They were sweet. Her pride and joy. Im sorry. Its really hard. Pretty, toys, perfect, her twins were her world. They were so precious, the three of them were a tight unit. They were all she had, she was all they had. Then came that awful day. The two beautiful 16yearold girls had come home from school and found their Mother Murdered. They were rocking back and forth traumatized. Disturbed. What had the girl seen that day . Could they provide clues to help crack this case . We knew that nikki had a second boyfriend . Two boyfriends. Yes. Jealousy, passion, revenge. She was fearful, she contacted the police. What secrets might the twins reveal. It was terrifying, is it possible that this could happen. I was shaking. Oh my god, oh my god. You cant even imagine. Hello, and welcome to dateline. Nikki whitehead was a single mom working towards a Brighter Future but that dream died when nikki was viciously murdered. Her death and investigators committed to solving her murder the answer would prove elusive and in the and difficult for even the veteran detectives to believe. Here is Keith Morrison with bad blood. Once in a wild in a complicated life, a woman can get lucky, which is why youre looking at a sweet little town called reigned by gated communities, good school, a sheet of unions. It was pure luck that brought nikki in this quiet safe neighborhood. Just far enough away from atlanta, that capital of over heated ambition down the highway. Here she could give her beautiful twin daughters a better life than hers. But of course look, fortune, faith can go either way. Sometimes in ways very hard to comprehend. Everything about this goes against nature. How can somebody do that . It was definitely the bloodiest crime scene i had ever been to. In the next few minutes you will know exactly when it happened, where it happened, how it happened. But of course, the Real Question is why it happened. And the answer to that, as you will see, is kind of complicated. That is how Nikki Whiteheads life was. I love everything about her. Debra harris grew up with nikki, she was a wild child, pretty, fun and irresistible. Nikki, to me, she was a phenomenal, amazing person. She says she was effervescent, said nikkis mother, linda. Bigger than life. She was the kind of person, when she comes in a room, she just takes over the space, you know, with her personality, her laughter. But when nikki was 12, she was a handful. Linda was a single mom with kids at the time, so she agreed to have her move in with her grandmother. But she let the girl run wild. Boys, parties. We grew up kind of fast. And later, she became pregnant at the age of 18, or 19. So we moved kind of fast. Pregnant with identical twins, who she named jasmiyah and tasmiyah, jazz and tazz, born in 1993. The twins dad was around briefly, then gone. And their mother figure, nikkis grandmother, della. Nikes mother linda did not like that. I wanted nikki to get her own place, establish her own life, and my mom would discourage that. You know, she would find ways to tell her no, you are better off here. That is how it went for years. But nikki had learned how to style hair, and was doing well at it. And eventually saw the possibility of independence. She eventually wanted to get out of the control of della, right . She wanted to, as the girls got older, she definitely wanted to take control of her life. Then one day, in 2000, nikki was shopping at the mall. And robert head just happened to be in exactly the right spot. I was sitting on the fountain one afternoon at about 6 00. And there walks in nikki, coming into the mall. And your eye caught her . Yes, i just could not let her get away, she was outstanding. That he was old enough to be her father did not matter, robert was in love. So we persuaded her to go to dinner that very night, took her dancing. He bought her nice things, treated her like a lady. She was my movie star, thats what i called her my movie star. This movie star with two sweet daughters. He also sue love them as if they were his own. And that is how nikki came here, to safe, secure conyers. This is roberts house, and here they made a family. Unusual in some ways as it appeared, but it was nice, really nice. Everything clicked just right. And she wanted her life to be even better, so while she kept her job as a hairstylist, she enrolled in atlantas bauder college, to study fashion design. Thats what i really learned that she was a hairstylist. Rhonda taught a couple of her classes, she thought nikki had a sense of purpose. Whether it was about her kids, passion for other peoples hair i came into the class early one day, as i normally do, she looked up at me and said, miss anderson, what is going on with your hair . [laughs] i said what . Excuse me . And then she asked me this question, do you have a hairstylist, does she know that you have your hair looking like that today . I said yes, and no. She said, miss anderson, i am giving her one more chance. One more chance, and if it is not right, i am taking over. Rhonda loved nikki, and nikki loved her girls. She put the twins in dance, music classes, and at school they won awards. Their teachers described them as almost angelic, sweet, happy and engaged. And there are pictures of them, one on each of nickys arms. Catie beck, a reporter at an nbc affiliate in he just described to that, way she had a Sweet Demeanor in their classrooms, and with their classmates. They were almost timid. Then, as they reached their teens, they changed, somehow. And in the ways children often do, in the way that nikki herself once did. And just like nikki, the twins were sent to live for a couple of years with a rather permissive family matriarch, della. Until 2010, when nikki welcomed tasmiyah and jasmiyah back. All together again at