DUNKIRK, N.Y. — On a chilly night in November, two roommates, 38-year-old Jerry Nickerson and 52-year-old Mark Trautman, were sound asleep in bed.
"I miss my dad all the time. I miss my dad for things that he's going to miss out on," said Jerry Nickerson's daughter, Amber Nickerson.
During the early hours of November 3, 2006, someone broke into their home in Dunkirk and left two young women without fathers.
"It was definitely premeditated, the phone wires were cut, both of them were in their beds when someone came in," said Mark Trautman's daughter, Lindsey Trautman.
Lindsey Trautman took 2 On Your Side back to the 3000 block of East Lake Road, where her dad used to live. Thirteen years later, all that's left is grass. The house is no longer there.
Trautman said whoever broke in that night had a knife.
"They got to Jerry first, and I think my dad must have heard what was going on and came out, and I know that he went down like a warrior, at least. He fought for his life," Trautman said.
Added Nickerson: "That was the most disturbing part for me, that my dad was asleep during that."
Both girls were school-aged at the time and were called to the principal's office when they were told what happened.
"Just that my dad had been murdered, that was pretty much what I was told," Nickerson said.
Added Trautman: "How do you tell two kids that not only is their dad gone, but that something so brutal and heinous happened to him?"
As they grew up, they began to learn more about the stabbing deaths of their fathers.
"There was blood from the upstairs hallway, down the stairs, all the way down to the living room. They found him with the phone in his hand," Trautman said.
"There are a lot of different theories. People say it had to do with different types of relationships. People say that it was drug-related."
Mark Trautman and Jerry Nickerson were found around 7 a.m. by Nickerson's brother, and New York State Police began their investigation.
No one has been charged with their murders.
"I think it definitely had to of been something that was planned out pretty well, and I definitely think more than one person had to have been involved for everything to play out so well," Nickerson said."There were suspects yes, it's just nothing ever came of it."
Added Trautman: "There were a few suspects that they had talked to.They would call us and tell us they were investigating somebody, and nothing ever came out of it."
If you have any information about this case you are asked to contact New York State Police at 585-344-6200.
