- Nicole Lenway and Timothy Amacher pursued a relationship after meeting at a gym, but their love turned rocky very quickly.
- After 12 months of arguing, the couple split, but Nicole fell pregnant with Tim’s child.
- It was when Nicole tried to move on with her life after giving birth that Tim made her pay the ultimate price.
Stuffing clothes in her suitcase, 26-year-old Nicole Lenway zipped it shut and headed for the door.
It was September 2015, and a year since the crime scene investigator had moved in with her taekwondo instructor boyfriend Timothy Amacher.
But Nicole wanted out.
The pair had met after Nicole started training at the gym Tim operated in Minneapolis, US.
Beautiful Nicole quickly caught the attention of the charismatic martial arts expert.
Tim was handsome, with an easy confidence which earned him a legion of female admirers.
But he only had eyes for Nicole – pursuing her until she agreed to give him a chance, and in time the casual dates led to love.
The fairytale didn’t last once the pair moved in together, though.
After 12 months of near-constant arguing, the couple split and Nicole moved out of their home, with Tim renting a room to an 18-year-old student of his instead.
Colleen Larson had begun studying taekwondo with Tim when she was just 12 years old. She was smart and sweet – the perfect housemate.
Nicole, meanwhile, got some unexpected news.
She was pregnant with Tim’s baby.
Their little boy, Callahan, was born on June 20, 2016 – and Nicole was instantly smitten.
Thinking that she and her ex could successfully co-parent, Nicole gave her bub the surname Amacher, and it was agreed she’d be his primary caregiver but he’d sometimes stay with his dad.
Tim, however, was unreliable – booking a trip to Thailand instead of seeing his son for Christmas and New Year.
Colleen, on the other hand, adored Callahan, and with Nicole working unpredictable hours with Minneapolis Police, Colleen often looked after the growing boy.
It was an arrangement that worked well – until Nicole found love with a fellow police officer, Donovan Ford.
When Tim found out he was angry, and started making wild accusations about Nicole to Child Protection Services and filing for sole custody of their boy.
His lies didn’t stick. In autumn 2020, Nicole was granted sole custody and Tim was allowed one supervised visit a week.
It was agreed the visits would take place at FamilyWise Services, a parenting centre in Minneapolis that operated a neighbouring daycare centre too.
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On April 20, 2022, Callahan, then five, was inside the centre on a scheduled visit with his father when Nicole pulled into the car park at 7.30pm to collect her son.
What happened next changed all of their lives forever.
Nicole was halfway between her car and the door when she heard footsteps behind her.
Bang!
In a split second the mum of one fell to the ground clutching her neck – blood pouring from a gaping wound, as the shooter left her to die.
With her police instincts kicking in, Nicole managed to pull out her phone and call emergency services.
‘What is the address of the emergency?’ the dispatcher asked.
But Nicole could only gurgle as her life began to ebb away. Thankfully, a passing stranger grabbed the phone. Within minutes paramedics arrived.
On the way to hospital Nicole lost consciousness. She was in a critical condition with a perforated lung, and a bullet lodged between two ribs.
As the mum battled for life, her police colleagues began investigating the shocking crime.
Tim was a prime suspect – but he had a rock solid alibi. He had been at FamilyWise for hours with his son, and the staff there could vouch for him.
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But CCTV had captured a figure dressed in all black running at Nicole from behind, then driving off in a black Dodge Ram truck with no licence plates. Who was it?
The mystery deepened when Nicole pulled through and told police she thought the shooter was a woman…
The case was baffling, but a digital trail soon linked the truck seen leaving the scene of the shooting to Tim.
He denied the vehicle was his – and his alibi still held up – but then a raid on the home he shared with housemate Colleen yielded more.
Inside were bullet casings matching the ones found at the crime scene… and it turned out the truck was one of two vehicles Tim owned.
Tim remained defiant – he denied having anything to do with the crime. It was Colleen who broke down during questioning by detectives.
‘I took the truck and I drove over there… and then I shot her,’ she sobbed.
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But she also pointed the finger at Tim, who she was romantically involved with, telling officers it had been his idea and he’d disposed of the gun.
Police alleged Tim had directed Colleen to kill Nicole, after harassing and fabricating sick allegations against his ex for years.
On April 28, 2022, Colleen Purificacion Larson was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree premeditated murder.
Soon after, Timothy Amacher was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree premeditated murder and aiding an accomplice after the fact.
In November 2022, Timothy Allen Amacher, then 41, who’d pleaded not guilty to attempted first-degree murder, was found guilty.
Nicole herself, still recovering from her injuries, took to the stand as a witness.
Sentencing him to 18 years in prison two months later, Hennepin County Judge Shereen Askalani told him, ‘You have been promoting this false narrative about [Nicole] for so long that you may actually believe it.’
In February 2023, Colleen Larson, then 25, pleaded guilty, telling the court she had shot Nicole so Tim could raise his son alone. She was sentenced to 16 and a half years in prison.
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