The Woman Who Died Twice

Summary

48 Hours: "The Woman Who Died Twice"

CBS News – March 9, 2026
Summary by Podcast Summarizer

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Brief Overview

In this gripping episode, "48 Hours" investigates the bizarre and chilling case of Mindy Casodis, a woman whose body was discovered dismembered in rural Georgia months after her family believed she had died of natural causes and been cremated. Through interviews with family, friends, law enforcement, and courtroom testimony, the episode unravels a labyrinthine tale of deception, paranoia, financial ruin, and murder—culminating in the conviction of Mindy's husband, former naval officer and JAG lawyer Nick Casodis. The episode examines the evidence, reveals layers of Nick’s manipulations, and shines a light on the devastating impact on Mindy’s loved ones.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Discovery of the Body and Initial Confusion

• Discovery: On December 2nd, 2022, hunters in rural Georgia found the torso of a woman in a ditch. (00:51–01:06)
  • Detective/Police Officer: “Down here is where the hunters had discovered the torso of a female in the ditch.” (00:51)
• A GBI forensic artist created and published a sketch in an attempt to identify the woman. The sketch led to hundreds of calls, including one from Heather Thomas in Virginia, who recognized the woman as Mindy Casodis. (02:01–05:31)

2. The Double Death Narrative

• Friends and family had been told by Nick Casodis that Mindy died in the hospital on December 1st and was cremated—no funeral or memorial was held. (03:11–04:10; 14:09–14:27)
  • Narrator/Reporter: “Nobody was looking for a murder victim. They thought she had died of natural causes.” (03:17)
• Months later, police positively identified the body as Mindy through genetic genealogy, unraveling the “first death” lie. (15:02–16:46)

3. Mindy and Nick’s Relationship

• Nick Casodis: A former naval officer, JAG lawyer, and described as charming, educated, and outgoing. Remarried twice—Mindy was his second wife. (06:11–07:09)
• Mindy Casodis: Romantic, determined, launched a women’s podcast, and became increasingly isolated and paranoid in her marriage’s later years. (07:33–08:20; 09:03–09:17)

4. Descent into Paranoia and Isolation

• Mindy’s friends describe strange changes: she communicated only via encrypted apps, believed she was being surveilled, and was terrified to leave her house. All paranoia stemmed from Nick’s claims of being targeted due to alleged “classified” government work. (09:17–11:22)
  • Narrator/Reporter: “She once told me...this would be a best-selling novel or a best-selling movie.” (09:03)
• Nick told Mindy and others about “undercover teams,” surveillance vans, and tree surgeons planting security cameras. (10:36–11:11)

5. Nick’s Financial Troubles and Pattern of Lies

• Legal/Financial Motive: Nick owed his first wife, Heather Thomas, $1.5 million following their divorce, with a warrant out for his arrest. This catalyzed further evasion and deception. (12:50–13:55)
  • Narrator/Reporter: “His law career was now in jeopardy if he was willing to throw away his license...” (13:11)
• Nick started living on the run, moving state to state, eventually hiding out in Savannah, Georgia, with Mindy. (13:30–13:55)
• He would later marry a third woman, Samantha Koliesnik, under a new name, pretending to be a widower. (16:56–17:27)

6. The Investigation: Mounting Evidence

• Surveillance video captured Nick’s green Ford Explorer near the remote scene where Mindy’s body was dumped. (22:19–22:48)
• Investigators linked knives found at the crime scene to purchases made by Nick with his debit card at local stores. (23:00–23:41)
  • Interviewer/Investigator: “One of those knives had been purchased...with a debit card belonging to Nick Casotis. Here’s a surveillance photo of Nicholas Casotis right after he paid for that knife.” (23:06)
• Car GPS and phone records placed Nick at the body dump site on the night in question. (24:14–24:35)

7. Nick’s Story and the ‘Jim McIntyre’ Conspiracy

• In custody, Nick spun a tale about “Jim McIntyre,” an alleged FBI agent who supposedly controlled their lives and orchestrated their moves for protection. (18:08–19:52)
  • Detective/Police Officer: “For years we did exactly what Jim told us to do. He wanted full access to our lives.” (19:04)
• Investigators found no evidence that Jim McIntyre existed or worked for any federal agency. (32:36–33:01; 35:21–35:29)
  • Interviewer/Investigator: “Do you have any evidence he does?”
    Defense Attorney: “I have no evidence that Jim McEntire exists.” (37:05)

8. The Courtroom Drama and Defense Strategy

• The prosecution forced the defense to open first, asserting tactical psychological advantage. (27:34–28:03)
• Defense argued Nick was a terrified pawn manipulated by “Jim McIntyre,” not a murderer. (28:11–28:55)
• Prosecutors presented physical, circumstantial, and testimonial evidence, highlighting Nick’s lies, purchases, movements, and financial motives. (29:01–32:19)

