Til Death Do Us Part (Leon Dewayne Hignite)

Summary

Homicide 360 – Episode Summary

Podcast: Homicide 360
Episode Title: Til Death Do Us Part (Leon Dewayne Hignite)
Air Date: August 11, 2026
Hosts: Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi & Scott Weinberger
Guest: Katie Holt, Prosecutor, Fayette Commonwealth Attorney's Office, Lexington, KY

---

Episode Theme and Purpose

This episode explores the tragic homicide of Leon “Dewayne” Hignite, an elderly man found gravely injured, and ultimately deceased, inside his home in Lexington, Kentucky. The case serves as a stark examination of domestic violence within long-term relationships, the hidden dynamics of elder abuse, and the complex investigative and legal journey to uncover the truth. The hosts, along with prosecutor Katie Holt, delve into the investigation, family history, and trial—illuminating how power, control, and neglect can hide in plain sight, even after decades of marriage.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene & Background

• The Hignites, Dewayne and Carol, were a retired couple married over 50 years, living in a quiet Lexington neighborhood (04:24).
• Dewayne: Retired tool-and-die maker, described as a lifelong caretaker and provider (04:47).
• Carol: Almost a decade his junior, managed household and finances, described as increasingly controlling with age (05:49).
• As Dewayne’s health declined (loss of sight, hearing), their roles reversed—Carol became the caregiver but also had unchecked control over Dewayne’s movements and interactions (05:57, 06:20).

2. Discovery of the Crime

• Dewayne disappeared from daily routines in late September 2017; Carol told neighbors he was recovering from back surgery (07:03).
• On September 28th, 2017, Carol called 911, reporting Dewayne was unconscious (07:29).
• The responding officer found the house cluttered; Dewayne was unresponsive, with his head wedged under the bed frame and blood pooling around him (08:07, 08:18).
• Odd scene details: Cut clothing, newspaper under Dewayne, indication he’d lain there for days (08:49).
• Carol appeared calm, “in a fairly pleasant mood”—her demeanor was immediately noted as strange for the gravity of the situation (09:10).

3. Carol's Account & Immediate Doubts

• Carol claimed Dewayne had fallen, hitting his head in a tiny bathroom before moving himself to the bedroom (10:36).
• Despite his severe injuries, Carol didn’t attempt first aid or timely help, allegedly because Dewayne “would be mad” if she called for help; she kept a written log of observations over three days (12:45, 13:13).
• Memorable Quote:
  “She said that she waited a few days to contact help for her husband, because he always got better… She didn’t want to bother anybody.” — Katie Holt (13:13)
• Investigators’ skepticism: "You don’t stop at the story someone gives you. You test it against the room, the blood, the body. And the body always tells the truth.” — Scott Weinberger (13:49)

4. Medical Findings & Escalating Suspicion

• Dewayne’s injuries included 33 deep lacerations to the head, broken ribs, fractured orbital socket, broken leg, dehydration, and skin ulcers—far beyond a simple fall (15:33, 16:30).
• Doctor: "This is not right. This is not somebody who’s fallen. You don’t see these types of injuries… consistent with a fall." — Katie Holt (16:48)
• Extensive blood found throughout the house, including spatter; the scene increasingly contradicted Carol’s explanation (17:23, 17:43).

5. Evidence of Cover-up & Arson

• While processing the scene, police discovered a fire had been started in the basement shortly after Carol was left alone to “get her purse” (19:32, 21:13).
• Arson investigation confirmed the fire was deliberately set, using matches and a lighter—strongly implicating Carol, as only she had access (22:03, 22:25).
• Investigators found a suspiciously clean pink hammer—possibly the assault weapon—by the kitchen sink (22:45).

6. Physical & Behavioral Clues

• Despite the home’s general disrepair, the bathroom was almost spotless, with very little blood, which did not fit Carol's account (23:56).
• Damage to the bathroom door was consistent with hammer strikes; the lacerations on Dewayne matched the hammer (24:08, 24:26).
• In the bedroom, paper crosses with prayers for healing suggested Carol was aware of the gravity long before calling 911 (25:25).

7. The Family Dynamic

• Carol deflected blame onto her daughter, citing a bad relationship, although investigators suspected she was simply deflecting (28:38).
• The Hignites' children described a mother who was controlling and a father who had unexplained injuries for years, but who always protected Carol when confronted (39:30, 40:02).

8. Legal Proceedings

• Initially charged with felony assault, Carol’s charges were upgraded to murder, third-degree arson, and abuse/neglect after Dewayne succumbed to his injuries (35:13, 35:24).
• The case took years to reach trial due to COVID, elections, judicial turnover, and competency evaluations (36:27).
• Prosecutors argued Carol intentionally assaulted and neglected Dewayne; defense painted it as a tragic accident between a devoted, aging couple (37:30, 41:55).

9. Trials and Verdicts

• First trial (2022): Jury viewed the actual home, but could not reach a verdict; mistrial declared (43:19).
• Retrial (2025): Disallowed jury to visit crime scene or view a full-scale bathroom replica, which weakened the prosecution’s demonstration of the space (44:47, 45:56).
• Defense focused on accusation of “expectation bias” and tunnel vision by police (47:37, 47:51).
• Ultimately, the jury acquitted on arson, but convicted Carol of first-degree manslaughter and knowing abuse of an adult (48:43, 48:53).

10. Sentencing and Aftermath

• Carol Hignite was sentenced to 11 years; after time served, she faced only a short period before release (49:17, 49:27).
• The case caused deep pain for the Hignites’ children, forced to testify against their mother and left grieving both parents (49:37, 50:12).

