Caught on tape: Female crime scene investigator targeted for execution
The question echoed through the Minneapolis Police Department on the evening of April 20, 2022: Who wanted Nicki Lenway dead? The answer would unravel a shocking tale of manipulation, betrayal, and a meticulously planned attempt on the life of a dedicated crime scene investigator, caught on surveillance camera in chilling detail.
It was approximately 7:30 p.m. when 33-year-old Nicki Lenway, a familiar face at countless crime scenes across Minneapolis, pulled into the parking lot of the FamilyWise parenting center. Her routine visit was to pick up her 5-year-old son, Callahan. As she traversed the short distance between her car and the center’s entrance, her life irrevocably changed. Ambushed from behind, a masked assailant opened fire, shooting her multiple times at point-blank range. The brutality of the attack was designed for execution.
Miraculously, Lenway survived the hail of bullets, a testament to her sheer will and perhaps, her intimate understanding of survival honed from years of witnessing the aftermath of violence. "I fell to the ground," she recounted to "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty, describing the horror. "And the shooter stands over me and continues to try to shoot." Despite being struck in the arm and neck, bleeding profusely, and struggling desperately to breathe, Nicki managed to call 911. Yet, in a terrifying twist of fate, when the operator answered, her injuries rendered her unable to speak. The silence on the line, punctuated by her gasps, conveyed a desperate plea for help that transcended words.
Nicki Lenway was no stranger to the grim realities of violence. Her daily work as a crime scene investigator for the Minneapolis Police Department immersed her in the darkest aspects of human nature. She meticulously processed scenes, collected evidence, and pieced together the narratives of victims. But she never imagined she would become the victim herself, lying wounded in a parking lot, the subject of her own investigation. "I knew that this could happen… but I didn’t want to believe it would," she confessed to Moriarty, highlighting the profound irony and personal trauma of the event.
Just across the street, at a red light, Emilie Clancy became an unwitting witness to the horrific spectacle. "There was, um, a person who ran up to another person. … I heard two bangs and that other person collapsed," she recounted. As the traffic light turned green, Clancy, instead of driving away, bravely pulled her car alongside the bleeding woman. Realizing Lenway’s inability to communicate, Clancy took over the 911 call, providing vital information to emergency services. Her quick thinking extended beyond the phone call; she urged Lenway into the front seat of her car, removing her own jacket to apply pressure to Nicki’s neck wound in a desperate attempt to staunch the flow of blood.
In those critical moments, as they awaited the arrival of first responders, a powerful, unspoken bond formed between the two strangers. Clancy’s unwavering presence offered more than just medical assistance; it offered solace. "I just looked her in the eyes. … And I said, ‘Nikki, we’ve got this. We’ve got this. Just stay with me…’ I just wanted her to know that she wasn’t alone in this… And if that was the only thing I can give to this poor girl, like that – that would mean something to me." Within minutes, the sirens grew louder, and paramedics arrived, rushing Lenway to a local hospital where she was admitted in critical condition, her life hanging by a thread. Clancy’s heroic actions undoubtedly played a crucial role in saving Nicki’s life.
With Lenway fighting for her life, police immediately launched a comprehensive investigation. Their initial efforts focused on the immediate vicinity of the crime, scouring for any clues that could shed light on the brazen attack. They quickly established that Lenway had been at FamilyWise to collect her son following a scheduled supervised visit with his father, her ex-boyfriend, Tim Amacher. Officers located Amacher in the lobby of FamilyWise, where he confirmed he had been inside the building with Callahan at the time of the shooting, seemingly providing him with an ironclad alibi.
The first significant breakthrough in the case came from the crucial discovery of surveillance footage. Cameras from FamilyWise and two adjacent buildings had captured the terrifying sequence of events. The initial images clearly showed Nicki arriving and then being aggressively pursued from behind by a figure clad entirely in black, their face obscured by a mask. Another camera, strategically placed at a bank across the street, recorded the dramatic moment the shots were fired. The shooter was then seen fleeing on foot before swiftly getting into a black Dodge Ram truck. The vehicle, however, bore no license plates, leaving investigators temporarily stumped as to the identity of the driver.
The following day, with Lenway stabilized enough to speak, police conducted a critical interview at the hospital. They asked her the pivotal question: did she have any idea who would want to kill her? Without hesitation, Nicki pointed to her ex-boyfriend, Tim Amacher, convinced he was involved. This accusation initially perplexed the police. Amacher was a respected figure in the community, a popular local taekwondo instructor. Furthermore, his alibi of being inside FamilyWise during the shooting seemed to preclude him from being the gunman.
