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Zordon Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences, listener discretion is advised.

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He is a psychopathic murderer and schizophrenic and psychotic, and he has PTSD from being brutalized.

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Welcome back from the Christmas break. Happy New Year. This is season eight of Sawan scale. Episode one seventy seven. And as always, a show that reveals that the worst monsters. A very, very real. Well, we hope you had a wonderful holiday break with your family and this next story is about a family, too, just not why you'd want to have a honey hammerheads on Christmas Day. In any case, thank you for being with us.

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We're going to have so many episodes this season. It's going to blow your mind. We're going to get sick of us. It's going to be like this. There's another episode. Nebraska, it's known for its cows, fields and its corn, not necessarily its killers, especially an entire family of killers. The right thing to do is rarely the easiest and easiest option is quite often not the right one. Of course, for some, the easy way is the preferred way.

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And in this case, an easy choice was made in spite of the right choice being obvious. The end result, exactly what you would expect from a self-proclaimed aspiring homicidal maniac. A trail of bodies. Do you have a guilty pleasure? I do. But I don't keep it to myself, like most people, I tell others about it because I want it to be their guilty pleasure to end my guilty pleasure is best feeds. I find myself playing all the time and you can because each level is challenging, but pretty easy to solve in a short period of time.

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You could play while you're on the bus or the train waiting for your lunch or dinner to be served, or you're doing just about anything that would otherwise be somewhat boring. For me, it's a great way to distress between recording sessions of horrible murder stories and with over 100 hundred million downloads, this five star rated puzzle game is a must play. Once you start playing, it's impossible to put down with more levels, events and challenges that get added all the time.

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There's always one more level to play. You don't have to choose between bingeing and boredom. In fact, you might find yourself wondering how you ever had a dull moment before. Download best feeds today and see what all the hype is about. It's a free download. You can find it in the Apple store or Google Play best feeds that spreads without the best feeds. Download it today and take on a new guilty pleasure. Thirty three year old Andrea Krueger was an all-American beauty who, according to her mother, didn't have a single enemy and was an incredibly generous and loving mother of three.

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In a home video of her baby girl's first birthday party, her thick, golden blond ponytail swings freely against her neck and cheek as she helps to blow out a candle while bending over her little girl's high chair. Andrea's blue eyes sparkled with pure happiness as everyone joined in to sing Happy Birthday to her child.

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But then again, Andrea was often caught in the act of being happy, and her positive attitude was contagious.

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One of her close friends described her this way.

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Andrea was selfless, independent, strong and the heart of her family. She was loving and nurturing. She had an energetic personality that enabled others to be better people. She was ornery, feisty and could push people's buttons, then get them to laugh. At the same time, Andrea enjoyed the company of friends and family, country music, traveling and relaxing at the beach with a good book, The Love of Her Life, where her husband and her kids, spunky, charismatic, as her friends called her.

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This doting mom was also a hard worker, having earned a business degree through the University of Nebraska, Omaha, she had chosen to stay home during the day to care for her children, a pre-teen boy, a young daughter and her special needs baby who was born missing a hand because of the little girl's disability. Expensive surgeries and therapies were necessary. Andrea's husband had a day job but was forced to quit volunteering as a much loved football coach in the community.

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While Andrea cared for the kids during the day and worked as a bartender in the evenings, Andrea's best quality was making other people's day.

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So every once in a while, if I can do that, that's what I try to do. I often think that things would be better if were home and the kids and their mom, she's the best person in their life. And all I can try and do is just be second place.

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I mean, on Tuesday evening, August 20th, 2013, Andrea was working the shift at an Omaha lounge called Deja Vu, a bar and restaurant establishment earning four out of five stars.

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The spacious deja vu is described as a cool and comfortable adult beverage hangout. It sits in applause, along with a few other buildings, along a straight away close to numerous housing developments in southwest Omaha. The bar was only a short drive from Andrea's home, where her husband was waiting for her after texting her that their daughter had a fever. The last time he heard from her was around midnight and he went to bed. Since it really wasn't unusual for her to arrive between 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, it was now four o'clock in the morning and he awoke in a panic.

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After calling her cell phone repeatedly and getting no answer, he knew something was very wrong. He turned on the TV and was shocked to learn that a woman had just been murdered a few blocks away from his home.

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I woke up Jayden and he watched the girls and I go check it out. And that was like six fifteen in the morning. And that's kind of when I knew I pulled over down the street here, I knew it wasn't a coincidence that they were pulling me over. So right then, I knew it was like a double shock. I'm getting pulled over. And at the same time, I just realized that that was definitely my wife. She was almost home.

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She was really almost home.

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Andrea was the last staff to leave the deja vu bar. Around 2:00 a.m. she pulled into a McDonald's drive thru for a bite and was finally on her way home to her husband, babies and her bed.

