I dug up both her and her husband’s file to read what took place in court. What was worse than the fictional physical evidence was the fact the court allowed testimony from a cell mate of her husband stating the cellmate claimed the husband told him the fire was set and him and his wife were responsible. Then without any evidence of her previous child’s death being anything but accidental the mother was allowed to testify the child was murdered by the defendant.

Here is a case where you have the defendant’s stepmother, who is angary with the defendant, have no proof that previous death was intentional, being allowed to testify to that as a fact. Then there is the jailhouse informer that has exact details as to what was used in the setting of the fire. The informant said the reason for the setting of the fire was to pay off drug debts. There was never any support there were drug depts. This informant was looking to get out of jail based on his testimony. And then there was a firefighter after being told there was an accelerant spread throughout the house stating the fire was unusual in its intensity. Then there was the “Arson” dog the hit one eight spots the laboratory said contained the material that was in the product spread as an accelerant. The handler for the dog said his dog will not alert on any material other than what is used to accelerate a fire. What the laboratory said is that the same material could be found in other products where the sample was collected. They said they could not say from which item the material they found originate from. Then there is the public fire investigator stating a candle cannot spark a blasé that large or that fast burning as was found at the Nicholls’ house. Finally is the insurance company’s hired investigator who testified to the fact that the fire was intentionally set based on the speed and size of the fire.

Where there is evidence to question the quality of the individual defendants, that should not be the question unless we are now able to say because the person is a bad person that is all the evidence needed to say the fire was intentionally set. Yes, they owed all kinds of money and did not list their income correctly on their tax forms. More important is Timothy Nicholls own words between him and his girlfriend about how he and his girlfriend planed the fire. The question is do you need the positive fire scene evidence showing it was a set fire for a conviction?

You need to read the attached document to get a full picture.
[more.ppld.org]

Jim Mazerat
Forensic Investigations Group