Original subtitles

♪

NARRATOR: You know those people who post nonstop?

Pics, vids, challenges?

The people who give us full access to their lives...

to who they are.

That is 17-year-old Nikki Kuhnhausen.

- Why are you so obsessed with me?

♪

- Social media, yeah, it was her thing.

- She had like 10,000 followers.

NARRATOR: But then one day, her posts just stopped.

[cell phone dings]

Nikki disappears.

TAYLOR WATTS: I thought someone had her tied up somewhere.

[voice breaking] She was hurt and I, I just...

♪

NARRATOR: Days go by.

Her friends, family, and followers on edge.

Then investigators uncover their first major clue

on Nikki's social media.

- I couldn't believe what happened.

♪

♪ Theme music playing ♪

MAN 1: She solved her own murder from beyond the grave.

MAN 2: The fitness app on the phone,

it was overwhelming evidence.

♪ I've been haunted by the visions ♪

♪ That I've seen with my own eyes ♪

♪ And the only way to find you ♪

♪ Is to go beneath the lies ♪

♪

MAN 3: She did help catch this killer.

♪

NARRATOR: June 15th, 2019.

Vancouver, Washington.

When 17-year-old Nikki Kuhnhausen wants to feel free,

she posts a TikTok.

♪

♪ Everything will be alright ♪

Feel beautiful, she uploads a selfie on Instagram.

♪ Everything will be just fine ♪

Lonely, hits up the BFF on Snapchat.

♪

♪ Everything will be just fine ♪

But one ordinary summer day,

all her social media posts suddenly stopped.

♪

The first person to realize that something is wrong...

[man speaks indistinctly]

is Nikki's mother, Lisa.

- It was Nikki's.

Thank you.

[line ringing]

So at 8:34 on June 5th, Nikki called me.

She told me she was at my friend's house.

I called her at 11:00, because I always called her at 11:00.

She texted me back, "I love you, Mommy."

I said, "Honey, I have to be at work at two."

♪

The next day...

my message went unread,

I thought, that... that's just weird,

so I called and left another message,

"You know I need to talk to you, where are you?"

[line ringing]

Nothing.

♪

NARRATOR: Nikki's older brother Konrad

knows something is off.

♪

KONRAD KUHNHAUSEN: Her not replying to our mom

would never happen, never.

She would always reply to her.

[line ringing] [keypad beeping]

- I was just getting voice mail after voice mail after voice mail.

And that's when I knew something was wrong.

NARRATOR: Nikki and her mom are super close,

an unbreakable bond, ever since she was a baby.

- Nikki was always sassy.

Here she is on her third birthday.

She would crawl around at my ankles when I was trying to get my makeup on

and while her brothers would be doing Matchbox.

And she'd crawl out of the bathroom with makeup

and her two older brothers would say,

"Mom, why'd you do that to Nikki again?"

And I'm like, "I didn't, she did it to herself."

You know, so she started way young.

[children giggling]

NARRATOR: Her other big brother Alex

knew Nikki was truly unique early on.

- Growing up, she always wore high heels

and wearing makeup, wearing dresses,

you know, I'm playing with my G.I. Joes

and she's playing with Barbie dolls.

- In middle school is when she fully transformed into Nikki

and I never saw Nicholas again.

♪ Come on to me ♪

♪ My sweet self ♪

♪ This is ♪

- There were no gay people in our life at all,

and here's Nikki in the middle of it all.

♪

But it seemed natural.

She just lead us down her road and her journey of her life

and we followed, you know.

♪

NARRATOR: A lot of people want to follow Nikki's journey

and she shares it openly on social media.

♪ Look how they dress ♪

♪ Looking at them ♪

- She started on social media at 14.

♪

ALEX KUHNHAUSEN: She had Snapchat, Instagram,

Twitter, Facebook,

you name it, she used it.

♪ Show your face, you're the party girl ♪

♪ Show your face, you're the party girl ♪

- And, I mean, she was famous.

