Na Cola Franklin
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And I'm Taz. And welcome back to Sisters Who Kill. Everyone dreams of their wedding day, about the perfect dress, the perfect decor, the absolutely amazing caterer that will ensure that your guests have a great time. For me, I always dream of having an open bar and then a wedding cake that's actually an edible. What happens when everything just seems to go wrong? Our players this week are...

Billy Brewster, our victim and Nicola's husband, Monique Calley, Billy's cousin, Nakia Calley, Billy's cousin, and Nicola Franklin, our murderess. Nicola Darcelle Franklin was born in California on October 29th, 1980. I want to point out that Murderpedia says 1981, but her official prison documents say 1980. So we're going to go with that one. Now, I have seen her name written both ways.

Nicola in a space, capital C, Cola like Coca-Cola, or Nicola in a cola altogether. I'm not actually sure which one is the proper spelling. And when you go on official documents, they just put your name in all caps. I'm afraid to go to jail because they'll be like, Marat, and it's going to be all caps. I'm like, no, the R is capitalized. Can you like lowercase the R this time so people know that it's special? No, keep it moving.

Right. But anyways, she's from California. She grew up with a really loving family around her and she ended up

having a very long-term relationship. And from that relationship, she had a baby boy named Anthony. Now, at the time of this story, Anthony is around pre-teen age. But when he was a baby, she was just so in love with him and wanted to give him the world. She actually worked in California as a preschool teacher for quite a while. And then in 2009, while she was out and about in Cali being

A fun girl. I don't know. Cali seems like a fun place to live. She met a man that was clearly not from around here. She was like, hey, how are you? He said, hey, how you doing? My name is Billy Brewster. She said, oh, hello, Billy Brewster. Billy Raphael Brewster was born on August 17th of 1975 in Queens, New York. His mama was Barbara Jean Franklin and his father was Anton Obas.

He had one sister, Dawn Essence McCain, and three brothers, Walter F. Brewster, David R. Brewster, and Warren McCain. Well, this mama must have got remarried and had some McCanns. That ain't—listen, that's her business. She grown. He graduated from Jamaica High School in New York, and he worked as an EMT for a while, but it didn't work out for him for whatever reason, and he ended up becoming a truck driver.

My mans was working a long shift them 12-hour days. He was driving from Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Virginia. He drove for NFI. But on his off time, he loved to have a good time. He liked to play pool. He liked to play sports. Was into music, especially hip-hop. He liked clothes, had a little fashion sense, a little flair. He liked the cars and everything. He was just, his cousin describes him as a funny guy who's easy to get along with. Anybody that meets him would have liked him.

says his cousin Akia. He had just one son from a previous relationship. This was William. He took fathering very seriously, like was a family man, loved being there for them. Now, one day he was out in Cali for a work trip. Not sure of the specifics.

But while he's out there, he see this little fine Tenderoni in his eyes. Is this girl pretty? I don't know. She is pretty, and she's tall. And he was like, you know what? I could climb that tree. She looked like she flat on the front and the back. She said, I'll climb that beanstalk, girl. Yeah, he's out in Cali. He see this fine young Tenderoni. And he's like, let me get your number. Let's make this a little get-to-know-you situation.

And the two ended up hitting it off and they started dating. And things were good, but things were rough. We can only work with the information that we have. And it's giving long distance, at least up until a certain point. But whatever he was doing, he was handling it because Nicole didn't even have to work. He was taking care of it. So I don't know if she was living with him or if he was just paying her bills from afar, but she didn't have to work. Paying California bills? Sure.

From afar? From afar, meaning you paying your own bills too? Ain't you got a say? I bet she felt like her pussy was good. But just because you don't have to work doesn't mean that you shouldn't work because money was still tight. Like, I'm speculating, but if you upholding two households, I bet money is fucking tight. Billie is constantly on the call of, baby, you spending too much money, you gonna have to budget. Budget? She don't even like the word.

Now he done said to be worried to her. She all upset. Because at the end of the day, here's my theory. If you tell me that I do not, should not, don't want me to work, that means that you should be able to pay for my lifestyle plus extracurriculars. Maybe you didn't say explicitly you don't have to work. Maybe she just stopped working. Maybe you just said, let me pay your bills. And then she said, well, the bills are paid and I'm done.

I don't know what she did, but every time that she saw this nigga, he drunk. So she was feeling some type of way like you coming at me talking with the B word, but I don't see you B wording anything for them beers. I don't see you budgeting when it comes to these trips. I don't see you budgeting, but you on me. You on me.

And they would like sometimes not talk about it. You know how people suppress the things that are wrong in their relationship and pretend like everything is great. But as soon as he had a couple of drinks in him, that's when he feel bold and brazen enough to be like, you need to watch your budget. And she's like, oh, hell no, nigga. I know your drunk ass ain't talking to me like you crazy. And so their argument started to really escalate to the point where hands started being thrown. Now,

This next part is all according to Nicola very late in the story, but this is when she said it happens because, you know, we tell things in order. But unbeknownst to Billy's family, unbeknownst to her friends, she kept it as quiet as it kept in her house. Billy was extremely jealous.

He would always be like, I see you looking at these niggas at the club. He would always be like, I know what you trying to do. And she's like, listen, baby, it ain't. And it has never been like that. So I don't know why you're tripping. And he was getting tired of it. So he was known to have a pocket knife in his back pocket. And he would let her know I got this pocket knife in my back pocket.

That's what I be telling people, like, you mad because I'm looking left and right, baby? Everybody's looking out they window, breaking their neck, trying to look at me. So do you have the confidence to be with a bitch like me? That's what I say. Because it take a lot. You got to be secure. You got to be secure. Because they up in the DMs, baby. They there. You just got to trust me, baby. I ain't going to do nothing else. Not nothing else. That was interesting language that you just used. Yeah.

Oh, my God. I ain't gonna do nothing. Nothing. Baby, they've been in my DMs for years. I'm telling y'all, I was just today asking Tazzy if she knew this man. The beat has been in my DMs for years. No one can ID this man. So that nigga don't know you. He said he do. He said he sat in the back of my class at one point. I don't know. I might have a stalker. Who knows? You guys keep listening to Sisters Who Kills for updates on that. But anyways...

According to Nicola, they started dating in 2009, but by the end of 2009, he was extremely jealous. He was mentally abusive. He was financially abusive. He was physically abusive. According to her, like, every time that she would even look in a man's direction, not even lovingly, he would grab her. He would hit her. Apparently...

There was an instance where he shoved her against the car because he thought that she was flirting with another dude. He would choke her, throw her against the wall, just any time that he was upset. And Nicola was like, it's so bad here that half the time you just stay. Like, you just try to get him to calm down. He's drunk. Calm down. Lay down. Take a nap. Drink some tea. Go to sleep. She said that one time he grabbed the wheel of the car while she was driving because he got so upset with her that they ended up

steering off the side of the road and hit the guardrail on the highway. And the mirror fell off. The mirror on the car fell off. And let me tell you, listen, let me tell you, like Tazzy said, there is a time, there's a gap in the story that we are aware of where it could have been distance, but they could have been together. But I do know when they were together, they only had one vehicle. You messing up our only mode of transportation. Yeah.

And apparently, Nicola, she was cool with his family. Obviously, a lot of his family members didn't know or weren't aware and still don't believe that he was a jealous or mean or angry man. And I think Nicola, just like anybody that is in a relationship that wants that relationship and doesn't want people to see the bad in that relationship, will just keep saying that everything is hunky-dory. But it just so seemed like every time that she was just like, you know what? I'm really done here. I'm really not about to do this anymore. He'd be like, baby, you know I love you. Come on, now stay.

Her phone would ring, ring, ring, ring. Now you know my son Billy loves you. And he just, he just, you just got to work with men, girl. Don't worry, Billy is a good man. I raised my son right. You want to be with him. Trust me. We moving to 2010.

They're really trying to find their groove. They're hitting it off. Billy gets offered this job opportunity that he can't refuse, but there's a catch. It's in Pennsylvania. But he was like, baby, I can give us the life we've always dreamed of. And she was like, all right, nigga, well, show me.

