The murder of Billie Jean Reynolds | Ep 222

Summary

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Crime and Coffee Couple – Episode 222

The Murder of Billie Jean Reynolds

Release Date: November 30, 2025
Hosts: Allison and Mike

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Episode Overview

In this chilling yet deeply empathetic episode, Allison and Mike dissect the tragic 1997 murder of Billie Jean Reynolds by her adopted teenage daughter, Nikki Reynolds, in Coral Springs, Florida. The case, suggested by a listener who went to school with those involved, explores how family dynamics and untreated mental illness culminated in a shocking act of teenage violence. The couple balances their signature warm banter with a thorough, respectful examination of the case, honoring the victim while drawing thoughtful parallels to teen struggles and mental health themes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Banter, Parenting Anxiety, and Setting the Stage

• Allison and Mike open with playful talk about their size difference and the anxieties of preparing for the holidays (03:30–07:13).
• They reflect on their own teen children (a 14-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son), setting up the episode's focus on the tumult of teenage years.
• "From the outside, the Reynolds family ... looked like something out of a Sunday morning church brochure. However, under the surface, there was anger, resentments and violence brewing." – Allison (12:49)
• Allison contextualizes the dangers of assuming perfection from appearances, foreshadowing the case details.

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2. Background on the Reynolds Family

• Nikki Reynolds (born Jacqueline Nicole, July 16, 1979) was adopted as a baby by Robert and Billie Jean Reynolds, a loving, deeply religious couple in Coral Springs, FL (12:57–16:10).
• Childhood: Nikki wanted for nothing; her parents doted on her, and she described her upbringing as "a fairy tale."
• Spoiling: Family friends noted that Nikki "was never told no ... [and] grew to be a spoiled brat." This dynamic foreshadows later conflicts.

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3. Teenage Turmoil and Warning Signs

• High School Years & Relationship: Nikki met Carlos Infante in class, initially a friendship but escalating into an all-consuming romance (16:10–17:17). Her focus on Carlos led to academic and social decline.
• "This is the kind of chick that pokes holes in condoms and stuff. 100% get the hell out of that relationship." – Mike (26:27)
• Lies and Manipulation: Nikki fabricated a rape in 1996 to hide potential pregnancy from her parents, leading to police involvement and eroding trust (17:18–20:11).
• "When stories start changing, it's likely not the truth because when something actually happens, it's never going to change." – Allison (17:33)
• Emotional Volatility: Nikki's fixation on Carlos, tantrums when denied, and repeated lies (about rape and pregnancy) highlight a lack of emotional regulation (22:40–24:24).

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4. Escalation: The Days Before the Murder

• Breakup & Pregnancy Fabrications: Carlos ends the relationship, Nikki fakes pregnancies to win him back, further intensifying family tension and bringing rumors to school authorities (24:01–28:14).
• Counseling: After being caught in her lies, Nikki is required to attend church counseling; this is when her thoughts become homicidal for the first time (28:14–29:01).

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5. The Plan Turns Deadly

• Failed Plan to Kill Carlos: Originally, Nikki planned to murder Carlos at school, but logistical issues forced her to shift focus to her parents (29:01–30:45).

• Alarming Comment:

  • "I don't know if it's going to be me or Nikki, but one of us is going to be gone." – Billie Jean to neighbor Patty (23:42)

• Pastor Conversation:

  • Nikki vaguely asks the pastor if a Christian can be forgiven for "something really bad" or suicide; receives reassurance, but it is chilling in hindsight (30:45–31:09).

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6. The Murder (May 14, 1997)

• Timeline:

  • 5:30pm: Family dinner; Robert leaves for church.
  • ~7:00pm: Nikki attacks Billie Jean with a 14-inch butcher knife while her mother is working on the computer.
  • 7:07pm: Nikki calls 911, voices flat and shocking in its calm:
    • “I just killed my mother.” – Nikki on 911 call (31:42)

• Details of the Attack:

  • Billie Jean suffers 13 stab wounds while desperately attempting to escape.
  • Nikki expresses regret and confusion, reportedly praying for her mother's survival while in police custody.

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7. Aftermath and Interrogation

• Immediate Confession:

  • Nikki gives full confession, waives her rights, and expresses an unusual willingness to accept responsibility (34:52–35:34).
  • She describes her plan: kill her parents, then Carlos, motivated by a blend of anger, obsession, and hopelessness.

• Attempted Cleanup:

  • Blood found throughout the house. Nikki attempted to clean, but quickly realized the futility and called 911 (43:29–44:08).

• Mental State:

  • Admits taking handfuls of aspirin earlier in a suicide attempt (45:01–45:41).
  • Expresses self-loathing: “Clearly there must be something deeply wrong with me, that I did this.”

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8. Legal Proceedings and Insanity Defense

• Trial #1:
  • Prosecutors seek life sentence, arguing premeditation.
  • Defense argues insanity: major depression, borderline personality disorder, possible psychotic break aggravated by aspirin overdose (49:47–54:11).
  • "The insanity plea is very, very specific ... a person's ability to distinguish between right and wrong at the time of the crime." – Allison (51:34)
• Jury deadlocks (6–6) on 1st trial (55:32); this ends in a mistrial.
• Trial #2:
  • Testimony from Nikki’s biological mother citing family mental health issues and difficult pregnancy.
  • Jury convicts on lesser charge of second-degree murder (56:31–56:45).

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9. Sentencing and Aftermath

• Original Sentence: 34 years in prison.
• Re-Sentencing (2001): Reduced to 21 years and 8 months after finding sentencing guidelines unconstitutional. Eligible for parole in 2015.
• Nikki Released: Served approximately 18 years, released at age 36 in 2015.
• Fate Unknown: No current information on Nikki's whereabouts (60:29–61:15).

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10. Reflections, Mental Health, and Community

• Impact:
  • "On May 14, 1997, Billie Jean Reynolds did not just lose her life. I mean, a family truly lost their center. Everything that they knew in their world was completely shattered." – Allison (61:15)
• Lessons:
  • Deep reminder of the danger of unchecked mental illness, especially in teens.
  • Parental struggles: "You can't blame someone else for your actions ... own your decisions and your actions." – Allison (42:33)
• Hosts' empathy:
  • Allison and Mike stress the importance of seeking help for mental health and supporting one another, referencing both the tragedy of the case and their own vulnerabilities.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On family facades:

  • “Sometimes even the brightest family portraits hide the darkest corners.” – Allison (12:49)

• The chilling premonition:

  • “I don’t know if it’s going to be me or Nikki, but one of us is going to be gone.” – Billie Jean (23:42)

• On the severity:

  • "She stabbed her repeatedly in the back. There's blood all over her and all over the floor." – Nikki on 911 call (32:13)

• On blame and responsibility:

  • "You can't blame someone else for your actions. That's another thing we tell our kids. Own your decisions and your actions." – Allison (42:33)

• On teens and mental health:

  • “If somebody is showing signs of just being too much ... get out of that relationship quick.” – Mike (29:12)

• After sentencing:

  • "Their selfish and evil ways have caused immeasurable suffering. ... Let us not allow ourselves to be manipulated as Nikki has done so in the past." – Billie Jean's sister Carnac (57:12)

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Important Timestamps

• [12:49] – Reynolds family background and hidden tensions
• [17:33] – The fabricated rape and breakdown of trust
• [23:42] – The chilling warning from Billie Jean
• [31:42] – Nikki’s 911 call confessing to her mother’s murder
• [34:52–35:34] – Nikki’s full confession, first post-murder statements
• [42:33] – Reflections on taking responsibility for one's actions
• [49:47–51:34] – The legal nuances of the insanity defense
• [55:32] – Mistrial due to deadlocked jury, sentencing details
• [60:29] – Nikki’s release and unknown whereabouts

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Tone & Final Thoughts

Allison and Mike maintain their hallmark blend of conversational, approachable banter and sensitive, thorough research. They thread personal anecdotes, humor, and candor throughout, never sensationalizing but always honoring the complexity of the case and the humanity of all involved.

The episode closes with a heartfelt reminder:
“If you are struggling, please go get help. People truly do care. Even if you feel so alone at this moment in time; people care about you.” – Allison (66:12)

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For further support, Allison directs listeners to reach out for help regarding mental health, highlighting the ongoing importance of compassion and seeking assistance.

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Transcript

[Mike]

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[Allison]

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to another episode with the Crime and Coffee Couple. My name's Allison.

[Mike]

And my name's Mike.

[Allison]

Hi, Mike.

[Mike]

Hey.

[Allison]

How are you?

[Mike]

I'm good. I'm good. I'm just looking at us on the video, and I am substantially larger than you. I'd say three to four times, like wider and bigger. And you're.

[Allison]

You're about twice my size.

[Mike]

Yeah, it's. We. Sometimes we size each other up in the mirror and we just kind of stand back to back and just the. My chest and arms and everything are a lot, lot larger.

[Allison]

You're a big man.