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What happened next was inconceivably despicable for sixteen point three, fixing a heart attack in a city in an intersection for shot. And then last found on the 13th and this writer, Ascalon Elphinstone, police arrived on the scene to discover Andrea had been the victim of a potential carjacking.

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The perpetrator had blocked her Chevy SUV, dragging her out of the car while she pleaded for her life and then delivered a powerful blow from a shotgun twice in the head, as well as once in the neck and also the shoulder. We interviewed the killer's own psychiatrist, Dr. Eugene Olivotto, about that night, and this was his shocking response. He said, well, let's get the car. So you went over to open the door, pulled her out tomorrow on the floor and his modus operandi with a sawed off shotgun and blow it off.

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And then I said, why don't you just take the car or at the blow to a little kid who is the father to the kids because you blew it off and he said, well, you just do me a favor. I went back up to the other side and on the ceiling of the head. It wasn't long after that her own mother rushed into her worst nightmare. She arrived at the quarantine scene under the dimly lit morning sky, limply attempting to run to her daughter's lifeless and distorted body, lying face down in a puddle of her own blood on the roadway.

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She was rushed by officers trying to shield her from the horrific sight and literally trying to stabilize her and keep her from collapsing. The perimeter of this desolate area was encircled by police and emergency responders.

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Mother runs to where her daughter's body lays as deputies try to console her, holding her up. Investigators say the daughter, a mother of three herself, was murdered in the early morning hours.

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Few clues were available at the time since Andrea's SUV was missing. Although there were reports of a car speeding away from the scene, the vehicle did not match the description of Andreas.

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On a dark stretch of road before he took Andrea's life, sat Nico Jenkins lying in wait for traffic to return from the Lil Wayne concert that night. He decided that he needed a car so he would wait for an opportunity and take what he wanted, Andrea's gold SUV caught his eye in this clip from his interrogation. He explains his modus operandi to detectives. As you know, he take for from the military and it takes you all the way out where no cameras pitch black at nighttime.

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You realize that, right? So if you're coming from that crime scene, pretty straight out for straight out for for all the way back to the military and to the Wal-Mart, that's also interesting. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So my point is that the intelligence will pass, you know, I mean, to avoid the cameras, things of that nature are holes this time of year because we are learning because the specific point was Tejinder Gingras, an isolated place.

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And obviously when you're out here only doing special, once you leave for me, whether he's black or he's black out. So it was obviously Nico didn't act alone, though.

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He came from a family with a long history of criminal behavior. By that I mean. Thirty eight of his family members spanning decades were responsible for a whopping six hundred and thirty eight crimes in Omaha. That doesn't even include the ones that were acquitted or ended in court mistrials. Never mind the fact that Niko's great grandfather was a well-respected Native American tribal leader who was able to ingratiate himself into the upstanding Presbyterian community. One hundred years ago, something obviously went sour with this recipe.

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Someone threw in some neglect, some alcohol, a little bit of drug use, child abuse, who knows? And this was the potential mix for creating a killer. But let's go back to the scene of the crime 168 and 42nd Street, Omaha. During Niko's interrogation, he admitted the reason Andrea became a target and he admitted he wasn't alone.

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And that's why you don't understand how hard it is for me to train my family to understand this is not just me. I understand one for is getting closure, but I'm literally betraying my family.

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And my whole life you've heard that cliche. The family that prays together stays together. Well, in the case of Nikko Jenkins family, the word pray is spelled p r e y. People in this family stay together, all right, until they get sent to prison. Not only did Niko include his sister and cousin, but he also brought along his notorious uncle who just got out of jail for kidnapping and assault.

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On August 21st, 2013, levering Nico Jenkins, Nicole's sister Erika and their cousin Christine Bordo went to West Omaha because Nicole wanted to steal a car. He liked an SUV driven by Andrea Kruger. So they got her to stop near one hundred and sixty eighth in Fort Niko shot her four times at point blank range, killing her. He and Warren then jump into her vehicle. Lovering is caught on surveillance video dousing her SUV and gasoline and starting it on fire near forty third in Hamilton even had burns when he was arrested that night on a lonely street just a few minutes from home, Andrea's car was forced to a stop.

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Niko and his uncle blitzed her vehicle, forcibly opened her unlocked car door and dragged her out, throwing her onto the hard pavement. She screamed, No, no, please don't. But the intent was clear when Nico pulled a 12 gauge shotgun he would later say was a high point and disfigured her forever, ending her life in the process. Racing back to his own car, he shouted, that dumb bitch just laid down on the ground, his sister phoned him from the other vehicle chastising Nico.

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Why didn't you move the body to a ditch that was stupid? Nico's own psychiatrist, Dr. Olivotto, also evaluated more than several members of his family, including his sister.

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Here's how he described them.

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I evaluated all of them. They were always on my list. I evaluated the mother and the sister. You couldn't put up with anybody. She she rip your face off. They couldn't put her in a cell with anybody. And then she even said she's more dangerous than Nico, at least lets you know what he's going to do. She she will kill anybody or assault them. So you can't believe this man.

