05:48,150 --> 00:05:49,150 print. 81 00:05:49,690 --> 00:05:50,750 Wealthy men only. 82 00:05:51,570 --> 00:05:52,830 Single white female. 83 00:05:53,610 --> 00:05:55,530 Classy, well -educated, adventurous. 84 00:05:56,010 --> 00:05:57,010 Fun. 85 00:05:57,750 --> 00:06:01,030 Looking for an older man who knows how to treat a woman. 86 00:06:01,490 --> 00:06:05,030 You take care of me, and I'll take care of you. 87 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:09,520 You know, here I am looking at this and knowing she's living in my home. I'm 88 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:12,520 like, well, if you're going to be wanting those wealthy men, I don't think 89 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:14,800 there's enough room in here or time for you to leave. 90 00:06:17,900 --> 00:06:21,520 In a short period of time, Johnston finds her next mark, 91 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:23,240 Bill McLaughlin. 92 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:27,440 My wife today, you know, she jokes, good thing you weren't making more money 93 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:29,380 than you were because that could have been you. 94 00:06:30,540 --> 00:06:34,020 Whether Bill answered that ad or whether they met in one of these other ways, 95 00:06:34,060 --> 00:06:35,060 nobody really knows. 96 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:39,940 All we know for sure is that McLaughlin had been married for about 30 years to a 97 00:06:39,940 --> 00:06:46,780 very, very nice woman. He had three beautiful, super sweet kids. And when he 98 00:06:46,780 --> 00:06:50,080 got divorced, he basically met the worst woman in Orange County. 99 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:57,340 Apparently, that's not how he sees it. He called me and he said, oh, he met 100 00:06:57,340 --> 00:07:00,040 really beautiful young. 101 00:07:01,460 --> 00:07:05,060 You know, she has a couple of kids, but she has a Ph .D. 102 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:08,180 And I think I messed up. She must be a genius. 103 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:14,820 Barbara LaSpisa grows up with her cousin Bill McLaughlin near Chicago, where she 104 00:07:14,820 --> 00:07:17,980 says his family learns the value of a dollar. 105 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:22,540 His parents were known to be very frugal in our family. 106 00:07:22,780 --> 00:07:27,540 It was rather funny because if you went to their house to eat, as my father 107 00:07:27,540 --> 00:07:30,140 would say, you better eat first before you went there. 108 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:35,060 McLaughlin may not have money, but he has ambition. 109 00:07:35,540 --> 00:07:39,540 He wanted to be a millionaire by 30. That's what he would tell me, and I'd 110 00:07:39,540 --> 00:07:40,459 of laugh. 111 00:07:40,460 --> 00:07:41,740 Yeah, so would I. 112 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:42,960 We all do. 113 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:47,320 But he was focused, and somehow he was going to get there. 114 00:07:48,180 --> 00:07:52,960 After high school, McLaughlin enlists in the Marines and is stationed at Camp 115 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:54,560 Pendleton in Southern California. 116 00:07:55,120 --> 00:08:00,180 When his duty ends, he enrolls in what is now Loyola Marymount University. 117 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:05,460 Bill was the first one to go to college, and he couldn't afford that. The 118 00:08:05,460 --> 00:08:06,600 parents couldn't afford it. 119 00:08:06,980 --> 00:08:11,920 Determined to succeed, McLaughlin enrolls in a student worker program to 120 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:16,980 his education on his own, graduating with a degree in biology in 1964. 121 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:23,920 In 1966, he marries and soon has three kids, two daughters and a son. 122 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:28,120 And in the 80s, his promise to his cousin finally comes true. 123 00:08:28,670 --> 00:08:33,110 His business partner invents a groundbreaking medical device that makes 124 00:08:33,110 --> 00:08:35,669 millionaires dozens of times over. 125 00:08:35,909 --> 00:08:39,789 They invented a centrifuge that would separate plasma from blood. 126 00:08:40,150 --> 00:08:43,770 It's still being used today, and it is incredibly lucrative. 127 00:08:44,990 --> 00:08:50,530 After his divorce in 1990, family friend Sandy Baumgartner says there was a 128 00:08:50,530 --> 00:08:52,030 vacuum in McLaughlin's life. 129 00:08:52,590 --> 00:08:57,790 And she sees how the 52 -year -old fills the void at a Christmas party in 1991. 130 00:08:58,350 --> 00:09:03,130 Bill and Nanette walked in, and she was a great deal younger, and I managed to 131 00:09:03,130 --> 00:09:07,790 glean through conversation that she and I were, in fact, the same age, three 132 00:09:07,790 --> 00:09:10,090 weeks apart, and I was 26 years old at the time. 133 00:09:10,850 --> 00:09:14,990 For a 26 -year -old, Johnston seems to have an impressive resume. 134 00:09:15,750 --> 00:09:21,150 She tells Baumgardner she earned a Ph .D. from Arizona State and once owned 135 00:09:21,150 --> 00:09:22,150 own business. 136 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:25,520 But something about Johnston doesn't feel right. 137 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:30,980 She was talking about all this education and such, and as I was doing the math, 138 00:09:31,180 --> 00:09:35,680 something wasn't ringing true with the list of accomplishments and the resume, 139 00:09:35,820 --> 00:09:38,140 if you will, that she was rattling off to me. 140 00:09:38,580 --> 00:09:43,700 Nevertheless, when Bob Gardner sees Johnston again two years later, 141 00:09:43,700 --> 00:09:49,140 and Johnston are still together, and she sees a transformed Nanette Johnston. 142 00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:53,340 It looked like she had a little facial surgery and she had some breast 143 00:09:53,340 --> 00:09:54,640 augmentation done. 144 00:09:56,180 --> 00:10:00,800 McLaughlin's family, particularly his daughters Kim and Jenny, are not 145 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:05,400 impressed. Kim sat Bill down one time and said, look, I think she's after you 146 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:06,400 for your money. 