[Mike]

Yeah. It's good that I played football and you didn't.

[Allison]

When I brush my teeth, sometimes Mike will come up behind me and I'm like, you're a. You're a large man.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Allison]

I remember in college I was going to play rugby.

[Mike]

Oh, my God.

[Allison]

Now, mind you, in college, I probably weighed 20 pounds, maybe 15 pounds less than what I weigh now. I was.

[Mike]

You were so.

[Allison]

I was very tiny.

[Mike]

Oh, you were so hot.

[Allison]

Those Days are done.

[Mike]

I know. Believe me, I know.

[Allison]

I was good. And so I was like, you know, Mike, I think I might play rugby. And he's like, that's a terrible idea.

[Mike]

I thought you were joking.

[Allison]

I'm like, I put 2 and 115 pounds.

[Mike]

And, like, you have the rage for it, but, like, not the physical. Just specimens. I don't know. Like. And you're not like, a particularly super fast. Like, you're not slow. You're very athletic, like, all those things.

[Allison]

But I'm not an aggressive person.

[Mike]

No, no, you're like, you'd rather just kind of stay out of that.

[Allison]

I am like, I was watching Below Deck, and it's an episode where this guy rents the yacht so that he can use it as, like, a bachelor type of situation. A matchmaker has brought on six women. It's just him. And he slowly whittles these women down until it's his, you know, match. And I was thinking to myself, I would do terribly in this situation because I am not competing for anyone's attention. I'm just, like, checked out on that.

[Mike]

Are we all, like, when you're looking for a mate?

[Allison]

No, I'm just not like that. You and I just organically happened. No, I'm talking back in 1996 when we met. I wasn't going to compete against anybody else for your attention.

[Mike]

This guy, I saw this show over your shoulder. It looks like the guy was, like, older, right?

[Allison]

He's 47.

[Mike]

Okay. So at that age, you're kind of, like, really hoping to find somebody. So I think you get a little bit more. Not, like, necessarily desperate, because that's a bad word, but that's the only one that's coming to mind. But you're like. You're trying to, like, get somebody, you know, and especially this guy who has money.

[Allison]

No, that's not my point. My point is I'm not going to go against six other women trying to, like, pick me, pick me.

[Mike]

Got it. Got it. Yeah.

[Allison]

It's like, if you like me, you like me. If you don't, you don't.

[Mike]

That's confidence.

[Allison]

You know, it's like, there was this girl with, like, strings on her dress and, like, basically two triangles of fabric. And I was like, and that's great.

[Mike]

You know, I mean, large.

[Allison]

That's her style. But I was like, if he would be into her, then he would not be into me.

[Mike]

Right.

[Allison]

And that would be fine.

[Mike]

Yeah. You'd be okay with that?

[Allison]

I'd be okay with that.

[Mike]

We're a weekly Podcast. Just so you know, not you, Allison, but the listeners out there. And.

[Allison]

Oh, I thought you were telling me. I was like, yeah, Mike, I'm. I'm doing this.

[Mike]

I know. Okay, well, now that you know, the other listeners can know. And every Sunday, we come to you with a new episode. Then Wednesdays we have bonus episodes. So if you want to subscribe, come on over. And your subscribers want you to know you're able to help us upgrade to some of our memory cards, which is exciting.

[Allison]

Yes.

[Mike]

So we just got a new, like, memory card set up. I can transfer things a lot faster. It's a dorky stuff, but Mike starts.

[Allison]

Talking to me about, like, gigabytes and stuff, and I'm like, you could be speaking French to me, and it would be the exact same thing.

[Mike]

You have no idea how excited I am. When I was young, my first computer had, like, 25 megabytes of storage. And now these little cards in each of these cameras that you're watching have like, what, five, please. 500 gigabytes, which is thousands of mega. Oh, there's like. It's crazy. It just blows my mind, and I'm a huge dork about it. I don't know.

[Allison]

And if you're still listening, thank you so much. If you're new to us, welcome. Like Mike said, we've been married for 23 years. Together 30. We're high school sweethearts.

[Mike]

A lot of new listeners lately. So thank you so much. Keep on. Keep on telling everybody, especially around Christmas or Thanksgiving, you know, it's a great time to tell your family and friends about murder and death. I think that's a great idea.

[Allison]

You know, Christmas time. And with that being said, are you guys getting ready for Christmas? Are you the type of shoppers who shop ahead, or are you last minute people?

[Mike]

Are you gonna wait for their answer?

[Allison]

No, I was just voicing that aloud. If you want to share with us on Instagram, interact with us.

[Mike]

I would love to hear that.

[Allison]

Yeah. I am the type of person that I run a little anxious.

[Mike]

A little bit, yeah.

[Allison]

Just a little anxious. So I like to do things well ahead of time. Cuckoo's Nest.

[Mike]

Cuckoo's Nest.

[Allison]

If I don't do things well ahead of time, then I spiral. So I do things to tramp down that anxiety.

[Mike]

And what do you think of every Christmas that got you anxiety?

[Allison]

Oh, I think of the. It was probably 10 years ago, and I do these Shutterfly calendars for family every year, and it's a lot of work. It takes me hours and hours of time to do it. And I woke up on a Sunday morning. It was December 1st. I hadn't done squats, I hadn't purchased the thing. I hadn't worked on calendars. I had a full blown panic attack.

[Mike]

And we'll talk about that every single year. Because that's like the thing that it really defines who else is as a human.

[Allison]

So my partner here, Mike, bless his bloody heart, because he has to talk me off of ledges sometimes, constantly.

[Mike]

And that's okay.

[Allison]

Very, very quickly. It could be a five minute pep talk and he gets me back down off that ledge.

[Mike]

Yeah, I'd say I have it easy. Like you, you come to your senses pretty quickly. It's just kind of like, it's a, like 5 second. 5 minutes. 5 minutes you need and you're back to normal.

[Allison]

And I'm reading a new book. It's called the Confidence Gap. Because sometimes I just struggle with self doubt. It's terrible. And I go these like rabbit holes of like, I'm screwing everything up and.

[Mike]

I don't deserve to have a platform. And I'm.

[Allison]

Who the hell would listen to me?

[Mike]

Right, Right. Which is. And I tell her that's part of what makes you who you are, what makes you awesome about being able to bring these episodes and do such thorough research. The reason you're good at your position and job is that you care so much and that you want to do so well. And like, that's what makes you good. But it's also the downfall, which is going to make you spiral into anxiety every once in a while, unfortunately.

[Allison]

What do I say? It's imposter syndrome. Like, why would anyone listen to me?

[Mike]

And everybody out there, like, just so you know, like, everybody is faking it till they make it. I'm thinking of one of our good, dear friends. And she taught me that starts with an L. And she's a subscriber.

[Allison]

Okay.

[Mike]

And she's your best pal. She is my best pal and my best pal as well. And yeah, she. She always said that, you know, fake it till you make it because that's what she's done and that's what everybody ahead of her has done. And it's like. And she's in a very high power position and it's like, that's all everybody's doing. The CEO of your company is faking it till they make it.

[Allison]

I can't fake. I can only fake it so much. Like, I have to be prepared. If I'm not prepared, then I'm not conf. And then things start to the. The wheels fall off of the train tracks or something.

[Mike]

The wheels on the bus go round and round. That's what I thought.

[Allison]

So, Mike, we went to see Nate Bargazi last night. Yeah. He's a comedian. If you're not familiar with him, he's hilarious. I love him because he's clean.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Allison]

And he's just awesome.

[Mike]

So the one. Wherever we say his name, people are like, what name are you saying? Because it sounds like Neighbor Gazzy.

[Allison]

Nate Bargett.

[Mike]

So it's Nate Bargetzi. B, A R, G A T, Z E. I mean, everybody knows him. He's a gigantic comic. He sells off.

[Allison]

He filled the arena in Tampa for two nights in a row at the Where? Lightning. Tampa Bay Lightning play. It's a huge place.

[Mike]

He hosted the Emmys. He's like, a big deal, but he's.

[Allison]

Just so down to earth and just. I don't know. He's our age. We just can relate to him very much. But we were out seeing him. Our kids were with us. And this girl, I think she was intoxicated. She dropped her phone. I could hear it go down several levels.

[Mike]

I heard it, too. And I was like, oh, no, what's going to happen here? And I'm like, hopefully it didn't get closer, but I heard it very close to my ear.

[Allison]

So right away, I want to help. So I'm looking under the seat. I did not see see it.

[Mike]

I didn't help at all because I'm larger and it's harder for me to look under seats. And, like, I really wouldn't help unless I got on my knees.

[Allison]

Now there's this girl crouching behind us again. I think she's intoxicated, so the logic isn't clicking into place. And she's trying to get her phone with a plastic knife.

[Mike]

We just keep, like, hearing that and feeling that, and it's like, oh, my gosh.

[Allison]

Would you stop your chairs getting pushed? You're trying to watch a comedian who's an opener. Thank goodness it wasn't Ne Brazzi. But. So finally, Mike goes, can I help you? And turns out the cell phone was under your chair. I did not see it. But Mike crouches down in this very tight spot.