♪ Show your face, you're the party girl ♪

♪ Show your face, you're the party girl ♪

It was incredible.

♪ Ohh ♪

♪

NARRATOR: So by the time Nikki goes missing,

in the early hours of June 6th...

♪

She has a community of loved ones who want answers.

Her mother Lisa contacts authorities,

but after four days, she becomes even more desperate

after not hearing anything.

LISA WOODS: When I made the missing persons report,

I told them, you need to understand

Nikki's being held against her will or she's dead.

♪

"Well, wait, let's not, let's not jump..."

"No, you need to jump,

"you need to go that frame of mind in this case,

"because she wouldn't leave me alone this long,

you have to understand."

♪

NARRATOR: With every second that goes by,

Nikki's chances of being sound safe slip away.

For investigators in the Vancouver PD,

the clock is ticking,

but they have no leads.

♪

SGT. JULIE BALLOU: My name is Sergeant Julie Ballou.

I'm with the Vancouver Police Department,

in the digital evidence cybercrime unit.

I knew that she was a transgender teen

and it's not uncommon for transgender youth

and/or LGBTQ youth in general to go missing or to run away.

Oftentimes though, it's because they don't have a supportive family at home,

but she had a great relationship with her mom,

she kept in touch with her friends,

so when her social media accounts basically went dead,

that was a big red flag for us.

But we just don't have any leads to follow up on.

♪

NARRATOR: While the detectives begin their investigation...

Nikki's loved ones push on every front to find her.

Turning to the social media sites that are Nikki's life.

- I'm Taylor Watts, and I'm Nikki Kuhnhausen's best friend.

We did Facebook posts, we made a group chat,

it was on the news.

♪

BLAIR STENVICK: My name is Blair Stenvick.

I'm a former news reporter for the Portland Mercury.

I have been kind of consistently reported

on LGBTQ+ issues for years

and so I knew that trans people

are four times more likely from cisgender people

to at some point become a victim of a violent crime.

NARRATOR: Blair and other reporters spread the word.

A young girl is missing and leads start to pour in.

[cell phone dinging]

LISA: A lot of people were messaging me,

giving me information.

Saw her there, and possibly sported her there,

took a quick picture of someone on the corner.

All the tips and the leads and the here and the there.

And nothing.

NARRATOR: Then, seven days after she goes missing,

investigators uncover their first major clue

and it's related to Nikki's Snapchat account.

♪

SGT. BALLOU: On June 13th,

Lisa contacts law enforcement and says that she's learned

that Nikki has been staying with a couple of friends, Faith and Tiffany,

at an apartment complex in Vancouver.

♪

They both agree to come to the police department

and speak with detectives.

NARRATOR: Faith reveals a key detail

and the mystery of Nikki's disappearance

takes an unexpected turn.

SGT. BALLOU: I think a lot of people were surprised

with this information.

♪

NARRATOR: On June 5th,

the last time Nikki Kuhnhausen is seen by her roommate Faith,

Nikki borrows Faith's phone to log on to Snapchat and talk with a man

who she meets up with several hours later.

♪

But Nikki then logs out of Faith's phone.

And finding out who she spoke to is going to be tough.

SGT. BALLOU: Police officers can't just go to Snapchat and say,

"Hey, give me all of her account information."

You know, users have privacy rights,

so we have to ask for those records by way of a search warrant.

NARRATOR: So they do just that.

They submit their search warrant.

But Snapchat may hold fast,

they may not give investigators the info they need.

[thunder rumbling] [sirens wailing]

♪ White collar never fit clean on me ♪

NARRATOR: Weeks go by.

♪ Playing dirty, trying to switch on me ♪

But then, Snapchat comes through.

♪

And investigators find a name.

♪

- Nikki had been communicating with a man identified as David Bogdanov.

♪

He sent her an address.

She said, "Okay."

He said, "White van, lol."

And it sounded like the two were making arrangements to meet up.

♪

In addition to the communication,

Snapchat recorded the information on where he was.

As David was Snapchatting,

he was outside of Nikki's apartment, picking her up.

