March 16, 2009. Hood River County, Oregon. A man called 911 to report that his girlfriend, Rhonda Casto, had fallen from a trail on a cliff at Eagle's Creek. He said that when he got down to where she had fallen to that she was already dead. The sheriff was suspicious of the man, Stephen Nichols, almost immediately due to his calm demeanor and how he seemed to talk mostly about his own discomfort. By the very next day the sheriff decided that this was a homicide investigation and the focus was on Nichols. What reason would Nichols have had to murder Rhonda? The theories, the evidence and the path of the case against Stephen Nichols wasn't as clear cut as prosecutors and Rhonda's family had hoped. Would they have enough to prove their case?
SOURCES
https://www.instagram.com/avamarie0106/?hl=en
https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2017/07/woman_accused_of_embezzling_so.html
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/or-supreme-court/1851365.html
http://media.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/other/Scan%20HR%20St%20v%20Nichols%20140066CR.pdf
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WN7B0AALzHE
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/trail-of-tears/
https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2016/03/missing_evidence_doesnt_stop_c.html
https://www.leagle.com/decision/infdco20110621a82
https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2017/07/woman_accused_of_embezzling_so.html
https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2016/03/missing_evidence_doesnt_stop_c.html