[Mike]

Luckily, there was nobody next to me at that time. So I got on my knees and, yeah. Got under my seat.

[Allison]

And all of a sudden, he gets a wicked charley horse.

[Mike]

And if you guys have been listening for a little while, you know my charley horse, I've done it on video before, and it's not pretty. And at least at that time, I was working out a lot, so I was a little dehydrated. I haven't worked out in, like, two or three weeks at this point. I don't know. I just got off track. Don't ask me any questions. I'm getting back on. Don't worry, folks. But I got it. And I'm like, oh, my God. In my head, instantly, I'm like, I'm in the middle of an arena. I'm about to see Nate Brigadier. I want to sit down and, like, watch the show. And if this keeps happening, I'm not going to be able to. I'm going to have to go to the side. And, like, all this is going through my head.

[Allison]

He was panicking, and we were in the middle of an aisle. And when I say these are tight aisles, like, you have to fully stand to let anyone even kind of pass through to get to their seat.

[Mike]

Yeah. It's in the hockey arena in Tampa.

[Allison]

So it's not like he could just flee. He was surrounded and kind of stuck.

[Mike]

Right.

[Allison]

And so you were really scared.

[Mike]

So I read about, like, when you get a char, it's a cramp for other people that don't know what a Charlie horse is. It's like a leg cramp in my. In what? My hamstring. So I was just like. I read you have to stretch it. So I was, like, stretching. Touching my toes while this guy's, like, doing comedy and people are behind us.

[Allison]

Yeah. And Elson's just like, I'm sorry. I was hysterically laughing, and I totally.

[Mike]

Would do the same. So I don't blame you. Whatever. It's like, I'm not even. I'm okay. I'm not like, 68 or anything, but I'm like, 6 2. And I'm a pretty big fella, 250ish. And I just go. I just kept on stretching and being like, oh. And I was sweating because I was so worried that I'd have to get up and leave my family. And it was just terrible. I'm sweating right now.

[Allison]

I'm thinking of it, just thinking of it. But it all worked out in the end. He was able to sit normally again. Thank goodness. Because a lady did come and sit next to you.

[Mike]

Yeah. Eventually I straightened my legs for a good, like, 10 minutes for through the rest of the set. And I'm like, okay, I'm gonna try to put them back to how they were. And I want you to see. And I'm like, oh, okay. Yes. We're good. We're good.

[Allison]

So one of the comedians, I basically heard half of his act because of all these shenanigans.

[Mike]

I love how you were asking me like, what did he just say? I'm like, I'm just trying not to.

[Allison]

Have a Charlie try not to die. Right?

[Mike]

Don't talk to me for five minutes and let me just try to get through this, please.

[Allison]

Because everyone was laughing and like, yeah, yeah. And I'm like, wait, what was the punchline?

[Mike]

I kind of laughed too, because I rail stood and I was like. And trying to get my mind off things. Oh.

[Allison]

So on that note, shall we dive into this cup of coffee? Are you ready to do this dive with me?

[Mike]

I am ready.

[Allison]

All right, let's go. So this is a listener suggestion from Ashley. Thank so much. And this is the murder of Billie Jean Reynolds. So teenage years can be a challenging time for both the teen themselves as well as their parents. And we know this because our daughter just turned 14 yesterday. We also have a 17 year old son. So there, the, there's a balance of gradually establishing more and more independence. And with this, the teen is fueled by rebellion, hormones and mood swings. Teens are challenged with figuring out who they really are, what they want out of life. They're managing social anxiety. All the while they're trying to fit in.

[Mike]

And real quick, somebody commented on the Aubrey Wyatt case. Well, he'll have old cases that we've done that people will comment on. Cause they gain traction. They're all so important. So somebody said, you know, I'm struggling right now. I'm a teenager and all that. And I felt so bad. And it's like I gave that, I said, you know, send us a dm if I can help at all. I would love to just to say, hey, you know, things, things will get better eventually. Like the teenage years are so hard. I said to her, like, you're changing from a kid to an adult and your brain chemistry is all out of whack. Like, this is one of the hardest times in your life. Like, this is normal what you're feeling. And you know, just, I, I really feel for you guys, right?

[Allison]

And I was talking to our daughter yesterday or two days ago about it and I was like, man, if we, I've mentioned this before, if like somebody gave me the opportunity to go back to my teenage years, I would say, hell no. You know, there's a lot of uncertainty there and it's a, it's a scary time. You feel alone a lot of the time. So there's a lot going on and as parents and caregivers face a teen's defiance, under the surface there's usually fear. There's confusion and a need to be understood. So from the outside, the Reynolds family of three, they looked like something out of a Sunday morning church brochure. However, under the surface, there was anger, resentments and violence that was brewing. And this case proves that sometimes even the brightest family portraits hide the darkest corners. And we all know that by accounts we might follow on Instagram. And everything seems perfect. And you know, you're having a bad day, you pop online, and all of a sudden you feel even worse about yourself because the family who's always in Colorado is now in Italy. And you're like, oh, man. And then they look so happy. And two weeks later there's this announcement that they're divorcing. The point is, we never truly know what's going on under the surface. So in 1997, Robert and Billie Jean Reynolds, they were trying to navigate life with their 17 year old daughter. This is Jacqueline Nicole, who went by Nikki Reynolds. So Nikki was born on July 16, 1979, and at three months old, her birth mother put her up for adoption. So when Robert and Billie Jean, who were a deeply religious couple, they brought Nikki into their lives and they did all that they could to make their baby girl feel loved and welcomed. According to Nikki, she didn't realize that she was adopted until she became old enough to, you know, really start asking questions and understanding. And I will tell you that it's not because her parents were trying to hide it from her. Billie Jean was very open with her daughter and she told her that if she wanted to learn more about her, her biological parents or mother when she was 18 years old, she would support that. So according to Nikki, she had a wonderful childhood. She was loved, she was understood. She had wonderful memories that involved her dad always taking her to baseball games. Her mom and her would go shopping at the mall. Her parents were nurturing. They really were trying never to be judgmental. So while Robert worked for the Florida Department of Transportation, Billie Jean was an administrative assistant with R.J. reynolds Tobacco Company. And according to Nikki, her life growing up in Coral Springs, Florida, it felt like a fairy tale. So not only did Robert and Billie Jean fill their home with love, but they gave their daughter truly everything that she wanted. She truly wanted for nothing. And some people close to the family, they felt that maybe the parents gave Nikki too much. And one family friend, this is Meryl Martin, she indicated that Nikki was never told no. And because of that, she Felt she grew to be a spoiled brat. You know, there is that balance. We want our kids to be happy, but they can't have everything otherwise. You know, there's a lack of. What's the word?

[Mike]

Like, earning things.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yeah.

[Allison]

And it's like you don't even really appreciate that.

[Mike]

Oh, no. And if you give them everything, like, you'll. You know, I always say, like, I wonder if. If you would have bought that with your own money, would that be broken or whatever? You know, it's. It's something. It's a fine line.

[Allison]

So regardless of how Robert and Billie Jean chose to raise their daughter, Nikki seemed to be thriving. When she was younger, she was doing really well in school, and not only did she maintain good grades, but she was an also. She was an active participant in a lot of extracurricular activities, as well as a member of the Coral Baptist Church because, like I said, her parents were deeply religious. So because Robert and Billie Jean were conservative. When Nikki was a sophomore in high school, this was in 1995, they were thrown for a loop when she started to really show a lot of interest in boys. So when she was a junior in high school, Nikki met a boy in her American history class at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High school. This was 16 year old Carlos Infante. So their relationship started as a friendship. They were just in class together. They'd be sitting in their desks, just chatting, getting to know one another. Until gradually the relationship transitioned into something romantic. So Nikki and Carlos's relationship, it ended up being very intense and emotional. It was a roller coaster ride. Not my cup of tea, but somebody's cup of tea.

[Mike]

Right.

[Allison]

So In March of 1996, Nikki came home one day. It was a very disturbing situation. It was a very scary time for her family. She told her parents that when she got off the bus that day, a man had dragged her away and raped her.

[Mike]

Wow.

[Allison]

So, I mean, like, very terrible. Terrible. So Robert and Billie Jean, they immediately contacted the police. And when the officers arrived, as well as a female counselor, Nikki gave them a description of her attacker. So the officers took photos of both Nikki as well as the crime scene where this allegedly happened when she got off the bus. But when the rape kit was completed and the examiners found no trace of sperm, Nikki's story suddenly started changing. And at this point in time, she said that the attack had occurred days before. So as the investigator started, started noticing these discrepancies in her story, the female counselor sat down with Nikki and said, you know, whatever's going on here, you need to tell the truth. So initially Nikki said that she was raped by someone that she knew. But then she later said that she was attacked by a stranger. And I always say when stories start changing, it's, that's likely not the truth because when something actually happens, it's never going to change. And in the end, she admitted that she had made up the entire story and the reason she had done so was because she suspected that she could potentially be pregnant and she wanted to protect her boyfriend. So this was a true bombshell for Robert and Billie Jean because they had not realized that their 16 year old daughter was sexually active. So Billie Jean was mortified. She was highly upset by this information. And this whole ordeal led to extreme issues and Robert and Billie Jean's ability to trust their daughter. They couldn't believe that she had taken it this far, that she had gotten the police involved.