♪

NARRATOR: But who is David Bogdanov?

- Me, personally, I didn't know too many details,

I had not heard of him.

♪

NARRATOR: She isn't alone.

David is a complete stranger to Nikki's family and friends,

so the police dig in to find out everything they can

about the 25-year-old.

- David was from a very large Russian family,

he had multiple brothers and sisters.

♪

He seemed to be involved in a family business

in construction and flooring as his regular job.

♪

David didn't have a criminal history.

Nothing showed up in his background that was an obvious red flag to us.

♪

NARRATOR: David looks clean, a model citizen.

But Snapchat records clearly show him

talking with Nikki the night she disappeared.

And location data puts him right outside her apartment

while they're messaging each other.

♪

SGT. BALLOU: At this point in the investigation,

David is definitely considered a person of interest,

so the next step is trying to get a hold of David

and ask him what happened,

what were the circumstances of your interaction with her?

[line ringing]

We made multiple attempts to try and get a hold of David,

phone calls and text messages

and business cards left,

and he was not returning our call.

He was not getting back to us.

♪

NARRATOR: After nearly a week

of not hearing from David,

police turn their attention to his family.

SGT. BALLOU: So we first reach out to Artur, David's brother.

He said that David was out backpacking,

and he wasn't there, and wasn't quite sure

how to get a hold of him or when he was gonna return.

So after talking to Artur,

we contacted another brother, Stan.

[doorbell dings]

And Stan was kinda nervous

and said on the night of question

he didn't really remember if David was even with him.

And when he was asked about David backpacking,

he sort of seemed surprised to learn that he might be backpacking.

But even surprised that was even a suggestion.

♪

Given Stan's demeanor and the conflicting information

that Stan gave versus Artur,

it's possible that one of the brothers was involved

or one of the brothers knew what happened.

We didn't wanna rule out anybody as a suspect at that point.

♪

But we had to keep trying and keep looking for David Bogdanov.

NARRATOR: David isn't answering calls,

responding to texts.

More and more time passes.

Is David still around?

Did something happen to David too that night with Nikki?

So police go back to the only lead they have.

They turn to Snapchat.

They message him through the app on September 5th,

three months after Nikki went missing,

and there's a glimmer of progress.

♪

- We sent David a Snapchat to say, "Hey, we'd like to talk with you."

♪

[chimes]

The message was read,

so we believe that he saw the message,

but we didn't get a response.

♪

NARRATOR: David's nowhere to be found,

complete radio silence.

They Snapchat him again on September 12th, a week later.

♪

But this time, he responds the next day.

♪

- On October 2nd, 2019, David finally agrees

to meet with Detective Jensen.

♪

NARRATOR: David was the last person to see Nikki.

Now it's time to find out what he knows.

Could he hold the key to bringing Nikki home alive?

♪

♪

NARRATOR: After four months with Nikki missing,

detectives have their first lead.

♪ Inside the darkest night ♪

Their first talk with a person of interest,

David Bogdanov.

♪ Some words I should've said ♪

But David doesn't have much insight.

♪ They burn inside my head ♪

♪

SGT. BALLOU: David said that he met her downtown

in Downtown Vancouver, struck up conversation with her,

and he said he gave her his coat...

♪

And they parted ways.

She later reached out to him on Snapchat,

and the two made arrangements to meet up.

He said that they went to hang out with his brothers.

♪

NARRATOR: But David's brothers told the police

they didn't know if they saw them that night.

♪

Someone's lying, but why?

And then, David says this,

which piques the interest of the prosecutor's office.

KRISTEN ARNAUD: My name's Kristen Arnaud.

I'm a deputy prosecutor here in Clark County.

In that interview, he said that she mentioned that she was trans,

and he immediately told her to get out of the car.

♪

ARNAUD: So at that point, he says that she walked away.

He volunteered not responsive to any questions,

uh, really derogatory things that he felt

about people who are trans.

