John Quinones (2:19)

Yeah. I grew up in South Texas and man, this was bitterly, bitterly cold. Absolutely freezing. It was 20 below when we started shooting and we had to film a lot of it outdoors.

Deborah Roberts (2:30)

John. We send you to the best places, by the way. You noticed that, right? Yes.

John Quinones (2:34)

In December. In December, I had rented a car and I remember I was slipping and sliding all over the place in Bismarck, North Dakota, the days are short there. The nights are terribly long. It's dark all the time.

Deborah Roberts (2:47)

Yeah. Well, I know exactly what that's like. I mean, standing out there in the longest time for the cold. People don't think about that. Part of when we are doing these stories, of us having to collect these stories and go through the elements and when we talk about some of the things that we do in these stories. And I did a story once where I went to a bowling alley and interviewed someone. You actually went to a bowling alley in this particular. And bowled. And did you throw a strike? Did you do well?

John Quinones (3:12)

Of course. My first roll of the ball was a strike. I'm much better at bowling, by the way, than I thought. Honestly. People were cheering inside the bowling alley and we went there because that's where part of the. The story took place. But it was pretty amazing. I pulled a strike right away.

Deborah Roberts (3:31)

I'm impressed by that. Cause I never did. Let's talk first. Before we get into the story, though, when you talked about the freezing cold and the temperatures. And this podcast is an opportunity for people to sort of learn a little bit more about what we do. Pull back the curtain, as it were. And you like me, I mean, you pack your bags and you are gone sometimes, like in an instant. I always make sure I've got like sneakers and maybe even a jacket. I mean, Bismarck is a whole different story. But you know, when you're talking about having your to go bag ready and doing things that you might not necessarily be doing normally, what's always key for you to get ready?

John Quinones (4:09)

Well, I always have an extra bag packed. I have two sets of everything, you know, clothing, shoes, toiletries, and in the winter, a big down filled jacket because you never know. And warm boots. Right. And this time they came very, very handy. In Bismarck, North Dakota, I can imagine.

Deborah Roberts (4:28)

Your team had a little bit of a snafu. The car broke down at one point and then you got frostbite.

John Quinones (4:34)

Yeah, I didn't really. You know, my producer, Joe Diaz, who was looking out for me, brought me this nice winter coat with flaps that go down all over the place. And all you could see was my eyes. But truth be told, I look pretty silly hats. And I chose vanity. I chose looking good over warmth and function. My ears were exposed to the cold winter. I was doing an interview outside. They were exposed to the cold wind for just like two or three minutes.

Deborah Roberts (5:06)

Wow.

John Quinones (5:06)

Well, after a day, a few days, when I came back actually on Christmas Eve, I noticed the surface of my right ear had turned charcoal color and it was peeling off. It was. Yeah, it was frostbite. It was a gift. My senior producer was not expected.

Deborah Roberts (5:24)

A valuable lesson to you. Let's wear the hats.

John Quinones (5:27)

You can imagine how I feel. You know, he was feeling bad. Part of my ear was gone. It grew back.

Deborah Roberts (5:33)

It grew back. Well, you know, these are the things that we parachute into when we go to these towns in Bismarck. So. And we're going to get to the murder case in just a second. But tell me a little bit about the community because it's always interesting to know something about these communities that we report in. And we don't go to North Dakota a whole lot for our stories. I've been to Florida and South Carolina and Texas and all the typical places, but not North Dakota.

John Quinones (5:57)

I found it to be a really pretty town. Bismarck. It's right on the Missouri river, the state capital of North Dakota. And compared to other states, North Dakota has a relatively pretty low crime rate.

Deborah Roberts (6:09)

Yeah. Which is why this case was so surprising. Well, John, it's always great to hear about the behind the scenes, but I want to dig into the reporting here and also how a four legged detective helped solve this case. So don't go anywhere, folks. John and I will be right back.

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Deborah Roberts (7:30)

We are back now with my friend and colleague John Quinones talking about his recent report for 2020 called the Last Strike. Let's talk about this episode, John. It begins as we said, it was a chilling story in a very chilling community. It was in Bismarck, North Dakota and you opened the show with firefighters responding to burning house just outside Bismarck. They find a 42 year old man named Chad Ensel who had been who had died. He was found at the home that he shared with his wife Nikki. And, you know, most folks just saw this as a tragedy in the very beginning, right?

