Bill McLaughlin was a millionaire who was murdered in his California home, and prosecutors contend he was killed for his money, according to ABC News. His girlfriend, Nanette Packard, and her boyfriend, former NFL player Eric Naposki, were convicted in his death.
McLaughlin’s son, Kevin McLaughlin, found his father dead at the home in Balboa Island, according to a 1994 article from the Los Angeles Times. The case went cold for 15 years before Packard and Naposki were charged, ABC News reported. Both maintain their innocence, the news outlet said.
ABC 20/20 is exploring the case in its new episode, which airs at 9 p.m. Eastern time Friday, September 24, 2021.
Here’s what you need to know:
McLaughlin Was Shot 6 Times By an Intruder When He Was Sitting at His Kitchen Table
2011 Eric Naposki found guilty #OnThisDay of first-degree murder in the shooting death of William “Bill” McLaughlin in 1994 @NFL @Patriots
McLaughlin was gunned down by a home intruder, according to ABC News. He was 55 years old when a gunman walked into his Newport Beach, California home and shot him six times on December 15, 1994, ABC News reported.
Residents were nervous and wanted answers from police at the time of the murder, which occurred in a gated community at Balboa Coves, according to a 1994 article from the Los Angeles Times.
“No information is available, so everybody is guessing,” Stan Love, vice president of the community association’s board of directors, told the LA Times. “We are of the opinion it was not a random shooting. It sounds like somebody was mad at him.”
Many sources who spoke to the LA Times remembered McLaughlin as a kind person, the article said, but his ex-wife, Susan McLaughlin, described him as “very controlling and domineering” in court records related to their divorce.
“In the final divorce settlement, court records show, she received assets worth about $4.5 million, including the family’s second home in Hawaii and future annual payments of $300,000,” the article said.
During litigation over assets in 1991, McLaughlin was called home after his son, Kevin McLaughlin, was hit by a vehicle and injured while he was skateboarding, the article said. The accident left Kevin McLaughlin in a coma and then hospitalized for “many months,” the article said. Kevin McLaughlin was 24 years old when he found his father’s body, the article said.
McLaughlin Invented a Way to Separate Plasma From Blood & Started Scholarship Programs
Nanette Packard, Eric Naposki are both serving life sentences without parole. t.co/vOuU3rOXj4
The 1994 Los Angeles Times article described McLaughlin as a shrewd businessman who developed a pioneering medical device. McLaughlin’s partners developed the prototype for a medical device to separate plasma from blood, and he started the business in a garage in Santa Ana, the article said. Soon after the product was developed, it was being used at blood banks nationwide, the LA Times reported.
Before the process was developed with McLaughlin’s partners, a person could die if a mistake was made during the medical procedure, the article said.
Business associates told the LA Times McLaughlin was “a charming friend with a warm smile. The kind of guy who always asked about their families.”
“Neighbors recalled him as a devoted father, a fitness zealot who frequently jogged with his golden retriever and a generous contributor to alma mater Loyola Marymount University, where he endowed two scholarships for needy students,” the article said.
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