Erin Moriarty (2:29)

On April 20, 2022, Emily Clancy was driving home from dinner with friends when something across the street caught her attention.

Ann Marie Green (2:38)

I saw a person run up to another person and then I heard two bangs. And that other person Collapsed.

Erin Moriarty (2:46)

Emily sped through the intersection and pulled up next to the victim.

Ann Marie Green (2:50)

I opened the door, I said, are you okay? And she said, no, I've been shot.

Erin Moriarty (2:55)

The victim was 33 year old Nicole Nikki Lenway, a crime scene investigator for the Minneapolis police. She was on her way to pick up her five year old son when she was shot.

Ann Marie Green (3:07)

She was in a lot of pain. She was having a hard time breathing.

Erin Moriarty (3:10)

Where's the victim who's shot? Emily did her best to help Nikki until first responders arrived.

Ann Marie Green (3:18)

So we've got EMS coming right now.

Erin Moriarty (3:20)

Emily told police what she thought.

Ann Marie Green (3:23)

It maybe looked like a robbery or something.

Erin Moriarty (3:25)

That was so fast. Take it to the hospital. Nikki lost consciousness, but she recovered. You do work for the police department. Did you think it might have something to do with work?

Ann Marie Green (3:38)

You know, I know a lot of people asked me that. I knew that this could happen, but I didn't want to believe it would. So those first critical moments after Nikki was shot, Emily Clancy, she's a total stranger. She not only she happens to be driving by at the moment this happens, but then she jumps into action. She puts herself in danger. A lot of people would not have stopped. When I watched this, I thought to myself, would I have stopped or would I have kept on going? It's remarkable.

Erin Moriarty (4:15)

It is. You know, people sometimes ask me, how can you do these shows? And I often tell them for the heroic people that we meet and we often do. And Emily Clancy was one of those heroic people. You know, it's so interesting. I rode in the car with her. She showed me how it all happened, and she didn't hesitate at all. She just pulled up without any thought of her own safety. She then told Nikki to get in the car because Nikki was standing there bleeding. And at that moment, again, just automatically, she doesn't think about maybe the shooter is still out there. She helps Nikki apply pressure on her neck. Nikki, of course, was hit in the neck and her vocal cords were damaged so she couldn't talk to the 911 operator. So Emily stepped in and did that.

Ann Marie Green (5:04)

I was struck by how emotional Emily was. She was almost more emotional than Nikki retelling this.

Erin Moriarty (5:11)

Well, you know, and you are so right, Anne Marie. I talked to Nikki a long time and she had been through hell and she was so calm. But when you bring it up with Emily, the idea that Nikki could have died and it was because Emily stepped up. Emily keeps thinking about how close Nikki came to dying. So she gets very emotional.

Ann Marie Green (5:36)

Emily was actually given a good citizen award following the shooting. And that's where Emily and Nikki initially first met. After, you know, after the first meeting. That was kind of their second meeting. But in the hour, you include their next reunion. It's really, really touching. What was that like?

Erin Moriarty (5:55)

Well, you know, if you look in. In the background, you'll see me, and you can see that I'm really moved. It was very, very teary because Nikki also believes she only survived because of Emily's efforts. So they have this very strange bond that connects them. And Nikki wanted to see her because she had very big news to tell her and tells us at the same time that she's pregnant.

Ann Marie Green (6:20)

So you guys didn't know before?

Erin Moriarty (6:22)

No, no, no, no. And so that's always, again, Emory, you know, that you work on these shows that, you know, you always get surprises when you're in the field and spend as much time as we do with. With the people that we interview. It really was very exciting.

Ann Marie Green (6:37)

Um, Nikki, she actually works in a crime lab. How does she find herself being the victim of an attempted murder?

Erin Moriarty (6:48)

Well, that was the whole question at the outset, and it really was. She was an unusual victim. So, of course, there were so many possibilities. Was this shooting connected to something? Some investigation she worked on? She's a forensic scientist. You know, she works primarily with fingerprints. But was there something connected to her job? And then, of course, as it is with any case, you have to look at someone close to her. Was this a personal attack? And the early evidence in this case did seem to indicate that it was very personal.