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Andrea Krueger was the fourth victim of Nyko in a period of 10 days dubbed a murder spree. This was, in fact, something that seemed a lot more like last minute shopping for victims, singling them out and ruthlessly devouring them as if they were fresh produce meant for consumption, a delicious rutabaga, perhaps maybe a couple of turnips, nice plump tomato and victims were easy pickings when he had sisters, uncles and cousins all volunteering to help.

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Three of these victims were random individuals, while the third murder was a young man he'd already met in prison. Just two days before he claimed Andrea's life on August 18th, he met up with Curtis Bradford Curtis Bradford was a twenty two year old and he was planning on getting his degree in business. In the meantime, though, maybe commit a robbery or two with Nicole and Nicole's sister. Nico had other ideas for Curtis, though, whose last words to his mom were, I love you as he kissed the top of her head before leaving the house on August 18th.

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Niko's twenty four year old sister helped lure Curtis to an intersection where witnesses say they heard two shots fired.

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A gas station attendant returning home after a shift discovered a pile of clothes next to some parking garages. And when he got closer, the pool of blood was unmistakable. He alerted authorities and Curtis's body was found slumped over in a grassy area with huge holes in his hoodie and brain matter on his gloves.

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I thought it was clothes on the side of my garage. So I got out my car, parked my car, got off my car and went out to inspect it to see what was going on. I seen the shoe and I just knew it right. Then I said, well, and I was checking to see if I see breathing body position, you know, that's hunched over and flipped like this, you know, and face down in the ground.

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So did not call nine one one from there. To be honest with you, I never seen anything like it in my whole entire life. You hear about it. You see about it. You know, not up close. This was up close and personal.

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This first time ever, Nico's sister had a vendetta. So she and Niko set Curtis up with plans of a robbery. She believed Curtis had shot up her house days before. And Niko, well, he was just on his ten day spree thinking he was the designated leader of the gang, though he couldn't let his sister take the credit for this murder. See, she was the first to shoot Curtis with a revolver, and it was clear that he wasn't dead or maybe just on his way to death.

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Nicole quickly finish the job with his sawed off shotgun. His sister later bragged that she was pissed at Nico for taking away her first kill. What a lovely family. Oh, and guess who purchased the ammo if you guessed their mom. Congratulations. You're correct. Rewind to August 11th. About a week before Curtis was killed was Nico's first set of murders in his ten day spree.

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Fifty six thousand sixty seven springlike are all right with Alroy 095. So 150, we are all really shot.

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Oh, and did we mention that these first murders took place only a few weeks apart after he was released from prison? Once again, his lovely sister played a huge role in the execution style killings.

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Erika Jenkins is on trial for two counts of conspiracy in connection to the robberies and murders of Jorge Ruiz and Juan Peña near Spring Lake Park in August. Twenty thirteen prosecutors say Erica's brother Nico, needed money so she and their cousin, Christine Bordo, allegedly lured the men to the park.

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That's where Nico shot both the men in the heads with a shot. Before witnesses testified, Erica ranted in court about her situation. She's allegedly assaulted a number of deputies and jailers, quote, I'm not an animal. They keep expletive with me. That's why I'm irritated. They keep pissing me off. She later said, I'm not going to get a fair jury trial anyways. I won't get anything fair. In the district of Douglas County. Erika is also charged in connection with Nico Jenkins other killing within a month of being released early from prison.

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After ten and a half years, Nico Jenkins and his family terrorized Omaha for ten days, shooting and killing four innocent people. But it finally came to an end.

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Really? You know, I got a Nico Jenkins. I got you. I got you the murder scene. I have your DNA in the car, sir. I got the weapon. I got Amico Jenkins. I don't need it. I don't care about you. I just wanted to be over there. And why are you. You know. I know. I know what I know when I know where and when I be really you're seeing so that than once that woman's husband is this is not just some psycho killer.

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I just want to go home. I documented psychiatric disorder. I'm documented. This is a fact. So we're well aware of that. My point is this. This family deserves. Right. This will be prevented from doing what they do, they should be, and they never gave me the opportunity, they never gave me an option because I wouldn't take them.

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Why did Nico Jenkins rampage and kill almost immediately after being released from prison and the interrogation? He clearly stated he was certifiably crazy. But was he resorting to an ace in the deck? The crazy card, a lot of killers. Do you know it's an excuse for doing horrible things? And don't you get tired of that phrase just because you're mentally ill? Does it mean you are a murderer? But if you are a murderer for absolutely no reason, then you're probably crazy.

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Those two things aren't mutually exclusive. So was Nico Jenkins crazy or just manipulative? His own wife at the time was among those who tried to warn the prison not to let him out.

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He's not pretending to be crazy for a life crazy because he family told me that if I give him orders, it was his voice that came. And this is like if you do what I tell you to do, if you follow my demands, then I'll make sure you're safe and make sure you're OK. I told them not to let him out. I said he's not ready to come out in society.

