This Sunday evening, NBC's Dateline program  will feature the homicide of Kalispell resident Nicole Waller that occurred in 2013.

Chief Prosecutor for the Montana Attorney General's Office, Brant Light, said Waller went missing on Valentine's Day, as she was on her way home from Sidney, and her body was never found. Brandt and his staff alleged that Waller's boyfriend, Cody Johnston, murdered her and disposed of her body.

Cody Johnston
Cody Johnston
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"It was difficult, because I couldn't explain to the jury how she had been murdered, since her body had never been found," Light began. "We had a pretty good timeline, and were able to get a verdict of guilty to both charges, and Johnston was sentenced to life in prison plus 10 years."

Light explained how he was able to convince the jury that Johnston was responsible for Waller's death.

"First, we had to prove that she was dead," he said. "In this day and age everybody leaves an electronic footprint, and she hadn't made any financial contact or family contact. Once we had convinced them of that, we introduced a very tight timeline. Through cellphone tower analysis, we were able to place him and her together that morning. Within hours, he had taken her car and left it near Poplar. He then hacked her Facebook account and indicated, acting as Nicole,that she was just gone and would return. Those were the most important things that convinced the jury that he had killed her."

Light said Dateline has covered several of the cases he has prosecuted.

"This is the fifth Dateline that I've done with one of my homicide cases," he said. "They've always done a great job, especially as far as the victims and their families have gone. My hope is that they concentrate on that aspect and help the family with the story. That's the way I hope they go with this."

A deliberate homicide conviction was obtained October 20, 2016, from a Richland County. To this date, her body has never been found.

 

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