147 00:10:06,540 --> 00:10:11,440 And, you know, he said, well, thank you very much for your input. But, you know, 148 00:10:11,500 --> 00:10:14,520 I think he took the stance of duly noted. 149 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:20,960 Johnston moves into McLaughlin's house, converting guest bedrooms into bedrooms 150 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:23,580 for her two children from a previous marriage. 151 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:29,120 McLaughlin treats them as his own. And before long, it appears he's going to 152 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:30,120 make it official. 153 00:10:30,580 --> 00:10:36,400 In 93, he came to me and asked me my thoughts about him getting married. 154 00:10:37,060 --> 00:10:41,500 Brian Ringler has been McLaughlin's accountant since the mid -80s. And 155 00:10:41,500 --> 00:10:45,700 McLaughlin tells him he wants Johnston to be a permanent part of his life. 156 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:50,840 And he said his concern was that he would be able to provide for her should 157 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:55,480 something happen to him. And so we had discussed some various options, and one 158 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:58,820 of the things that he ended up doing was getting a life insurance policy. 159 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:04,780 The insurance policy is for a million dollars, naming Johnston as the sole 160 00:11:04,780 --> 00:11:05,780 beneficiary. 161 00:11:06,540 --> 00:11:08,520 And it comes just in time. 162 00:11:08,860 --> 00:11:13,220 Within a year of getting the policy, shots ring out in Newport Beach. 163 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:24,440 Bill McLaughlin is dead. 164 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:31,600 But who in Bill McLaughlin's world could be capable of such calculated deceit? 165 00:11:31,660 --> 00:11:34,180 Any idea at all who would want to harm him? 166 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:37,460 I wish I had something to tell you. I wish I knew. 167 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:38,880 I don't know. 168 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:40,740 I can't think of anybody. 169 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:50,200 When American Greed returned, Nanette Johnston claims to have an alibi for the 170 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:51,200 night of the murder. 171 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:56,300 But could she have tricked yet another man to do her bidding? I think Naposki 172 00:11:56,300 --> 00:12:00,780 was definitely duped by Nanette. She went after men who could give her 173 00:12:00,780 --> 00:12:01,780 something. 174 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:20,320 Newport Beach, emergency, please fire. 175 00:12:32,910 --> 00:12:37,910 Three years before Bill McLaughlin's murder, his son Kevin is involved in a 176 00:12:37,910 --> 00:12:42,570 accident that leaves him with mental trauma that affects his speech and motor 177 00:12:42,570 --> 00:12:43,570 skills. 178 00:12:43,870 --> 00:12:48,950 He comes down the stairs and finds his father dying on the kitchen floor. And 179 00:12:48,950 --> 00:12:52,610 calls 911, and it is this heart -wrenching 911 call. 180 00:12:52,850 --> 00:12:54,250 I can't understand what you're saying. 181 00:12:57,150 --> 00:13:01,400 He's trying to... tell the 911 operator what happened, and because of his brain 182 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:04,700 damage that he suffered as a result of the accident, she can't understand what 183 00:13:04,700 --> 00:13:07,440 he's saying, and you can hear the frustration in his voice. 184 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:08,880 Are you hurt? 185 00:13:13,780 --> 00:13:14,780 Okay, 186 00:13:15,780 --> 00:13:18,420 we have an officer on the way to your house right now. 187 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:22,480 The investigators get there probably about 9 .15. 188 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:26,060 They walk in, and there's poor Kevin distraught. 189 00:13:26,570 --> 00:13:30,550 And to the right on the kitchen floor is Bill McLaughlin on his back, having 190 00:13:30,550 --> 00:13:31,670 been shot six times. 191 00:13:34,070 --> 00:13:38,470 The only thing that they could see that happened in the house was the shooting. 192 00:13:39,350 --> 00:13:44,570 There was really nothing except the murder that seemed to be the point of 193 00:13:44,570 --> 00:13:45,570 incident. 194 00:13:45,890 --> 00:13:51,390 As usual in a murder investigation, the spouse or significant other is an 195 00:13:51,390 --> 00:13:52,850 immediate person of interest. 196 00:13:53,170 --> 00:13:54,790 But when she's questioned... 197 00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:57,620 Nanette Johnston seems to have an alibi. 198 00:13:58,140 --> 00:14:00,400 So what she says is, I was at my son's soccer game. 199 00:14:00,700 --> 00:14:04,640 I went in a triple overtime, and then I went to go buy Christmas presents. 200 00:14:05,460 --> 00:14:07,720 The kids were going to come home with me, but it was so late. 201 00:14:08,020 --> 00:14:13,120 It was like already 8 .30 when the game ended, and my ex was right around the 202 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:14,120 corner from the field. 203 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:18,400 So he took them home instead because they were going to have to go to bed in 204 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:19,400 minutes. 205 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:23,200 Then I went over to South Coast Plaza, Christmas shop for a few things. 206 00:14:25,710 --> 00:14:30,550 She produces a receipt from Crate and Barrel with a time stamp that seems to 207 00:14:30,550 --> 00:14:31,630 corroborate her story. 208 00:14:32,550 --> 00:14:36,410 So if Johnston wasn't at the house, who was? 209 00:14:37,270 --> 00:14:41,610 Larry Montgomery is an investigator with the Orange County District Attorney's 210 00:14:41,610 --> 00:14:45,990 Office, and he says that investigators on the scene immediately find important 211 00:14:45,990 --> 00:14:49,190 clues about who may have pulled the trigger. 