Dateline: Secrets Uncovered - Why was Jason Payne arrested?

The brutal murders of Nichole Payne and her son, Austin Taylor Wages, led to the arrest of Jason Payne in September 2008. Jason had made a 911 call in December 2007 reporting the shooting death of his wife and stepson.

While the double murders were taken to be murder-suicide at first glance, the investigators found evidence that led to Jason. The detectives found a rag containing Nichole's blood in his truck along with a $100,000 insurance payout, per Oxygen.

The Dateline: Secrets Uncovered episode titled House of Horrors 911 chronicles the double murders of Nichole Payne and Austin Taylor Wages. Episode 2 of Season 13 aired on June 12, 2024, at 8 p.m. EST on Oxygen. The official synopsis reads,

"When Nichole Payne and her son Taylor are found dead in their home, investigators wonder if this is a murder-suicide or if someone wants it to look that way. The mystery takes nearly a decade to unravel."

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How was Jason Payne arrested? Details explored

The Dateline: Secrets Uncovered episode covered the double murders of Nichole Payne and her son, Austin "Taylor" Wages, in their recent episode. The Quitman Police Department received a frantic call from the Payne residence on December 11, 2007. The father, Jason Payne, reportedly informed the 911 operator,

"My wife and my son are both shot. I need some help.”

As the first responders arrived at the scene, they found Nichole Payne (35) with a gunshot wound to the back of her head, while Taylor (16) was found in his garage-turned-bedroom with a gunshot wound to his face, per Oxygen.

The murder weapon used on both Nichole and Taylor was found on the bed between Taylor's legs with no fingerprints on them. The house had no signs of forced entry, leading the investigators to believe that it was a case of murder-suicide.

The investigations into the case revealed anomalies such as the clean murder weapon. Moreover, Taylor's body was found to be in rigor mortis while Nichole's body was still warm. This went against the belief that Taylor had shot his mother before committing suicide.

Lt. Miles Tucker of the Wood County Sheriff’s Office reportedly shared,

“She [Nichole] obviously had not been there very long. When we made our way back into Taylor’s room, Taylor was just the opposite, he was very cold to the touch.”

Meanwhile, Jason Payne had been interrogated by the detectives without a lawyer when they reportedly found out about Jason's financial condition and Nichole's life insurance payout worth $100,000, which he stood to receive, per Oxygen.

A search of Jason Payne's truck gave the detectives a rag with fresh blood stains. The blood was matched to the DNA of Nichole Payne, per court documents. Nichole's family additionally alleged that she had been unhappy with Jason and had been wishing to file for divorce as well.

Nichole's mother, Sherry, shared via Oxygen,

“She wasn’t happy that last couple years and there were just signs that, you know, that something wasn’t right. He was controlling, he was very controlling. And it just seemed to get worse and worse as time went on.”

Nichole's sister-in-law, Sarah Hawthorne, added that Nichole was afraid to separate from Jason as she feared he would burn down the house with her inside it.

A KLTV report mentioned having found two large holes resembling graves in the Paynes property in 2008. Jason Payne was subsequently charged with the double murders.

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Watch all the details on the episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered, which airs on Oxygen.