John Quinones (8:06)

Yeah, yeah. I mean, Chad. Everyone described him as Chad Ensel as an active, very adventurous man who had plans for the future. He had lots of hobbies. He loved bowling. And that's why we're calling this story the last strike. When it came to bowling, he could bowl a perfect 300 score game. He was part of a dart team. And then one day, suddenly, he doesn't show up for work. His wife, Nikki Ansell, calls the police and she tells dispatchers that her house is on fire. She's worried that her husband is inside. And eventually, as you mentioned, Chad's body is found in that burnt out house. And Nikki starts telling people that they had a faulty furnace in the house and that that may have been the cause of the fire.

Deborah Roberts (8:55)

Yeah. And so everybody sort of thinks that, and they just think that this is just a real tragedy and how sad. And then when investigators hit the scene and they bring a canine dog on the scene, things start to change. The dog notices the smell of something, and this starts an investigation into something. De.

John Quinones (9:14)

Things looked kind of suspicious inside the house. So they bring in this dog, this canine, Webster, and he's part of the fire department's what they call the accelerant detection unit. And Webster has a keen sense of smell, as so many dogs.

Deborah Roberts (9:31)

Dogs do. Yeah.

John Quinones (9:32)

And he can. He can detect all kinds of ignitable liquids, like Sith. 60 different kinds. This dog, Webster, was also able to pinpoint investigators to a certain type of accelerant that it was placed inside the house where Chad and Nikki lived to start the fire. So he was the key to it all. He found the source of that fire.

Deborah Roberts (9:55)

Yeah. And it doesn't take much oftentimes for police to get that sort of sixth sense that something else is amiss. So they think that this guy died in the fire, and then they discover that he had actually died from gunshot wounds. And then that there was more to this whole accelerant business. There was more in the basement. Evidence of another fire. So suddenly this thing is looking very suspicious, and she, Nikki, is beginning to look a little suspicious.

John Quinones (10:19)

Yeah. It turns out the fire was started in two different places. In the bedroom and also in the basement. The story pivots from there from a story of sadness now to suspicion, and the focus shifts from accidental fire to. To a homicide investigation.

Deborah Roberts (10:35)

Yeah, there's. You said this is a small community. There's shock in the community, there's a feeling of betrayal. They start looking at some surveillance, some security footage that they've seen, and they show Nikki walking around town with another guy and clearly having an affair. So once again, the radar goes off for them about her and what potentially could be her involvement.

John Quinones (10:59)

Yeah, they see him with a Canadian man by the name of Earl Howard. And this was very suspicious to investigators. Not only did security cameras capture the couple all over town, they were also going in and out of Nicky and Chad's house, the house where that fire occurred and where the husband was found dead numerous times. They're going in and out of that house the night of the fire, the night Chad died.

Deborah Roberts (11:23)

Now, tell us about this couple, because by all accounts, you know, they were a nice enough, happy enough couple. And then, of course, they now discover that she's having an affair, which automatically, for police, will set off some warning bells of something. Talk to us a little bit about the couple and also, too, about Earl. I mean, what connected them and just what police began to unravel when they looked a little deeper.

John Quinones (11:46)

Well, he was a really nice guy, the husband, and no one ever suspected there was anything wrong, any trouble in that marriage. But not so much for Nikki. Investigators discover surveillance video that show her kissing this man, Howard, the Canadian man, publicly out at Walmart. Of course, you gotta watch those Walmart security cameras. Just the day before Chad goes missing, she's seen kissing this guy Earl. They bring her in for questioning, and they talk to her for about six hours. She tells them that it was Earl Howard, the lover, who shot her husband Chad, while they were struggling over a gun. And she says she was just waiting outside in her car. But investigators, they weren't so convinced of that.

Deborah Roberts (12:34)

They didn't believe that. And then they bring in Earl Howard, and then he has a story to tell, and they start cutting a deal with him. And then he tells a little bit of a different story there.

John Quinones (12:43)

Yeah, he denies that he had anything to do with the shooting. Then he claims it was Nikki who shot Chad. Well, Howard was waiting out in the car. He says he offered to take care of things for Nikki. In other words, burn the evidence. And he admits to police that he did have a romantic relationship with Nikki, saying they got together a number of times, including a romantic getaway to the Mall of America in Minnesota. And authorities now know, they now confirm that they were having an affair.

Deborah Roberts (13:15)

Yeah. Yeah. Once again, one of those things is stranger than fiction. And people always ask us, like, why wouldn't the person just leave?

John Quinones (13:21)

Yeah.

Deborah Roberts (13:22)

And Then what about the community, John? Because oftentimes when we go into these communities, you know, you can tell they've been devastated by, you know, something like this. And as you said, it was a fairly low crime rate in that town. And this was something that was shocking. What kind of an impact did it have on the community?

John Quinones (13:37)

Surprising, because Nikki was seen as just a regular, you know, nice person. She was a good baker. You know, she had a baking business, making bread and cookies and muffins. And while he was working in this area, this man, Earl, was one of her customers.

