Page 13 - Inside Nick News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Was remarkable by its uniqueness. 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 wasn't 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 nick's car, investigators put an identical cap in the carburetor of another car. for safety purposes, a test driver s...

>> and ralph marcus was no 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 lot number on the oil bottle found in the trunk of nick's car. armed with ...

The search began at the restaurant where nick had stopped the night before. it was on a treacherous road that ran parallel to the sacramento river. >> you make a mistake and drift off of the roadway, you're liable to go to the bottom of the levee. on one side, it's a river. on the other side, it's a 30-foot drop. >> asleep or intoxicated or not paying attention, there's a good chance you could end up in the water. >> and that's where they found nick's car two days later, submerged in 18 feet of water. >> you could tell that the engine was running because when we examined the radiator, it had c...

>> nick's 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 didn't 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 nick's car, investigators found a greasy film on the dashboard and upholstery. >> it was kind of a light white milky substance that we didn't know what it was initially until we started touching it and playing around with it a little bit. that's...

He may well have gone into the water unconscious. ultimately, though, it was drowning that caused the end. >> the manner of nick's death was ruled a homicide. investigators were now looking for a killer.