212 00:14:49,510 --> 00:14:52,990 Keys were used. One was for the gate to get into the actual complex. 213 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:56,320 And the other one was the one that was stuck in the door itself to open the 214 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:59,140 house. So obviously right there, there's a big clue. 215 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:04,560 Who has access to keys that could get into the complex and the front door of 216 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:09,180 this gentleman's house? You start out with the population of the earth, and 217 00:15:09,180 --> 00:15:12,900 can immediately eliminate everybody based on, well, essentially three 218 00:15:13,100 --> 00:15:17,140 Somebody that's in the area, somebody that has a motive to kill Bill 219 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:19,400 and somebody that has access to these keys. 220 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:27,340 When Sandy Baumgardner arrives at the scene the next day, a thought 221 00:15:27,340 --> 00:15:28,480 occurs to her. 222 00:15:28,740 --> 00:15:33,680 Besides access to the keys, this killer must have inside information. 223 00:15:34,020 --> 00:15:39,280 I said, whoever did this had intimate knowledge of his schedule because he 224 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:40,700 wasn't even supposed to be in town. 225 00:15:42,220 --> 00:15:47,180 Only family members and a housekeeper have access to keys and might know 226 00:15:47,180 --> 00:15:48,220 McLaughlin's schedule. 227 00:15:48,890 --> 00:15:53,130 But none are near the house at the time of the murder except for Kevin. 228 00:15:53,390 --> 00:15:57,650 But a gunshot residue test shows that he didn't fire a gun that night. 229 00:15:58,110 --> 00:16:02,730 And his condition makes it extremely unlikely he could have pulled off a 230 00:16:02,730 --> 00:16:03,870 with such precision. 231 00:16:05,750 --> 00:16:08,750 Once again, all eyes are on one person. 232 00:16:09,230 --> 00:16:14,010 But no one has an explanation for how she could be in two places at once. 233 00:16:14,450 --> 00:16:16,870 But maybe she doesn't have to be. 234 00:16:18,350 --> 00:16:23,210 As she repeatedly described, I was at my son's game. I watched my son's game. 235 00:16:23,330 --> 00:16:24,830 They lost in the championship. 236 00:16:25,270 --> 00:16:27,070 I was sad, whatever. 237 00:16:27,370 --> 00:16:29,150 It turns out it wasn't an I, it was a we. 238 00:16:29,610 --> 00:16:33,310 She was with her boyfriend, Eric Naposki. 239 00:16:37,990 --> 00:16:43,990 When American Greed returned, who is this 6 '2", 230 -pound specimen? 240 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:50,240 And what use could the ex -football player be to Nanette Johnston? Nanette 241 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:54,660 to find somebody stupid enough, violent enough, and mean enough that she can 242 00:16:54,660 --> 00:16:56,740 manipulate him to commit a murder. 243 00:17:16,329 --> 00:17:19,329 I met Eric at the pool at the apartment complex where I live. 244 00:17:20,109 --> 00:17:23,369 Suzanne Coger meets Eric Naposki in 1994. 245 00:17:25,390 --> 00:17:30,830 The 6 '2", 230 -pound athlete has played linebacker for the New England Patriots 246 00:17:30,830 --> 00:17:33,910 and Dallas Cowboys, among other teams in other leagues. 247 00:17:36,290 --> 00:17:39,970 But injuries cut his career short. 248 00:17:42,210 --> 00:17:45,170 He's tried his hand at both acting and personal training. 249 00:17:45,710 --> 00:17:50,130 But when Coker meets him, he's working security for various nightclubs in the 250 00:17:50,130 --> 00:17:51,150 Orange County area. 251 00:17:51,970 --> 00:17:55,170 She also sees a woman visiting him regularly. 252 00:17:55,450 --> 00:18:00,750 At first, Naposki says she's just a friend, but eventually he comes clean. 253 00:18:01,150 --> 00:18:06,870 He came over and finally admitted that she was his girlfriend and how he was in 254 00:18:06,870 --> 00:18:07,870 love with her. 255 00:18:07,890 --> 00:18:12,410 And he also explained her living arrangement and said that she had been 256 00:18:12,410 --> 00:18:14,950 with a man who was her business partner. 257 00:18:15,660 --> 00:18:19,040 I wasn't sure if he was just trying to make me believe that or if he really was 258 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:23,940 that dumb to not believe that she was truly living, living with this man. 259 00:18:24,340 --> 00:18:27,200 And he said, oh, no, no, it's just a business arrangement. 260 00:18:27,860 --> 00:18:28,880 They're business partners. 261 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:32,640 And I said, oh, my gosh, boy, wow, really? 262 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:34,180 Is that what you believe? 263 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:35,560 Oh, he certainly believed it. 264 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:38,860 Angelo McDonald is Naposki's attorney. 265 00:18:39,710 --> 00:18:44,670 According to him, Nanette Johnston tells Naposki that she is a successful 266 00:18:44,670 --> 00:18:49,430 businesswoman. She had all the trappings of it. The nice car, the fine clothes, 267 00:18:49,670 --> 00:18:51,790 the jewelry, the lifestyle. 268 00:18:51,990 --> 00:18:53,170 She had everything. 269 00:18:53,990 --> 00:18:59,430 The couple takes multiple vacations and cruises. And Naposki believes it's all 270 00:18:59,430 --> 00:19:05,050 paid for by Nanette's successful business dealings. And in a twisted way, 271 00:19:06,350 --> 00:19:11,390 After McLaughlin's murder, his accountant, Brian Ringler, examines the 272 00:19:11,390 --> 00:19:16,430 Johnston is keeping and discovers that she's been skimming cash for months. 273 00:19:16,830 --> 00:19:22,390 Here's a check to Nanette on October 25th. The check amount was actually $5 274 00:19:22,390 --> 00:19:27,330 ,000. It shows $1 ,000 on what Bill would get as a printout. 275 00:19:28,010 --> 00:19:33,130 In McLaughlin's ledger, Johnston records relatively minor payments made to her 276 00:19:33,130 --> 00:19:34,150 and other entities. 277 00:19:34,860 --> 00:19:38,980 But in reality, she's writing bigger and bigger checks to herself. 