Deborah Roberts (13:56)

Howard eventually pleads guilty to a number of charges, including arson, conspiracy to commit arson, and then he eventually is sentenced to 25 years in prison. Nikki goes to trial. She is found guilty, among other things, of conspiracy to commit murder and to commit arson, tampering with evidence, and she's sentenced to life. She's found guilty and sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. John, I want to talk more about that and the outcome in this case. But a few weeks before she was sentenced, you actually talked with Nikki. And after we come back, we'll hear more about what she had to say. So stay with us. You're gonna wanna hear more.

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Deborah Roberts (15:34)

I'm back now with John Quinones on this story that he just reported on the last strike about the death of a Bismarck, North, North Dakota man. The insult Chad Insel murder case. John, this was one. And like all these stories that we cover, you know, I always feel kind of redundant when I say lots of twists and turns, but that's what makes it such a compelling story for us. At the center of report, you interviewed Nikki Insel, the wife of the the murdered man who ultimately was found guilty in his murder. She had been having an affair and she wanted him out of the picture. You spoke with her as she Was awaiting sentencing. And why do you think she was motivated to sit down?

John Quinones (16:16)

She wanted to continue pleading her innocence. She claims she still wants to get to the real answer. She wants to figure out what exactly happened to her husband, Chad. So she thought you could use this as a vehicle to get to get those questions out.

Deborah Roberts (16:33)

How hard was it to do this?

John Quinones (16:34)

Well, I had to go talk to her before we brought the cameras. I made my request for the interview. Nikki talked it over with her older son, who just happens to be a big fan of my show. What would you do?

Deborah Roberts (16:47)

Of course.

John Quinones (16:49)

Of course the son convinced his mom that it was a good move, that you were trustworthy. Thank God for that.

Deborah Roberts (16:56)

What did you make of her, John?

John Quinones (16:58)

It's pretty clear to me it has been to a lot of people for a long time that she was a bit of a manipulator. She tried to manipulate everyone she could, including us in that interview.

Deborah Roberts (17:13)

Yeah, we sometimes get gut feelings, I think like anybody else. And sometimes we can tell when we're being manipulated. And then there are times when, know, we walk away thinking, huh, I don't know, maybe. But you felt pretty convinced.

John Quinones (17:24)

Well, she tells me in the interview that the night of the murder she was actually out again. She keeps changing her story to everyone, to investigators, to the people around her. To me, what she told me was that she had been out for a walk between. At two in the morning. Now, mind you, this is Bismarck in the winter, right? Who goes out there to walk in freezing temperatures? She says she was out there for more than an hour and a half in the interview with me.

Deborah Roberts (17:51)

That's a little suspect.

John Quinones (17:52)

And remember, right after, right after the murder, she told police a different story. She said she was inside the house when she heard some gunshots. It was just another one of her many changing stories.

Deborah Roberts (18:05)

Yeah, she actually acknowledged too, that her story had changed a lot. You're absolutely right. And then she, you know, there's a big question about whether she's being truthful. And she was talking to you about the night of the murder. She talked about being out at 2am which obviously sounds a lot.

John Quinones (18:20)

And by the way, we did ask her also, what about that kissing scene, the two of you making out at the Walmart the day before your husband's murder. She denied it ever happening. She said it didn't happen.

Deborah Roberts (18:31)

Even though it's on video?

John Quinones (18:33)

Yeah, she said he wasn't my type. But later she said when she saw the video, well, a kiss could have happened. She said, quote, have I kissed many friends on the cheek Have I kissed my kids on the cheek? Have I kissed my exes on the cheek?

Deborah Roberts (18:51)

Yeah.

John Quinones (18:51)

Yeah, I have.

Deborah Roberts (18:53)

Oh, my goodness. Yeah. Lots there to unpack, John. Definitely lots there unpack.

John Quinones (18:58)

And she consistently denies taking part in her husband Chad's murder.

Deborah Roberts (19:04)

Well, she remains behind bars serving a life sentence in prison. It's a story I'm sure that community will be dealing with and living with for a very long time, and one our viewers certainly won't forget. John, always a pleasure to catch up with you.

John Quinones (19:17)

Thank you.

Deborah Roberts (19:17)

Thanks for taking the time. Good to be here and come back to New York. Let's see you sometime in the flesh in the summer. Makes perfect sense. I get it. Well, great. Always great seeing you, John. Thank you for joining us. And of course you can stream the Last strike and other 2020 episodes on Disney and Hulu. And of course always join us on Friday nights or 2020 on ABC. Thank you so much for being with us, everybody. Take care, Guys.

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