48 Hours: Daddy's Girl

Did A Brother And Sister Conspire To Murder Their Stepfather?

(CBS)  Brae Hansen, the little girl Tim MacNeil had raised as his own, is now 19 years old. She's had a lot of time to think about her stepfather’s murder while in jail awaiting trial.

"I've mourned him and grieved him. But only to a certain point, because I've been in here and I haven't had to live out in the world without him," she tells 48 Hours.

Brae and Nathan face charges of first-degree murder by means of lying in wait - a special circumstance that carries a mandatory life sentence.

In November 2008, nearly a year-and-a-half after Tim MacNeil's murder, his stepson goes on trial.

With Brae's trial still pending, she's unwilling to testify in her brother's trial; therefore, her statements to police implicating Nathan can’t be used against him in court.

It's not an easy case for Prosecutor George Bennett: there's no physical evidence that points directly to Nathan as the shooter. His fingerprints aren't found in Tim MacNeil's house or on the gun. And the DNA that was found on the gun does not specifically point to Nathan.

Investigator J.C. Smith says police found low levels of DNA on the gun belonging to Nathan, Brae and Tim MacNeil.

Nathan's attorney, Ricardo Garcia, isn't impressed. "The physical evidence doesn’t tell a clean story," he says.

But Prosecutor Bennett tries the case with circumstantial evidence - including the mask with Nathan’s DNA and the eyewitness accounts of a young man matching Nathan’s description seen running from the crime scene.

After six days of testimony, the jury gets the case. They deliberate for just one day before making a startling announcement: the jury is deadlocked. The split vote is seven guilty and five not guilty.

The judge declares a mistrial.

"It was just like a punch in the stomach. I mean, it was just like - it hurt so bad," Tim's daughter, Erin MacNeil Ellison, says of the decision.

The mistrial is also disappointing to the investigators who know of one important interrogation that the jury was not allowed to hear - something that could very well have changed the outcome of the trial.

During Nathan's initial interview with detectives, just moments after he asked for an attorney and shut the interrogation down, Nathan changed his mind and said he wanted to talk.

J.C. Smith says, "I told him we can’t talk to you without an attorney and he threw his hands in the air and said: 'For the time being, I will waive my right to an attorney for now, and then, until further notice.' So we went back in and he started to talk to us in little bits and pieces."

Nathan finally admits to police he was present during the murder and begins to give his own account of how it happened. "I know Brae had plans but, they're not the plans for me," he tells police.

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Nathan's Interrogation
Watch excerpts of Nathan Gann's initial interview with San Diego police.

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He re-enacts the moments before Tim MacNeil was shot and, for the first time, Nathan suggests a motive.

"I mean, I was angry. But, no. You know, I didn't want him to die. I wanted him to be scared. I wanted him to be honest… to honestly feel like - take me seriously for a change. Not just dismiss me... again."

And he tells police Tim MacNeil's dying words, as he lay face down before that final, fatal shot to the back of the head.

"I don't - I just know I panicked... I remember him saying it like a thousand times. Just 'you killed me, you killed me. Why did you kill me?'"

But when Judge Frederic Link declared Nathan's statement inadmissible at trial, he dealt a crushing blow to the prosecution's case.

"Judge Link said there [were] Miranda issues," says J.C. Smith.

"Because he asked for an attorney?" asks Tracy Smith. "Yes."

"So in the judge’s opinion, you should've just left when you guys were first walking out?"

"…or read his Miranda rights again, maybe," Burkett replies.

And if they'd just walked away? "We only have Brae’s side of the story and really nothing to corroborate it," says Smith.

Four months have passed since the first jury deadlocked, but George Bennett is back in court ready to try again. This time he has a new strategy: try the brother and sister together.

In an unusual arrangement, the evidence is being evaluated by two juries - one for each sibling.

"I think it helps the jury to see that they worked together, that they did this together, that they’re being tried for the crime together," J.C. Smith explains.

"I need a lawyer…this is too powerful," Nathan tells police during his confession, which is still inadmissible. But Brae’s attorney, Troy Britt, isn't so lucky.

"I had to deal with my client’s statement being played for the jury," he says.

"He knew I didn’t want to go through with it, but I did anyways, so it's my fault," Brae confesses during her interrogation.

Britt stuns the jury, admitting Brae hatched the murder plot.

"I'm conceding to you all right now that she did start this plan," he tells jurors. "But what she also did was she tried to withdraw from this plan."