[Mike]

Yeah. Wasting resources and time that could be used elsewhere.

[Allison]

Yeah. So this was very alarming for them.

[Mike]

Really selfish.

[Allison]

And they encouraged her to even seek psychiatric help. But she did not want to go. So according to Nikki, her first sexual encounter brought forth a slew of emotions that she didn't even know existed. It's like the lid blew off this jar and all of a sudden she was feeling all these things she didn't know were in that jar. So as she entered junior year of high school, her grades started to slip. She began skipping classes, and the once active participant in activities began to isolate herself. She was suddenly spending a lot of time alone in her bedroom. And those who were close to Nikki could see that she was really only focused on Carlos. It's like nothing outside of Carlos seemed to matter. Her entire existence seemed to revolve around him. She had photos of him all around her bedroom. Every waking moment had to do with Carlos.

[Mike]

Oh, we only have a stage four clinger here.

[Allison]

Right. And you know, it's, it is a tough time because your hormones are raging and, and you are like so into this person.

[Mike]

Oh, absolutely. We couldn't get enough of each other.

[Allison]

And we are the same age as Nikki because we were born in 1979. We met when we were 16. But there is a balance. You can't just forget your friends and everything else in the world because you have a boyfriend. Yeah, thankfully we were a pretty, we had our, our heads on. Right?

[Mike]

Yeah, I was an idiot and you know, there was a lot of adjusting I had to do. But yeah, you, you always had your head on. Right.

[Allison]

I was like, Mike, come on, you can't do that. No, your Paper is due tomorrow. We have to work on your paper.

[Mike]

No, your friends can't come with us on our first date at the movie theater.

[Allison]

Although they did.

[Mike]

Although they did. And it was Kingpin. It was a very romantic movie.

[Allison]

And our. I learned that his friends were literally sitting in the theater row behind us.

[Mike]

Well, I told him, listen, you know, we're going to see Kingpin. If you guys want to come along and sit a few rows behind, it's totally fine.

[Allison]

I was like, you can't go two hours without your friends.

[Mike]

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[Allison]

So it was Billie Jean's opinion that Carlos was not a good influence on her daughter. I don't think Carlos got very good grades. So Billie Jean started to think, okay, he must be pulling Nikki down. So she felt that Nikki needed to spend more time at church. But the more Billie Jean insisted that Nikki go, the more Nikki fought her, and then the more they argued. So it was a drastic change from what the young girl had grown accustomed to, because she was not at all used to hearing the word no. Robert and Billie Jean could see that their daughter's life was lacking any sense of balance. Because, like I said, she only wanted to spend time with Carlos. They basically started looking at Nikki as a stranger. They didn't recognize the person she had truly become. So when Nikki was told no because she wasn't used to it, she had never heard it growing up, apparently she would have these screaming fits and tantrums, basically acting more like a toddler than a teenager.

[Mike]

Man, it's important that your kids know what. No, very important. So they can emotionally regulate themselves.

[Allison]

You can't have everything you want. Because newsflash, in life, you don't get everything that you want.

[Mike]

I'd say that's one of the harder parts about being a parent. Doing stuff that you, you know is going to make them unhappy. Not necessarily saying no, but just you. If. If something seems hard and, like, you're not looking forward to it, there's. It's probably good parenting, right?

[Allison]

And that's what we tell our kids. We're like, we don't want to make your life miserable, but we have to tell you what's right and wrong. My dad used to always sing, you can't always get what you want.

[Mike]

And thank God for that, man, because that's something I like to sing to you all the time.

[Allison]

Oh, I'd be like, oh, stop. I always told that my parents, I hate the word maybe. I hated the word maybe.

[Mike]

Oh, I love using that with you because you get so mad.

[Allison]

Oh, it's like, yes or no. Are you in or are you out?

[Mike]

We'll see.

[Allison]

So it wasn't long before Nikki began to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night so she could spend more time with Carlos. Billie Jean once confided in a friend, it was a neighbor, Patty Goertz, that things had gotten so bad between herself and her daughter that Patty shouldn't be surprised if she came home to find police cars and fire trucks lined up and down the street. Patty is now haunted by the words that Billie Jean once spoke when she said, I don't know if it's going to be me or Nikki, but one of us is going to be gone. I mean, that's chilling.

[Mike]

Yeah, that's crazy.

[Allison]

So Billie Jean was summoned to Nikki's high school on Wednesday, May 14, 1997, after rumors about Nikki being pregnant started to spread around school until they eventually reached the guidance counselor. This actually happened two days earlier, on Monday, May 12th. So when the counselor met with both Carlos and Nikki that day, Nikki maintained that she was pregnant. Although Carlos had broken up with Nikki by that point, I think it was over the weekend that he ended things. He said that if she was truly pregnant, he would not get back together with her right away, but he would be there to take care of the baby.

[Mike]

That's a decent guy, right?

[Allison]

I think that's mature. So on Tuesday, Nikki came back to school, and she told Carlos that she was most definitely pregnant because she had taken a pregnancy test.

[Mike]

Let me see it.

[Allison]

So because of this, he agreed to get back together with her, believing that they were going to have a baby together.

[Mike]

First incorrect step is believing Nikki with anything.

[Allison]

So finally, on Wednesday, the counselor wanted to speak with Billie Jean. She wanted to make sure she knew what was going on. So she basically asked Nikki, I need your mom's number. Nikki gives her some old disconnected number. But obviously the guidance counselor wasn't just going to be like, oh, okay, well, I guess I can't reach your mom. So she eventually did get a hold of Billie Jean. And when she briefly came down to the school that day, Nikki claimed that she had taken two pregnancy tests, both of which were positive.

[Mike]

Sure.

[Allison]

And I think there were lies there where she's like, my mom took me down to the clinic. And then Billie Jean's like, no, I didn't. So the council requested that Billie Jean, Robert and Nikki all come back to the school on Thursday morning, the next day at 10am to further discuss what was going on and what they should do. So because of Nikki's previous lies, most notably this whole story about being raped, obviously Billie Jean wasn't going to take her daughter's word for face value. So she insisted that Nikki was going to take a pregnancy test. She wanted to see the results for herself. So when they left school that day, she swung into a local pharmacy, whatever, grabbed a pregnancy test. So once home, lo and behold, what do you think? The pregnancy test came back as Negative. Negative. So Nikki later told investigators that she was hoping that it would come back positive so that Carlos would come back to her. I mean, that's the kind of relationship you're dealing with here.

[Mike]

Well, this is the kind of chick that pokes holes in condoms and stuff. 100 get the hell out of that relationship.

[Allison]

You know what it kind of reminded me of while I was doing the research was Wedding Crashers. I love Isla Fisher. Is that her name?

[Mike]

I find you.

[Allison]

Yeah, if you leave me, I'll find you.

[Mike]

Yeah, totally.

[Allison]

And Vince Vaughn is like, holy.

[Mike]

Well, when I said stage four clinger, that's what I was thinking of. Like this chick is fit for a straight check, right?

[Allison]

It's like Single White Female. What's the one with Sharon Stone? The bunny in the pots. Yeah, everyone's probably screaming that. That it reminded me of that. I can't think of the name of that movie for the life of me. Anywho. So she admitted that when they were intimate, they never used protection. So it was very possible that she could potentially be pregnant. Kids, please. If you're gonna do the deed, put a friggin raincoat on that Willie. Just do it.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah. I. Yeah.

[Allison]

No glove, no love.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Allison]

So as Billie Jean and Nikki were waiting for the results of the pregnancy test to show itself, Nikki called Carlos. And when the test came back negative, Billie Jean took the phone from her daughter and she basically apologized to Carlos. I'm so sorry for the stress that my daughter has put you through. So she voiced her disappointment about the fact that not only were they sexually active, but they also weren't using protection. So Billie Jean was furious. She was at her wits end that day. So she insisted that she and her daughter attend an emergency counseling session together at their church. Because this whole hoopla happened at the school. It's like she lied about being pregnant even though she wasn't. It got around school. It reached the guidance counselor. It's like these lies.

[Mike]

Yeah, she needs a lot more than an emergency session here. She needs, like long term care.

[Allison]

But it's like, as a parent, you're like, what do I do? Where do we start here?

[Mike]

There's no book that says, this is what you do.