Ann Marie Green (7:24)

So one thing that comes up over and over again for me when I watch these episodes is, you know, you. You need, like, the old school investigative know how, but technology plays a huge role, too. I don't think you can have one without the other. But in this case, surveillance video really made a big difference. Incredibly, this is a shooting that was caught on. There was bank surveillance video that picked up on the shooting. There were school cameras that show the shooter actually getting out of this black truck and then driving away. We also got to see body camera footage of Nikki right after she was shot, which I was stunned by because I couldn't even tell she was shot or that she was injured. The surveillance video, even though you couldn't tell who it was, did it help investigators sort of narrow things down?

Erin Moriarty (8:13)

Oh, it did. And don't you sometimes, Anne Marie, when you work on these stories, you think, why would anybody commit a crime in this day and age knowing that everything is getting caught on video? Now, I think the shooter thought that this person would be able to outsmart investigators, because the shooter is all in black and hair is covered and there's a mask. But in fact, the surveillance video was crucial because you see that person run up. That person is targeting Nikki. That person shoots Nikki once, and when Nikki starts getting up, shoots again. Clearly, this was a personal attack. And so that's what investigators know. Then they see the shooter run to a truck. You can tell what kind of truck. It's a Dodge Ram truck. It does happen to be a very popular vehicle, but that certainly narrows down. The shooter takes off. But the limitations of video is also apparent in this case, because you couldn't tell the gender. You could not. You could not tell how tall this person is. But it certainly did give investigators a lot of evidence to start off with.

Ann Marie Green (9:26)

Yeah. And then it's not just the surveillance video, but our own devices are tracking us in ways that, you know, I think it becomes kind of the fabric of how we move, so we forget that we are being tracked all the time. You think if you turn your phone off, that's good enough? In this case, it didn't turn out to be good enough for Tim.

Erin Moriarty (9:47)

So most vehicles that are made after 2022 have Wi Fi capabilities. What that really means is, go ahead, leave your phone at home, thinking you won't be tracked. But as soon as you get in the car, you are driving a cell phone. That is essentially what you are doing. And, in fact, Tim Amaker's Dodge Ram Truck was a 2022, and it had WI FI capabilities. And because of that, he left this digital trail even when he wasn't driving the truck. They could identify that black Dodge Ram truck as his track, the route of that truck, that led to someone who knew him very well, and that is how they made their arrests.

Ann Marie Green (10:32)

So in our last postmortem, you and I talked about Tim Bleithnick, who was convicted of murdering his wife, Becky. You know, I mean, that's what the allegation was, too, for him, that he had turned off. Off his phone, and so he believed that he couldn't be tracked. Just a couple of similarities between the two cases. But, you know, there was all. They were separated. Nikki had started dating somebody new, much like Becky had started to date somebody new. And there was this really, like, contentious custody battle going on over their son, no question.

Erin Moriarty (11:06)

And, you know, you had asked me at the beginning, what was it that drew me to this case? And the biggest thing was the issue of domestic violence. And this case was the scariest domestic violence case I have ever covered.

Ann Marie Green (11:21)

Let's listen to a clip.

Erin Moriarty (11:23)

How would you describe the last six years?

Ann Marie Green (11:26)

It has been chaos.

Erin Moriarty (11:28)

Nicole claims Tim tried to destroy her.

Ann Marie Green (11:32)

Like I'm gonna take everything from you.

Erin Moriarty (11:34)

Did you believe him?

Ann Marie Green (11:35)

I did.

Erin Moriarty (11:36)

The black belt's new weapon of choice was the legal system.

Ann Marie Green (11:41)

It was the relentless number of motions before the court.

Erin Moriarty (11:46)

He reported Nicole to child protection services multiple times, accusing her and Donovan of physical and sexual abuse. Children's services show up at your house?

Ann Marie Green (12:00)

Yes. I had them in and out of my home for three years.

Erin Moriarty (12:04)

Tim filed for custody of Cal and Nicole filed for an order of protection from Tim. Not a single one of the allegations against Nicole or Donovan was found to have substance. So I have to tell you, I would. The more I read about it, it gave me chills. It scared me.

