1 00:00:13,224 --> 00:00:16,873 [suspenseful music] 2 00:00:22,225 --> 00:00:24,484 A husband calls a press conference in Reno 3 00:00:24,588 --> 00:00:28,515 to tell the world that his wife, a big shot politician, 4 00:00:28,619 --> 00:00:30,253 is seriously ill. 5 00:00:30,357 --> 00:00:34,666 There was a television report on Kathy Augustine 6 00:00:34,770 --> 00:00:36,404 being in the hospital. 7 00:00:36,510 --> 00:00:38,629 Chaz Higgs said she'd had a heart attack. 8 00:00:38,733 --> 00:00:41,860 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Kathy Augustine is in a coma. 9 00:00:41,964 --> 00:00:44,640 She's Nevada State Controller, the woman 10 00:00:44,744 --> 00:00:46,135 who holds the purse strings. 11 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:47,734 CHAZ HIGGS: Something's wrong with my wife. 12 00:00:47,838 --> 00:00:49,054 She's not breathing. 13 00:00:49,158 --> 00:00:50,201 911 OPERATOR: She's not breathing at all? 14 00:00:50,305 --> 00:00:51,418 CHAZ HIGGS: Not breathing at all. 15 00:00:51,521 --> 00:00:53,051 I need some help. 16 00:00:53,155 --> 00:00:57,047 They couldn't really find any reason why Kathy, 50 years old, 17 00:00:57,151 --> 00:01:01,009 never drank, didn't smoke, and worked out regularly, 18 00:01:01,114 --> 00:01:02,468 would have had a heart attack. 19 00:01:02,574 --> 00:01:05,528 Medics fighting to save Kathy Augustine's 20 00:01:05,632 --> 00:01:09,315 life start thinking something about her sudden illness 21 00:01:09,419 --> 00:01:10,671 is wrong. 22 00:01:10,775 --> 00:01:14,354 Kathy's husband is nurse Chaz Higgs. 23 00:01:14,458 --> 00:01:15,988 Has he killed his wife? 24 00:01:16,092 --> 00:01:21,756 There was an undercurrent of suspicion surrounding 25 00:01:21,860 --> 00:01:23,251 Kathy Augustine's death. 26 00:01:23,356 --> 00:01:26,829 Nothing was found in the sense of a cause of death. 27 00:01:26,935 --> 00:01:31,870 Half of the women killed are murdered by their partners. 28 00:01:31,974 --> 00:01:36,700 I'm Michelle Trachtenberg and this is Meet Marry Murder. 29 00:01:36,804 --> 00:01:40,350 [suspenseful music] 30 00:01:51,471 --> 00:01:53,765 The way, Kathy and Chaz get together 31 00:01:53,869 --> 00:01:57,935 is kind of unusual, well, very unusual. 32 00:01:58,039 --> 00:02:01,167 Their eyes meet over her husband's death deathbed. 33 00:02:02,522 --> 00:02:04,190 It's 2003. 34 00:02:04,293 --> 00:02:07,005 Kathy has been married to Charles Augustine, 35 00:02:07,108 --> 00:02:10,202 her third husband for 17 years. 36 00:02:10,306 --> 00:02:13,364 But things have been rocky between them for a while. 37 00:02:13,470 --> 00:02:15,727 Charles and Kathy Augustine were 38 00:02:15,832 --> 00:02:20,524 estranged and heading toward divorce, when he fell ill. 39 00:02:21,636 --> 00:02:23,061 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Kathy's friends 40 00:02:23,165 --> 00:02:26,674 are not surprised to hear her marriage is struggling. 41 00:02:26,778 --> 00:02:29,350 Politics comes first for her. 42 00:02:29,454 --> 00:02:33,001 It's something she's been into since her teens, years 43 00:02:33,105 --> 00:02:35,502 before she met Charles Augustine. 44 00:02:35,606 --> 00:02:37,899 Chuck Augustine's wife Kathy was born 45 00:02:38,004 --> 00:02:39,985 Kathy Alfano in California. 46 00:02:40,089 --> 00:02:41,514 When she was growing up, her passion 47 00:02:41,619 --> 00:02:43,426 had always been politics. 48 00:02:43,530 --> 00:02:45,755 And she was growing up in the '60s and '70s at a time 49 00:02:45,859 --> 00:02:48,743 when women were leaving the house, attaining more, 50 00:02:48,847 --> 00:02:50,446 they're more involved in politics. 51 00:02:50,550 --> 00:02:52,322 And they were out in the social sphere. 52 00:02:52,427 --> 00:02:55,033 Charles Augustine was 15 years her senior. 53 00:02:55,137 --> 00:02:57,430 He was a strong looking man. 54 00:02:57,535 --> 00:03:00,316 He'd been a football player earlier in life. 55 00:03:00,420 --> 00:03:03,896 He was also a Vietnam vet and a devout Catholic. 56 00:03:03,999 --> 00:03:06,154 They fell in love and got married and moved 57 00:03:06,259 --> 00:03:08,587 to the Las Vegas area. 58 00:03:13,418 --> 00:03:16,997 At first, it's all sunshine and roses, happy combined 59 00:03:17,101 --> 00:03:18,248 family. 60 00:03:18,352 --> 00:03:21,792 They buy a big luxury home in Downtown Las Vegas. 61 00:03:21,897 --> 00:03:24,260 Charles adopts Kathy's daughter Dallas, 62 00:03:24,365 --> 00:03:28,431 who gets on great with Charles' sons Larry and Greg. 63 00:03:29,229 --> 00:03:31,107 Politics is calling. 64 00:03:31,212 --> 00:03:33,261 So she joins the Republican Party 65 00:03:33,365 --> 00:03:35,103 and launches her first campaign. 66 00:03:35,207 --> 00:03:38,336 Kathy Augustine was very well known in the state of Nevada. 67 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:42,157 And she was known as a hard charging, very strong, 68 00:03:42,262 --> 00:03:45,737 very dynamic state politician. 69 00:03:45,841 --> 00:03:47,857 She reveled in politics. 70 00:03:47,961 --> 00:03:50,081 She loved the rough and tumble of politics. 71 00:03:52,027 --> 00:03:55,155 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Back then Nevada politics was a bit 72 00:03:55,260 --> 00:03:58,178 of a good old boys network, but Kathy takes 73 00:03:58,283 --> 00:04:00,994 it on and she comes out on top. 74 00:04:01,098 --> 00:04:05,060 First she wins a place in the state assembly, 75 00:04:05,164 --> 00:04:08,258 next campaign the state Senate. 76 00:04:08,362 --> 00:04:09,855 She's charismatic. 77 00:04:09,961 --> 00:04:11,350 She's ruthless. 78 00:04:11,454 --> 00:04:14,791 And she crushes the opposition every time. 79 00:04:14,895 --> 00:04:18,475 She has run for and won election to the Office 80 00:04:18,580 --> 00:04:20,559 of State Controller of Nevada. 81 00:04:20,664 --> 00:04:22,228 She was actually the first female state 82 00:04:22,332 --> 00:04:24,139 controller in Nevada's history. 83 00:04:24,243 --> 00:04:28,206 She was the state's bill collector, more or less. 84 00:04:28,310 --> 00:04:32,063 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Kathy is a hero to Republican women. 85 00:04:32,167 --> 00:04:36,476 She joins all 18 of the state's Republican women's clubs 86 00:04:36,580 --> 00:04:39,986 and drives miles to go to their functions. 87 00:04:40,091 --> 00:04:44,226 Her outfits are like her armor, always the same bright blazers 88 00:04:44,330 --> 00:04:46,312 and polished brooches. 89 00:04:46,415 --> 00:04:50,065 Kathy's husband Chuck isn't such a fan. 90 00:04:50,169 --> 00:04:52,011 He's not into politics. 91 00:04:52,115 --> 00:04:53,957 And he doesn't get why his wife wants 92 00:04:54,061 --> 00:04:55,695 to be out on the campaign trail when 93 00:04:55,799 --> 00:04:57,815 she should be home with him. 94 00:04:57,919 --> 00:05:01,186 Victoria Campbell is a local reporter who watched 95 00:05:01,290 --> 00:05:03,410 Kathy take no prisoners. 96 00:05:03,515 --> 00:05:07,093 I interviewed Kathy Augustine on numerous occasions. 97 00:05:07,198 --> 00:05:10,013 She struck me as tenacious. 98 00:05:10,117 --> 00:05:11,300 Very tough. 99 00:05:11,403 --> 00:05:14,183 She was a very tough woman. 100 00:05:14,287 --> 00:05:16,650 She just had her eyes on what she wanted. 101 00:05:16,754 --> 00:05:18,041 She was ambitious. 