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The double murders of Nichole Payne and Austin Taylor Wages in December 2007 shook the small town of Quitman, Texas. The authorities initially suspected the crime scene to look like a murder-suicide, but soon, their suspicion turned towards Nichole's husband, Jason Thad Payne.
The Dateline: Secrets Uncovered episode, titled House of Horrors, showcases the chilling details of the horrific double murder in the Payne household. Season 13 episode 2 airs on Oxygen on June 12, 2024, at 8 pm EST. 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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Five details of Austin Taylor Wages and Nichole Payne's murder explored
1) Nichole Payne and Austin Taylor Wages were found dead on December 11, 2007
According to court documents, Nichole Payne and her son, Austin Taylor Wages, were found dead in their home in Quitman, Texas. The Wood County Sheriff's Department received a 911 call from Nichole's husband, Jason Payne, who had allegedly returned home to find his wife and stepson shot to death.
The first responders who arrived at the scene found Nichole's body in the downstairs bedroom. She was found with extensive damage to the back of her head, while Taylor was found in the garage with a bullet wound to his face.
2) Taylor allegedly had an outburst the morning he was found shot
The authorities assumed the deaths of Nichole Payne and Austin Taylor Wages to be murder-suicide at the outset. Jason Payne was questioned the same afternoon when he reportedly mentioned Wages being upset about not having a personal cellphone.
The court documents further stated that while Austin Taylor Wages was described as a polite boy at his school, Jason's description of his behavior seemed stark to the investigators.
3) The crime scene was staged to look like a murder-suicide
The investigators at the crime scene had suspected murder-suicide wherein Austin had supposedly pulled the trigger on his mother, Nichole. However, the responding officers at the crime scene testified to witnessing Nichole's warm body when they arrived at the scene.
Austin's cold and stiff body had reportedly already entered rigor mortis. The alleged murder weapon, a .30-.30 rifle, was found on the bed resting between his legs. Nichole Payne's death was ruled to be a homicide, while Taylor's death was left undetermined.
4) The evidence recovered from Jason's car turned him into the primary suspect
The Wood County Sheriff's Department ended up with ample evidence to believe Jason Payne was the killer in the murders of the mother-son duo. The state of the dead bodies indicated that Austin Taylor Wages passed away before his mother.
Additionally, a sweep of Jason's car yielded a rag containing Nichole's blood. Furthermore, a KLTV report stated evidence of two large holes dug in the property of the Paynes.
5) Jason Payne was arrested for capital murder charges in September 2008.
The investigators gathered evidence, mostly in the form of forensic results, which led to the arrest of Jason Payne almost 10 months after the murder of Nichole Payne and Austin Taylor Wages. Payne was charged with capital murder and put behind bars in September 2008.
According to court documents, Payne was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2010. In 2013, his conviction was overturned, but he was sentenced to life again in his second trial.
He is presently held at the Mark W. Stiles Unit near Beaumont, Texas.
Watch all the details on the episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered, which airs on Oxygen on Wednesday.