Ann Marie Green (12:23)

You know, the whole time you're wondering how does she end up with a guy like that? But Tim seemed to have this power over a lot of people in his life. So next I want to dig into Tim and Colleen's relationship. Was she manipulated by him to commit cold blooded murder? It's such a leap, but we're going to dig into that. We'll be right back. Meet the computer you can talk to with Copilot on Windows Working, creating and collaborating is as easy as talking. Got writer's block? Share your screen with Copilot Vision to help spark inspiration and use Copilot voice to have a conversation and brainstorm ideas. Or maybe you need some tech help with Copilot Vision. Copilot sees what you see. Let Copilot talk you through step by step guidance so you can master new apps, games and skills faster. Try now@windows.com copilot this episode is brought to you by Greenlight. Get this, Adults with financial literacy skills have 82% more wealth than those who don't. From swimming lessons to piano classes, us parents invest in so many many things to enrich our kids lives. But are we investing in their future financial success? With Greenlight you can teach your kids financial literacy skills like earning, saving and investing. And this investment costs less than that. After school treat start prioritizing their financial education and future today with a risk free trial at greenlight.com Spotify greenlight.com Spotify. Welcome back. Let's get right into it, Erin. Do you believe Colleen Larson acted on her own or do you think Tim manipulated her? Let's listen to a clip from the hour.

Erin Moriarty (14:07)

When the once young taekwondo student turned 18, her relationship with Tim Amaker quietly changed. According to Charlie. Did you get the sense he was in love with Colleen?

Ann Marie Green (14:19)

No, not at all. I think she was very much in love with him.

Erin Moriarty (14:23)

Charlie says Tim called the relationship easy.

Ann Marie Green (14:27)

She would call him master, call him the house.

Erin Moriarty (14:30)

Yep.

Ann Marie Green (14:30)

Master Amaker. And ultimately kind of became, you know, like a maid or a servant to him.

Erin Moriarty (14:38)

I know the prosecutors believe that she was completely manipulated by Tim, and all of Tim's friends told me the same thing. It's hard for me to believe that he could actually have so much power over somebody that he could have her shoot someone in his place. But, in fact, when you look at Colleen Larson's background, she didn't know Nikki very well, so there'd be no reason to want her dead. She had no criminal history. But according to the prosecutors, Tim, you know, she did call a master at home. That's still. I can't get over that. That Colleen, because, you know, Colleen had started as a student when she was, like, preteen almost, and. And called him Master when she was learning Taekwondo and continued to call him master even when she started dating him. So it. That kind of. If you look up to someone and he's telling you that Nikki is abusing their son. Maybe, maybe. But certainly here's this woman with no criminal history, and she not just. She doesn't just shoot Nikki once. She shoots her twice. So something was going on there.

Ann Marie Green (15:52)

And, of course, you know, Colleen didn't want to talk to 48 Hours. Her family didn't want to talk either. So we don't necessarily know what drew her to him. But you did get an interview with a woman he had previously dated. I want to play some of that sound.

Erin Moriarty (16:10)

This woman who once dated Amaker doesn't want to be named or have her face shown, but she says she knows fake firsthand the hold Amaker can have on the women in his life.

Ann Marie Green (16:22)

Yes, it was a high when I was around him.

Erin Moriarty (16:25)

And that you wanted to do whatever you could to hang on to that high. Yes. She says she was once under Amaker's spell, but is certain she would never kill for him. Still, she sees some of herself in Colleen Larson, and I feel like that was me. Yep.

Ann Marie Green (16:44)

I definitely feel like that was. I was willing to do whatever I.

Erin Moriarty (16:48)

Could to make him approve of me.

Ann Marie Green (16:50)

And want to be with me. That was so illuminating, listening to her talk. And, you know, you also were able to talk to a neighbor. And the way he's describing him, the way, you know, Tim's got women coming in and out.

Erin Moriarty (17:03)

Well, everyone. You know, that was pretty standard. Men and women both told me that Tim had this amazing charisma and power over people. Now, I've got to be honest, I didn't get to see it. He didn't testify. But my favorite detail, Emery, I'm sorry. Was the purple light. Do you remember the purple light?

Ann Marie Green (17:24)

So, yeah. And the purple light was on.

Erin Moriarty (17:27)

You could come on over. No, I wasn't busy. I thought you could come over if the purple light. Yeah, but Charlie Dettloff is the neighbor next door who I just. I think he was living vicariously through Tim because Tim had this, you know, this line of women coming and going. And let's be honest, Nikki was drawn to him, too. So the line that really struck me was the young woman who dated him who said it was a high to be around him, and she didn't want to get rid of that high. That just stays in my head. So, you know, clearly he has some kind of power that comes across to people.

Ann Marie Green (18:10)

Tell us what Tim was like at his sentencing.

