On the morning of December 26, 1997, a neighbor in East Bremerton, Washington, noticed smoke coming from a residence and alerted others nearby. A 911 call was made, and authorities rushed to the scene. After bringing the fire under control, firefighters made a grim discovery accompanied by the smell of burning flesh.
Inside, they found the body of 28-year-old Dawn Hacheney. Her husband, Nick Hacheney, had been on a hunting trip with friends and returned home around 10:00 a.m. with their dog. He found the house burned and his wife dead. The death was initially ruled accidental, but a gruesome discovery years later would reveal something far more sinister.
Dawn Marie Tihara was born on December 5, 1969, in Seattle, Washington, to Donald Tihara and Diana Parl. Donald worked in a shipyard while Diana cared for the home. Dawn was the eldest child and only daughter, growing up with her three brothers, Dennis, Darren, and Derek, in Bremerton, Washington.
According to her mother, Dawn embraced her faith at an early age, accepting the Lord into her life when she was four years old. Her childhood included hardships, as her parents struggled with anxiety and depression that often led to conflict. Around 1980, Diana left the family to move in with a new man, but later returned with a newborn after the relationship failed.
Despite these challenges, Dawn excelled in school. At just 12 years old, she participated in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, an opportunity that led her to the White House and a meeting with President Ronald Reagan. In 1988, she graduated as valedictorian at Bremerton Christian School before attending Northwest College of the Assemblies of God in Seattle.
During her college years, she met Nick Hacheney, and an instant connection sparked between them. However, concerns arose among Dawn’s friends when she referred to Nick as “the one” after just a few dates. They perceived Nick as excessively assertive and overly self-assured, not aligning with Dawn’s personality.
Nick’s upbringing paralleled Dawn’s in some ways. He was born and raised in Washington, but unlike her, he hailed from Puyallup. His father, Dan, was a mechanic who remained distant and neglected family time. His mother, Sandra, juggled a home daycare and foster care, leaving Nick feeling neglected. He confided in friends that he felt less favored than his siblings and even the foster kids.
Despite this isolation, Nick sought comfort in the Bible and deepened his involvement in Christianity. His faith bolstered his self-assurance during adolescence but occasionally distanced him from others.
Nick and Dawn crossed paths at their shared college. Friends noticed a change in Dawn when she was with Nick. She became timid, withdrawn, and indecisive, frequently deferring to Nick’s choices even when they clashed with her preferences. It appeared Nick had a negative influence on her.
Their relationship persisted, leading to an engagement after Nick proposed on Alki Beach in 1990. They married on April 20, 1991, and moved back to Bremerton. Dawn secured a position as a loan officer, while Nick began his role as a youth pastor at Christ Community Church on Bainbridge Island.
Nick had aspired to become a youth pastor at Christ Community Church due to his bond with his former youth pastor, Bob “PB” Smith. At that time, PB Smith remained with the church but had partnered with Pastor Robert Billy Craig in guiding the congregation. PB Smith adopted a more amiable yet conservative approach, while Pastor Robert was known for stringent and radical teachings.
Both Nick and Dawn adhered to Christian fundamentalism, a community where the wife is expected to submit to her husband’s authority. At Christ Community Church, this ideology was explicitly promoted. The church practiced exorcisms, advocated for large families, endorsed homeschooling, and emphasized women’s modesty. Speaking out against these norms risked excommunication.
Nick shifted his admiration toward Robert and sought direct mentorship under him, favoring the stringent methods of Pastor Robert. Robert viewed Nick as a means to accomplish his agenda of outing Smith and assuming complete control as senior pastor.
By 1997, Dawn and Nick had encountered home-related issues, frequently relocating and residing in properties they refurbished to sell. Dawn yearned to establish a family and settle into a permanent residence. Nick found a fixer-upper in East Bremerton, but the home purchase, renovations, and house-flipping venture pushed the couple into debt.
Although their outward appearance showcased a seemingly flawless relationship, underlying issues existed. Dawn had even joked to a friend about potentially living with her instead of returning to her parents if she and Nick ended their relationship.
Nick continued accumulating debt by regularly loaning money to fellow church members. He embarked on an ambitious venture to establish a Christian Youth Camp, which proved financially burdensome. He began scouting properties in Jefferson County, convinced one would serve as the perfect location.
A congregant named Sandy Glass asserted receiving a divine vision affirming that the property Nick had his eye on was destined to become the site of the youth camp. Sandy, in her 20s, had faced considerable hardships. Her first boyfriend died from an unspecified illness, her father succumbed to a construction accident, and her brother battled addiction.
Sandy was married to a man named Jimmy, and their financial situation was strained. They relied solely on Jimmy’s income as a carpenter, with Sandy staying home to care for their children. Similar to Nick, Sandy struggled with reckless spending habits, resulting in frequent arguments between her and Jimmy.
