The attempted murder of Nicki Lenway: A look at the evidence
On April 20, 2022, the tranquil routine of Nicole "Nicki" Lenway, a dedicated 33-year-old forensic scientist for the Minneapolis Police Department, was shattered in a brazen daylight attack. As Lenway approached the FamilyWise parenting center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she was scheduled to pick up her then 5-year-old son from a supervised visit with his father, Tim Amacher, an armed assailant dressed entirely in black emerged. Surveillance footage captured the chilling moments as the figure ran up behind Lenway, fired two shots at point-blank range—one striking her arm, the other her neck—and left her for dead in the parking lot before fleeing swiftly in a black Dodge Ram truck.
The aftermath was a desperate struggle for survival. Despite her severe injuries, Lenway, accustomed to the grim realities of crime scenes but never as a victim, managed to dial 911. Her gurgled cries for help, however, were unintelligible to the operators. Security footage from FamilyWise shows her, moments after the shooting, bleeding and disoriented, clutching her neck.
A miraculous intervention came in the form of Emilie Clancy, a Good Samaritan driving by the intersection across the street. Clancy witnessed the mysterious figure in black execute the shooting and immediately recognized the gravity of the situation. Without hesitation, as the traffic light turned green, Clancy sped her car towards the injured woman. She quickly ushered Lenway into her vehicle, taking charge of the frantic 911 call and applying crucial pressure to Lenway’s neck, offering comfort and reassurance as Lenway fought valiantly for her life.
Within minutes, emergency first responders arrived on the scene, their arrival captured by police body cameras. The dramatic footage documented Lenway being loaded into an ambulance, where she soon lost consciousness. Her condition was critical: she had sustained a perforated lung, severe damage to her vocal cords, and a bullet remained lodged precariously between two of her ribs. Doctors immediately began a race against time to save her life.
As Lenway battled for survival, her colleagues at the Minneapolis Police Department sprang into action, treating the crime scene with the same meticulous care Lenway herself would have applied. They discovered three discharged bullet casings and significant blood evidence on the ground outside the FamilyWise center. Inside, investigators encountered Tim Amacher, Lenway’s ex-boyfriend and the father of her child, who was finishing his visit with their son, Callahan. Amacher presented a seemingly solid alibi, claiming he had been inside the center for hours and was completely unaware of the violent events unfolding just outside. When questioned about his vehicles, Amacher told detectives he owned a Jeep and a Dodge Challenger sedan, pointedly omitting any mention of a black Dodge Ram truck.
The following day, against all odds, Nicki Lenway regained consciousness in the hospital. When police were finally able to interview her, her response was immediate and resolute: she was convinced her ex-boyfriend, Tim Amacher, was involved. "I just knew it had something to do with Tim," she later recounted to "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty. "I just knew… I didn’t know how he was involved, but he was involved."
Amacher, locally known as a well-liked taekwondo instructor, a good friend, and a responsible neighbor, didn’t fit the profile of a would-be murderer. His public image and his seemingly unshakeable alibi initially complicated matters for the police. However, Lenway’s unwavering conviction prompted investigators to dig deeper.
Their suspicions began to solidify when they revisited Amacher’s initial statements about his vehicles. It was discovered that Amacher did, in fact, own a black Dodge Ram truck—the very type of vehicle the shooter had used to escape. This deliberate omission during initial questioning immediately raised red flags, eroding the credibility of his earlier statements. Police called Amacher in for a second interview, presenting him with still images of the getaway truck from the surveillance video. Amacher, seemingly unruffled, insisted it wasn’t his, claiming his truck had a license plate and distinctive Superman decal stickers near the front doors, unlike the vehicle in the video. He continued to lean on his alibi, challenging how he could have been involved when he was inside FamilyWise during the shooting.
As the investigation intensified, Amacher, under further pressure, mentioned that the only other person with access to his truck was Colleen Larson, his former taekwondo student who was renting a room in his home. When asked if Larson might have a motive to harm Nicole, Amacher quickly dismissed the idea, asserting Larson was incapable of violence. When initially questioned, Larson corroborated Amacher’s story, denying any presence near the FamilyWise center at the time of the shooting.
Despite their denials, investigators harbored growing skepticism. The case took a pivotal turn when they brought in FBI Special Agent Richard Fennern, a technology specialist. Agent Fennern initiated a meticulous investigation, leveraging the often-overlooked digital footprints left by modern vehicles. He discovered that Amacher’s Dodge Ram truck, much like a smartphone, generated Wi-Fi data that could be tracked. By cross-referencing this with the cell phone records of both Amacher and Larson, Fennern painstakingly reconstructed their movements on the day of the shooting. His analysis revealed a damning truth: at a crucial point, Colleen Larson was indeed driving the black Dodge Ram truck, and that very truck was tracked to the FamilyWise parenting center at the exact time of the shooting.
This digital trail provided the necessary probable cause for a raid on Amacher and Larson’s shared residence. The search yielded critical physical evidence: bullet casings that precisely matched those found at the crime scene, further solidifying the link between the suspects and the attempted murder.
On April 28, 2022, Colleen Larson was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree premeditated murder. Investigators, however, suspected she wasn’t acting alone. Fennern’s continued digital forensics revealed another layer of deception from Amacher. Hours before the shooting, Amacher had been captured on surveillance footage at a local Kentucky Fried Chicken drive-thru, driving his black Dodge Ram truck—without its license plates and notably, without the Superman decals he later claimed were permanent fixtures. This evidence strongly suggested that Amacher had deliberately altered his truck’s appearance to disguise it for the crime. With this new evidence, Tim Amacher was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree premeditated murder and aiding an accomplice after the fact.
The true depths of the conspiracy began to unravel during Larson’s second police interview. Initially, she maintained her denial, but under persistent questioning, and confronted with the overwhelming digital and physical evidence, she broke down. Her confession, captured on tape, was chilling: "I took the truck and I drove over there… and then I shot her." Larson admitted to pulling the trigger but insisted that the entire plot was Amacher’s idea. She revealed that she had disposed of the black clothes she wore to conceal her identity, while Amacher had taken responsibility for getting rid of the gun.
Justice for Nicki Lenway began on November 3, 2022, with Tim Amacher’s trial. After just an hour of deliberations, the jury found him guilty of attempted first-degree premeditated murder and aiding his accomplice, Colleen Larson. Amacher was subsequently sentenced to 18 years in prison. Four days later, Colleen Larson, facing her own trial, chose to plead guilty to aiding and abetting attempted first-degree murder, thereby avoiding a lengthy court battle. At her sentencing hearing, rather than speaking directly, Larson’s attorney read a statement on her behalf, in which she took full responsibility for her actions. She was sentenced to 16-and-a-half years in prison, for what prosecutors firmly believed was an act carried out at Amacher’s calculated bidding.
Amidst the destruction and trauma, Nicki Lenway’s story has found a miraculous new beginning. Her recovery has been remarkable, and she has found profound happiness, marrying the love of her life, Donovan Ford, a police officer. The couple is now overjoyed and expecting a baby girl. As for Callahan, the son she shares with Amacher, Donovan told Moriarty, "He’s come out amazing. That’s a miracle too, just him being able to deal with all the stuff he’s been through and still be the kid he is." Nicki Lenway, a survivor in every sense of the word, has not only reclaimed her life but has built a new one, filled with love, resilience, and hope.
