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Chapter 1: What chilling story does John Quiñones share about Bismarck, North Dakota?
Vapaus matkustaa raiteilla. VR. Yhteisellä matkalla.
Hello everybody, Deborah Roberts here and welcome to another episode of 2020 The After Show. Always a pleasure to have you here joining us to explore some of the stories that we have been working on recently. And today we're going to look into a story that is chilling literally. It was an investigation that was sparked by a house fire.
A 911 call that revealed a possible murder and love triangle that shocked Bismarck, North Dakota. John Quinones and our 2020 team report on this story in our episode, The Last Strike. And of course, it's available to stream on Disney Plus and Hulu. So you're going to want to see this one. So much to talk about in this case. Security camera footage documenting the events leading up to the crime.
The intense police interrogation tapes with a Canadian man caught in...
what turned out to be an apparent affair with the woman who was at the center of the case and john's exclusive jailhouse interview with one of those convicted in the murders you're going to get some good details now on how the team approached and also brought this story to air john q hello sir hi hey thank you for having me always always great to see you you know you and i are always traveling in different orbits so i don't get to have you here in person but hopefully next time
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Chapter 2: How did the extreme cold impact the reporting of the murder case?
I miss you.
I miss you. Same here. Same here. And I know you're out, you know, working right now. But take us back to this story in North Dakota. And, of course, let's first talk about when we said it's a chilling story, literally. The winter in North Dakota is no joke in Bismarck, right? I mean, in November, in February, the heart of winter?
No.
Yeah, I grew up in South Texas, and man, this was bitterly, bitterly cold, absolutely freezing. It was 20 below when we started shooting, and we had to film a lot of it outdoors.
John, we send you to the best places, by the way. You notice that, right? Yes.
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Chapter 3: What details emerged about the victim, Chad Ensel, and his life?
In December, I had rented a car, and I remember I was slipping and sliding all over the place in Bismarck, North Dakota. The days are short there. The nights are terribly long. It's dark all the time.
Yeah, yeah. Well, I know exactly what that's like. I mean, standing out there in the longest time for the cold. People don't think about that part of when we are doing these stories, of us having to collect these stories and go through the elements.
And when we talk about some of the things that we do in these stories, and I did a story once where I went to a bowling alley and interviewed someone. You actually went to a bowling alley in this particular... And bowled. And bowled. And did you throw a strike? Did you do well?
Of course. My first roll of the ball, it was a strike.
Chapter 4: How did the investigation into Chad's death evolve after the fire?
I'm much better at bowling, by the way, than I thought. Honestly, people were cheering inside the bowling alley. And we went there because that's where part of the... The story took place. But it was pretty amazing.
I pulled a strike right away. I'm impressed by that because I never did. Let's talk first before we get into the story, though, when you talked about the freezing cold and the temperatures. And this podcast is an opportunity for people to sort of.
learn a little bit more about what we do pull back the curtain as it were and you like me I mean you you pack your bags and you are gone sometimes like in an instant um I always make sure I've got like sneakers and maybe even a jacket I mean Bismarck is a whole different story but you know when you're talking about having your to-go bag ready and and doing things that you might not necessarily be doing normally what what's always key for you
Well, I always have an extra bag packed. I have two sets of everything, you know, clothing, shoes, toiletries, and in the winter, a big down-filled jacket, because you never know, and warm boots, right? And this time, they came very, very handy in Bismarck, North Dakota.
I can imagine. Your team had a little bit of a snafu.
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Chapter 5: What role did the canine detective play in uncovering the truth?
The car broke down at one point, and then you got frostbite.
Yeah. I didn't really. You know, my producer, Joe Diaz, who was looking out for me, brought me this nice winter coat with flaps that go down all over the place. And all you could see was my eyes. But truth be told, I look pretty silly in hats. And... I chose vanity. I chose looking good over warmth and function. My ears were exposed to the cold winter. I was doing an interview outside.
They were exposed to the cold wind for just like two or three minutes. Wow. had turned charcoal color, and it was peeling off. It was, yeah, it was frostbite.
Chapter 6: What evidence pointed to Nikki's involvement in the murder?
It was a gift my senior producer was not expecting.
A valuable lesson to you. Let's wear the hats.
You can imagine how I feel. You know, he was feeling bad. Part of my ear was gone.
Yeah, oh my gosh.
It grew back.
Well, you know, these are the things that we parachute into when we go to these towns in Bismarck. So we're going to get to the murder case in just a second. But tell me a little bit about the community, because it's always interesting to know something about these communities that we report in. And we don't go to North Dakota a whole lot for our stories.
I've been to Florida and South Carolina and Texas and all the typical places, but not North Dakota.
I found it to be a really pretty town, Bismarck. It's right on the Missouri River, the state capital of North Dakota.
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Chapter 7: How did the community react to the shocking events surrounding the case?
And compared to other states, North Dakota has a relatively pretty low crime rate.
Yeah, which is why this case was so surprising. Well, John, it's always great to hear about the behind the scenes, but I want to dig into the reporting here and also how a four-legged detective helped solve this case. So don't go anywhere, folks. John and I will be right back.
Mr. Prime Minister, shall we start now? Let's start, and let's start properly. What do you mean? Let's start everything. Can you be more careful? Let's start clothes, let's start equipment, let's start equipment. I mean, all outdoor sports and free time. Now I understand. Maybe you understand numbers better. Budgesport is now even below 60%.
Chapter 8: What were the final outcomes for Nikki and Earl Howard after the trial?
So... Exactly. Budgesport.fi. The college football playoff isn't over. Not yet. That epic run. That wild dream. Not over till the clock hits zero. Till the stadium shakes. Till the wild things are let loose. Till the trophy is lifted and the confetti falls. This is the National Championship. When it's over, you'll feel it. This is the wild world of college football. The CFP National Championship.
Monday, January 19th at 7.30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN and the ESPN app.
We are back now with my friend and colleague, John Quinones, talking about his recent report for 2020 called The Last Strike. Let's talk about this episode, John. It begins, as we said, it was a chilling story in a very chilling community. It was in Bismarck, North Dakota. And you open the show with firefighters responding to a burning house just outside Bismarck.
They find a 42-year-old man named Chad Enzel, who had died, He was found at the home that he shared with his wife, Nikki. And, you know, most folks just saw this as a tragedy in the very beginning, right?
Yeah, yeah. I mean, Chad, everyone described him as Chad Ensel, as an active... Very adventurous man who had plans for the future. He had lots of hobbies. He loved bowling, and that's why we're calling this story The Last Strike. When he came to bowling, he could bowl a perfect 300-score game. He was part of a dart team. And then one day, suddenly, he doesn't show up for work.
His wife, Nikki Ansell, calls the police. And she tells dispatchers that her house is on fire. She's worried that her husband is inside. Eventually, as you mentioned, Chad's body is found in that burnt out house. And Nikki starts telling people that they had a faulty furnace in the house.
and that that may have been the cause of the fire yeah and so everybody sort of thinks that and they just think that this is just a real tragedy and and how sad and then when investigators hit the scene and they bring a canine dog on the scene things start to change the dog notices the smell of something and this starts an investigation into something deeper things looked kind of suspicious inside the house
So they bring in this dog, this canine, Webster, and he's part of the fire department's what they call the Accelerant Detection Unit. And Webster has a keen sense of smell, as so many dogs do. Dogs do, yeah. And he can detect all kinds of ignitable liquids, like 60 different kinds. This dog, Webster, was also able to pinpoint investigators to a certain type of accelerant
that it was placed inside the house where Chad and Nikki lived to start the fire. So he was the key to it all. He found the source of that fire.
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