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On delayed 911 call:
  “Which obviously begs the question, just how long had Dwayne been lying on the floor severely injured?” — Scott Weinberger (12:03)

• On Carol’s affect:
  “He described… Ms. Hignite was in a fairly pleasant mood. She didn’t seem particularly panicked... There was what appeared to be blood spray on the wall... like a scene from a horror movie.” — Katie Holt (09:10)

• On abuse dynamics:
  “I've prosecuted a lot of domestic violence situations, but we don't frequently see domestic violence cases where the woman is the perpetrator and it's the man who has endured a lifetime of abuse.” — Katie Holt (40:06)

• Trial outcome:
  “The jury convicted her of manslaughter and not murder.” — Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi (48:58)

• Reflection on hidden abuse:
  “What stays with me about this case is how complicated abuse can look when it happens inside a long marriage... But inside that house, the balance of power had changed.” — Scott Weinberger (51:38)

• On the children’s dilemma:
  “They believed their mother was guilty, but their mother still wanted to go through a trial, and they had to testify twice against her.” — Katie Holt (49:37)

---

Timeline & Timestamps

• Early background: 00:31–06:42
• Crime scene & discovery: 07:03–10:26
• Carol’s account, doubts, and investigation: 10:36–14:16
• Hospital & injury findings: 15:01–17:10
• Evidence of arson: 19:19–22:25
• Discussion of family dynamics: 28:38–29:30
• Legal charges updated: 35:13–36:04
• Trial #1: 36:08–43:35
• Retrial: 43:35–48:43
• Verdict/sentencing: 48:43–49:27
• Impact on the family: 49:37–51:14
• Final reflections: 51:38–53:33

---

Tone & Takeaways

The episode is compassionate, methodical, and at times emotionally charged; it takes great care not just to recount legal proceedings but to center the human cost—both Dewayne's suffering and the children’s loss and conflict. The hosts maintain their signature blend of prosecutorial insight and empathy for victims, emphasizing how elder and domestic abuse often go unnoticed, especially when roles are reversed or the perpetrator is not whom society expects.

Key Takeaway:
Elder abuse and domestic violence can be hidden even within long-term, outwardly ordinary relationships. It’s critical to look beyond appearances and trust the evidence—because sometimes, as this case shows, it’s the quiet victims who need the most protection, and the truth may only be revealed through the painstaking, relentless work of investigators, prosecutors, and those willing to speak for the voiceless.

Transcript

[Scott Weinberger]

I'm not giving up. I am selling the building. The final season of FX is the Bear.

[Katie Holt]

The restaurant is flooded.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Everything's either gonna be okay.

[Scott Weinberger]

No, stop.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Or not.

[Scott Weinberger]

We are outgunned and we are outmanned, but we have each other. FX's the bear, the final season, all episodes now streaming on Disney.

[Katie Holt]

He just died a horrible death. And to die, I mean, you live into your older years. You retire, you work so hard, you contribute to the community. You want to live a quiet life. And it was just. Just unbelievable.

[Scott Weinberger]

I'm Scott Weinberger, investigative journalist and former former deputy sheriff.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

I'm Anna Sega Nicolasi, former New York City Homicide prosecutor.

[Scott Weinberger]

And this is Homicide 360.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

What happens when a person meant to care for you becomes the one doing harm, be it purposely or inadvertently?

[Scott Weinberger]

For those who are especially vulnerable, the elderly, people with disabilities, and those who depend on others for daily support, there can be a significant power imbalance between the person who's providing the care and the person who's receiving it.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

And in some cases, that imbalance becomes a problem.

[Katie Holt]

She controlled the finances. She controlled where he went, what he did. And he had retired after working for some decades. And at that point, she became even more controlling.

[Scott Weinberger]

That's Katie Holt, a prosecutor at the Fayette Commonwealth Attorney's Office in Lexington, Kentucky. It's a career she came to after a personal experience, a witness to a crime.

[Katie Holt]

My best friend was murdered 20 years ago this year. And when that happened, I met the prosecutors here at this office and was so inspired by them and how they treated the victims in the process and the remaining family that I decided I wanted to be a prosecutor, too. So I went to trial on that case five years later, which happened to coincide with the time I was taking the bar. It took that long. It was a capital case. And after I took the bar, I got hired by the Commonwealth's Attorney here, and I've been here ever since.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

And I just have to add here that I told Katie when we spoke, I felt immediately connected to her in two ways. One, on the lighter side, her former boss and the one who hired her was a man named Ray Larson, a legendary da. And I knew him because he gave me my first big award back when I was a pretty young Prosecutor, the National DA's Association's home run Hitter Award. And I still have that Louisville Slugger bat that came with it up in my home to this day. And I think I'll put a picture from that up on Instagram when this airs so you can check it out. And Two, on a deeper note, I completely get and agree that a connection to homicide impacts you as a prosecutor. As some of you may know, my cousin was murdered when I was nine, and for me, I saw firsthand the devastating effect. Her parents became shells of their former selves, and maybe more about that another day. But I think that that perspective for sure, has shaped me as a prosecutor and the importance that I place on the victims and survivors.

[Katie Holt]

I have a unique viewpoint where I had to go through the criminal justice system and I had to. My trial, my case took five years, and I had to testify. I had to testify more than once, as a matter of fact. And I know how hard it is for people to get up there and confront the person that's hurt them. I feel like because of that experience, I'm better able to tell them, I know it's really hard, but you can do it. Already done the hard parts by talking to the police, by reporting, by just showing up. And if you can make it this far, you can go up there and do that.

[Scott Weinberger]

Katie's no stranger to prosecuting violent crimes in Lexington, but even in big cities, there are certainly areas where crime rarely

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

seems to touch, Much like the neighborhood where Leon Hignite, who went by Dwayne, lived with his wife, Carol Ann.

[Katie Holt]

They lived on a place called Holly Springs Drive here in Lexington, which is in a particular community that doesn't have a lot of crime, is kind of a neighborhood that has some older people, but a lot of families, too. And it's a really quiet neighborhood.

[Scott Weinberger]

In 2017, Duane was 76 years old and retired from a career as a tool and die maker.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

I'd never heard of that before we covered this case. But basically, tool and die makers are highly skilled craftspeople who build the tools and molds that are then used to manufacture everyday items.

[Katie Holt]

He was very talented, apparently, in his particular job, and he worked hard his entire life so that Ms. Hignite did not have to work. So she was a stay at home mom.

[Scott Weinberger]

Duane and Carol had been married for more than 50 years, and they had two adult children, a son named Jason and a daughter named Heather.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

In a lot of ways, Duane had always been the caretaker and provider in their home. But at some point, when his health began to decline, the there was a reversal of that dynamic.

[Scott Weinberger]

He'd lost sight in one eye and had a lot of trouble with his hearing, which you can imagine. For someone like Duane, who spent his life working with his hands and taking care of the family, this decline must have been an emotional challenge. As Much as a physical one.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Carol, who was almost a decade younger than her husband, fortunately was still in good health.

[Katie Holt]

She had to take care of him because he couldn't see, he couldn't hear. She took care of all the finances, she said. She did all the cooking and all the cleaning in the house.

[Scott Weinberger]

According to their children, Carol had always been controlling. But once Duane retired, his health started to decline, as we mentioned, and that control had more weight. She wasn't just a wife anymore. In many ways, she was the person deciding what he could do, where he could go, and how much independence he had left.