However, Lenway’s conviction was rooted in a deeply troubled history with Amacher. She revealed a long and volatile relationship marred by allegations of abuse – "One night he threw me against the wall holding my neck," she recounted, painting a picture of domestic violence that simmered beneath his public persona. The relationship had culminated in a bitter and protracted custody battle over their son, which went to trial in the fall of 2020. The judge ultimately sided with Lenway, awarding her sole legal and physical custody, limiting Tim to just one supervised visit per week. For the police, this provided a clear and compelling motive for Amacher, even if he wasn’t the direct assailant.
Despite Amacher’s initial alibi, a diligent detective at the crime scene, recalling a casual conversation with Amacher, pressed further on his vehicle ownership. Amacher had mentioned owning a Jeep and a Dodge Challenger sedan. However, the detective’s instincts urged him to verify this information. A check with Driver and Vehicle Services revealed a shocking discrepancy: Tim Amacher owned a third vehicle – a black Dodge Ram truck, precisely matching the description of the getaway vehicle seen in the surveillance footage. This discovery shattered Amacher’s carefully constructed narrative.
If it was Amacher’s truck, who was behind the wheel? Police turned to the FBI for advanced technical assistance, and Agent Richard Fennern, a technology specialist, was assigned to the case. Fennern quickly learned that Amacher’s newer model Dodge Ram truck was equipped with Wi-Fi, which, much like a cellphone, generated a traceable digital trail. "We could track it much like we could a cellphone," Fennern explained. By meticulously analyzing data from Tim’s truck and cross-referencing it with his cellphone records from earlier in the day, Fennern conclusively established that the black Dodge Ram truck driven by the shooter was indeed the same truck Tim Amacher had been operating earlier. This was a colossal breakthrough, firmly linking Amacher to the crime, even if he hadn’t pulled the trigger himself. The question of the masked driver, however, remained.
When confronted with the evidence, Amacher eventually admitted that the only other person with access to his truck was Colleen Larson. Larson, significantly younger than Amacher, had been his taekwondo student since adolescence. Their relationship had evolved disturbingly; when she turned 18, she moved in with the taekwondo master, and their dynamic became romantically intertwined, albeit with a stark power imbalance. Neighbor Charlie Dettloff painted a grim picture to Moriarty, stating, "She would call him Master… and ultimately kinda became, you know, like a maid or a servant to him."
Police questioned Larson twice. During her initial interview, she vehemently denied any involvement in the shooting. However, in the second, recorded interview, the weight of her complicity became too much to bear. She broke down, confessing to the attempted murder. "I took the truck and I drove over there… and then I shot her," she admitted, her words chillingly confirming the execution attempt. Yet, even in her confession, she maintained that the entire horrifying scheme had been Amacher’s idea, a direct order from her "Master."
INVESTIGATOR: So, he asked you, if you felt comfortable would you shoot Nicole for me?
COLLEEN LARSON: Yeah.
INVESTIGATOR: Yes.
Larson further told police that after the shooting, she had disposed of the black clothes she wore as a disguise. However, she claimed Amacher had taken charge of the weapon.
COLLEEN LARSON: He just said he would take care of it.
INVESTIGATOR: He just said he would take care of it. … So, you have no idea what he did with the gun?
COLLEEN LARSON: Not exactly, no.
Despite Larson’s detailed confession implicating him, Amacher continued to deny any involvement, both before and after the shooting. His claims, however, crumbled under the weight of the evidence and Larson’s testimony. Tim Amacher’s trial commenced on November 3, 2022. The prosecution presented a compelling case, leveraging the surveillance footage, the meticulous digital tracking of his truck, the history of domestic abuse and the bitter custody battle, and crucially, Colleen Larson’s confession. The jury found him guilty of premeditated attempted murder and aiding his accomplice, Colleen Larson. He was subsequently sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role as the mastermind behind the cold-blooded attack. A few days later, Colleen Larson pleaded guilty to first-degree premeditated attempted murder, receiving a sentence of 16-and-a-half years.
Nicki Lenway’s harrowing ordeal, a testament to her remarkable resilience, brought to light the insidious nature of domestic conflict escalating into extreme violence. The case, meticulously pieced together by dedicated investigators, underscored the critical role of surveillance technology and the courage of ordinary citizens like Emilie Clancy. Lenway, a woman who routinely navigated the dark landscapes of crime, found herself thrust into its very heart, surviving an execution attempt that was, quite literally, caught on tape. Her story, a powerful narrative of survival and justice, is explored in greater depth in the "48 Hours" episode "Who Wanted Nicki Lenway Dead?", which airs Saturday, November 22, at a special time – 10:30/9:30c – following the NWSL Championship on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