She packed her shit and he packed his shit and they moved on to Pennsylvania. And once they there living together, things was hot and heavy and your girl gets pregnant. Earlier from the previous relationship, he had a son named William. And they end up having a son, Billy Jr., little BJ, Willie and Billy Jr.

Now, remember, as Mariah said, Nicole would like to keep dark secrets dark. And apparently when she was pregnant with the baby, when Billy first found out, he picked her up and choked her against the wall. Just choking her out. I don't know if he was mad about her being pregnant or if it's just him being drunk. This is her story that she's telling.

But she was like, just depend on how drunk he was, how tight the money was, or what niggas was around. That's just what determined if I was getting my ass beat that day. It's uncooperated, but if it did happen, like... Right, like it's usually when he's drunk, drunk. It's one thing, but to do it while you're pregnant and endanger your baby, it's crazy. Mm-hmm. The abuse didn't necessarily stop. The psychological abuse didn't stop. He's still threatening to kill her if she tries to tell anybody, like...

And at that point, girl, you're at the whole other side of the country from your family. So it probably feels extremely isolating. It probably feels like the truth. Like, where are you actually going to go? Actually, because I know no one here in Pennsylvania. I live in California, born and raised. While she was pregnant, she did try and reach out for help a few times. But she was told that there's not much that they can do for her, which is really the wrong answer when a victim of abuse is coming forward to you. Like, you better figure out something.

She ended up in the emergency room once and she told the hospital staff that she fell downstairs, but later slipped up and said that Billy made her fall into the wall. But this was the only time she went. And the only time she went to the hospital this reason was because she was afraid something may have happened to the baby. And why was she thrown down the stairs or fell into the wall or whatever the fuck happened?

Because Billy drunk ass wanted to take his son while he went and got more drinks. And Nicola was like, no, no, no. William's going to stay here with us. Can't take the babies while you're drunk. And granted, both of their kids are, it seemed like they're both their kids were teenagers, preteens, early teens. That was my math without, based off, it wasn't really math. It was just me putting pieces together. But it was giving that these kids were big kids, but you can't.

They can't even drive you a drunk ass. It's not like you took the 16-year-old. There's not a 16-year-old, but it's not like you took a 16-year-old because you know that they can drive you, which is still traumatizing, probably. I don't know. My mom didn't drink. Do it all. She still tried to make it work. And on December of 2011, they got engaged. They planned for a wedding. They picked the date, August 11th, the next year. Going cotton, going cotton. Going cotton, going cotton.

This was very exciting for Nicola. I think women have different expectations when it comes to marriage. So it's like, okay, this man wants to treat me like a wife. And maybe her hope was that certain things would stop once they get to that point. But people were just saying he was just looking forward to spending the rest of his life with his soon-to-be wife, Nicola. He just loved Nicola, his family said. But even on one of his last Facebook posts,

He posted, God is good. I love my life. This is mad cool. So your boy was in a good mood that day. He likes her when he's sober.

So here it is. It's 2011. She's getting ready for this wedding and the wedding is still giving very much DIY, budget friendly. It's not, I plan on having my wedding to be like DIY, budget friendly. I want y'all to spend money on gifts. Thank you so much. And I don't want to go into debt just to be in love. My goodness. But a family emergency comes up and I'm not sure the details around this family emergency, but Nicola's family is,

Ask Nicola if her niece, India, could live with them permanently. Now, Nisipu is also a child. I'm not sure of her exact age. I believe like, was she 11 too? She was in that, in the same range. Elementary, maybe right out of elementary. Still could, a big kid, but not a big kid.

And she's like, yes, of course, India can live with me. Now, Nisipu, she moves in two months before the wedding. So I'm sure she just moved into a very stressful household. And now here we are. We are in the house, two adults. We've got your kid, my kid, my niece and the baby.

And everything seems like it's going to be OK. Like they're even making plans for Billy to officially adopt Anthony and Nicola's son. Nisipu is settling in pretty nicely, but they still argued. And now that they have a house full of children, they contained their arguments or tried their best to contain their arguments in the bedroom. Now, later on, Nisipu India, she said that she could never hear.

see them arguing. Like she never saw them fighting or anything like that, but she definitely heard argument, arguments happening from their bedroom. And she said it was so faint and they did try to be adults and not argue in front of the kids. And she was like, we knew that they were arguing. We, we knew it wasn't good, you know, but we didn't know what they were arguing about. We

And some houses are just a little dysfunctional. But we are inching up on wedding day. It's August 2012. We're getting married on August 11th. And it is like two days before wedding day. And Nicola is like, nothing, nothing is going right. There is not a thing that could go right for

At this moment, Billy, he still got to go to work. He works from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. And so she has to drive him

She's got to take care of all the kids. She's doing this DIY wedding. So even like the sandwiches she was making. All the stress is lying on her. You know what I'm saying? Like she's trying to make the food for her own wedding. The day before the wedding, Billy's cousin and Billy's cousin wife, Nakia and Monique are there. And Nikola, they noticed Nikola is stressed. Okay. She went to go get her hair done. It look a mess.

She's talking to the makeup artist, makeup artist acting like they ain't got no sense. Here she is, the neighbor for her wedding, and she's still got sandwiches to make. And Nakia Monique were like, ooh, Billie, soon to be wife. Her attitude is funky, okay? I can smell it from all the way over here. You know what I'm saying? And so Billie was like, you know what? We're just going to clear the air.

I need to get out anyways. She ain't slept in like two, three days. Let us be at home with the kids so she can finally relax and let us go to a party for the evening. That's what I need to be at home with the kids to relax.

The day before my wedding. That's super relaxing. The day before my wedding. But also, it was giving. I heard in a source that she bought her dress the day before the wedding. So now I'm stressed out. I got sandwiches to make. I got decorations to put up. I got all these children to watch. One of them is less than a year old. And the day before the wedding, I need to find my dress. My makeup artist at like, they ain't got no sense. And the hair lady got me looking out here crazy. Yeah.

Yeah, I'ma be stressed. I'ma be stressed. You just go to the club with your funky ass cousins because I don't have nothing else to say to you. At the club, according to Billy's cousins, Billy only had two drinks and a beer. Now, Nicola is at home with the kids and they're out for a few hours. The cousins, they're out for a few hours.

They leave a little bar or whatever they're at, the club, and they go get something to eat. But they ended up leaving because Nakia had a headache, so they just headed back home.

While they were at the club, Nicole is still taking care of the household. There's kids here, a baby. She gives the baby a bath. She starts prepping some more stuff for the wedding. She's getting the food together. She's getting the decorations together. She's moving around the furniture. And she's, you know. By myself. By myself. Right. We're her friends. And here's the thing. Like, your family is in New York and we in Pennsylvania. My people had to travel a lot.

Not everybody's going to be able to make it. Right. From New York to Pennsylvania is not as bad from Cali to Pennsylvania. Where are her friends? Where are her friends? Because let me tell you something right now. If any of y'all leave me the night before my wedding and shit needs to be done, you will be turned away at the door. Like she must not have had no bridesmaids or nothing. Billy and his cousins, they don't get back to the house till about 2 a.m.,

But they settled down. They asked Nicola and the kids, why are the kids up at 2 a.m.? They asked Nicola and the kids if they wanted something to eat. And this starts an argument. And the argument is in front of Nakia and the cousins, all of them. They watching it. But they going back and forth. And the argument probably went a little something like this. Billy probably came in and said, hey, baby, how you doing? He a little slurred. You know, he had a couple of drinks, but he good.

No, he was not good. I want everybody to know that he was drunk. He is good. He good. You know what I'm saying? If you ask him, he good. Okay. If you ask her, you might get a different story. But if you ask him, he good. He like, you get the munchies when you get drunk, too. He's like, y'all want something to eat? Want me to go get you something to eat? And she probably said, nigga, it's fucking 2 a.m. You asking me if me or the kids want something to eat at 2 a.m.? Dinner was six hours ago.