It's a calculated gamble, since Britt also tells the jury Nathan is really the one who wanted Tim MacNeil dead:

"She's telling him, 'I don’t want to do this anymore. Please don't do this.' But her brother wouldn't stop. He threatened his only sister. He pointed the gun at her and said, 'You're gonna end up like Tim if you try to stop this.' He wouldn’t let her out of it."

"Is it a little risky to turn to the jury and say 'Yeah, my client's a liar, but eventually she told the truth. Yeah, my client planned a murder, but then she tried to back out of it,'" Tracy Smith asks Britt.

"Well, absolutely," he says. "And the difference, though, is the law allows somebody to withdraw from a conspiracy."

But it's a challenging argument to make to jurors who listen as Brae matter-of-factly describes how Tim MacNeil begged for his life:

"He was like 'Nathan, don't do this, you know, you can go back now. I promise won’t call the cops or anything,' blah blah blah. I was like 'Nathan maybe we should listen to him."

"[Brae] was mesmerized by watching herself on the video," Bonnie MacNeil observed of her niece's actions while watching her interrogation video in the courtroom. "There's no feeling, there’s no remorse, there's not even the - 'my dad died.' There’s nothing."

Brae admitted that she lied to police. So why should people believe her now?

"Because if I was gonna lie to them, why would I implicate myself at all?" she says.

Prosecutor Bennett now turns his attention to Nathan, and introduces a controversial witness - a convicted drug dealer who says he met Nathan Gann in jail.

"Out of the blue one day, [Nathan] said, 'I’m gonna tell you what happened, and he whispered the whole entire thing to me,'" the witness tells 48 Hours in a whisper.

The informant, "CG", who 48 Hours agreed to call by his initials to protect his identity, claims Nathan confided to him the details of how he and Brae plotted to kill Tim MacNeil.

"They were gonna take care of him," CG testifies. "He ended up driving to San Diego very quickly. When he got there, he saw his sister and she said 'I'm so glad to see you,' and gave him a kiss. And he told me it was like Judas kissing Jesus."

He tells Tracy Smith, "I got the sense that Brae had a lotta influence on him in his decisions."

CG's story matches the one Nathan told police.

"[Nathan] said he shot him and [Tim] fell down on the ground," he says. "And then when he kept saying, 'Why are you killing me?' and kept sayin' his name, 'Nathan, why are you doing this to me, Nathan, Nathan,' he just flipped out and finished him off."

CG says Nathan even told him where he got the black clothing he allegedly wore during the murder.

"He went to Goodwill and picked up a shirt, gloves, I think pants, and drove out to San Diego from Sun City."

And Bennett presents a receipt proving Nathan went to a Goodwill store on July 18 - the day before the murder.

Nathan's attorney seizes on discrepancies in CG's story and hammers away at his credibility.

"In addition to the conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, you were convicted of a conspiracy to launder money, is that right?” Britt asks. "Yes," says CG.

"And you agreed with the feds that you would testify against your co-defendants. Is that right?" "Yes."

"And when you snitched on your friends, you got a better deal than they did, didn’t you?" to which Garcia objects.

"I think my case is about showing that the prosecutor’s star witness is a liar," Garcia explains. "He’s a convicted drug dealer. He’s a convicted money launderer. These are crimes of complete dishonesty."

But for Brae's attorney, CG is a godsend.

"He told you that he is the person that shot Tim MacNeil, correct?" Britt asks in court. "Yes," CG replies.

"And while he was shooting Timothy MacNeil, Brae Hansen was screaming her lungs out, correct?" "Yes."

"And, in fact, Nathan Gann told you that he pointed the gun at her. Isn’t that right?" "Yes"

"And he told you he was going to shoot her, right?" "Yes."

Tracy Smith asks Nathan how CG got the details about the crime.

"Oh, they were everywhere, on the Internet, paper. That's how I figure," Nathan says. "But I don’t tell him anything. I never - this man is not all there. There’s no reason why I would trust or confide in this guy."

Against the mounting evidence, Ricardo Garcia calls character witnesses to show it's just not in Nathan Gann’s nature to kill.

"The defense put witness after witness on the stand talkin’ about how Nathan was a good 10-year-old boy," J.C. Smith says. "And we wanted to bring someone in that could talk about the adult that Nathan Gann grew up to be.