102 00:05:18,145 --> 00:05:20,857 Charles and Kathy Augustine were estranged 103 00:05:20,961 --> 00:05:25,027 and heading toward divorce when he fell ill. 104 00:05:25,131 --> 00:05:27,945 He suffered a minor stroke at their home in Las Vegas, 105 00:05:28,051 --> 00:05:30,482 was taken to the hospital, then suffered 106 00:05:30,587 --> 00:05:32,811 a major stroke in the hospital. 107 00:05:32,915 --> 00:05:35,695 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : So this is 2003. 108 00:05:35,799 --> 00:05:38,302 Chuck and Kathy are getting a divorce. 109 00:05:38,406 --> 00:05:42,576 But when he suddenly gets sick, that is put on hold. 110 00:05:42,681 --> 00:05:47,094 For six weeks, she travels back and forth to be at his bedside. 111 00:05:47,199 --> 00:05:51,542 While he was being treated and was seriously ill, 112 00:05:51,646 --> 00:05:54,566 one of his nurses was Chaz Higgs. 113 00:05:54,670 --> 00:05:57,033 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : So is the critical care nurse, Chaz 114 00:05:57,137 --> 00:05:59,222 Higgs, seeing dollar signs? 115 00:05:59,326 --> 00:06:00,857 She was an easy route to success. 116 00:06:00,961 --> 00:06:02,664 She was- she was-- she had glamour. 117 00:06:02,768 --> 00:06:04,539 She had status potentially. 118 00:06:04,644 --> 00:06:06,799 He thought that she was an easy route 119 00:06:06,903 --> 00:06:12,915 to the fairytale ending that he believes it is his destiny. 120 00:06:13,020 --> 00:06:15,731 [sinister music] 121 00:06:17,328 --> 00:06:19,519 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Now if I met William Charles Higgs, 122 00:06:19,623 --> 00:06:23,133 I'd be a little worried about his emotional baggage. 123 00:06:23,238 --> 00:06:26,226 Not a lot is known about Charles Higgs' early life. 124 00:06:26,330 --> 00:06:31,265 But between 1994 and 2002, he had three failed marriages. 125 00:06:31,369 --> 00:06:35,262 He changed state and job quite a lot, and drifted. 126 00:06:36,929 --> 00:06:39,327 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Chaz and his twin brother Mike were 127 00:06:39,432 --> 00:06:42,177 raised in North Carolina by their father, 128 00:06:42,282 --> 00:06:43,811 who is in the Marines. 129 00:06:43,915 --> 00:06:46,973 This is forensic psychologist Donna Youngs, 130 00:06:47,077 --> 00:06:49,406 a Brit who studied bad guys. 131 00:06:50,761 --> 00:06:54,723 My sense is that he came out quite a hard background, 132 00:06:54,827 --> 00:06:58,304 a background where he didn't learn how 133 00:06:58,408 --> 00:07:00,945 to care about other people because it was 134 00:07:01,049 --> 00:07:02,855 a tough background where other people weren't 135 00:07:02,959 --> 00:07:05,079 particularly caring about him. 136 00:07:05,184 --> 00:07:07,304 It fits with the idea of an upbringing 137 00:07:07,408 --> 00:07:09,285 led by a military man. 138 00:07:11,682 --> 00:07:13,073 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Just like dad, 139 00:07:13,177 --> 00:07:15,679 Chaz also joins the military. 140 00:07:15,783 --> 00:07:20,371 He goes into the Navy, spending 16 years in the Medical Corps, 141 00:07:20,476 --> 00:07:22,769 looking after sailors' health. 142 00:07:22,873 --> 00:07:25,202 He's rather unreliable though. 143 00:07:25,306 --> 00:07:29,545 He moves from state to state, has three failed marriages, 144 00:07:29,649 --> 00:07:36,148 files for bankruptcy many times, and finds women irresistible. 145 00:07:36,253 --> 00:07:37,573 He is a player. 146 00:07:38,997 --> 00:07:41,639 We've got somebody who has an inability to self-regulate, 147 00:07:41,743 --> 00:07:44,975 somebody who's-- who's always looking for excitement, 148 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:49,076 somebody who's immature, and somebody 149 00:07:49,181 --> 00:07:55,263 who is very emotionally fluent, is very 150 00:07:55,367 --> 00:07:57,486 warm and charming and open. 151 00:07:57,591 --> 00:07:59,607 Put all those things together and you get somebody 152 00:07:59,711 --> 00:08:03,639 who is going to move from woman to woman very readily, 153 00:08:03,743 --> 00:08:06,661 and is going to appeal to a lot of women as well. 154 00:08:06,765 --> 00:08:09,789 So it's easy for him to do that. 155 00:08:09,893 --> 00:08:11,352 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : But everyone has 156 00:08:11,457 --> 00:08:13,681 to settle down sometime right? 157 00:08:13,786 --> 00:08:17,226 By this time, Higgs is in his late 30s. 158 00:08:18,687 --> 00:08:21,917 By 2002 after the breakdown of his last marriage, 159 00:08:22,022 --> 00:08:23,760 Chaz was living in Nevada. 160 00:08:23,863 --> 00:08:27,617 He had seemed to be a bit more stable. 161 00:08:29,076 --> 00:08:30,745 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : He goes to college, 162 00:08:30,849 --> 00:08:32,726 gets his qualifications. 163 00:08:32,831 --> 00:08:36,236 And in 2002, he gets a job as a critical care 164 00:08:36,340 --> 00:08:39,468 nurse at the Sunrise Medical Center in Las Vegas. 165 00:08:40,928 --> 00:08:44,194 He would have been comfortable going into nursing, of holding 166 00:08:44,298 --> 00:08:47,252 other people's lives in his hands, 167 00:08:47,356 --> 00:08:49,512 because, not because he cared so much. 168 00:08:49,616 --> 00:08:51,701 But because actually, other people's lives 169 00:08:51,805 --> 00:08:56,290 were so unimportant to him, certainly much less important 170 00:08:56,393 --> 00:08:57,748 than Chaz Higgs' life. 171 00:09:02,093 --> 00:09:06,609 Just a few years later, Chaz Higgs' co-workers 172 00:09:06,714 --> 00:09:11,128 will find out just how little human life means to him. 173 00:09:11,232 --> 00:09:13,352 Any time he was busy and they'd-- 174 00:09:13,457 --> 00:09:14,464 one of them would say-- 175 00:09:14,568 --> 00:09:16,271 And all of them testify to this. 176 00:09:16,375 --> 00:09:17,591 And there were several. 177 00:09:17,695 --> 00:09:18,877 --one of them would say, is there 178 00:09:18,981 --> 00:09:20,164 anything I could help you with? 179 00:09:20,268 --> 00:09:21,797 And he'd say, yeah, get rid of my wife. 180 00:09:22,596 --> 00:09:25,342 [music playing] 181 00:09:42,197 --> 00:09:45,881 It sounds rather shocking, but the door to romance 182 00:09:45,985 --> 00:09:49,113 opens for Chaz Higgs and Kathy Augustine 183 00:09:49,217 --> 00:09:53,873 as she watches Chuck, her husband of 17 years, 184 00:09:53,977 --> 00:09:55,403 take his last breath. 185 00:09:56,619 --> 00:09:59,225 After six weeks, he unfortunately passed away. 186 00:09:59,330 --> 00:10:02,667 But Kathy's relationship to the intensive care 187 00:10:02,771 --> 00:10:04,994 team at the hospital didn't end there. 188 00:10:05,099 --> 00:10:08,505 Chaz would later say that they had chemistry. 189 00:10:08,610 --> 00:10:09,930 They had instant chemistry. 190 00:10:10,035 --> 00:10:12,919 And when they met in the hospital, it was just-- 191 00:10:13,022 --> 00:10:14,412 it was one of those things. 192 00:10:15,907 --> 00:10:18,097 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : After Chuck dies, Kathy 193 00:10:18,202 --> 00:10:20,669 can't get Chaz out of her head. 194 00:10:20,773 --> 00:10:24,005 She just needs to find an excuse to see him again. 195 00:10:24,108 --> 00:10:27,306 And what she comes up with is perfect. 196 00:10:27,410 --> 00:10:30,469 Kathy wrote thank you notes to all of the staff. 197 00:10:30,573 --> 00:10:33,040 But she forgot to write one to Chaz. 198 00:10:33,144 --> 00:10:34,778 In order to make up for that, she decided 199 00:10:34,883 --> 00:10:36,168 to invite him out for coffee. 