Nikki Cheng Saelee-McCain has been missing since May 2024. Her husband, Tyler Scott McCain, was arrested Aug. 20 on a murder charge for allegedly killing his wife. We are following the legal process as it plays out.
Court records show that defense attorney Michael Borges requested the trial be moved because of his involvement in other trials, adding that his independent experts also need more time to complete their work. The prosecution offered no argument against the delay.
The jury trial was supposed to start last month, but it got pushed back after a request from McCain’s lawyer.
During this morning’s trial readiness conference for the man accused of killing Nikki Cheng Saelee-McCain, the judge agreed to push the jury trial back to allow the defense more preparation time.
Tyler McCain pled not guilty to all charges during a hearing Tuesday, Oct. 7. His wife, Nikki Cheng Saelee-McCain, disappeared in May 2024 shortly before she was scheduled to testify against her spouse on felony domestic violence charges.
Tyler McCain is accused of killing his wife, Nikki Cheng Saelee-McCain, last year to prevent her from testifying against him on felony domestic violence charges. On Tuesday, a judge maintained that murder charge against him, as well as 11 other counts, including multiple felony domestic violence charges.
A video recording depicting a man alleged to be Tyler McCain pounding on a door and repeatedly screaming “open the door or I’ll kill you," brought some to tears. The camera footage came at the end of two weeks of testimony in McCain’s preliminary hearing on murder charges.
Last year, after being arrested by law enforcement, “Albert” Nelson told a detective that he had heard Tyler McCain confess to killing his wife, Nikki Cheng Saelee-McCain. But during six hours of direct examination on the stand yesterday Nelson repeatedly told the court he made up that story in order to strike a deal with law enforcement and get out of jail.
Jeanette Hayward told the court that alcohol use impacted her memory of events around the time her son's wife, Nikki Cheng Saelee-McCain, went missing. The prosecution also heard more from Luis Barajas, whose ominous sounding texts to Saelee-McCain the night she went missing have drawn scrutiny.
The witness testified to details of Nikki Cheng Saelee-McCain’s injuries in 2023 after she was allegedly beaten by her husband. He was one of three people to speak on the stand during the fourth day of a preliminary hearing.
On the third day of a preliminary hearing for Tyler McCain, who’s facing murder charges, the court heard from two individuals who have said they were offered immunity in exchange for their testimony.
