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

BOONE COUNTY, India.–A man convicted of murdering his wife in Boone County was sentenced to prison this week.

On Tuesday, a judge sentenced Andrew Wilhoite, 43, to 30 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections for the death of Elizabeth “Nikki” Wilhoite. He was also given credit for 801 days already served. This means he still has more than 27 years left in prison.

In April, a jury convicted Wilhoite of voluntary manslaughter. He was initially charged with murder, but the jury could not reach a unanimous decision on this point, although they agreed that he had acted in “sudden heat”. This is what led to the verdict of intentional homicide.

Police say Wilhoite killed his wife in March 2022, about a week after she filed for divorce because she learned Andrew was having an affair. This is what investigators believe sparked the argument between them.

Wilhoite claimed Nikki hit him and he threw her out the front door of their home. He also said she “charged at him”, prompting him to hit her in the face with a heavy cement flowerpot.

Investigators say Andrew told them he put her in a truck and dumped her body in a creek.

The autopsy showed that Nikki died from blunt force trauma to the head. She also suffered from cancer and completed chemotherapy treatments before she died.

Wilhoite was also one of three Republican candidates who ran in a 2022 primary for a position on the township board before dropping out of the race. He received 60 of 276 total Republican votes for three positions on the Clinton Township Board of Trustees. The race had only three candidates.