[Katie Holt]

He liked to go to the grocery store whenever he retired. He would walk to the grocery store every day. She would tell him exactly what to get. If he got anything more than that, she would ask questions about it.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

This was a couple that had been married for 50 years, with all its routines and accepted roles. So, as with many aging couples, they may have been going through some really challenging changes. And that can put a strain on

[Scott Weinberger]

a partnership, which is another reason why, according to their kids, Dwayne's daily walks to the grocery store were so important to him. Not just for the fresh air, but for that independence, the routine, and the feeling of purpose, which I'm sure many of our retired listeners or people with retired parents could probably understand.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

But in the last week Of September, in 2017, Duane was no longer seen on his daily walks to the store. Carol told concerned neighbors that back surgery had Duane laid up, but he would eventually be back on his feet and they'd see him again soon.

[Scott Weinberger]

So a few days later, on the evening of September 28, 2017, the blue lights of a local police car were flashing in the Hignite's driveway, and neighbors feared the worst.

[Katie Holt]

There was a call that was made to the police department from Ms. Hignite, and she told the police that her husband was unconscious and she didn't think he was doing well.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

The responding officer entered the ranch style home. One of the first things he noticed was that it was in some disrepair and very cluttered.

[Katie Holt]

Now, Mr. Hignite was blind in one eye and mostly deaf, and so his ability to clean this house was Fairly limited, and Ms. Hignite wasn't maintaining it to the most clean standards.

[Scott Weinberger]

The basement was also tarped off because, according to Carol, it was full of mold.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

The officer was led to the master bedroom where he discovered Duane lying unresponsive on the bedroom floor. There was also some blood pooling around his head.

[Katie Holt]

He thought it was just going to be a very minor person fell type of situation and had no idea that he was going to walk in and see Mr. Hignite, who was nearly dead at that point. And so whenever he came in, realizes he was in such bad shape, he called all these other units who started responding pretty quickly.

[Scott Weinberger]

Duane was unconscious and strangely his head seemed to be wedged underneath the bed frame. It was immediately apparent that this was no ordinary slip and fall.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

And there were other odd details about the scene as well. Some of his clothing had been cut off and there was newspaper underneath his body, signs that Duane may have been on the floor for some period of time.

[Scott Weinberger]

And according to the first responder, Carol didn't seem to register the seriousness of the scene or her husband's injuries.

[Katie Holt]

He described that when he walked in, Ms. Hignite was in a fairly pleasant mood. She didn't seem particularly panicked. And she demonstrated that he was around the corner to the first bedroom on the left where he was laying on the floor. There was what appeared to be blood spray on the wall, so there was blood stains underneath him. And he actually described it as like a scene from a horror movie.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

So Scott, of course we have to wonder about Carol's affect. You know, she doesn't seem to be that disturbed in the way that that officer or likely many might expect based on the severity of what he then saw with Dwayne's condition. And right now I'm looking at this, I guess in two ways. One, maybe she is not as okay or as with it as everyone thinks and actually doesn't even realize how bad her husband is doing or, or of course there's always that possibility that she doesn't care. But even so, this affect is definitely unusual. So I'm already very curious about it.

[Scott Weinberger]

I mean, we're describing a pretty stunning scene, right? Anasega. And listen, people react differently to seeing things and she's up there in age and you know, she probably walked into the room expecting one thing and she got something totally different.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

So as paramedics arrived, they attempted to administer life saving aid. And Carol explained to the responding officer how Duane had ended up unconscious on the floor.

[Katie Holt]

She said that they had a small bathroom off the kitchen and it was very small, small, about even a normal person's standards. Smaller than probably a porta potty that you would walk into. It was tiny and that he had a lot of trouble walking and he had gone into the bathroom. She was in the kitchen. She heard him making some racket noise in there. And he came out, was conscious and said that he had fallen and hit his head underneath the sink in the small bathroom, and then he went and laid down on the floor in the bedroom where police and ambulance located him.

[Scott Weinberger]

So Carol said Dwayne had fallen and hit his head on the bathroom sink, which didn't sound implausible, given Duane's health issues. But could that really have accounted for all the blood, especially what police described as blood spatter on the wall nearby?

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

It also appeared that despite his obvious injuries, there wasn't any indication if Carol had attempted to stop the bleeding or render any kind of first aid before she called 911. Now, she had cut away some of his clothing and thrown out his pajama pants, perhaps because they'd become stained. Yet there were no bandages or towels around him, just newspaper under his body, which Carol explained that she had put there because Duane had urinated on himself and that he was too big for her to move him, so that she had put the papers underneath him in case it happened again.

[Scott Weinberger]

Which obviously begs the question, just how long had Dwayne been lying on the floor severely injured? Police were shocked to learn that, according to Carol, Duane fell on the 25th, and now at this point, it was the 28th, which means Duane would have been lying on the floor in his own blood for almost three days before Carol finally called for help. And let me just say with a delayed 911 call, I'm not just asking why someone waited. I'm asking what did they do while they were waiting.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Carol said that she had been trying to treat her injured husband herself before she realized that his condition was just getting worse.

[Katie Holt]

She had made a whole written log of things that she had noticed in that couple of days, like what his temperature was, what he ate. At one point, I think she gave him water chips and said that she was trying to keep him hydrated.

[Scott Weinberger]

So of course, the question was, why didn't she call for help sooner? Was she embarrassed? Were they just trying to be private, or was there something she was trying to hide?

[Katie Holt]

She said that she hadn't called the police because he would be mad at her for calling the ambulance for help. She also said she waited a few days to contact help for her husband because he always got better. And so she was just waiting for him to get better and she didn't want to bother anybody.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

And, Scott, I think it can go both ways, right? To us, obviously serious, but maybe in earnest. It wasn't, for whatever reason, as much to her, and she just didn't get it. Or maybe this couple just didn't like outsiders intruding they wouldn't be the first. So I'm 100% concerned about what I'm hearing. But I also think it's too soon to tell what's going on here based on what we have so far.

[Scott Weinberger]

But for me, Anasiga, this is where the case kind of shifts. Because at first, Carol's story might sound plausible. An elderly man, a small bathroom, and a fall. But in an investigation, you don't stop at the story someone gives you. You test it against the room, you test it against the blood, you test it against the body. And here a wife tells one story, the house tells another, but the body always tells the truth.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

I don't know. I have to say, we don't know the whole thing yet. We don't know her own mental health capacity. We don't know their own makeup, their beliefs. And maybe they're just embarrassed or he didn't want people to come in. Yes, I definitely think that my eyebrows are raising from the beginning, but I still think it's too soon to actually tell, but that they need to obviously go much deeper first.

