Naman Shrestha
Kelli Bordeaux, a young Army medic of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, had a long career in the military in front of her. But she went missing in April 2012, only to be found buried a couple of years later. Given the twists and turns in the case, the police went from treating it as a disappearance case to a homicide between 2012 and 2014, while having strong suspicions against Nicholas Holbert. The investigation and apprehension of Nick is focused in NBC’s ‘Dateline: Deep in the Woods,’ which also features interviews with Kelli’s loved ones, including her siblings, and the officials linked to the case.
Nick Holbert Murdered Kelli Bordeaux in a Fit of Rage
Born in the late 1980s, Nicholas “Nick” Michael Holbert was primarily taken care of by his mother, while his father was reportedly never a part of his life. He showcased his predatory and indecent instincts in his teenage years while he was studying at Pine Forest High School. As per reports, aged 16, he was convicted of indecent liberties with a 5-year-old child and became a registered sex offender. Several years later, in May 2014, while Nick was working as a bar hand, he became a person of interest in the disappearance case of Kelli Bordeaux, a 23-year-old Fort Bragg soldier who was reported missing on April 14, 2012.
After separating from her husband on April 7, 2012, Kelli began dating another man. Around the same time, she met Nick, who used to work at the Froggy Bottoms bar, and the two got to talking. On the night she disappeared, they spent a significant amount of time together, playing pool and singing karaoke. But things took a turn when she learned about his criminal past. She sent a text to the man she had been dating at the time, informing him that Nick was driving her home. When the police discovered that she was last seen leaving Froggy Bottoms bar in Fayetteville, North Carolina, around 1:20 a.m. with Nick, they brought him in for questioning twice.
He claimed that he only gave the soldier a ride home and dropped her off at the entrance of her neighborhood. According to his claims, someone was setting him up due to his criminal record. However, reports suggest that when Nick and Kelli were leaving the bar, the former knocked her out by striking her in the face in the parking lot as she’d commented on his sex offense. Putting her in his car, the bar hand took her to his campsite behind the bar. As she gained consciousness, she began screaming, and he struck her several more times to make her stop, ending up killing her. He then dug up a shallow hole in the woods off River Road and buried her body there.
At the time, the police did not have enough evidence to prove that Nick murdered Kelli, but they managed to arrest him for violating the sex offender registry. After getting convicted, he was made to serve time behind bars until May 2013. A few weeks later, a private investigator named David Marshburn got close to Nick and befriended him, with the intention of breaking him down and making him confess to the murder of Kelli. Sooner rather than later, he broke down and led David to the site where he had buried the former army combat medic. In May 2014, her remains were exhumed and positively identified.
The confession of Nick was corroborated with the autopsy result of Kelli’s body as it showed that she died of severe blows to the head. So, the police arrested Nick Holbert and charged him with first-degree murder and kidnapping. However, the detectives still had doubts regarding two text messages that were sent from Kelli’s phone after she left the bar on the fateful night, including the text about her reaching home. But when Nick was taken into custody, he admitted that he sent those texts to avoid suspicion.
Nick Holbert is Now Serving a Life Sentence
In order to avoid the death penalty, Nick Holbert pleaded guilty to the charges against him and admitted that he beat Kelli to death in the early hours of April 12, 2012. Then, on August 7, 2015, he received a life imprisonment sentence without the possibility of parole. During the sentencing, Kelli’s mother addressed the court and talked to Nick directly from the witness stand.
She said, “Can you look at me for a minute? I don’t understand how you can take a beautiful young girl for pretty much no reason and beat the life out of her…You took something precious from me… I don’t have anything else to say except you can go to hell!” Currently, he is serving his sentence behind bars at Albemarle Correctional Institute at 44150 Airport Road in New London, North Carolina.
Read More: Olivia Cox: Where is Kelli Bordeaux’s Sister Now?