You should have asked me if I wanted something to eat then. I got all this shit. We're supposed to be getting married tomorrow. Or did you forget? And he was like, damn, girl, I'm just trying to decompress and you over here on my back like this. And she was like, what the fuck do you expect? You out here hanging out, getting drunk, and I got all this shit to do? You could have helped. You could have been a part of this. You the one put me on a budget.

And so I'm saving costs with this wedding, and you're not even going to pitch in and help? This the way you wanted to do it anyways? Had it my way, we'd have hired somebody to do the shit. This how you wanted it. It's just 2 a.m., and the wedding is at 10 a.m., baby. We are eight hours to tea time. You tripping. Now, and I'm out here DMing random bitches on the internet, on Instagram, to see if they can do my makeup.

And Billie trying to hear all this. He fucking up her vibe. Now, the vibe that he is at is a blood alcohol level of 1.3. How drunk is a blood alcohol? It says a blood alcohol content level of 1.11 to 1.5 is considered drunk.

And my man was at 1.3, right in the middle. That's what I'm saying. Like, according to his cousin, he had two drinks and a beer. Baby, you have more than two drinks and a beer. You probably was going around talking about, it's my bachelor party. The bitches was giving you shots. Stop playing. They probably saw you have two drinks and a beer. Right. But the way you throwing back.

Nicola's got an attitude. And then, you know, Nicola keeping it going. She was like, speaking of budget, I'm doing this budget ass wedding. But now all of a sudden you got money for you and your cousins to go out drinking. Y'all can hit the town now. Now where's the budget? She probably like, nigga, I get notifications when you swipe the card too. Probably just want to be outside and have fun too. Shoot. I didn't. Or at least have him there helping. You were so excited about this wedding.

We could have done shots and made sandwiches. We could have made a game out of it. We could have put the kids to bed, have the stripper come over. She danced for a little while and she make a sandwich too. We gots to get these people to bed tomorrow. Now, Billy, he don't like her going off. He said, girl, don't you know we got company? Then he get her into the bedroom. He shut the door.

embarrassing me like that now this door didn't really change much because everybody can still hear them arguing but it's a little rough to make out exactly what they're saying but while they're in the room billy he getting upset he mad and he drunk so you know what's coming the fist and he trying to hit her but his drunk ass can't land none of them

He moving in slow motion. With Mike Tyson. Just trying to land one before he go TKO. Ain't breathe. He trying to hit it. And she dodging each one of them, nigga. Listen, she probably not even dodging. She probably standing still. He like, quit moving. I know she's just standing there getting madder and madder. I know I would. Because like, you dumbass nigga. Look how stupid you look right now. Now you looking dumber. Trying to land one. He just ends up tackling her onto the bed.

And so she, of course, starts to try and defend herself. So she just starts scratching up his face. At this moment, she calls the police. Now, on the phone call, you can hear Nicola and Billy arguing. Eventually, she either drops the phone or she puts it down, but she does not hang up. And so everything going on in the house is still being recorded on this phone call. Billy is like trying to stomp her. But of course, he's still missing because he's still drunk.

Then he gets his little, he picks up the jumparoo, like the little baby bouncer, throws it at her. It hits her in the head and in her arm. She yells for her son, Anthony, to come. She says, Anthony, get me the knife. Your girl's fed up, okay? Which is weird. Like, why would you bring your son into it? Anthony, my kid, get me the knife, as if y'all discussed it before. Just saying, just saying. Right, right. It sounded like he knew what to do when she gave him the cue.

So at this point, cousin Nakia comes out the room that he was in. She was in. He's trying to see what's going on. Because I just heard somebody say, give me the knife. And y'all been yelling. So I might need to take a breath. At this point, Billy goes and picks up his nine-month-old son, BJ. And he reaches for something in his back pocket. Now, remember, he keeps his knife in his back pocket. But he also keeps his keys in his back pocket. So she didn't know what he was going for. Right.

Billy then leaves out the room with his son and he makes his way towards the front door. And Nakia is like, uh-uh, Billy, give me my baby. And he's like, shut up, he's my son too. Billy, you're fucking drunk. Give me my goddamn baby.

And he was like, you can't tell me what to do. Put my baby down. This my junior. This my junior. This came out the left sack. Boy, if you don't get me, my fucking baby. Like, you don't play with no mama or her kid. She starts yelling at him. You know I'll swing on your dumb ass. And about her baby, I'm sure she will. The 911 operator is still on the phone. And all of a sudden, she starts.

She starts hearing Nicola scream. She starts hearing her say, I'm a fucking stab you, nigga. You want to die tonight? Do you want to die tonight? Because you got my fucking baby. So if I was a 911 operator and I know that nobody can hear me, I'd probably be like, first of all, the EMTs came super late. The 911 operator was too busy listening to the T and.

versus getting somebody to the scene. I'm telling you, he was very much still alive right now. But like to be on the phone and be like, her be like, dad. Yeah. Oh shit. Oh, you want to die? What? Ma'am. Hello. 911. Where's, where's your emergency? 911. Do you need fire, police or EMT?

At this point, Nicola has Billy with his back up against the front door. She's got a knife in her hand, and she's standing about seven or eight feet in front of him. Billy is completely unarmed. And at this point, Billy, he just hand over little BJ to India.

As soon as he hands over the baby, Nicola says at this moment, Billy then lunges at her, like freed his hand, giving up the baby so he could then charge her. She says he lunges at her and that's when she swung the knife at him in self-defense.

And her knife accidentally. It just so happened she had the knife. And this is after she said you wanted out at night. Three times. He got stabbed three times on accident. On accident. He ran into my knife. Well, not necessarily on accident, but in, you know, in self-defense. Now, according to cousin Nakia, everyone's out in the living room while this is going on. Nakia, Monique is there. All the kids are there watching, including the infant son.

Nakia tells Nicola, don't do it, put the knife down. And Nicola was like, boy, you better get away from me before I stab your ass too. So Billy's son is also here, his oldest son, William, and he's begging, please don't do this, please. And Billy is fearing for his life at this point. And she was like, I'm going to kill, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you.

Now, cousin Nakia is trying to yell at Billy, just go out the front door, nigga, just leave. Get away from her, nigga, save yourself. But as he's doing this, he's also walking towards Nikola, hoping that he can get to the door to help Billy get away. Now, as he starts doing this, Nikola lunges and starts stabbing Billy over and over again.

As he was being stabbed, he had his hands up and he straight up said, is this really what you want to do? At this point, Nicola hangs up the phone with the 911 operator, calls 911 again, and she says, my boyfriend just beat me up and stole my baby. She also requested an ambulance because she, quote, cut him for trying to take her baby.

At this point, Cousin Nakia is grabbing Billy, open their apartment door and walk to him outside. Monique has tackled Nikola at this point. She's the damn hero. She's got Nikola pinned down to the floor. Cousin Nakia takes the knife and he told India to put the knife up and India took the knife and put it in the cabinet. Now Nakia is trying to console his cousin Billy and at first...

Billy's whimpering. I don't want to die, man. Please. I don't want to die. He was given instructions for somebody to get him a towel and put pressure on the room. And this was right before he slipped to unconsciousness, which is like, wow. He had that EMT training and look at it coming in handy in this moment. Like somebody apply pressure. Come on and save me, please. Somebody please write.

Whitehall Township Police Officer Matthew Rezic arrived on the scene first. And when he got there, he saw that Billy was unconscious. He was bleeding from a wound on his left side and his body was just laying there. He radioed dispatch and asked them to expedite the ambulance that was en route, which why you got to tell the ambulance to hurry up? Shouldn't the ambulance already be hurrying up?

But he could also tell that Billy was still alive right now. He was faintly breathing. These were really slow, shallow breaths, but he was alive. Maybe there's a chance to save him. So the EMTs get there, they load up Billy and they take him to a local hospital.