200 00:10:36,272 --> 00:10:38,323 And that was when their romance began 201 00:10:39,608 --> 00:10:40,930 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Well Chaz isn't going to turn 202 00:10:41,034 --> 00:10:42,563 down an offer like that. 203 00:10:42,667 --> 00:10:45,725 A hot frantic affair is right up his alley. 204 00:10:47,150 --> 00:10:51,285 His romances mirror his whole- his whole approach to life. 205 00:10:51,389 --> 00:10:56,289 It's one passionate encounter followed by another. 206 00:10:56,394 --> 00:11:00,321 For Kathy, who was perhaps used to more intellectual, 207 00:11:00,425 --> 00:11:05,570 reserved men who was part of a calculating political world, 208 00:11:05,674 --> 00:11:08,800 Chaz actually would have been a breath of fresh air 209 00:11:08,905 --> 00:11:11,302 in his warmth, his openness. 210 00:11:11,406 --> 00:11:13,701 Three weeks later, a wedding. 211 00:11:13,805 --> 00:11:14,674 Hmm. 212 00:11:14,779 --> 00:11:15,995 Why not? 213 00:11:16,100 --> 00:11:18,427 I would venture to say that Kathy Augustine probably 214 00:11:18,531 --> 00:11:21,103 hoped for what most people hope for, 215 00:11:21,208 --> 00:11:24,126 a meaningful happy relationship. 216 00:11:24,230 --> 00:11:27,081 And this being her fourth marriage, 217 00:11:27,185 --> 00:11:31,182 it was not something that she had been able to have before. 218 00:11:31,285 --> 00:11:36,013 She told her family, he's an angel to me, 219 00:11:36,118 --> 00:11:38,515 he swept me off my feet. 220 00:11:38,619 --> 00:11:40,912 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Kathy's friends and family 221 00:11:41,017 --> 00:11:42,720 are harder to convince. 222 00:11:42,825 --> 00:11:46,125 This doesn't exactly look like a match made in Heaven does it? 223 00:11:46,230 --> 00:11:48,559 The relationship between Chaz and Kathy 224 00:11:48,663 --> 00:11:51,512 was not something that their friends could have predicted. 225 00:11:51,615 --> 00:11:53,354 She was eight years his senior. 226 00:11:53,459 --> 00:11:56,725 And they didn't really seem to have a ton in common. 227 00:11:56,829 --> 00:11:57,803 He was a nurse. 228 00:11:57,907 --> 00:11:59,262 She was a politician. 229 00:11:59,366 --> 00:12:01,937 He hated politics. 230 00:12:02,042 --> 00:12:03,988 I think it's just shocked people. 231 00:12:04,092 --> 00:12:07,985 And he clearly had no interest in her career, which was 232 00:12:08,090 --> 00:12:10,348 very, very important to her. 233 00:12:10,452 --> 00:12:13,372 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : But what else can Kathy's friends do? 234 00:12:13,476 --> 00:12:16,916 They bite their tongues and wish the new couple well. 235 00:12:17,020 --> 00:12:19,905 Straight out of the gate, it appeared that she was happy. 236 00:12:20,009 --> 00:12:22,268 Chaz was athletic, had always been 237 00:12:22,372 --> 00:12:26,647 interested in keeping up his appearance, in looking good. 238 00:12:26,751 --> 00:12:28,106 Over the course of their relationship 239 00:12:28,212 --> 00:12:30,332 however, he got Kathy into shape. 240 00:12:30,435 --> 00:12:32,695 He got her interested in working out. 241 00:12:32,799 --> 00:12:35,614 And they seemed to be taking along fairly well. 242 00:12:36,656 --> 00:12:37,594 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Now it's fair 243 00:12:37,699 --> 00:12:39,679 to say Chaz has gotten lucky. 244 00:12:39,784 --> 00:12:42,634 As a nurse, he'll never be a big earner. 245 00:12:42,738 --> 00:12:47,568 But as Kathy's husband, he finds himself living it up. 246 00:12:47,673 --> 00:12:49,271 He'd always been terrible with money. 247 00:12:49,376 --> 00:12:51,494 And friends suspected that part of Kathy's 248 00:12:51,599 --> 00:12:54,867 appeal in the first place was that she was fairly wealthy. 249 00:12:54,971 --> 00:12:57,717 She had received the payout from Chuck's life 250 00:12:57,821 --> 00:13:01,400 insurance, which amounted to about a million dollars. 251 00:13:02,721 --> 00:13:03,936 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Chaz is attracted 252 00:13:04,041 --> 00:13:06,925 to the fact that Kathy is a powerful woman, 253 00:13:07,030 --> 00:13:09,045 a local celebrity almost. 254 00:13:09,149 --> 00:13:12,382 But he finds himself out of his depth. 255 00:13:12,486 --> 00:13:16,935 Within months, Chaz starts to resent her high powered career. 256 00:13:17,039 --> 00:13:19,019 He wanted her to quit politics. 257 00:13:19,123 --> 00:13:22,390 When she didn't quit politics, it aggravated him. 258 00:13:22,495 --> 00:13:25,136 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Kathy doesn't take any prisoners. 259 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:29,619 And in 2004, that tough management style of hers 260 00:13:29,723 --> 00:13:31,010 backfires. 261 00:13:31,114 --> 00:13:34,171 She gets accused of misconduct in the office. 262 00:13:34,276 --> 00:13:36,534 In September of that year, Kathy 263 00:13:36,639 --> 00:13:40,114 was impeached for a campaign ethics violation 264 00:13:40,218 --> 00:13:43,764 and was forced to pay a fine of $15,000. 265 00:13:43,868 --> 00:13:47,691 That seemed to derail her political career somewhat. 266 00:13:47,795 --> 00:13:51,757 And she had to work to recover her good name. 267 00:13:51,861 --> 00:13:53,286 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Kathy becomes the first 268 00:13:53,391 --> 00:13:56,066 Nevada State constitutional officer to be 269 00:13:56,172 --> 00:13:58,325 impeached by the assembly. 270 00:13:58,429 --> 00:14:02,773 What's worse, she's found guilty and reprimanded. 271 00:14:02,878 --> 00:14:05,659 But she manages to keep her job. 272 00:14:05,763 --> 00:14:11,462 The episode hits her reputation and her wallet, hard. 273 00:14:11,566 --> 00:14:14,728 She has to refinance her fancy Las Vegas home 274 00:14:14,832 --> 00:14:17,161 to pay the $15,000 fine. 275 00:14:17,266 --> 00:14:17,960 [intelligible arguing] 276 00:14:18,065 --> 00:14:20,671 What about Chaz Higgs? 277 00:14:20,776 --> 00:14:24,111 Well, his dream life is looking shaky. 278 00:14:24,216 --> 00:14:26,058 Money is tighter. 279 00:14:26,162 --> 00:14:30,124 His wife is no longer the respected local celeb. 280 00:14:30,228 --> 00:14:33,287 And she's busier than ever, because she's had 281 00:14:33,391 --> 00:14:35,789 to rebuild her ruined career. 282 00:14:35,893 --> 00:14:38,881 Chaz starts getting a little mad. 283 00:14:38,985 --> 00:14:42,982 The stress of that situation may have caused more 284 00:14:43,087 --> 00:14:44,685 problems in their relationship. 285 00:14:44,789 --> 00:14:48,925 By autumn of 2005, Chaz was really bad mouthing Kathy quite 286 00:14:49,029 --> 00:14:50,350 a lot to colleagues at work. 287 00:14:50,455 --> 00:14:54,172 He wanted her to lose weight. 288 00:14:54,277 --> 00:14:57,717 He called her a fat bitch and that sort of thing. 289 00:14:57,822 --> 00:15:01,957 I'm getting the impression Chaz is quite vain. 290 00:15:02,062 --> 00:15:04,251 Kathy's friends like to poke fun at how 291 00:15:04,356 --> 00:15:05,815 much he fusses over his hair. 292 00:15:05,919 --> 00:15:08,561 But now he's obsessed with looking hot. 293 00:15:08,663 --> 00:15:11,791 It seems to be the only thing that matters to him. 294 00:15:11,896 --> 00:15:13,565 Chaz had gotten into bodybuilding 295 00:15:13,668 --> 00:15:16,205 and was spending most of his nights at the gym. 296 00:15:16,310 --> 00:15:19,021 He'd also gotten into steroids and were 297 00:15:19,125 --> 00:15:21,627 stockpiling medicine at home. 298 00:15:21,731 --> 00:15:24,129 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : By early summer of 2006, 299 00:15:24,234 --> 00:15:29,308 Chaz Higgs has a new project, getting out of his marriage. 