roberts house. A fresh start and nikki turned up at school beaming. Yes, she was in a very good move. She looked great, a new look in her, she had braids in and she was happy. As if the braids in her hair were of an kind of announcement. Her girls were back. They were pretty much her pride and joy. Oh, you started to think about her . Its hard, it is really hard. January 13th, 2010. A sheriffs deputy happened to be in the neighborhood, the girls had just come home from school. The deputy saw the look of horror on their faces, heard their screams as they came pounding on his car. One of the twins ran up, and really beat on the side of the car and told them, they had come home from school to find their Mother Murdered. Coming up, two distraught daughters are about to reveal a clue. We are told by the twins that nikki had a second boyfriend two boyfriends . Two boyfriends. When dateline continues. 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In a gated community in the town of conyers, just east of atlanta, 16yearold twins jasmiyah and tasmiyah, arrived home from school, walked in the front door, followed a bloody trail, and there she was, in the bathtub, their mother, 34yearold Nikki Whitehead, they, are very debt. They walked in the mess that greeted arriving Conyers Police detective chris was a terrible story. This was a long drawn out fight. And he was fighting for her life for several minutes. This was not a quick attack and over with. She fought here. She was struck in the back of the head. She had a laceration at the back of her. Head there was a blood on the door, the door handle. As if as if she was trying to get out . Trying to get out. And then along this will, you can see a bloody imprint of here braids, we are nikki had her here in Breeds Braids where she fell, split down the wall. With the most severe blood came when she was face down in this area. Its clearly where the assailant got on top of her from behind and started stabbing her at the base of her neck. This huge amount of blood . Yes, this was the largest pool of blood in this area right here. She was dead, ordinary dead, when her assailant dragged her to the bathroom. Thats where she was in the tub of water when her daughter saw her. Before they ran to the street screaming. As we get there, you have these two beautiful, young 16 yearold girls, that saw their Mother Murdered. Conyers Police Captain jackie dunn wanted to get jas and tas away from the house. And thats when he noticed they were hurting themselves. One of them was biting their arm. And we were like why are you biting your arm . She said im so upset, and i do that when im upset. This was the worst kind of case. Detective needed information fast. But how do you get it from children who have just left their dead mother . [crying] i hurt. They were going in and out of fits of tears, crying. I want my grandma. Asking for their mom. I want my mama. They both seem to be walking rocking back and forth. Cotton plaintive, traumatize, disturbed. It will be okay. I want grandma. It will be okay. I can remember thinking, man, i hope there is a Family Member to adopt these girls. Because they really need somebody to reach out and the good parents for them. Word spread through the Late Afternoon gloom. A friend called harris. She had asked me when was a lost time i talk to nikki i said i talked to nikki saturday. She told me may want to go over to her house because she said the helicopters were there. And the news reporters. Tell me, when you heard that, what did you think . I dont know, it is like tunnel isnt. Vision. I guess it was slow motion. You could call nickys mother linda and told her something bad was going on over at nicki s. I was so nervous i dont know what to do. I was like, oh my gosh oh my gosh . I was just shaking. I could hardly drive. Linda pulled into her daughters neighborhood and saw a police officer. He said maam, could you pull over there . I said no, i need to go to my daughters house. He said maam, will you just pull over their pleas . Please . I pulled to the side and i said what is going on . He said man the only thing i can tell you is that your daughter has expired. There is no getting over Something Like that. As nikkis try to take it in, Investigator Set to work trying to figure out who did this. The girls said their mother was still in a room with the door locked when they left the house for school at 7 30. We missed the bus, so we had to walk. Perhaps the crime scene revealed more clues than the girls could. Lieutenant chris moon headed back there. Looking for cellphones, computers. Typically victims are gonna have cold are spoken with their assailants just before the murder around the time of the murder. The attack did not look random. It was not met rape. But it was so violent. That suggested rage. And when you look at a rage murder, its usually somebody very, very close to the deceased. So naturally, the first person they want to dock to was the man of the house, robert head, nikkis boyfriend. But robert was in around. Well is the last time you saw robert . Yesterday. He left, he came in on sunday. He stayed for a day. He left. Heres the thing, robert was a long haul truck driver, which explained his absence. But not where he was. Especially when nikki was murdered. We had to find robert and we had to check on his gps. That takes a while, right . Yes sir. Meanwhile, Detective Spread out through the neighborhood. Knocking on doors. Did anyone see anything unusual . A couple a neighbor said they saw a red car in nickys driveway that afternoon. A car they had never seen before. And a black car as well. They asked the girls. Who couldve been there . Does your mom have any other friends or anybody else that come over . She talks a lot of men. She talks to but