♪

♪ I ♪

♪ Can't make you stay ♪

NARRATOR: However, even though things don't seem right,

there isn't much that investigators can do.

ARNAUD: Without a body, David Bogdanov,

he was still a person of interest and not a suspect,

which was why he walked away from that interview.

♪

SGT. BALLOU: At this point in the investigation,

we don't have really much else to go on.

♪

NARRATOR: Unfortunately, that soon changes.

♪ The lights, they dim black where we were ♪

♪ At last... ♪

And the worst-case scenario happens.

♪ We take our bow ♪

♪

NEWSCASTER: In our breaking news tonight,

a hiker discovered a skull near a logging road

on Larch Mountain.

♪

- A man was near Larch Mountain.

It is an area outside of Vancouver

where people go to shoot guns regularly, uh, to go hunting.

♪

This man was out in the boonies collecting fair grass

and while he was foraging in the forest...

♪

He came across what he believed to be human remains.

♪

And called 911.

♪

The remains that were found out in the wilderness

were basically bare bones.

[camera shutter clicks]

And it made it difficult for investigators to piece together what had happened.

ARNAUD: Detectives scoured the area,

spent two days out in the mountains, picking apart everything.

NARRATOR: There's almost nothing left of the remains

that can be used to identify the body,

but based on items found scattered around it,

police have a sneaking suspicion

about who they've tragically found.

[camera shutter clicking]

♪

ARNAUD: There was matching jewelry,

matching clothing,

black extensions with a white stripe.

There was a pretty distinctive hi-vis yellow jacket

that coordinated with what images that we had of Nikki

from social media.

NARRATOR: Everyone's worst fears are soon confirmed.

♪ My eyes close ♪

♪ And I go back to the night ♪

LT. TOM RYAN: With the forensic examination

of the remains,

we were able to confirm the remains belonged to Nikki Kuhnhausen.

Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Nikki.

♪

♪

- [voice breaking] When I found out they found Nikki's remains,

I was at my mom's house.

And I-I just...

Cried, lost it.

So, uh, it was very hard.

LISA: I fell on my knees and started screaming.

♪

I just wish it didn't have to be my baby.

[sniffles]

♪

- [voice breaking] You beat yourself up

a lot,

a lot more than you should.

♪

NARRATOR: Nikki wasn't just a member of a grieving family.

[clamoring]

Heartbroken and angry over her story,

people are inspired to act.

♪

LISA: This is one of my favorite ones.

LINDEN WALLS: I love this one.

- I think she's in eighth grade in that one.

- Her eyebrows and makeup are just, like, on point.

Wow.

I am Linden Wells,

I am a member of the Justice for Nikki Task Force,

which was formed in late December 2019

after Nikki's remains were found.

The goal of the task force was to make sure that Nikki's story was heard.

SPEAKER: It is to build a coalition of activists and people,

people from this community to come together,

continue paying attention to this case,

continue to make sure that media stays aware of what's going on.

NARRATOR: And the task force stays true

to honoring Nikki's legacy.

♪

- We just got information just a few minutes ago

that there will be a vigil

for Nikki this Friday from 5:00 till 7:00 at the Vancouver United Church of Christ.

REPORTER: We're at a standing room only.

In fact, people are spilling out into the lobby,

that is how packed it is.

These people came out not only

to support Nikki Kuhnhausen's family,

but to also support the transgender community.

♪ I've got to think of an escape ♪

♪ I've got to think of a plan ♪

- March 2020, we all came together for Nikki's celebration of life

and her celebration of life was beautiful.

♪

- You could see how many people's lives were touched by Nikki

and people from all different walks of life.

♪ But now my name's a command ♪

KONRAD: Nikki always thought she was alone.

And then when she passed away,

seeing all those people, it was like,

wow, she actually had all of these people.

- The outpouring of love, it was... it was incredible.

♪ Pretty little thing he says to me ♪

♪ Pretty little thing, don't mess with me ♪

♪ Just so I can bring you down ♪

♪

NARRATOR: People wanted answers.

People wanted justice.

