Police Suspect Fiancee in Millionaire’s Slaying : Mystery: Newport Beach authorities lack evidence for an arrest. Nanette Johnston says she did not kill William Francis McLaughlin.

The 29-year-old fiancee of millionaire William Francis McLaughlin, 55, and her ex-NFL linebacker boyfriend have been identified as suspects in the December fatal shooting of McLaughlin, according to police and search warrant affidavits.

The documents reveal how Newport Beach police, in the wake of McLaughlin’s Dec. 15 death at his gated community, conducted an undercover surveillance of both Nanette Johnston and Eric Andrew Naposki, 28. The affidavits also detail the officers’ search of Naposki’s home and cars.

McLaughlin’s 24-year-old son, Kevin, discovered his father’s body, clad only in bathrobe and slippers, with six bullets in the chest.

“At the present time, we do not have enough evidence to arrest anyone in this case,” said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Andy Gonis. However, Gonis confirmed that Johnston and Naposki are suspects.

Search warrant documents on file at Municipal Court in Newport Beach detail how Johnston stood to inherit more than $1 million from McLaughlin’s estate. They also indicate that her apparent romance with Naposki was a surprise to other members of the McLaughlin family.

“The police are all wet,” Johnston said in a telephone interview Friday. Naposki “was with me when it happened.”

“I didn’t do it and (Naposki) didn’t do it,” said Johnston, who added that she and the victim’s daughters have offered a $40,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer.

“I don’t think they (police) have any real facts,” Johnston said. “They couldn’t, because I didn’t do anything. . . . I stood to gain a lot more by being with Mr. McLaughlin than (from) an insurance policy.”

Naposki could not be reached for comment. Johnston declined Friday to discuss her relationship with Naposki.

Police spokesman Gonis said that it is believed Naposki, who briefly played football for the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts, is on the East Coast.

“But we believe we know where he is,” McGonis said. “He’s not the suspect. He’s a suspect.”

The affidavits filed in court by Newport Beach homicide detectives seeking a search warrant outlined the department’s investigation of the slaying and how details linking Johnston and Naposki were uncovered. The police affidavits tell this story:

The killer used two keys--one to gain entry to the gated Balboa Coves community, and another to unlock the home. Both keys were found at the scene and “appeared to be brand new.”

Police interviewed a Tustin hardware store manager, who said Naposki had “a couple of keys” made in November or December, records show.

Johnston said Friday that Naposki had moved three times in three months, “and it’s not unusual to have keys made.”

According to the affidavits, on the night of the slaying, Johnston, who had lived with McLaughlin for three years, arrived at the Balboa Coves home after Christmas shopping to find police combing the area. She told officers she had no idea who could have killed her fiance.

Later, police determined that Johnston would receive $150,000 as an heir in McLaughlin’s will, and was the beneficiary of his $1-million insurance policy.

Four days after the killing, Johnston’s former husband, Kevin Johnston, told police that she was often in the company of a muscular man in his mid-20s when attending their son’s soccer games. In fact, on the day of the killing, Nanette Johnston had been with the muscular man at a soccer game in Walnut, he said.

Shortly after that, police were contacted by the victim’s brother, Patrick McLaughlin, who said he had learned from another family member that Nanette Johnston “possibly had another boyfriend” besides his brother.

At McLaughlin’s funeral, Johnston’s 9-year-old son told the victim’s nephew, David McLaughlin, that “Mom’s boyfriend plays football.”

David McLaughlin told police he and his sister were stunned by the remark because they were “under the impression that their uncle and Nanette Johnston were dating each other exclusively.”

One week after the slaying, police began a surveillance of Nanette Johnston at the home on Seashore Drive that she and the victim had purchased together. That afternoon, Naposki went to the home. When he left, police followed him and arrested him on a warrant for failure to appear for a traffic ticket.

Officers found “several suspicious items within Naposki’s vehicle,” including several brown and red stains on the carpet and a green towel with what appeared to be dried bloodstains, according to the affidavit. Naposki told officers the blood was his own and the other stains were probably cafe mocha.

Naposki, police determined, worked as a doorman at The Thunderbird nightclub in Newport Beach, 448 feet from the victim’s home. He also operated a uniformed security guard business.

Naposki told police that he thought Johnston and McLaughlin were only business associates.

At first Naposki said that he and Johnston “were not romantically involved,” but under further questioning, he told officers “he had planned to purchase an engagement ring and propose to Johnston on New Year’s Eve, 1994.”

Naposki told officers that on the day of the killing he had been with Johnston at her son’s soccer game, but that she dropped him off at Naposki’s Tustin home before she went Christmas shopping at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.

Naposki said he then changed clothes and went to work at The Thunderbird, arriving between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m., records show.

“It should be further noted,” police wrote in the affidavit, “that Naposki’s time estimates leave him without an alibi or witness during the time the homicide took place,” which police have determined to be about 9:11 p.m.

Naposki told officers he had purchased a 9-millimeter semi-automatic Beretta 92F handgun several months earlier, but had given it to one of his security guards to take on a job in June, 1994. Naposki said the man lost the gun.

Forensic tests later showed that the spent 9-millimeter shell casings found at the crime scene could have been fired from a Beretta.

Inside Naposki’s car, police found a sheet of paper with the license number of the victim’s 1991 Mercedes Benz.

Naposki was released on bail, and the police surveillance continued.

Johnston said she was reluctant to comment Friday, but added: “If I know anything pertinent, I’ll be the first one to blab my mouth to everybody.”