Erin Moriarty (18:12)

He was talking about how he really couldn't be judged in a court of law, that only God could judge him and no remorse. Never talked about never accepting any responsibility. Never accepted any responsibility for poor Colleen getting in the middle of this. It's as Nikki had said to me afterwards, it was a bit of blaming other people for the situation he was in. What's interesting, Anne Marie, is he told everybody that after he was arrested, there was new evidence that was going to come up and it was going to save him. But, you know, it hasn't happened yet.

Ann Marie Green (18:50)

Wow. Colleen did confess to shooting Nikki. Pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the first degree attempted murder of Nikki. Tim was charged with attempted first degree premeditated murder and aiding an accomplice after the fact. This was a tough prosecution.

Erin Moriarty (19:08)

You know, we know Colleen was a shooter. Okay. Colleen confesses and says she was a shooter. But the prosecutors have charged him with the exact same charge. And we know he wasn't there. We know he was inside the Family Wise Center. So basically, what prosecutors had to convince the jurors is that Tim had so much power over Colleen that he was kind of using her as a weapon, that she was his weapon for shooting. Now, the way the law is written, if you do enough to help this happening, then you're just as responsible. But as we point out in the hour, there was no direct evidence that showed him. Doesn't show him buying the gun. Doesn't show him putting the gun in her hand. Yes, there were spent shell casings inside his home, but the shooter lived inside his home. So the idea of Getting the jury to believe that he was involved and that he used Colleen to do his dirty work. That was tough. That was really tough.

Ann Marie Green (20:14)

The thing about this saga is it's likely not over for Nikki. Tim was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Colleen was sentenced to 16 and a half years. I don't even know if that means that they're going to serve the full term, but for sure they're going to be out. It doesn't seem like they got a lot of time. Is this typical?

Erin Moriarty (20:34)

Yeah, it is. Unfortunately, because it's attempted murder, it would have been very different. Yeah, they. They got the max, you know, so what's scary is, you know, I've done so many stories on stalkers, and that's what this is, you know, domestic violence. Will he, you know, see the light of day while he's in prison and feel remorse, or will he just kind of stew in prison? Because he'll get out. He could get out in 12 years. You know, it's possible. Um, and so Nikki's aware of that. Her boyfriend, now her husband, Donovan Ford, is aware of it. But, no, the legal system can only go so far to protect people. That's the problem, and we see it all the time. Yeah.

Ann Marie Green (21:26)

You know, sort of the lucky thing for both Nikki and her son is that they both have Donovan. And it's sort of remarkable. They meet at another crime scene, a burglary, and he seems just perfect for her.

Erin Moriarty (21:42)

Oh, my God. So, you know, I asked him, you know, no offense, Donovan, but, like, you just start dating this woman, and all of a sudden her ex starts making your life hell. So I finally said to him, like, why did you stay with her? And he just looked at me. He didn't even hesitate. And he goes, because I love her. I was so touched. So touched. So out of this awful, awful situation, this nightmare relationship, Nikki did find true love and a wonderful man.

Ann Marie Green (22:14)

How is Nikki's son doing?

Erin Moriarty (22:16)

They say he's doing great. They say he is. That he's. Nikki did tell him that his father tried to kill her. They had to, along with counseling. But she says he's doing well right now and they are having another child. So hopefully he'll be focused more on school and family and get lots of counseling to deal with what is really a very, very tragic situation. It really is.

Ann Marie Green (22:46)

But the fact that she survived and is flourishing, it's one of the. It's a 148 hours that was inspiring to see her rebuild her life in this way.

Erin Moriarty (22:57)

There's just one other detail I want to share. When you look at Nikki, she looks fine, you know, barely a scar. But what you don't realize is that she was a singer and she was shot in her neck. She had terrible vocal cord damage and she could no longer sing. So, you know, she still carries scars with her.

Ann Marie Green (23:19)

It's a really good reminder. Erin, another great postmortem. Thank you so much.

Erin Moriarty (23:25)

It's always great being here. And I'll be back with another show. I promise.

Ann Marie Green (23:29)

I know you will. So for everyone, be sure to join us next Tuesday then for another postmortem. And if you're liking the show, please rate and review 48 Hours on Apple Podcasts. You can watch 48 Hours on Saturdays, 10, 9 Central on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus. And be sure to follow 48 Hours wherever you get your podcast. You can also listen ad free on the Amazon Music and Onetry app.

Erin Moriarty (24:03)

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