278 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:43,900 So you see this dramatic increase in thefts from McLaughlin right as she is 279 00:19:43,900 --> 00:19:45,700 spending more and more time with Leposki. 280 00:19:45,980 --> 00:19:48,200 They go to Jamaica, she steals $20 ,000. 281 00:19:48,420 --> 00:19:51,320 They go to, you know, meet his family, and it's $30 ,000. 282 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:55,420 They go to her sister's wedding, and the thefts are off the charts. 283 00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:57,860 The most brazen theft? 284 00:19:58,140 --> 00:20:04,600 A $250 ,000 check dated the day before McLaughlin's murder. The signature on 285 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:06,620 check forged by Nanette Johnston. 286 00:20:09,110 --> 00:20:14,250 Brian Ringler believes that Johnston eventually embezzles approximately $500 287 00:20:14,250 --> 00:20:19,730 ,000 from McLaughlin, and it's not something she can expect to hide for 288 00:20:19,990 --> 00:20:23,930 You can steal $5 ,000 and get away with it from somebody that has as much money 289 00:20:23,930 --> 00:20:26,650 as Bill McLaughlin. You might even be able to steal $20 ,000 and get away with 290 00:20:26,650 --> 00:20:32,370 it. You can't steal $250 ,000 and not have an accountant ask where that money 291 00:20:32,370 --> 00:20:37,860 going. And she is a genuinely bad person. So she's going to get caught. 292 00:20:37,860 --> 00:20:41,640 soon as he finds out that she's stealing or that she's sleeping with some other 293 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:42,940 dude, she's out the door. 294 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:46,140 So he must die before the money dries up. 295 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:51,940 And according to Murphy, she has set up the patsy to make it happen. To an 296 00:20:51,940 --> 00:20:56,180 extent, you can almost feel sorry for the guy. He's not that bright. He's a 297 00:20:56,180 --> 00:20:57,180 failed athlete. 298 00:20:57,610 --> 00:21:02,050 And Nanette needs to find somebody stupid enough and violent enough and 299 00:21:02,050 --> 00:21:05,510 enough that she can manipulate him to commit a murder. 300 00:21:06,750 --> 00:21:11,470 Johnston allegedly tells Naposki that McLaughlin has been making unwanted 301 00:21:11,470 --> 00:21:16,410 advances, sneaking into her bedroom at night. When Naposki tells his neighbor 302 00:21:16,410 --> 00:21:21,350 Suzanne Cogar about it, she says his testosterone is boiling over. 303 00:21:21,650 --> 00:21:24,630 He seemed jealous and somewhat enraged. 304 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:29,660 And then he proceeded to tell me that Bill owned his own plane, and then he 305 00:21:29,660 --> 00:21:32,280 blurted out, I'm going to have his plane blown up. 306 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:37,220 Weeks later, Bill McLaughlin is dead. 307 00:21:37,740 --> 00:21:40,540 And Nanette Johnson doesn't seem like a woman in mourning. 308 00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:44,180 She's more like someone with reasons to celebrate. 309 00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:47,980 There was an insurance policy that was worth $1 million to her. 310 00:21:48,430 --> 00:21:51,470 In the will, there was $150 ,000 given to her. 311 00:21:51,710 --> 00:21:54,550 She gets to keep all the money that she's stolen, which is somewhere in the 312 00:21:54,550 --> 00:21:57,070 neighborhood of maybe just shy of half a million dollars. 313 00:21:57,350 --> 00:22:01,770 She gets to live in the beach house rent -free for one year. She gets titled to 314 00:22:01,770 --> 00:22:06,630 convertible Lexus that he bought for her. So just on the surface, she stands 315 00:22:06,630 --> 00:22:07,630 make about a million dollars. 316 00:22:07,930 --> 00:22:13,210 But as the trustee, she's going to be able to steal another million, two 317 00:22:13,210 --> 00:22:14,290 out of his estate. 318 00:22:15,070 --> 00:22:16,810 This is not only a gold digger. 319 00:22:17,290 --> 00:22:19,130 It's a gold digger with a black heart. 320 00:22:23,090 --> 00:22:28,790 When American Greed returns, law enforcement zeroes in on Nanette 321 00:22:28,790 --> 00:22:30,270 she won't go down willingly. 322 00:22:30,810 --> 00:22:32,890 You can't catch up to me because I didn't do anything. 323 00:22:33,390 --> 00:22:36,530 You can't catch up to somebody who didn't do anything without making 324 00:22:36,530 --> 00:22:37,530 up. Okay? 325 00:22:38,070 --> 00:22:39,070 Because I didn't do anything. 326 00:22:55,720 --> 00:23:00,300 Eight days after Bill McLaughlin's murder, Newport Beach police bring 327 00:23:00,300 --> 00:23:03,840 Johnston's lover, Eric Naposki, in for questioning. 328 00:23:04,620 --> 00:23:05,740 Am I in trouble for something? 329 00:23:06,260 --> 00:23:07,260 I hope not. 330 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:10,700 I hope not, too, because I don't understand. 331 00:23:11,580 --> 00:23:17,060 He's very aggressive and very compelling in the way he defends himself. He's 332 00:23:17,060 --> 00:23:20,740 very forceful in his denials, but the problem is that he talks too much. 333 00:23:22,360 --> 00:23:23,900 Describe your relationship with Nanette. 334 00:23:31,830 --> 00:23:33,590 Well, he'd actually proposed to her. 335 00:23:34,030 --> 00:23:37,990 So, you know, fiancé versus friend, you know, when you're immediately lying 336 00:23:37,990 --> 00:23:40,030 about the nature of the relationship, that's a huge red flag. 337 00:23:40,970 --> 00:23:43,210 They also asked him if he owned any firearms. 338 00:23:51,120 --> 00:23:57,200 But less than 20 minutes later... The 339 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:02,620 problem 340 00:24:02,620 --> 00:24:09,520 with Eric Naposki is that every time he talks, it's a different story. 341 00:24:10,020 --> 00:24:12,500 It makes investigators suspicious. 342 00:24:12,700 --> 00:24:15,960 But Naposki leaves the interview without further incident. 343 00:24:16,260 --> 00:24:19,000 And if the attention scares him in Johnston... 344 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:20,860 They aren't acting like it. 345 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:24,240 Larry Montgomery put it very well once. He said, these are not chess players. 346 00:24:24,420 --> 00:24:26,580 People that do this sort of thing, they roll the dice. 347 00:24:26,780 --> 00:24:28,500 They're not thinking three or four moves ahead. 