Forensic Files

00:00 For years, a deranged man in Wichita known as The Poet stalked Ruth Finley. He sent her letters, gifts, and poems. But no one could have guessed how this would end. 00:13 From Sony Music Entertainment and Numetric Media, this is The Poet. I'm Rachel Brown. The Poet is available now on The Binge. Search for it wherever you get your podcasts to start listening today. Subscribers to The Binge can listen to all episodes, all at once, ad-free. 00:34 A beautiful mail order bride, her millionaire husband, and the gardener. 00:39 As unusual a love triangle as you'll ever find. 00:43 Until one of them died in a suspicious car crash. Was this truly an accident or something more sinister? 01:01 Jonathan Ice, a 53-year-old pharmaceutical executive, entrepreneur, and millionaire, met his beautiful young Filipino wife Michelle through a classified ad. She was a mail-order bride. 01:15 Not only did he promise her or represent to her a better way of life for her, it was a better way of life for her family. He sent money back to the family, helped some of her nieces and nephews go to school. 01:27 Michelle and Jonathan married in the Philippines, moved to the United States, had three children, and lived a life of comfort and affluence. 01:36 I know there was an age difference. I know he worked long hours. But other than that, I mean, it's just basically, you know, they're married with kids. 01:46 But after 15 years of marriage, the walls started to crumble ever so slightly when Jonathan got an anonymous telephone call. 02:01 Hello? Dr. Nice, I'm having an affair with your wife, and here's some proof. 02:06 I want to see you again. 02:08 When can you do it? Anytime you want. 02:10 He clearly recognized his wife's voice. She was, you know, Filipino. She had a very distinctive voice, and he knew it was her. 02:16 It appeared that there was sexual activity taking place. 02:20 The caller demanded $500,000, or else he would embarrass Dr. Nice by releasing the tape to the couple's friends and business associates. 02:30 Nice immediately confronted his wife, Michelle. 02:34 She states that, yes, she did have the affair, that the individual she had the affair with is an employee at a landscaping company. 02:42 His name was Miguel DeJesus. He was 32 years old. They met when DeJesus was doing work on the Nice's yard. When questioned by police, DeJesus denied making the phone call trying to extort money from the couple. 02:59 Miguel de Jesus was a guy who had several different social security numbers, was living with another woman. I think she was a common law wife, had gotten another woman pregnant and refused to pay child support. I mean, he was not an upstanding character by anybody's estimate. 03:18 Michelle promised to end the affair, and Jonathan filed charges against Jesus for the alleged extortion attempt. 03:26 The story she told me is this guy was following her, stalking her, and that since he realized they have a big house and stuff, that he wanted to get some money from them. 03:36 A local magistrate issued a restraining order. The Gardner and Michelle were not to have any contact with each other again. 03:45 The judge even asked Dr. Nice, well, how far does he have to stay away from her? And Dr. Nice just clearly and coldly said, stay away from my wife. 03:54 But the story didn't end there. 03:59 Five months later, Michelle Nice was found dead in her car, which was found down an embankment near a shallow creek. 04:09 It looked as if the car swerved off the snow-covered road. 04:14 Very isolated. It just so happened the night prior to this, we had a rather large snowstorm. 04:20 But there were a number of suspicious clues. 04:24 There were footprints leading away from the passenger side of the car. 04:29 The footprints do say that someone was there and left the scene. It appears that someone had gotten out of the vehicle and left the scene. 04:38 There was blood on the outside of the car and the blood pattern on the driver's seat inconsistent with an accidental head injury. 04:49 And perhaps most telling, Michelle wasn't wearing shoes. 04:54 The bottom of her stockings were dirty. So obviously, at some point, she was walking around in her bare feet with the stockings without shoes. So that was a red flag right there. 05:05 There were a pair of women's brown shoes on the passenger side of the car, a color that didn't match her dark blue outfit. 05:14 It was becoming clear to investigators that this was no accident. 05:27 For years, a deranged man in Wichita known as The Poet stalked Ruth Finley. He sent her letters, gifts, and poems. But no one could have guessed how this would end. 05:41 From Sony Music Entertainment and Numetric Media, this is The Poet. I'm Rachel Brown. The Poet is available now on The Binge. Search for it wherever you get your podcasts to start listening today. Subscribers to The Binge can listen to all episodes, all at once, ad-free. 06:06 Although Michelle Nice was found dead in her car, investigators didn't believe she was driving when the car ran into the ditch. 06:15 She's a very short woman, no more than 5 feet, 5 foot 1 tall. And the car is reclined, the seat, the driver's seat is reclined all the way back. 06:25 At Michelle's autopsy, the medical examiner found evidence of not one head injury, but several. 06:32 She had four separate lacerations, three in the forehead area that were separate, one to the top of the head. 06:40 This would be inconsistent with a car crash and more consistent with blunt force trauma. 06:47 Michelle had cuts and bruises on her hands, what appeared to be defensive wounds. 06:54 This death, in my opinion, is clearly a homicide. 