Tyler McCain enters the courtroom on Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, to attend his trial readiness conference in Shasta County Superior Court. McCain has pleaded not guilty in the murder of his wife, Nikki Saelee-McCain. Photo by Mike Chapman for A News Cafe ©.
Up until this morning, Tyler McCain has sat stoic and still in his navy-and-orange jail attire beside attorney Michael Borges in the Shasta County Superior Courthouse. McCain has attended a trial readiness conference, and now several preliminary hearings to determine whether he will face a murder trial for the alleged killing of his wife, Nikki Saelee-McCain.
Saelee-McCain went missing in May of 2024, shortly before her husband was to appear in court to face domestic violence charges.
Thursday and Tuesday’s preliminary hearings covered such graphic testimony as deceased-body decomposition, blood detection, body fluid evidence collection, and an emotional recording of Saelee-McCain describing how her husband brutally assaulted her for nearly three hours before she escaped. Recent testimony has also implicated McCain’s mother, Jeanette Hayward, whose garage contained evidence that a fire inside had left behind soot and burned debris, including a partially charred white comforter found stashed in a corner.
Through all that, McCain appeared consistently unmoved and mute.
That changed Wednesday morning during seemingly tame testimony from Courtney Leadingham, Shasta County senior investigative technician. Leadingham described the discovery of several framed photos of the McCains and their four children prominently displayed on the McCain family’s walls and mantel; photos that weren’t there during Leadingham’s first search of the McCain home. Also, Leadingham said she noticed that some previous holes in the walls had been patched since the first search.
Leadingham said she found the staging of the new photo display odd, words that triggered McCain to lean forward in his seat and shout angrily. He asked how family photos could be out of line. “This is bullshit!” McCain yelled. “Why am I under arrest? I shouldn’t be here!”
With that, Shasta County marshals quickly converged upon McCain as visiting judge Thomas Bender called for a short recess to allow McCain to calm down and speak with attorney Borges.
When the hearing resumed a few minutes later, Borges interviewed Leadingham at length about body decomposition, blood vessel and tissue breakdown. Borges asked if the absence of an external wound would still allow fluids to escape, to which Leadingham said yes. She explained that during decomposition, body fluids tend to escape from almost any human orifice, such as mouth, nose and rectum.
Leadingham said that a Bluestar blood/hemoglobin-detection test reacted positively to portions of McCain’s garage floor, but she acknowledged that the substance could be either animal or human.
Of note
The day’s testimony also showed on the overhead projector several hand-written notes found on the McCain property. Excerpts from one note said, “How the hell is this my fault? First of you shouldn’t have done what you did … everyone encouraged me to turn you in … everyone told told me to just tell the police what happened. How am I supposed to know how to lie?”
Excerpts from another note said, “…don’t forget how evil Tyler is. He will crush my skull with one try … don’t forget to not trust Tyler with money … he will make all kinds of promises … don’t ever trust Tyler. He hates me for no reason … he hears voices. Don’t trust him.”
Borges grilled Leadingham about the tires on the Chevy Avalanche, Nikki’s truck that was found in a remote area off Highway 36. Forensic testing has since found evidence of human blood inside the truck. Borges asked Leadingham to explain why she had previously described the tread on the Avalanche’s tires as “unique”. Did Leadingham know how many of those tires were on the road? Did Leadingham watch the tires to see if they were rotating freely as the vehicle was being removed by a tow truck service? Leadingham replied no to both questions.
Arguably one of the most riveting witnesses was Michael Ripley, formerly of Happy Valley, now in Washington State, someone one spectator referred to as “The Talented Mr. Ripley” — a nod to the movie of the same title.
A stocky slightly stooped, stocky man with thinning salt and pepper hair, Ripley had mentioned a few times that he’d spent 35 years in the auto glass business. Ripley wore a green plaid shirt and baggy jeans for his witness testimony. Ripley is related to McCain through marriage. Ripley’s sister was once married to McCain’s brother. Under questioning by Borges, Ripley pushed back against Borges several times to correct or clarify. Several times the judge reminded Ripley to wait until questions were fully asked before he answered, while Borges was admonished a few times for being argumentative with Ripley.
Borges asked Ripley about the evening in May of 2024 when nephew Justin Karren had been trying to reach Ripley because McCain needed to be picked up from somewhere near Bowman Road, and then dropped off somewhere else. He said Karren mentioned that McCain and his mother, Jeanette Hayward, had had a fight. Karren said they needed Ripley’s vehicle to pick up McCain because it was registered, and legal to drive. Ripley agreed. He recalled that they found McCain standing off the side of the road by a bridge, looking relaxed. Borges asked what route they had traveled after picking up McCain, to which Ripley said they went the “back way” from Bowman Road to Highway 36 toward Platina. Why that route, asked Borges. Because it’s more scenic, replied Ripley, to which Borges pointed out that it was dark, so there wasn’t much scenery to see.
Ripley said as they drove, McCain was in the back seat drinking from a small bottle of alcohol, and McCain asked Ripley to pull over into a specific turnout, so McCain could urinate. Ripley said once out of the vehicle, he headed for some brush to also urinate, and that’s when he saw the Chevy Avalanche, a vehicle Ripley said he’d not spotted from the road. He said McCain opened the cab door and attempted to start the truck with keys he had with him, but the motor wouldn’t turn over. Ripley said McCain had explained that he’d mistakenly put diesel fuel in the gas tank, not regular gasoline. Ripley said he didn’t see this next part — because it was dark — but he heard the Chevy Avalanche roll slightly downhill, rolling over brush and branches, until the truck came to a stop when it hit something. Ripley said he’d assumed the truck was in neutral and had rolled without assistance down the incline.
