Murder in Newport Beach

19:57You needed a playbook to keep track of the marriages.

20:00Troy Roberts:Back on the East Coast, Eric Naposki had moved on with his life. He fathered two children. Eric's my 11-year-old, and Susanna is my 8-year-old. Eric's a miniature me. Plays football, basketball, soccer. He's a great kid. And my daughter is the light of my life. Just always smiling, always happy. Eric picked up work as a personal trainer and promoted workout products. And he even tried his hand at acting, going back to Orange County to film a pitch reel for a potential TV series called Newport 40. Kind of a male version of The Real Housewives of Orange County. By 2009, Eric Naposki was finally settling down in quiet Greenwich, Connecticut.

20:55Troy Roberts:But one spring morning, his world turned upside down. There was four vehicles. Machine guns pointed at me. Over loudspeaker, they were telling me to get out of the vehicle. They put me on the ground. I said, am I under arrest? And they said yes, for murder. There's no way. I couldn't even believe it. And almost 3 ,000 miles away in Orange County, California. A real life Orange County housewife and mother of four is behind bars tonight. Nanette Johnston Packard McNeil was also under arrest for murder. Anything to say, Nanette? You're innocent. All of a sudden, 15 years later, out of the blue to have a phone call from the detectives, we just made two arrests.

21:43Nanette and Eric are in jail. We were overjoyed. It's hard to get a fair trial 15 years later. Am I innocent? Absolutely 100%. Can I prove it? I hope so. Can they prove I'm guilty? I don't think that's possible because I didn't do it.

22:09Troy Roberts:15 years after Bill McLaughlin was gunned down in his Balboa Cove's home, Eric Naposki is facing trial for a murder, he says, he did not commit. I've never been in that house, never, ever. I don't see any DNA. I don't see any fingerprints. I don't see any big footprints from a size 14 boot. I don't see anything from that night. And if I was never in the house, ever, how did I commit a crime? There's no doubt in any of our minds that Eric Naposki pulled the trigger and murdered Bill McLaughlin. Prosecutor Matt Murphy is confident he can do what prosecutors before him didn't. Prove that Eric was the shooter and Annette Johnston got him to pull the trigger.

22:49Her gift is the manipulation of men. She told Eric Naposki in the months beforehand that Bill McLaughlin was sexually assaulting her. There's no reason for her to tell him that lie unless her plan is to manipulate him into actually committing the murder.

23:06Troy Roberts:Murphy's case revolves around this star witness, Suzanne Coger. In 1994, she lived next door to Eric Naposki and says he confided in her. Eric Naposki came to her and said, Bill McLaughlin keeps coming into Nanette's room at night. And he was furious about it. And she said that he was really, really upset. So upset that he said he wanted to blow up Bill McLaughlin's plane. Eric says he was just letting off steam. I did tell her that I wanted to blow up his plane. I didn't say I wanted to kill Bill or that I wanted to shoot Bill or I want Bill blown away. His plane didn't blow up, did it? But there was a second conversation with Coger just three weeks after the murder, where Murphy says Eric implicates himself even further.

23:57And she goes, oh my God, Eric, I don't even want to know if you had anything to do with it. And he smiled and he said, maybe I did, maybe I didn't. He said, maybe I had somebody do it. I said I didn't first. And then when she kept badgering me about it, it was more of a laughing conversation at that point. But to me, it's just an off-the-cuff comment. But there's more to what Eric told Koger. He said, the killer used the same kind of gun that I used to have, so the police think I did it. The only people on the planet Earth that knew a 9mm was used in the murder were about a half dozen detectives at Newport Beach Police Department and the killer.

24:34And I believe him when he tells me he's not the shooter.

24:37Troy Roberts:Defense attorney John Pappalardo grew up with Eric Naposki in Westchester, New York. I met him through Little League Baseball. He teams his most experienced attorney from New York, Angela McDonald, with well-respected Orange County defense attorney, Gary Polson. Matt Murphy, as you know, has never lost a murder case. Does it worry you? It worries me, but he doesn't get to make up the evidence. But just before Eric's scheduled trial, new forensic tests tie the shell casings from the gun that killed McLaughlin to the exact make and model of the gun Eric once owned, a 9mm Beretta. If convicted, Eric and Nanette face life behind bars.