06:58 The shoe impressions found in the snow leading away from the vehicle across the creek and up to a nearby road were from a man's boot. 07:08 This was a secondary crime scene. This is not the location where this happened, that the location is somewhere else, but this is where the body was left. 07:20 On the night of the murder, Michelle worked the evening shift at the cosmetics counter of a local department store. She left around 10 p.m. She told her husband she was going out for a drink with her girlfriends. 07:36 But the owner of a nearby motel told police Michelle was there that night in a room with the man he identified as Miguel de Jesus. 07:47 the gardener she had been involved with a year earlier. 07:52 When questioned, DeJesus admitted having sex with Michelle that night, but insisted he had nothing to do with her murder. He said Michelle left in her car around midnight and that he went home to his wife. 08:06 He told us what they did, where they went. And again, all of that was verified. 08:11 DeJesus did reveal one surprising piece of information. He claimed Michelle planned to divorce her husband. 08:20 But I would never in a million years believe that she would leave the kids because we're the gardener. 08:27 Despite outward appearances, investigators learned the couple was broke. 08:33 Jonathan's company went bankrupt before he could bring his new drug to market. 08:38 He was developing a new asthma-type drug, and he was a successful scientist. Unfortunately, it does not appear that he was as good a businessman as he was a scientist. 08:49 And friends told investigators that Michelle had recently caught Jonathan in a huge lie. She went into this marriage thinking that he was 10 years younger than he actually was. And that did not come to light until 10, 12 years into their marriage. 09:05 She was very upset about it, but it was one of those things that they already have kids or were married, like, you know, she can't do anything about it. 09:14 She was a young woman, and she liked to go out dancing, and he, for a couple months, tried to keep up with that. I mean, he even said, you know, I took Viagra. I tried to, you know, he just tried, was trying to keep up with his younger wife. 09:26 Jonathan said Michelle never came home after work. He said he was home with the children and never left. 09:35 Armed with warrants, police searched the Jesus' apartment and the nicest home, looking for shoes or boots that matched the shoe impressions or clothing with the victim's blood. 09:49 The search went on for a number of days, and there was actually talk of knocking in walls and vents to see where these shoes could be. 09:59 Investigators now had two suspects. The question was... 10:06 had the stronger motive. And was there any forensic evidence to prove it? 10:21 When Dr. Nice learned his wife Michelle was with her lover earlier on the night she was killed, he was inconsolable. 10:29 I just never seen him that way. He was just really sad and upset about Michelle. And we all hugged each other. 10:36 We were all crying and then the kids were crying. You know, he just told them that like maybe five minutes ago prior to us coming. 10:44 But police found evidence that Jonathan knew Michelle had resumed her love affair with the gardener. 10:50 On his desk was this poem Jonathan had written. 10:55 Your stainless steel heart like a knife rips open my soul to bleed unattended, dying. You call me on the telephone. And tell me not to worry. 11:06 When, oh, when will my dying end? 11:10 With a warrant, investigators searched the nice's home. Although they didn't find any shoes that matched the impressions found in the snow near Michelle's car, they did find some suspicious items in the garage. 11:26 One was a baseball bat that looked clean, but it was tested with phenolphthalein and was positive for the presence of blood. However, it was impossible to determine whether it was human or animal blood. 11:41 And they found Jonathan's clothes soaking in the washing machine. The water appeared to be pink. 11:48 Unfortunately, we couldn't do a presumptive test of blood for it. Was it blood that caused that pinkish tint? 11:54 Maybe. But perhaps the most surprising discovery in the nicest home was a pair of men's loafers. And on the bottom was a mysterious substance that couldn't be identified. 12:08 Scientists tested the substance with infrared analysis. 12:13 That test revealed there were four different kinds of glue on the bottom of the loafers. 12:20 But why would there be glue on the bottom of his shoes? 12:26 Investigators found the answer when they discovered pieces of plastic hidden throughout the Nice's home. 12:35 Pieces were hidden in children's toy boxes. There was a Christmas tree box that had a couple pieces in it. 12:41 The pieces looked like the bottoms of a pair of boots. 12:46 You're wondering, did they get all the parts? If I'm missing a part, would I be able to put the toe to the heel if there's that one critical section missing? 12:54 As if he were putting together a jigsaw puzzle, Ed Gainsbourg attempted to reassemble the sole of the boots. 13:02 Piece by piece, it came together. The pieces were to the soles of a pair of men's boots, size 12. 13:12 and forensic tests identified glue on the pieces of plastic that matched the glue found on the bottom of Jonathan Nice's loafers. 13:22 We found all four glues on both surfaces, and we also had a physical match between the way the glue broke when he tore the sole off of the shoe. 13:35 Gainsbourg compared the reassembled soul to a scaled photo of the boot print left in the snow near Michelle's body. 13:44 The problem is it's snow and snow melts, and so very quickly the detail will disappear, and that's what happened in this case. 13:51 Still, some detail remained in the photograph. There was enough detail to say that it was the same manufacturer's design and size. 13:59 But why were the soles to a pair of boots glued onto a pair of loafers? 