half of the rug was gone. >> detective garcia believed the killer bled so heavily on the rug that he or she cut the rug and took it right out of nick s house. there was also evidence the killer failed to get rid of. garcia s team recovered 11 shell casings, each with a unique five-star stamp. and this was odd. 11 shots, yet none of the neighbors called 911. >> very early on, the detectives that i was working with, who have done previous homicides, they believe that a silencer was used. >> one neighbor said she heard a noise around 4:00 a. m. but wasn t sure what it was. investigators thought that could well be nick s time of death. while detective garcia worked the scene, two other detectives went to john morelos office to tell him what had happened. then john had to break the news to his mother. a tough conversation to have. >> oh, most definitely. that
>> one neighbor said she heard a noise around 4:00 a. m. but wasn t sure what it was. investigators thought that could well be nick s time of death. while detective garcia worked the scene, two other detectives went to john morelos office to tell him what had happened. then john had to break the news to his mother. a tough conversation to have. >> oh, most definitely. that 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.
shots, yet none of the neighbors called 911. >> very early on, the detectives that i was working with, who have done previous homicides, they believe that a silencer was used. >> one neighbor said she heard a noise around 4:00 a. m. but wasn t sure what it was. investigators thought that could well be nick s time of death. while detective garcia worked the scene, two other detectives went to john morelos office to tell him what had happened. then john had to break the news to his mother. a tough conversation to have. >> oh, most definitely. that 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
that pretty seriously. >> he did, he believed in standards and then everybody should live up to them. >> john, a colonel in the army worked at the same air parkas neck. >> what would people say about? him >> he was tough, he was a hard ass, very vocal. intimidating to some. >> there was one area where nick seemed quite popular, with women. inconveniently, his company employed. some >> you have any idea how many women he dated, how many of his coworkers? >> he only minted to me too. there was a lot of rumors. but he told me of two. >> and one of them changed everything. in 2016, nick met christy. >> i like that he was such a hard worker, and that he was so smart. >> no immediate fireworks, but as christy and nick got to know each other, they realize they both loved books, dogs and
be a big small town? >> he said, johnny, you re not 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
evidence the killer tried to clean up. >> it appeared that the rug under the bed was cut. like half of the rug was gone. >> detective garcia believed the killer bled so heavily on the rug that he or she cut the rug and took it right out of nick s house. there was also evidence the killer failed to get rid of. garcia s team recovered 11 shell casings, each with a unique five-star stamp. and this was odd. 11 shots, yet none of the neighbors called 911. >> very early on, the detectives that i was working with, who have done previous homicides, they believe that a silencer was used. >> one neighbor said she heard a noise around 4:00 a. m. but wasn t sure what it was. investigators thought that could well be nick s time of death. while detective garcia worked the scene, two other detectives went to john
john and his brother nick grew up outside tucson, arizona. >> what was he like as a little brother? >> a prankster. he was either going to get in trouble, or he was going to do something to get him in trouble. >> 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. and 18 he enlisted in the marines and in 1990, he fought an operation desert storm. >> he came back a change person, very motivated, very dedicated. >> maybe he was less of a jokester and a little more of a straight arrow. >> very much. so definitely more serious. >> after the war, nick returned to tucson and settle down. he married and had a son, nicolas junior. and well nick loved being a father the marriage did not last. >> it hurt him for many years, he told me he would never get married again.
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. >> the morelos family was waiting impatiently for an arrest. >> your loved one had just been murdered. we wanted answers, and we just weren t getting them, not quickly for us anyways. >> too small tucson is how some refer to this city. it s a place where everyone seems to know everyone else. while detectives were examining nick s romantic past, brother john started doing a little detective work of his own, by talking with nick s co-workers. he told h. r. director jeff johnson how the suspect had apparently been cut while going
morelos office to tell him what had happened. then john had to break the news to his mother. a tough conversation to have. >> oh, most definitely. that 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.
heard about something that happened shortly after claudia and nick started dating. >> claudia was at his house, and jessica showed up, seeing her vehicle in the driveway area and was very upset, banging on the door, saying, i know she s in there. let me in. >> reporter: nick had told his brother, john, about the dustup with jessica. and he thought that was, what, amusing, 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. you are on the phone pretty quick with investigators right? >> my kids were adamant it was just. a >> parked outside the house long after the crime. >> right, the woman pulled in the call the sack, then walked out of her car, and down and alleyway into a ravine area.