Boone County man sentenced to 30 years in prison for murder of wife

BOONE COUNTY, Ind. – A Boone County man who was convicted of murdering his wife learned his punishment this week.

On Tuesday, a judge sentenced Andrew Wilhoite to 30 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections for the death of Elizabeth “Nikki” Wilhoite. He was given credit for time served.

In April, a jury convicted Wilhoite of voluntary manslaughter. He had been charged with murder, but jurors struggled to reach a unanimous decision and ultimately agreed that Wilhoite had acted under “sudden heat.”

This led to a verdict of voluntary manslaughter. Although the 30-year sentence is the maximum sentence under the law, a murder conviction would have resulted in a harsher sentence.

Wilhoite killed his wife in March 2022, about a week after she filed for divorce. Wilhoite told police his wife got drunk, which led to a fight between them.

Nikki Wilhoite learned her husband was having an affair, sparking the argument. Wilhoite said his wife started hitting him and he threw her in front of the front door of their home. He then claimed she charged at him, prompting him to hit her in the face with a heavy cement flower pot.

She didn't move or make any noise after that, Wilhoite said. He put her in a truck and drove to a nearby river to hide the body.

An autopsy revealed that Nikki Wilhoite died from blunt force trauma to the head. She was battling cancer and had recently completed chemotherapy treatments before her death.