9. Victim Impact and Betrayal

• Both Nick’s ex-wives and third wife testified to being manipulated and lied to, each describing betrayal, financial loss, and emotional trauma. (30:07–32:10)
• Mindy’s friends voiced abiding grief at having been misled and concern that Mindy’s legacy would be reduced to her death, not her life’s work. (41:48–42:32)

10. Verdict and Aftermath

• Jury convicted Nick Casodis of malice murder, felony murder, and related charges. He was sentenced to life without parole. (40:09–40:56)
  • Narrator/Reporter: “He killed her. He took her from everyone. A bright light, kind, good natured. I submit to you, Mindy, she deserves your attention.” (35:35)
• Friends and survivors struggled with the reality of Nick’s actions and their own vulnerability to his manipulation. (41:33–41:48)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the surreal find:
  • Detective/Police Officer (recounting the discovery):
    “We all kind of thought it was a mannequin to start with. It didn't look real.” (01:10)
• On the realization:
  • Heather Thomas (identifying Mindy):
    “I have never wanted to be wrong like this in my whole entire life.” (02:35)
• On Mindy’s paranoia:
  • Angela Wynn (friend):
    “We only ever talked on Signal... If we called, it was through the Signal app.” (09:33)
• On Nick’s story:
  • Detective/Police Officer (to Nick):
    “Nick, you're living a web of lies. You talk in parallel realities. That's what you're doing here.” (19:04)
• On betrayal and heartbreak:
  • Samantha Koliesnik (third wife):
    “I don't think words will ever capture how I felt, but...horrified, shocked, traumatized, violated, deceived.” (30:07)
• On prosecutorial argument:
  • Narrator/Reporter (summation):
    “He gaslighted everybody. Not stupid people, not people that are unaware.” (38:15)
• On Mindy's legacy:
  • Friend's reflection:
    “She wanted to find the stories of women and elevate them... she wanted to use [her podcast] for good.” (42:32)

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• Body is discovered: (00:51–01:37)
• Friends & family told Mindy was dead/cremated: (03:11–04:10; 14:09–14:27)
• Paranoia and Signal app: (09:17–11:22)
• Identification and confirmation of Mindy: (15:02–16:46)
• Nick’s finances and movements: (12:50–13:55)
• Evidence tying Nick to crime scene: (22:19–24:35)
• Nick’s interrogation and “Jim McIntyre” defense: (17:48–19:52; 32:36–35:29)
• Trial testimony and defense/prosecution arguments: (27:30–39:22)
• Jury verdict and sentencing: (40:02–40:56)
• Mindy's friends reflect on her life and work: (42:16–42:32)

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Tone & Final Takeaways

The episode unfolds like a true mystery novel – suspenseful, emotional, and meticulously detailed. The reporting skillfully balances forensic facts, psychological insight, and human vulnerability, treating Mindy as both a tragic victim and a person who sought to empower others. In the end, the narrative lays bare the destructive power of manipulation, the persistence of truth, and the ongoing pain of betrayal for those left behind.

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Recommended for: Fans of true crime, psychological drama, and anyone interested in the interplay between law, deception, and the resilience of community.

Transcript

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[Detective/Police Officer]

Down here is where the hunters had discovered the torso of a female in the ditch.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Jack, had you ever run into anything like this?

[Detective/Police Officer]

No, ma'.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Am.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

What day were you out here and what do you remember from that day?

[Detective/Police Officer]

This was December 2nd of 2022, I believe. We was hunting that block of woods that particular day. We all kind of thought it was a mannequin to start with. It didn't look real. And this area right here and all around this is where all the trash, the bags of clothes, the tote, the knife, that's where all that was found? Right here.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And your big priority was find the rest of this woman and find out who she is?

[Detective/Police Officer]

That's correct. It was getting about dusk. I started walking. Got to a point where I'm looking up and the sun's going down. It's shining in my eyes. And there's an oak tree. And I kind of look behind it and I see a little disturbed area, a mound. All the remains were found fairly close to the edge of the road at that point. As far as what we knew there was. The female had dark brown hair.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You put out a sketch.

[Detective/Police Officer]

GBI had a forensic artist put out a sketch.