BLAIR: Supporters were commenting every day.

People who knew her as well as people

who were, you know, attached to the political side of things

really came together after Nikki's death

to get justice for her.

NARRATOR: And the first step is to find out how she died.

SGT. BALLOU: One of the items of evidence

that the medical examiner reviewed

was this phone charging cord that was found with Nikki's remains.

And the phone charging cord was basically tied in a knot.

And within that knot in the middle was tiny bone fragments as well as hair.

♪

The medical examiner, based on the evidence,

they made a ruling that Nikki died of homicidal violence

and the likely method was strangulation.

♪

NARRATOR: Now the police are looking for a murderer.

♪

Detectives wonder who had the motive to kill Nikki

in such a brutal way?

David Bogdanov is an obvious suspect,

but Nikki's family has a secret to share.

Something that happened a year earlier.

♪

LISA: When she was 16, I was at work...

[telephone ringing]

and the front manager comes over to relieve me

and says, "You've got a call on the phone.

It's a detective, it's something about Nikki."

♪

So I go to the phone and I said, "Hello?"

And they said that Nikki was at OHSU.

And she had been shot... six times.

[gunshots thumping]

♪

NARRATOR: Someone wanted her dead.

But who, and did they finally finish the job?

♪

[siren wailing]

NARRATOR: A year before Nikki's disappearance,

she's in the ICU, fighting for her life.

♪ Standing helpless by my window tonight ♪

LISA: It was the longest drive

from Vancouver to the hospital.

The longest drive.

♪

She was shot once through here,

missed the main artery right here,

twice in the stomach,

once through the neck,

and once through the hand.

[gunshots thumping]

Nikki was shot point-blank range in the car.

And pushed out onto the street.

They drove off.

♪

[panting]

She crawled to the first house.

They wouldn't open the door for her.

So she crawled to the second house.

And that's the last thing she remembers.

♪

She was a walking miracle.

♪

[beeping]

♪

- Nikki never really talked about, like, who shot her or anything.

She didn't get anybody involved.

♪ What you gonna do, what you gonna do, what you gonna do? ♪

ALEX: They asked her who did it.

She would always say, you know, "He'll get his when he gets his."

♪

♪ What you gonna do? ♪

NARRATOR: Nikki remains silent,

never pressing charges.

So the police close the case

without ever conducting a full investigation

into the shooting.

ALEX: When Nikki went missing,

I thought about who would wanna harm her,

and that's the only person that I could think of.

With him not being apprehended, maybe he would want to do that again.

NARRATOR: The police never do find out

who made the attempt on Nikki's life.

The shooter's identity remains a mystery.

♪ What you gonna do? ♪

It's a dead end.

With time passing by, and now desperate to find answers...

police take another look at the last person

Nikki messaged on social media,

David Bogdanov.

♪

- David was, as far as we knew, the last person who had seen her alive.

♪

NARRATOR: David Bogdanov, a person of interest

with no known connection to the body or the murder weapon,

but with holes in his story.

♪

Conflicting accounts of what occurred the night

of the disappearance.

So police press further for more answers

and uncover a startling truth.

♪

SGT. BALLOU: We applied for a search warrant to Sprint

which was the carrier for David's cell phone

at the time Nikki went missing.

♪

ARNAUD: They had graphed out where he had gone

and it was clear at that point

that David had gone up to Larch Mountain

the same day that Nikki went missing,

which was not part of his original statement.

♪

NARRATOR: David told investigators

he went right to work.

But his phone took a trip

to where Nikki Kuhnhausen's body was found.

Investigators bring him in for questioning and confront him with cold, hard data.

♪

♪

[tape whirring]

♪

[tape whirring]

♪

NARRATOR: Even though David is cornered,

Nikki's loved ones and everyone following the case

have an uneasy feeling.

♪

BLAIR: I think there was an understandable worry

that Nikki's killer might try to use

the LGBTQ+ panic defense in court.

