Ep 9. Nicole Houchin & John Mackay

Nicole Houchin and John Mackay seem like the picture-perfect couple from the outside, but behind closed doors, their relationship was far from perfect. In episode 9 of Snapped: Killer Couples season 6, viewers are taken on a journey into the dark and twisted world of this murderous duo.

The couple first met in 2011 when Nicole was working as a night-shift security guard at a strip mall where John was working as a pizza delivery driver. They quickly hit it off and began dating, but things started to turn sour when John became jealous and possessive.

Nicole and John's relationship was volatile, with frequent arguments and physical altercations. Things came to a head in July 2013 when the couple got into a fight that ended with John choking Nicole unconscious. She escaped the situation and filed for a restraining order against him, but they ultimately reconciled.

Despite their troubled past, the couple appeared to be working towards a better future. They moved into a new home in western North Carolina and even got engaged. However, just a few months later, their relationship took a deadly turn.

On October 8, 2014, police responded to a 911 call from John reporting that he had found Nicole dead in their home. She was lying on the bed with a gunshot wound to the head. John claimed that he had been out running errands and came home to find her like that. He insisted that he had nothing to do with her death.

Police were suspicious of John's story from the start, and their investigation uncovered a web of lies and deceit. They discovered that John had purchased a gun the day before Nicole's murder, and cell phone records showed that he was in the vicinity of their home at the time of the shooting.

As the evidence mounted against him, John eventually confessed to killing Nicole. He claimed that he had accidentally shot her during an argument and panicked, trying to cover it up. However, prosecutors argued that the murder was premeditated and pointed to a text message John had sent to a friend just hours before the killing, saying that he was "ready to f***ing snap."

The trial was a dramatic affair, with John's defense team arguing that he had been driven to murder by Nicole's abusive behavior. His ex-girlfriend even testified that she had been similarly abused by Nicole and that John had confided in her about the violence in their relationship.

In the end, the jury didn't buy it. John was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Nicole's family and friends were left to mourn her loss and try to make sense of the senseless tragedy.

Snapped: Killer Couples season 6 episode 9 is a gripping tale of love, violence, and betrayal. It serves as a stark reminder that not all relationships are what they seem, and that sometimes, the person closest to us can be the most dangerous.