That someone, now 22, is a former high school girlfriend who says she knows his darker side. Her identity is not being revealed because of the sensitive nature of her testimony:

"Are you afraid of Mr. Gann?" Prosecutor Bennett asks in court.

"Yes," the woman replies, crying.

"I'm gonna have to ask you to describe to the jury how Mr. Gann was sexually abusive to you."

"I hate saying this." She pauses before saying, "He - he’s raped me. I’m sorry, I’m sorry," she cries."

But Nathan claims his ex-girlfriend is crying crocodile tears - payback for jilting her in high school.

"That's a horrible, horrible story. And I can't believe she's so vindictive as to come and lie in court like that," he says.

"What motivation would this young woman have to come all the way to a court and sit there and cry about really personal details? Share those with the world?" Tracy Smith asks.

"I've seen her cry for real. And I’ve seen her fake cry. That was obviously her fake cry," Nathan says.

In his closing, Bennett states the witness "saw a different side of Nathan Gann than the people did 10 years ago, because she saw the same side of Nathan Gann that Tim MacNeil saw on July 19th."

Bennett saves his harshest words for Brae. “She wanted him gone. She wanted him dead. For what? For money? Because she was angry? Because she was upset? Because she felt unloved? You know, that’s too bad."

He then presents a letter found in her cell. Brae says she wrote it the night of her arrest.

"It wasn't addressed to anyone, but in fact, it was meant for my aunt and uncle and my sister," she tells 48 Hours. "I was planning on killing myself that night. I wanted them just to have the full story and not something that was gonna be twisted later."

Brae's letter is chilling… and damning.

"She says, 'It was supposed to be one clean shot, easy shot to the head. No pain, no suffering. That's the plan.' She never tried to withdraw from any conspiracy. It just got messy. And those tears and that expression is too late," Bennett says. "Brae Hansen controlled this thing the way you control a dog on a leash. She had that dog, Nathan Gann, on a leash, holding him back, holding him back, holding him back, and then she’s let it go."

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Brae's Letter
Read the three-page letter Brea wrote to her family from jail telling them the "whole story."

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“Why didn’t you do more to stop it? Tracy Smith asks Brae.

"I was afraid Nathan would kill me," she says.

After two weeks of testimony, it’s now up to the juries. Who will they hold accountable?

[veritoSuchil]

The girl is a sociopath who is a danger to society and evil to the core based on the evidence and her general nature and lack of remorse. However, the boy was both guilty of bad decisions and a victim of his sister's manipulative and strategic mind games. He has suffered from a severe lack of love throughout his life, and loved his sister, the same sister that now threw him under the bus for her disgusting wishes. Not an excuse, if he was actually a participact, but definitely no more likely to land him in hell than the lack of sympathy I have seen in these comments will land their makers in hell.

I personally don't think Nathan is guilty. Why would he leave his life in Arizona to murder someone he had no connection to? He was an honor student, could speak different languages, had a girlfriend that loved him,it just doesn't make sense.
On the other hand,he did not have gun powder residue on his hands.Many neighbors that saw a man run out of the house, could not identify him or his truck at the crime scene. A long hair was found on the gun that belonged to Brae, the gun was found placed in a way,that would have been a natural way for a right handed person to drop-but Nathan is left handed, whereas Brae is right handed. There is no physical evidence that shows that he was in Tim's house.
He may have well confessed in that video that we saw, because the cops are telling him that his sister is going to fry, his poor little sister. Maybe he felt he had to stand up for her, and thus say what he said on that video. The video doesn't clearly show that he actually knew what had happened.
When the sister slipped and said his name, it was when one of the detectives was asking her again, to state what had happened in the murder house.(The Macneil's brother said, that at gun point Tim would not have refused to give the combination of the safe, he thought there had to be more to the story and asked the detective to interrogate brae one more time) She said, she was zip tied, and then "since her dad wanted to go to the bathroom" Nathan unzipped her hands so she could take off her dad's pants, and then zip tied her again.
¬¬...I think she took down his pants to humiliate him,it makes no sense that someone at gun point would ask to go to the bathroom. It also makes no sense that nathan would take the time, to unzip her, then zip her up again, just so she could take off her dad's pants. she had to explain why her fingerprints were on her dad's belt, and she may have panicked and started making that part up, and since she usually blamed her brother for everything she said his name...