300 00:15:29,412 --> 00:15:32,853 He's pretty open about this in front of his coworkers. 301 00:15:32,957 --> 00:15:36,953 You tell me, is he stupid or just brazen? 302 00:15:37,058 --> 00:15:39,733 Any time he was busy and they'd-- 303 00:15:39,838 --> 00:15:40,880 one of them would say-- 304 00:15:40,985 --> 00:15:42,687 And all of them testify to this. 305 00:15:42,792 --> 00:15:44,147 And there were several. 306 00:15:44,252 --> 00:15:46,129 One of them would say, is there anything I could help you with? 307 00:15:46,232 --> 00:15:47,970 And he'd say, yeah get rid of my wife. 308 00:15:48,074 --> 00:15:51,237 He was saying terrible things about his wife 309 00:15:51,341 --> 00:15:53,427 to his coworkers. 310 00:15:53,531 --> 00:15:57,041 If I didn't have a daughter in Las Vegas, I would kill my wife 311 00:15:57,145 --> 00:15:58,917 and throw her down a mine shaft. 312 00:16:00,307 --> 00:16:01,557 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Around this time, 313 00:16:01,663 --> 00:16:04,338 Chaz the player is flirting with a colleague 314 00:16:04,442 --> 00:16:06,458 called Linda Ramirez. 315 00:16:06,562 --> 00:16:09,238 They're emailing back and forth, with Chaz 316 00:16:09,343 --> 00:16:12,089 suggesting she book a hotel room so they 317 00:16:12,193 --> 00:16:14,591 can meet and do dirty things. 318 00:16:17,615 --> 00:16:19,525 Three years after they got married, 319 00:16:19,629 --> 00:16:21,262 Chaz was cautioned by his superiors 320 00:16:21,366 --> 00:16:24,078 for using his email, his work email, 321 00:16:24,182 --> 00:16:27,067 to send flirtatious messages to a colleague. 322 00:16:27,171 --> 00:16:31,099 He had joined a website called Passion.com and was 323 00:16:31,202 --> 00:16:33,496 sending emails to other women. 324 00:16:33,601 --> 00:16:35,617 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Chief Deputy District Attorney 325 00:16:35,721 --> 00:16:37,771 Tom Barb is on the case. 326 00:16:37,875 --> 00:16:41,767 He finds out that some of these emails are rather disturbing. 327 00:16:41,871 --> 00:16:45,278 We had witnesses as far as he was 328 00:16:45,382 --> 00:16:48,475 flirting with one of the people that worked at the hospital. 329 00:16:48,580 --> 00:16:51,394 You know, saying he sent her an email 330 00:16:51,497 --> 00:16:54,243 and said I'm going to make Kathy-- 331 00:16:54,347 --> 00:16:56,086 He'd say that bitch. 332 00:16:56,189 --> 00:16:59,039 --Kathy's life miserable. 333 00:16:59,144 --> 00:17:01,228 This is another message. 334 00:17:01,332 --> 00:17:02,828 "I hate this woman. 335 00:17:02,932 --> 00:17:06,303 And I will make her break" Higgs is 336 00:17:06,407 --> 00:17:10,613 always blurting out his darkest thoughts and feelings. 337 00:17:10,717 --> 00:17:13,289 He really loves to vent, this guy. 338 00:17:13,393 --> 00:17:17,180 His boss reprimands him for misusing his hospital email. 339 00:17:17,284 --> 00:17:22,463 He confided to his supervisor, Tina, that things with Kathy 340 00:17:22,567 --> 00:17:24,410 were problematic. 341 00:17:24,514 --> 00:17:26,981 He described her as abusive and controlling. 342 00:17:27,085 --> 00:17:29,587 And Tina started to get concerned that Chaz 343 00:17:29,691 --> 00:17:31,012 might be the victim of abuse. 344 00:17:31,116 --> 00:17:34,001 So she offered him a place to stay if he needed it. 345 00:17:34,105 --> 00:17:37,164 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Somehow this gets back to Kathy. 346 00:17:37,267 --> 00:17:40,639 Convinced that Tina's making a move on her man, 347 00:17:40,743 --> 00:17:43,523 Kathy loses her cool. 348 00:17:43,627 --> 00:17:45,886 Kathy somehow found out and began harassing 349 00:17:45,991 --> 00:17:47,729 Tina at her place of work. 350 00:17:47,833 --> 00:17:49,570 Kathy wrote threatening letters to Tina. 351 00:17:49,675 --> 00:17:53,115 And Tina eventually took the matter to the hospital board. 352 00:17:53,220 --> 00:17:57,320 And after that, Kathy's harassment seemed to stop. 353 00:17:57,424 --> 00:18:00,030 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Kathy's friends and family are worried. 354 00:18:00,136 --> 00:18:02,985 They notice that she's lost her sparkle. 355 00:18:03,090 --> 00:18:05,591 She's acting way out of character. 356 00:18:05,696 --> 00:18:10,561 Sometimes she even seems scared of Chaz Higgs. 357 00:18:10,665 --> 00:18:13,515 While Chaz was making it seem to Tina that he was being 358 00:18:13,618 --> 00:18:16,329 abused, the evidence seems to suggest that maybe 359 00:18:16,433 --> 00:18:17,964 something else was going on. 360 00:18:18,068 --> 00:18:21,056 For example, Kathy called her brother one day from the car, 361 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:23,975 crying, sobbing, and saying he's going to kill us 362 00:18:24,079 --> 00:18:29,396 both because Chaz was driving erratically, crazy. 363 00:18:29,501 --> 00:18:32,420 Chaz and Kathy's marriage is a mess. 364 00:18:32,525 --> 00:18:36,138 So why doesn't Chaz just get a divorce? 365 00:18:36,243 --> 00:18:38,572 Yes, it's another failed marriage for him. 366 00:18:38,675 --> 00:18:44,479 But you accept it, and then you move on, right? 367 00:18:44,584 --> 00:18:46,496 But Chaz has another plan. 368 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,101 And he's sure he can get away with it. 369 00:18:49,206 --> 00:18:55,044 Higgs is on the telephone, 911 my wife is not breathing. 370 00:18:55,148 --> 00:18:56,607 CHAZ HIGGS: Something's wrong with my wife 371 00:18:56,712 --> 00:18:57,754 she's not breathing. 372 00:18:57,860 --> 00:18:59,075 911 OPERATOR: She's not breathing at all? 373 00:18:59,179 --> 00:19:00,154 CHAZ HIGGS: Not breathing at all. 374 00:19:00,258 --> 00:19:01,370 I need some help. 375 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:07,764 [music playing] 376 00:19:22,846 --> 00:19:24,619 911 OPERATOR: 911, what's your emergency? 377 00:19:24,723 --> 00:19:30,006 6:45 on Saturday morning, July 8, 2006, 378 00:19:30,110 --> 00:19:33,654 Chaz Higgs makes a 911 call from the house he 379 00:19:33,759 --> 00:19:35,740 and Kathy Augustine share in Reno. 380 00:19:35,844 --> 00:19:37,338 CHAZ HIGGS: Something's wrong with my wife. 381 00:19:37,443 --> 00:19:45,088 Higgs is on the telephone, 911 my wife is not breathing, 382 00:19:45,193 --> 00:19:46,513 I need help. 383 00:19:46,617 --> 00:19:48,564 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : He tells the dispatcher 384 00:19:48,668 --> 00:19:50,822 he's found his wife in her bed. 385 00:19:50,927 --> 00:19:55,793 She's unresponsive, maybe not even breathing. 386 00:19:55,897 --> 00:19:58,712 To the operator, something seems off. 387 00:19:58,816 --> 00:20:02,917 Chaz is the calmest caller he can ever recall. 388 00:20:03,021 --> 00:20:06,949 His voice hardly falters as he gives detailed directions 389 00:20:07,053 --> 00:20:07,956 to get to his home. 390 00:20:08,060 --> 00:20:11,883 [sirens blaring] 391 00:20:11,987 --> 00:20:15,706 He was real kind of nonchalant about the whole thing. 392 00:20:15,810 --> 00:20:17,930 Everybody commented about his-- 393 00:20:18,034 --> 00:20:21,196 his demeanor, his tone of voice, that sort of thing. 