[Allison]

So during the session, Nikki became very angry when the counselor raised her voice and told her, your mom does not deserve this. So Nikki stormed out of the room and she tried to call Carlos. And after about 15 to 20 minutes, she came back to the session. She managed to calm herself down, and she actually apologized for, you know, her outburst. So moving forward, they came up with a plan for Nikki to meet with the counselor every Wednesday for 10 weeks to discuss what was going on in her life. And little did Billie Jean or the counselor know, but it was at this time when Nikki's thoughts. Thoughts started to get very, very dark. And she started to concoct a plan that the next morning she would go to school and she would murder Carlos.

[Mike]

Oh, my God.

[Allison]

So she planned to bring a knife to school, and when Carlos left his first period class, she was gonna come up behind him and slit his throat.

[Mike]

And it. Let this be a lesson to you guys and girls out there. Somebody's showing signs of just being too much, like very, very too much. And into their own heads and stuff. Get out of that relationship quick.

[Allison]

To this point, I don. She had ever been a violent person. She hadn't ever gotten that far. Is she making up these crazy, inappropriate lies? Absolutely, yes. But she had never been a violent person.

[Mike]

And enough to like, come to the school and slit her his throat in front of everybody? Yeah.

[Allison]

Yes. So Billie Jean left Nikki with the counselor. They were finishing their session, and Billie Jean was part of the choir at church. So she headed down to the choir room. She was gathering her music supplies, guys. And then Nikki came and met up with her. So while they were talking, Nikki told her mom that the next day she was going to go to school as she normally did in the morning. And then she would meet her parents at 10am with the school counselor. And this was when Billie Jean told her, no, you're not going to school in the morning. You're gonna come with us so that we can meet your counselor together at 10am so this was when Nikki realized that this plan that she had quickly concocted in her mind wasn't going to work because she wasn't sure what was going to happen after she met with the counselor. Was the counselor going to send her home with her parents? And also Thursday was a half day at school. So now her mind is continuing to spin and she decided, well, I'll have a change of plans here. First I'm going to kill my parents that night. Then the next day, I'm going to take their car, drive to school, and murder Carlos.

[Mike]

Very optimistic about being able to do all these things. Optimistic in that case, but also obviously crazy.

[Allison]

Crazy, Right. So while Nikki was still at church, she vaguely asked the pastor if a Christian would be forgiven if they attempted suicide or if they did something really bad. So since the reverend had no idea, you know, the extent of the darkness that was going on in Nikki's mind, he said yes to both questions.

[Mike]

Yeah, as long as he begged for forgiveness.

[Allison]

So after Billie Jean and Nikki got back home at about 5:30pm they had dinner together as a family. Robert was there. And then, then he left for church at about 6:30 that evening. And then at around 7pm, Billy Jean headed over to the computer. She was going to do some work. And only minutes later, a frantic 911 call came through at 7:07pm so when the dispatcher asked if there was an emergency, Nikki screamed into the phone, I just killed my mother. 911, do you have an emergency?

[Mike]

I just killed my mother.

[Allison]

You just killed your mother?

[Mike]

Yes, I did. Yeah. Chilling and sounds like she's like, heard about it, like. Yeah. Emotionally taken, like I was expecting, like, I just killed my mother. But she's like, I just killed my mother.

[Allison]

Right. And you can tell that everything happened so quickly because literally, like 37 minutes earlier, Robert had left for church. Like, this all happened on a dime.

[Mike]

Yeah. Frantic.

[Allison]

So she went on to say, I stabbed her repeatedly in the back. There's blood all over her and all over the floor.

[Mike]

I stabbed her repeatedly in the back. There's blood over her and all over the floor. That sounds just terrifying. And then you showed me some of the crime scenes, which we won't share, but if you want to see them, go ahead and take a look. But so lots and lots of blood. Terrible.

[Allison]

It's awful. So when officers arrived at the Reynolds home only minutes later, they found Nikki sitting on her front doorstep. And according to Coral Springs police Detective Paul Fern, she was covered in blood from her legs to her face place. So as officers went inside the home, obviously they knew what they were going to be fine or finding was going to be awful based on just what they saw, what they heard with the 911 call. So they found a 49 year old Billie Jean laying on the floor in the living room. And she was bleeding profusely from 13 stab wounds. And when I tell you there was blood all over the house, it was really bad. So although she attacked her mother, Nikki recalls sitting on the in the back of the patrol car and she was praying out loud that her mom would survive. There was actually a recorder that was going on in the patrol car, so I could hear her saying, please, please, please, please. So she recalls that the paramedics had brought her mom out of the house on a stretcher. I guess she had an oxygen mask on and she had an IV in place. So Nikki felt a sense of hope because her mom wasn't dead as she expected her to be. She thought she was going to see her come out of the house with like a blanket pulled up. So at this point she felt help, hopeful, excuse me, that her mom would survive this. I will tell you, though, tragically, Billie Jean had lost far, far too much blood. And she was pronounced dead at 8:10pm at North Broward Medical Center. So while Nikki had been stabbing her mother to death, Robert had been at church. So at this point in time, he's on his way home and you can only imagine the shock and horror as he approaches his house and it is surrounded by police officers as well as crime scene tape. I mean, just a shocking spectacle. And when he was told of his wife's murder, he recalls breaking down and collapsing in the middle of the street. He was unable to fathom that his wife was gone and their daughter had been responsible.

[Mike]

Oh, can you imagine, like just coming home from church and like you probably had a good message or at least, you know, met with some good friends and stuff and felt pretty good. And you're coming home, you're like, oh no, what happened? And then, then your wife that you.

[Allison]

Love is gone, right at the hands of your daughter who you've raised and loved her entire life. And this all happened in a matter of about two hours.

[Mike]

Like, what did we do wrong? Like what did, what happened? We gave you everything you ever wanted.

[Allison]

And Robert later told investigators that all he had ever asked of his daughter were two things. Keep your room clean and keep your grades up. Robert always told Nikki that if she could continue to just do those two things. He and Billie Jean would take care of everything else. So when Nikki was taken down to the Coral Springs police department, just as she had done with her 911 call, she again confessed to everything. She gave investigators consent to search her bedroom. She told the officers, I have no intention of lying. I don't have any secrets, and I want to get it out.

[Mike]

It's almost like she's finally like, okay, I'm no more lying. This got me to this place. I killed my own mother. Everything's done here, right?

[Allison]

I mean, the. The police officer who spoke with her was like. I mean, mean, it was easy. We didn't have to interrogate her. All we had to say was, what happened?

[Mike]

Yeah, don't make it harder.

[Allison]

Right? So she said that Carlos had broken up with her over the previous weekend because he didn't trust her.

[Mike]

By the way, great move, Carlos.

[Allison]

I know. So since she felt that the only way she could get him back was to fake a pregnancy, that day at school, she said that she was pregnant. And by this point, it was clear that Nikki had not been pregnant, because this was proven by the fact that her mom had forced her to take a pregnancy test. Test. So this whole force, or, excuse me, false pregnancy bit, it was a manipulation tactic, obviously, that Nikki had used in the past. This was not the first time she had done this. She would use this when Carlos would end a relationship. I think, to the office, Kelly Kapoor. You know Kelly.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Allison]

She would fake pregnancies with Ryan. This is the kind of relationship we're dealing.

[Mike]

Like, she's like. To Ryan on the. On the camera, she's like, I'm pregnant. Okay. And then she's being interviewed. She's like, oh, I'm not.

[Allison]

She looks at the camera, and she's like, no, yeah, yeah.

[Mike]

Not. Didn't even say anything. Just right.

[Allison]

So she would do this in hopes of getting him back. And learning that she once again had faked another pregnancy, Carlos became angry and broke up with her. This was the nature of the relationship. It was very toxic and tumultuous. So Nikki told the detectives that since she could not live without Carlos, she would bring a knife to school and kill him in front of their classmates before first period began. And she knew that this would land her in jail and it would, you know, God knows how many years. Years. But she didn't care because she did not want anyone else to have him, so she was willing to be in prison for that. So realizing that she would not be able to go to school on Thursday, until 10am when she and her parents had their counseling session. She started to formulate a plan to murder them first. And initially she considered waiting until they were sleeping. This would be a time when their obvious defenses would be down. She would creep into the room and she would. She would slit their throats. And then she would take the car and go to school the next day and do the exact same thing to Carlos. That was her plan. So normally on Wednesday evenings, she and her family would go to church together. The adults would attend service while the kids went to a youth group. So Billie Jean was a member of the church choir like I had mentioned, and Robert served as a deacon. So during dinner that evening, when they gathered at about 5:30, Billie Jean told Robert to just go without them because the day had just been far too much. They just wanted to stay at home. Home. So this was the moment when Nikki decided that she was going to take the opportunity to kill her mom while her dad was gone. She thought that it would be easier to face them one at a time. And she told the officers that she planned to clean up the mess, wait until her dad came home, then kill him, then go to school the next morning to kill Carlos. So Nikki said that after her dad left for church, her mom asked her to clean up the kitchen, the dishes, that sort of thing. So she was in the kitchen for about 15 minutes. She was pretending to clean. So when her mom sat down at the computer right around 7pm, she grabbed a butcher knife that was about 14 inches long and she even checked the blade to see if it was going to be sharp enough. So when she finally worked up the nerve, she crept up behind her mom, who was sitting at the computer, distracted and completely unaware. So she stood silently behind her mom with her hands shaking as she held this knife. And after a couple of seconds of continuing to stand there and work up her nerve, she suddenly reached around her mom and slashed at her throat. But because she did not cut deeply enough, Billie Jean stood up from the computer desk. She began screaming and running in the direction of the laundry room, screaming, no, Nikki, no. So when Billie Jean first stood up from where she was sitting at the computer, Nikki jabbed the blade at her again, this time slashing her right cheek. So Nikki continued to chase her mom around the house and her mom ran toward the closet in the hallway in the direction of the front door, obviously trying to escape her own home from her own daughter.

