Caught on tape: Female crime scene investigator targeted for execution
Who wanted Nicki Lenway dead? That was the question police were asking on the evening of April 20, 2022. Around 7:30 p.m., Lenway had pulled into the parking lot of FamilyWise parenting center to pick up her 5-year-old son, Callahan. She was halfway between her car and the door when she was ambushed from behind and shot multiple times at point-blank range.
Miraculously, Lenway survived, telling "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty, "I fell to the ground. ... And the shooter stands over me and continues to try to shoot." The mystery of who tried to kill Lenway is unraveled in "Who Wanted Nicki Lenway Dead?" now streaming on Paramount+.
After firing at Lenway — hitting her in the arm and neck — the shooter fled. Left bleeding and struggling to breathe, Lenway called 911, but when the operator answered Nicki realized she was unable to speak.
Nicki Lenway was no stranger to violence. The 33-year-old worked crime scenes for the Minneapolis Police. But she never imagined she'd find herself on the other side of an investigation. "I knew that this could happen … but I didn't want to believe it would," she tells Moriarty.
Across the street from where Lenway was gunned down, Emilie Clancy was in her car at a red light and had witnessed the whole thing. "There was, um, a person who ran up to another person. … I heard two bangs and that other person collapsed," she said. When the light turned green, Clancy pulled up next to Lenway. Clancy took over the 911 call and had Lenway get into the front seat of her car. She took off her jacket and placed it over Lenway's neck to try and help stop the bleeding.
As the two women waited for help to arrive, they shared a powerful moment Clancy will never forget. "I just looked her in the eyes. … And I said, 'Nikki, we've got this. We've got this. Just stay with me…' I just wanted her to know that she wasn't alone in this … And if that was the only thing I can give to this poor girl, like that — that would mean something to me." Within minutes, first responders arrived, and Lenway was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition.
Police began their investigation into who committed the brazen attack by scouring the area for clues. They learned Lenway had been at FamilyWise to pick up her son who had a scheduled visit with his father, her ex-boyfriend, Tim Amacher. Officers spoke to Amacher in the lobby of FamilyWise and found out he had been inside the building with his son when the shooting took place.
The first big break in the case came when officers discovered there was security footage from FamilyWise and two surrounding buildings. The first images showed Nicki arriving to pick up her son and someone dressed in all black with a mask over their face running her down from behind. Another camera, from a bank across the street, captured the dramatic moment the shots were fired. The shooter could then be seen fleeing on foot and driving off in a black Dodge Ram truck. But the truck had no license plates, and police couldn't tell who was behind the wheel.
The next day, police were able to interview Lenway in the hospital. They asked if she had any idea who would want to kill her. Without a second thought, she told them she was convinced Amacher was involved. Amacher was a well-liked local taekwondo instructor. For police, it didn't make sense that Amacher could have been the shooter. They knew Amacher was inside Family Wise at the time of the shooting and couldn't have pulled the trigger.
Still, Lenway told police she and Amacher had a long and rocky history that included allegations of abuse — "One night he threw me against the wall holding my neck" — and a bitter custody battle over their son that eventually went to trial in the fall of 2020. When it was over, the judge awarded Lenway sole legal and physical custody. Tim was allowed just one supervised visit a week. For police, it was a clear motive.
But what about Amacher's alibi? Could police connect him with the shooting? One of the detectives at the crime scene had asked Amacher what cars he owned. Amacher told him he owned the Jeep he was driving and a Dodge Challenger sedan. But the detective didn't just take his word for it, and when he checked with Driver and Vehicle Services, he made a shocking discovery. Tim Amacher owned another vehicle: a Black Dodge Ram truck, just like the one the shooter was seen driving off in.
If it was Amacher's truck, who was driving it? Police looked to the FBI for help, and agent Richard Fennern, a technology specialist, was assigned to the case. Amacher's truck was a newer model and Fennern learned it had Wi-Fi, which, just like a cellphone, creates a digital trail. "We could track it much like we could a cellphone," said Fennern.
Using data from Tim's truck and his cellphone records from earlier in the day before the shooting, Fennern concluded the black Dodge Ram truck the shooter drove off in was in fact the same truck Tim Amacher had been driving earlier. It was a huge break. But it still left police with the same question — who was the masked person driving it away from the scene after shooting Nicki?
Police would question Amacher, and he told them the only other person who had access to his truck was Colleen Larson. Larson was younger than Amacher — she had been his taekwondo student since she was an adolescent. When she was 18 years old, she moved in with the taekwondo master and their relationship would eventually become romantic. Neighbor Charlie Dettloff told Moriarty, "She would call him Master ... and ultimately kinda became, you know, like a maid or a servant to him."
Police questioned Larson twice. The first time she denied any involvement, but during the second interview, which was recorded, she broke down and confessed: "I took the truck and I drove over there … and then I shot her." Even though Larson admitted to pulling the trigger, she said the whole thing was Amacher's idea.
INVESTIGATOR: So, he asked you, if you felt comfortable would you shoot Nicole for me?
COLLEEN LARSON: Yeah.
INVESTIGATOR: Yes.
Larson told police that after the shooting she got rid of the black clothes she wore to disguise her identity, but Amacher had disposed of the gun.
COLLEEN LARSON: He just said he would take care of it.
INVESTIGATOR: He just said he would take care of it. … So, you have no idea what he did with the gun?
COLLEEN LARSON : Not exactly, no.
Despite what Larson told police, Amacher denied any involvement before or after the shooting. Tim Amacher went on trial on Nov. 3, 2022. He was found guilty of premeditated attempted murder and aiding his accomplice, Colleen Larson, and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. A few days later, Larson pleaded guilty to first-degree premeditated attempted murder. She was sentenced to 16-and-a-half years.