On the evening of September 27, 2014, Melissa J. Tuinstra, 28, was found dead on a sidewalk in Berlin, Wisconsin, the victim of multiple gunshot wounds. She was a nurse’s aide who hoped to become a nurse and was mother to an eight-year-old daughter. A passerby first thought the scene was a Halloween prank. Police later found 28-year-old Justin M. Daniels inside a nearby apartment; he too had died of several gunshot wounds, and authorities treated both deaths as homicides.

The investigation quickly focused on Melissa’s estranged husband, Nicholas Tuinstra; the couple had filed for divorce days before the killings. An Amber Alert issued for the couple’s daughter ended the next day when the child was found safe with Nicholas in Marquette County. Neighbors reported hearing Nicholas make threats while Melissa was moving out, and the criminal complaint said Melissa and Justin were shot from behind. Nicholas Tuinstra was arrested on September 30, 2014, tried, and in February 2016 a jury convicted him of both homicides and a stalking charge; he received two consecutive life sentences plus four years for stalking.