Police, however, say that doesn't change the apparent motive in the brutal slaying of the 16-year-old Butler High School student, who was known to friends as Nicole.

Investigators say Nicole thought she was pregnant and told her ex-boyfriend, Matthew Wiedeman. Now, Mr. Wiedeman, 16, and his friend Raymond Soto, 17, are charged with murder.

"(Mr. Wiedeman) wanted her to get an abortion," said Maj. Ken Autry, of the Richmond County Sheriff's Office. "She wouldn't have an abortion. She wanted to get married. He didn't want to marry her. ... So this (killing) is what they decided to do."

Nicole's father, Tony Burnett, said there might be other motives for the slaying. He said his daughter had broken up with Mr. Wiedeman two or three weeks ago because she learned he wasn't the person she thought he was.

"My understanding is he (Mr. Wiedeman) was afraid she was going to testify about something he had done," Mr. Burnett said. He said he didn't approve of Mr. Wiedeman's dating his daughter.

"It wasn't his looks," he said. "I just wanted my daughter to be with someone with an education, a career, a future."

An autopsy conducted Tuesday at the state crime lab in Atlanta showed no evidence of pregnancy, Maj. Autry said. It also confirmed that Nicole died from blunt force trauma to the head and had been stabbed repeatedly.

"There's no doubt that it was brutal," Maj. Autry said.

Mr. Burnett said he last saw his daughter at 11 p.m. Sunday. He said he knocked on her bedroom door, found her on the phone and told her not to stay up too late.

Mr. Burnett said he later was told that a friend of Nicole's had talked to her at about 12:30 a.m. The friend said that over the phone she heard Mr. Wiedeman talking to Nicole through her bedroom window.

"He wanted her to come outside," Mr. Burnett said.

Police say Nicole was lured out of her house to the back parking lot of a security business near her home. Officials allege Mr. Wiedeman attacked her with a steel dumbbell rod and Mr. Soto stabbed her with a long-bladed knife. The weapons were later dumped into a storm drain on a nearby street, Maj. Autry said.

On Tuesday, police continued to search for answers in the case. A sheriff's investigator spoke with Mr. Wiedeman's father, Randy Wiedeman, at his home on Brookshire Drive. The younger Mr. Wiedeman lived there with his older brother and Mr. Soto, who was staying there temporarily.

Neighbor Percy Lowe said the teens often were left at the house alone for weeks at a time while Randy Wiedeman, a truck driver, was on the road.

"They always treated me nice," Mr. Lowe said. "When they ran out of groceries, they would come over here and I would take them up to the store to get them something."

At the Burnett residence Tuesday, about 25 members of the Butler High boys and girls soccer teams showed up to write messages of support in chalk on the driveway.

"I know you are still smiling," read one message. "I love you Nicole," read another.

"The whole area has been very supportive," Mr. Burnett said.

Mr. Soto remained in the Richmond County jail without bond, and Mr. Wiedeman was in the Augusta Regional Youth Detention Center. A hearing to address bond could be set as early as Friday but more likely will be held May 3 in Richmond County Superior Court, District Attorney Danny Craig said.

Staff Writer Preston Sparks contributed to this article.

Reach Greg Rickabaugh at (706) 828-3851 or greg.rickabaugh@augustachronicle.com.