Inside Nick News Today

Stranger to insurance fraud. >> it was said that ralph marcus decided pretty early on in his life that only fools worked for a living, and rather than get a job, he supported himself gambling and insurance scams. supposedly, he had burned down his own house to receive the insurance proceeds. and then another time had arranged for the theft of a car and a boat to make money off that as well. >> with no forensic evidence linking marcus to the crash, investigators had one last idea. they noticed a ...

Had it not been for accident reconstruction, forensic testing and a bottle of motor oil, he might have gotten away with it. >> he was motivated to kill nicholas howard to prevent any other witnesses, prevent having to share the insurance proceeds, and because he had a long vendetta against the mother as a scorned lover. >> i dont know if nick planned a scam with ralph. it makes absolutely no sense to me because you cant get insurance money if youre alive. and because i know how nick loved me and...

Never seen it before or have never seen it since. >> the cap was marked with a "v." it was the top to the valvoline motor oil bottle in the trunk. >> the bottle cap was a big indicator right off the bat. the car had been rigged. something wasnt right. >> the bottle cap would be put in there in lieu of a person to hold the gas pedal in position so the vehicle could be operated without a driver. >> to see what effect the bottle cap would have on nicks car, investigators put an identical cap in the...

Drowning that caused the end. >> the manner of nicks death was ruled a homicide. investigators were now looking for a killer. mom has always been one of those people who needs to keep busy. if shes not working in her garden, shes probably on one of her long walks with bailey. she was recently diagnosed with a heart condition. i know shes okay, but it concerned me shes alone so often. so i encouraged her to get a medical alert button. philips lifeline offers the best options to keep her doing the...

>> it was clear the change of beneficiary forms were in nick howards handwriting and were not forgeries. it appeared that nick and ralph marcus planned to defraud the insurance company. >> they had hatched a plan to fake nicks death, collect the insurance proceeds, and take the money down to south america or some location to live off of it. >> but this was all speculation. investigators had no proof of the scam or that marcus killed nick howard and crashed his car into the river. >> it was a tho...

But when a car goes off the road, the driver is usually jolted awake which will leave telltale signs. >> had the driver fallen asleep at the wheel, i would have expected an ever-increasing vigorous correction effort on the part of the driver. in other words, the driver would have predictably steered harder and braked more that would have resulted in a well-defined path of travel down the rocks toward the roadway. none of that was visible. >> but where was nicks body? volunteers searched the rive...

There was far less damage to the test glasses than the ones found in the car. >> my conclusion was nicks head did not collide with the steering wheel in the car. >> this proved the glasses had been planted. and if nick hadnt been in the car during the crash, then there was still the possibility he was alive. >> we were a little emotional. well, very emotional but, you know, kind of on pins and needles. >> of course, you pray for the best, but i think theres that part of you that knows it could g...

Did not. >> nicks broken glasses were on the floor of his car. and the side windows were open. >> i was still hoping that we would find him alive. i was hoping that he had swam out of the car and had been injured and didnt know who he was and that we were going to find him. >> the way the car went in, the fact that he got out, none of it made sense. >> inside nicks car, investigators found a greasy film on the dashboard and upholstery. >> it was kind of a light white milky substance that we didn...

Nicks glasses were found in the car. and investigators wanted to know if nick had been wearing them when the crash occurred. so they created a styrofoam facsimile of nicks head. >> i weighted the styrofoam head so that it was approximately the same weight as nicks head would have been in that same situation. >> they put an identical pair of glasses on the model to simulate the force of impact. it was attached to a pendulum. >> based on a potential energy formula, mass times gravity times height,...

Befriended nick to, first of all, stay close and to find out things about me. but i think even early on, he had a plan to hurt nick. >> they went to lake tahoe. they went to reno. ralph fancied himself the great baccarat player. he got fancy hotel rooms. he had women come by. >> when questioned, ralph marcus said he knew nothing about nick howards murder and claimed he had an alibi for the night of the crash. >> and he had his dying mother state that he was at home with her during that evening. ...