348 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:33,780 They went through all this so that they could get the money, and they can't wait 349 00:24:33,780 --> 00:24:34,780 to go and spend it. 350 00:24:35,940 --> 00:24:39,480 He moves out of his crappy little apartment and into a beach house in 351 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:43,860 Beach. He's driving around in Bill McLaughlin's convertible Cadillac. He 352 00:24:43,860 --> 00:24:47,540 a friggin' shopping trip with her. We're there at South Coast Plaza buying 353 00:24:47,540 --> 00:24:48,540 everything in sight. 354 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:49,920 All on Bill Stein. 355 00:24:52,460 --> 00:24:57,660 But if Naposki dreams of driving the Cadillac off into the sunset, Nanette 356 00:24:57,660 --> 00:24:58,960 not be riding shotgun. 357 00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:04,020 The problem is, is I don't think Nanette has any desire to be with Naposki for 358 00:25:04,020 --> 00:25:08,200 any length of time, but needed him for what she needed him for. 359 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:12,380 And now that that's over, things were starting to deteriorate. 360 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:14,500 You love this guy? You love Eric? 361 00:25:16,830 --> 00:25:20,110 I don't know that I would say love. I'd say I care about him a lot. I care about 362 00:25:20,110 --> 00:25:21,110 him as a person. 363 00:25:21,430 --> 00:25:23,290 I mean... Do you want to marry him? 364 00:25:23,730 --> 00:25:24,790 No, I don't want to get married. 365 00:25:27,490 --> 00:25:32,170 The investigators believe that Nanette masterfully manipulates Eric's emotions. 366 00:25:32,790 --> 00:25:37,330 They bring him in for questioning one more time to see if they too can play 367 00:25:37,330 --> 00:25:38,330 manipulation game. 368 00:25:38,690 --> 00:25:43,130 Maybe a revelation about the true nature of her relationship with McLaughlin can 369 00:25:43,130 --> 00:25:45,270 get Naposki to turn on her. 370 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:48,640 She's told us that she was engaged to Bill. 371 00:25:49,180 --> 00:25:54,020 That's what she told you? She has told us that. In an interview when she knew 372 00:25:54,020 --> 00:25:55,460 that we were tape recording. 373 00:25:56,340 --> 00:26:00,160 She said that she was engaged to Bill. That's interesting. 374 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:06,540 But even with knowledge of the betrayal and perhaps a new perspective on the 375 00:26:06,540 --> 00:26:09,500 future of their relationship, Naposki won't break. 376 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:14,260 I have to look out for Eric. I don't want Nanette to be dragged into anything 377 00:26:14,260 --> 00:26:15,260 that she didn't do either. 378 00:26:18,970 --> 00:26:24,190 But once again, Naposki can't stick to his own script. 379 00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:42,840 But when they confront him later in a subsequent interview, they say, hey, 380 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:46,040 you don't have an alibi. He says, well, let me think about that night. 381 00:26:46,940 --> 00:26:51,220 Actually, I said I went straight to work, but I didn't. What I did is I went 382 00:26:51,220 --> 00:26:56,020 home and then I went to see some friends of mine and I got a page and I made a 383 00:26:56,020 --> 00:27:00,320 phone call from a Denny's. And that Denny's phone call has to be my, you 384 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:01,580 couldn't possibly have gotten there. 385 00:27:02,540 --> 00:27:05,260 Another startling revelation in the second interview. 386 00:27:05,870 --> 00:27:08,110 A gun Naposki forgot to mention. 387 00:27:08,390 --> 00:27:09,690 Where is your 9mm? 388 00:27:10,350 --> 00:27:13,450 I have no idea. You have no idea. That's my statement. 389 00:27:14,870 --> 00:27:18,850 It's the same caliber gun used to kill Bill McLaughlin. 390 00:27:19,430 --> 00:27:26,310 But Naposki seems to believe he's always one step ahead. You can stay on my head 391 00:27:26,310 --> 00:27:29,110 for my whole entire life. 392 00:27:29,370 --> 00:27:32,910 And we will grow old together. You will die and I will stay alive. 393 00:27:33,230 --> 00:27:34,610 But you will never ever. 394 00:27:35,370 --> 00:27:39,510 ever find any reason to think that I had any motive to kill a student. 395 00:27:41,690 --> 00:27:45,930 It's not only with law enforcement that Naposki can't keep his mouth shut. 396 00:27:46,390 --> 00:27:51,070 Around the same time he's being questioned, he pays Suzanne Colbert 397 00:27:51,070 --> 00:27:53,990 visit. He asked if I'd seen any cops around. 398 00:27:54,250 --> 00:27:58,890 And I said, why, what's going on? And he, why would there be cops here? And he 399 00:27:58,890 --> 00:28:02,610 said, well, you know that guy, Bill, he was killed, he was murdered. 400 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:07,600 It sends a chill down Cougar's spine. 401 00:28:07,820 --> 00:28:11,040 I said to him, I don't even want to know if you did it or not. 402 00:28:11,340 --> 00:28:13,460 And he said, oh, I didn't do it. 403 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:15,420 But I might have had someone do it. 404 00:28:15,660 --> 00:28:19,040 I was just shell -shocked. I couldn't believe what was coming out of his 405 00:28:19,220 --> 00:28:20,560 Who would say something like that? 406 00:28:21,620 --> 00:28:25,420 I said again, I don't even want to know if you did it or not. And he said, maybe 407 00:28:25,420 --> 00:28:26,840 I did and maybe I didn't. 408 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:28,760 And he just smirked. 409 00:28:29,340 --> 00:28:33,380 It's a conversation Cougar is initially hesitant to pass along. 410 00:28:33,930 --> 00:28:38,530 He was only like six foot something and, you know, as broad as a doorway looming 411 00:28:38,530 --> 00:28:39,530 over me. 412 00:28:40,350 --> 00:28:45,650 He was very daunting to have standing right in front of you and tell you about 413 00:28:45,650 --> 00:28:49,390 murder that had just happened and me standing there knowing that he was 414 00:28:49,390 --> 00:28:50,410 responsible for it. 415 00:28:51,210 --> 00:28:56,830 So I gave it a little time to make sure he was kind of leaving me alone before I 416 00:28:56,830 --> 00:28:58,230 made a phone call to the police. 