was probably one of the toughest things i've ever done in my life. >> kristy also wrestled with her new reality, a life without nick. >> i went from this amazing life to just, you know, being traumatized and just complete disbelief. >> while nick's family faced the loss of a man they loved, investigators began to learn what nick's co-workers and exes already knew. he was not beloved by everyone, not by a long shot. >> coming up, angry colleagues on the job. >> people complained of how nick talked to them. >> except the way nick talked to them was kind of what nick was being paid for. >> correct. >> which was, let's go. >> were any angry enough to kill? >> feels to me like maybe there are a lot of people you might want to be talking to at the office. >> yes. the list was very long. >> when "dateline" continues. than detergent alone. if you want laundry to smell fresh for weeks, make sure you have downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters.
>> a prankster. he was either going to get in trouble or he had already done something that would've gotten him in trouble. >> or he was going to get you in trouble. >> absolutely. >> just 18 months apart, john and nick were close, partners in crime, brothers who had each other's backs. and just like his brother, nick served in the military. at 18 he enlisted in the marines. in 1990, he fought in operation desert storm. >> he came back a changed person, very motivated, very dedicated. >> maybe he was a little less of a jokester and a little more of a straight arrow? >> very much so. definitely more -- more serious. >> after the war, nick returned
♪ ♪ ♪♪ voltaren. the joy of movement. ♪♪ >> pima county sheriff's detective jennifer garcia was suspicious of nick's ex's ex, justin skinner. he seemed to have both opportunity and motive to kill nick. so when justin didn't want to give a dna sample -- >> i thought that he -- he might be the guy. >> but then after a little persuasion -- >> yeah, that's fine. collect dna. let's do it. >> his cooperation plus statements from people at the bar and claudia were enough for detective garcia. >> we were able to rule him out pretty quickly as a suspect.
and everyone starts looking like a nail. feels to me like maybe there are a lot of people you might want to be talking to at the office. >> yes. the list was very long. >> a lot of them had petty grievances, like a safety inspector named james lapan. >> it's just we never got along is the thing. >> lapan told investigators nick had given him a hard time for parking his car in a restricted area and had accused him of using a personal tablet computer during working hours. >> anybody you know that wants to kick his ass? >> kick his ass? no. >> reporter: maybe not over a parking spot, but then detective garcia started learning for herself about the other part of nick's life. this was a guy who made a lot of women angry. >> yes. >> his second ex-wife once
professional life and broken hearts in his personal life. >> at work i could tell that he was probably a pretty good womanizer. >> by the end of it, investigators would discover a world of grudges and a hotbed of affairs and messy love triangles. and it all began with this man, nicolas morelos. >> we were constantly teasing and messing with each other. >> john morelos and his brother nick grew up outside tucson, arizona. what was he like as a little brother?
fit on that gun. what's more, investigators found carpet fibers in the back of the lapan family vehicle that matched both fibers found in nick's garage and the cut-up rug in nick's bedroom. and there was this. >> in the master bedroom closet on a very, very top shelf, detectives noticed a pair of work pants that looked like they had blood on them. >> that same day, james lapan was arrested while carpooling to work. in the driver's seat was, of all people, jessica stillwell. she said she was giving him a ride. four days after nick's murder, newly minted homicide detective jennifer garcia, had made an arrest. how did that feel? >> pretty good. pretty good that i had gotten the right person for this crime. >> maybe. but this case still had to go to trial, and james lapan still had an alibi, that is, until a lifetime movie changed everything. >> coming up -- >> she calls and says, i've got a new story to tell. >> a lie told in fear.
smokey was found in the backyard. did james put him there, and was he able to pacify the dog based on help jessica provided? we wanted to ask jessica about all of that. she declined to be interviewed. if she committed a murder or played a part in committing a murder, she's getting away with it. >> we cannot find any evidence. >> or -- >> yeah. >> -- she's not guilty? >> correct. >> as for serena and james and their covenant marriage, it's over now. they divorced in 2019. but serena still worries about what effect james might still have on her and her children's lives. you ever going to be free of this guy? >> when god hits his off switch. >> james lapan will most likely be in prison when that happens. he was sentenced to life. he's filed an appeal. kristy, who says she waited 40 years to meet nick, now faces the rest of her life without him. >> he'll always be my superman. i'll always love him. that will -- that doesn't change. >> and even in the midst of mourning his brother, john morelos takes some comfort in how he helped solve nick's
going to believe this. i just dealt with that guy a few months ago. >> john's friend owned a machine and fabrication shop. he said james lapan had come in looking for a tool, one he could use to fix a silencer. he's repairing a silencer. >> correct. >> just a couple of months before your brother's murdered with perhaps a silencer. >> correct. so i contact the detectives, gave them the information. >> detective garcia obtained a search warrant for james lapan's home. in his garage, her team found 18 boxes of. 45 caliber ammo, all with the distinctive five-star stamp. they also found two spent shell casings that matched the ones found at nick's house. so the same gun fired the bullets at the crime scene and a couple of casings that you found in lapan's garage? >> yes. >> inside the house, investigators didn't find the gun itself, but they did find this empty box for a para-ordnance black ops combat. 45, which they believed was the murder weapon. the search warrant also turned up an empty box for a silencer that would
alarming? >> he's like, man, it's going to be drama. i can already tell. >> and then a day after nick's murder, john's kids snapped these pictures of a woman poking around nick's house. >> my children were adamant that it was jessica. >> does it seem at all significant to you that nick was murdered like almost exactly a year from the time of his breakup with jessica. >> i found it very odd. >> or very coincidental. >> correct. >> reporter: the number of scorned lovers in nick's past was enough to warrant a scorecard, and investigators weren't even done counting. there were more answers to be discovered in the place where so much of nick's social life was centered, marana aerospace. >> that mystery woman at nick's house, was it an angry ex? coming up -- >> some of the family identifies you as being the one that was at the house. >> it wasn't me. >> a lover's triangle and a tightening circle of suspects when "dateline" continues." find your beat your moment of calm find your potential then own it
paris, huh? bonjour! we got any out-of-towners in the elevator? tom. it is not easy. 10th floor, huh? must be a heck of a view. okay, see how everyone else is facing this way? progressive can't save you from becoming your parents, but we can save you money when you bundle home and auto with us. okay, that was terrible. okay, let's hang back. we're gonna try that again. >> i just felt like i can't believe i get to be his bride. i was just -- i was excited. i waited 40 years for him. >> kristy and nick were engaged to be married. >> every morning started with either a text or a call. good morning, i love you. have a great day. every night, same