Jury sees ‘good cop-bad cop’ interrogation in North Dakota murder conspiracy case

BISMARCK — Jurors within the trial of a Bismarck lady accused of plotting to kill her husband noticed video Wednesday, Sept. 28, of her repeatedly denying that she had something to do together with his demise as investigators bit-by-bit revealed data to her they stated proved she was mendacity.

The forwards and backwards between Nikki Entzel and two investigators ended along with her telling then-Deputy Burleigh County Sheriff Aaron Silbernagel and Particular Agent Joe Arenz of the North Dakota Bureau of Prison Investigation that she felt a type of reduction that her husband, Chad Entzel, was useless.

Nikki Entzel earlier within the 6-hour videotaped interview that was minimize by about half for the trial stated she solely returned to her house the day earlier than her husband was discovered useless in an effort to search out her medicines. Silbernagel was on the witness stand because the video was proven throughout a part of the prosecution’s case.

Arenz in the course of the interview questioned why Nikki Entzel and Earl Howard — who authorities contend was her lover — would spend an hour and 40 minutes on the home that night time, but she discovered her meds in 5 minutes throughout one other go to the subsequent morning.

“Are we about achieved mendacity?” Arenz requested her.

The 2 advised Nikki Entzel that video surveillance at her house was not disabled as she thought, and that different video confirmed her and Howard at a resort the place she stated she was staying to get out of a home that was chilly due to furnace issues. She later acknowledged she and Howard had been staying in the identical room.

Authorities additionally contend that Nikki Entzel known as her husband’s office the day his physique was discovered to say he was sick.

Nikki Entzel, 41, and Howard, 43, a person with twin citizenship within the U.S. and Canada, had been accused in early 2020 of plotting the demise of Chad Entzel, 42, and making an attempt to cowl it up by way of a number of means, together with beginning two fires within the house. They had been charged with three conspiracy felonies — homicide, arson and proof tampering. Howard a couple of 12 months in the past pleaded responsible beneath a take care of prosecutors and was sentenced to serve 25 years in jail.

Emergency employees discovered Chad Entzel’s physique after they responded to a name of a home hearth in northeast Bismarck on Jan. 2, 2020.

Investigators discovered the house fairly heat, between 80 and 90 levels, Silbernagel testified Wednesday. Heavy soot was evident all through the house, however the worst harm was within the bed room the place Chad Entzel’s physique was discovered.

Dr. William Massello, who was the state health worker in 2020, testified Tuesday that Chad Entzel was shot twice with a shotgun and died of his wounds.

Derek Hill, a particular agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, testified Tuesday that the physique was on the ground and the shotgun was on the mattress. He additionally stated proof indicated an ignitable liquid was used to speed up the hearth within the bed room.

Nikki Entzel advised the investigators in the course of the videotaped interview proven Wednesday that she was in her automotive within the early morning hours of Dec. 30 when Howard and Chad Entzel argued. When Howard got here out of the home he advised her the 2 had struggled with a shotgun and it went off.

“He stated, ‘He’s not alive,’” Nikki Entzel stated, including that Howard returned the subsequent morning to start out a fireplace with a propane heater.

Authorities have beforehand stated Nikki Entzel advised regulation officers that Howard shot her husband, however that an analysis of the gun didn’t conclude who pulled the set off. South Central District Decide Douglas Bahr, who’s overseeing Nikki Entzel’s trial, final Could dismissed a homicide cost towards Howard on the request of prosecutors, leaving simply the conspiracy expenses towards him.

Protection legal professional Thomas Glass on Wednesday commented to Silbernagel within the courtroom that the video proven was “a fairly lengthy interview.”

“How lengthy did the great cop-bad cop routine go on?” Glass requested, referring to Silbernagel and Arenz questioning his shopper. “Is that sort of a way you guys use to interrupt folks, roughly?”

Silbernagel responded that he and Arenz hadn’t labored collectively earlier than that interview. He had developed rapport with Nikki Entzel, he stated, whereas Arenz selected a firmer strategy.

Glass noticed {that a} protection legal professional was not current in the course of the interview.

“Did you ever ask her at any level if she needed an legal professional current?” Glass requested.

“To not my information, no,” Silbernagel stated.

Silbernagel testified Wednesday that Nikki Entzel’s demeanor was “surprisingly calm” however modified rapidly as he interviewed her after she discovered her husband had died.

“I’d describe it as erratic,” he stated. “It was, one minute, vibrant, cheery, joyful — not becoming the scenario — after which it might be hysterical, compelled or stress respiratory and sort of high-pitched crying and sort of squealing.”

Investigators when processing Nikki Entzel’s automotive on Jan. 2 discovered a field containing two cellphones addressed to Howard. Nikki Entzel on Jan. 6 advised an investigator that Howard, whom she described as a good friend of the household, beforehand had accompanied her to the house to select up private objects.

Nikki Entzel identified to investigators an insurance coverage coverage dependent verification kind she stated she needed her husband to signal, Silbernagel stated. The shape had Chad Entzel’s title close to the highest and designated Nikki Entzel and her son as beneficiaries. It had not been signed by him, although highlighted areas confirmed the place he was to signal.

Burleigh County State’s Legal professional Julie Lawyer in her opening assertion to the jury on Tuesday stated Nikki Entzel within the days after her husband’s demise inquired with an insurance coverage firm about widow advantages and claims to renter and life insurance coverage insurance policies. The renter coverage was only some days outdated and price as much as $31,000; the life insurance coverage coverage was price $600,000 and was two years outdated, the prosecutor stated.

Nikki Entzel might face life in jail if convicted. Wednesday was the third day of her trial, which is scheduled for 2 weeks.