The Murder of Nicole Laube
For this case I watched an episode of On the Case with Paula Zahn. It’s season 16 episode 12, titled ‘As She Lay Dying.’
A young mom is killed at her new job.
Background
Nicole Laube
Nicole Laube was 29 years old, and had a large blended family with her husband Chris. When Nicole met Chris, she already had her oldest daughter. Chris had two daughters of his own, and then the couple had a son together after they got married.
Nicole was described as being adventurous, brave and a go-getter. Nicole had overcome a rare form of cancer, and she became interested in fitness and body building after this. Nicole’s goal in life was to become a fitness coach.
Nicole had just started a new job, and no one ever thought that she wouldn’t be safe at work.
The Murder
On August 14, 2014, on a hot day in Portland, Oregon, a 911 call came in. The caller said a woman had been stabbed in the chest at the Timber Creek apartments. The caller said the woman was alive, but struggling to breathe.
The police and ambulance arrived, but it was too late. Nicole was pronounced dead at the scene. She was laying right next to a staircase, and the police covered her with a police blanket.
Detective Jim George with the Washington County Sheriff’s office, took statements from a couple that tried to help Nicole. They were moving out of their apartment, and had been loading furniture into their van, when Nicole ran up to them. She was holding her chest, but she was able to give them some details about her attacker. She said he had been wearing a dark hoodie and cargo camouflage shorts.
The police started searching for the suspect, and trying to find out who their victim was.
The Investigation
Nicole was identified shortly after she died. She was a new employee at the apartment complex. Her job for that day was to drive around on a golf cart, and posting welcome letters to the tenants who renewed their leases.
Nicole’s golf cart was found close to where she was killed. It had a map of the apartment complex, and all of the apartments that she had to visit were highlighted.
Next, the police canvassed the very large apartment complex, and knocking on doors to see if they had other witnesses. There had been other witnesses, some said they heard a scream around 5pm. Some witnesses said they saw a man running away from the complex, wearing a dark hoodie and camo shorts.
One witness named Jill Doyle said that she had arrived home from work around 4:30pm, and that the man had freaked her out. She said she went outside to walk her dog, and she saw him again. He had ducked into the entryways and popped back out. Jill was able to give the police a composite sketch, and the sketch was released to the media.
Dead Ends
The composite sketch helped with a few leads. The first one came from a man who said his son was friends with a man named Taylor. Taylor had apparently been threatening people with knives in the past few weeks.
The composite sketch
Taylor was brought in for questioning. The police said he was saying some strange things, and might have been suffering from mental illness. The police asked Taylor if he killed Nicole, and he said yes. However, Taylor was all over the place with his story and he was eliminated as a suspect.
Another tip came in about another man. This man’s name was Nick, and he had a criminal history. Nick also fit the description of the suspect, but his criminal history didn’t involve any violent crimes.
The police brought Nick in for questioning, and his behavior also raised red flags. Nick was asked about Nicole, and about the crime. He denied it, and asked for an attorney.
The police obtained a warrant for Nick’s home. They recovered a black hooded sweatshirt and camouflage pants. This sweatshirt had a bright white logo on the front, and camouflage pants were pants, not shorts like the witnesses described.
The police also obtained Nick’s cell phone records, and it proved he was no where near the crime when it occurred. Nick was eliminated as well, and the case stalled. The police were frustrated and scared that the killer would strike again, and they were right.
Another Attack
On September 13, 2014, three weeks after Nicole’s death, a 911 call came into the Eugene, Oregon police. The caller said a woman had been attacked, and beaten outside of the University of Oregon football stadium.
Detective Jeff Roth with the Eugene PD was dispatched the hospital where the victim was waiting to speak with him. Her name was Heather Meller, and she was a 39 year old mom.
Det. Roth was so shocked that Heather had just been through a terrible ordeal, and was able to speak to him. Heather told him that she had been tailgating at the Oregon Ducks football game. Heather said they ended up going to a bar to watch the game, and that she left around 8pm. She said she went outside to call a cab, but realized her phone died.
She started walking back to the stadium, when suddenly she heard footsteps behind her and saw someone out of the corner of her eye. Heather crossed the street, and the person followed her. She said the last thing she remembered was running footsteps and feeling a sharp pain in her head.
