Girlfriend Convicted in Millionaire Murder

A dead millionaire's girlfriend was convicted of first-degree murder Monday for arranging to have him gunned down in his Newport Beach home so she could loot his bank account and collect a $1-million life insurance policy.

Nanette Ann Packard McNeal, 46, was found guilty in . Her other boyfriend at the time, former NFL linebacker Eric Andrew Naposki, was convicted earlier of pulling the trigger and is expected to be sentenced in March.

Packard McNeal faces life in prison without the possibility of parole when she is sentenced May 18.

After the verdict, McLaughlin's daughter Kim said Packard McNeal "didn't think this day would ever happen, but today was the day she got what she deserved. ... This is in honor of my dad and all the men she used and abused.''

Prosecutor Matt Murphy said Packard McNeal "left a trail of destruction. Everyone she dealt with ended up basically with ruined lives.''

Two of her ex-husbands hugged after the conviction, prompting Murphy to observe, "I think those men are happy because the public now knows what they've known. They were waiting for the world to know how bad she was.''

Murphy built his case against Packard McNeal on circumstantial evidence that included her actions before and after the killing, noting she embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from McLaughlin.

Packard McNeal, who was known as Nanette Johnston at the time of the murder, was previously sentenced to a year in jail in 1996 for stealing about $500,000 from McLaughlin.

Murphy argued Packard McNeal used Naposki to kill McLaughlin so they could steal his $1.5 million in savings and snag a $1-million life insurance policy.

But Deputy Public Defender Mick Hill argued that Packard McNeal would not slay her "golden goose'' to be with her ``pauper'' lover, Naposki. He argued McLaughlin was worth more to Packard McNeal alive than dead.

The defense attorney noted that McLaughlin had prevailed in a lawsuit over rights to a piece of a medical equipment just two weeks before his death and was due to receive $10-million royalty payments.

Murphy countered that Naposki and Packard McNeal actively house hunted before McLaughlin's death and told real estate agents they were due to come into enough money to afford the expensive homes in the spring of the following year.

One of Naposki's former neighbors, Suzanne Cogar, testified that Naposki said he killed McLaughlin because he thought the 55-year-old retiree was "raping'' Packard McNeal, Murphy said.

Packard McNeal met McLaughlin through a personals ad in 1991, shortly after his divorce in 1990, Murphy said. McLaughlin gave Packard McNeal a ring with a sizable diamond, but the two never set a wedding date.

At some point, however, Packard McNeal started dating Naposki behind her boyfriend's back, Murphy said.

According to Murphy, Naposki and Packard McNeal went to her son's soccer game the night of the slaying and hurried back from Walnut to Orange County,
skipping a trophy presentation following the championship game, which went into triple overtime.

Packard McNeal went shopping that night, while the killer used two keys to get through a pedestrian access gate in the gated community and then through the front door, Murphy said.

With the victim's son, Kevin, upstairs, the killer walked into the home and shot McLaughlin six times in the chest, Murphy said.

The killer left behind an original key to the pedestrian access gate, and a copy of the house key was left stuck in the door, Murphy said, adding that Packard McNeal didn't have her pedestrian gate key after the murder, and Naposki had a duplicate key made at an Ace Hardware near his apartment in Tustin.

Only Packard McNeal would have known McLaughlin would be home that night
because he did not keep a set schedule of his comings and goings, splitting
time between homes in Newport Beach and Las Vegas, Murphy said. She would also know that Kevin normally would not be home at the time, as it was his night to attend a 12-step meeting, but he stayed home that particular evening to have dinner with his father, Murphy said.

-- City News Service