Dateline: Unforgettable is examining the murder of Dawn Hacheney, who was killed by her pastor husband, Nicholas “Nick” Hacheney, on Christmas Day at their home in Bremerton, Washington.
On December 26, 1997, neighbors of the Hacheney residence reported a fire. After the flames subsided, the body of Dawn was discovered.
Hacheney told the cops that he and his wife had returned home late the night before and had opened Christmas presents, leaving the wrapping paper in front of a heater. The killer claimed he had left early in the morning to go hunting and switched on the heater, which caused the fire.
A propane gas tank left in the bedroom had accelerated the fire. Hacheney said his wife had taken Benadryl during the night because she wasn’t feeling well, and this may have hindered her ability to escape the flames.
An autopsy concluded that Dawn had died from asphyxiation from a flash fire. Her death was ruled a tragic accident, although at least one detective officially reported their discomfort at that decision.
That investigator’s suspicions were confirmed in 2001 when Sandra Glass approached the police, claiming that she had had an affair with the pastor in 1997. She also said Hacheney confessed to killing Dawn.
Nick Hacheney confessed to his affair that he killed Dawn Hacheney
Hacheney reportedly told Glass that on Christmas night, he had given his wife some Benadryl and then lay awake until God supposedly told him to act. The killer then suffocated Dawn with a plastic bag and set the fire.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelIt later emerged that the pastor had had affairs with three different women at his church.
A jury convicted Hacheney of first-degree murder. The jury also found him guilty of committing the murder “in the course of” first-degree arson, an aggravating factor, meaning the judge was mandated to sentence him to life without parole.
However, the Washington Supreme Court subsequently vacated the mandatory life sentence after ruling that the arson could not be classed as an aggravating factor in the murder because Dawn was already dead when Hacheney started the fire.
Nick Hacheney given 26 years for Dawn Hacheney murder
Hacheney was resentenced in 2008 to 26 years, the maximum allowed under Washington state law at that time.
At the resentencing, Dawn’s brother, Dennis Tienhaara, asked the judge, “Where is the justice in enabling a cold-hearted, emotionless killer to live out more years in freedom than the years that we were blessed to share with Dawn?”
Hacheney continued to maintain his innocence.
Dateline: Unforgettable airs Thursdays at 8/7c on Oxygen.