[Narrator/Reporter]

According to deputies, hunters found the body in the area of Barrington Ferry Road. This sketch from the GBI serving as one of the only glimpses of who the woman could be. I was like, whoa, wait a minute. Like, that looks like Mindy. That looks like Mindy. And I just froze. I said, I have reason to believe that this person is Mindy Cassotis. Looks very like, much like her. I was like, I want to be wrong. I have never wanted to be wrong like this in my whole entire life. A drive through the area shows how dense the wooded area where the woman was found, that was on the local news, but I had zero reason to connect it to Mindy.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So you get this call from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent, and he says, you're not going to believe what I'm about to tell you.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Yeah, he absolutely said that. I think the first thing through my mind was disbelief. I had been told back in December that she had died in the hospital. That's what all of the immediate friends and family of Mindy's had been told. Nobody was looking for a murder victim. They thought she had died of natural causes.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

What did they think had happened to her?

[Narrator/Reporter]

She died at the hospital on December 1st. She's not in the woods. She was cremated. What do you do? What do you do when you're in a situation and you feel like something is wrong? But also the entire story is so crazy, who's going to believe you?

[Detective/Police Officer]

Aaron Moriarty reports.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The woman who died twice,

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Investigator Jack Frost, now at The Liberty County Georgia, DA's office, was one of the first detectives called to the scene on December 2, 2022.

[Detective/Police Officer]

The hunters had seen a knife and a tote and some wipes back there.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Detectives recovered a razor sharp Milwaukee brand knife, a plastic storage tub with what looked like traces of blood and wipes. Do you think whoever brought her out here had to know this area?

[Detective/Police Officer]

That would be a safe assumption because it's so desolate.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

It would take five days until investigator Frost found the rest of her body. Authorities said it appeared the woman had defensive wounds.

[Narrator/Reporter]

There's no one that winds up dismembered in the woods that's not a victim of homicide. My name is Lori Baio. I'm an assistant district attorney with the Atlantic Judicial Circuit.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Investigators from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation released two sketches.

[Narrator/Reporter]

There were hundreds and hundreds of calls and leads that came in through the forensic sketches that were published from civilians calling in.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

One call came from a woman 500 miles away in Virginia, Heather Thomas.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I was like, whoa, wait a minute. Like that looks like Mindy.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Mindy Casodis.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Heather Thomas turned out, is one of the people that recognized the photograph and said, this could be Mindy.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Heather recognized Mindy because Mindy was married to Heather's ex husband, Nick Casodas, a naval officer, a lawyer in jag, the Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps. Nick had traveled the globe, was deployed to Iraq. He served in Italy and the Pentagon. He dealt with sensitive cases involving Afghanistan.

[Narrator/Reporter]

He definitely had an air about him of confidence, of, you know, reassurance, but never in an egotistical way, because you could sort of pick that out from a mile away.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Heather and Nick got married in 2009. Back then, she was a brunette. Was he wearing a uniform?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Yes, he was in his uniform. I was in. I had two different dresses. It was a very big deal. It was a. It was a happy day. He had a lot of friends and he just knew everyone and he had a very outgoing personality and just was a talker and loved to read and just was. It was very different than kind of how I was.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Things started out well, but eventually, after six years, their marriage faded.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I felt like we had grown apart. I felt like he was my best friend, but at the same time, like, didn't have the romance.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And in 2015, they divorced. Nick Kasotis bounced back quickly. That same year, he started dating Mindy. She was working as a legal secretary in Washington dc.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Mindy was the consummate romantic for a while there, right?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Angela Wynn and Morgan Paddock were longtime friends of Mindy. Angela says Mindy met Nick on a dating app.

[Narrator/Reporter]

When she finally did meet him, that was just her fairytale ending coming to fruition.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Even Heather was happy.

[Narrator/Reporter]

He told me all about it. He was so excited that they met and I was excited for him.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Nick and Mindy married in 2016. Her friends say the couple soon started looking for a home and planning a family.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It's one of the things that she wanted. She wanted to have kids.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And Mindy became a podcaster.

[Narrator/Reporter]

We both were on her podcast. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Compelling Women podcast. She just wanted to find the stories of women and elevate them. I'm Mindy, your host and I'm really excited to share with you another thought provoking interview with a different compelling woman.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Mindy and Nick's life seemed good. After leaving active duty, he was still practicing law.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I was so happy that she was so in love and just so enamored and ready to move on to that next phase of her life.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

But her friends say Mindy's life began taking some strange turns.

[Narrator/Reporter]

She once told me, Morgan, if you knew everything that was going on, like this is something that would be a like best selling novel or a best selling movie.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Mindy and Nick started moving around a lot, living in three different states. She rarely saw her friends, they say, and was so worried about security, she started communicating through the encrypted Signal app.

[Narrator/Reporter]

We only ever talked on Signal. If we called, it was through the Signal app and if we texted, it was through the Signal app.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And whose idea was to use the Signal app? Oh, Nick and Mindy said at one point she was being spied upon.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I remember her saying, I may have had a tail, someone following her. Yeah, yeah, it ramped up after that.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Mindy's life ramped up into a series of stranger and stranger events.