♪

ARNAUD: The trans panic defense is a way of saying,

I was in a mental state that I can't be held accountable

because I was in such a blind rage

by finding out that someone who I was in a sexual encounter with was trans,

and that's so counter to my morals and existence,

that I flew into this rage

and you can't hold me accountable.

NARRATOR: Using this defense

means that there's a possibility

that David could get off scot-free,

just because she's transgender.

- I couldn't even believe there was such a law

that differentiated

between my child and your child.

My child's life was worth less

because she was transgender?

♪

NARRATOR: So what is David's defense gonna be?

♪

With Nikki's friends and family watching,

David drops a bombshell

that no one sees coming.

- I was shocked to hear what he said.

♪

NARRATOR: The life of a 17-year-old girl

was taken far too soon.

Over two years later, with the eyes of the world watching,

David Bogdanov finally faces justice in court.

But his story takes a wild turn.

♪

- Our client did not strangle Nikki Kuhnhausen causing her death

because she's transgender,

Nikki Kuhnhausen is now deceased

because Mr. Bogdanov had to defend himself

against her attacking him and possibly killing him.

♪

- A self-defense argument came at trial and not prior at any point.

He had never mentioned it.

♪

TAYLOR: I was shocked to hear him sit there

and act like, you know, it was him that was scared.

MIKKI GILLETTE: You see how big he is

and Nikki looks like she weighed 90 pounds.

I mean, she was tough, but I don't think anybody thought

that he was really needing to defend himself against her.

It just doesn't seem like a possible story.

- When he chose to claim self-defense,

he eliminated what was going to be one of the biggest hurdles in our case,

proving that he was the person who did this.

COLIN HAYES: So that took some of the burden off of the state,

if he's admitting that he did it,

it's more just, okay, what were the reasons

surrounding why you claim

you were justified in doing it?

♪

NARRATOR: And then, something else happens at trial

that no one expects, not by a long shot.

♪

- Your Honor, the defense calls David Bogdanov.

♪

[clock ticking]

♪

JUDGE DAVID E. GREGERSON: Raise your right hand.

Do you solemnly swear to affirm the testimony

you're about to give in these proceedings is the truth?

NARRATOR: With his hand on a Bible,

David Bogdanov is going to speak.

Will it be the truth?

♪

LAWYER: June 5th, 2019,

it turned into the early morning of June 6th, 2019,

did you happen to meet a female walking down Main Street?

♪

JUDGE GREGERSON: I'm David E. Gregerson,

and I was the judge on the case

of State versus David Bogdanov.

It's always risky to put the defendant on the stand

and it was a gamble as to whether the jury would believe

that version of events.

♪

- He said that he picked Nikki up from a friend's house.

HAYES: Mr. Bogdanov said that they became

physically involved sexually in the back seat.

That Nikki performed oral sex on him.

♪

- As part of this hookup, he reaches into her pants

and he realized that Nikki is trans.

♪

LAWYER: Okay, then what does she do?

DAVID BOGDANOV: At that time...

♪

ARNAUD: Colin Hayes is my co-chair,

and we both were a little surprised

that a gun had been mentioned,

because we had no indication that a gun had ever been involved.

And that's a completely different version of events

than anything that had ever been presented before.

- He claims she then began attacking him

and that he was trying to restrain her

and he saw this cell phone cord, that according to him was pre-tied,

and then he thought that was a good way to try to continue restraining Nikki

and that it slipped up to her neck

and that is somehow how he claims her life ended.

♪

NARRATOR: It's a hard story to hear,

especially for a mother that lost a child.

- I had no idea that the world was as ugly as it is.

I had no idea that she would run into such...

♪

A horrible evil in this town.

♪

I just didn't want his hands to be the last ones that touched her.

I wanted it to be loving hands...

and love.

Not hate.

♪

NARRATOR: Self-defense or a brutal crime?

No one else was there to verify what the real story was.

But sometimes, actions speak louder than words.

HAYES: He did not try to resuscitate

or call aid for Nikki.

Mr. Bogdanov didn't have great explanations

for the steps or lack of steps thereafter that he took

after strangling someone into submission.