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Nikko's now ex-wife wasn't the only one warning. Omaha Niko's psychiatrist, Dr. Olivet, was vehemently trying to convey the message that Nyko would kill if permitted.

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That's what frustrates me. Why this guy didn't get the care that I recommended and they let this guy out. He goes so that when he told me he was going to kill four people and I had to testify and look at her husband, Kruger's husband and her brother brother in that courtroom, and then little kids from Howard. Look, everybody, everybody, I'm pretty sure I can speak for everybody that listens to the show loves those furry little adorable things called cats, but none of us love the smell.

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You know what I'm talking about a litter box. So do yourself a favor today and pick up some pretty litter during the winter when everything's locked up and all the windows are closed, the smells can really build up really fast. Not just the smell, but the litter dust. Just a big mess. But pretty litter is different and it does so much more than just trap odor. Unlike other cat litter, it's ultra absorbent crystals, trap odor instantly and last up to a month.

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You'll notice it right away when you open up a bag. It's not like other litter at all. Plus, it's safer for your cat and your whole household. Many conventional litters contain irritants that can aggravate allergies and asthma. But Pretty Litter has a super light crystal base that minimizes mess and dust. And it arrives safely at your door and a small lightweight bag. Shipping is free and you never have to worry about storing those bulky containers that are hard to carry around.

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And just a big pain, a lot of plastic to recycle there. But if you truly love those little furry balls, then you'll be pleased to know that pretty litter changes colors to help detect early signs of potential illness, including urinary tract infections and kidney issues. How great is that? So do what I did. Do it right now, make the switch to pretty litter today. Make sure your cats are healthy and your home is clean and smells great.

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Go get 20 percent off your first order today by visiting pretty litter dotcom and use promo code soad. That's pretty litter dotcom promo code soad for 20 percent off pretty litter dotcom promo code soad. For 10 long and terrifying days between the 11th and 21st of August 2013, Nico Jenkins randomly executed habitants of the Omaha community. First two male strangers minding their own business, thinking they might have a sexual encounter with Nico's sister. Second, an acquaintance from prison who had partied with Nico the night before his death.

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And third, young mom Andrea Kruger on her way home from a long night of bartending. Finally, an unusual 12 gauge shotgun shell known as a deer slug was found in the smoky remains of Andrea Kruger's stolen SUV after Niko's uncle tried to set it on fire. Remember, Nicole's mom had purchased the ammo and her sister was along for the fund. DNA placed Nyko at the three scenes, and something else unusual was found next to Andrea's body the night of her murder.

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It was part of the zipper to a fake Louis Vuitton bag, the same type Nico often used to house his weapons. How stylish when asked to describe the weapon during the interrogation.

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This is what he said.

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OK, listen, what does this nine millimeter to describe the weather? Yes. This is a high point. Leads to high school, right? The nine millimeter, if you see this way, you would not believe that was the murder weapon. Like I said. Weeks prior to this, when I first got out, I gave intelligence, I said I didn't know what was coming, who was going to you know, all I did was intelligence, intelligence, intelligence.

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So when would be the best window of opportunity?

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This confession to police was a mixed bag, though. On one hand, he gave details of intelligence to gain leniency while completing the picture of all four murders as intentional, with the motive being cash, a car or a conflict.

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However, when he realized officers had hard, cold evidence, he began laying out a case for insanity.

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This wasn't surprising, given that for a long time he had been claiming to worship the Egyptian God Apophis and hearing his voice, telling him to kill others.

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These claims were well documented by his private psychiatrist, Dr. Olivotto, who was hired at the Douglas County Department of Corrections as a subcontractor for inmates with psychiatric difficulties. Dr. Olivotto was familiar with Nico and his whole family when he was subpoenaed to evaluate Nico for a mental health competency hearing pertaining to the 2013 murders. Nico was waiting for his trial. Olivotto and only one other psychiatrist took Niko's claims of insanity seriously, and it got him fired.

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Let me tell you, as the best psychiatrist, don't work in state hospitals and all, OK? I have to be the best in private practice to make money and have people come back to me, OK, they get a check whether they're good or bad, but they have this blanket way of looking at people and they and they are influenced by the state because they pay them. So they have nothing to gain by saying he was a psychopath, he was dangerous.

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So they got it over and said he's fool enough. He's not really that way. Even if he got out, he wouldn't kill anybody and they were dead wrong. And I was right. And so is the other psychiatrist who evaluated, but they discounted all that because the state didn't want people to know that they let them out by mistake.

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Dr. Olvido was adamant in his belief that Nico should be taken seriously when he said he was hearing what are known as command voices or delusional voices telling him what he should or shouldn't do.

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Psychopath is psychotic. He's delusional. He thinks he's controlled by Greek god of death who never dies and has all the power in the world and wants to eliminate humanity. So he has more power. Every person that gets killed gives you more power. And so that's what he thought. So he thought the same thing. Everybody I kill will have more power.