[Narrator/Reporter]

She told me they had been hacked by a hacker group. Their bank accounts had been completely frozen. They didn't have any money at all.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And she told friends that Nick said they were being surveilled and that he

[Narrator/Reporter]

told her, we have a security issue now, and now we're, you know, we're in danger.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

She thought her life was in danger. It was, according to Mindy, all connected to Nick and some classified work that he had been involved in during his time in the Navy.

[Narrator/Reporter]

There had to be video surveillance in a van down the street to just keep watch to make sure the comings and goings of their home were safe.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Nick warned Mindy that an undercover team disguised as tree surgeons were planting surveillance cameras around their house.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It sounded crazy. It did sound crazy, because that does sound like something you see in a movie or read in a novel. But again, you're talking to Mindy, whose husband is a JAG, who has all of this military clearance.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

By June 2022, Nick and Mindy were living in Savannah. Friends say she was afraid to leave the house. Did she sound scared?

[Narrator/Reporter]

She was. She was scared.

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[Interviewer/Investigator]

As Mindy's friends worried about the strange events in her life. In Savannah, 500 miles away in Virginia, Heather Thomas had been trying to track down her ex husband, Nick Esodas, for nearly two years.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I tracked him going to South Carolina. He had said something about Georgia, and that was always in the back of my mind.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

He owed her money from their divorce, a million and a half dollars. A court had ordered him to pay and issued a warrant for his arrest. His law career was now in jeopardy

[Narrator/Reporter]

if he was willing to throw away his license to practice ever. And he was just going to throw all caution to the wind. You're now dealing with a scenario where you can't assume anything. So you have to be prepared. I had to be prepared for anything.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Heather had a friend who was training to be a PI. Through him, she would discover that Nick had been on the move. She would later find out that he had gone from state to state, living in Airbnbs motels. Heather didn't know it, but Nick and Mindy were now hiding out in Savannah, Georgia. That summer, Mindy had told her friend Angela that she was pregnant.

[Narrator/Reporter]

She's very excited and very happy.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

But months later, just after Thanksgiving, 2022, Angela got an unexpected call from Nick and couldn't believe what he told her.

[Narrator/Reporter]

He called me. He told me that Mindy was gone.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Mindy, Nick said, had died from a sudden medical problem, but his details were sketchy. He told her she had been cremated. There was no funeral, no memorial.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I'm not hearing anything from anybody. And I need to know what the hell is going on, because in my mind, you know, Mindy's not gone until I see that she is gone. And I told him that several times, like, I need to see it. I need to see her. I need to see her.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

She tried to reach Nick again and again.

[Narrator/Reporter]

He just dropped off the face of the earth. It was a very hard and confusing time.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

At around the same time, Nick's ex wife, Heather, had also gotten a message telling her that Mindy had died in the hospital.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I was contacted saying, hey, you know, Mindy's dead.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

What was your reaction?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Horror. I was just like, oh, my God. I felt terrible. Because no matter what our beef was, Nick and mine like to hear that a woman around my age is now dead. I was sad.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And just weeks after that, sad news was still sinking in. Heather received more surprising news in a text from an acquaintance.

[Narrator/Reporter]

This person says, nick is dead.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Nick Casotis had died in a car crash.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And I said, hmm, so you didn't believe that then? I immediately didn't believe it. I'm like, well, something's fishy here.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

But Heather wasn't the only one who heard that Nick had died. Mindy's parents received an email from the security department at the tech company where Nick told them he was working. It read, I'm very sorry to inform you that Nicholas passed away late Wednesday evening. As Heather tried to get more details, googling news sites online, she came across that police sketch, the one that looks so much like Mindy, and called authorities in Georgia. That helped police make a positive identification. And once they got a DNA and genetic genealogy confirmation, they finally had proof that the woman found in the swamp was indeed Mindy Casodis.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Once they figure out who she is, all of these things that they've been learning about. The evidence found at the scene, all ties in.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Investigators could find no evidence of Cosodis dying in a car crash. What they did find was a new driver's license in a new name. Nicholas Killian. James Stark. They tracked him to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he was now living with a third wife, a tech worker and fiction writer, Samantha Koliesnik. He had told her he was a widower.

[Detective/Police Officer]

Right there to your right.

[Defense Attorney]

Hey, Nick.

[Detective/Police Officer]

Hey, sir, have a seat back here for a minute.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

In May, 2023 detectives brought Cosodis back to Georgia for questioning. He told them a detailed story similar to what Mindy's family and friends had heard about being pursued and harassed by unknown individuals connected to government work he had done.

