Killer Wife Has No Idea Cops Already Know She Planned A Double Murder

October 13, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

In October 2018, Josh Niles and Amber Washburn were shot and killed in Sodus, New York. The interview that follows is a police interrogation of Charlene Childers, the ex-wife of Josh Niles. Detectives question her about her knowledge of the murder, and the conversation reveals a woman who, piece by piece, admits to facilitating the trip that led to the double homicide—while insisting she never believed it would actually happen.

"I Was Just Venting"

The interrogation begins with Charlene attempting to establish a timeline. She says she drove from Texas to Wichita, Kansas, to pick up her estranged husband, Timothy Dean, after he crashed a rental car. She claims she was simply helping him get a new car so he could continue a vague "work trip" to New York. But the detective immediately picks apart her story, pointing out discrepancies in dates, times, and the sequence of events. He notes that phone records show far more communication between Charlene and Tim than she initially admits—including calls made when she claimed to be sleeping.

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What you'll learn

1 (01:11) **Case Introduction: The Double Murder** - The episode opens by introducing the October 2018 murders of Josh Niles and Amber Washburn in Sodas, New York, and sets up the police interrogation of Charlene Childers, Niles' ex-wife.
2 (01:33) **Detective Pokes Holes in the Wichita Hotel Story** - The detective begins questioning Charlene about her timeline, specifically her story about picking up her boyfriend, Tim, from a Motel 6 in Embolia, Kansas.
3 (10:29) **The Rental Car Timeline Contradiction** - The detective directly confronts Charlene with the conflicting rental car timeline, forcing her to double back on her story.
4 (29:59) **The Motive: Custody Battle and Divorce** - The interrogation shifts to the context of Charlene's bitter custody battle with her ex-husband, Josh Niles, and her relationship with Tim.
5 (33:35) **The Detective's Direct Accusation** - The detective lays out the evidence against Charlene, explicitly stating that she is a suspect, not just a witness.
6 (40:51) **The Detective's Appeal: "Don't Go Down With Him"** - The detective directly appeals to Charlene's self-interest, warning her that her silence will make her an accomplice.
7 (46:56) **Phone Records Reveal 24 Contacts in 3 Days** - The detective presents concrete phone record data that directly contradicts Charlene's claim of limited contact with Tim.

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Guests on this episode

Charlene Childers

Show Notes

Josh Niles and Amber Washburn were killed in Sodus, New York, in October 2018. In this police interrogation, detectives question Charlene Childers about Timothy Dean’s trip, rental cars, firearms, and the events surrounding the killings. Childers later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and a weapons charge.

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