The Murder of Nicolas Morelos
For this case I watched an episode of A Time to Kill. It’s season 3 episode 3, titled ‘Killer on the Roof.’
A 45 year old ex-Marine is killed in his home.
Background
Nicolas ‘Nic’ Morelos lived in Tucson, Arizona, and worked as the director of maintenance at Marana Aerospace Solutions.
He was described as being very dedicated to his job, and didn’t put up with anyone’s bullshit. He was very close to his family, and to his dog, a pitbull named Smokey.
Nic Morelos
The Murder
On Monday, July 18, 2016, around 9:00am, Nic’s fiancé Kristie called 911. She said that she had gone to her fiancé’s house, and found him dead. The dispatcher asked how she knew he was dead. She replied that he had a bullet wound to his head.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department arrived. The investigation was led by Jennifer Garcia. They found Nic on the floor of his bedroom. He had been shot eight times, and one was to the middle of his head.
Two cleaning bottles were found near Nic’s body, the floor was sticky and there was a strong odor of cleaning product.
The Investigation
The police started by talking to Kristie. She said she and Nic met at work, and soon became involved.
She said Nic usually left for work at 6am, and usually called or texted her. She said she decided to go to Nic’s around 8:30am, when she didn’t hear from him. She then made the horrific discovery in his bedroom.
The police searched Nic’s backyard. In the yard, eleven .45 shell casings were found. The shell casings had a unique marking on them. It had five starts, with the words 45 auto. The bullets were unique, and manufactured by a company called Golden Eagle.
The police also determined that Nic’s killer had shot from the roof of the patio. There was a ladder leaned up against the patio, and several shell casings were found in the stucco of the house. The glass had been broken, and had a red substance in the glass and on the window sill.
Nic’s beloved dog Smokey was sitting in the yard. The police believed that Nic either knew his killer or the person had to have knowledge of how to train animals.
The Workplace
The police canvased the neighborhood. One neighbor said she had heard a strange noise around 4:15am. The police were able to narrow down the time of death, and determined that the killer had most likely used a silencer, since the neighbor didn’t say she heard a gun going off.
The investigation turned to Nic’s workplace. They spoke to Human Resources director, who told them that several employees had left the company, due to Nic’s managing style.
Nic was also known to be a ladies man, and had dated several women from work. One of Nic’s exes named Claudia, told the police that a woman named Jessica could’ve had something to do with Nic’s death. Claudia had dated Nic after Jessica did, and she showed up one day when she was over at his home. Jessica caused a scene, and wanted to talk to Nic and Claudia.
The Suspects
The police spoke to Jessica, and she was asked about her relationship with Nic. Jessica said she had moved in with Nic, and brought her kids as well. Jessica said Nic was caught making out with Claudia in the break room at work, and she was asked to move out the day after.
The police asked an obviously heartbroken Jessica about her whereabouts from Sunday to Monday morning. Jessica said she and her daughter had gone to her mom’s house around 3pm, and stayed there until about 7pm.
Jessica was willing to hand her phone over to the police. Her phone placed her at home from 7pm-5am, and she was ruled out.
The police questioned Claudia again, and she mentioned her ex-fiance wasn’t a fan of Nic. Claudia had been engaged, but broke it off, and started dating Nic.
Claudia said her ex showed up at Nic’s one day, and followed them in his car another time. She said after Nic’s death, he left her a note saying he was sorry about Nic’s death, but wanted to take her out for a drink.
The ex-fiance was questioned. He was asked about his breakup with Claudia. He said he was really upset about it for awhile, but finally got over it one day.
Det. Garcia noticed he had scratches on his arms. The police knew that the killer had climbed through Nic’s broken window. He refused to let the police take pictures of his injuries, or give a sample of his DNA. However, he said he was a landscaper, and had injuries like that all the time.
He finally let the police take a sample of his DNA, and it wasn’t a match to Nic’s crime scene. He was a stalker, but not a murderer.
The Jealous Co-Worker
After several dead ends, the police returned to Nic’s workplace. They discovered that Nic’s ex Jessica was now dating a man named James Lapan. Not only was he dating Jessica, but he didn’t like Nic for other reasons. James had complained several times about how Nic treated him at work. Nic was also higher up in the company that James was, and many people thought he was jealous.
The police brought James in for questioning. He had a very large cut on his arm. The cut was deep, and looked like it hadn’t been treated. James told the police that he got that cut from work, but when the police looked at the airplane hanger, it didn’t match how James said he got his injury.
The police obtained a warrant for James’ home. Inside, they found 18 boxes of .45 caliber shell casings that had the unique stamp on them, just like the ones at the crime scene. They found a box for a .45 caliber weapon, a box for a silencer and a pair of jeans that James had stuffed high up in his closet.
The Mountain of Evidence
The casings and jeans were sent out for testing. A warrant was put out to get a sample of James’ DNA.
On July 22, James was arrested on his way to work. Jessica had been driving his vehicle, and was brought in for questioning.
Jessica denied being involved, but revealed that James had texted her about Nic’s pitbull Smokey. Jessica revealed Smokey’s name, and the messages proved it was premeditation.
The testing from James’ jeans proved he was the killer. It had a mixture of his DNA and Nic’s DNA. James DNA was also found in several areas of Nic’s bedroom, and the shell casings in James’ bedroom matched the ones from the crime scene.
James’ wife Sareena came forward and said he asked her to lie for him. Actually, she said he threatened her. She said James was jealous of Nic, and wanted him dead.
Trial and Conviction
The police believed that Nic went to be around 9pm on Sunday night. James was given information from Jessica that Nic usually let Smokey out around 4am, so he snuck out of his house around 3:30am. Nic was up in his house, and moving around, when James started firing from the roof. James then entered the home through the broken window, and fired his last shot at Nic’s head. James cleaned up the scene, and went home before his wife woke up.
On October 2, 2018, James was found guilty of first degree murder. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
Jessica was never charged, the police didn’t have enough evidence to charge her.
James Lapan
FINAL THOUGHTS
James killed Nic because he was jealous, and maybe even thought Jessica wasn’t over him. She wasn’t. She constantly complained to James about him, and James had a lot of anger towards him already. Nic didn’t deserve to be shot eight times. He didn’t deserve to be shot at all. James and Jessica deserve each other, and it’s a shame that they weren’t both convicted.
Sources
https://www.newsweek.com/dateline-tucson-murder-nicolas-morelos-who-killed-what-happened-1280130
https://www.kold.com/story/32511364/man-arrested-in-connection-with-northwest-side-homicide/