14:05 Dr. Nice had a pair of moccasins, and then he had gotten a pair of work-type boots, and he had somehow used a saw to shave the sole off of the boot, and he put it on the bottom of a pair of moccasins and glued them on there. I guess for comfort reasons, that we could go outside without wearing out the sole of the moccasin. 14:27 This forensic evidence suggests that Jonathan Nice wore these loafers on the night of the murder, leaving the impressions in the snow. 14:36 When he got home, he removed the soles he had glued on, cut them up, and tried to hide the pieces throughout the house, thinking that no one would ever suspect what he did. 14:49 I think it was very crucial. It was a pretty good circumstantial placement of these shoes at the scene of the crime leading away from the crash site. 14:59 Lastly, scientists found tiny spatters of blood on the garage wall. 15:05 And they also found bloody towels hidden in the chimney. DNA testing identified the blood as Michelle's. 15:15 Based on the forensic evidence, prosecutors now had a pretty good idea what happened on the night of Michelle's murder. 15:23 Quite simply, he's just a coward. 15:38 There was no question that Jonathan Ice knew his wife had resumed her affair with their gardener, Miguel de Jesus. 15:47 The poem found on Jonathan's desk proved it. 15:52 But prosecutors do not believe de Jesus had anything to do with the extortion attempt a year earlier. 16:01 They think Jonathan fabricated the call in order to make the affair public, to humiliate his wife and get the court order to keep DeJesus away so he could rebuild his marriage. 16:15 But Jonathan's pharmaceutical business went bankrupt. 16:19 Michelle was forced to take a job at the cosmetics counter of a department store and apparently lost interest in staying married. 16:29 So she resumed her affair with DeJesus. And Jonathan realized it when he called Michelle on her cell phone, and there was no answer. 16:44 On the night of the murder, Michelle came home around midnight. 16:52 And prosecutors say there was an argument. 17:02 Michelle packed a suitcase. Whether it was to leave temporarily or permanently is unclear. 17:08 Get back here. I'm not done yet. 17:13 In the garage, the forensic evidence suggests the fight turned violent. 17:19 Jonathan grabbed a baseball bat and struck her repeatedly in the head. 17:26 To cover up the crime, Jonathan pushed the driver's seat of Michelle's car all the way back, put her body inside, grabbed a pair of her shoes and the suitcase, then drove one mile to the nearby creek. 17:43 He maneuvered the vehicle down the slight embankment and staged the accident. 17:50 The foot impressions, leading away from the car, tied Jonathan Nice to the scene. 17:57 Prosecutors think he walked the one mile back to their home. 18:03 Later, Jonathan cleaned the blood from the garage, but tiny amounts of blood spatter remained. 18:13 He also removed the soles he glued to the bottom of his loafers, cut them up, and tried to hide pieces throughout the house. 18:24 Police arrested Dr. Nice and charged him with his wife's murder. 18:30 He just started to sob uncontrollably and admitted to causing the injuries to Michelle. 18:40 Jonathan claimed that Michelle attacked him first with a knife, but investigators found no evidence of a knife like the one he described. 18:50 You told me she was holding something. I need you to describe this action and what she was holding to the best that you can. 18:57 It was just a straight stab right at mine. 19:01 and she would, I mean, if I hadn't moved, she would have gotten me all the way through. 19:06 He said he opened the door to assist her out of the car, and that in this dark garage, she lunges at him with this stiletto. He says as she's coming out of the truck, she falls, she hits her head, and that's allegedly what causes the injuries. 19:22 No one believed his version of events. 19:28 meeting with someone regarding reduction of bail? 19:31 It was ridiculous. 19:33 It just, it made absolutely no sense. 19:36 If this is truly an accident, why would he go to that extent to try to hide evidence from the police? If it was an accident, maybe he could just report it. 19:47 At the trial, the defense team argued that Michelle's affair constituted provocation. 19:53 The judge permitted the jury to consider that possibility. 19:57 When the defense attorney cross-examining Miguel de Jesus said, by the way, did you use a condom? And he said, no. And I glanced over at the jury and I saw one of the women sort of like shake her head. 20:10 The jury found Jonathan Nice guilty of the lesser charge of passion provocation manslaughter. 20:19 He was sentenced to eight years in prison. 20:23 Prosecutors, friends, and family were appalled. 20:27 Instead of getting a divorce, you can just kill your wife. I don't think that's a good lesson to learn from this story. 20:35 The jury has to believe that he was indeed provoked, and also that between the provocation and the murder, he had no time to calm down. 20:44 After you already know about the affair, if that's still passion provocation, I just don't think it fit in this case. 20:58 But prosecutors say without the forensic evidence, Nice might not have been convicted at all. 21:06 We have the forensic evidence of the shoes actually being pieced back together to show the extent to which the defendant, Dr. Nice, went to cover up this crime. In my opinion, without the forensic evidence, it would not have been possible to even charge Dr. Nice with this case, with the murder of his wife. 21:29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21:57 The time doesn't wait for anyone, but the Seiko Astron follows where it wants to go. 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