[Detective/Police Officer]

There was different, a couple of different stories was that there was some fallout from some stuff that Nick had done at the Pentagon. He was potential target for a terrorist group. It was real top secret stuff and that it was really super sensitive and almost like a, you know, secret agent type of life where they just hid in plain sight but had to kind of be careful.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The once button down, straight laced attorney and former naval JAG officer now looked scruffy. Cassotis claimed that he reported the conspiracy to the FBI. And that's when he says a federal agent came to their home offering to protect them. His name, Jim McIntyre.

[Detective/Police Officer]

I came home one day and Mindy said that an FBI agent had come to the house, that he was serious about what was going on and wanted to meet with us both and talk about it. And that was Jim? That was Jim. Did they show you any credentials or anything? I don't recall.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

According To Nick, for four years, Jim McIntyre took control of everything in the couple's lives, telling them when to move and where.

[Detective/Police Officer]

Jim told you to jump off a cliff? You were going to go jump off a cliff? Yes, sir. For years, for years we did exactly what Jim told us to do. He wanted full access to our lives. He said, tapes keeping us safe. Nick, you're living a web of lies. You talk in parallel realities. That's what you're doing here. No, sir.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Nikosotis had spun such an elaborate story for detectives, they had a hard time Believing anything he said, they began to suspect that he made up everything that he was the author of. The email sent to Mindy's parents announcing his death, Complete with a company he didn't work for.

[Detective/Police Officer]

It's kind of like, yeah, we can see through all the lies now. This is such a nightmare. Why is this happening?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Detectives began asking him about Mindy's last days Right around Thanksgiving of 2022, while Cassidy Sotis was out of town. He said Mindy texted him saying she had taken a fall and had checked herself into a clinic. He was vague on details.

[Detective/Police Officer]

Tell me about the days you got called to the dollar's office. I got a phone call. I forget from who. I don't know if it was somebody I knew or not asking if I could. I don't think it was somebody I knew asking if I could come and pick her up.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

That afternoon when Nick arrived, he told investigators the doctor gave him bad news.

[Detective/Police Officer]

I sat down, and he said that he was very sorry to tell me that Mindy had passed away suddenly. So he said Mindy had passed away suddenly. Then what happened? I was extremely upset. I was. Yeah, like, I thought I was coming there just to. Just to pick her up and bring her back. He said he wasn't sure what had happened. You go to this doctor's office. They tell you wife died. You don't ask to see her. You immediately, I did ask to see her. You don't get to see her.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Cosodis couldn't tell investigators where the facility. Facility was or the names of anyone he spoke to.

[Detective/Police Officer]

You don't force the go any further to see her. You just take them at the word. You don't know their names. You don't know their addresses, don't know how to return there, whatever. You just leave.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

But if Mindy had died at a savannah clinic, how did her remains end up in a swamp? Nick told detectives he had no idea, but inside insisted he didn't do it. What Nick didn't know at the time was that detectives were already building a case against him.

[Detective/Police Officer]

I think it's easy for people to think about doing something, But I think the act of doing it and then trying to cover up all the loose ends after you've started, it's almost impossible.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

For starters, when detectives ran a background check on Nick, they discovered he owned a green Ford explorer. A green Ford explorer that looked just like the vehicle investigators had spotted on a surveillance video from a remote pumping station near the crime scene. And why was that camera so significant in this case?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Because it Captured Nicholas Casodis Explorer driving past it, going in and out of that area.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And that wasn't all. On a hunch, days after Frost had processed the crime scene, he checked with Home Depot stores which sold that Milwaukee brand of knife.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Agent Frost had contacted Home Depot because he had worked another case and was familiar with the brands.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

One of those knives had been purchased from a store just 50 minutes from the hunting club with a debit card belonging to Nick Casotis. Here's a surveillance photo of Nicholas Casotis right after he paid for that knife. There he is. And you can see the knife right under his arm. And there were more knives. When Frost had checked out a Bass Pro shop in Savannah, he discovered that Cassotis had also used his debit card there and bought a knife kit designed for hunters.

[Detective/Police Officer]

This is a seven piece pursuit field dressing kit for animals. This is like the same kit that was purchased by Cassotis. And there is an assortment of knives.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Oh, my God. I'm not touching this. These are very sharp, very sharp.

[Detective/Police Officer]

And then there is also a bone saw.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Now, with Cassotis apparently tied to the knives and the Ford Explorer, they subpoenaed records from his phone and the Ford's GPS system.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The car records showing his vehicle and phone traveling down to exactly where her body is. He has no reason whatsoever to be there other than that his dismembered wife happens to be found there when he told everyone else she was cremated.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Back in the interrogation room, detectives confronted Casotis with their discoveries.