394 00:20:21,300 --> 00:20:22,795 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Is this guy a great 395 00:20:22,900 --> 00:20:25,784 actor or a really awful one? 396 00:20:25,888 --> 00:20:28,981 Almost in a monotone he says, "Something's 397 00:20:29,085 --> 00:20:30,476 wrong with my wife. 398 00:20:30,581 --> 00:20:31,935 She's not moving. 399 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:33,985 I'm a critical care nurse. 400 00:20:34,090 --> 00:20:35,585 I've started CPR." 401 00:20:35,689 --> 00:20:38,017 On the 911 call, he didn't seem 402 00:20:38,121 --> 00:20:42,118 to be too affected by the fact that his wife wasn't breathing 403 00:20:42,222 --> 00:20:43,439 or anything like that. 404 00:20:43,542 --> 00:20:44,516 CHAZ HIGGS: Something's wrong with my wife. 405 00:20:44,620 --> 00:20:46,044 She's not breathing. 406 00:20:46,148 --> 00:20:47,400 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Higgs tells 407 00:20:47,504 --> 00:20:49,659 the 911 dispatcher he doesn't think 408 00:20:49,763 --> 00:20:52,022 Kathy has any medical issues. 409 00:20:52,126 --> 00:20:55,845 But in the same call, and with reporters later on, 410 00:20:55,950 --> 00:20:58,383 he makes a point of saying how much stress 411 00:20:58,487 --> 00:20:59,980 she's been under recently. 412 00:21:00,085 --> 00:21:01,927 CHAZ HIGGS: It's not trauma or anything. 413 00:21:02,031 --> 00:21:03,457 Said she'd been really stressed. 414 00:21:04,290 --> 00:21:05,924 Over the last six month or so. 415 00:21:06,027 --> 00:21:07,523 Hey, I'm going to do some more CPR, OK? 416 00:21:07,627 --> 00:21:08,773 911 OPERATOR: Yeah go ahead. 417 00:21:10,198 --> 00:21:12,840 Chaz told paramedics that he had attempted resuscitation. 418 00:21:12,944 --> 00:21:15,620 But when they arrived, they found her still on the bed. 419 00:21:15,724 --> 00:21:18,435 This was suspicious because as a trained medical professional 420 00:21:18,538 --> 00:21:21,458 he should know that in order to resuscitate someone 421 00:21:21,562 --> 00:21:25,281 they have to be on a hard surface, not a soft bed. 422 00:21:25,385 --> 00:21:27,053 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : A couple of things bother 423 00:21:27,158 --> 00:21:29,035 the emergency responders. 424 00:21:29,138 --> 00:21:32,788 The scene just doesn't seem right, but in that moment, 425 00:21:32,892 --> 00:21:36,262 their main concern is saving Kathy's life. 426 00:21:36,366 --> 00:21:39,982 They did resuscitate her enough to get a heartbeat, 427 00:21:40,086 --> 00:21:42,693 blood pressure, that sort of thing going. 428 00:21:42,797 --> 00:21:44,359 And then they put her in the ambulance 429 00:21:44,463 --> 00:21:49,643 and took her to the Renown Midsouth. 430 00:21:49,747 --> 00:21:52,006 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Imagine you're in the ambulance. 431 00:21:52,110 --> 00:21:53,883 Sirens are blaring. 432 00:21:53,987 --> 00:21:55,585 Your wife is on a gurney. 433 00:21:55,690 --> 00:21:57,567 She's really sick. 434 00:21:57,671 --> 00:21:59,998 You would be frantic, right? 435 00:22:00,103 --> 00:22:01,423 Not Chaz Higgs. 436 00:22:01,527 --> 00:22:05,247 On the way to the hospital, he was even reading a newspaper. 437 00:22:05,351 --> 00:22:07,018 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : And at the local hospital, 438 00:22:07,122 --> 00:22:10,182 the nurses take one look at Kathy's condition and start 439 00:22:10,286 --> 00:22:14,282 wondering how has this fit feisty politician 440 00:22:14,386 --> 00:22:17,862 ended up so seriously ill. 441 00:22:17,966 --> 00:22:21,962 Some very alert nurses thought this just didn't look right. 442 00:22:22,066 --> 00:22:25,264 She's not, you know, 50 years old. 443 00:22:25,369 --> 00:22:27,072 No history of anything. 444 00:22:27,176 --> 00:22:29,852 Doesn't look like heart attack to me 445 00:22:29,956 --> 00:22:32,979 or at least the normal heart attack protocol. 446 00:22:34,543 --> 00:22:36,106 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Chaz is keen 447 00:22:36,210 --> 00:22:40,277 to take control of the story, maybe a little too keen. 448 00:22:40,381 --> 00:22:43,267 Later the same day, he updates reporters 449 00:22:43,371 --> 00:22:44,969 about Kathy's condition. 450 00:22:45,074 --> 00:22:47,645 Her family was in grief. 451 00:22:47,749 --> 00:22:50,773 They lined up behind him during his news conference. 452 00:22:50,878 --> 00:22:51,954 And they looked grim. 453 00:22:52,059 --> 00:22:53,657 And they were wearing sunglasses. 454 00:22:53,761 --> 00:22:55,429 They were obviously distraught. 455 00:22:55,534 --> 00:22:58,801 And they were losing someone very special to them. 456 00:22:58,905 --> 00:23:02,623 Chaz appeared to be very cool, very calm, very collected 457 00:23:02,728 --> 00:23:06,723 while he recounted what he had done to save his wife. 458 00:23:06,828 --> 00:23:10,096 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Does the stress theory ring true? 459 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:11,380 OK. 460 00:23:11,485 --> 00:23:14,057 Yes, she's in the middle of a tough race 461 00:23:14,161 --> 00:23:16,559 to become a Nevada State Treasurer. 462 00:23:16,663 --> 00:23:19,617 And the primary is just a month away. 463 00:23:19,721 --> 00:23:23,787 But still, Kathy's friends and family aren't buying it. 464 00:23:27,576 --> 00:23:31,225 They knew her as a person who thrived on stress. 465 00:23:31,328 --> 00:23:34,039 And something like that wasn't enough to do it. 466 00:23:34,144 --> 00:23:38,557 If there had been a heart attack, except for-- 467 00:23:38,661 --> 00:23:40,852 I guess there are exceptions to every rule. 468 00:23:40,956 --> 00:23:42,380 But if there had been a heart attack, 469 00:23:42,485 --> 00:23:45,125 there would have been evidence in the heart muscle 470 00:23:45,231 --> 00:23:49,435 or in the arteries around the heart, that sort of thing. 471 00:23:49,539 --> 00:23:50,895 And there was none of that. 472 00:23:52,389 --> 00:23:56,316 The news just became progressively worse. 473 00:23:56,420 --> 00:23:57,672 She was in a coma. 474 00:23:57,776 --> 00:24:00,834 She was at irreversible brain damage. 475 00:24:02,224 --> 00:24:04,449 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Chaz knows there isn't much time. 476 00:24:04,553 --> 00:24:08,202 He wants to make sure he can cash in on Kathy's death. 477 00:24:08,307 --> 00:24:10,079 Kathy was in a coma for three days. 478 00:24:10,183 --> 00:24:11,850 And during that time, Chaz made sure 479 00:24:11,954 --> 00:24:16,785 that her $1,100 a month state pension was signed over to him. 480 00:24:16,891 --> 00:24:20,644 It would be his $1,100 a month for the rest of his life. 481 00:24:20,748 --> 00:24:23,041 Now nobody thought that was extremely 482 00:24:23,146 --> 00:24:24,327 large amount of money. 483 00:24:24,431 --> 00:24:26,828 But I'm thinking I could live, you know, 484 00:24:26,934 --> 00:24:31,729 pretty- pretty well with $1,100 a month more 485 00:24:31,833 --> 00:24:33,848 than I was working for. 486 00:24:33,953 --> 00:24:35,275 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Once again, 487 00:24:35,379 --> 00:24:38,089 Higgs is not acting like a man his 488 00:24:38,193 --> 00:24:40,488 wife's life is in the balance. 489 00:24:40,593 --> 00:24:43,858 And his weird behavior doesn't escape his co-workers 490 00:24:43,962 --> 00:24:45,596 at the hospital either. 