As more officers arrive on the scene, they start going in the apartment. They see, you know, adults, Nakia, Monique, of course, and Nikola. They see that there are four minor children here. And Nikola is on the couch with Monique. And I guess they stop fighting and they just started crying with each other because Nikola is clearly upset. They ask about where the knife is and Monique tells them that they hid the knife.

that they hid the knife in the kitchen. It's in a cabinet underneath the sink. And it's very clear that we're looking at initially a homicide. The police officers have to call and get detectives down there. And Detectives Richard Heffenfinger and Michael Marks were assigned to the case. Now, when they arrived, there was nothing really unusual. Kitchen cabinet was open, yes. Utensils were on the floor, yes.

But the worst part was that there were wedding napkins everywhere. And on top of all those wedding napkins was blood because, baby, you don't need the wedding napkins no more. And they also said that the master bedroom seemed fine. There was no scuffle. It didn't seem like things were out of place. It seemed like the place was lived in, sure, but there wasn't anything out of place. The jumperoo was sitting upright. So we couldn't tell if anything had been damaged.

Back at the hospital, they were working and doing everything they could to try and save Billy's life. But he was pronounced dead at 3.24 a.m. Now, all of this happened so quickly that

that people forgot to call everybody and let them know that the wedding that we're supposed to have in the morning is not happening. Billy's siblings started arriving and there's caution tape. Billy's mama arrived and she's like, what is happening? And her other son had to tell her that her son, that she was supposed to be seeing, you're supposed to be seeing your son get married today. But instead you walk into his crime scene. So when they get down and they try to talk to Nicola, she's like,

What did I do? Whatever I did, I didn't mean it. Like I didn't, I didn't want him. I didn't want anybody to die. I don't think that he's dead. I'm so sorry, baby. I still marry you today. I love you. I still want, I'm, we're getting married today. Just take me home.

And they were like, ma'am, you're not going home. Even the pastor, the pastor is one of their neighbors. And he said he didn't hear nothing. He just the next day, he thought everybody showed up, dressed nicely to their apartment because they were getting ready for the wedding. And he was heading to go officiate the wedding and then realized that, oh, there will be no wedding today. The day that was supposed to be their wedding, August 11th, which was...

which ended up being the day that Billy died and the day that Billy was autopsied by Dr. Mahalkis, we could tell from that autopsy that he died from a stab wound to the heart and the manner of his death was ruled a homicide. They also could tell that he had other wounds on his body that were indicative of a struggle, that he definitely had some hand-to-hand combat. So even though they didn't see a scuffle in the house, his body shows that there was clearly a scuffle.

They did test his blood alcohol level, and it was 0.13, as you already know. There were three stabs total. The one to his heart, like I said, was the fatal stab, obviously, but he did have two other stabs to his left torso, and those would have not been fatal. His mom is grieving. She's found in an interview saying, quote, we came for a wedding, and we're burning Billy Thursday morning, like,

This wasn't supposed to be the next major event in his life. You know what I mean? And it's just very disappointing. She also said, quote, my other son went up and saw the crime scene tape and we thought there was an accident. Maybe an intruder had came in. Never was she expecting something this bad. Not for him. He's supposed to marry the girl. You know what I mean? She says from what she can tell, it seems like this all happened over trivial matters. She probably been talking to the cousins.

Her cousins probably said she was just upset because we went out drinking. Doesn't seem like it was a violent situation from what she's heard. She said, quote, the dress and eating sandwiches. And I think she was very nervous that everything wouldn't be perfect. Her hair wasn't just right, just woman stuff. But it wasn't nothing violent. It was just things that would have made a bit of difference.

It's the stress. It's all the stress. He had nothing to do with this. It was woman stuff. Like, I do think that it was, she definitely lashed out. Don't think she actually meant to kill him. She probably meant to just do those ones on the left side. But, like, no sleep. The night before my wedding, my makeup artist canceled. My hair looked crazy. I might be bound to lash out. She folded. She folded. All these kids, it's 2 in the morning and none of them sleep. Yeah. Right.

The mom continues with her interview. She says, the mom, Barbara Jean, she continues with her interview and she says, there's never been a police report about any type of violence. And she says, I pray, trust God, and no matter what, don't resort to violence. All of the kids were left in the care of relatives. William went to stay with his maternal grandmother.

Anthony, BJ, and India, they were all shared amongst both of the families. Like, Anthony's family got to see them. Wow, that's nice that they took a little Indian like it. Billy's family got to see them. Billy's family, however, wanted full custody of BJ. Nakia, the cousin, was interviewed saying his son, William, is the one that's hurting the most. William's mother passed away, and now he had to witness his father die? Witness his father die.

That kid's going to need therapy. His mama died the year before, like in 2011. She got sick and passed away. And so that's why Billy became the main parent, obviously. And so that really put Nicola in the position to be the main parent because he's truck driving. You got all these kids and each one, your kid is probably a little traumatized. He a boy watching his mama date, get married. The other son is traumatized. His mama is dead and

Your niecey poo don't know why she has to live with you full time, but it's probably something that she needs therapy for. And the po' baby, you know, they can feel the stress in the womb.

That's when you really need your partner. Like, you know? Neighbors were also interviewed and they said that they never heard Billy and Nicola fight. Very, very nice people. Always said hello. Very polite. Very friendly. So this was a shock to them. They weren't ready for that. Billy's funeral was held on August 16th of 2012 in Berwick, Pennsylvania. Obviously, once the police arrived, she was taken. She had that initial interview that we told you about. And after that initial interview, they were like, yeah, go ahead down the hallway so they can get your fingerprints, spooky bear. Yeah.

on what should have been her wedding day while her what should have been her husband was being autopsied, she was standing in front of the judge being arraigned. And...

It seemed like she really wasn't sure about the severity of her actions. When they said that she was being charged with murder, she was like, murder? He's not dead. And they were like, yes, he is. And she was like, no, no, no, you need to check again because there is absolutely— She's like, I'm supposed to have an assault charge. Right. She's like, I just poked him. Just a little pokey poke.

She was like, no, no, y'all need to check again. The judge was like, actually, he was officially pronounced dead at 324 in the morning and the coroner pronounced him dead as they are currently doing his autopsy. Ma'am, this is, this is, we're working with murder here.

And she just cried. Like, she couldn't believe it. She just cried. She covered her face. She was just like, I just want to go home. I just want my family back. I just want to go home. I just want to go home. And they were like... It's probably the last time she saw him, he was alive. Yeah. Like, this is... Because they were... He had a shallow breath. Imagine finding out you killed somebody when they say, all right, you're facing murder. No bond. Baby, you got to weigh all your options when you call for people to get weapons for you. And then your child has to live with the fact that you called him to go get your murder weapon.

They were like, do you have anything to say? Do you understand the charges that are set in front of you? And she didn't say anything. Ma'am, do you read and write the English language? Do you need a translator? Do you understand the case, the charges that are set in front of you? And she just looked up from where she was standing and she said, I did not kill him on purpose. And they were like, we on purpose.

stand but you did it take her back to the jail

We're going to hold you without bond, get you hooked up with whatever you need so that we can... On May 21st of 2013, jury selections began. She got seven men and five women on her jury. And they promptly began testimony on May 22nd of 2013. Mm-hmm, that's a Tuesday. They had Lee County Judge Doug Richley

presiding over the case, and the trial lasted a total of three days. Now, Nicola was represented by John Waldron, and her defense was this was a crime of passion. Billy was threatening her, threatening to kill her, threatening to leave with her son while he was drunk, so basically endangering the welfare of her child.

and she had to do something to stop him. Also, she's mentally and physically exhausted as she was busy planning a wedding and had a young infant child and three other kids at the home, and she was just running on E. You know they say sleep deprivation can make you go a little crazy. She was honestly, genuinely shocked when she found out that she had murdered her fiance. He goes on to say that Nicola never once denied stabbing Billy, just that she did not mean to kill him.

All we're asking here is for third degree murder or manslaughter at most. He's really like driving. You have to understand how much, how exhausted she was. You have to understand. Think about planning a wedding. Think about four kids. Think about one of them being a baby. Think about it being 2 a.m. and they're all up.