The couple sought help from the church and began attending marriage counseling sessions facilitated by Nick. At this point, Nick had served as the church’s marriage counselor for several years. Many congregants lodged complaints with Robert about Nick’s counseling style, expressing discomfort over his tendency to focus predominantly on intimate inquiries.
Jimmy’s parents questioned Nick’s qualifications and experience in guiding their son’s marriage. Their concerns deepened when Nick exhibited a conspicuous focus on Sandy individually rather than on the couple. This heightened attention extended beyond counseling sessions, leading to prolonged phone conversations and excessive time spent together.
Pastor Robert’s wife, Pamela, noticed Nick’s conduct and had a private conversation with him, expressing concerns about his inappropriate behavior. Following numerous complaints, Robert intervened, cautioning Sandy that her relationship with Nick was unacceptable.
Sandy reacted angrily to Robert’s counsel, writing him a letter expressing her discontent. The relationship between Sandy and Nick negatively impacted those around them. Dawn and Jimmy, along with his children, felt hurt. One of the children confided in Jimmy, revealing that Nick and Sandy had mentioned Nick becoming their new father when Jimmy died.
At church, Dawn started sharing her distress with friends, revealing her financial turmoil and earnest desire to have children, a wish Nick vehemently opposed. As 1997 drew to a close, Nick engaged in relationships with multiple women besides Sandy. Sandy’s purported visions intensified, urging Nick to prioritize the establishment of his youth camp and allocate more time to their relationship.
Dawn made numerous efforts to rekindle Nick’s happiness, even going to the lengths of attempting to lose weight. Certain women within the congregation endeavored to console her, affirming that the issues between her and Nick were not a result of her actions.
On Christmas, Dawn woke up feeling under the weather. Despite being sick with a cold, she and Nick visited her family, spending the whole day together. Later in the evening, they headed to PB Smith’s residence, joining his family for some time. Plans were set for Nick to go hunting with Lindsay Smith’s daughter and her friends the following morning.
On the 26th, just before dawn, Nick met up with his companions at Hood Canal Bridge in Jefferson County for the hunting trip. After spending a few hours in the woods without firing a single shot, they decided to leave and headed to a local diner for breakfast around 9:00 a.m. While everyone was eating, Nick suddenly stood up, appearing concerned, and exclaimed that he and Dawn hadn’t opened their Christmas presents.
Around 9:30 a.m., Nick departed from the diner and returned home by 10:00 a.m., only to discover the tragic news of his wife’s demise in a fire. Investigators revealed that the fire initially remained contained in the bedroom, sparked by a malfunctioning space heater. The inferno rapidly escalated due to the presence of newspapers and wrapping paper within the room, worsened by multiple propane containers on the floor.
Strangely, despite Nick informing his friends at the diner less than an hour earlier that they hadn’t yet opened their Christmas gifts, he informed authorities that they had indeed opened presents the previous night. He explained that due to Dawn feeling unwell, she retired to bed without tidying up the wrapping paper. Nick claimed to have received the propane tank as a Christmas gift.
Police found no discrepancies in Nick’s account. Being a local pastor, Nick’s standing in the community left law enforcement with no reason to suspect anything other than an accidental death.
Concerned for their pastor’s well-being, Nick’s congregation sought ways to support him. Pastor Robert even proposed attempting to resurrect Dawn through prayer, but Nick declined, citing his wish to spare her any potential pain.
Mary Glass, Sandra’s mother-in-law, harbored immediate suspicions about Nick’s involvement in Dawn’s death. Convinced it wasn’t accidental, she urged her husband to approach the police, but this never materialized.
Within days, Dawn’s death was officially labeled accidental, and the Bremerton Police relinquished the case to Nick’s insurance company. Nick had already submitted a request to process Dawn’s life insurance policy. Family and friends found it peculiar that Nick was dealing with the life insurance so swiftly, but considering the couple’s substantial debt and Nick’s aspirations for the youth camp, they rationalized his urgency for the money.
The church community organized a celebration of life event serving as Dawn’s funeral. Amid their sorrow, Nick remained entirely composed throughout the funeral and even delivered a 45-minute eulogy. Friends assisting in tidying his home stumbled upon photos of Dawn tucked away at the back of a closet, which seemed as if he wanted to discard them.
Nick displayed a harsh and insensitive attitude not just towards some church members but also to neighbors and friends. Beyond maintaining multiple relationships with women from the congregation, Nick shockingly engaged in an intimate relationship with Diana, Dawn’s own mother, under the pretense of mourning as a widower.
Nick’s behavior had become intolerable even for Pastor Robert, resulting in Nick being asked to depart from Christ Community Church. This expulsion proved to be a significant blow to Nick, marking the outset of his escalating troubles.
On April 10, 2001, Sandy, accompanied by her lawyer, met with the County district attorney and received an immunity offer in exchange for her testimony regarding a long-held secret dating back to the morning of December 26, 1997.