[Detective/Police Officer]

I mean, who else has the luck of going on a 25,000 acre property and getting captured on video? Just so happens your phone, even your car, shows clearly where you were at down this long dirt road that just happened to pass a camera and tracks your every movement. We put you and your cellular device and your vehicle out there in these places where your wife's body is found dismembered with the knife that you just bought. Why did you kill Mindy? Sir, I didn't kill Mindy. You killed Mindy. I did not. All the evidence shows that you killed Menu and will continue to show. It's kind of like a thousand piece puzzle. You burn some of the pieces, but we've got enough to see a very clear picture.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

But Cosodis insisted he was innocent and pointed the finger at the man he says had been controlling their lives, Jim McIntyre.

[Detective/Police Officer]

Are you alleging that Jim killed your wife? I don't know, but I think it's possible. She should have never been in this situation. You should have never listened to Jim.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

In February 2024, a little over a year after Mindy's death, Nick Cosodis was indicted for the murder of Mindy Cosodis.

[Defense Attorney]

It's very difficult for me to believe that Nick Cassotis could murder anyone. For years, Gone south has been a podcast about crime in the American South. But for our new season, we're widening the lens. Through deeply reported narrative driven stories, we're digging into the myths, scandals and power structures that still shape the south and in a lot of ways, the country itself. Follow and listen to gone South Season 5, an Odyssey podcast, available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your shows.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Philip McCallor had walked these grounds of the Portal Hunting Club for years.

[Detective/Police Officer]

I just laid in the ditch

[Interviewer/Investigator]

before the December day in 2022 when he made that gruesome discovery.

[Detective/Police Officer]

Kind of thought it was a mannequin to start with. It didn't look real.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Strewn along the swamp, the remains of the once vibrant 40 year old Mindy Cosodis. More than two and a half years later, her husband Nick Casotis, charged with her murder, was in a Hinesville, Georgia courtroom.

[Detective/Police Officer]

We'll begin the trial at this time with the opening statements.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

This trial would prove to be unlike any other from the get go.

[Defense Attorney]

My name is Doug Weinstein and I am representing Mr. Cosodis.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

In an unusual move, the prosecution forced defense attorney Weinstein to open his case first.

[Defense Attorney]

I honestly think it was purely a tactic to try to get into my head a little bit and make me off balance. Mr. And Mrs. Cosodis were told that they were targets.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Weinstein immediately set the scene for the defense. The alleged killer, he says, was actually another victim.

[Defense Attorney]

Nick Cassotis is a man who lived in fear, relentless, all consuming fear, running for his life. It's hard for me to ever believe that Nick killed Mindy.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Instead, Weinstein told the jury Cassotas had been duped and deluded by the mysterious figure, Jim McIntyre.

[Defense Attorney]

You will hear testimony that a man called, calling himself Jim McIntyre, claiming to be with the FBI, told them that their lives were in danger.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Cosodis is not a killer, he says, more like a frightened, desperate hero.

[Defense Attorney]

A decorated military veteran, he served in Iraq. He was in the Pentagon.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

But prosecutor Lori Baioshi says the real Nick Cassotis is revealed by the gruesome evidence left behind.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And unfortunately, you're going to hear about the dismemberment.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Baio showed the weapon found near Mindy's

[Narrator/Reporter]

mangled body, a Milwaukee orange handled black sheathed knife.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Casodis DNA was Not found at the crime scene. But that knife is the same brand, investigators say, as the one seen under his arm.

[Narrator/Reporter]

That's him on surveillance from Home Depot.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

On the same day that authorities say Mindy may have been murdered.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The state calls Samantha Koliesnik to the stand.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Along with the facts and forensics, the jury heard tales of betrayal, including one by Cosodis third wife, Samantha Koliesnik. Yes, she believed she had married a loving widower, but later learned that Mindy was still alive. When Nick first started messaging her, she

[Narrator/Reporter]

had no idea that he was leading this double life. I don't think words will ever capture how I felt, but I felt if I had to choose some words, I'd say horrified, shocked, traumatized, violated, deceived.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Samantha also told jurors Nick wanted to quickly start a family.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I went to a preconception appointment right around the date of our marriage. Yep. Nick and I met at Naval justice school in 2008.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Retired commander Cameron Nelson described the Nick that she and others had once believed was an honorable, proud patriot.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And I was scheduled to deploy aboard

[Interviewer/Investigator]

the USNS Comfort when she received a serious cancer diagnosis.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go on that deployment.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Kasota, she told the jury, stepped up and stepped in.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Nick immediately volunteered to take that deployment so that I could focus on treatment.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

But that same Nicosota, she says, also betrayed her trust when he told her that his financial accounts had been hacked. She lent him money and even gave him a credit card.

