Nicole VanderHeyden, 31, a mother of three, went to a concert near Green Bay, Wisconsin, with her boyfriend in May 2016. She never came home. The next afternoon, a man clearing stones from a field found her body. Three days later, police arrested her boyfriend for her murder. But two devices had been recording that night: one on his wrist, and one in another man’s pocket.
Built from the Brown County Sheriff’s Office’s own public release: the boyfriend’s call reporting her missing, his first interview, the 911 call from the field, the deputies’ recorder in his kitchen, the investigators’ Fitbit test, the crime analyst’s map of the other man’s phone, that man’s arrest and interview, with the sheriff’s reports and the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision.
What you’ll see:
– “Is there going to find anything in your house…?” / “Absolutely nothing whatsoever.”
– The 911 call from the field
– “A lot of similarities”: the detectives tell him about the body
– His left wrist at 2:25 AM
– The sock, the DNA hit and another man’s phone at her address at 3:01 AM
– The killer’s story at trial, and the Fitbit test that answered it
Chapters:
0:00 “She’s never done this before”
0:30 May 20, 2016
1:52 The field
2:31 The first interview
2:52 “A lot of similarities”
5:12 His left wrist
5:24 The arrest
6:10 The sock
6:37 Another man’s phone
7:01 3:01 AM, Berkley Road
7:48 September 7
8:33 His story at trial
9:26 The Fitbit test
9:42 The verdict
10:13 The question
Outcome: In 2018, a Brown County jury convicted George Burch of first-degree intentional homicide; on May 4, 2018, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the conviction in 2021 (State v. Burch, 2021 WI 68), including the Fitbit and phone evidence. Doug Detrie was arrested on May 24, 2016, released about two and a half weeks later when the district attorney said there was not enough evidence, and was never charged in Nicole’s death.
In memory of Nicole VanderHeyden.
Sources:
Brown County Sheriff’s Office (Wisconsin) public records release BCS-2026-2419: interview-room video, 911 and dispatch audio, the investigators’ Fitbit test video, the crime analyst’s mapping video, squad camera video, incident reports 16-020716
State v. Burch, 2021 WI 68 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, June 29, 2021)
Sentencing: WBAY, May 4, 2018. Trial testimony: WBAY and NBC26, 2018
Aerials: USDA NAIP via USGS (public domain). Streets: (c) OpenStreetMap contributors
Private people are identified by role only. Nicole’s children are never shown or named.
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