The Shasta County Superior Court building at 1515 Court St. in Redding.
Correction: A different witness name was incorrectly attributed to the Shasta County Sheriff Office’s senior investigative technician. The correct name is Courtney Leadingham. We regret the error and any confusion.
Day 2 of Tyler Scott McCain’s preliminary hearing inside the Shasta County Superior Courthouse yielded a staggering array of information, and one unexpected evacuation of the building.
Most of the hearing presented the Shasta County District Attorney’s case that suggested McCain was directly connected to not just to the disappearance of his wife, Nikki Saelee-McCain in May of 2024, but her murder.
Nikki Saelee-McCain
About two dozen courtroom spectators heard and saw this evidence, and more. There were gruesome details about body decomposition. They saw a photo of the clear Tupperware container full of assorted calibers of ammunition found inside the McCain home. Photos were displayed on the overhead projector of a white knotted sheet splotched with reddish-brown stains crumpled in the back of Saelee-McCain’s Chevy Avalanche pickup, a vehicle that tested “presumptive positive” for human blood (not yet a specific person), everywhere from the truck bed to even the fuel tank. There was also a 30-carbine rifle behind the McCain’s refrigerator. Law enforcement found a small white notebook with Nikki Saelee-McCain’s name written multiple times. The inside of a dishwasher contained two sets of keys and a cell phone in a box. There were several notes found with undisclosed writing. A hard-side suitcase held yet more ammunition and a shotgun. A black-and-tan lace bra was found hanging on a bathroom door. A can of Easy-Off oven cleaner was found on top of the stained sheet, while some kind of white spray substance was seen around the bed of the truck.
These are but a sample of details presented Tuesday at the hearing intended to help determine if there is enough evidence to justify a McCain murder trial.
Saelee-McCain was reported missing in mid-May 2024. In 2024, the Shasta County District Attorney dismissed the domestic violence charges filed against McCain in 2023 because Saelee-McCain was missing, which meant she couldn’t testify.
Although Saelee-McCain’s body has not been found, the Shasta County District Attorney’s office has leveled several charges against Tyler McCain: One count of murder, and a special circumstance that the murder was committed with the intent to prevent testimony. The DA has also charged McCain with corporal injury to a spouse, false imprisonment, criminal threats, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, possession of a firearm and ammunition after a criminal protective order, forgery, and various traffic violations.
On Wednesday, August 20, 2025, Tyler McCain was located and arrested. He was ultimately booked into custody at the Shasta County Jail with no bail.
SCSO Detective Kilee Holroyd leads Tyler McCain away in handcuffs following his arrest. Holroyd was named lead detective in the Nikki Saelee-McCain missing person’s case on May 24, 2024. Photo source: Shasta County Sheriff’s Office.
Preliminary hearing No. 2
Thomas L. Bender, a visiting retired judge from Madera County, presided over the hearing and is expected to also preside over Wednesday and Thursday’s preliminary hearings.
As an aside, without explanation, Bender continued his decision Tuesday to revoke A News Cafe’s previously-granted permission to take photos, as well as other medias’ requests for photos, audio and/or video to assist in reporting the McCain hearings. This ban has effectively hamstrung members of the press, relegating their reporting tools to pen and paper.
McCain’s attorney, Michael Borges, who wore a face mask throughout the hearing, peppered the day’s first witness, Shasta County Sgt. Gerry Maul, with a series of questions regarding details large and small pertaining to Maul’s interview with Saelee-McCain at Mercy Medical Center. According to Sgt. Maul, his meeting with Saelee-McCain began on the evening of Dec. 1, 2023, and concluded after midnight into Dec. 2, 2023, regarding the alleged beating Saelee-McCain had suffered at the hands of her husband on Nov. 29, 2023.
Borges’ style seemed interrogation by a thousand cuts, with Sgt. Maul often responding to Borges’ inquiries in the negative, that he didn’t know, or no, he hadn’t asked, and no, Saelee-McCain hadn’t volunteered that particular information.
A few times Borges recommended that perhaps Sgt. Maul might take a moment to look at Sgt. Maul’s own report to find the information, making for some lengthy gaps of silence as Sgt. Maul searched, sometimes in vain, through pages of his report in an attempt to fully answer a variety of Borges’ questions.