[Detective/Police Officer]

How much did the defendant charge to that credit card?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Approximately $198,000.

[Detective/Police Officer]

Has he ever paid a penny towards that debt?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Not a penny.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The man Cameron thought was a patriot now seemed like a calculating con man.

[Detective/Police Officer]

And we decided that it was just

[Narrator/Reporter]

not sustainable to continue to allow him to borrow money.

[Detective/Police Officer]

Please raise your right hand and take the oath.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

First's wife, Heather Thomas, testified about her own betrayal with its court order for Cosodis to pay up on their divorce agreement.

[Detective/Police Officer]

Did the defendant cooperate with the divorce obligations?

[Narrator/Reporter]

No.

[Detective/Police Officer]

Did that cause any kind of hardship to you?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Of course. It put me through a lot of emotional stress.

[Detective/Police Officer]

Did he ever comply with that court

[Defense Attorney]

order for the $1.5 million interest and the attorney fees?

[Narrator/Reporter]

No.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The jury watched that video of Cosodis green Ford Explorer less than a mile from where Mindy's remains were found.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And that camera captured that vehicle, is that correct?

[Detective/Police Officer]

The water pumping station camera.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Thank you.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Special Agent Tracy Sands said he wasn't just sifting through physical evidence. He had been on a hunt for a star witness.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Did you ever make an effort to locate Jim McIntyre?

[Detective/Police Officer]

Yes, Ma. There was only one in this area, in the Savannah area.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And this McIntyre was definitely not an FBI agent, an older gentleman.

[Detective/Police Officer]

He managed a company that sold dental implants.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Could you identify any connection between that Jim McIntyre to this case? I could not.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

It's a powerful circumstantial case against Nick Esodis that only one man can. Kenrabutt.

[Defense Attorney]

The defense calls Nicholas Cassotis to the stand.

[Detective/Police Officer]

Please raise your right hand and take the oath.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

For more than three hours, Cosodis repeated to the jury his story about the mystery man who he insists controlled every detail of Mindy's life and his.

[Detective/Police Officer]

I gave Jim McIntyre access to literally everything. He had access to our home, he

[Defense Attorney]

had all of our bank accounts.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Why would an accomplished attorney listen to some guy who just shows up and do whatever he says?

[Defense Attorney]

Well, that's the million dollar question, right? Why would he do that? All I can think is panic.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The defense offered no pictures of McIntyre, no records, just Cosodis testimony.

[Detective/Police Officer]

I had no reason to doubt that he was who he said he was.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And Cassotis claimed he was only in the area where his wife's remains were found because the manipulative McIntyre had told him to go there.

[Defense Attorney]

Did you kill your wife, Mindy Cassotis?

[Detective/Police Officer]

I absolutely did not.

[Defense Attorney]

I would never have hurt Mindy. Did you dismember her body?

[Detective/Police Officer]

No, absolutely not.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Then what about that knife cradled under his arm? Casota said it wasn't about murder, it was for home improvement. A broken screen.

[Detective/Police Officer]

I was having a very hard time keeping the netting on it and keeping it secured up there, so I was looking for something kind of long and thin.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

What is Nick's strongest defense?

[Defense Attorney]

His strongest defense is it's entirely circumstantial. There was zero evidence presented at trial of how Mindy was killed and frankly, how. Where Mindy was killed, they don't know.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Attorney Weinstein closed his defense with this reminder to the jurors.

[Defense Attorney]

The state has an incredibly high burden to meet because they have got to show guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and they haven't done that. They just. They just haven't done that.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

As the trial wrapped up, the mystery man, Jim McIntyre, can't find. A person that doesn't exist, never appeared in this Georgia courtroom. I submit to you, there is no Jim.

[Narrator/Reporter]

He killed her. He took her from everyone. A bright light, kind, good natured. I submit to you, Mindy, she deserves your attention. This case is about her. Look at the evidence and come back with what is the only appropriate outcome, guilty of all charges.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Nick Casotis and his attorney had hoped to convince the jury that he wasn't capable of killing his wife, Mindy. But somebody else was.

[Defense Attorney]

It is not my job to figure out who killed Mindy Cassotis. That is the state's job. It's a huge job, it's an important job and it's a high burden.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

What's the motive for someone else to kill her?

[Defense Attorney]

Well, again, we go Back to Jim McIntyre. That's the only person that could possibly. That's the only person.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The mysterious Jim McIntyre. Prosecutors say there is no Jim McIntyre, that he doesn't. Do you have any evidence he does?

[Defense Attorney]

I have no evidence that Jim McEntire exists.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Do you have a picture of him?

[Defense Attorney]

I have no picture.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Any kind of documentation that showed that he worked for a federal agency?

