Orange County District Attorney/ABC News Nanette Packard and Bill McLaughlin in Hawaii./Nanette Packard in an interview with ABC News in June 2021.
Nanette Packard is in prison today, serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole in the murder of Bill McLaughlin, according to her prison records. She was convicted along with her then-lover Eric Naposki. She is now 56 years old.
ABC News reported that at the time of McLaughlin’s death in 1994, Packard was living with McLaughlin at his California home and having an affair with former NFL player Naposki, a former NFL player. The Los Angles Times reported at the time of McLaughlin’s death that he was shot multiple times in the chest. His son, Kevin McLaughlin, found him dead, the article said. Kevin McLaughlin was 24 at the time.
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:
Packard Is Serving Her Life Sentence in a California Prison Where She Trains Service Dogs & She Maintains Her Innocence
Here’s the new cover and a link to a clip for the new audio version of I’LL TAKE CARE OF YOU, the story of the murder of multimillionaire Bill McLaughlin by his fiancee, Nanette Packard, and her NFL linebacker lover, Eric Naposki, in Newport Beach. Whoot! t.co/eu5NNIcrXb
Packard is serving her life sentence without the possibility of parole in the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, California, her prison record says.
Here is her prison record:
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.Nanette Packard’s prison record.
Her full name is Nanette Ann Packard. She was admitted to the prison June 18, 2012, her prison record shows. She told ABC News that she is involved with a service dog training program, Little Angels, at the prison.
Here is her prison record from VINELink:
VINELinkNanette Packard’s prison record.
Packard told ABC News the service dog training program brings healing to the recipients, but also fills a void for her in prison.
“These dogs, they just bring so much healing,” she said. “It also helps to make a difference for me, for me to be able to live with the fact that I’m away from my kids.”
Prosecutors Contended at Trial Packard Convinced Her Lover to Kill McLaughlin for His Money
2011 Eric Naposki found guilty #OnThisDay of first-degree murder in the shooting death of William “Bill” McLaughlin in 1994 @NFL @Patriots
The McLaughlin murder case terrified his gated community in Balboa Cove, the Los Angeles Times reported in 1994, and police at the time worked to unravel the millionaire’s background to identify suspects. The case went cold for 15 years, according to ABC News, and both Naposki and Packard were convicted in separate trials in 2011 and 2012, CBS Los Angeles reported.
Kim McLaughlin, Bill McLaughlin’s daughter, spoke at Packard’s court appearance, CBS LA reported in 2012.
“The destructive trail of deceit is astounding. The fact that you, Nanette, destroyed so many lives, including my dad’s, along the way is vile. Your web of lies has caught up to you, finally,” McLaughlin told Packard, according to CBS LA.
The article said that the murder case was built on “circumstantial evidence.” CBS LA reported that the murder was planned to “loot” McLaughlin’s savings and claim his $1 million life insurance policy.
Packard told ABC News that she feels guilt over McLaughlin’s death, but that she did not kill him and does not know who pulled the trigger.
“Maybe it wasn’t the most intense [relationship] romantically but I did love him,” she told 20/20. “He was a good man and he was good to my children, and I would never have killed him and probably would still be with him today if he were alive, because I had no reason.”
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