417 00:28:59,690 --> 00:29:04,810 On that call, she's disappointed when the detective says her story will have 418 00:29:04,810 --> 00:29:05,810 little impact. 419 00:29:06,050 --> 00:29:09,550 He said, well, thanks, but this isn't enough to make an arrest or anything. 420 00:29:09,890 --> 00:29:15,310 And I thought, wow, that tells you what I know about the justice system because 421 00:29:15,310 --> 00:29:17,630 I would have thought that it was pretty incriminating. 422 00:29:18,750 --> 00:29:23,310 Despite police and prosecutors believing they have the murder conspirators in 423 00:29:23,310 --> 00:29:25,310 their sights, the case has limitations. 424 00:29:26,250 --> 00:29:30,130 There are no unexpected fingerprints at the scene, nor DNA. 425 00:29:30,610 --> 00:29:35,850 There are no shoe prints outside the house, no eyewitnesses, and the murder 426 00:29:35,850 --> 00:29:37,050 weapon is never found. 427 00:29:37,570 --> 00:29:42,190 You have to be able to have enough for the prosecutor to believe that they can 428 00:29:42,190 --> 00:29:45,670 prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt before they can file charges. 429 00:29:45,910 --> 00:29:49,670 It's an opinion that each prosecutor has to decide upon. 430 00:29:50,380 --> 00:29:55,000 And in this case, the district attorney's office decides not to bring 431 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:56,000 charges. 432 00:29:57,140 --> 00:30:00,360 But Johnston doesn't get away with everything. 433 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:06,900 In 1996, she is convicted for the theft of approximately $500 ,000 from 434 00:30:06,900 --> 00:30:10,540 McLaughlin and is sentenced to one year in jail. 435 00:30:11,340 --> 00:30:16,140 But remarkably, she is still the beneficiary of McLaughlin's life 436 00:30:16,140 --> 00:30:17,140 policy. 437 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:21,900 After taking out what is owed to them from Johnston's theft, the McLaughlin 438 00:30:21,900 --> 00:30:27,880 children are left with the unpalatable duty of paying Johnston $220 ,000. 439 00:30:28,380 --> 00:30:31,360 Not a bad nest egg to start a new life. 440 00:30:34,380 --> 00:30:39,380 When American Greed Returns. Nanette Johnston may have stolen a new 441 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:43,480 but the Orange County District Attorney's Office is starting over, too. 442 00:30:43,900 --> 00:30:47,450 First day, when I came into the home studio, she said, When you get your 443 00:30:47,450 --> 00:30:49,890 bearings, you've got to take a look at the foam and gloffing case. 444 00:30:50,230 --> 00:30:52,510 She thought it was solvable, and she was right. 445 00:30:53,810 --> 00:30:55,890 Want inside information from the show? 446 00:30:56,510 --> 00:30:58,410 Join the Greed social network. 447 00:30:58,650 --> 00:31:00,970 Like us on American Greed's Facebook page. 448 00:31:01,550 --> 00:31:02,550 We'll be right back. 449 00:31:14,380 --> 00:31:19,280 Nearly eight years after Bill McLaughlin's murder, there's still no 450 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:25,600 But in 2002, when Matt Murphy joins the District Attorney's Homicide Unit, he 451 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:29,620 directs his investigators to solve the case once and for all. 452 00:31:29,940 --> 00:31:35,000 I was asked by the DA and the Newport Police Department to look at the case 453 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:39,900 whatever experience I have to see if I can find anything that maybe they didn't 454 00:31:39,900 --> 00:31:40,900 find. 455 00:31:41,070 --> 00:31:45,690 The district attorney's office looks into minute detail of everything Naposki 456 00:31:45,690 --> 00:31:47,130 and Johnston say and do. 457 00:31:47,490 --> 00:31:50,090 And they see a lot of suspicious behavior. 458 00:31:51,650 --> 00:31:56,830 In the fall, a few months before the murder, Johnston and Naposki appear to 459 00:31:56,830 --> 00:31:58,430 looking for a new love nest. 460 00:31:58,910 --> 00:32:01,630 They're house hunting in a place called Turtle Rock. 461 00:32:02,070 --> 00:32:04,390 Picture Beverly Hills with newer houses. 462 00:32:04,690 --> 00:32:06,650 You know, these are multi -million dollar homes. 463 00:32:07,090 --> 00:32:08,730 Eric is a bouncer. 464 00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:13,840 And Nanette has no income outside of Bill McLaughlin. So how this is going to 465 00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:17,500 happen without her knowing at the time that Bill McLaughlin is going to die, 466 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:19,820 it's impossible. 467 00:32:20,740 --> 00:32:26,300 Johnston also tells a software entrepreneur she may be interested in 468 00:32:26,300 --> 00:32:28,500 in his company, but not until 1995. 469 00:32:29,460 --> 00:32:33,460 She was saying that she was thinking that after the first of the year, she 470 00:32:33,460 --> 00:32:36,460 have $100 ,000, maybe $200 ,000 to invest in his company. 471 00:32:39,370 --> 00:32:41,830 She knows Bill McLaughlin's going to be dead. That's the only way that she can 472 00:32:41,830 --> 00:32:45,750 come in. And if you know somebody's going to die, before they die, it's 473 00:32:45,750 --> 00:32:47,830 not going to be a bolt of lightning that's going to kill them. 474 00:32:50,170 --> 00:32:54,670 More than a decade after the murder, investigator Larry Montgomery and Deputy 475 00:32:54,670 --> 00:32:59,190 District Attorney Matt Murphy begin to piece together Naposki and Johnston's 476 00:32:59,190 --> 00:33:04,790 actions the night of December 15, 1994, after her kid's soccer game. 477 00:33:05,050 --> 00:33:06,690 They drive directly to Newport Beach. 478 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:10,960 She dropped Eric Naposki off somewhere in the vicinity of the murder scene. 479 00:33:11,180 --> 00:33:15,760 Back in 1994, there was a staircase that came right down to about where my feet 480 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:19,820 are, and there was a place you could pull out. We think that Annette probably 481 00:33:19,820 --> 00:33:23,720 dropped Naposki off at that location so he could walk straight down here to 482 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:24,679 where I'm standing. 