Kara Nichols was a 19-year-old woman who was reported missing in October 2012. A search for her ensued, and in early 2013 the authorities searched the family farm of Joel Hollendorfer, a man believed to have been in contact with Nichols five days before she went missing. The authorities were unable to find anything, and until 2022, the case went cold.
However, Hollendorfer’s ex-wife, Kristina Palmer, revealed to the police in 2014 that Hollendorfer had admitted to her that he had accidentally killed a young woman. All the evidence was reviewed, and the authorities examined the Hollendorfer family farm and found the dead body of Nichols buried above a horse. Hollendorfer was charged with first-degree murder, however, the jury found him guilty of manslaughter instead, and Hollendorfer was sentenced to 24 years in jail.
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What happened to Kara Nichols?
In October 2012, the young aspiring model Kara Nichols went missing. On October 14, she was reported missing, with her brother Terry being the last person seeing her alive five days prior on October 9. According to her friends, Kara was on the way to a photoshoot but never showed up. In the initial investigation, the police found that Joel Hollendorfer, a man who lived in the area, had also been in contact with Nichols in October via both text and phone. Nichols was working as an escort, and Hollendorfer was attempting to set up a meeting for the pair, but this meeting never took place due to disagreements about where they would meet.
Police would be unable to find Nichols’ body until early 2022, meaning that her family was unable to get closure on the issue. However, when the investigation was reopened thanks to the cooperation of Hollendorfer’s ex-wife, police were able to determine the spot where Nichols’ body had been buried, and dug the body up. While it wasn’t a happy ending for the family, they were about to finally have closure on where a loved member was, and what happened to her.
Kara Nichols | Image via Dateline
Where was Kara Nichols found?
Kara Nichols was eventually found dead at the Hollendorfer farm, her remains buried above a dead horse called Milo. Hollendorfer attempted to argue at the preliminary hearing that Nichols had died due to an accident, something that was caused by either drugs or consensual choking during sex and therefore wasn’t a homicide.
El Paso County Coroner Leon Kelly testified to say that because of the late stage of decomposition Nichols’ body was in, he would be unable to determine Nichols’ cause of death. However, a toxicology report indicated that she was “probably” intoxicated with heroin at the time of death. The amount of heroin in her system amounted to a potentially lethal level and would make her more likely to die from brief strangulation when compared to a healthy person.
Kara Nichols’ Missing Poster via EPC Sheriff’s Office
What happened at Kara Nichols’ trial?
Joel Hollendorfer was initially charged with the first-degree murder of Kara Nichols, and at the preliminary hearing, the judge decided that there was enough evidence to put the case to trial, with several people testifying to the events that had led to the discovery of Nichols’ body. During the trial, FBI Special Agent Mike Willis testified about the alleged violence that Hollendorfer had been accused of during his past relationship, but this was struck from the record as it wasn’t inside the scope of the trial. Hollendorfer’s defense attorney Jennifer Cox attempted to get a mistrial, but the judge denied this motion.
In the prosecution’s closing arguments, Prosecutor Rachael Powell said that Hollendorfer was angry that his ex-wife wasn’t returning any of his 15 calls, contacted Nichols to pay for sex, and strangled her out of rage. Hollendorfer’s ex-wife Kristina Palmer testified that in 2014 Hollendorfer had admitted that he’d accidentally killed a woman in 2012 and that he buried the body on his family’s farm.
“I believe he said, ‘I must have gone too long; I didn’t mean for that to happen,'” Palmer said. “He told me he freaked out because he didn’t know what to do, and that he buried her on the property.”
Throughout the trial, Cox argued that Nichols died from a drug overdose, and didn’t dispute the assertion that Hollendorfer’s actions after Nichols’ death were “horrid” and “despicable,” however explained those actions didn’t indicate any intent to kill Nichols.
“What Joel Hollendorfer did was selfishly conceal her (Nichols’) body … what he didn’t do was cause her death,” Cox said.
The defense attorneys argued throughout the trial that Nichols had died due to a heroin overdose or being choked during sex, and then becoming unable to resume breathing due to the heroin in her system. Cox argued that the prosecution hadn’t provided barely any evidence during the two-week trial to disprove these claims, and as a result, Hollendorfer wasn’t guilty of murder.
“They (the prosecution) are asking you to ignore and speculate,” Cox said of the prosecution’s case against Hollendorfer. “They are asking you to speculate that he was angry (the evening he killed Nichols) to prove intent.”
The only evidence they had was the testimony of Palmer, during which even she said that Hollendorfer had told her the death was accidental. This, Cox argued, didn’t amount to first-degree murder as it lacked intent and deliberation. The evidence from El Paso County coroner Dr. Leon Kelly was used by both sides, with the prosecution pointing to the results that Nichols’ death was a homicide caused by strangulation, and the defense arguing that Kelly was unable to dismiss the idea that Nichols’ death was due to a heroin overdose, and the determination of Nichols’ cause of death being strangulation was made in a large part using context outside the autopsy.
A 12-person jury deliberated on the case for about five hours and gave the result that Hollendorfer was convicted of manslaughter, not murder. The Gazette covered the trial and provided coverage for the quotes.
Was Joel Hollendorfer found guilty?
Although Joel Hollendorfer was charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing Kara Nichols, at his trial in mid-2023 a jury only convicted him of manslaughter. This means he received a lesser sentence of 24 years in prison because if he was found guilty of what he was charged with he would have been sent to prison for life.
In reaction to the verdict, Kara Nichols’ father Paul Nichols described the trial and verdict as a “miscarriage of justice.” Kara’s brother Terry Nichols raised the same point, saying “This trial was a miscarriage of justice characterized by victim blaming.”