Did Sgt. Maul get the name of the sister who arrived at the hospital? Did Saelee-McCain tell Sgt. Maul what vehicle she used to escape her residence the night of the assault? Did Saelee-McCain tell Sgt. Maul where she went first after leaving the couple’s home? Did Saelee-McCain mention if she called law enforcement between Nov. 29 and December? Did Saelee-McCain summon Sgt. Maul to the hospital from the hospital? Did Sgt. Maul do any independent investigation into the allegations, other than what Saelee-McCain told Sgt. Maul? Did Sgt. Maul ask Saelee-McCain what specific kind of white tape McCain had allegedly used to bind Saelee-McCain’s ankles?
Sgt. Maul responded no to all those questions, and many others delivered by Borges, not just about Sgt. Maul’s interview with Saelee-McCain, but regarding later, when speaking with McCain at the couple’s Olinda Road home. For example, did Sgt. Maul see any tape in the McCain home? Did Sgt. Maul ask McCain about any tape?
No, responded Sgt. Maul.
Borges brought up McCain’s claim that he’d asked Sgt. Maul, “Didn’t Nikki tell you she got in a fight with someone?” When Borges asked Sgt. Maul whether he had followed up and asked Saelee-McCain about the alleged fight mentioned by McCain, Sgt. Maul answered no, he hadn’t. Borges followed that line of questioning with descriptions of Saelee-McCain’s facial injuries, including black eyes, noting that they were consistent with domestic violence.
Borges then offered that Saelee-McCain’s injuries were consistent with “being battered … regardless of who was doing the battering,” sowing early seeds of doubt upon Saelee-McCain’s story that her husband caused her injuries.
Finally, Borges took his seat beside defendant McCain, and was scarcely heard from for the rest of the hearing. For the lion’s share of the day Shasta County Chief Deputy District Attorney Sarah Murphy literally held court and the reins of the hearing, calling upon several witnesses who provided a lengthy domino trail of mounting facts that appeared to cast blame directly upon McCain.
Meanwhile, McCain sat statue-still to the right of Borges. During most of the hearing McCain’s shaved head was bowed, with his arms tucked in close to his side, as his elbows rested on the table. His feet remained unmoved, flat on the floor. As Murphy presented explicit evidence that pointed to the likelihood that McCain killed his wife, McCain remained frozen, sometimes with his hands clasped in front of his mouth, or fisted under his eyes. One of the few times that McCain opened his eyes, raised his head and looked up was to briefly study a photo on the overhead projector of the back of Saelee-McCain’s truck. He then resumed his posture with his head down, hands clasped.
By far, the witness who spent the longest stretch on the stand was investigative technician Courtney Leadingham of the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office. For several hours Murphy meticulously mined the depths of Leadingham’s investigations, searches, professional observations and subsequent evidence-based conclusions regarding the McCain case. Much of Murphy’s questioning had to do with a dead body’s decomposition. Leadingham confirmed she’d had work experience that included exposure to deceased individuals whose bodies were in some state of decomposition.
Saelee-McCain was last seen by family on May 18, 2024. Law enforcement found Saelee-McCain’s Chevrolet Avalanche off Highway 36 near Beegum Road after getting a tip from a citizen on May 25, 2024. By May 28 law enforcement had begun processing the vehicle in search of forensic evidence.
The topic of decomposition was relevant as Leadingham described the unmistakable stench of a decomposed body after Saelee-McCain’s truck was located in that remote area off Highway 36. Leadingham said she put on gloves and a mask before approaching the truck, hoping to find Saelee-McCain’s body. She recounted how the closer she walked toward the truck, the more overwhelming was the smell of decomposition. She took photos and used Bluestar® forensic blood detection upon areas in the back of the truck, as well as the sheet, all of which tested positive for human blood. Leadingham said she noticed large knots tied in the sheet’s corners, as well as some dark hairs upon the sheet.
Leadingham explained that bodies decompose at different rates of time, depending upon different body sizes, as well as weather conditions, such as heat and humidity. Leadingham said it’s possible for a body of someone deceased for just one day to decompose quickly out in the sun, with the skin turning almost black. Leadingham said that decomposition fluids can range from reddish-brown to green in color. She said that when Bluestar is applied to the area in question, if the substance tested contains blood then a vivid blue luminescent color slowly appears and glows, and then slowly dissipates.
Bluestar forensic kits are designed to detect blood and certain bodily fluids, including those from decomposed bodies. According to neuralword.com, “In the early stages of decomposition, when the body is still fresh, the main fluid noticed is usually blood. This is because blood is contained within blood vessels throughout the body, and after death, these vessels start to break down, causing blood to leak out.”