[Mike]

What a horrific scene. You're just trying to run away from your daughter who's trying to kill you.

[Allison]

Alone, the knife, I can't even imagine this. So Billie Jean managed to grab onto her daughter in an attempt to pull the knife away from her, but she was unsuccessful. When Billie Jean fell to the floor, Nikki began to stab her in the back as well as her side as she desperately tried to turn over in an attempt to protect herself. She then stabbed her mother in the stomach. So Nikki told the officers that she kept asking her mom if she was dying. She said that she was crying because she felt so bad and she couldn't believe what she was doing. Billie Jean told Nikki that she was dying and she could feel her life fading away since her mom was a deeply religious person. Nikki is down on the floor with her mom, who is bleeding profusely, reassuring her that she would be going to heaven. So when she asked her mom, please don't hate me for this, this, she said that her mom told her that she didn't hate her, that she loved her. So while she was being stabbed, Billie Jean voiced her worry about her husband's well being, what would happen to Robert after she died. And Nikki admitted that her mom was the foundation of their household. She took care of basically everything. She cooked, she did all the laundry. So while Billie Jean lay on the floor, Nikki continued to stab her. She later said that it was almost like she was doing a mercy kill at this point. Also paired with the fact that when she started stabbing her mom, it was basically too late to stop. She was already in trouble. She may as well finish off what she started. So she told officers that in addition to slashing her mom's cheek, she also stabbed her in the back, the breast, her arms, the stomach. And when she eventually called 91 1, the dispatcher asked her to go and check on her mom. And when she did, she said that her lips were turning purple. Her eyes were open, but they were glazed over. And she noticed that the area under her eyes were turning darker and she wasn't moving. And when she felt her neck, she didn't think she felt a pulse. So she made the assumption that at that point in time, her mom was dead. So the dispatcher told her to help her mom. She said that she did help her because now she's in heaven. So at the same time, Nikki said that she was praying for her mom to survive, that she wished she could rewind time because she realized that at that point it was too late. But she had made this insane mistake. She told officers that she wished that she had never started dating Carlos because that's when everything changed.

[Mike]

Yeah, it's Carlos's fault that you did all this.

[Allison]

You can't blame someone else for your actions. That's another thing we tell our kids. Own your decisions and your actions.

[Mike]

Yeah, because other people don't have control over you like you have control over you.

[Allison]

So as Nikki sat in the interrogation room recounting all of the details of what happened that evening, she didn't yet realize that her mother had died as a result of her injuries that had been inflicted by her. She told the officer that her mom was such a good person, and if she did survive her injuries, she wasn't sure how her mom would ever forgive her. She questioned, how will I ever face my mom again? She said that before she met Carlos, she had always been her parents. Precious baby girl. So after she finished stabbing her mom, she went to the kitchen and she rinsed the knife off in the sink and then she just left it there. Police could tell she had made attempts of cleaning up the crime scene.

[Mike]

I can't get that whole sentence out of my head. Said like you just said she'd always been their parents. Precious baby girl. So after she was done stabbing her mom, it's like that is just complete polar opposites. And it's such a terrible, scary.

[Allison]

It's really scary that somebody that was literally the apple of her parents eye up until about a year or so before had suddenly gotten to the point that she's standing in the middle of a bloodied crime scene with her mom's body laying on the floor. Like, how the hell does that happen? So the police officer said they found some bloody towels and things. But if you go and watch anything that I watched and see this crime scene, there's blood everywhere.

[Mike]

If you're queasy, don't look.

[Allison]

Yeah, I mean, don't. So she realized though, as she started the cleaning process that the extent of the blood that was truly throughout the whole main area of the house was going to make it impossible that she could ever clean up this crime scene. There's beige carpeting and there's blood all over it. So not only that, but she also realized that killing her mom had been very difficult because she had to stab her so many times. She figured that it would likely be impossible for her to kill her dad. And this was when she decided to pick up the phone and dial 91 1. She repeatedly told the dispatcher that she must be crazy. And this was a statement that she did make. Two officers, while she was in the interrogation room, room, she kept saying, clearly there must be something deeply wrong with me, that I did this.

[Mike]

That's good that she can recognize it.

[Allison]

So during the interview that she had with officers, she said that she would never live a normal life because of what she had done and that she deserved to spend the rest of her life in prison. Yeah, she felt that she should plead for the insanity defense because no sane person would ever do something like this. She didn't know why she was this way all of a sudden when only a month ago, she said never in her wildest dreams did she ever consider killing anyone, let alone her own parents. So Nikki said that she changed after she met Carlos. She had previously been a good Christian, and she believed in no sex before marriage. So once the relationship turned physical, she said, things changed. She got very close to him. This was the time she turned into that stage four clinger. So when the relationship ended, she said that she just couldn't picture her life without him. She truly didn't think she could live without him. So near the end of her interview, the officer asked Nikki if she had consumed any alcohol. Was she on any sort of drugs, medication that day? And this was the moment when she told officers that she had taken four or five handfuls of aspirin earlier that day in an attempt to end her life. This happened before they had left to go to church for this emergency counseling session. So she elaborated that she's sitting at the church talking to the counselor, but nothing was happening. She was like, okay, I guess this overdose didn't work. However, she said that at that point in time, while she was sitting at the station, the police station, she started to feel lightheaded. She began to get sick to her stomach. I think she vomited. So of course she. She's telling them she took handfuls of pills. They had to legally take her to the emergency room. They did that. So before her thoughts turned homicidal, Nikki first considered taking her own life. So this was allegedly when she swallowed these handfuls of aspirin. So she assumed she was going to die. But again, as the afternoon is progressing, she realized that her overdose had not worked. So aspirin poisoning can occur rapidly after taking a single high dose, or it can develop gradually if you're taking lower doses over a course of time. Symptoms include ringing of the ears, nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, confusion, rapid breathing. Treatments include giving activated charcoal by mouth or via a gastric tube, giving fluids and bicarbonate by iv. For a severe case of poisoning, you could even go as far as to have hemodialysis. It's truly unclear how much Aspirin, if any. Nikki took book. She was very quickly released from the emergency room and then she was booked into county jail on first degree murder charges. At this point in time, she was held in a juvenile correctional facility where she was awaiting trial because at this point in time she was under the age of 18. She was 17. So prosecutors claimed that the murder of Billie Jean Reynolds had been premeditated and they planned to seek a life sentence. So because the teen was so distraught over her breakup with Carlos, she first plotted to kill him. But then when her parents stepped in the way of that plan, she plotted their murders. However, we know she only succeeded in killing her mother. So when the now 19 year old's trial began on April 14, 1999, she pleaded not guilty to charges of first degree murder as her defense team argued that she was innocent by reason of insanity. We know Nikki is responsible for killing her mom. That's not the question. The question is, was she sane or was she not?

[Mike]

I think she's got a case for insanity. Businesses that are selling through the roof, like Untucket, make selling and for shoppers buying simple with Shopify, home of the number one checkout on the planet. And with shop pay, you can boost conversions up to 50%. Businesses that sell more sell on Shopify. Upgrade your business and get the same checkout Untucket uses. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com podcastfree free all lowercase go to shopify.com podcastfree to upgrade your selling today.

[Commercial Announcer]

This is the story of the 1. As head of maintenance at a concert hall, he knows the show must always go on. That's why he works behind the scenes, ensuring every light is working, the H Vac is humming, and his facility shines with Grainger's supplies and solutions for every challenge he faces. Plus 20247 customer support. His venue never misses a beat. Call quick granger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.

[Allison]

So in support of this defense, they called two expert witnesses who argued that she suffered from a mental disease and at the time of her mom's murder, she didn't know right from wrong. They indicated that not only did she suffer from major depression, but she also suffered from borderline personality disorder. And this can affect impulse control as well as relationships with others because clearly her relationship with others is there. It's not healthy. The relationship she had with Carlos was not at all healthy.

[Mike]

And that key distinction, like we've covered in other cases, was that the insanity plea is that you didn't know that that was wrong at the time of it.

[Allison]

Right.

[Mike]

And afterwards when she broke down, like, I can't believe I just killed my own mother. That kind of lends to the fact that maybe it wasn't insanity.