[Scott Weinberger]

And these were all questions Anasega investigators and Duane and Carol's family would need to answer. But in the meantime, Duane's condition required immediate attention.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

An ambulance rushed Duane to the hospital, where he was admitted to level one trauma, the highest category of trauma care.

[Scott Weinberger]

Police also contacted Carol and Duane's son, who arrived at the parents house to pick his mother up.

[Katie Holt]

The son arrived to pick up Ms. Hignite, and Ms. Hignite said, I need to go back into the house. I forgot my purse. So she goes back into the house for a few minutes. She is left unattended in there. She comes back out a few minutes later with her things, and she gets in the car with her son and they leave. And then the other officer leaves. So the house is empty for that period of time.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

When the hignite's two adult children arrived at the hospital, they were shocked to find their father in such critical condition and to learn the extent of his multiple injuries.

[Katie Holt]

The most obvious thing were the injuries to his head. So he was mostly bald, but he had what appeared to be a number of lacerations and cuts to the top of his head and his scalp that were extremely deep and not typically caused by a sink or a toilet in a bathroom. They were sharp lacerations to his head and they were large lacerations to his head.

[Scott Weinberger]

Now, we're not talking about just one or two deep lacerations. We're talking about a total of 33 deep cuts. The Cause of which were still unknown.

[Katie Holt]

They did note that because of the amount of time he laid there, Some of these lacerations that he had had started to scab and try to heal. So they weren't completely fresh, as if they'd been made really recently, but they were definitely in a healing stage, as if it had happened a couple of days before.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

But that was just the beginning, and we are warning you now, this is a lot. Duane also had broken ribs, a collapsed lung, A fractured orbital socket, and even a broken leg. He was severely dehydrated and had visible skin ulcers on the right side of his body where he'd been lying on the floor.

[Katie Holt]

We did have a doctor from the hospital who examined him, who was in charge of the trauma unit at the university of kentucky, Come in and talk about how he initially took a look at him and thought, this is not right. This is not somebody who's fallen. You don't see these types of injuries, Injuries that are consistent with a fall.

[Scott Weinberger]

Between duane's injuries and Carol's story, Things just weren't adding up.

[Katie Holt]

Her explanation that he had been on the floor for two days, she left newspapers underneath him, and she hadn't done anything at all to make sure he got help was pretty unusual.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Investigators quickly returned to the house on holly springs drive to take a closer look and document any potential evidence, not just of an accident, but maybe a possible crime. And once they were there, they documented extensive blood evidence throughout different rooms of the house, including some spatter on the walls, ceilings, and doors.

[Katie Holt]

The blood on the walls was obviously very suspicious and substantial. It was not an amount of blood that anyone would find acceptable or normal to be on the walls.

[Scott Weinberger]

From an investigative standpoint, the bedroom was telling a different story than the bathroom, and that's a big problem for Carol's version of events. But before officers were done with their work in the main part of the house, their attention was pulled away to the basement. The couple had tarped off, and it

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

quickly became obvious that a new emergency, and potentially even a new crime was unfolding right under their feet.

[Mint Mobile Advertiser]

Plan b is a backup birth control option that's there for you when things don't go according to plan. It specifically works after unprotected sex and before pregnancy occurs by temporarily delaying ovulation. Plan b is available nationwide at all major retailers and through delivery apps like DoorDash. No ID, prescription or age requirement. It's the number one OB GYN recommended brand of emergency contraception, and it won't impact your future fertility. That's Freedom to be use as directed.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

In September of 2017, investigators were inside Duane and Carol Hignite's home in Lexington, Kentucky, searching for evidence that would either corroborate or prove to be inconsistent with Carol's story that her husband's severe injuries were the result of a slip and fall.

[Scott Weinberger]

But while they were looking around the house, photographing blood spatter on the walls of the bedroom, bathroom, and the living room, one detective started to notice the smell of smoke, at which point they

[Katie Holt]

realize a fire has been started in the middle of the basement on some stuff that should not be on fire, like wood and cloth and other items. And the house was trying to burn down, but there was a sprinkler type system over top of it that was extinguishing it. And so it was just filling the house up with smoke.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

And I need to go sideways here for a moment, because that detective who first smelled the smoke, he just so happens to be the husband of our guest prosecutor Katie Holt.

[Katie Holt]

Over the course of the years, we just kind of got to know each other better through working on things, and one of those was this case. He's a delight. We love him. He's the cutest. And then, kind of after all this transpired, we both found ourselves in the right place at the right time, and now we're married.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

It's not an uncommon story in our world because prosecutors and law enforcement end up spending a lot of time together, especially when you work serious and complex cases.

[Scott Weinberger]

And it's one of those unexpected life moments you don't see coming in a case like this. But back inside that house, detectives were still dealing with something very different. A fire in the basement, which appeared to be deliberately set. And thankfully for a sprinkler system in the basement, that fire hadn't spread very far. But when detectives were in the basement, they also noticed something interesting about the back door.

[Katie Holt]

The back door had spider webs and things on it. So there wasn't any indication that the fire had started by somebody making an entry into the basement and then going inside.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

It's one of those ordinary details that can sometimes later make a big difference. So if nobody entered the basement from directly outside, then who started the fire?

[Scott Weinberger]

Well, other than investigators, there was only one person who had been inside the house since Duane was taken to the hospital, his wife, Carol Hignite.

[Katie Holt]

It just happened shortly after her husband was found and taken out of the house, and police showed up. And so she was the only person who went into the house other than the police officer and the ambulance Crew, they didn't start the fire, and she was the only person inside for a few minutes While the police officer was out of the house with her son. And the ambulance crew had already left.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Right, because you remember, she told her son she needed to go back in for her purse as they were leaving for the hospital. So after the fire was discovered, Police called the fire department, who extinguished the remainder of the fire and then confirmed what police already suspected. This was no accident.

[Katie Holt]

So they were able to determine that the point of origin was this spot in the middle of the floor that was near an old dresser, and that it was made by some type of man made ignition device. They weren't able to say whether a flammable liquid was used, but they did find matches, and they did find one of those long lighters inside the house.

[Scott Weinberger]

So now two simultaneous investigations were going on. The investigation into what happened to duane and the investigation into a potential arson.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

After the fire was put out, police were able to return inside the home and continue looking around. And what they found, it was more than just the blood.

[Katie Holt]

The officers collected a hammer they had found on the kitchen sink. And it was remarkable in that it was very, very clean. And it was located next to the kitchen sink. And it was a small pink hammer.

