Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that the preliminary hearing was extended.
Last May, Shasta County resident Nikki Cheng Saelee-McCain went missing before she could testify in a domestic violence case against her husband. Tyler McCain was arrested last month and charged with her murder. His preliminary hearing is underway this week.
Annelise Pierce, managing editor of Shasta Scout, has been covering the case from the courthouse. She says the community has been watching it closely.
"The fact that he is alleged to have committed domestic violence against her, to have battered her, is itself not a conviction, and also does not necessarily mean he murdered her, right?” Pierce said. “But for the community, this seems like a very airtight case. And so there is a lot of pressure on the district attorney's office to get a conviction eventually in this case.”
“She was planning to testify against her husband on felony domestic violence charges. Those charges disappeared last year after she disappeared, but they have been reinstated now, along with the murder charge …”— Annelise Pierce, Shasta Scout managing editor
Pierce noted that McCain had already faced other felony charges when Saelee-McCain went missing.
"She was planning to testify against her husband on felony domestic violence charges,” Pierce said. “Those charges disappeared last year after she disappeared, but they have been reinstated now, along with the murder charge and the special allegation that he allegedly killed her to prevent her from testifying."
The case has become a flashpoint in Shasta County, with criticism directed at the sheriff’s office over the time it took between Saelee-McCain’s disappearance and her husband’s arrest.
“There have been a lot of high-profile or important disappearances, and this kind of raises the onus on an outcome in this case.”— Annelise Pierce, Shasta Scout managing editor
Pierce said it also comes amid a string of widely publicized disappearances in the area, including the Sherri Papini hoax and the unsolved disappearance of Nick Patterson.
“There have been a lot of high-profile or important disappearances, and this kind of raises the onus on an outcome in this case,” Pierce said.
The preliminary hearing was scheduled to end tomorrow. Today it was extended through Tuesday, Sept. 23. It will determine whether the case moves forward to trial, and whether McCain remains in custody or is eligible for bail.