[Allison]

So Dr. William Vickery indicated that at the time of his evaluation of Nikki, although she may have been 17 years old, she truly behaved as a 12 or a 13 year old. Meanwhile, prosecutor Deborah Zaimat argued that her psychiatric disorders were no excuse and Nikki's actions were a result of her self centered worldview under the definition of the law. She didn't fit the legal criteria criteria of insanity in certain people's minds. There were some witness or experts that testified for the defense as well as for the prosecution. So you could say it was like, I think two and two. One team is saying, yes, she does, the other team saying, no, she doesn't.

[Mike]

So if I'm a juror, I'm basically washing out both of those sides because it's like, okay, they cancel each other out.

[Allison]

So what does a jury person do when they're hearing testimony from four witnesses or four experts that are telling you two different things?

[Mike]

And these jurors aren't psychological experts, Experts just like me. So it's just like you. I don't know. I guess in that case, then the insanity plea really can't work.

[Allison]

So that's the thing that I've learned with this podcast, is that the insanity plea is very, very specific. And it is truly a person's ability to distinguish between right and wrong at the time of the crime. So since Nikki's entire interrogation was recorded, jurors were able to hear her entire plan that led up to the point that she murdered her mother.

[Mike]

And what sucks is it's all based on her words and she's a liar. So if she gets coached a little bit, then, you know, it's like, you got to say, like, was she. Did she know it was wrong when she was shaking behind her mom as she was about to commit the murder? And it sounds like, yeah, she probably knew it, which is why she was shaking. Or was she shaking because she was gonna miss her mother and she knew she had to do this? Like, you know, it depends what her story is, and it sucks. You can't just go into her brain and be like, was she insane? Yes or no?

[Commercial Announcer]

No.

[Allison]

Well, she stood behind her mom shaking, working up her nerve. So she knew what she was doing.

[Mike]

Did she say, I was working up my nerve?

[Allison]

I don't know that for 100 certainty. I did listen to a lot of what she said to the police in the interrogation.

[Mike]

That's why I said it's so important in what she says.

[Allison]

So the one thing you can say, though, is she did have that conversation with her pastor at the church hours before, and she spoke to her pastor about whether or not she would go to heaven if she did something terrible.

[Mike]

Ah, great. Yeah.

[Allison]

So that might tell you that if you're asking, will I still get into heaven if I do something awful?

[Mike]

Premeditated. Knew she was doing it. Knew it was bad.

[Allison]

Okay.

[Mike]

Yeah, never mind. Not insane. Putting throw the book at her.

[Allison]

But at the same time, her defense team argued that this question had been in reference to the handfuls of aspirin that she had taken earlier that day.

[Mike]

Oh, bull crap.

[Allison]

In an attempt to take her own life. Yeah, because based on her religious beliefs, suicide was considered a mortal sin.

[Mike]

She was asking about those things, right?

[Allison]

I think so too. So her defense argued that she had been unable to grasp the magnitude of what she was doing when she was attacking her mother. Psychiatric experts testified that not only had Nikki's mental illness, you know, she was suffering from mental illness that was undiagnosed, had this caused her to snap and kill her mom, but also she had taken handfuls of aspirin earlier that day. So one expert testified that this would have caused a metabolic derangement in her body, which would have caused her to have a mini psychotic episode. So this expert is saying not only was she suffering from underlying mental illness with a borderline personality and major depressive disorder, but she had taken the aspirin, which does cause these disturbances. So paired together, this was this psychotic episode that happened.

[Mike]

Sounds kind of far fetched.

[Allison]

Touched, I mean. Yeah. And I guess what they're saying is the moment she looked over and saw her mom's body laying on the floor and she saw the blood all over her house, that this was the moment that she snapped back to reality. And you heard the 911 call. You heard her screaming into the phone, I just killed my mom. And then wailing.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Allison]

It's like she hadn't realized my problem.

[Mike]

Would be, like, years later, once she gets over all that and she's like, you know what? What? Maybe it's time to kill this person that's done me wrong. Like, because she's capable of it. That's the. The problem.

[Allison]

And it's not to say that she would be released, like, okay, Nikki, see, good luck. No, but she would spend her life in a psychiatric facility versus a prison.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Allison]

I think is what it come down to.

[Mike]

Good.

[Allison]

So on April 29, 1999, the jury members were tasked with something that was very difficult because they're listening to four doctors say two different things. That's very confusing. So, you know, Mike, what are you thinking?

[Mike]

So what is it that is she guilty of murder or insanity? What is my option?

[Allison]

Is she not guilty by reason of insanity, or is she guilty of first degree murder?

[Mike]

If I can give her guilty by insanity and she stays in a protected facility, then I'm all for it. Like, give her some help because she clearly needs it. I mean, you know, she's got some things going on for sure. And if she's never gonna see the light of day in public, that that's all I want because I think she's capable of doing it again.

[Allison]

So the 12 members of the jury were deadlocked. So this resulted in a mistrial because there were six votes to convict and six votes for not guilty by reason of insanity down the middle, literally split down the middle, so that they came back with that verdict on May 3, 1999. So then a second trial was held six months later in November of 1999. And it was during this time when Nikki's biological mother, this is Katrina Ramo most, she was reunited with Nikki 15 months earlier. She testified about her family history of depression, suicide attempts, all these psychiatric issues that they had in their family. And she discussed her own mental illness as well as familial violence. She indicated that during her pregnancy, she had done all sorts of things to abort her pregnancy. She was, like, falling on her stomach. She had poor prenatal care ahead. And all of these things she believed had a bad effect on her unborn daughter.

[Mike]

They definitely weren't good.

[Allison]

So at the conclusion of the second trial, the jury came back and they found Nikki guilty of a lesser charge of second degree murder after they rejected her insanity defense. So, you know, big, big change there.

[Mike]

And it's. It's crazy. They almost had more evidence that insanity is a likely excuse. And.

[Allison]

Right. With the mom's testimony, you would think, you know, I think to myself, what would I do if I was a juror? But, you know, the fact that she stood in that kitchen for 15 minutes pretending to clean up, but all the while she was looking at the knife and she was testing to see how sharp it was, and she stood behind her mom and she was shaking. I don't know.

[Mike]

And listeners, if you're listening on Spotify or YouTube, go leave your comments what.

[Allison]

You would have voted so Billie Jean's siblings, they told the judge that Nikki deserved the maximum penalty. And Carnac, this is one of Billy's, Jean, Jean's three sister, said Nikki is strong willed and her selfish and evil ways have caused immeasurable suffering. Let us not allow ourselves to be manipulated as Nikki has done so in the past. So they saw the whole insanity plea as nothing but another manipulation tactic out of Nikki because a lot of people saw Nikki and thought that she was a freaking spoiled brat, that if she didn't get whatever she wanted, she was going to have a freaking fit. So that's their, their view. So during Nikki Sentencing on January 7, 2000, the then 20 year old offered tearful apologies as she said, I didn't mean to hurt her. I didn't mean to tear the family apart. Robert, who remarried quickly in 1998, the following year he was not present. He has had no contact with his daughter since January of 2000. According to Nikki, she told a judge that her adopted father had stopped visiting her in jail as of June of 1997, but each week he had continued to send her a card. Billie Jean's brothers and sisters, they were present in the courtroom and as she looked in their direction, Nikki said, I know you're all confused, but I'm even more confused.

[Mike]

Oh, okay. It makes it all better, right?

[Allison]

So Broward Circuit Judge Shapiro rejected the defense's request of granting Nikki a lighter sentence due to her youth, her immaturity. Because of course those experts did say, yes, she may have been 17 at the time, but she had the mental capacity of basically like a 12 or a 13 year old.

[Mike]

She was probably like super sheltered and everything. And just like they said, they didn't ask anything of her besides grades and, you know, just keeping her nose clean basically. And it's just like, yeah, that's, that didn't mature her at all.

[Allison]

And paired with her psychiatric issues, you know, they were saying, you know, can you please give her a lighter sentence? But instead the judge gave her the longest sentence permitted did, which was 34 years in prison. And of course at the time of the sentencing, she is 20. So she would have been 54 years old at the earliest point that she could be released. Although she was sentenced as an adult, the judge ordered the Department of Corrections to place her in prison for youth offenders for the first few years of her sentence. So an appellate, appellate. Easy for me to say. An appellate court later ruled in another case that the sentencing guidelines were unconstitutional and Nikki was entitled to be re sentence. This happened in April of 2001, a time when she had been in prison for about four years altogether because her crime happened in 1997. So Judge Shapiro re sentenced her to 21 years and eight months. This cut her sentence by more than 12 years. So prior to the resentencing, prosecutor Deborah Zimetz, she requested that because the crime had been. Been so incredibly violent, it was her request that the judge stick with that 34 years. He did not. He did 21 years and eight months. So I will tell you that Nikki became eligible for parole in 2015. And on September 18th of that year, 2015, she was 36 years old. She was released from prison.