Think about having a wedding in eight hours and your man comes home drunk the night before your wedding. He continues to stress that she was only trying to protect her child once Billy came home drunk and trying to leave with their son. He says, quote, mothers go to unforeseen lengths for their kids. Miss Franklin would have done anything to prevent her nine month old child from being taken by a drunken father.

But the interesting thing at the trial is none of the abuse was mentioned. And I feel like that's probably due to she can't back any of it up. Right. I just want everybody to know the abuse was mentioned in her appeals. And so we put it in, but it wasn't brought up at trial other than the bounce, the jumparoo and the fight that led up to the actual crime.

Nicola testifies in her own trial, and she gets on that stand, and she says, quote, She says, She goes on to say that Billy was being belligerent, disrespectful, and on top of that, disrespectful in front of the kids and in front of company. She says...

Him being drunk was the main reason why they got into an argument in the first place. First, they argued about where they would get something to eat. Then Billy calls her a stupid whore in front of everybody. And of course that set things off. And also remember, I was exhausted. Now after that, she's like, we go to the bathroom and he's grabbing me by my face, mush me to the ground. And that's when I called the police. I called the police. She starts talking about how Billy's trying to punch her, but he's moving in slow motion.

Then talks about how Billy tackled her onto the bed. And that's when she started scratching his face in defense. She says that's when she calls 911 again. But whoops, actually, we're still on the phone from the first time. So she says, so then I raise my voice so 911 can hear what's going on because I'm not in a safe environment. I'm calling for help. I did the right thing.

She goes on to continue. Of course, she got the knife from her son, Anthony. Billy gives the baby to India, but then Billy lunches. So I just swung the knife out there.

I stood in front of India and the baby because I didn't want Billy to come for them. I got to save these kids. But Billy, he just keep coming. He keep coming, trying to hit me, trying to take the knife away from me. But that's my only protection. I'm still swinging the knife, just trying to keep him back, trying to create space. Did the knife connect a few times? Yeah. But again, I wasn't trying to stab him. He the one walking towards a knife. I'm swinging it out to create space. And he said, fuck the space. Now,

Of course, they got questions because, girl, did you go on to continue to threaten cousin Nakia and little boy William with this knife too? She said, no, no. I would never. William is like a son to me. I would never. When she's telling the story, like, again, the abuse is not really coming out. Even with the jumparoo situation, she just says, quote, it was really heavy and laying on top of me. And then when I got up, it was just on the floor. Like, hmm.

Them big old things, they big, big. I ain't got no kids, but when I was around them, they were pretty heavy. If he was punching you with slow motion, baby, he could not only throw that thing so hard. On this particular night, she says she can't recall that Billy actually put his hand on her. Could be because he missed all the shots that he took. But the only instance of violence was him lunging at her. And that is when she started swinging the knife.

There were two character witnesses that testified on her behalf, and they both said that she had a, quote, excellent reputation in their community and that she was, quote, peaceful, nonviolent, and law-abiding. And that, you know what? That really can be true, and you just snapped. Mm-hmm. It really can be. They could be telling the absolute truth, but when you snap, you snap, and you got to suffer those consequences. Yeah.

Now, the state was represented by first assistant district attorney Stephen Luxa. He wanted that first degree murder conviction and did not want her to walk away with third. He said that the child was not in danger.

Nicola stabbed Billy while little BJ was not in his arms. As soon as the niece, Niecy Poo, had taken away Billy Jr., she knew exactly what she was doing. And she then attacked him at that point. Basically meaning like she didn't lose her mind. She knew where everybody was and she knew that it was her child was in safety. So now she decided to comfort that man.

Nakia and Monique, of course, you know, they got on the stand to testify on their cousin's behalf. And they were like, absolutely. Nakola had an ugly ass attitude the night before we went out. And so because she had a nasty attitude and didn't nobody want to deal with her, we decided that we were going to go to the strip club. We invited her to the strip club, but she said she didn't want to go. So who's going to watch the kids?

And you trying to invite me out to the strip club when I'm telling you that the food that we are serving at 10 o'clock in the morning is not done. How? How am I going to go out with y'all? And instead, somebody could have stayed behind and helped me out. Where are her friends? Where are her friends?

Now, according to Nakia and Monique, they were in their room, in the guest bedroom, and they were staying in there until they literally heard Nikola shout for Anthony to get the knife. And I feel like that would have been a great time for them to intervene right then. Hey, hey, hey, little boy, put that knife back down. Right. Your mama said, put the knife, give me the knife. Here, I'll give the knife to your mama. Go lay your ass back down. And then they said after a short standoff between Nikola and Billy, they

They saw Nicola lunge and they said they thought that she stabbed him two times. Of course, we know that he was stabbed three times. And then the 911 call was played for the jury. And that must have been painful because there is a point in time where she didn't know that she was being recorded. Probably the part where she was saying, you ready to die tonight? Yeah, probably right around there. This life will soon be over. Heaven last always.

The jury had options. Of course, she could get first degree, third degree, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter. And the variations between the four are pretty slight. We all know that first degree means premeditated. And they found her on May 23rd, 2013, guilty of first degree murder after three hours of deliberation. And I get it. It is a little wild. Like,

I feel like voluntary manslaughter. I'm not going to hold you because like, but I also get why they said first degree, because you called for a minor child to get you the weapon. It only takes a couple of moments for you. If you have the thought and you had enough time to think against the thought, which she did with the baby handoff, you had enough time to think. The threat that you named was now eliminated, technically. Technically right. It's all about technically. Yeah.

The threat that you named was eliminated and that was the time to drop the knife. But after three hours, baby was guilty and they took her back and got ready for sentencing. So Nicola gets to speak at her sentencing. She says to Billy's mom, Barbara, I didn't mean to kill him. I didn't. I love him. I do still love him. I love him more than myself.

Billy's mom said this was sad because her son was killed legit by the woman she loves. She don't doubt that this girl love him. It's just a sad situation. But she also says, we got justice.

She talked about how Billy had plans of raising his kids up properly and making sure they went to gang-free schools. And he found a better job to provide more for his family. And she said, quote, you killed him because you could. You took advantage of him. You showed no concern for the father of your son. For a mother to kill a dad with the children watching and doing that, you also took your own life. She said, my son will never get to see his son's milestones again.

in life like going to kindergarten or graduating from high school and girl baby now neither with you not in person anyways

None of them really say that they know what set her off that night. I see a lot of contributing factors, just me personally. But Cousin Nakia says he and the other relatives speculated. They said, quote, we believe Billy told her the wedding was off and she just couldn't take it. Whatever they was arguing about, she had it made up in her mind that she was going to kill. Which is like, what the hell was Billy saying while he was drunk? Because why did y'all get to that?

Nakia talks about how he begged. He begged Nicole not to stab him, but she refused to listen. He says, I feel sorry for her because she had a glimpse of what her life was going to be. They went on a cruise together and Billie was ready to adopt her son. He made enough money to support everyone in the household. They were safe enough to buy a house. Everything was perfect. He said she blew it. She blew it for herself. So after all of this, the sentence was given down and she was sentenced to life in prison. ♪

John Walden, Nicola's lawyer, said, I've been doing this a long time and this particular conviction is upsetting because going into this, I thought it was a manslaughter case. I did not think this was a murder one. And if that's what he was doing, I know she is pissed. I mean, I would have thought so as well. I would have thought so as well. I'm literally...

eight hours away from marrying him it's not like i was going after his money it's not you know i there was that temporary insanity they should have had an expert on the stand to talk about sleep deprivation and what that does to your mood because i know how mariah is when she don't get enough sleep i know how mariah is when she don't get enough sleep and she ain't got no food okay i know how mariah is when she's planning on have hosting because she's basically hosting her own wedding

Let me tell y'all. Where I did, she was on somebody's podcast. Then we had a business call about something. And she hadn't ate this whole day. She was tired.

When I tell you Mariah sat right beside me and locked herself out of her phone because she could not remember her password of the phone that she was just in two minutes earlier. I was so hungry. I said, stop trying. Let's feed you, then we'll figure it out. And she ate and she said, oh, the code is actually. Like...