According to Ripley, that’s around the time when his nephew Karren asked McCain if there was anything in McCain’s vehicle that needed to disappear, to which Ripley said McCain replied yes. Ripley said his nephew then asked McCain if the truck needed to disappear, to which Ripley recalled again that McCain replied yes. Ripley said that during this conversation, his nephew also volunteered to McCain that he “had his back”.
With that, Ripley said he drove his nephew home to his trailer on Olinda Road, located on the McCain property, close to the McCain residence. After dropping off the nephew, Ripley said he asked McCain if he was going to stay at his home on the Olinda Road property, or whether he’d rather go to his mother’s house. Ripley said McCain replied that he wanted to go to his mother’s house on Redding Rancheria Road. He said McCain gave Ripley $100 for gas. Ripley said after dropping off McCain he bought gas, went to the casino for a bit, and came home. Ripley said that when he saw later his nephew, Ripley told Karren, “Whatever’s going on I want no part of it,” referring to his nephew’s offer earlier in the evening to help “disappear” the truck and its contents for McCain. Ripley said his nephew said he wanted no part of anything, either.
Borges probed Ripley about the Shasta County Sheriff’s detectives who twice traveled to Washington to speak with Ripley regarding Saelee-McCain’s disappearance, since Ripley is somewhat related to McCain. Ripley said that when he opened the door to the detectives, who’d arrived unannounced, Ripley said, “What took you so long?” Ripley said he was offered amnesty in exchange for testimony.
At one point, after a vigorous back-and-forth volley of Borges’ questions and Ripley’s insistence upon what he knew to be true regarding the specific location of the pull-out on Highway 36, and specific timing of an event, Ripley told Borges, “I see what you’re trying to do with me. You’re trying to get under my skin.”
Later, when Borges asked Ripley to describe the sound of theChevy Avalanche rolling down the incline, an obviously exasperated Ripley said, “I can’t explain a sound. Can you?” (Borges said yes, and provided several examples.)
Borges asked when Ripley had realized that the truck he saw when he was with McCain and Karren was the same truck on the news related to the recovery of Nikki’s missing truck. Ripley said that a television newscast reported the truck was found on Bowman Road, to which Ripley said he later told his sister, “That’s not where I saw it.”
Ripley was asked if he’d ever seen his nephew with any of Nikki’s belongings, to which Ripley said yes; an expired drivers license, and some expired credit cards, all in Nikki’s name. Ripley said his nephew explained that he’d found Nikki’s items after law enforcement had searched the McCain home, and left.
Asked about the promise of amnesty, Ripley said he didn’t need it, because he wouldn’t be charged with anything or any wrongdoing because he had nothing to do with Nikki’s disappearance.
When Ripley was asked why he hadn’t contacted police about Nikki’s items in Karren’s possession, Ripley said he didn’t have a good relationship with police, because he was once pulled over and his car was towed away.
When Ripley was asked if he’d felt intimidated by the detectives who traveled from Shasta County to Washington just to interview him, Ripley replied, “No. When you go there to tell the truth, nothing is intimidating.”
Borges brought up Ripley’s former use of methamphetamine, casting doubt upon the accuracy of Ripley’s memory due to possible substance abuse. Borges asked Ripley if, for example, he could recall what he did in January. Ripley replied, yes, maybe some parts. Pressed by Borges on the matter of memory, Ripley said, “People remember things in their lives that stick out.”
As an aside, Ripley volunteered that he’d stopped using meth more than 200 days ago, a comment that brought a smattering of rapid, light applause from some courtroom spectators. When Borges asked if Ripley had a specific date that he’d quit, Ripley said no.
Final witness of the day
Justin Karren waits outside the courthouse Tuesday after the building was evacuated due to the sounding of a fire alarm.
The last witness of the day was Justin Karren, Ripley’s nephew. Prior to being questioned, there was some open discussion between the attorneys, judge and an attorney who represents Karren on some other unrelated legal matters. The issue was that Karren’s testimony could involve some references to drugs, which would put Karren in a self-incriminating legal bind. It was agreed by all parties that Karren would be granted immunity to speak freely, as long as Karren told the truth. Karren agreed.
On the witness stand, Karren was extremely difficult to understand, due to simultaneously speaking extremely softly while mumbling.
But the upshot of Karren’s testimony clearly contradicted his uncle Ripley’s version of the night when Karren allegedly asked McCain if anything in the truck needed to disappear, and if the truck also needed to disappear. In Ripley’s version, McCain said yes, he did have something inside his truck he needed to disappear, and he did want the truck to disappear, too.
Pushed on his version that was in sharp contrast to Ripley’s testimony about the same event, Karren said that regarding his statements to McCain, he simply meant that because the truck would be a BOLO (be on the lookout) they needed to get the truck off the road. Likewise, Karren said he suggested to McCain that before getting rid of the truck, McCain should first remove any belongings.
When Karren was asked if he’d ever heard a recording of his interview with detectives, Karren said he was unaware his interview was recorded. A segment of a recording was played in the courtroom related to Karren’s alledged questions to McCain about the truck, and offers to help. The audio quality was poor, but it the gist of it was that what Karren had told the detectives and what he’d testified in court were not the same.
Karren was asked, while still on the witness stand, “Justin, would you have told the detectives the truth?”
Karren said yes.
That concluded the day’s testimonies, but not before Judge Bender offered Karren a stern reminder that the recent legal protection from the court regarding testimony that included possible mentions of possible illegal activities was conditional; that Karren must tell the truth. Karren said he understood.
McCain remains in custody in the Shasta County Jail without bail. His preliminary hearing will resume tomorrow at 9 a.m. in Department 63.
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