[hercule1122]

I find the comments about the father's lack of dress amusing. I often strip down at home and am not a sexual freak. Comfort is paramount for me and my home is private so there is no stupidity involved. My children are as well-adjusted as one could hope for, and the Puritans can return to the Mayflower. Americans never cease to amaze me with their frigidity and close-mindedness.

[bajajohn1]

The genesis of this unforgivable crime is that Brae felt rejected by her stepfather in light of his new relationship. What a shame! He was moving on and she wanted him all to herself.

[hercule1122]

I think the jury get it right, and hope the judge will mete out life in jail for these evil young people. The mother was a drug addict, and what the father saw in any of these slimeballs says that he was not very discerning. I guess love is blind!

[cliffps]

The daughter implicated her own brother AND was dumb enough to talk about the perp's face not being what the sketch claimed and so she did herself in, forget what the jury decided. And with that, they spend a very long time behind bars... justice, sweet justice.

[cepe10-2009]

Bogus and backward jury there, certainly reasonable doubt and many mistakes in the prosecution of this case. what a justice system.

[Dgunner]

YESTERDAY THERE WAS A ARTICLE POSTED ON CARRYING LOADED GUNS IN NATIONAL PARKS. A IMPORTANT ISSUE AMONG AMERICANS. TODAY IT IS NOT POSTED ON CBS. HOWEVER SOMETHING HORRIFIC AS THIS HAS BEEN POSTED NEARLY A WEEK NOW. THIS SAYS LOUDLY A LOT ABOUT THE MENTALITY OF CBS AND THIER EDITORS.

[48hrzfanz]

The stepfather loved them. He tried his best to be the father those kids never had. What's wrong with that? It just wasn't enough for a girl who had everything to live for.
I don't care if that girl was 17 at the time. She had sense to plot a murder like an adult. She spoke so eloquently and calm. Her brother was just a plain Liar. A rapist, murderous Liar.
What's wrong with our kids today? We try to give them all that we can out of love and caring. I guess it just isn't enough, ever. To the stepfather Tim MacNeil. Rest In Peace.

[SiliconDoc1]

Since Nathan was visiting his stepdad and Brae, he could have had the mask on his head in that home at ANY TIME over the past number of months. He said he built a computer for his stepdad.
I hate it when people are so stupid as to accept DNA evbidence and never think beyond the DNA on the item.
Of course by the whole of what as shown they did it as a team, nonetheless, to claim the DNA on the mask proves anything by claiming Nathan's DNA should not be on it is ridiculous. With Brae in the house she could have grabbed it after Nathan left it then handed it off to the real shooter. Simple. Not saying it happened that way at all - I'm just saying people ought to THINK before they declare a piece of evidence something that proves guilt, then make a false statement trying to back that up.
I'll tell you it's scary how easily people are fooled nowadays.

[lottainfo]

When I viewed this story last Saturday, May 16th, 2009, I knew something was up when I observed Brae's demeanor. I still cannot understand what the motive was; I heard Brae felt left out or was angry. Could you imagine the bloodbath our country would have if teens killed their parents because they were angry at them?

This Brae character seems very spoiled, even though she is from a broken home. Her step father opened his heart, home, & wallet for her; this murder was the ultimate betrayal.

I hope she rots in jail.

[nancybotwin2008]

Alabamdeb is right on. Brae Hansen's "suicide letter" (linked on page 2 of this article) reveals Brae's twisted narcissistic thinking. Brea has the audacity to explain how "hurt" and offended she was that her stepfather postponed their birthday lunch -- recall that the birthday lunch was the psychopathic siblings' initial lure to ambush and murder Tim MacNeil??!

The pants-down issue is a red-herring. I don't doubt that Tim MacNeil was a wonderful man and father-- he raised Erin MacNeil Ellison, a young woman with the strength and grace to feel true compassion for the step-siblings who murdered her own father.