It'd make you go insane. It's just like, I definitely would have gone with a manslaughter. Come on. So she does get the opportunity to appeal. And of course she takes that opportunity. By August of 2013, Nicola's lawyers were asking for a new trial. They said that the first degree murder conviction is a serious miscarriage of justice. He stated that Nicola deserved a new trial because the jury's verdict being contrary to the evidence presented

The jury's verdict was contrary to the evidence presented, that there was extreme misconduct during closing arguments and there was improper jury instructions. They are trying to do everything they can because how does girl like first degree murder is a lot. I can see how they got there. But if you look at the grand scheme of things, first degree murder is a crime.

I feel so. The DA looked at it and said, listen, let me tell you what I did when I represented that case. I did my job. The jury heard the evidence. The jury heard the testimony. The jury rendered the verdict. So don't be looking over here. At the hearing, the defense attorney kept arguing that this was not a murder one case. At most, it was a murder three case because crime,

her main defense and the reason why she acted the way that she was was pure exhaustion and the fact that she was trying to protect her nine month old baby. This is where things get dicey. Now

They also bring up to Nicola, hey, girl, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. Do you remember when we gave you the offer for a plea deal and you decided that you were going to decline it and go to trial? And so now you have to suffer the consequences of going to trial. And this is what happens all the time. They fucking punish you for going to trial against your because they did give her the offer of a fleeting third degree murder.

And if she pled, she would have had a minimum of 13 years. She wanted to decline that. She felt like she was moving in self-defense. She felt like it wasn't a murder charge at all. She too felt like it was going to be a manslaughter charge. She knew that she did it at this point, right? But she thought...

manslaughter, maybe get 10 years, maybe get out in seven or eight if I'm lucky and my best behavior, especially if she really is. And her life shows that she really was an upstanding citizen. So behavior can get you a long, a long way. And so they were like, remember, we gave you that option. You declined that option. But now you're saying that we should convict you of third degree murder, girl, make it make sense. And I just

That just pisses me off about the justice system. Like, I'm allowed to say no to a third degree murder charge and then get found guilty of third degree murder. You don't have to punish me by upping the charges. And I feel like they just wanted to show her. And then the ADA, he's talking at this hearing. He's like, listen, listen, she probably had a rough day.

She probably had a bad day. She was getting ready for the wedding. She was taking care of the kids. But a lot of people have rough days. A lot of people have bad days. And a lot of people do not murder their fiance. He said, quote, a day in the life of a person is a roller coaster of emotions. Everybody handles them differently. Nobody kills somebody on their wedding day because they had a bad day. If anything, she thought it was still two days before because I ain't even slept yet. What we say, you only one bad day away.

from the rest of your life being fucked over. He argued that there was no doubt that she intended to kill Billy that night. And the reason that he knows that she intended to do it was because she yelled for her son to get the knife. It's giving that he knew exactly what to do when you said get a knife. He didn't go get no butter knife. You know, these kid shows, they a lot. You know, he might have knew. He might have knew. You know.

You shouldn't have put the kid in that position. And that is what the district attorney is really harping on. And if you have a good case, you really do have a good case. So the appeals board, they look at the case, they hear everybody and they decline her appeal in 2015.

Now, here it is, March 13th, 2017. She is back in front of the board again. Trial counsel ineffective. Listen, the trial counsel failed to interview Nicola's son. They failed to interview India. They failed to interview everybody that they could. Also, my counsel, I have character witnesses from back home in Cali, didn't call anybody. This cross-examination, y'all see the court records?

They didn't do a good job of cross-examining the character witnesses so they can know that I actually really am a good person. Nicola also said, this plea deal that you tell me about, this plea deal that everybody's saying that I had and I declined, well, I don't feel like my counsel properly went over the guidelines of the plea deal with me so that I could make a proper decision on if I wanted to go to trial or if I wanted to actually take the deal.

She also said that her trial lawyer didn't advocate on her behalf. The entire time that she was at trial, she was wearing a shop belt.

You know, like shock collars they put on dogs, they had a shock belt on her. And her attorney did not plead for her to not be seen with that. So now the jury sees me as a criminal. You know what I'm saying? Even if I got on plain clothes, I got a shock belt on. There's no reason for me to have one on. Was she a threat? Was she doing something in jail? Everybody's saying that she's this calm, cool person. A shock belt? Like I'm a fucking dog? And she also, and I do agree with this last one, she also says that her trial lawyer did not

go above and beyond to try to retain experts to support a battered woman defense because remember the abuse wasn't brought up in trial the abuse was brought up at these later hearings and didn't have an expert to talk about the effects of the lack of sleep and what that has on your body and your mental state I feel like she had a point there the post conviction relief the PCRA held a hearing and India Anthony and Nicola and her trial counselor were allowed to testify and

Now, Nicole is there. She's testifying about the abuse from Billy and how it started shortly after they got together in 2009. This happened in 2012. So about three years of suffering from abuse. There's a buildup that's here. Right. She speaks to how she specifically told her attorney about the physical and mental abuse that she endured and mentioned how his drinking habits aligned with the abuse and the aggression.

But, you know, again, we ain't see it. We ain't hear none of that in the trial. She said she signed release forms so that they could access her hospital records from the time that she went in. But overall, with all of this stuff, her attorney decided not to include it in the towel or to make any part of her testimony about the abuse because he did not want to make Billy look bad. She said that she told her attorney that during the argument and the stabbing that she was scared that Billy was going to kill her and take the baby.

That she was fighting for her life, too. And why is she afraid for her life? Because the history of abuse. She states that she wants her son, Anthony and India, there to testify to what happened that night because they were present to most of it. But the trial counsel is like, no, no, no, they're too young. Like, girl, I feel like as the parent, like, I know you're trying to save yourself, but you should not want to involve them in this either. Haven't they had enough? But also, like,

These are the only people on your side. She gave the members of the hearing two potential character witnesses from California that she'd known since childhood, but they were like, let's use some people from Pennsylvania, people who are part of your current life.

which, I mean, how long had she really been out there? Maybe she didn't have anybody. So nobody who knows you for real, for real, you know? So she told them that she wanted both her son and India to testify to what happened because they were there for most of it, but they said the son was too young to testify, but India could. So India, she testifies, and she says that although she had been living with them for a short period of time, she has noticed that Billy did drink a lot, and he would, quote, talk a lot of mess when he was drunk.

She said when he got that way, he was mean and did a lot of name calling. What type of names did they call him? Oh, bitch, whore. They said, well, have you ever seen Billy hit Nicola? And she says, no, but I would see Nicola be strange when Billy was around. They was like, well, what do you mean be strange? She was like,

Like, we would always sneak to go out to eat or go to the mall, and I guess it was because Billy wouldn't like it if he found out, and it would probably just start an argument. And I was like, okay, well, tell us what happened that night. She says, well, when they left, Billy took a bottle of liquor with him. Hmm. Plus the two shots at the club and the beer, huh? She says when they came back, they were all drunk, and she was on the couch. But she went to her room shortly after because... Drama. Drama.

And she shared this room with her cousin Anthony. She says at first she couldn't hear anything, but then she heard a boom, boom, boom. And that's when she hears Nicola say she wasn't going to let him hit her. And that's when she hears Billy call Nicola a whore. So at this point, she's like, so I came out the room. And that's when Nicola asked Anthony for the knife.

But she's also yelling at Billy saying that he's not going to leave with the baby. And Billy's yelling like he was trying to get an excuse to leave. And he had the baby in one arm and India believes that the keys were in the other. India talks about how eventually Billy handed the baby to her. And then he started, you know, yelling at Nicola again. And he told Nicola, quote, I spent all this money. You can't go with me to get no food. And India says, you know, he was just being belligerent.

She says that she is shaking, holding the baby so scared. Like, she's shaking so hard. Monique took the baby from her. And that's when...

Nicola poked Billy for the first time and then he snatched her by the arm and then she did it again. And now the second time Nakia, cousin Nakia, takes Billy into the hallway and that's when Billy's like, get him out of there. India says that after that point, they asked where her grandma was and all this time and she said, my grandma didn't want to be here for the trial and was unaware of when it would take place again.

