Luis Barajas was the last witness to testify on Day 4 of the Tyler McCain preliminary hearing inside the Shasta County Superior Courthouse Wednesday.
McCain is accused of murdering his then-39-year-old wife, Nikki Saelee-McCain, in May of 2024.
Nikki Saelee-McCain went missing in May 2024.
Saelee-McCain is presumed dead, but Shasta County’s District Attorney believes there’s sufficient evidence against McCain to proceed with one of the county’s rare no-body murder cases.
Barajas, a small-statured, youthful looking man with a full head of dark, curly hair, was sworn in late Wednesday afternoon. Without hesitation Barajas calmly answered all Senior Deputy District Attorney Toby Powell’s questions. As inmate McCain — who’d had a verbal meltdown during yesterday’s hearing over the topic of family photos — sat approximately 20 feet from the witness stand, Barajas provided sensitive details about an alleged affair with McCain’s wife.
The courtroom fell into a hush as Powell methodically guided Barajas’ testimony. Barajas explained that he and Saelee-McCain first met when she came into his place of business to buy a cell phone, and returned periodically with questions. Barajas said that at first, he and Saelee-McCain were “really good friends”.
Over time, Barajas said the two grew closer, and their relationship became more serious. Barajas said Saelee would sometimes spend the night in Barajas’ private, converted-garage room attached to his immediate family’s Redding home.
Yes, Barajas knew Saelee-McCain was married, but she’d told Barajas she was trying to get a divorce from McCain.
At that time, the McCain children weren’t living with their parents as they’d been removed from the family home due to domestic violence.
Barajas said that around May of 2023 Saelee-McCain stayed with him for an entire month, after which she returned to her Olinda Road home shared with her husband.
“I was being patient,” Barajas said. “We were going to try to be together.”
Another time Saelee-McCain stayed with Barajas for two weeks, but again, she returned to McCain.
A turning point came one evening toward the end of 2023 when a shaken Saelee-McCain, just wearing a bathrobe, arrived at Barajas’ place unexpectedly, pounding on the door to be let in.
Barajas said Saelee-McCain had been severely beaten by her husband.
“Her face was purple and swollen,” he said. “Her back looked like it had slashes or scratches. She had bruises everywhere.”
Barajas said Saelee-McCain was so shaken that she could barely get the words out to describe some of what her husband had done to her.
“She said Tyler had gone crazy. She said he’d put a towel over her face and then poured water over it, drowning, suffocating her,” Barajas said, adding that although Saelee-McCain’s robe was dry, her body was soaking wet.
“She got hit with something strange, and Tyler kept her captive,” Barajas said.
Insider insight into the McCain marriage
A Shasta County insider who agreed to speak on the condition of confidentiality shared possible reasons why Saelee-McCain may have sought a relationship with another man outside her marriage.
“Tyler had convinced Nikki that without him, after being a stay-at-home mom for more than 13 years, she would be homeless and unemployable,” the insider said.
“Tyler told Nikki that alone, she’d have no means to support herself, and no money or assets to her name. Most of all, she knew that as the non-tribal spouse she would have no chance getting custody of her children in a fight against the tribal court.”
(Tyler McCain and his mother Jeanette McCain are both enrolled members of the Redding Rancheria.)
The insider said that McCain controlled every part of Saelee-McCain’s life. The couple’s home was in McCain’s name only. He wouldn’t allow Saelee-McCain to look for a job. The only access Saelee-McCain had to money was what her husband gave her, when and/or if he felt like it.
The insider concluded that considering Saelee-McCain felt trapped and powerless to escape an abusive, toxic marriage, it’s no wonder Saelee-McCain found comfort and safety in Barajas, someone who’d shown her compassion and kindness.
Even so, for the insider, the most sobering part of Saelee-McCain’s affair was speculating whether McCain — renowned for his jealousy and rage — was aware of his wife’s alleged infidelity. If so, in the end, did the alleged affair ultimately prove fatal for Saelee-McCain?
“Maybe Nikki’s affair was Tyler’s motive for murder,” the insider said.
Barajas’ testimony resumes Tuesday.
Other noteworthy testimonies
Justin Karren takes a break Tuesday outside the Shasta County Courthouse after a fire alarm went off.
The Wednesday morning preliminary hearing began by resuming questioning of Justin Karren, aka “Too Tall” who’s related to McCain through marriage. Karren, sporting saggy jeans and a black hoodie, once again found himself on the witness stand where he was frequently asked variations of, “Are you telling the truth?” or “Did you tell the truth?”
Although Karren consistently insisted he was being truthful, much of his testimony time involved verbal backpedaling and trying to explain why he said one thing on the witness stand, but an entirely different thing to detectives who’d interviewed him.