[Scott Weinberger]

The pink hammer wasn't the only thing that appeared to be recently cleaned. Unlike other parts of the house, the interior of the bathroom where duane had supposedly fallen had very little blood in it. You know, in a cluttered house, Investigators notice what doesn't fit. And here, the cleanest room was the room where carol said the bloodiest part started.

[Katie Holt]

So they also examined the bottom of the sink and then the toilet where she said he'd fallen. And there was maybe one mark of blood spatter, maybe a couple, but not nothing that would indicate he hit his head 30 times.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Given his injuries and the amount of blood that duane had lost, the spotless bathroom was a pretty compelling indicator that someone had either cleaned up the bathroom or he had never fallen there to begin with.

[Katie Holt]

The rest of the house wasn't clean, so why would this one location be clean?

[Scott Weinberger]

And the lack of blood wasn't the only unusual finding in the hignites small bathroom. The bathroom door showed signs of recent damage.

[Katie Holt]

It had some little half crescent shapes, as if it had been hit by the smaller end of a hammer. The bathroom door also had a mark in it that the claw of the hammer fit right into.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

And this is graphic imagery, but it's important to the case at this point, Investigators were making connections between the lacerations on Duane's head and the pink hammer by the kitchen sink and what appeared to be marks from a hammer striking the bathroom door. And it was painting a pretty dark picture.

[Scott Weinberger]

And to me, this is where the case takes another pretty big turn, because investigators weren't just looking at one thing anymore. They had the wounds on Duane's head. They had a hammer that appeared to match some of those marks. They had damage to the bathroom door, and they had a bathroom that didn't look like a place where a man suffered more than 30 head lacerations.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Now, whether Carol was responsible for or could even be capable of this kind of violence against her husband was still not known. I mean, had she done something so terrible? Was she covering up for someone else? Right. Or was there a possibility investigators hadn't yet thought of? Those answers were not yet clear. But there were more and more signs emerging that she had not been truthful with the police.

[Scott Weinberger]

Now let's move to the bedroom where there was more evidence that seemed to indicate Carol had known that Duane's life was in danger. Well before she called police, she had

[Katie Holt]

put up some paper crosses in the bedroom that said things like, jesus healed Dwayne. So she didn't call the police, she didn't call the ambulance. She waited until that last day when he was in horrible shape to call his primary care doctor. But she did put up these crosses, asking Jesus to heal her husband.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Investigators headed back to the hospital to question Carol as well as their two adult children who were there all at Duane's bedside.

[Scott Weinberger]

Now, they obviously wanted to know who had set the fire in the basement, Whether Duane's injuries were the result of a domestic assault, and whether it was Carol's intention to hurt her husband or potentially even kill him.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

But they had to leave room for all other possibilities too. Maybe there was a mental health component going on here. Maybe any potential attack was out of self defense. Maybe there's even somebody else who was in the house entirely that we haven't even thought about yet. Police really didn't know, which is also why they wanted to question the kids, to dig into the history of their parents relationship to uncover any potential motive for what clearly is turning out to be a pretty horrific crime.

[Scott Weinberger]

This is where investigators really have to stay disciplined. At Itseka, Carol story was raising serious questions. And the fire made everything even more urgent. But as you always say, suspicion is not proof, right? So they still have to test every possibility. The assault, the delay in calling for help, the fire, the family history, and whether anyone else could have been involved. You Let the evidence narrow the case. You don't narrow it first.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

And there's this balancing act that investigators have to do when it comes to the family, what they can tell them and what they won't tell them. Right. I mean, anyone at this point could potentially. We all know cases where a parent stays quiet to protect their kids. There's no evidence pointing to either of Duane's daughter or son at this point, but everything was still on the table to consider. So on the one hand, you want to keep family apprised of what's going on, but here it's a really active investigation, and you don't want to give out that information that could later potentially hurt a case or even tip off a suspect. So it's this tricky balance that investigators are going to usually err on the side of caution and hold a lot of information close to the vest until they have a better handle on what happened and who's responsible, and then give the family all the information before it's more widely released.

[Scott Weinberger]

You know, this is a tremendous crime scene here, Anasega. I mean, you've got the fire, you've got the bedroom, you've got the bathroom. I mean, this is something you meticulously need to go through and really take your time.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

And it was gonna take them a while. And so, to your point, Scott, investigators didn't allow Carol to return home that evening, so she spent the night at her son's house instead.

[Scott Weinberger]

And it wasn't until the following day that the Lexington PD Asked her to speak with them again at the headquarters.

[Katie Holt]

So obviously, they wanted to talk to Ms. Hignite to try to figure out what was going on, and she was happy to speak with them and gave them a lot of information.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

When asked about the fire in the basement, Carol appeared shocked. Here's a clip from her police interview. It's not great quality, but it is authentic and original. So we still wanted to give you at least this piece.

[Katie Holt]

There's been a fire in my house. I don't call insurance people my fire, and basically, I never go down there.

[Scott Weinberger]

Carol insisted that she hadn't been in the basement in years on account of how much mold she said was down there. And she did share a theory of who she thought may have started the fire, and she blamed her own daughter.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

When the police asked her why she thought that her daughter might have started the fire, Carol simply replied, because she's kind of mean.

[Katie Holt]

Ms. Hignite didn't care much for her daughter, and her daughter really, really loved her father. But there Was a falling out that they talked about at trial, where the daughter was no longer in contact with Mr. Hignite at the time of his death because, according to her, her mother wouldn't allow him to have contact with her.

[Scott Weinberger]

Did this revelation about a possible strained relationship between her daughter and one or both of her parents Point towards another possible suspect With a motive to hurt duane? Or was this carol simply deflecting blame away from herself and onto her own child?

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

I think some of carol's answers to at least a few of the questions Helped answer that one. Like when investigators pressed her about her story about duane falling in the bathroom. They told carol there was no way that those injuries to his head Came from just hitting the sink, and no way that they could have cast blood on the walls or the other rooms. And carol's explanation to that really left them scratching their heads.

[Katie Holt]

She tried to say that Mr. Hignite was a free bleeder, Whatever that meant Whenever we came around to trial. And that explained all the blood on the wal.

[Scott Weinberger]

The police were also curious to hear about how she cared for him, if at all, during the days duane was lying on the floor.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

From their exams, doctors had determined that duane hadn't eaten for those three days. But carol said that she had tried her best to feed him.