She said she didn't realize she could have testified at the trial and she would have made a point to be there if she could have. And so, like, she's like, I'm sorry y'all didn't have this information sooner, but I think it's relevant to the story and should be considered. And if I could have said it then, I would have said it then, but I'm saying it now and please reconsider. Nicola's son, Anthony, testified next and...

Her son said mostly the same things that we've heard before, that Mr. Billy acted different when he drank. He acted different when he got drunk. And he heard his mom calling his name several times. And so he followed what his mom told him to do.

He also talked about how Mr. Billy would be the disciplinarian in the house. And Anthony would say, if Mr. Billy thought that I was lying about something, he would yell at me and he would say bad words. He would cuss at me and he would pop me with the bell. After that, he then talks about the accounts the day of the murder. Same thing that everybody knows. His mom called him to get the knife. He came, he listened to his mom. He knows how heated the arguments can get.

Anthony also was unaware of the trial and didn't know that he could testify on behalf of his mom. And so it's unsure of like this lawyer, see if Anthony could, because like we said before, these aren't, these are big kids. They're not,

where we have to be like, are you sure you know the difference between lying and telling the truth? They're like 11, where a lot of times you can take their word for it. And honestly, these kids, poor things, they're already traumatized. Like, at least let them have their voices be heard. If you're going to traumatize them, at least traumatize them and let them speak. Don't traumatize them and shut them up. Trial counsel was the last to testify. And basically he was like, everything that Nicola has said to you was a lie.

OK, you know why she didn't tell you about the abuse during the first trial and in the first appeal? Because she made it up now. There's no police reports. There's no protective orders. Nothing has been filed to the state or to any type of government official from Nicola saying that Billy was abusive. Which doesn't exactly make it not true, just makes it not proven.

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rocketmoney.com slash sisters. Right. And that's always what gets people is, I don't know, like if you know that they're, if you're, even if you're, people say like, oh my God, if she was so scared, why did she stay? And everybody knows the reasons why you stay because you're terrified of the situation because usually leaving a situation is more dangerous than actually being in the situation. But one of the things that I always say is at least once,

At least once, call the police on that motherfucker. Put something in writing. Write it in your fucking diary and send it in a letter to your mom. Do something so that there is a record of it so that when there is a time for justice to be served, you can prove it. Because, of course, as women, we always have to prove it. And this is like with any situation. If you're like in a workplace, hostile environment or something like that,

File an anonymous thing with the EEOC just to have a paper trail. So when you end up fired or whatever, if you wait until shit goes bad to say something, then they're going to say you're only saying it because shit went bad.

You got to start just in case. If you're working in corporate America, HR is to protect the company, not to protect you. It's to make you feel good and hunky-dory, but it's to protect the company. And when you go to trial, they want to protect what looks good on the outside. And usually that means that if you can't prove it, then they're going to say, oh, the man was fake.

He couldn't have done that. So always just keep something, something. And that's what the district attorney was saying. Listen, no evidence of this happening. Neighbors never heard of him yelling or arguing. And maybe he lived at a good place that had good thick walls. The trial counselor was like, did she say that Billy drank? Yes. Did she say that he gets angry? Sure. We know people that are angry drunks. But...

Of course, the goal in the original trial is to get justice, not to slander a man that's dead. And so that's why it wasn't presented at trial. And that's also what I don't get. Like, I'm not here to slander the dead, but I'm also here to tell the truth. And if the nigga did it, then the nigga did it. And if he didn't, then he did it. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

But let's just put it all out there so the jury can make a really good decision. And I think that's really all she's asking in these appeals. It's like, let's actually put all the information out so that the jury can make an actual decision. And when they were talking to her law firm lawyer, her firm lawyer was like, listen, she's talking about I didn't call people from California. She didn't give me no names to call in California.

You asked me to find a character witness. Well, there's people right here in Pennsylvania and they felt comfortable in their knowledge of Nicola to be a character witness. What nigga did I feel comfortable? Listen, let me tell you something. If I get arrested in Timbuktu, bitch, they better call you to come test. You better get on a flight to Timbuktu, okay? To say that I am a good person. Call them. Don't call nobody in Timbuktu and I only lived here a year. These people don't know me.

They don't know what I've been through. They don't know my journey. They also asked her former lawyer if he actually believed that Nicola was trying to protect herself and the baby. And he said, quote, I think she was just in the heat of passion from the baby being taken. I think that she was just her anxiety, her emotion because of what happened. I think part of it was she was scared.

sleep deprived. She was preparing for a wedding. All these things I argued. She had been all day. She had been on the go. She was shopping. She was getting kids clothes. She was getting her hair done. She probably hadn't slept other than like 20 minutes in four whole days. And I think she was just running on empty. And I think that she's catching grief, getting yelled at. If anyone is in the heat of passion, it was Nicola when this occurred, which like, thank you, sir.

It's tell the truth. Even though I'm trying to say that you were unfit, I'm just trying to get a new trial. Ain't nothing personal. You can still tell the truth, but I still want somebody else. I'm trying to get out of here. I gots to go. Listen, you get to go home to your family or to your cat. I get to go home to Big Betty. Like, I don't want it. I want to go home. On July 31st of 2017, the PCRA court denied Nicola's petition.

Nicola found the pill shortly after. Of course, she did, stating that the trial court erred when, one, it denied her request of a new trial based on ineffective assistance of trial counsel and failing to call India and her son as a defense witness. Two, failing to call adequate character witnesses. The same old shit. Three, failing to present evidence and retain expert witness in support of battered women's defense syndrome. Failing to instruct a jury, a voluntary manslaughter,

and subsection unreasonable belief self-defense and failing to request jury instructions relating to the use of force in self-protection and use of force for the protection of other persons. So the PCRA court, they thought about it. And on July 31st of 2017, they concluded that the counsel was not ineffective, not about the battered woman syndrome,

They said the testimony given at the trial that Nicola and Billy got into a verbal confrontation, which led to Nicola telling her son to get the knife, which he did, plus the 911 recording where she was saying, gonna fucking kill you, gonna cut you. That's what escalated to a crime of passion. So you could say you was beaten up and everything. You held the weapon. You were threatening this man. You really didn't seem like somebody in an abusive relationship.

of the relationship, at least not in this moment. Yeah, I definitely think... I honestly think that she had good counsel. I think that they were just trying to find ways to punish her. And he probably... And he went in there thinking that this was going to be a manslaughter trial and did not know that they were actually coming to play with fire because...

I could see how any reasonable lawyer would say, yeah, this will be manslaughter. Yeah. Voluntary, involuntary, still better than first-degree murder. No way it's going to be first-degree murder. But she honestly played right on the line of first-degree murder and play stupid games, win stupid prizes. They also said that the battered woman defense don't quite work out because she, quote, voluntarily escalated the situation when she got the knife. So...

At that point, you were no longer the battered woman in the situation. You were the aggressor. They said she escalated the situation. She created this heat of passion. She presented this heat of passion defense, and it was reasonable. And they said not including Billy's prior conduct was also reasonable because it had the possibility...

to discredit Nicola. So they was like, it's good that it's left out because if the defense gets up there and says, you say you're abused, I show no history of abuse, and now the jury thinks you lied about the abuse just to get away with this, it could possibly hurt you even more. So we actually did you a favor, Rich.

Anywho, she's denied. She's still housed at the Bucks County D.O. out in Pennsylvania. And that's the story of our murderous. Yes. Oh, you did the ending line. I did the line. Look at us. All right, y'all. It's time for. I'm not black. I'm OG. I didn't do it. But if I did, this is how I would have gotten away with it.

I didn't do it, but if I did, I will just like starting from the bottom up, I would have taken the plea because 13 years minimum, I would have just had to. It's a gamble to go to trial and then get possibly get life versus 13 years, because if you got the manslaughter, probably get a mandatory 10 child. Just give me the other three. I ain't do it. But if I did, girl, either hang up or continue to be scared on a 911 call.

