ROCK HILL, S.C. — A Rock Hill man pleaded guilty Tuesday to shooting his wife in the head and burning her body before burying her in a shallow grave at a Kentucky cemetery, stated the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a news release.
On June 13, 2020, a groundskeeper for Hill Cemetery in Fredonia, Kentucky, discovered a makeshift grave, according to an FBI investigation.
Investigators recovered a partially charred female body from the shallow grave. There was no form of identification or anything that could ID the body. An autopsy identified it as belonging to Nicole Zahnd Florentine. She was shot in the head by a .22 caliber bullet.
Before the gruesome discovery, witnesses reported seeing a car that matched one that belonged to Nicole Florentine’s husband, 56-year-old Lawrence Joseph Florentine.
On June 11, 2020, a local hardware store verified a transaction for a shovel and gas can by someone who looked like Lawrence Florentine.
Surveillance camera footage from a nearby gas station shows Lawrence Florentine filling the gas can a short time later.
A gas can was found behind a tree where the body was discovered in the cemetery.
Investigators didn’t find the gun.
However, police recovered a lighter and .22 caliber cartridges in the center console of Lawrence Florentine’s abandoned car. His wife’s blood was on the rear exterior of the car.
Sometime after June 11, 2020, Florentine fled Kentucky to Denver, Colorado. On June 23, 2020, he surrendered to the Denver Police Department.
The Florentines were on a road trip in June 2020. Nicole Florentine was reported missing after her grandmother didn’t hear from her.
Florentine faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.
(WATCH: Task force created to solve 10-year-old cold case in Rock Hill)
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