25:22Troy Roberts:Eric will stand trial first. Mr. Neposky lied about his relationship with Nanette. Murphy immediately hones in on Eric's history of lying to the police. And of course we know he lied about his 9mm. You just don't do that if you're innocent. And the defense will show... In order to find him not guilty, the jury must believe Eric's story, that at 8.52 p.m., just minutes before Bill McLaughlin's murder, Eric was about 12 miles away on a payphone at the Denny's restaurant. Ladies and gentlemen, the defense will prove that he possesses a solid, simple, logical, reasonable, and compelling alibi. He simply could not have done it.

26:02Troy Roberts:It will be hard to convince the jury, though, without evidence of Eric's phone call. Eric says he no longer has copies of his bill, and the phone company no longer has the records. If we had the phone record, it might be open and shut case, right? Murphy doubts the call even happened, but if it did, he says, it's hardly an alibi. As opposed to being an alibi, the timing of that actually fits perfectly. He sent his investigator, Larry Montgomery, to time the drive from the Denny's to Bill McLaughlin's home. I did at least 15 time trials. All of our tests show that he should have been able to arrive at the location in order to do the killing.

26:43Troy Roberts:But Eric's defense lawyers have timed the drive, too. I do not believe it's physically possible he could have made it in the required time. How critical is a matter of minutes to your defense? Seconds could be, could be, could decide this case. Not unexpectedly, Angelo McDonald suggests to the jury a more likely killer. Nanette Johnson is an accomplished liar, cheat, thief, manipulator, con woman, and selfish, promiscuous gold digger. There's more evidence here that Nanette Johnson did this murder than Eric Naposki. So you know what? Let's us play prosecutor. Let's put her on trial. Let's show the jury that she could have done this.

27:27She had the motive, she had the means, and you know what? She's got the cold-blooded heart, the sociopathic personality to do it.

27:36Troy Roberts:Murphy has no problem letting the defense prosecute Nanette. I could not agree more. If diabolical behavior was an Olympic sport, she'd be a gold medalist every year. She is a manipulator and an evil manipulator. But says Eric was a willing participant. He and Nanette were thick as thieves. Several months before the murder, they're shopping for million-dollar homes. Eric Naposki was in debt, and Nanette had no money. The only way that they could ever afford that house that they were looking at is if Bill McLaughlin died. I've heard that the reason that Mr. McLaughlin was murdered is so I can buy a house.

28:13It's ridiculous.

28:15Troy Roberts:But maybe the hardest thing for the defense to explain is that Eric had Bill McLaughlin's license plate number written down on a notebook found in his car right after the murder. And that that was a clue that he forgot to get rid of. That license plate number cannot be explained. That license plate number has nothing to do with the murder at all. Eric told 48 Hours that he wrote down that license plate number months before the murder after he caught Nanette in a series of lies. So I called a buddy of mine. I wanted her followed to see what she was doing. Eric says his friend Todd Calder went by Nanette's house, told Eric there was a car there, and gave him the plate number.

28:56Troy Roberts:Turns out the car belonged to McLaughlin, but Murphy says the story just isn't true. We interviewed Todd Calder, and he said, I have no idea what you're talking about. He never asked me to do that. I absolutely never did that. Whatever happened, Eric's attorneys say, with no DNA or fingerprints, there's nothing to tie Eric to the murder scene. Please, as much as I've ever wanted anything in my life, I want you to find him not guilty because this man is not guilty. This is an innocent man. But the plea falls on deaf ears. After a month-long trial, it takes only seven hours. We the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant, Eric Andrew Naposki, guilty of the crime of felony to wit.

29:42The jury finds Eric Naposki guilty of Bill McLaughlin's murder. Murder as charged in count one of the information.

29:51Troy Roberts:Six months later, a very different looking Nanette Johnston, after spending a year and a half in jail, waiting for trial, is about to have her day in court. She is a killer. That woman is responsible for the murder of Bill McLaughlin. Murphy argues at trial that Nanette killed Bill so he wouldn't discover her infidelity or her rampant stealing. She steals$48 ,200 in the month of October alone. $20 ,000 in November. $68 ,200 in seven weeks. Now how is she going to get away with that if Bill McLaughlin lives? She's not a nice person. Nanette's attorney McHill doesn't sugarcoat it. Hate her as much as you want for being a thief, a liar, a cheat, a slut, whatever you want to call her.

