“But the most valuable piece of information came from a sorority sister who has agreed to come forward. Nicole Bergamo nearly died because of the information she shared on this podcast.”
Nicole’s voice came through. “I called because I had information, but I had been convinced that I didn’t remember it correctly. Three years ago, I saw Candace in a beat-up white truck driving through campus on Tuesday morning. I knew she was missing, and I thought it was odd. I went to our advisor, Rachel Wagner, and she told me I was mistaken. I don’t remember exactly what she said, but she made me feel stupid, and I began to believe I was wrong. Then on Sunday morning, we went out to brunch, and something caught my eye. Rachel was with us, and I said I thought I saw a guy getting on the freight train. You know the place, the Rail Yard Café. Rachel said it was Joseph Abernathy. She told me I had to call the police. So I did. But I don’t know that it was Abernathy. I didn’t recognize him, I only caught a glimpse. Rachel has a way of making you think you knew something when you didn’t or believe you didn’t know something when you did. It’s subtle psychological manipulation, but you have to understand how much we looked up to her. She was our mentor, our friend, and I never thought in a million years that she would lie to me. Until she tried to kill me.”
Lucas said, “Nicole didn’t realize when she called in to the show that Rachel knew who she was—she had disguised her voice. But by her statement, Rachel worried that Nicole would tell the police that it was actually Rachel who identified Abernathy—the perfect scapegoat for the murder of Candace Swain. Rachel wanted to silence her, so poisoned her with a dangerous depressant she’d stolen from another sorority girl who had a prescription. If Nicole’s roommate, Vicky Ryan, hadn’t come into their room right then and recognized that Nicole wasn’t breathing, Nicole would have died.”
Vicky’s voice came on. “I thought Nicole was angry with me, ignoring me, so I touched her and realized she wasn’t breathing. I called 9-1-1 and immediately began CPR. My instincts took over. By the time the paramedics got there, she had a pulse. Faint, but it was there.”
Lucas said, “Nicole was in a coma for twenty-four hours and was released from the hospital this morning. She is expected to make a full recovery.
“Knowing that if Nicole survived, she would be exposed, Rachel Wagner created a chemical smoke bomb around my apartment, and as my neighbors and I fled early Sunday morning, Rachel stabbed me and took me hostage. She drove me to Payson, a small former mining town in the mountains, and planned to leave me at the bottom of a mine—with the skeletons of Adele Overton and Joseph Abernathy. If it wasn’t for the quick thinking of former US Marshal Regan Merritt, no one would know what had happened to me.
“Rachel was shot and killed, and the truth is finally out. She killed Candace Swain. She then killed Joseph Abernathy—we don’t know how, the coroner is still conducting the autopsy—and dropped his body where she left Adele. For no other reason than to make him disappear so it appeared he had killed Candace and fled.
“So where was Candace Swain the rest of the week she was missing? She was in Payson looking for the mine that had become Adele’s grave. We don’t believe she found it. But her extensive notes and maps helped Regan Merritt find me, and I owe both Regan and Candace my life.
“If anyone saw Candace in Payson the week of April 12, three years ago, call in or email me. But chances are she was keeping a low profile. We don’t know if she knew that she’d been reported missing and people were looking for her. According to her journal, she ran into Taylor James on Monday, and yet Taylor never reported the encounter to the police. Today, Taylor is dead of a drug overdose. It’s a suspected homicide—Taylor was the only person who could have known that Rachel killed Candace. According to Regan Merritt, it was Rachel who first floated the idea that Taylor had killed her onetime best friend.”
Regan said in her recording, “I spoke with Rachel Wagner twice. Each time, she tried to convince me to encourage Lucas to drop his podcast. The second time, after Taylor was found dead of a drug overdose—after being clean and sober for over a year—she implied that Taylor might have killed herself out of guilt, that her drug habit had begun after Candace was murdered. Rachel wanted to push that narrative because it helped keep her name out of the investigation. I don’t know if we’ll be able to prove Rachel killed Taylor—the police are conducting a full investigation—but I learned from a friend of mine in the police department that Taylor’s laptop was found in Rachel’s suitcase.”
Lucas said, “Tonight, I have Senior Detective Brian Hernandez on the phone. He has agreed to grant a rare interview. Thank you for joining me tonight, Detective. Can you please tell my audience how you came to be in charge of this case?”
“Of course, Lucas. I’m happy to. On Saturday morning, it became clear that there was a potential conflict of interest in the Candace Swain murder investigation. The detective who had been in charge cooperated and provided all documentation to me, and Ms. Merritt provided me with a copy of Candace Swain’s journal, which has since been authenticated by a handwriting expert. The journal provided some verifiable evidence that Candace had been involved in the cover-up of an accidental death at Associate Professor Rachel Wagner’s apartment. The journal also documented other parties and Candace’s efforts to come forward to authorities with the information.
“Ms. Merritt also had compelling evidence that Nicole Bergamo, who was at that time in a coma, might have eyewitness evidence to Ms. Wagner’s guilt in her poisoning as well as witness intimidation. When I interviewed Ms. Bergamo on Sunday afternoon, I was able to confirm that, as well as gather other evidence from the sorority, witness statements, and at Ms. Wagner’s residence.”