[Katie Holt]

She fixed him an egg. She fixed him sausage. And she asked him to come into the kitchen, and he was sleeping and did not hear her, so she ate that meal.

[Scott Weinberger]

The investigators pointed out that this was not a situation where two elderly people Were struggling to care for themselves, as it was clear that carol was capable of taking care of herself, because when

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

they arrived at the hignite home, it was cluttered, it was dirty. However, carol's medicines were all lined up, and her separate bedroom where she slept, Supposedly because duane snored while that bedroom was clean, which seemed to prove that whatever she had done or not done to duane over those three dark days While he bled in their bedroom Was not the result of mental or physical incapacity, that she couldn't care for herself or him. She seemed completely with it. And if that was the case, well, then that pointed to this being intentional.

[Scott Weinberger]

She had been duane's caretaker, and yet when he needed help most, she barely seemed to care for him at all. Nonetheless, carol insisted that she never deliberately harmed her husband. Here's more of carol's interview with police.

[Katie Holt]

I didn't do anything to blaine.

[Scott Weinberger]

In fact, she seemed to have an entirely different opinion about his health.

[Katie Holt]

She was talking about how he was an outdoorsman and he was Strong, and he was gonna be fine. He'd beaten up what she called a whistle pig, which I think is a groundhog. He'd found one in the backyard and beat it not long before that, but that he was tough and he was gonna get better. And she tried to give him some ice and some food. She prayed for him.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Investigators were still struggling with why she may have done what she did. But they believed that they had strong evidence to prove that Carol had deliberately and brutally assaulted her husband. And so on December 29th of 2017, just over 24 hours after her 911 call, authorities charged Carol Hignite with felony assault.

[Scott Weinberger]

Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Duane was still fighting for his life. Sadly, he never regained consciousness. And on October 4, 2017, Duane Hignite died. His children were left devastated.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

An autopsy was later conducted, and the full extent of his injuries were revealed.

[Katie Holt]

The autopsy noted that he had multiple lacerations and abrasions on his head, several different types of. Of hemorrhages. So he had a subscalp hemorrhage, a subdural hemorrhage, a subarachnoid hemorrhage, bleeding on the brain. He had fractures in his left ribs. He had a left femur fracture and some subacute facial fractures. Now, some of those fractures appeared to be chronic, as if he had been hit in the face before and they were healing.

[Scott Weinberger]

Duane also had those ulcers on his face, hip, and knee that the doctors had noticed earlier. And in a somewhat unusual finding, the autopsy documented that he had cauliflower ears,

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

which is a deformity of the ear, often referred to as boxer's ears because it can be common among contact athletes like boxers, wrestlers, and martial artists.

[Katie Holt]

His ears were swollen and appeared as though he had had been assaulted in his ears and that that tissue had kind of built up over the years from being hit. He wasn't a boxer. He wasn't doing anything that in his normal day to day life, that would indicate he would have those types of ears.

[Scott Weinberger]

The medical examiner determined that the cause of death was blunt force injuries sustained in an assault.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

And that changed things for Carol because she was no longer being accused of just. Just hitting her husband. Now she was charged with killing him.

[Scott Weinberger]

Hello.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Look what T.J. maxx dragged in.

[The Devil Wears Prada 2 Advertiser]

The Devil Wears Prada 2 is now streaming on Disney plus and Hulu.

[Katie Holt]

We are digital, we are downloadable, we are streamable.

[The Devil Wears Prada 2 Advertiser]

The fashion event of the year is certified fresh.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Pull yourself together. We have work to do.

[The Devil Wears Prada 2 Advertiser]

Critics say it's smart and witty and the perfect sequel. That's all get Runway ready for The Devil Wears Prada 2 on Disney and Hulu. Rated PG 13.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

After the death of Duane Hignite, assault charges against his wife Carol were upgraded to murder, third degree arson, and the knowing abuse or neglect of an adult.

[Scott Weinberger]

Now, that neglect charge is important because it underlined the key differences in the dynamic between Carol and her husband.

[Katie Holt]

The idea here was that that statute actually envisions a situation in which there is a person who is a caretaker for another adult, and they either neglect them or abuse them. So in this situation, I think the police were imagining that he was on the floor for two days. So for leaving him on the floor for that two day period of time without seeking help, they charged her with that knowing abuse or neglect.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

The case against Carol hignite went to trial in December 2022.

[Scott Weinberger]

It had been over five years since Duane hignite died from what prosecutors argued was Carroll attacking him with a hammer and then neglecting him for three days without even calling for help. Prosecutor Katie holt explained why the case took so long to reach trial.

[Katie Holt]

I think a lot of it was Covid, but some of the other issues that we were dealing with were elections Here in fayette county. We had three different judges. I think while this case was going on, we had a number of different prosecutors. At one point, I think she went to be evaluated for competency. That took a little bit.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

And so there were questions about whether Carol hignite, who was now in her 70s, was even fit to stand trial. So let me just explain. Basically, there's a question about competency. There will be a court ordered exam in New York. It's called a 7:30 exam because of the statute that allows it. And what is being evaluated is this. Does someone have the mental capacity or the wherewithal to understand the legal proceedings? You know, can they help assist in their own defense? And if someone is found unfit, then they will receive mental health care until they're basically restored to mental health to understand what's happening in court, until they can assist their own attorney in the defense.

[Scott Weinberger]

Carol was evaluated and found to be competent.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

So eventually, the trial got underway with prosecutors arguing that Carol brutally attacked her husband and also then violated her responsibilities as his caretaker by allowing him to suffer untreated on the flight floor for days.

[Scott Weinberger]

Jurors heard evidence about Duane's injuries, the blood inside the home, and the conditions in which responders first found him.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Prosecutors also argued that duane's injuries were incompatible with hitting his head on the sink and instead showed repeated blunt force trauma.

[Katie Holt]

We had testimony from the medical examiner that the injuries that he had would have been caused by maybe the sharp end of an instrument. And then we had testimony about. I think we asked her the question that if it was someone who wasn't quite that strong, who was assaulting Mr. Hignite, could we expect to see these types of injuries? And her answer to that was, yes. And then we asked her, what about a sink or a toilet? And I think she came back with something like that would be pretty difficult to do.

[Scott Weinberger]

And in a very rare and surprising twist, the jurors even got to see the crime scene for themselves.

[Katie Holt]

We got to take the jury to the house to view the bathroom. So they were actually able to see the bathroom unchanged and determine whether or not they thought he had hurt himself and had 30 lacerations on his head because of hitting a sink.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

And remember that pink hammer that investigators found by the hignites kitchen sink. Evidence presented at trial showed that it was consistent with some of the lacerations that Duane had sustained.