One of the most challenging parts about Karren’s lengthy testimonies was that his speech was so quiet and so garbled that he was often nearly impossible to understand.
What did come through were numerous times when Karren claimed one thing, only to be confronted with proof that either Karren had lied, or he’d made a mistake, or he’d simply forgotten. Time and time again, when Karren was asked a seemingly simple question, such as, “Did you send a text to Jeanette?” Karren would initially say no, or say he didn’t recall, or say it’s possible he did text Jeanette. Yes, maybe, maybe not. Invariably, the District Attorney’s team would produce proof that contradicted Karren, and thus, proof that he wasn’t reliable or truthful. This exchange between DA Powell and Karren was classic:
Powell: “You said you were honest, and you don’t lie. Did you omit some things”
Karren: “I don’t know. Probably.”
One particularly noteworthy portion of Karren’s testimony involved Powell playing back portions of a poor-quality videotaped recording that showed two detectives speaking with Karren. Initially, the detectives began with small talk and easy questions, such as his name and where he’d lived. One detective was about as direct as could be, but still, Karren was unwaveringly evasive.
The detective leveled with Karren, and said many people had put in many hours in this case about Nikki Saelee-McCain’s disappearance. He told Karren that this interview was the second to the last one they’d conduct. He said they’d spoken with many people, although they wouldn’t name names. The detective said that they’d even interviewed people Karren wasn’t aware the detectives knew. The detective said that investigators were certain that Karren was involved in some way with Saelee-McCain’s disappearance. The detective also empathized with Karren, and said he understood the pressure Karren was under, since he lives in a trailer on McCain’s property. The detective said that he really didn’t believe that Karren was a willing partner, but if Karren didn’t provide honest information about his part in Saelee-McCain’s disappearance, Karren was at risk for being considered a willing participation, and a co-conspirator in Saelee-McCain’s disappearance and death.
“Do us all a favor,” the detective said. “Talk about the night she goes missing.”
Karren didn’t provide any revelations, or confessions.
What was learned about Karren is he lives on a trailer on McCain’s property. He doesn’t pay rent. In fact, he said McCain won’t accept rent. Instead, Karren said he does various jobs for McCain from time to time, like cleaning the garage, or making frequent “dump runs” as that rural area lacks municipal trash pickup. He acknowledged that he sometimes uses meth. He also has a criminal record for various violations, including driving without a license, driving with a suspended license, revocation of probation, grand theft, failure to appear on a felony charge, and possession of a controlled substance,
Later, when his his former girlfriend, Felicia Nelson, was providing testimony, she said the two of them sometimes took meth together while living in the Olinda Road trailer.
At one point Karren was asked if he wanted to be in court, testifying against McCain, to which Karren replied, “Nobody wants to be here, but I am.”
A thud in the night
Felicia Nelson, Justin Karren’s former girlfriend, also provided testimony. She used to live with with Karren in the trailer on McCain’s property near the McCain home. Like Karren, Nelson didn’t pay McCain rent, either. She reiterated several times her preference to be alone, and said she used to spend most of her time in the trailer, doing homework for a program she’s studying. She said her days and nights are mixed up, and always have been — and no, the sleep quirk is not related to her meth use — so she often stays up all night, and then goes to sleep in the morning. She said she keeps to herself, and only recalled two times when she and Saelee-McCain were in the McCain house together. One time was when Saelee-McCain asked for help putting in hair extensions.
Nelson was asked about statements she’d made to detectives regarding sounds she heard outside the trailer near Nikki’s Chevy Avalanche, around May 18th. She said that the Avalanche was parked toward the rear of the McCain house, near the main bedroom’s exterior doors. It was early in the morning of May 18.
“I heard something over by the the Avalanche,” Nelson said. “It was just like someone moving something around … I told Justin it was weird.”
That same Chevy Avalanche, which McCain had purchased shortly before Saelee-McCain’s disappearance on May 18, 2024, was primarily Saelee-McCain’s vehicle. The truck was later found on May 25, 2024, abandoned in western Tehama County parked along Highway 36, seven days after Saelee-McCain went missing.
When the truck was found, the covered truck bed contained a white sheet with knotted corners. The sheet had reddish-brown stains was later tested and determined to be human blood. The sheet also contained some dark human hairs. Forensic testing on the truck revealed several areas that tested positive for human blood, including the bottom and interior sides of the truck bed, near the tailgate, and on the fuel tank below the truck bed.
The preliminary hearing, again presided over by visiting judge Thomas Bender, will resume Tuesday at 9 a.m. in Department 63 of the Shasta County Superior Court. Among the witnesses expected to testify is Jeanette McCain, Tyler McCain’s mother.
The hearings will determine whether the case will go to trial, and are expected to continue into next week.
Tyler remains in the Shasta County jail with no possibility for bail.
###
