Free To Be Me (Nikki Kuhnhausen)
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We were mostly concerned about how do we prove that he is the one who did this? And so when they said self-defense, it became a completely different case.
We did not know how things were going to go until we got that verdict.
I'm Scott Weinberger, investigative journalist and former deputy sheriff.
I'm Anastasia Nicolazzi, former New York City homicide prosecutor and host of Investigation Discovery's True Conviction.
And this is Anatomy of Murder.
There were over 19,000 homicides reported in the United States in the last year alone. But it doesn't take a true crime fan to tell you that some crimes or their sensational trials capture the public's attention more than others.
Now, whether it's due to blanket media coverage or celebrity obsession or public outcry, some homicide investigations can take on a life of their own, which creates a barrage of distractions for families, law enforcement, and prosecutors who are just trying to catch a killer and solve a case.
But even when a case sometimes starts to feel like a runaway freight train, with everyone from cable news to internet sleuths chiming in with an opinion, it is critical that those members of law enforcement and prosecutors stay focused on the facts, the evidence, and ultimately, hopefully, the truth.
Vancouver, Washington, not to be confused with Vancouver, Canada, is a suburb of Portland just north of the Columbia River.
It's also the seat of Clark County, where in 2021, a rookie prosecutor named Kristen Arno teamed up with veteran Colin Hayes to handle a case that not only captured worldwide attention, but that has had a lasting impact on their state's legal system.
Clark County is interesting in that it's a suburban county that's connected to the Portland metro area. And so we have a lot of the big city environment of Portland. So we're kind of like an intersection of a suburban county and also an urban area. There's definitely crime that occurs here, but I think murder is not the most common for sure. We don't get a whole lot of murders here.
let alone murders that grab national headlines, inspire a call to action, and galvanize an entire movement.
In 2020, Nikki Kuhnhausen was a 17-year-old high school student who had a passion for makeup and hairstyling and dreamed of one day becoming a makeup artist.
She kind of became like an expert in makeup. She was really interested in social media and she kind of wanted to pursue being an influencer on social media.
Online, Nikki was confident, genuine, and incredibly talented. But off camera, Nikki's life wasn't always the picture of stability and acceptance.
She had had a pretty difficult life, unfortunately. Both of her parents had gone through periods of severe addiction and sometimes even incarceration. So Nikki had moved around a lot in her youth.
And with all that change, one thing Nikki could always rely on was herself. So when she transitioned in high school and began living as a transgender woman, she did so with confidence and flair.
Even though she had a very difficult childhood, she persevered and she was really very confident in who she was. And she was very bubbly and outgoing and friendly. When faced with adversaries or with difficulties, she would stand up for herself and would hold her ground when she needed to.
Nikki's parents were divorced, and so most of the time, she lived with her father while her mother dealt with some of her own issues. However, Nikki's mom was also her biggest fan, and the two of them stayed in touch daily.
Nikki's mom, Lisa, was in constant contact with Nikki over social media apps or texting, and Nikki was really prolific in posting on social media.
So naturally, when Nikki's social media feeds went quiet on June of 2019, her mom had a feeling that something was not quite right.
Recently, Nikki had been going through her own struggles with narcotics, a battle her mom knew all too well. So when her phone calls and texts went unanswered, it was a cause for serious alarm. Here's prosecutor Colin Hayes.
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