According to Sandy, on the morning of Dawn’s demise, Nick allegedly contacted her and confessed, saying, “I did it.” However, their conversation was abruptly interrupted by another incoming call on Sandy’s phone. Sandy later returned to her conversation with Nick, seeking clarification on what he meant, but Nick only reiterated, “It’s done, it’s done.”
Sandy refrained from pressing for more details for several weeks. Eventually, when Sandy confronted Nick, he confessed to administering a substantial overdose of Benadryl to Dawn and suffocating her by placing a plastic bag over her face.
The heartbreaking aspect is that Dawn remained partially conscious, witnessing her husband suffocating her through the plastic bag. After ensuring she was no longer alive, he strategically arranged old newspapers and wrapping paper around the room, positioning them beneath her body, and positioned the propane tanks near the bed. He arranged the heater in a way that it would start a fire, intending to obliterate any evidence of a crime and stage the incident as an accidental fire.
Dawn’s autopsy findings indicated an absence of soot or carbon monoxide in her lungs and blood. The pathologist in charge of Dawn’s examination attributed her death to an accidental fire and overlooked crucial evidence regarding carbon monoxide’s adherence to red blood cells. This oversight led them to conclude that, given Dawn was a pastor’s wife, foul play wasn’t involved.
Despite an overdose of five times the normal amount of Benadryl, it was deemed insufficient to cause respiratory failure. The pathologist dismissed the possibility, suggesting Dawn, even in a drowsy state, would have reacted to the rising heat. Notably, crime scene photos revealed newspapers beneath Dawn’s body, an unsettling detail that went largely unnoticed.
Nick was arrested on September 12, 2001, at a Kinko’s parking lot. He staunchly denied any involvement in Dawn’s death, attributing his arrest to the church’s attempts at sabotage. Nick faced first-degree murder charges with bail set at $750,000.
Sandy’s narrative as conveyed to investigators appeared bizarre, adding to the frustration stemming from the nearly four-year delay in considering Nick as a suspect. Her reason for cooperating was equally exasperating, driven by anger over Nick’s involvement with other women from the church and feeling exploited. According to Sandy, at that point she concluded that God disapproved of their relationship, consequently implying that Dawn’s murder was against divine will as well.
Church members when questioned recounted Nick’s peculiar behaviors and inappropriate relationships, expressing dismay over his failure to even purchase a headstone for Dawn’s grave following the life insurance payout.
On September 17, 2001, Nick appeared before a judge and entered a plea of not guilty. He asserted that his church had cast a curse upon him, alleging that Pastor Robert possessed a malevolent influence far darker than comprehensible by the police.
Nick’s trial commenced, prompting a modification in the charges. Due to the prosecutor’s doubts regarding the judge’s inclination toward the death penalty initially sought with the charge of first-degree murder, the charges were amended to aggravated first-degree murder, carrying a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The alteration in charges stemmed from the arson Nick had committed, enabling this revised charge.
Witnesses, including the women involved with Nick and various church members who had undergone counseling with him, provided testimonies that illuminated Nick’s conduct to the jury. These accounts shed light on the significant influence wielded by the church in their lives. They detailed experiences of purported visions and direct messages believed to be from God, exploited by Nick for rationalization and manipulation.
Smith’s daughter testified, recounting her introduction to Nick through her father and how Nick had groomed her during her teenage years. Their sexual involvement ensued shortly after Dawn’s death and persisted until she eventually relocated about a year later.
Doctors and forensic experts also testified, emphasizing that Dawn’s body held vital clues regarding the events of that day. However, these indicators were overlooked due to Nick’s status as a pastor, despite the abnormal absence of soot and carbon monoxide for someone who was alive and breathing during a fire.
The defense vehemently contested these allegations, focusing efforts on framing Sandy as the jealous, vengeful ex-partner fabricating accusations upon discovering Nick’s infidelity with various women.
Nonetheless, on December 26, 2002, five years post Dawn’s tragic demise, the jury deliberated for a mere day before delivering a guilty verdict for aggravated first-degree murder against Nick.
During the subsequent sentencing on February 7, 2003, Nick addressed the courtroom comprising Dawn’s friends and family, vehemently maintaining his innocence while expressing remorse for his actions and sorrow over their loss. Nick received a life sentence.
However, in 2007, an appeal to the state supreme court led to a revision of his life sentence. The appeal contended that since Dawn had already perished due to Nick suffocating her, the original charge of aggravated first-degree murder pertaining to death by arson didn’t align with her actual cause of death. Ultimately, the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of the appeal, altering Nick’s sentence to 26 years in prison.
While in prison, Nick has actively supported educational initiatives and co-founded the Environmental Advancement Reintegration Network. He initiated a waste management system employing worm composting and even delivered a TED Talk centered on sustainability.
Unfortunately, it is indicated that he will become eligible for parole in 2025 and could potentially be released soon.
Dawn is gone but not forgotten. The life she picked with whom she believed was “the one” didn’t turn out to be the actual reality, and sadly, in the process, it led to the ultimate betrayal and her heartbreaking and untimely demise.