491 00:24:45,701 --> 00:24:47,680 He was checking on her pension. 492 00:24:47,786 --> 00:24:50,044 He was bringing donuts to the nurses. 493 00:24:50,148 --> 00:24:55,675 He was not always, as nurses would later testify, behaving 494 00:24:55,779 --> 00:24:59,497 as a husband who was deeply concerned about his wife who 495 00:24:59,601 --> 00:25:01,998 was lying there in a comatose state. 496 00:25:02,104 --> 00:25:03,147 [heart monitor beeping] 497 00:25:03,251 --> 00:25:06,274 On July 11, 2006, Kathy's family 498 00:25:06,378 --> 00:25:08,221 made the decision to take her off of life support 499 00:25:08,325 --> 00:25:09,158 and she died. 500 00:25:09,262 --> 00:25:12,495 [flatline beep] 501 00:25:15,379 --> 00:25:16,838 I think the public felt terrible 502 00:25:16,942 --> 00:25:18,471 for her and for her family. 503 00:25:18,575 --> 00:25:21,913 We had lost someone who held a very high office in this state, 504 00:25:22,017 --> 00:25:25,213 who had blazed a trail for female politicians, 505 00:25:25,319 --> 00:25:27,195 for all politicians. 506 00:25:27,299 --> 00:25:28,446 And she was gone. 507 00:25:30,740 --> 00:25:33,449 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : With the star of Nevada politics dead 508 00:25:33,553 --> 00:25:37,378 at the age of 50, it's time for detectives to start 509 00:25:37,482 --> 00:25:39,915 asking some serious questions. 510 00:25:40,020 --> 00:25:42,730 Put it all together, that was the challenge. 511 00:25:42,834 --> 00:25:49,715 How do you go from a healthy 50-year-old female 512 00:25:49,819 --> 00:25:52,426 to a dead 50-year-old female? 513 00:25:52,531 --> 00:25:54,893 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Knowing he is likely to be a suspect, 514 00:25:54,998 --> 00:25:58,681 Chaz does something that shocks the grieving family. 515 00:26:00,939 --> 00:26:06,048 He slits the wrists, but not very well and lays down 516 00:26:06,152 --> 00:26:11,052 in the bathtub in the house that he and Kathy had in Las Vegas, 517 00:26:11,156 --> 00:26:18,733 wrote a big long note, blaming other people in this world, 518 00:26:18,837 --> 00:26:22,661 talking to people, talking to his daughter, 519 00:26:22,765 --> 00:26:30,654 talking to Kathy's brother, signs it Sincerely, Chaz Higgs. 520 00:26:30,758 --> 00:26:32,878 It says, "I'm going to see my wife." 521 00:26:35,970 --> 00:26:37,812 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : How seriously would you take 522 00:26:37,918 --> 00:26:41,009 Chaz Higgs' suicide attempt? 523 00:26:41,114 --> 00:26:45,459 And what's he trying to escape, grief, remorse? 524 00:26:45,563 --> 00:26:46,745 What's going on in his head? 525 00:26:46,849 --> 00:26:49,559 The suicide attempt following the murder 526 00:26:49,663 --> 00:26:52,305 is one of the most psychologically revealing 527 00:26:52,409 --> 00:26:55,746 of all factors here. 528 00:26:55,850 --> 00:27:02,730 It-- the fact that even this has to become about Chaz 529 00:27:02,834 --> 00:27:07,353 is terribly revealing, is again just a classic symptom 530 00:27:07,457 --> 00:27:12,496 of the immaturity, of the lack of self-regulation, 531 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:15,241 of self-analysis, of self-awareness, 532 00:27:15,345 --> 00:27:20,837 of these type of Peter Pan psychological characters. 533 00:27:20,940 --> 00:27:23,269 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Kathy's autopsy draws a blank. 534 00:27:23,373 --> 00:27:27,196 Doctors and cops still don't know how Kathy died. 535 00:27:28,517 --> 00:27:34,251 Nothing was found in the sense of a cause of death. 536 00:27:34,355 --> 00:27:37,101 Found that her heart was in good shape, 537 00:27:37,205 --> 00:27:40,263 that her lungs were in good shape. 538 00:27:40,367 --> 00:27:45,268 There was no evidence of a brain bleed or anything like that. 539 00:27:45,372 --> 00:27:47,910 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : But they do find something intriguing, 540 00:27:48,014 --> 00:27:52,427 a tiny injury to Kathy's body that no one can explain. 541 00:27:52,531 --> 00:27:57,467 It was a puncture wound on her hip that had turned-- 542 00:27:57,571 --> 00:28:01,671 it had turned black and blue a little bit, as if whoever 543 00:28:01,775 --> 00:28:05,634 did it was in a rush or didn't know quite how to get it 544 00:28:05,738 --> 00:28:07,162 done without hurting somebody. 545 00:28:07,267 --> 00:28:09,177 Neither the hospital nor the paramedics 546 00:28:09,281 --> 00:28:13,417 had administered a drug to Kathy via an injection in her hip. 547 00:28:13,521 --> 00:28:15,329 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Something's not right here. 548 00:28:15,433 --> 00:28:19,325 When the hospital toxicologist examines Kathy's tissue 549 00:28:19,430 --> 00:28:23,218 and blood samples, the only drug traces they find 550 00:28:23,323 --> 00:28:26,729 are the ones the medics had administered to her. 551 00:28:26,833 --> 00:28:30,899 When the autopsy was finished and there was no apparent cause 552 00:28:31,003 --> 00:28:35,104 of death that resulted from that, those tests, 553 00:28:35,208 --> 00:28:37,467 I think all of us knew something was up. 554 00:28:37,571 --> 00:28:40,769 So it was just, I have no case. 555 00:28:40,872 --> 00:28:43,514 There's nothing to prosecute. 556 00:28:43,617 --> 00:28:45,217 She just died. 557 00:28:45,321 --> 00:28:49,630 I didn't have enough information to question the death. 558 00:28:49,734 --> 00:28:52,584 And I didn't have enough information to say, oh 559 00:28:52,688 --> 00:28:54,531 she just died. 560 00:28:54,635 --> 00:28:56,719 Chaz might think he's sitting pretty, 561 00:28:56,824 --> 00:28:59,117 but he has no idea that the local Sheriff's 562 00:28:59,221 --> 00:29:03,774 department can be tenacious when it comes to solving a homicide. 563 00:29:03,878 --> 00:29:08,570 Law enforcement are not done with Kathy Augustine's death 564 00:29:08,674 --> 00:29:11,523 and neither are the nurses who cared for her. 565 00:29:11,628 --> 00:29:16,042 These very alert nurses took blood samples and urine samples 566 00:29:16,146 --> 00:29:20,630 and put them in a refrigerator under an assumed name. 567 00:29:25,218 --> 00:29:28,935 [music playing] 568 00:29:41,516 --> 00:29:46,624 Chaz Higgs is hardly beating the cops doors down for answers 569 00:29:46,729 --> 00:29:48,362 about his wife's death. 570 00:29:48,466 --> 00:29:51,837 In fact, he seems to be pretty happy to write 571 00:29:51,942 --> 00:29:54,306 it off as a random tragedy. 572 00:29:54,410 --> 00:29:58,267 Unlucky for him, not everyone is ready to move on. 573 00:29:58,370 --> 00:30:03,966 There was an undercurrent of suspicion surrounding 574 00:30:04,071 --> 00:30:06,538 Kathy Augustine's death. 575 00:30:06,643 --> 00:30:09,527 Some of the police officers implied 576 00:30:09,631 --> 00:30:13,940 that there was an investigation going on behind the scenes that 577 00:30:14,044 --> 00:30:20,057 really was pointing away from a natural medical problem 578 00:30:20,161 --> 00:30:21,307 or cause of death. 579 00:30:22,664 --> 00:30:24,818 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Now here's the twist 580 00:30:24,923 --> 00:30:27,077 which investigators uncover. 581 00:30:27,181 --> 00:30:28,849 While Kathy is lying in a hospital 582 00:30:28,954 --> 00:30:33,401 bed fighting for her life, two very important things happen. 583 00:30:33,505 --> 00:30:38,024 First two nurses get suspicious about Kathy's condition 584 00:30:38,129 --> 00:30:41,708 when she's admitted to the hospital and they take action. 