483 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:29,300 And right in front of me, this was a chain -link fence, and there was a gate. 484 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:31,240 He enters the pedestrian gate. 485 00:33:31,500 --> 00:33:34,760 He enters the front door with the key that gets stuck in the lock. 486 00:33:35,420 --> 00:33:38,600 So as he's fumbling for that, he drops the pedestrian access key. 487 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:45,440 So Naposki walks in, pulls the gun out, shoots Bill McLaughlin in three two 488 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:48,820 -shot bursts. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. 489 00:33:49,260 --> 00:33:50,340 McLaughlin goes down. 490 00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:53,120 Mr. McLaughlin lived directly over this direction. 491 00:33:53,380 --> 00:33:58,020 We think Mr. Naposki came right through here and immediately went up to the road 492 00:33:58,020 --> 00:34:01,080 and then head directly over the bridge. 493 00:34:01,850 --> 00:34:05,110 to where he worked, which is a building over here with a black awning. 494 00:34:06,990 --> 00:34:12,449 If this scenario is true, Naposki and Johnston have been operating on borrowed 495 00:34:12,449 --> 00:34:14,449 time for nearly 15 years. 496 00:34:14,929 --> 00:34:17,469 And Johnston gets back toward her old tricks. 497 00:34:17,850 --> 00:34:22,870 She marries one multimillionaire in 1998 with whom she has two more kids. 498 00:34:23,590 --> 00:34:28,969 When that relationship falls apart, she marries another and is as wealthy as 499 00:34:28,969 --> 00:34:31,030 ever. That woman had a gift. 500 00:34:31,630 --> 00:34:34,650 She didn't murder anybody else that we know about, but she would charm these 501 00:34:34,650 --> 00:34:38,830 guys, and she had some sort of voodoo magic over these men. 502 00:34:40,290 --> 00:34:44,909 Naposki has two kids from a short -lived marriage and eventually moves to 503 00:34:44,909 --> 00:34:47,670 Greenwich, Connecticut, working as a personal trainer. 504 00:34:48,509 --> 00:34:54,130 His sister, Angela, is convinced of Naposki's innocence and says that 505 00:34:54,130 --> 00:34:58,810 the difficult times being suspected by the police, Naposki is able to put it 506 00:34:58,810 --> 00:35:01,950 behind him and continue with the life he deserves. 507 00:35:02,450 --> 00:35:05,970 It took a little while for that to fade out and for life to get back to normal. 508 00:35:06,310 --> 00:35:10,150 It wasn't a fun thing to go through, but it didn't, we all thought it was over 509 00:35:10,150 --> 00:35:11,770 and behind us. Let's put it that way. 510 00:35:12,530 --> 00:35:14,610 But it's not behind them. 511 00:35:19,630 --> 00:35:25,210 When American Greed returns, Naposki and Johnston move on without each other. 512 00:35:25,330 --> 00:35:27,550 But their paths will cross again. 513 00:35:27,950 --> 00:35:33,250 Former NFL linebacker Eric Naposki and his ex -lover Nanette Packard have been 514 00:35:33,250 --> 00:35:35,710 charged with the murder of William Francis McLaughlin. 515 00:35:49,290 --> 00:35:55,050 On May 20, 2009, Eric Naposki and Annette Johnston are arrested in 516 00:35:55,050 --> 00:35:57,970 stings on opposite sides of the country. 517 00:35:59,750 --> 00:36:02,390 The trials are split into two. 518 00:36:02,890 --> 00:36:04,230 Naposki's is first. 519 00:36:05,510 --> 00:36:11,610 The defense will prove that Eric Naposki did not commit and could not logically 520 00:36:11,610 --> 00:36:17,270 and reasonably have committed this crime because he was somewhere else at the 521 00:36:17,270 --> 00:36:18,270 time of the murder. 522 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:23,320 The defense centers around Naposki's story that after the soccer game on 523 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:29,980 December 15, 1994, he made a phone call from a Denny's at 8 .52 p .m., and it 524 00:36:29,980 --> 00:36:35,200 would have been impossible for him to get to the murder scene by 9 .10. But 15 525 00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:40,180 years after the murder, the defense is severely challenged to prove it. You 526 00:36:40,180 --> 00:36:45,380 can't wait for years and years and then put a defendant in a position where he 527 00:36:45,380 --> 00:36:46,840 can't establish his defense. 528 00:36:47,450 --> 00:36:50,810 Back then, he had lots of people where he could say, I was with these people 529 00:36:50,810 --> 00:36:54,550 that people. And literally, 15 years later, some of these people are dead. 530 00:36:54,750 --> 00:36:57,050 They're missing. They don't remember anything. 531 00:36:57,310 --> 00:37:02,750 You can't find them because of that time difference. It's so difficult to 532 00:37:02,750 --> 00:37:06,750 actually make your alibi defense what it's supposed to be. 533 00:37:07,070 --> 00:37:08,750 I think in this case, it was unfair. 534 00:37:10,670 --> 00:37:16,260 Even if Naposki did make that call at 8 .52, The prosecution argues that he 535 00:37:16,260 --> 00:37:19,940 still had time to get to McLaughlin's house to commit the murder. 536 00:37:20,260 --> 00:37:24,800 If you hung up that phone, got in your car, and drove straight to that bridge, 537 00:37:25,020 --> 00:37:30,460 it's virtually the exact time that you would arrive, and we drove it many 538 00:37:30,740 --> 00:37:37,240 You can't prove someone guilty of murder based on suspicion, innuendo, surmises, 539 00:37:37,380 --> 00:37:40,480 guesses, beliefs, feelings. 540 00:37:41,230 --> 00:37:45,750 The defense points out that the case is almost entirely circumstantial. The only 541 00:37:45,750 --> 00:37:50,130 physical evidence from the crime scene are the bullets and shell casings. But 542 00:37:50,130 --> 00:37:51,790 the gun is never found. 543 00:37:52,270 --> 00:37:58,630 There were two, three million 9mm Berettas out in circulation at the time. 544 00:37:58,630 --> 00:38:02,530 that doesn't necessarily mean a whole lot to me in terms of reasonable doubt. 545 00:38:03,410 --> 00:38:04,810 There were no fingerprints. 546 00:38:05,070 --> 00:38:06,490 There was no DNA. 547 00:38:06,750 --> 00:38:09,530 There was no video. There was no admissions. 548 00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:15,000 There were no eyewitnesses, footprints, bits of clothing, fiber evidence. 