The national television show Dateline NBC will feature an episode about the homicide case of Kalispell resident Nicole Waller.
The two-hour episode is scheduled to air Sunday, May 21 on Montana’s NBC affiliates.
On Feb. 14, 2013, Kalispell resident Nicole Waller went missing along an isolated stretch of U.S. Highway 2.
In January of this year, Cody Wayne Johnston was sentenced to life in prison for killing Waller, whom he had been dating. Johnston was charged in August 2015 and convicted in October 2016.
Prosecutors said Waller had contacted family on Valentine’s Day 2013 and said she was breaking up with Johnston and returning to Kalispell. Her vehicle was found abandoned near Poplar. Investigators believe Johnston killed Waller and put her body in a barrel. A witness testified he helped Johnston move Waller’s vehicle to where it was found near Poplar.
Waller’s body has not been found.
Dateline NBC reporter Josh Mankiewicz interviewed several individuals from the Montana Department of Justice, including Division of Criminal Investigation Agent Mark Hilyard, Prosecution Services Bureau Chief Brant Light, and Assistant Attorneys General Joel Thompson and Ole Olson. Officers from the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, the Richland County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI were interviewed as well.
“Our Montana Department of Justice prosecutors and investigators serve justice faithfully, and live for the opportunity to honor crime victims with unfailing service and tireless dedication,” Attorney General Tim Fox said. “Our hearts go out to Nicole Waller’s family, and we pray that our work to bring justice will help them heal and find some measure of closure in the wake of this senseless crime.”
Agents from the Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation worked collaboratively with the FBI, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, and the Richland County Sheriff’s Office on the investigation, which helped DOJ’s Prosecution Services Bureau team prove Nicole had been murdered.