585 00:30:41,812 --> 00:30:44,836 She, or they, the two of them decided 586 00:30:44,940 --> 00:30:50,431 to take the body fluids from Kathy right upon her entry 587 00:30:50,535 --> 00:30:52,064 into that hospital. 588 00:30:52,168 --> 00:30:56,547 These very alert nurses took blood samples and urine samples 589 00:30:56,651 --> 00:31:00,684 and put them in a refrigerator under an assumed name. 590 00:31:00,787 --> 00:31:01,795 This doesn't look right. 591 00:31:01,899 --> 00:31:03,081 We're taking the fluids. 592 00:31:03,185 --> 00:31:04,123 Thank you. 593 00:31:05,514 --> 00:31:07,042 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : The second thing that happened, 594 00:31:07,147 --> 00:31:10,692 a couple of days later, she tells them about a weird 595 00:31:10,795 --> 00:31:15,071 conversation she's had with Higgs on July 7, 596 00:31:15,175 --> 00:31:18,129 the day before Kathy fell sick. 597 00:31:18,233 --> 00:31:19,728 Chaz confided in a co-worker that 598 00:31:19,832 --> 00:31:21,847 he was considering divorce. 599 00:31:21,951 --> 00:31:25,601 Later that same day with the same co-worker, Kim Ramey, 600 00:31:25,706 --> 00:31:28,624 he happened to mention a news story in which 601 00:31:28,729 --> 00:31:30,119 a husband had killed his wife. 602 00:31:30,223 --> 00:31:33,733 Chaz Higgs said, he did it all wrong. 603 00:31:33,837 --> 00:31:35,367 If I'm going to kill someone, I'm 604 00:31:35,471 --> 00:31:38,354 just going to hit him with a shot of sux or succinylcholine. 605 00:31:38,459 --> 00:31:44,854 And he made the injection kind of movement with his hand. 606 00:31:44,958 --> 00:31:49,684 And she said that scared her a good deal, 607 00:31:49,788 --> 00:31:52,118 said the hair on her arms stood up. 608 00:31:52,222 --> 00:31:56,218 He said that it would have been much better if the husband 609 00:31:56,322 --> 00:32:00,770 had used succinylcholine, because that particular drug, 610 00:32:00,874 --> 00:32:03,272 a paralytic that's very frequently found on crash 611 00:32:03,376 --> 00:32:06,504 carts in intensive care units and emergency rooms, 612 00:32:06,608 --> 00:32:08,555 isn't traceable after death. 613 00:32:08,659 --> 00:32:14,012 The drug is quick acting as far as paralyzes quickly. 614 00:32:14,116 --> 00:32:17,416 It's also quick acting as far as it moves out of the system 615 00:32:17,521 --> 00:32:18,842 quickly. 616 00:32:18,946 --> 00:32:22,491 And it was because of Kim Ramey that, you know, 617 00:32:22,595 --> 00:32:24,924 the case really took off and they knew what to test for, 618 00:32:25,028 --> 00:32:28,121 and they knew what to look for, because of a comment 619 00:32:28,226 --> 00:32:29,337 that he had made. 620 00:32:30,658 --> 00:32:33,333 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Seriously, why would you choose 621 00:32:33,437 --> 00:32:35,523 this way to kill your wife? 622 00:32:35,628 --> 00:32:38,685 Kathy didn't have a quick or painless death. 623 00:32:38,790 --> 00:32:42,057 Succinylcholine is used by anesthesiologists 624 00:32:42,162 --> 00:32:49,354 to paralyze the throat muscles, the lungs, 625 00:32:49,459 --> 00:32:52,900 so that they can end intubate a person 626 00:32:53,004 --> 00:32:56,166 without causing too much harm and without much fight back. 627 00:32:56,270 --> 00:32:59,329 I think what struck me most about this case was how cold 628 00:32:59,433 --> 00:33:03,463 and how calculated this death was. 629 00:33:03,568 --> 00:33:09,129 Imagine giving someone a drug that stops them from breathing, 630 00:33:09,233 --> 00:33:14,411 and stops them from crying out, or calling for help, or moving, 631 00:33:14,516 --> 00:33:16,183 a drug that's going to make someone 632 00:33:16,288 --> 00:33:20,771 suffocate to death in front of you for six or eight minutes. 633 00:33:20,875 --> 00:33:22,475 They know they're going to die and there's 634 00:33:22,579 --> 00:33:24,351 nothing they can do about it. 635 00:33:24,455 --> 00:33:26,679 It's an agonizing death. 636 00:33:26,784 --> 00:33:28,485 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : You got to hand it to him. 637 00:33:28,590 --> 00:33:30,051 It's not a bad plan. 638 00:33:30,155 --> 00:33:33,525 It looks like Chaz Higgs decided to inject Kathy 639 00:33:33,630 --> 00:33:36,792 with succinylcholine, because it wouldn't be detected 640 00:33:36,896 --> 00:33:39,363 in her blood after she died. 641 00:33:39,468 --> 00:33:43,986 Those nurses who secretly took samples while Kathy was alive 642 00:33:44,090 --> 00:33:45,759 are fantastic. 643 00:33:45,863 --> 00:33:49,373 But is it going to bring Higgs down? 644 00:33:49,477 --> 00:33:51,493 Tipped off in that call from Kim, 645 00:33:51,597 --> 00:33:54,134 detectives know what to test for. 646 00:33:54,238 --> 00:33:57,783 Those nurses had not gone in and gotten those fluids, 647 00:33:57,887 --> 00:34:00,910 it would have been a whole lot harder, if not impossible, 648 00:34:01,014 --> 00:34:02,823 to make a case against Chaz Higgs. 649 00:34:05,081 --> 00:34:09,877 We sent the body, tissue samples, and the fluids 650 00:34:09,981 --> 00:34:14,429 to the FBI lab in Quantico where they began testing. 651 00:34:14,534 --> 00:34:16,062 And this was in July. 652 00:34:17,906 --> 00:34:20,025 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Now for the waiting game. 653 00:34:20,129 --> 00:34:22,596 The cops have got their theories. 654 00:34:22,701 --> 00:34:25,238 They've got a bit of circumstantial evidence 655 00:34:25,342 --> 00:34:27,880 with Chaz badmouthing his wife at work 656 00:34:27,983 --> 00:34:30,902 and boasting about knowing how to kill someone. 657 00:34:31,006 --> 00:34:34,830 All they need now is good solid forensic proof. 658 00:34:34,933 --> 00:34:38,061 You're waiting two months, 2 and 1/2 months, 659 00:34:38,166 --> 00:34:41,953 to get evidence that there even was a crime. 660 00:34:42,058 --> 00:34:44,317 We didn't know what was happening behind the scenes 661 00:34:44,421 --> 00:34:48,314 as far as you know body fluids and tissue 662 00:34:48,418 --> 00:34:52,311 samples being sent to the FBI laboratory in Virginia. 663 00:34:52,415 --> 00:34:55,750 We didn't get the results back 'til September 26th. 664 00:34:55,854 --> 00:34:56,794 I think. 665 00:34:58,361 --> 00:35:00,273 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : At last the detectives 666 00:35:00,378 --> 00:35:01,836 get a break through. 667 00:35:01,941 --> 00:35:04,791 The samples they sent to the FBI showed 668 00:35:04,896 --> 00:35:09,170 traces of the anesthetic drug succinylcholine. 669 00:35:09,274 --> 00:35:11,185 Police put out a warrant for Chaz's arrest. 670 00:35:11,289 --> 00:35:15,077 And on September 29th, 2006 he was found and arrested 671 00:35:15,182 --> 00:35:16,364 in Hampton, Virginia. 672 00:35:17,546 --> 00:35:18,657 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Cops have a warrant 673 00:35:18,761 --> 00:35:20,673 to search his belongings. 674 00:35:20,776 --> 00:35:25,470 And when they do, they can't believe what they see. 675 00:35:25,574 --> 00:35:29,430 Right there in his car, all of the evidence the 676 00:35:29,534 --> 00:35:33,704 need to prove beyond a doubt that Higgs has killed his wife. 677 00:35:33,810 --> 00:35:36,381 It's like they hit the evidence jackpot. 678 00:35:36,485 --> 00:35:40,448 There was a packet of 3 by 5 cards, 679 00:35:40,552 --> 00:35:43,192 for lack of a better description. 