McCain’s mother’s home searched
One highly anticipated part of Murphy’s questioning of Leadingham pertained to law enforcement’s June 25, 2024, search of the home of McCain’s mother, Jeanette Hayward, who lives on Redding Rancheria Road. Hayward is member of the Redding Rancheria Tribe.
According to Leadingham, a search of Hayward’s home found several items that belonged to her son Tyler and missing daughter-in-law, such as mail, banking records, hand-written notes, a traffic citation with McCain’s name on it, as well as social security cards for McCain and the couple’s four children.
After searching Hayward’s home, law enforcement moved on to the Hayward’s garage. Murphy placed a photo on the projector of the interior of the Hayward garage. Leadingham described seeing a white comforter that appeared to have been burned, shoved in a corner, as well as a dark-colored sweater. Leadingham said she saw ash, as well as ash and burned matter clinging to cobwebs around the garage.
Leadingham said that in her professional opinion, “Something burned inside that garage.”
Just as Leadingham continued to describe findings inside the Hayward garage, Shasta County marshals abruptly entered the courtroom and announced that everyone must leave immediately, due to a smoke alarm that was sounding off.
False alarm cleared the courthouse
Courthouse employees stream back inside the building after being told the coast was clear.
The full evacuation of the courthouse occurred around 3 p.m. due to the sounding of a fire alarm somewhere in the building. People were not allowed to use the building’s elevators, which led to an exodus of attorneys, judges, witnesses, court employees, jurors, media, and court spectators to leave via staircase. McCain’s hearing was on the 6th floor of the courthouse, so it took several minutes to descend the stairs to the ground level. Once outside, some people who’d spent the better part of a day inside the McCain hearing expressed conspiratorial skepticism about the “convenient” timing of the fire alarm, and believed the alarm had been pulled intentionally.
Nikki Saelee-McCain’s family members were among those who left the building after a fire alarm sounded inside the courthouse.
“Wouldn’t you know it,” said one woman. “This happens just when we’re hearing about Tyler’s mother’s house.”
However, upon re-entering the building, when a marshal was asked about the alarm and whether it was true that someone pulled it, he said the courthouse doesn’t have fire alarms that can be pulled by an individual, but rather, the courthouse has alarms that are triggered only by smoke, or perhaps a malfunction. When one attorney was asked how often they recalled the courthouse being emptied because of a fire alarm, the attorney replied, “Never.”
Outside on the sidewalk, Saelee-McCain’s family gathered and talked. One sister said they remain sad, but hopeful.
“We’re just thankful that this is finally happening,” said Chloe.
Nikki Saelee-McCain’s sisters, left to right Kaye Ford, Mey Martin and Chloe Saelee
Meanwhile, Kathy Decker, whose niece was a friend of Saelee-McCain’s, said she has followed the case and participated in searches since Saelee-McCain first went missing, and has been in support of the Saelee family ever since. Decker described herself as a survivor of domestic violence more than 30 years ago; someone who wants to share her story to help others.
Kathy Decker stands outside the Shasta County Superior Court Tuesday.
“It has been great to have a voice for Nikki when she cannot speak for herself,” Decker said, adding that she doesn’t believe that Saelee-McCain is alive, because she’s convinced Tyler killed his wife to avoid the consequences of his domestic violence charges.
“I always knew from the very beginning that Mr. McCain was involved,” Decker said. “Nobody else would want to hurt her. Who would, besides him? Nobody. She was like a gentle butterfly; all goodness and light.”
Day 3 of the Tyler McCain preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. today, and is expected to continue through Thursday.
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Editor’s note: During a recent press conference, Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett claimed that the McCain murder case is the first no-body murder case in Shasta County history.
However, A News Cafe has since learned that Shasta County prosecuted another no-body homicide case of Gordon T. Johnson, which resulted in the 1993 Shasta County Superior Court’s conviction of Stanley Alan Hershey for first-degree murder. Hershey, a former school teacher, was accused of murdering Johnson, who disappeared in 1989 while traveling in a luxury motor home in Northern California and Oregon.
A combined reward of up to $30,000 still stands for anyone who provides information that leads to Nikki Saelee-McCain’s location. Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to contact the Major Crimes Unit by email at MCU@shastacounty.gov or at 530-245-6135.
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