The preliminary hearing for Tyler McCain, charged with the murder of his wife Nikki Saelee McCain, continues in California.
According to the Record Searchlight, Superior Court Judge Thomas L. Bender is tasked with determining if the murder case against Tyler will proceed.
For the past four days, the Redding judge has heard testimony from 17 people, with numerous additional witnesses scheduled to continue testimony throughout the week.
Testimonies from family, neighbors, and law enforcement reportedly connected the defendant directly to efforts to conceal evidence, including allegedly getting rid of Nikki’s truck.
Police charged McCain with the murder last month.
Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett said that Tyler McCain’s motive had been to keep Nikki, a mother of four, from testifying against him in a domestic abuse case.
Nikki’s body has not been found, and the prosecution has relied on forensic evidence, such as blood in the truck and recorded statements, to establish probable cause.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Nikki vanished on May 17, 2024. The Redding Police Department said she last spoke to her family that same day before someone picked her up from a home in Redding, near the Win-River Casino.
Her truck was also reported missing, but police later found it, a 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche with California license plate DP154UT, on May 25, 2024, in western Tehama County, according to the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office.
Shasta County authorities later reclassified Nikki’s disappearance as a homicide.
Tyler McCain, who remains behind bars at Shasta County Jail, has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. He reportedly spent time scribbling on a notepad, seated by his attorney, as witnesses took the stand.
Neighbor Justin Karren, who lived in a trailer on the McCains’ property, testified last week that the defendant offered Nikki money to disappear for a while, in order to avoid the domestic violence charges.
Karren also testified that he had been with Tyler McCain when the Avalanche was left off Highway 36, and that Tyler confirmed that the “truck and something in it needed to disappear,” ABC 7 reports.
Karren answered “no” when Deputy District Attorney Toby Powell asked him if he had anything to do with Nikki’s murder or disappearance.
Karren continued on to say he last saw Nikki on the morning of May 18, 2024, inside her kitchen.
He also testified that he found Nikki’s driver’s license and credit cards on the back porch but gave them to Tyler; the condition of the items differed between Karren’s account and later seizure from Tyler.
Witness Luis Barajas took the stand last week and said he met Nikki when he worked at an Anderson phone store. He claimed he had a romantic relationship with her and that Nikki told him she planned on divorcing Tyler.
Barajas also claimed that Nikki told him that her husband tortured and beat her.
Other testimonies, in part, include:
- Redding Police Detective Jeremiah Kasinger testified about Nikki’s history of domestic violence reports, including threats from the defendant to kill Nikki and her family, while holding a gun to her.
- Kasinger said he detected an odor consistent with decomposition in the bed of the Avalanche.
- Tyler McCain’s cousin, Larry Fultz, testified that two days after Nikki’s last sighting, Tyler appeared at his home and asked help to find his vehicle, seeming high on methamphetamine. Fultz said he thought Tyler and Nikki were both drug users.
- Neighbor Felicia Nelson testified that she saw Tyler McCain “jealous with other males.”
- Courtney Leadingham, a forensic investigator, testified about the discovery of Nikki’s belongings and blood evidence in the Chevrolet Avalanche truck.
The preliminary hearing continues.
Anyone with information on Nikki’s whereabouts is encouraged to contact the Major Crimes Unit by email at [email protected] or call 530-245-6135 and reference case number SCSO24-002069.
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[Feature Photo: Nikki Saelee-McCain/Handout]