[Defense Attorney]

All that we have on Jim McIntyre is what Nick has told Mindy. If I had any way to prove that Jim McIntyre existed, you would have seen it at the trial.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Why should anyone believe Nick Cassotis is. When he's a liar, he lies a lot.

[Defense Attorney]

He told some big lies, but nothing like murdering your wife. I just refuse to take the leap of. Because you lie about certain things, you're a murderer. It's just too far for me to go.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Even prosecutor Lori Baio admitted that despite Cosodis inconsistencies, jurors might have doubts about his guilt.

[Narrator/Reporter]

If you look at him on paper, he looks like Prince Charming. My mom and dad would have said, oh my gosh, he's a wonderful catch, he looks fantastic, so why wouldn't you believe him?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

But Baio says Cassotis has been fooling people for years.

[Narrator/Reporter]

He gaslighted everybody. Not stupid people, not people that are unaware.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And they all bought it, including Mindy.

[Narrator/Reporter]

She believed him. I mean, there's no one disputes that Mindy never left the house, that she was terrified, and that she stayed home every moment of her life afraid that if she left that she'd be killed.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The real story, says Baio, was much more mundane. Casotis was hiding, she says, because he didn't want to pay. His ex wife was Nicosotis gaslighting his wife and making her believe that their lives were in danger, when in fact he's just running from a debt.

[Defense Attorney]

You know, that's possible.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I mean, he's a prosecutor, he's a lawyer, he might be able to convince her of that.

[Defense Attorney]

He also knows how to handle the legal system. So there's a million and a half dollar judgment against him. There's all kinds of ways to get rid of this debt. You don't need to live a miserable life for five years because of a judgment that you can't pay.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

But why kill Mindy? Why do you believe Nick Kasotis killed his wife? What's the motive for it?

[Narrator/Reporter]

That was the hardest question to answer. But juries want to know. It was my argument to the jury that everybody said Nick wanted a family, he wanted kids, he really wanted to have kids, but.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So why kill her?

[Narrator/Reporter]

I think he found out she wasn't pregnant.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

In fact, Mindy's death certificate said she was not pregnant.

[Detective/Police Officer]

Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Jurors took just a little over an hour to reach a verdict.

[Detective/Police Officer]

It's my understanding that the jury has reached a verdict.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Count one, malice murder. Guilty. Count two, felony murder.

[Defense Attorney]

Guilty.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Guilty on all charges.

[Defense Attorney]

I don't believe for a minute Nick ever expected a guilty verdict to come back.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Before sentencing, Mindy's friend Morgan Paddock spoke directly to Cosodis.

[Narrator/Reporter]

She loved you and trusted you to tell her the truth, to protect her, to live out your marriage vows, and yet you were the one that she needed protection from.

[Detective/Police Officer]

He is remanded to Kosoda.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The judge sentenced Cosodis to life without parole. Why did so many people believe Nick Cosodis?

[Defense Attorney]

You know, all I have are questions from this case, right? Just. I don't have answers. So many people, college grads, professionals, career Navy officers, believed everything that Nick and Mindy told them about why they were living the life. And I think it's because when Nick would tell them something, they believed him.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The people in his life are still. Still struggling with a betrayal. Is that hard for you then to think that you were married to this man who then killed his wife?

[Narrator/Reporter]

The thing that I struggle with, I think even now, is the fact that Survivor's guilt is very real. Out of the two of us, I probably had. He probably had more reasons to perhaps maybe come after me. I trusted him with my literal life, and I believed him.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Mindy's friends now accept that they were all betrayed by Nick, but they hope Mindy will be remembered not as a victim, but a woman who saw the light in other women and tried to capture that in a podcast.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And it was beautiful and it was special, and it was talking to a friend and knowing that she had a platform and she wanted to use it for good. The Compelling Women podcast is written and hosted by me, Mindy Casodis. Thank you so much for listening to the first season, and I promise to be back with another season. As soon as I can. I'm back. I'm really back. School Spirits returns.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Why am I here? Not dead. Right? This place is an absolute death trap.

[Defense Attorney]

We need to get out of here now.

[Detective/Police Officer]

School Spirits New season now streaming only on Paramount plus.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

It is my great honor to welcome you all to Starfleet Academy.

[Defense Attorney]

There's never been a better time to enroll in Star Trek.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

It's our job to prepare you for the unimaginable.

[Narrator/Reporter]

To the Night Cadet. In high pressure situations, positive reinforcement is crucial to one's success.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You're doing a great job.

[Detective/Police Officer]

This is what we train for.

[Defense Attorney]

These friends of mine, they all live for something bigger than themselves.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Starfleet.

[Defense Attorney]

Starfleet Academy New series now streaming on Paramount plus.