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During our interview with Dr. Olivet oh, he recalled how Nico's childhood psychiatrist had also diagnosed him as a schizophrenic and dangerous after he had taken a loaded gun to school as a small seven year old boy. Even as a child, he was reporting that he heard voices. But before we explore Nico's childhood further, remember that Dr. Olivotto largely worked with Nico when he was a young adult, including having sessions with him in jail and prison. He talked about developing a rapport with Nico.

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You know, he wasn't easy to evaluate. He was, but he could attack you and call you names. Do you know, it took me a long I haven't seen him three or four times before. I could keep my heart from beating fast and get my feet down. I mean, he rage at me and he called me names to meet you in the garden. Sad you got to be ready for this guy. The first time I saw him for an hour and I went back to the clinic, I said, this guy is a real he's a maniac.

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Oh, how come he's he's like this. Doesn't anybody do anything about it? He was scary, but he was brilliant in certain areas. He knew the law and his race up and he was every little pockets in the prison library. He was brilliant and a psychopath and he knew a lot.

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Not only did Dr. Olivet find Nico to be brilliant in a psychopathic way, but he also found him to be physically formidable. After all, Nico had spent sixty percent of his jail and prison time in segregation and solitary confinement. He had a lot of time to exercise.

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I mean, he invited me to come into his cell because I said, you could trust me, doctor, come in. So and that's and we'll talk in here. And I said, Michael, no way in hell I'm going to go in. And so you could I'm going to tell you right now, you could kill me with one finger and I'm not coming. So, you know, that's the type of thinking he had. So he must've trusted me, but I didn't trust him.

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While incarcerated, Nico found other ways of strengthening himself.

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You might want to ask yourself if the following activities are things a normal person. Does just to convince the system you're crazy or if these are truly the acts of an insane person, judge for yourself.

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At one point when being interrogated about the twenty thirteen murders, he began to whisper when the detective asked him why he was whispering, his response was, Due to my psychiatric state. I do a lot of bizarre things. I start my semen, bro. It was true he wasn't making this up in a legal suit by Nico against the state of Nebraska.

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Yes, he sued the state of Nebraska for failing to realize how crazy he was and for letting him out without mental health help. Anyway, during this trial, evidence of his bizarre behaviors came up. So let's get into it, shall we? And once again, you judge crazy or manipulative. Information in this suit said Nyko, carved wounds into his face with a piece of tile from the gallery floor, which caused a guard to spray him with pepper spray to get him to stop carving into his face.

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Imagine having wounds on your face that you put there intentionally and then being pepper sprayed. Imagine how batshit crazy you would have to be to do this to yourself. This little incident required 11 stitches. Prison staff also verified that Niko would drink his own semen for neurostimulator to increase his serotonin levels and to decrease his emotional rage. That's a quote. That's not science.

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Nico also reported that he was snorting his semen in his left nostril on a daily basis and drinking his own urine daily for the last two weeks as his own method of nutritional supplementation. I hope you weren't having lunch just then. But that's not crazy, right? Well, then, neither is his homage to the serpent God Apophis, who seemed to help Niko's creative juices flow in order to honor Apophis. And by the way, before you send in your emails, I've heard the name of that Greek God described in 17 different ways.

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So if I'm saying it wrong, too bad. Let's get back to it. Now, in order to honor Apophis, he tried to carve his penis into the shape of a serpent. I don't know about you, but mine already kind of looks like one Nico went a little bit too far, though, basically cutting off his own dick and requiring twenty seven stitches. How did Nico manage this while in segregation? Well, somehow he took a guards badge and he used the sharp pin on the back to do this to himself.

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Crazy.

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Yeah, I think I'd go with crazy and he got knives and all that crap from guards, you know that. I mean, God gave them all that stuff, knives and everything. You can get anything you want to jail in prison. Even if he was in solitary confinement, you got him from the guards. That's all we've got for the guards gunning for him because he didn't give a shit where he was. He was so nice and powerful and influencing people.

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He could offer them something they got in jail. It's all money. It's what you buy. I mean, it's there's a hierarchy and you could get anything you want.

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Another miraculous feat Nico performed while confined to a cell, was swallowing a set of guards keys that would take practice. I think in any case, one of his sisters wasn't too happy about it.

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That should've never happen. And it was very disturbing to hear. It was heartbreaking and it was unbelievable. Like I couldn't even imagine it, like, really, you know, he swallowed some keys and then that alone seven keys for his illness. He needs to be in a hospital and he needs to be treated for his mental illness and not in twenty three hour confinement.

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Poor Nico, such a victim. Most mental health specialists within the corrections department hypothesized that Nico was gaming the system being manipulative, and most also admitted that he did have some mental health problems.

