Nicole Addimando, a 30-year-old woman from New York, is facing 25 years to life in prison for the shooting death of gymnastics coach Christopher Grover, who was her longtime boyfriend.
Grover died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal.
However, Addimando is claiming self-defense and says that she fatally shot Grover after years of sexual and physical abuse.
From the report:
The defense said Addimando had a justifiable, reasonable and legitimate belief that Grover was going to kill her.
Addimando described in ‘excruciating, painful detail… what can only be described as evil, sadistic torture’ over three days of testimony.
Ingrassia briefly restated the various incidents Addimando claimed Grover had raped her, choked her with a bathrobe belt and used a hot spoon to burn various parts of her body.
Addimando had flagged down police officers on the night of Grover’s death and told officers of an “incident” with her boyfriend. Police had recently visited the couple’s home in Poughkeepsie, New York after a complaint expressed concern for their two children after Addimando was seen with bruises on her.
Despite Addimando’s claim of self-defense, the prosecutors do not believe that is the case.
“That wasn’t self-defense,” Putnam County District Attorney’s Office special prosecutor Chana Krauss said in her closing statement, via the Daily Mail. “Chris Grover was sleeping on the couch. This was intentional murder.”
Her friends, however, continue to voice their support.
“I just wanted to say that we are heartbroken and devastated and that we are thinking of Nikki’s two children, Ben and Faye, who will go to sleep tonight without their mom,” Addimando’s friend Elizabeth Clifton told the Poughkeepsie Journal. “And that we understand that this is why women don’t come forward.”
Addimando is due back in court on June 10 for her sentencing.