Sloppy work. Sloppy, sloppy work. She did not know she was still on the phone with 9-1-1. Sloppy, sloppy work. How you gonna be on the phone with 9-1-1 talking about some, you gonna die tonight, baby. If I would have heard that 9-1-1 call, just give me the plea deal.

I because we don't have a recording of the 911 call, but any 911 calls that says I'm a swing on you. Die, die, die. It's all right. Just give me give me the plea. Give me the plea. Give me the plea. I didn't do it. But if I did, I honestly felt like she had a lot on her plate and I didn't do it. But if I did, I would have been like, where is my family and friends on this evening before my wedding that I'm planning on by myself?

Girl, that too. But she had all the kids at the house. It was 2 o'clock in the morning. None of the babies would sleep. Big kids are not. It's 2 o'clock in the morning. And everybody got a big day tomorrow. Girl, I ain't do it, but I did. I would have called my mama. Mama, come here. I need help making these sandwiches. Somebody. I feel like if she had somebody...

Yeah, if she had even one person from her bridal shower at her home, I think that she would have been had somebody just on her side to talk to. Also, why you let somebody stay at your, you should have told that man no. No, can't nobody stay at my house the night before our wedding. No, no.

Even if they were there to help take care of the kids after y'all left, they could stay at the hotel one night and come here because that was part of the problem. If you and I had a funky attitude with each other, fine. But now when you and I got a funky attitude with each other, your cousins see I got a funky attitude, they like, oh, that's who you finna marry. Let me get you drunk. And now I'm pissed her. No, no. Can't nobody stay at my house the night before my wedding. Can't nobody stay at my house the night after my wedding. Go home. I ain't do it. But if I did...

Sometimes you just gotta let it go. His drunk ass just wanted you to ride to get some food. Just ride to get the damn food. This your husband for better or for worse. Or baby, I'll drive. For better or for worse, this who you got. Your cousin's here to watch the kids. Tell your cousins to watch the kids. We'll be back. But come on, nigga. Let's just go get some goddamn McDonald's. Because it's the rest of your life, girl. So you can shut your drunk ass up. Ain't shit change. You know who it is.

I do want to jump back to that 911 call. Just in general, if you're very upset, a lot of times you really have to learn how to just be quiet, even when you're upset, because talking shit really can get you messed up. I know that somebody right now has a recording of me saying that I'm going to kill somebody because I was angry.

I ain't going to touch that girl. Please don't die. Just at least not while I send this shit out. Let some time pass. Listen, and they made it very clear. Oh, I'm keeping this. Just, you never know. They said, I'm keeping this. Just don't, just keep, even when you be like, oh, you got to figure out how to make your comebacks less murdery. Like, how can it be so that if a white person is analyzing it in court, they can't decipher that you meant murder?

Right. Very fine line. Because that's when we get into a little premeditated territory, but... Which will get you messed up. I think that's it for me. I didn't do it, but if I did, why are you calling for your son to get that knife? Why are you messing up your baby like that? And you did it in front of William. Those kids also saw this happen. Like, they saw it happen. Your son, you damn near implicated him in a crime. Thank goodness he's a child. Yeah.

But you definitely could have, if they really wanted to, they could have messed your kid's life up as well. Also, if you gave a crap about his son, you know that baby just lost his mama. Parole or no parole. Get that girl voluntary manslaughter. I know, right? Somebody answering a pill. For 10 years? She love that man. Get that baby involuntary. I think she did.

Give her voluntary manslaughter. Give her 10 years minimum. Maybe 10 to... Make it long. 10 to 18 years. We upset. And then let her see if she can parole out. I don't think that she... I also don't necessarily believe that she's a naturally violent person. Me neither. You're all the way across the country...

From your family, you're with this man that you do love, but, you know, the love is hurting. And you almost feel like you're trapped in a cage. People are bound to lash out. And I don't think they really took that into consideration for real. I don't think they was actually truly appreciating the state that she was in. Oh, my gosh. And she is housed in Pennsylvania. Her family is in California. Yeah.

And she went to, you gotta, you have to watch where you do your crimes. Where are you trying to end up? A flight, let me, a flight from Cali to Pennsylvania. Let me go on Hopper and just see what a random flight. Let's go from LAX to, I don't even know, Pennsylvania. Let's go to Philly. Oh, the prices aren't that bad.

She said, oh. But still, to do that constantly and do an adult plus the children and everybody that needs to or wants to come visit you. That's just one aspect. You ain't have no family reunions in Pennsylvania. Not cool. Not cool, girl. Oh, that's got to be sad. Okay. All right.

I do think that she should have gotten voluntary manslaughter. I do think the court system was definitely trying to put her through the wringer and make a mockery out of her because of how the shock value that came with the case and the fact that she didn't take that plea and dared to fight for her life, which is her American right. That, yeah, that's my thing. And...

I think that's the end of the show for real. So if you've made it this far, you might as well keep on listening. We are going to read some reviews. This is the part where you can leave us a review, tell us what you like. If you don't like anything, please don't leave it publicly. Like email us. I will totally like check them. Taz will check them and we'll be so happy and we'll love you guys forever. And we'll respect your time as long as you are respectful when you reach out to us, because that would be crazy.

Sisters Who Kill, everywhere. Follow it so we can get downloads. I'm just still talking while I'm trying to find a review. This one says, I'm addicted, man. God damn it. This is from Baby D. I'm not even going to lie. I'm 20 years old and I've been watching true crime my entire life. So when I heard I could have it all on the go, I was all in. Well, not initially. My friend tried to tell me how good y'all were and I brushed her off immediately.

And what do you know? Four months later, I'm intensely addicted. It's 4.32 a.m. and I couldn't go back to sleep. So here we are, Sister Sukil. It's hard for a lot of people to make that transition from watching the ID channel or watching the documentaries like you like to do to actually listening to podcasts. But I'm glad you're here. Tell a friend and be that persistent. Shout out to your friend.

Shout out to your friend. You have good friends. Keep them around, girl. She might bail you out one day. This one says, I love the podcast. My TT put me on to you guys and I have been listening every day since. I'm 18 and I graduate on May 23rd. Congratulations. Congrats, grads. You guys will definitely be coming with me through my journey. Thank you so much. Keeping us near and dear.

Congrats to all the graduates. You're amazing. Congratulations. I'm so proud. I was telling my friend today, I was like, a degree is just, it's the bare minimum now, unless you have a skill. So congratulations on your graduation. Congratulations on the next phase of your life. Whatever you choose for that to be, you and everyone else. So happy.

Okay. That's the end of the show for real. Thank you so much. Please follow us everywhere. Go ahead and like the podcast so that you can get automatic downloads. Sisters Who Kill, Sisters Who Kill Pod, Sisters Who Kill Podcast, everywhere, literally everywhere. Open up an app and you can find us there. If you can't, email me and then I will decide if I have enough capacity to put us there. Do it. Bully me. I don't care. I can take it.

We're also having some amazing things going on here. Make sure that you get your merch. ShopSistersWhoKill.com. That's ShopSistersWhoKill.com. We have quite a few orders that just went out, a few orders that are still being fulfilled. So I know the discussion group has been very excited and we're excited as well. We'll be at CrimeCon next week, which is also going to be very exciting. Yeah.

Right, right. Those of you that will be there, hope to use that code. S-I-S-T-A-S. That's right. And we're excited to see y'all. We'll be on crime row. We'll be doing a panel, hanging out with...

They say panel, but it's just me and Taz because we're selfish. And the title of the title of our talk is going to be called Where Are All the Black People and Other Questions We Have About True Crime. So I really am excited about this discussion. It's a little bit different from what we do, but it's stuff we get to speak in a way that you and I are both very passionate about. So I'm really excited about that. ShopSistersWhoKill.com.

All right. I think that's it. Do we have anything else? We don't have anything to announce, but we're planning amazing things for you guys. So please make sure that you are following us so that you can see the amazing things when they become public. All right. That is it for real this time. Shop sisters who kill dot com. Anything else, friend? Talk as we talk, babe. Bye. Bye. Bye.