30:41I knew the jury weren't going to like her, but that doesn't mean she's a murderer either.

30:46Troy Roberts:When you're motivated by money, when you're living with the golden goose, you are not going to get rid of him. In the end, Hill says, Nanette never would have left Bill McLaughlin for someone poor like Eric Naposki. Remember, Bill had just won a$9 million settlement from his ex-business partner, Hal Fishel, and he was about to get millions of dollars richer. Eric, Hill says, acted alone. Someone who is fully capable of getting jealous, someone who is fully capable of being violent, someone who is fully capable of killing his girlfriend's lover. But it took the jury just three hours to find Nanette guilty of Bill McLaughlin's murder.

31:34We really miss him, and we're so glad that justice has been served on his behalf.

31:39Troy Roberts:For Bill's daughters, Kim and Jenny, this painful journey would finally be over. Except that now, Eric Naposki says he'll reveal a secret he's kept for almost 20 years. the identity of the man who really killed their father. You know, there are people who believe that this is a desperate ploy to gain release. What else are they gonna say? Whoops, we messed up.

32:15Troy Roberts:Eric Naposki says he's always known who really murdered Bill McLaughlin. Only, he didn't tell police. He didn't think they would believe him. I think some people watching this will say to themselves, if I was in his shoes, I would be screaming to the mountaintops that I know who the true killer is. And he sat on that information. There was no real benefit for me to come forward with no proof. Eight months after his conviction for murder, Eric Naposki's legal team contacted 48 Hours, asking us to come back to prison to speak with Eric. He wanted to reveal the name of McLaughlin's killer, and he said he now had evidence to prove what he says he's known for nearly 20 years.

33:02Nanette paid for the killing.

33:04Troy Roberts:She hired somebody. A hitman. And Eric says he knows who she contacted to arrange it. It all began, Eric claims, three months before the murder, when Nanette told him McLaughlin sexually assaulted her. A furious Eric confided in a business acquaintance. He said to me, I have people that take care of things like this. You know, I have people who don't like rapists. But Eric says he didn't take the acquaintance seriously. You know, a lot of people talk about a lot of stuff in this town. What connections they have and this and that. And you kind of take it with a grain of salt. Eric was more interested, he says, in the connections his friend said he had in Hollywood.

33:42They got me an extra part in a movie.

33:44Troy Roberts:They were talking about starting a film production company, and Eric thought Nanette could write up a business plan. That was her spiel. That's what she did. She put together business plans, she got funding, things like that. So he set up another meeting to introduce Nanette. And that's when Eric says the acquaintance turned to Nanette and repeated his offer to help her get revenge on Bill McLaughlin. It almost looked like a sales pitch. I know what's going on. I can help you. this is what I can do for you. Nanette Naposki says, liked the idea. She was definitely more interested in what he was talking about than I would figure she would be.

34:24Troy Roberts:Naposki says he calmed her down, but then later he saw the acquaintance again. What did he say to you? I've started the ball rolling or something like that on what Nanette wants to do. And what did you take that to mean? That he was going to form some kind of retaliation for her. And that's when I said, well, wait a second. You know, stay out of it. It's not your business. He said he thought that she wanted him to go forward. And I said, I don't think that was the case. So did you confront Nanette? Yeah, I told Nanette that it wasn't going to happen. She's upset with me. But Eric believed Nanette wasn't going to do anything.

34:57It was squashed. It was over. The discussion was had. Nothing happened in September. Nothing happens in October. Nothing happens in November.

35:04Troy Roberts:But by early December, Naposki says he knew the 9mm Beretta he usually kept in his car was missing. It's her gun. I asked her, I said, did you take it from the car? Within days, Bill McLaughlin was shot to death. Did you ask Nanette the question directly, did you have Bill McLaughlin killed? Yes. And she answered? Absolutely. She has no remorse about killing Bill McLaughlin. Eric then went to confront the Hollywood producer. And what did he tell you? He told me that it was what it was. You know, he did what she wanted him to do. And that there's nothing I could do or say about it. What's more, the acquaintance confirmed the gun used to murder Bill was Eric's.