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However, they attributed his antics to a personality disorder. In other words, he would not need further help or treatment, and the recommended practice at an appropriate facility was ignored. It's funny how that distinction exists in the mental health community between mental illness and a personality disorder. It's just a way of defining something very, very wrong in your brain. And that way of defining decides whether you can get help or not seems almost arbitrary in a soft science like psychology.

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In any case, a lot of these specialists that thought this, we're not all psychiatrists or psychologists and they worked within the system, they were employed by the state. Dr. Olvido and others felt this was a conflict of interest.

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Another psychiatrist, as you said, is definitely mentally ill and he's a psychopath and dangerous. And he also has PTSD because his childhood was a disaster. OK, I mean, I don't want to go, but the point is, some psychologist, a person who is in I don't know if you read my report, but he's one doctor. Well, we've had him here for years and he's continuing to believe that he's mentally ill and dangerous. So that about that and I said, this guy, you don't know what he's talking about.

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He's going against the board certified psychiatrist, taking care of violent people, playing with people like the Mafia. So I handle myself with psychopathy so I don't get killed.

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Indisputably, Nico Jenkins had some kind of mental health troubles or deficits. Dr. Olivotto didn't disagree with the diagnosis of a personality disorder. However, he also felt Niko suffered from more primary and significant issues, namely schizoaffective disorder or schizophrenia, psychotic disorder and PTSD from his horrific childhood. Dr. Olivotto first evaluated Nico in 2010, and Nico said he'd been having auditory hallucinations from age seven.

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At the time of Dr. Oliver, those 2010 evaluation, the hallucinations were telling Jenkins to kill people. Dr. Olivet believed these statements. In our interview, he briefly described some of Nico's family history. You can't believe this man. Let me tell you. So I'll get it for you. OK, so I said, OK, I'm going to give it to you, Benji, which you can't do anything about. Bad upbringing, especially bad parenting, no parenting, great environment, bad outcome.

[00:40:58]

You had a whole state. You remember that bad, bad, bad, bad parenting and upbringing, bad environment, bad outcome. That's 100 percent true. That's Dr. Doctorow's thought that he was taken out of his home because his father was a drug addict and schizophrenic, by the way, and he was out of control. He struggled. He dealt drugs. And he was he was a homicidal maniac. If I put out my hand to be loved because I get whacked across the room, I got to watch my mother being choked to death or killed.

[00:41:34]

And I got a solid conservative tried to kill me. I don't think I'm going to be normal. So why is it so complicated that people can't figure out why people are psychopaths and murderers? I mean, it's like you're going to analyze them. I don't have to figure out why they do. Things are going to stick to history and you get the why right away. Later in 2010, a therapist with the Department of Corrections met with Nico, sometimes as often as every week.

[00:42:01]

She also maintained he was hearing the voice of the God Apophis and believed Niko's threats that he would kill when released. Not only were his delusions consistent, but Niko's paranoia about taking medications also persisted as well, even though he was much calmer when he was taking them. The important thing to know about this therapist is that she kept up the sessions because she did not believe he was faking mental illness. She agreed with the diagnosis of Dr. Olvido and felt Nico needed to be transferred to an outside facility that was better equipped to handle him because she was so concerned.

[00:42:43]

She wrote the parole board with this recommendation. Nico Jenkins should be treated at the Lincoln Regional Center and if paroled, mental health treatment should continue as part of his parole. She had never written a letter like this before. Equally concerned was then Nebraska ombudsman Marshall Flock's ombudsman. What's that? It's an official officially appointed to investigate individuals complaints against maladministration or badly run administration, especially that of public authorities. Who was complaining, though? Nico Jenkins, why was he complaining what was because four people were dead and they didn't have to be.

[00:43:33]

And according to Nico, it was the Nebraska Department of Corrections fault. Has anyone ever broken into your home? It's such a feeling of being violated, your personal items being rummaged through by some stranger intent on taking what they want, don't ever have that feeling. If you can avoid it. There's no reason to was simply safe. Simply safe has an arsenal of sensors and cameras that protect every inch of your home. You could set it up in about 30 minutes.

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[00:44:47]

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[00:45:42]

After all, the murders were random and reckless acts committed by one of the most feared men in the state, assisted by his own even more terrifying sister and other family members.

[00:45:56]

But according to Nyko, there were several reasons the blame of the dead should not land on him. First, it was documented to be insane, he worships Apophis, the Egyptian god of chaos and death, and he had the penis to prove it. Second, he was not given appropriate mental health treatment in prison. And third, instead of receiving proper help, he was repeatedly placed in solitary confinement. Finally, he warned everyone clearly that if he were released without some kind of transition or help, he would kill.

[00:46:35]

And he did. So it must be someone else's fault. According to a statement Nyko made to detectives, the Nebraska Department of Corrections is so responsible. This is equivalent to me being a pit bull that they pull off that chain and whoever it hurt is responsible for it because you knew the danger of the animal, knew the danger that you created in that cell. As a result of Nyko filing formal complaints and eventually suing the prison to no avail, an oversight committee was formed and headed by a man named Marshall Lux.