[Mike]

Yeah, I was doing the math. I'm like, she's out.

[Allison]

Yeah, she. She's been out for 10 years now. And again, 36 years old, that's. That's young.

[Mike]

Absolutely.

[Allison]

Got a lot of her life ahead of her. There is truly no information about her whereabouts. The documentary that I watched about this case, she was in the documentary, she was explaining what her mental status was at that point, etc. Etc. I don't know how old she was in that documentary, but she is our age. So at this point in time, she's 46 years old. Don't know what her life looks like.

[Mike]

I hope she's finding the help she needs, man, and not hopefully on whatever meds necessary because, you know, that's. I'm glad she saw that, that it wasn't supposed to happen, her killing her own mother. And maybe that got to her. Hopefully it's something that she's just gonna stick with and make her brain better.

[Allison]

And, you know, her dad, I'm not quite sure how old he is. I would guess he's probably in his 80s. I hadn't read anything that he had passed away. So whether or not she reunited with Robert and has a relationship with him, I have absolutely no idea. So on May 14, 1997, Billie Jean Reynolds, she did not just lose her life. I mean, a family truly lost their center. Everything that they knew in their world was completely shattered. Their entire sense of safety, their trust, and what was supposed to be unconditional. We call our family of four Team Perchy. And we always tell our kids, if ever there's a time that you have uncertainty happening, you're at school, you've got this turmoil, you know, you can come back home and you are rallied by love and support, that this is your sense of safety. And Billie Jean lost her life in her home, the place that was supposed to be safe by the person that she had nurtured and loved and adored her entire 17 years of life. That is who killed her. I mean, that is just something that I. I don't know how you, you get over.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Allison]

So it's just truly like her actions left behind nothing but chaos and a deeply grieving family. But this case is a haunting reminder that some, sometimes the most devastating violence, it might not come from strangers. It can sometimes come within the walls of your own home. And that is the sad and tragic murder of Billie Jean Reynolds.

[Mike]

So sad.

[Allison]

Who lost her life at 49 years old. Old. As she sat at a computer doing some mundane task on a Wednesday evening at your suburban home in Coral Springs, Florida.

[Mike]

Yeah. Sad. So thank you for telling the story. It's. It's terrible. And hopefully, Nikki, wherever you are, you're finding the help you desperately, desperately need. And you realize that. And like, that's the problem with mental health. It's like you think you're fixed and then you get off your meds and then you're back to where you were.

[Allison]

She was not on meds.

[Mike]

No. But I'm saying now.

[Allison]

Right, of course. And I will tell you that this case was suggested by a listener who went to high school with Ashley. She knew her as a 17 year old. She probably knew Carlos.

[Mike]

Who's Ashley?

[Allison]

Ashley is the girl who went to school with Nikki.

[Mike]

Oh, okay.

[Allison]

Yeah. So anyway, I can't imagine having somebody that you attended classes with, you talk to in the hallways, and now you're like, oh my gosh, she went home from school that day. I saw her that day. And she killed her mom. Yeah. I mean, that's crazy.

[Mike]

Well, it's like you're already the target because rumors are going around that you're pregnant, you know? You know, in high school, like I think everybody had that pregnant girl in high school or girls, you know, and it's such a sad thing because, like, even as a guy, like, nobody talks about the guy. It's like, because the girl has a big pregnant belly, Right.

[Allison]

She's the one that's walking around, you know, wearing the evidence of her. Their deeds, which not to say a lot of high, high school students are sexually active. But like you say, the guy gets off scot free. He's walking through the halls, no one's looking at him, high fiveing. It's like always, it's always the woman, you know? But in this case, it wasn't just that Nikki was allegedly pregnant. It was that she lied about it. She made it up.

[Mike]

Yeah. And then you're like, wow. Now she killed her mom.

[Allison]

And it sounds like she was very vocal, so the rumors were probably going through the hallways. And then, of course, this comes out. And then Carlos hears that her intent had been to kill him. It's like, whoa.

[Mike]

And now she's living her whole life now, and she killed her mom, who loved her.

[Allison]

I can't imagine how you go to bed at night, how you wake up in the morning, and it doesn't just swallow you whole.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Allison]

That not only. You know, I. I lost my mom not even a month ago, and I am still obviously reeling and devastated. And I sit on the couch some days I'm perfectly fine doing research, and then I'm sobbing hysterically. But to know your mom is gone and to know that you are the person responsible, how you get through that, I don't know. A lot of mental counseling and help, I guess.

[Mike]

Yeah. You know, there's usually a lot of hatred towards murderers, but, like, I don't want to kind of say, God bless her. Hopefully she gets through stuff. And can you make her life a little bit better somehow? And, like, it maybe give towards, like, time to your customer? And not customer, but like, servicing people.

[Allison]

I don't know, like, being an advocate, a mental health advocate. But truly, this case is a reminder that if you are struggling because there's a lot of complexities going on in the human brain, and it's okay to need help. I think we all need help. Like, we could truly all benefit.

[Mike]

I don't. I'm good.

[Allison]

Yeah, sure. We could all benefit from going to counseling to talking to somebody about the things that go through our minds.

[Mike]

And really quick, I want to say, I don't hope she's servicing people. I hope she's doing community service.

[Allison]

Who says service?

[Mike]

I don't know. I couldn't come up with the words. I'm old. I'm 46. Please, please give me some grace. Okay.

[Allison]

Is she a car? You take her in the. Yeah. No, I know exactly what you were thinking when you said servicing.

[Mike]

No, that's not what I was actually thinking. But now I am. Okay.

[Allison]

I know.

[Mike]

I'm moist.

[Allison]

You're a little moist.

[Mike]

Sorry. People love that word, moist.

[Allison]

But I'm gonna go back to saying as a reminder, please, if you are struggling, please go get help. People want to help people. People truly do care. I promise you, even if you feel so alone at this moment in time, people care about you. And I want to help as many people as I possibly can. Like, genuinely, when you meet an empathetic person, they don't want to see somebody struggling.

[Mike]

Yeah, we're all in this thing together, man. We're all on the same team, and.

[Allison]

We'Re all struggling to some extent.

[Mike]

Yeah. It's like the divisiveness of, like, politics makes us forget that we're all on the same team.

[Allison]

Right. As humanity. As it comes down to humanity. I mean, I've got my face in the book called the Confidence Gap, and I'm like, help give me more confidence. I'm writing in my journal. I'm rocking in my chair.

[Mike]

She does. She's doing all those things. It's sad.

[Allison]

But the point is, we're all going through this journey together. Let's help each other. Let's lift each other up. Let's not tear each other down. This goes back to social media. When you are on social media, even if you are hiding behind a keyboard or a phone, you might not know this person. It's a person. It's a human being. I don't care if they're a celebrity. They have feelings. Please don't leave nasty comments.

[Mike]

Leave a good one.

[Allison]

Something nice.

[Mike]

Yeah, leave a good one.

[Allison]

And I do that in the evening when I hop on Instagram. I make it my mission to leave at least a few positive reviews.

[Mike]

Something as little as, like, cute shoes or whatever, you know?

[Allison]

Yeah. Do I sometimes see videos where I'm like, oh, she's crazy? Yeah, I do. And I just keep scrolling, trolling, and then I say, oh, wow, what a beautiful home that you have.

[Mike]

Or you work so hard for this. You deserve this.

[Allison]

Yes. Or like Mr. Ballin, who I love, he. He will show, like, these awards, and I'm like, good for you, man. You deserve everything you get. Yeah, I like doing that. Spread kindness, not negativity.

[Mike]

Yep.

[Allison]

Even if you're thinking it, don't say it. And on that note, Mike, is there anything else you want to say to our listeners to end this thing?

[Mike]

I apologize for myself, yourself, always and all, everywhere. And I just want to say, if you want to subscribe, come on over and want to listen to more of us on Patreon or Apple. Subscribe subscriptions or even in Spotify.

[Allison]

Yeah. And again, we will say, if you're new to us, our son is working on our YouTube edits. So if you are interested in seeing what our mugs look like paired with our disgusting voices.

[Mike]

Yeah. And I'm starting to post, like, shorts almost every day now. So we get, like, stuff on YouTube, on TikTok, tok, on, you name it, and we're there.

[Allison]

Yeah, we would love it if you could just take a second to just hop over to YouTube. Even if you don't watch YouTube. If you could just throw us a bone and just hit subscribe.

[Mike]

Like subscribe. Comment on one of the videos. That's all we ask. Nothing big.

[Allison]

Maybe throw us a five star review on Apple. Subscribe to our channel. Just little things like that help us tremendously and I will tell you, we appreciate it so, so much.

[Mike]

All right, let's wrap this up.

[Allison]

Al, thank you so much for listening. We hope you have a happy and healthy week. And until next time, bye. Don't tell me to wrap it up.

[Mike]

You're just going and going and going.

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[Mike]

If you like the show, please take a moment to rate review and subscribe. It really does help the show to grow. Thank you for listening.