[VaniNY]

This is a heartbreaking story. Here we have three lives destroyed. It also hurts those who read about it; you lose trust, confidence in your society and world around. How many more murderous youths and children are out there, hateful enough to kill their loved ones? Can you trust your own children? Would they betray you as well.
I am shocked by those comments which indicate an evident desire to blame the victim. Not only was the victim attacked in the intimacy of his home, but he is being blamed for being undressed because he was attacked while preparing for an evening out. Was he supposed to just zap his clothing onto his body?
It looks as though this man made a big mistake when he got involved with this troubled woman and her children. Maybe he enjoyed coming to their rescue, and helping out. But the girl seems unusually uneducated and desperate to be the daughter of an accomplished, educated attorney. I am sure that the dynamics of this dysfunctional family is the cause behind all this. Her stepfather had made her and her mother dependent on him. Her complete financial and emotional helplessness and dependency made her feel angry, enraged. Somehow, someone had fostered a sense of desperation and anxiety in her. Had she beene encouraged to develop as a person on her own? Had she been overly spoiled? I am sure that the step-son was dealing with similarly powerful feelings of incompetency, dependency, rage and betrayl accompagnied by additonal feelings of rejection. All these tumultous feelings are akin to a bomb waiting to explode. If they had not had easy access to a gun, maybe the man would alive to this day. Then again, they were such diabolical people, maybe they would have shot chemicals into his bloodstream as the needles seem to indicate. Horrible story.

[cliffps]

Excellent points made here. Now I wonder if she DID maybe have something to do with her Mother's "suicide." Won't be long now before this little psycho starts crying out that her step dad WAS indeed forcing sex on her, it's her only means for an appeal at this point and she'll try anything, as any trapped rat would. Notice how she dramatically broke down and doubled over after the verdict was read aloud? She did not behave this way before but she was very calm and matter-of-fact about everything. This girl has nobody fooled and it's all on camera. Watch, the next bit of drama will be a suicide attempt, let's hope she succeeds!

[24Cougar]

Sad, tragic case. I was glad to see in the end, the system worked. Great job by the police, the DA and the Court system.

[alesyn]

I don't think it's normal or appropriate for a father to walk around without pants on in front of his 17-year-old daughter, not to mention the "step" factor in it all. If you'll notice in the picture, or for those of you who saw the show, his lower half is blurred out indicating he was nude. Why would they blur out underwear? I doesn't appear to me that he is wearing underwear.

[rrozsa]

I don't think the fact he wasn't wearing pants is such a big deal. He was in the process of changing clothes. My husband put on his shirt and tie first, and walks around in his shoes and socks until he starts to leave, at which point he puts on his pants.

[mrs_trepidatious]

Very disturbing case. To be honest the fact this girl said her father had found a girl friend and stopped giving her attention normally does push one over the edge to the ultimate . . . murder! No way, unless of course that person had severe mental problems. This girl was normal. I hate to engage in conjecture and specualation and may he R.I.P (the Father) but I think he coulda be doing the daughter, and then he gets a girfriend and Brae gets axed out the equation. Now that could send someone over the edge, especially a 17 year old girl. I wonder where she was when her mother committed suicide? In her interview she said her mother treated her like a slave. I'm wondering if she somehow did the mother in to. I think she called the father home for an extra special lunch (sexually). Just because someone stops liking you platonically doesn't normally make a person to want to kill you. But if you've gotten sexually involved with them deep feelings are there and for some people they take it very seriously, so when its snatched away they strike back, this is what happened here, my opinion only.
Posted by stickdog3
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I think you are overlooking the inheritance money and a new wife would certianly leave her less than 50/50.

[cloudy412]

I think it was very unfortunate for this man to have gotten mixed up with this woman and her children, this man seemed like a really nice guy. I have a terrible dad (violent, etc.) I would have loved to have had a good father like him. I don't think they yet even understand what they have done, it's like no one is home with these two.

[stickdog3]

Very disturbing case. To be honest the fact this girl said her father had found a girl friend and stopped giving her attention normally does push one over the edge to the ultimate . . . murder! No way, unless of course that person had severe mental problems. This girl was normal. I hate to engage in conjecture and specualation and may he R.I.P (the Father) but I think he coulda be doing the daughter, and then he gets a girfriend and Brae gets axed out the equation. Now that could send someone over the edge, especially a 17 year old girl. I wonder where she was when her mother committed suicide? In her interview she said her mother treated her like a slave. I'm wondering if she somehow did the mother in to. I think she called the father home for an extra special lunch (sexually). Just because someone stops liking you platonically doesn't normally make a person to want to kill you. But if you've gotten sexually involved with them deep feelings are there and for some people they take it very seriously, so when its snatched away they strike back, this is what happened here, my opinion only.

[MalloryDavis]

Stickdog3: I am in agreement with you, so it's my opinion, as well.

[2catnight]

It's seems unusual that he would come home to have lunch with his step-daughter and it's stranger still that he had on no pants.