35:52Troy Roberts:He was now forever tied to the murder of Bill McLaughlin. It's kept me quiet for 17 years. But no longer. Eric Naposky called for a meeting with you. Right, right. He changed his story substantially. leave. Eric Naposki says he spent every day of his incarceration reading through the documents and evidence police collected on the murder and on the net, including bank statements and phone bills. The first time I saw all her phone calls was after the trial. So there was a lot of things I didn't have access to that I should have had access to, but I didn't know existed. Eric showed CBS News what he had presented to the police and prosecutors in the spring of 2012.

36:37Troy Roberts:The acquaintance's telephone number on Nanette's cell phone bill just days leading up to the murder. Why is this number eight times called in one week, never called beforehand? But Murphy says the man's number on Nanette's cell phone bill isn't enough, because Eric could just as easily use Nanette's phone. The problem there is that we know that Eric Naposki had access to that phone, So as far as being able to say Nanette made that phone call versus Eric Naposki, we just can't do that. We just don't know. And Murphy says police have now thoroughly investigated the man Eric accuses of setting up the murder.

37:13Troy Roberts:And he's an unlikely suspect. What I can tell you is he was completely cooperative in every way. He's never been arrested before. He's legitimate in every way as far as his business dealings go. When police spoke to him, he denied even knowing Nanette. Eric provided CBS with bank statements. Cash withdrawals Nanette made right before and right after the murder. A total of$50 ,000. Naposki is certain the money went to pay for the hit. One of the cash withdrawals Nanette made actually happens the very same day the man's number appears on her phone bill. You're telling me that a businessman with no criminal history carried out this murder for, what,$50 ,000?

37:55I could only assume that that's the amount of money that's missing from her cash withdrawals. It's kind of hard to digest, Eric. Troy, is it easier to digest that I did it for nothing?

38:10Troy Roberts:But Murphy's so certain the businessman had nothing to do with the murder, CBS News has decided not to broadcast his identity. Everything that comes out of Eric Naposki's mouth is a lie. virtually every single thing, from the first time the police contacted him all the way to the point that we've interviewed him recently. Eric Naposki went into that kitchen that night, and he murdered Bill McLaughlin, and we have proven it. And everything that he does since then is about pointing fingers someplace else. Both Eric and Nanette were supposed to be sentenced for Bill McLaughlin's murder in May of 2012.

38:48Troy Roberts:But only Nanette came into the courtroom. Bill's daughter confronted her. Your trial revealed what an abomination you and your life have been. We are appalled and repulsed.

39:05Troy Roberts:The judge then sentenced Annette to life without the possibility of parole. Meanwhile, Naposki's attorneys continue to fight to have his conviction dismissed, arguing that in the 16 years since the murder, too much evidence had been lost to get a fair trial. They also tried to make a case for a new trial based on Naposki's claim that he can identify the real killer. But the judge was not swayed. In August, Naposki was back in court. The circumstantial evidence is overwhelming, and I don't believe there is any juror who would not find that Mr. Naposki killed Mr. McLaughlin. So I'm going to deny the motion for new trial.

39:46Troy Roberts:But Naposki continued to protest his innocence. I'm innocent. And that will never change. No matter what the 12 people did, I said they made a mistake, they made a mistake. Bill's daughter couldn't get through her victim impact statement without Naposki interrupting. Yes, you say that you've never set foot in Balboa Cove or in our house. That's a lie, Eric. It's not a lie. Your father knows. You are full of lies. That's not a lie. Somehow during your lifetime you have learned that you could get away with these lies. And these lies could get you where you want. Well, look where it's gotten you now.

40:36The defendant has been convicted of violating Penal Code Section 187A.

40:40Troy Roberts:At last, the judge read his sentence. His only sentence option is life without possibility of parole. Life in prison without the possibility of parole. Eric Naposki remained defiant to the end. You blew it. You blew it. Bye-bye. Yep. Let's see you again.