the only one ive been hearing her talk to lately is joe. Joe . Who was joe . We are also told by the twins that nikki had a second boyfriend, joel carter. To . Boyfriends to boyfriends. Now that got the investigators attention. Time to dig a little deeper into the life of Nikki Whitehead. Coming up. Jealousy or bad blood involved . There clearly have an argument, the elegant streaming over the phone. Who is the immediate person of interest. When dateline continues. E continues. Ly control how much scent is released so it doesnt fade. Ooh. Does mine have a microchip . Oh. Febreze smells firstday fresh for 50 days. That is a shockingly long time. Febreze also has a Refill Reminder Light. It even reminds you to refill it . So i never miss a day of freshness. Your home is so fresh upgrade to febreze plug. Detectives in conyers, georgia, were getting a crash course in the short life of Nikki Whitehead, found stabbed to dead with her in the home over live in boyfriend, robert, and with her teenage daughters, jazz, and tazz, who had each other for support. The rules put their arms around each other, and they said it will be okay, we will find out who did this. They were clearly relying on each other to get through this. But, they were able to convey some real information. Any idea who she was talking to . It was joe. Who is joe . Her mother had a second boyfriend, a man named joe carter, a local barber, whose shop was right next to nikkis salon. A Love Triangle . Veteran Homicide Detectives said it sounded like a recipe for murder. First, they talk to robert, boyfriend number one who is on the road in his long haul truck. How did he react to the news . He was devastated. Who is easy enough to check on robert. Gps records put up a full days drive away when nikki was murdered. When they met him, as we did, they could plainly see his grief was real. That was my better half, she was gone. It is a hard thing. This was how detectives discovered the unusual nature of robert and nikkis relationship. Robert that he knew about the other boyfriend, and he said he did not mind. He said he wanted nikki to be happy when he was away on the road. And he is a trucker. When he was home, he expected for her and him to be a couple, and when he was away, he realized she would have other relationships. But what about joe . How did he feel about that . He was upset about something, says the twins. The night before the murder, they said that joe and nikki had a nasty, loud argument on the phone. All she told joe is that he could not come over that night. Or they suggesting that they might have been jealousy, bad blood involve . That is what we initially thought. Obviously, he was an immediate person of interest. Though he was, remember, the neighbors spotted a black car near nikkis house the day she was killed. Joes car, perhaps . Do you know what joe drives . No, i know the black car in the driveway. And it is a black a black car. Richard reid was the Rockdale County district attorney. We need to look at that car, especially since nikki and joe had been in an argument. They were breaking up, and that is a dangerous time in a relationship. It can be a dangerous time in a relationship. It was not hard to track joe down. He was in the barbershop where he worked. It was around closing time, ready to pack up and get out of their. And they approached me and my friends, and they basically said that she has passed away, she is dead. I mean, i was shocked, i was in shock. How did he react when he came to see . He started to weep. Did he claim not to know . He claimed not to. No but reactions do not always tell the real story. They were basically asking about me, our relationship, when the last time was that i saw her. I started to realize that i was a suspect. The detective did what any good detective would do. He looked for the sort of marks that nikki might have left on the assailants body. Look at his hands, arms, knees. He took off his shirt but joe was clean, not a suspicious scratch on him. Detectives learned that car outside of nickys house did not belong to him. Still, they brought him in for questioning, hooked him up to a polygraph and asked him point blank if he killed nikki. And the polygrapher determined that he was not deceptive in answering questions. I want to find the killer, i want them to know that it was not me. So that was it for joe . It appeared that joe was not involved in the death of Nikki Whitehead. So, two boyfriends and two dead ends. You know, in addition to robert head and carter, could it have been a stranger . Couldnt have been other did you look into that . We did. They still wanted to know who owned another car, a red one that was also seen in nikki s the day of the killing. It did not take long to find out, it belonged not to a murderer at all, but a friend. Nikki had missed a Hair Appointment with this friend, and the friend had come by, knocked on the door and had not been able to make contact with nikki, and left. Imagine had she opened that door, such a grizzly scene, so full of rage and passion. So, who killed nikki . Somebody close . Then, as they struggle to figure it out, investigators encountered, in their own police files something rather stunning. Coming up, Family Secrets there were a few yet to be revealed. It turned into a fight. A physical fight . A physical fight, and she contacted police. When dateline continues. Hi i am liu with your top stories the federal government will house passed bill that would temporarily keep the government open for 45 days. The clean continuing resolution notably lacks any funding for ukraine, spending cuts or border policy changes. This caps a chaotic few weeks in congress and a day full of surprises on capitol hill on saturday. Now, back to dateline. To dateline. Welcom