[00:47:12]

It all starts with a complaint that that Niko brought to our office, which he was, you know, entitled to do as a as a as an inmate in the in our correctional system. To really understand it, we need to start with the beginning for Nico. He was originally committed, I believe it was in the year 2000 to the youth corrections facility, which is located in Omaha. That's where underage inmates serving felony sentences are kept while they're young.

[00:47:47]

His original offenses, as I recall, were armed robbery. He was about 16 years old at the time that he went into that facility. Then in 2003, he was transferred to the Lincoln Correctional Center, which, as I said, is an adult facility. And he very quickly got involved in an assault on another inmate. He had been a management problem for the corrections people even when he was in the youth facility, and he continued that behavior while he was at the adult facility.

[00:48:20]

And so after this assault that he committed on another inmate, he was placed in a segregation cell.

[00:48:27]

Segregation cells or solitary confinement have been documented by the APA, the American Psychiatric Association, as having a very negative outcome. The APA opposes the use of segregation for more than 14 days because of its detrimental effects on mental health, clinical impacts of isolation. Even unhealthy people include perceptual distortions, hallucinations, revenge fantasies, decreased brain function and self mutilation, among several other maladaptive behaviors. Remember, by the time twenty thirteen rolled around, Nico had spent as much as 60 percent of his time there.

[00:49:08]

When he came to rest, his complaints all revolved around those issues of his mental health treatment, the meds, his being placed in segregation. And the other thing that is important to realize is that throughout this entire period and later in his communication with the mental health staff, Nico Jenkins continually articulated, I guess, what we would refer to as ideations about how he intended to kill innocent people once he was released from custody. This is not a rare occurrence.

[00:49:44]

This happened a number of times throughout his history in the system. He talked to mental health staff and he'd talk about ideas about going from house to house and killing people. Once he was released about how he was destined to be a homicidal maniac, that he would wage war on society and basically that he would kill people indiscriminately once he was released from custody.

[00:50:09]

These concerns were voiced by the oversight committee, Dr. Olivotto, another female psychiatrist, Nyko and even his mother, and they continued until it was nearly time for his sentence to expire late in Mr. Jenkins sentence.

[00:50:26]

And remember, we're talking about a person here who has been in the system since 2010, but has a sentence which is going to expire in twenty thirteen, I think it was in July of twenty thirteen. So the clock is ticking. Some day his sentence is going to expire and he's going to have to be released. And so as this as time is running out, we are in the ombudsman's office, we're getting no, we're talking about someone who's sitting in a segregation cell and has been for much of his career and that a corrections system.

[00:51:03]

And if nothing changed after twenty eleven, he was going to ride out the to the end of his sentence in 2013 and be released, called into the community from a segregation cell. So from a place where he was totally isolated from almost all of other human contact. And our concern was needed to be some plan for transitioning him gradually from a segregation cell into a larger community within the corrections system and then gradually into general populations.

[00:51:45]

One solution proposed by this oversight committee was to place Nyeko in a separate facility to be evaluated and properly treated. Since inmates in segregation rarely have access to adequate mental health treatment, let alone access to professionals. If they're lucky, they receive a weekly session with a therapist who merely decides if the inmate is a suicide risk. Then they get sent off on their way back to their cell. Even Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers became involved, the senator was known for his civil rights advocacy.

[00:52:21]

I had contacted the department director myself and told him, we don't want this man to come out into our community without the treatment that you can provide while he's there. And we have four people dead who did not have to die. And I placed it at the feet of the Department of Corrections and the director of housing and the governor for not properly managing that department. And I'm in the process of compiling documentary evidence, which is not confidential, that the department had, including a request by Nichols mother that a civil commitment undertaken in Johnston County.

[00:53:03]

Apparently even Nico's mom, who had not been in solitary confinement and was the one who purchased the ammo, actually alerted officials about the craziness of her son.

[00:53:15]

And although Marshall Luks and his committee received Senator Chambers letter, the Department of Corrections never notified the Douglas County attorney.

[00:53:24]

Plus, within six months of Niko's mandatory discharge from prison, a reputable psychiatrist had compiled a report confirming that Nyko met the qualifications for a civil commitment to a treatment facility. This information never reached the proper channels and in fact, was intentionally withheld by a physician who made the last call. And that call was Nikko's not crazy. It's shocking to realize how subjective these calls really are.

[00:53:57]

The report that never made it included information that Nico was still indicating difficulties with mental health issues, anger and self-harm behaviors at the time of the evaluation, he was on 15 minute checks for suicide.

[00:54:15]

He had also cut himself in the face and refused to allow medical staff to remove the stitches because the cut was a declaration of war. Nico also said at the time he was going to, quote, eat the hearts of women, men and children, end quote, upon his release. He was requesting emergency psychiatric treatment on a daily basis at that time. When we interviewed both Dr. Olivotto, Niko's private psychiatrist, and Marshall Luks, they alluded to the differences in mental health treatment between the Douglas County jail, where Nicole actually seemed to be improving under the care of psychiatrists versus the Lincoln state run facility.