[Katie Holt]

So there were some round ones, and then there were some that the testimony came out that looked like they could have been caused by the sharp end of the hammer.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

The jury also heard testimony about Carol's controlling nature and how that control over the years became abuse.

[Scott Weinberger]

The hickknights two children testified that their father often suffered unexplained injuries.

[Katie Holt]

We had the daughter and son testify at trial, and she indicated that they had become progressively more suspicious when their dad had these injuries. But they would talk to him, and he would say, no, I'm fine. I'm good. Nothing happened. So he was always taking up for her and protecting her. And I think because he was the caretaker in this home and the provider, he. He didn't want to tell his kids that anything was going on between him and his wife. And so they were suspicious, but. But he never confirmed it.

[Scott Weinberger]

It was a different kind of abuse case that is often seen.

[Katie Holt]

I've prosecuted a lot of domestic violence situations, but we don't frequently see domestic violence cases where the woman is the perpetrator and it's the man who has endured a lifetime of abuse.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

And quite honestly, I think it is because of that stigma that some might associate with the abuse of a male partner by a female. You know, that a survivor might feel. They might feel shame even though it was 100% not their fault. But as a result of whatever their own feelings about that might be, they just don't report. And so the two kids also gave insight into Carol's potential motive for Murdering her husband of over 50 years.

[Scott Weinberger]

They explained that their mother and father had recently purchased property in another Kentucky town in order to be closer to their son.

[Katie Holt]

The family said that they were noticing that he was injured a lot with no extra explanation, and that their mother was very excited about moving to this other city and ostensibly did not want to take her husband with her because he was becoming burdensome. He couldn't hear, he couldn't see, and she'd really never been too kind to him anyways. So something had caused her to either snap or plan to assault him.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Now, we know that prosecutors don't have to provide motive in order to prove guilt, but it is certainly something that jurors like to hear in order to make sense of a case.

[Scott Weinberger]

It was compelling evidence and a more than convincing narrative, but still largely circumstantial. I mean, after all, there were no eyewitnesses, no video, and no DNA or fingerprints that directly tied Carol to that alleged murder weapon.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

The defense countered that Duane was elderly and medically fragile, capable of suffering devastating injuries from one or more accidental falls in the bathroom.

[Katie Holt]

That was the defense, was that it was just an unfortunate accident between two people who were in love and hoping to spend their golden years together. And Mr. Hignite suffered an accident that ended that for them.

[Scott Weinberger]

Carol's arson charge was also addressed at trial, with prosecutors pointing to the evidence that the fire was man made and likely intended to destroy evidence, if not the entire house altogether.

[Katie Holt]

They eliminated electrical factors. They tested all the outlets around it. The evidence that we had put on was that shortly after police were called, she was left alone in the house for a few minutes while she went inside to get some things. Her son was taking her out of there. So she was the only one with the opportunity to have started this fire. It wasn't an act of God. It wasn't lightning. There was no lightning in the area.

[Scott Weinberger]

When the case was finally turned over to the jury for deliberation, prosecutors felt confident.

[Katie Holt]

It was a very strong circumstantial case. So we were optimistic. I mean, of course it's never a slam dunk, and we never take that for granted, but we felt pretty good about how things had happened.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

But when the jury returned, their announcement surprised everyone.

[Scott Weinberger]

The jury told the judge that they didn't know if they were going to be able to reach a verdict. So the judge instructed them to go back into the deliberation room and try one more time.

[Katie Holt]

They went back and still could not reach a verdict.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

The judge was left with no other choice but to declare a mistrial, which meant that there was still no resolution to the case, and the prosecution, defense, and witnesses Would have to do it all over again.

[Scott Weinberger]

That retrial kicked off in January 2025, and by then, the case had stretched for more than seven years.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

It's worth noting that carol hignite had been in jail since she was charged with murder in 2017. Her attorneys had tried to get the judge to reduce her bond after the first trial, but that motion was denied.

[Scott Weinberger]

Because so much time had passed. The prosecution also faced some new challenges.

[Katie Holt]

One of our concerns going in Is how she appeared to outsiders by the time the second trial rolled around. Because she had decompensated physically quite a bit.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Carol had aged in prison and also just aged over the last seven years and no longer looked like the healthy, capable woman investigators first encountered.

[Katie Holt]

And so we tried to introduce evidence about what she looked like at the time and how she was during her statements. But the woman that made Those statements in 2017 did not look like the same woman that you saw sitting in the courtroom in 2025.

[Scott Weinberger]

Prosecutors feared that carol's appearance Would influence the jury, and this time around, they were also missing a key piece of evidence to make their case.

[Katie Holt]

The one thing that was different Is that this judge would not let us take the jury to the crime scene, which we were very disappointed by, because it was very helpful, Helpful for the first jurors.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

I do have to add that it's pretty rare that a jury will be allowed to visit a crime scene ever. So this judge's decision, While disappointing to the prosecution, Is not something that would be out of left field. But I can very much understand why seeing the actual bathroom, to help better understand its actual size here, Would be important to the prosecution.

[Scott Weinberger]

So I think, as a prosecutor, I have to ask, have you ever asked a judge to let a jury visit a crime scene, or have you been involved in a case where that even happened?

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

So, I've definitely been involved in cases where it's happened. I've supervised them. I've never did it in one of my own, But I participated in it with other colleagues of mine. And it is something like it is a sight to be seen, because just picture now you have a jury leaving the courtroom, and you always have to make sure that they're not being exposed to anything that might taint their later deliberations. So there's so much security, there's so many steps to do it, But I've definitely seen it done, but very rarely.

[Katie Holt]

It was so small. I mean, it was barely two feet both ways. You couldn't conceptualize from looking at pictures and video how small the bathroom actually was. And so that was. We thought that was kind of hurtful going into the second trial for our

[Scott Weinberger]

case, in this case, from an investigative standpoint, I understand why they wanted the jury to feel that space. A photograph can show you what a room looks like, but it doesn't always tell you the size, the distance, or what it would have been like to actually have been standing inside that bathroom. So prosecutors tried to bring that into the courtroom. They introduced a full scale replica of the bathroom, arguing it would help show why Dwayne's injuries did not fit the idea. They simply fell against.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Now, just to be a little legal nerdy here, like, just so in case anyone out there is curious, it doesn't go in as direct evidence. If that was admitted, it would be for demonstrative purposes. Just so the prosecutors or the defense, if they wanted to challenge it, that they can use that to better describe to the jury the size scale that we're talking about. But the judge evaluated whether or not to admit it and ultimately ruled that that reconstruction would not be shown to jurors.

