Lawyers spar on fatal love triangle

As the courtroom emptied out at the Harbor Justice Center Friday night, Newport Beach Sgt. Dave Byington could be heard reassuring one woman that everything would work out.

For the last few hours of Friday’s preliminary hearing, the woman and other relatives of Bill McLaughlin watched as Deputy Public Defender Mick Hill tore apart Newport Beach police detectives’ investigation into McLaughlin’s death, which allegedly came at the hands of Hill’s client.

Hill argued that within days of McLaughlin’s slaying Dec. 15, 1994, police were convinced that Hill’s client, Nanette Packard, and her then-boyfriend, Eric Naposki, were the killers. They dropped all other leads in the case to focus on the pair and did as little as possible to verify their alibis, he said.

Authorities say Packard had a years-long relationship with McLaughlin, a Newport Beach multimillionaire who financially supported her and her children. She is accused of hiring her secret lover, Naposki, to kill him. The murder was considered a cold case until new evidence turned up earlier this year and the pair, who had long been apart, were arrested in May.

Hill highlighted all the apparent shortcomings in detectives’ investigation into his client’s alibi. The two claimed they were at a soccer game in Diamond Bar hours before McLaughlin was killed at 9:08 p.m. Did detectives verify with parents that the two were there, or when they had left?

Outside of checking with one other person at the game, no, testified Thomas Voth, a retired Newport Beach detective who worked on the case.

Did they find out how late the game had gone, or if there were traffic delays that could’ve kept Naposki — the alleged shooter — from being in Newport Beach at the time of the killing?

No, Voth said.

Naposki said he was on the phone with his office less than 20 minutes before McLaughlin was shot at least twice with a 9 mm pistol. Did police check his employers’ phone records?

Again, Voth answered no.

Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Murphy remained confident after Friday’s hearing.

He said he had more evidence to present Monday, including the new evidence that led to Packard’s and Naposki’s arrest. Because it’s only a preliminary hearing, Murphy needs to only show enough evidence to convince a judge the two should go on trial for murder.

Murphy outlined the circumstances of the murder and how they are possibly tied to McLaughlin’s death.

First, McLaughlin was a millionaire several times over. Voth testified that neither Naposki nor Packard appeared to have any disposable income and, in fact, Packard was essentially dependent on McLaughlin. He also had a life insurance policy that would pay Packard $1 million if he died. That’s on top of the $250,000 she was insured in his will and a year rent-free in his Newport Beach home on the coast.

Voth testified in the months before McLaughlin was killed, Packard and Naposki were seen looking at homes on the market in a swanky part of Irvine.

Murphy pointed to a visit Naposki paid to a hardware store two months before McLaughlin’s death as incriminating.

Not only did he have keys made — the killer used a house key to get into McLaughlin’s home — but he asked an employee there to make him a fake silencer for a 9 mm handgun. He told the employee it was for a movie.

Police never found the murder weapon, and Naposki claimed his 9 mm pistol was stolen.

Packard was convicted in 1996 of stealing almost $500,000 from McLaughlin while the two were together.

The duo’s preliminary hearing will continue at 10:30 a.m. Monday in the Harbor Justice Center.