549 00:38:15,420 --> 00:38:17,340 None of that existed in that case. 550 00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:22,040 We don't have a picture of him there. We don't have any witnesses that saw a big 551 00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:28,340 guy at that location. However, we have a whole ton of evidence that the person 552 00:38:28,340 --> 00:38:33,320 or persons who were involved in doing this had access to keys, and it's a gun 553 00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:36,840 that he had, and it's a gun that he lied about where it disappeared to. 554 00:38:37,260 --> 00:38:42,140 and then you compound that with the bits and pieces that are inconsistent with 555 00:38:42,140 --> 00:38:46,000 telling the truth, inconsistent with innocence, and totally consistent with 556 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:49,060 you would say if you were guilty, it becomes overwhelming. 557 00:38:50,140 --> 00:38:54,800 According to Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy, the greatest condemnation 558 00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:56,720 comes from the mouth of the accused. 559 00:38:57,200 --> 00:39:01,100 I think the best witness that we had in this thing was Eric Naposki himself, and 560 00:39:01,100 --> 00:39:03,420 the fact that he told a different story every time he opened his mouth. 561 00:39:04,140 --> 00:39:07,640 And that goes back to the investigation, the first interview, the second 562 00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:10,340 interview. And we start out with, yeah, she's a pretty good friend of mine, to, 563 00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:12,140 okay, I asked her to marry me. 564 00:39:12,380 --> 00:39:15,100 You know, yeah, I don't have any guns. 565 00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:18,600 To, okay, I had two guns, and one of them was a 9mm. 566 00:39:20,580 --> 00:39:24,360 Ultimately, the jury doesn't believe Naposki's shifting stories. 567 00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:32,200 On July 14, 2011, Eric Naposki is convicted of murder and he is sentenced 568 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:33,200 life in prison. 569 00:39:33,530 --> 00:39:38,190 But after the trial, he presents yet another version of events to the 570 00:39:38,190 --> 00:39:39,190 prosecution. 571 00:39:39,710 --> 00:39:44,290 I know I lied about Nanette and I's relationship, and I know I lied about 572 00:39:44,290 --> 00:39:46,430 gun, but now I'm really going to tell you the truth. 573 00:39:46,970 --> 00:39:49,710 The truth is I knew she wanted to murder him. 574 00:39:49,950 --> 00:39:54,750 I knew she was trying to find a hitman. I introduced her to the hitman, but I 575 00:39:54,750 --> 00:39:55,750 had nothing to do with it. 576 00:39:56,190 --> 00:40:01,370 According to his sister, Naposki has a reason to keep the story to himself for 577 00:40:01,370 --> 00:40:02,249 so long. 578 00:40:02,250 --> 00:40:04,590 The guy told him he would kill him and his family. 579 00:40:05,170 --> 00:40:08,610 I remember him screaming to me on the phone, you know, from prison. I said, 580 00:40:08,650 --> 00:40:12,010 well, what the hell? Why didn't you say this? You know, why didn't you tell this 581 00:40:12,010 --> 00:40:14,370 story? He said, did you want to see me floating down a river? 582 00:40:14,630 --> 00:40:16,150 You know, he was screaming at me. 583 00:40:16,970 --> 00:40:21,450 McDonald claims that the evidence at the scene, such as access to keys and 584 00:40:21,450 --> 00:40:27,510 knowledge of McLaughlin's schedule, only incriminates Johnston, not Naposki. You 585 00:40:27,510 --> 00:40:31,230 could argue that she could have gotten anybody to do that. Certainly, the whole 586 00:40:31,230 --> 00:40:38,030 Nanette hires the hitman theory clearly could have been done with the 587 00:40:38,030 --> 00:40:42,350 same evidence, the same scene, everything. And the hitman not being 588 00:40:42,350 --> 00:40:43,350 Naposki. 589 00:40:44,070 --> 00:40:49,810 Eventually, Naposki names the alleged hitman. But law enforcement says they 590 00:40:49,810 --> 00:40:52,330 no evidence to support Naposki's story. 591 00:40:52,830 --> 00:40:58,590 I went and reinvestigated everything he told us and blew major holes in almost 592 00:40:58,590 --> 00:41:03,350 everything he told us and then went back to talk to Naposki, confronted him with 593 00:41:03,350 --> 00:41:09,170 those lies, and he admitted to a number of those and danced around a few, and we 594 00:41:09,170 --> 00:41:13,150 proved that most of what he told us in this big second interview were also 595 00:41:13,530 --> 00:41:16,190 So his credibility is just shot. 596 00:41:17,710 --> 00:41:22,910 The common denominator in either theory is Nanette Johnston, and the district 597 00:41:22,910 --> 00:41:27,290 attorney's office has no doubt that she orchestrates the murder after stealing 598 00:41:27,290 --> 00:41:28,990 hundreds of thousands of dollars. 599 00:41:29,390 --> 00:41:32,090 Now, how is she going to get away with that if Bill McLaughlin lives? 600 00:41:32,350 --> 00:41:37,310 The defense tries to argue that Naposki acts on his own in a jealous rage. 601 00:41:37,670 --> 00:41:43,050 There was no reason why he had to be killed that night, except that it was 602 00:41:43,050 --> 00:41:44,110 opportunity Eric needed. 603 00:41:44,410 --> 00:41:46,810 That was the defense he needed to run because... 604 00:41:47,020 --> 00:41:50,520 Clearly, the jury's going to hate her, and as they should. 605 00:41:50,920 --> 00:41:55,020 But he didn't want them making a decision on that type of motion, and of 606 00:41:55,020 --> 00:41:56,020 we didn't either. 607 00:41:56,040 --> 00:41:59,800 We wanted them to make their decision based on the hard facts and the 608 00:41:59,960 --> 00:42:01,120 which is exactly what they did. 609 00:42:02,020 --> 00:42:06,060 We, the jury and the above entitled action, find the defendant, Nanette Ann 610 00:42:06,060 --> 00:42:10,380 Packard, guilty of the crime of... She is sentenced to life in prison, and the 611 00:42:10,380 --> 00:42:13,880 people who knew Bill McLaughlin are left to try to make sense. 612 00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:15,680 of a senseless murder. 613 00:42:16,100 --> 00:42:21,540 From day one, her intention with Bill was to get as much money and live a 614 00:42:21,540 --> 00:42:25,020 lifestyle, but I don't know at what point it turned homicidal. 615 00:42:25,720 --> 00:42:30,580 I don't know what ails her, what in her life happened to her that made her this 616 00:42:30,580 --> 00:42:31,580 way.