NARRATOR: And there was yet another shocking detail

that comes out in David's testimony

that doesn't seem to fit with his self-defense story.

♪

- He said that he was in the white van initially

and they had switched into a gold Audi.

- He talked about having, you know, this Audi vehicle

that the encounter with Nikki happened in.

I think that was a surprise to everyone.

LAWYER: Where's your Audi now?

LAWYER: So you called somebody to make your vehicle disappear?

LAWYER: And that was not a cheap vehicle, was it?

- If the encounter, as he said, happened in the Audi and not the van,

he definitely destroyed that evidence.

♪

ARNAUD: He killed Nikki, that is without question.

The only reasonable explanation

from the evidence here is that he killed her intentionally.

But this is an act of rage,

not an act of self-defense.

This was murder.

♪

HAYES: The murder weapon being the phone cord

with Nikki's wig hair tied into it

in a manner that was not consistent

with any type of struggle the way he described it,

so it showed a very deliberate,

in our mind, a very deliberate killing of Nikki.

- He murdered this person because they were trans.

You know, there's no other way around it.

And he now needs to go away for murder.

NARRATOR: Nikki was killed on June 6th, 2019.

On August 27th, 2021,

two years, two months and nineteen days later,

it's time for David to be judged.

♪

TAYLOR: We all came back into the courtroom

for the verdicts,

and everybody that was there for Nikki held hands in a line

and we all just sat there and prayed.

♪

NARRATOR: No one is sure if his story will be believed.

[ticking]

♪

And it isn't.

- David Bogdanov was found guilty of murder in the second degree

and malicious harassment.

♪ When everything's been said ♪

♪ And we're lying here in bed ♪

- When it said guilty, I was just in shock.

♪ Oh, you seem so sure ♪

We were blessed on getting a guilty.

It was amazing.

♪ 'Cause I'm fallin'... ♪

BLAIR: I felt a lot of relief and happiness

recognizing Nikki as a valued community member.

♪

And I felt glad that at least in the kind of messed-up system we have

there was some justice served.

♪ But I have to go now ♪

- I was thankful that he was found guilty.

♪ Be with me ♪

Then once sentencing came around,

I started getting mad about it.

I was very, very disappointed in the justice system.

ARNAUD: The judge sentenced him to 19 and a half years.

That is the maximum that we could've gotten on this case,

but it doesn't feel appropriate to the crime.

(no audio)

A life was lost, especially in this case, a very young life.

It's always difficult, because it's so hard

to look at a family member and say,

"We got 19 and a half years."

♪

TAYLOR: To me, it wasn't fair,

but I am glad he got the full sentence.

♪

NARRATOR: This is David Bogdanov's first offense,

so he gets 19 and a half years.

With good behavior, maybe he's out in 17.

That's how old Nikki was when he killed her.

♪

LISA: She was so beautiful and bright.

And he wasn't sorry, not one little bit.

Not one little bit.

He was sorry he got caught.

NARRATOR: Nikki Kuhnhausen was a light, a beacon.

Her social media inspired transgender teens

to find courage.

She inspired a community to spread love in spite of hate.

She inspired and changed history.

Her family and advocates helped create a new law,

the Nikki Kuhnhausen Act,

which eliminates the gay and trans panic defense

in the state of Washington,

protecting countless LGBTQ+ lives.

NARRATOR: Nikki lives on

and her story will now forever help others.

A small piece of comfort for her family and loved ones.

- [voice breaking] Everybody loves her, you know, she was very loved,

still very loved.

♪ From smoke and ashes we rise ♪

NARRATOR: Social media was how Nikki

showed her true self to the world.

♪

And in the end...

social media was how Nikki caught her killer.

♪

♪ I don't know where my head is lately ♪

♪ Have I lost my mind? ♪

♪

♪ But I know that I have a secret ♪

♪ And it's only mine ♪

♪

♪ And the only way to find me ♪

♪ Is to go beneath the lies ♪

♪