[00:55:01]

This was explained by Marshall Lux.

[00:55:04]

And so you always have to worry about the pressures that the mental health staff in these settings are under. To do things or recommend things that are consistent with what the warden wants or what the security staff wants. Clearly that did not happen in Douglas County. And I'm not able to say with any certainty that's what was going on in the corrections system. But it is something to consider and it is a factor in these situations. There is this tension between the mental health staff and the security staff about how to handle these cases, and that that's a challenge for the mental health staff, a very serious one, and that they have to deal with.

[00:55:52]

And it's hard. It makes their job harder. That's too bad.

[00:55:56]

It was indeed too bad for Andrea Kruger, Curtis Bradford and the other two victims of Nikko and his God, Apophis. On September 5th, 2013, he was charged with the four homicides. Everyone was still wondering, is Nico Jenkins crazy, including the judge who ordered him to be evaluated yet again? A hearing was held and a state psychiatrist declared Nico competent, so the judge went ahead and allowed Nico to represent himself.

[00:56:32]

Inside the courtroom, it seemed like Nico Jenkins ran the show.

[00:56:36]

So Fredericia Russo, due to yelling something about a socialist revolution at our cameras and during his hearing, yelling over Judge Peter Battalion, quote, Let me talk, Your Honor, you're violating my human rights, even calling Judge Battalion Prejudice the same judge that will oversee his trial in the absence of a jury. But right out of the gate, Jenkins made an objection. Battalion asking to what Jenkins says. He filed two motions, one saying his Miranda rights were violated after being arrested for four murders last summer, the other against Douglas County Attorney Don Kline.

[00:57:12]

But Battalion says those motions were filed properly. At one point, Jenkins, looking over at Klein and grinning Judge Battalion, scolded him, saying, quote, You only need to look up here. You don't need to make faces. Jenkins saying, I only smiled. Battalion, arguing back while smiling, is a face. Throughout his entire trial, Niko continued to profess that he was hearing voices and corroborated his claims with courtroom outbursts of howling, growling, laughing at the mention of the deaths and speaking in tongues.

[00:57:46]

If you're listening to this and you're a judge and a murder suspect wants to represent himself, just say no, just just go ahead and say no. The prosecution called only for witnesses, and the victim's families had to endure the circus sideshow called Nico Jenkins. Finally, the three judge panel sentenced him to death. He was also sentenced to four hundred and fifty years in prison on weapons charges connected with the murders. Niko's is the first death penalty to be given since the brassica voted to bring it back.

[00:58:27]

His sister, mom and uncle are also doing time for their roles. This sentence only occurred after several more attempts were made to evaluate Nico and determine if he was competent to withstand the death penalty phase as he seemed to fade in and out of lucidity. He now presented with the face of not only crazy, but possibly stupid, he had since taken a razor to his now billboard like Face and attempted to carve 666 onto his forehead to join his lovely Satan tattoo.

[00:59:33]

Too bad he was looking in a mirror at the time and confused himself. The etching turned out to read nine nine nine or two to two, depending on how you look at it. He now sits on death row, but of course he's appealing. In the meantime, a lovely woman in some apparent desperate need for attention and drama has professed her love for him. And they plan to be married. Probably my favorite murder fan. In the words of the man who possibly knew Nico best one last time, here is Dr.

[01:00:07]

Olivet.

[01:00:08]

But I'm going to tell you something. Nico is disconnected from his soul. And you are talking to a guy who is valuated to over 100000 people, grew up with the mafia and a mafia Italian neighborhood. He will never allow himself to be killed. He already said it to some degree that they'll never get me in the electric chair.

[01:00:26]

On April 20th, 20 20, the Supreme Court declined to hear Nico Jenkins appeal. Regardless of whether Nico meets his fate by lethal injection or somehow chooses his own fate, he will likely continue decorating himself with wounds and asking for psychiatric help. In the meantime, his notorious family legacy lives on in the streets of Omaha. Nico Jenkins did, in fact, try to warn anyone that would listen, he knew what he was capable of and what he would do when he got out of prison, he knew what the voices had been telling him his entire life, ever since he was six.

[01:01:15]

Even after Neka warned that he would kill when he was released, the system went ahead and made the wrong choice, the easy choice, they let him out, wiped their hands of him, and he was no longer their problem. According to Niko, the system slowly helped create the monster. But was the monster always really there waiting to make the wrong choice, the easy choice? Oh. If you haven't heard, of course, now's the time to sign up head on over to sward and scale dot com slash plus starting at just five bucks a month, you get all kinds of great stuff, including over 80 plus episodes that you won't hear anywhere else.

[01:02:43]

By seed, early access and everything is commercial free plus or discounts and all sorts of other stuff, so support your favorite independent podcast and stay safe. Oh.