Lebanon, Indiana – A Lebanon man, Andrew Wilhoite, has been convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the death of his wife, Nikki. The Boone County jury delivered the verdict after approximately nine hours of deliberation.
Wilhoite was initially charged with murder in connection to the March 2022 death of his wife. Nikki Wilhoite was reported missing by her coworkers on March 25, 2022, when she failed to show up for work. Her body was discovered in a creek near her residence the following day.
During the trial, Andrew Wilhoite admitted to striking his wife with a flower pot during an argument, then discarding her body in the creek. Autopsy photos presented in court revealed that Nikki sustained three to five blunt-force injuries to her head. Forensic pathologists testifying agreed that she remained alive for up to 10 minutes after the initial blow, with subsequent injuries possibly inflicted during transportation in Wilhoite’s pickup truck or at the location where her body was located.
Nikki Wilhoite had recently completed her final chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer before her untimely death. Despite being charged with murder, the jury had the discretion to convict Andrew Wilhoite of voluntary manslaughter instead, based on the concept of “sudden heat.”
Andrew Wilhoite is set to be sentenced on June 4, facing a possible 10 to 30 years in prison for the voluntary manslaughter conviction.