Heather said the person knocked her out, and when she came to, she was face to face with him. She said he punched her, and she begged for her life. She told him she had a daughter, and he kept punching her. She said she was going to do anything she could do to survive, so she played dead.
Heather said she got up, and realized that she had been sexually assaulted. She was only wearing her football jersey, but started walking to the road to wait for someone to help her.
After a few minutes, a car pulled up and the driver called 911.
The Suspect
Heather was able to give a description of her attacker. She said she remembered his Oregon shirt and black jeans. What Heather and Det. Roth didn’t realize was that a suspect was taken into custody, while they were talking.
The suspect was 17 year old Jaime Tinoco. He was found by a police officer on a bike, after Jaime was trying to flee. The police officer realized Jaime was covered in blood.
Jaime Tinoco
Jaime had a criminal history, and was actually on probation on the time for drug charges. He was also arrested the night before he attacked Heather, for driving with a suspended license.
The police asked Jaime if he attacked Heather, and they were shocked when he immediately confessed. He was very cold and unemotional, and Det. Roth believed this wasn’t his first attack. He released Jaime’s mug shot, and his instinct about Jaime was right.
Connecting the Cases
I actually got chills when this part was played. The police compared Jaime’s mugshot to the composite sketch, and it was an exact match. The police also discovered that Jaime lived across the street from the Timber Creek apartments, with his parents.
Jaime was questioned, and the police hoped that Jaime would confess like he confessed to attacking Heather. However, he didn’t. He didn’t want to engage with the police. The police now had to search for evidence to connect him to the murder.
The police obtained a search warrant for Jaime’s parent’s home. They searched his bedroom and recovered a black hooded sweatshirt and camouflage shorts. The police were now hoping that Nicole’s DNA or blood would be on the sweatshirt. The clothes were sent in for testing, and when the results came back, the police were frustrated. There were no traces of Nicole’s DNA or blood on those clothes.
Meanwhile, Jaime was prosecuted for Heather’s attack. He pleaded guilty, and was laughing and smirking at the trial and during Heather’s impact statement. Det. George now believed that Jaime was portraying himself as a cold blooded criminal, and he was going to use this as a technique to get Jaime to confess.
Jaime’s Confession
The police attempted to talk to Jaime again. Det. George told Jaime that if he’d probably have a better reputation in prison if the other inmates knew he was a murderer, not just a rapist. A few minutes passed and Jaime didn’t say anything. The police were about to give up and walk out of the room, until Jaime said “I didn’t mean to do it.”
He gave a detailed confession. He said he wanted to stab someone to know what it felt like. He said he hid in the entryway, and watched Nicole tape the leases to the tenant’s door. He said he watched her walk back down the stairs and stabbed her. He said he would’ve sexually assaulted her, but she started screaming, so he ran.
The police later took Jaime back to the apartment complex, and had him walk them through the crime again. Jaime even showed them the path he took when he ran away.
Trial and Conviction
Even with his full confession, Jaime pleaded not guilty.
Jaime’s defense argued that there was no DNA evidence to link him to the crime scene. They also said his confession was “forced” by the police.
The prosecution said that Jaime confessed, and made cruel comments about how Nicole’s death made him feel. He said it gave him a “high.”
Heather testified about her assault.
Jaime Tinoco was found guilty of aggravated murder and unlawful use of a weapon. He was sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole. He was also given a 14 year sentence for sexually assaulting Heather Meller.
Other
Rich Jones, Nicole’s dad has co-found an organization to teach spirituality in the Oregon prison system.
Nicole with her dad, Rich
FINAL THOUGHTS
This person deserves to rot in jail. He has never shown remorse, and if he wasn’t caught for these crimes, he would kill or attack someone again and again. It’s hard for me to believe that Nicole’s case was his first violent crime. He might have committed more, but there is no evidence that he did.
I’m so happy that this monster won’t be able to hurt anyone else. I’m also happy that Nicole’s family got the justice they deserve, as well as Heather and her family. It was so brave of Heather to give her statement over and over again.
Sources
https://www.koin.com/news/jury-jaime-tinoco-guilty-in-nicole-laube-murder/
https://katu.com/news/local/murder-trial-for-convicted-rapist-set-to-begin-tuesday