[Scott Weinberger]

But the prosecution was still able to present all the other evidence introduced into the first trial. And even more important, they were able to locate all of the witnesses to testify once again.

[Katie Holt]

Shockingly, we were able to find everybody and every piece of evidence. I was stunned because it's usually not that easy, but we were able to locate all of the players.

[Scott Weinberger]

But Carol had a new team of defense lawyers during the retrial, and they presented an argument that hadn't been made at the first. They said that expectation bias shaped the investigation from the beginning.

[Katie Holt]

They were trying to argue that officers went into this situation, saw all of these unusual circumstances, and judged Ms. Hignite based on the way she was acting and not based on the evidence. So she was their initial suspect. And instead of looking for anybody else, they focused on her and her only. And every bit of the investigation after that just confirmed her guilt for them.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Simply put, it's basically the accusation of tunnel vision, right? That they missed the real culprit because they only focused on Carol Hignite from the beginning. So here, after all the evidence was presented in this case, it did once again go to the jury. And after seven long years, this now second jury entered into deliberations.

[Scott Weinberger]

Would they be able to reach a decision or would there be another mistrial?

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

After lengthy discussions, the jury returned to the courtroom. And this time they had a Verdict,

[Katie Holt]

they acquitted on the arson, and they found her guilty of manslaughter, first degree, and the knowing abuse of an adult.

[Scott Weinberger]

So the jury convicted her of manslaughter and not murder.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Which basically means that the jury found that proof beyond a reasonable doubt was there that she meant to seriously hurt him, you know, cause the injuries that then led to his death. But they didn't think there was enough proof that she intended to kill him when she caused those injuries. And it mainly impacts sentencing. Now, some might consider this to be a compromise by the jury.

[Scott Weinberger]

Carol hignite was sentenced to 11 years in prison. However, with the time served, Kentucky parole guidelines meant she wouldn't be incarcerated for much longer.

[Katie Holt]

At this point, she'd already been in for eight years by 20, 25, seven and a half, something like that. So we knew she wasn't going to be in much longer.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

The rollercoaster of the case. And of course, their father's death took a toll on the hignites. Two children.

[Katie Holt]

And the kids in this situation, of course, they were grown, but they were really distraught about what had happened, and they had a lot of conflicting feelings about what was going to happen to their mother and then what had happened to their dad. And my heart just really went out to them. It was just gut wrenching to watch them have to go through this process where they believed their mother was guilty, but their mother still wanted to go through a trial, and they had to testify twice against her.

[Scott Weinberger]

Both the hignites children had a very different relationship with their mother.

[Katie Holt]

Ms. Hignite was very hard on her daughter throughout her life, and she believed from the beginning that her mother had done this to her father. Her son was pretty close with his mother, and then just started putting the pieces together and realized, oh, my gosh, she did this.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

In the end, no verdict or punishment could ever make up for the devastating loss of their dad.

[Katie Holt]

They were both extremely upset and horrified and lost their whole family in, you know, seven days. They lost their mother and they lost their dad, and they were glad when it was over. I think they were relieved that after seven years, they just. Eight years, they just didn't have to come back to court anymore.

[Scott Weinberger]

Duane was a man who cared for the people he loved, and he did what many domestic violence victims do. He protected the person who was hurting him, even when it cost him his life.

[Katie Holt]

And that broke my heart, too, that he was in this situation where he felt ashamed, but he couldn't leave because he was the caretaker, and he loved his wife, and he wanted his family to stay together. And I mean, you live into your older years, you retire, you work so hard, you contribute to the community. You want to live a quiet life, and the person that is supposed to love you kills you. It was just unbelievable.

[Scott Weinberger]

What stays with me about this case is how complicated abuse can look when it happens inside a long marriage. From the outside, people see routine. They may see age. They may see a couple that has been together for decades. But inside that house, the balance of power had changed. And for Duane, that may have been protecting his family, protecting his dignity, protecting the person who was hurting him. Not because he was weak, because that's what abuse can do. It can make the person being hurt feel responsible for keeping everything together. In the end, the truth did come out. Not because Duane failed to say something sooner, but because the evidence finally spoke for him. The house, the blood, the injuries, and the children who had to look back and understand what their father may have been living with.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

This case is striking in multiple ways. The severity of the injuries, the severity of the abuse, and how it went undetected for so long. I wish it was a more uncommon scenario. Familial and partner abuse can come in any shape, any size, and at any age. It also highlights the importance of community. And that old adage, if you see something, say something. And if you suspect something, tell someone. Duane Hignite was already frail and in endured a horrible end. He was a man used to providing for his family, not one who wanted to be cared for. He protected his wife and her apparent cruelty until the very end. He put his family first and clearly wanted to keep them all together. And I think we can leave on that note because it says a lot about the man Duane Hignite was. Tune in next week for another new episode of Homicide 360.

[Scott Weinberger]

Homicide 360 is created and produced by Forsetti Media and Weinberger Media.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Supervising producer is Walker Lamond. Managing editor is Kate Mack. Sabrina Sarai is production manager. This episode was written and produced by Annie Cronenberg, edited by Ali Sierrawa and film original theme music by Trey Anderson.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Hi, Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Are you looking for a beach read this summer? May I suggest your big wireless bill? It's got suspense, mystery, a slightly flat emotional arc and a shocking twist where you realize you've been overpaying the entire time. Fortunately, though, Mint's story is better. Every plan, $15 a month, even unlimited. That's it. Happy ending. Happy zero tears. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment

[Katie Holt]

of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for a 12 month plan required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees. Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. Me slow when network is busy.

[Mint Mobile Advertiser]

See Terms.

[Scott Weinberger]

Hello.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Look what T.J. maxx dragged in.

[The Devil Wears Prada 2 Advertiser]

The Devil Wears Prada 2 is now streaming on Disney plus and Hulu.

[Katie Holt]

We are digital, we are downloadable, we are streamable.

[The Devil Wears Prada 2 Advertiser]

The fashion event of the year is certified FUD fresh.

[Anna Sega Nicolasi]

Pull yourself together. We have work to do.

[The Devil Wears Prada 2 Advertiser]

Critics say it's smart and witty and the perfect sequel.

[Katie Holt]

That's all.

[The Devil Wears Prada 2 Advertiser]

Get Runway ready for The Devil Wears Prada 2 on Disney plus and Hulu. Rated PG 13.