The American Greed Season 11 premiere episode ‘Deadly Gold Digger’ tells the story of Nanette Johnston. She stole the heart of multimillionaire divorcé Bill McLaughlin of Newport Beach, California. After their engagement, she started stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his accounts and cheating on him with former NFL linebacker Eric Naposki. When McLaughlin, 55, was shot to death in his home in 1994, Johnston, 29, and her boyfriend Naposki, 28, were suspects but the case went cold. (McLaughlin had a $1 million insurance policy.) The case was was reopened in 2008. Four years later, in 2012, although no weapon nor DNA were found, Johnston and Naposki were found guilty of special-circumstances murder. In 2012, Johnston and Naposki were sentenced (separately) to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
At her trial, Johnston’s third husband William Wayne McNeal testified. He said he had no idea Johnston, the mother of his child, was a suspect in a murder case. He was supportive of his wife at first, after her arrest — until he discovered all the lies she told him. McNeal stopped visiting her in jail, stopped bringing their son to jail visits, and filed for divorce in March 2010. American Greed airs Mondays at 10pm on CNBC.