680 00:35:43,297 --> 00:35:48,163 And the very top one was a card that 681 00:35:48,266 --> 00:35:52,437 dealt with succinylcholine administration, 682 00:35:52,541 --> 00:35:54,035 use, that sort of thing. 683 00:35:55,149 --> 00:35:56,364 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Can you believe 684 00:35:56,469 --> 00:35:58,657 this is the guy who bragged about 685 00:35:58,762 --> 00:36:01,263 committing the perfect murder? 686 00:36:01,368 --> 00:36:04,183 People like this do often get caught 687 00:36:04,287 --> 00:36:08,283 by the carelessness which is typical 688 00:36:08,387 --> 00:36:11,864 of such egocentric people. 689 00:36:11,967 --> 00:36:14,679 They're so unconcerned with other people 690 00:36:14,783 --> 00:36:16,798 that the flip side is that they're 691 00:36:16,903 --> 00:36:20,205 very unaware of the clues that they're leaving. 692 00:36:21,733 --> 00:36:24,652 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : The prosecution has a solid case. 693 00:36:24,757 --> 00:36:27,190 There's nowhere for Higgs to hide. 694 00:36:27,294 --> 00:36:31,082 But in court, he's still insisting he's innocent. 695 00:36:31,186 --> 00:36:34,279 TOM BARB: He just was saying what he needed to say. 696 00:36:34,383 --> 00:36:36,989 And we let him, because I wasn't about to stop 697 00:36:37,094 --> 00:36:38,310 him from saying anything. 698 00:36:38,414 --> 00:36:40,292 Because I want to talk to him. 699 00:36:40,396 --> 00:36:43,003 He said, "I love my wife. 700 00:36:43,107 --> 00:36:45,088 I wouldn't do that." 701 00:36:45,193 --> 00:36:48,007 Well, what are you doing with Ramirez telling her 702 00:36:48,111 --> 00:36:50,580 you wanted to drive that bitch crazy? 703 00:36:50,683 --> 00:36:51,830 And it was working. 704 00:36:51,934 --> 00:36:54,888 And it was your goal to be rid of her. 705 00:36:54,991 --> 00:36:59,266 What I wanted to do with the purpose of my cross-examination 706 00:36:59,370 --> 00:37:03,958 was- was to point out to everybody 707 00:37:04,062 --> 00:37:07,261 within hearing distance, that what he said 708 00:37:07,365 --> 00:37:10,110 was complete and utter junk. 709 00:37:11,117 --> 00:37:12,195 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Higgs will 710 00:37:12,299 --> 00:37:14,871 do anything to avoid another ordeal 711 00:37:14,975 --> 00:37:17,372 like on the witness stand. 712 00:37:17,476 --> 00:37:19,702 After his first day of testimony, 713 00:37:19,806 --> 00:37:23,072 he heads back to where he's staying with friends 714 00:37:23,175 --> 00:37:26,826 and cuts his wrists for a second time. 715 00:37:26,929 --> 00:37:28,806 It's a dramatic play. 716 00:37:28,910 --> 00:37:34,576 Mr. Higgs is in the hospital, because he had done 717 00:37:34,680 --> 00:37:42,290 his second suicide attempt, as successful as the first one, 718 00:37:42,394 --> 00:37:44,688 where he cuts himself and lays on the bathroom 719 00:37:44,794 --> 00:37:47,712 floor in a house where he knows people are going 720 00:37:47,816 --> 00:37:51,152 to be around check and they find him and get him to the hospital 721 00:37:51,257 --> 00:37:53,029 before anything bad happens. 722 00:37:54,211 --> 00:37:55,635 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : Chaz has struck out. 723 00:37:55,739 --> 00:37:59,041 Far from nearly dying, he finds himself back 724 00:37:59,145 --> 00:38:01,161 in court the very next day. 725 00:38:01,265 --> 00:38:02,969 We talked to the judge and said, 726 00:38:03,072 --> 00:38:05,472 well, we'll just cancel the day and let 727 00:38:05,576 --> 00:38:08,112 the jury know we'll call him as soon 728 00:38:08,216 --> 00:38:10,962 as he's available to testify. 729 00:38:11,066 --> 00:38:14,715 And oh, by the way, judge I want to revoke his bail, 730 00:38:14,819 --> 00:38:16,696 because we can't have him out on the street 731 00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:18,260 if he's going to try to kill himself. 732 00:38:18,363 --> 00:38:19,441 That's just not good. 733 00:38:19,546 --> 00:38:21,213 We don't want him dead. 734 00:38:21,317 --> 00:38:23,889 We want him on trial. 735 00:38:23,993 --> 00:38:26,253 Of course, when I ask that his bail will be revoked 736 00:38:26,357 --> 00:38:29,484 for that reason, his attorney said I was a barbarian 737 00:38:29,588 --> 00:38:31,640 and that was barbaric. 738 00:38:32,891 --> 00:38:35,288 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : The judge does not agree. 739 00:38:35,392 --> 00:38:39,077 Chaz is locked up for his own safety, then brought back 740 00:38:39,180 --> 00:38:41,579 to the stand where he's blindsided 741 00:38:41,683 --> 00:38:44,429 by an old school lawyer trick. 742 00:38:44,533 --> 00:38:47,661 Prosecutor Tom Barb wants to show the jury 743 00:38:47,765 --> 00:38:50,648 how little harm Higgs has done to himself 744 00:38:50,753 --> 00:38:52,143 with his suicide attempt. 745 00:38:53,325 --> 00:38:55,341 When he first took the stand, I walk up to him 746 00:38:55,446 --> 00:38:58,295 with a blank sheet of paper and a pen, 747 00:38:58,399 --> 00:39:02,605 and tell him to draw me a diagram of your house, 748 00:39:02,709 --> 00:39:04,342 just you know whatever it is. 749 00:39:04,446 --> 00:39:08,027 Just draw me a diagram of your house. 750 00:39:08,130 --> 00:39:09,485 And so he starts drawing. 751 00:39:09,590 --> 00:39:12,995 And the only purpose in that is to let everybody 752 00:39:13,099 --> 00:39:15,880 know that his wrists weren't immobile 753 00:39:15,984 --> 00:39:18,034 or they weren't broken or anything like that. 754 00:39:18,137 --> 00:39:19,008 He could draw. 755 00:39:19,112 --> 00:39:20,711 And he could write. 756 00:39:20,814 --> 00:39:22,066 And he did it. 757 00:39:22,170 --> 00:39:23,525 MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG : The attorney's game 758 00:39:23,628 --> 00:39:27,244 plan is to use Higgs himself to expose his character. 759 00:39:27,349 --> 00:39:29,538 [gavel strikes] 760 00:39:29,642 --> 00:39:32,457 He just wasn't believable in anything he said. 761 00:39:32,562 --> 00:39:33,742 He was just a liar. 762 00:39:33,846 --> 00:39:36,870 Chaz Higgs' trial continued through 2007. 763 00:39:36,975 --> 00:39:42,640 And on June 29, 2007, he was convicted. 764 00:39:42,744 --> 00:39:44,446 He was sentenced to life in prison. 765 00:39:44,550 --> 00:39:47,644 And he almost immediately went on suicide watch. 766 00:39:47,748 --> 00:39:50,354 Higgs' defense team attempted an appeal. 767 00:39:50,459 --> 00:39:54,246 But in May of 2009, the Supreme Court of Nevada 768 00:39:54,350 --> 00:39:55,810 upheld the conviction. 769 00:39:55,914 --> 00:40:00,398 Got life with the possibility of parole after 20 years. 770 00:40:00,502 --> 00:40:03,769 Chaz Higgs was found guilty of murder 771 00:40:03,873 --> 00:40:06,028 and received a life sentence, making 772 00:40:06,132 --> 00:40:10,234 Kathy Augustine yet another woman murdered by her husband. 773 00:40:11,554 --> 00:40:14,648 The absolute self-centeredness which made it possible, 774 00:40:14,752 --> 00:40:19,268 made it easy, for Chaz to discard of Kathy also 775 00:40:19,373 --> 00:40:23,056 in the end trips him up, produces 776 00:40:23,161 --> 00:40:25,802 the carelessness in his behavior, which trips him up. 777 00:40:25,906 --> 00:40:28,722 I'm Michelle Trachtenberg and I'll see you 778 00:40:28,825 --> 00:40:31,467 next time on Meet Marry Murder. 779 00:40:31,570 --> 00:40:35,151 [music playing]