LIBERTY COUNTY, GA - Tuesday, August 5th, was the first day of trial for former naval officer Nicholas Kassotis, who has been accused of killing and dismembering his wife.
Kassotis is facing 12 charges related to the death of his second wife, Mindi Mebane Kassotis, WSAV reported. Some of those charges include malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, tampering with evidence, and removal of body parts from the scene of death or dismemberment.
Mindi's body was discovered in the woods of a hunting club in Riceboro, Georgia, on December 2, 2022. Her body was discovered roughly one week after investigators suspected she was killed, when a hunter happened upon her body while tracking a deer, according to PEOPLE.
For months, police worked to identify Mindi's body, which was found dismembered and in pieces, along with a knife and a container of blood. After identifying Mindi, a writer and business owner who earned a master's degree in public and international affairs at Virginia Tech, police arrested her husband in connection with her death in May 2023.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that the couple was living in Savannah, Georgia, at the time of Mindi's death. Kassotis' defense attorneys claim that he is innocent, and as the trial began, presented a defense that state prosecutors have dismissed as a "CIA, conspiracy theory type argument."
His defense attorneys claim that Kassotis was a man "who lived in fear, relentless, all-consuming fear" of a man purportedly named "Jim McIntyre," whose identity has never been verified.
According to his attorney Douglas Weinstein, Kassotis had been acting suspiciously and lying to friends and family out of fear of this alleged figure, who, according to the defense, claimed to work for the FBI and warned the couple that their lives were in danger.
"They were living, moving every few days, few weeks, few months, under the control of this person we'll keep calling Jim McIntyre," Weinstein claimed ahead of the trial. "While the state says that that's a fabrication, it's clearly not a fabrication that he makes up after the fact. Because he and Mindi told people about what was going on, why they were on the run, and everything else.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Weinstein said that the McIntyre figure "controlled every aspect of Nick and Mindi's life," calling the victim's death a "mystery." When delivering opening arguments during the first day of the trial, Assistant District Attorney Laurie Baio implored the jury: "Bring your common sense, follow the law, and give justice to Mindi Kassotis."
Kassotis is facing 12 charges related to the death of his second wife, Mindi Mebane Kassotis, WSAV reported. Some of those charges include malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, tampering with evidence, and removal of body parts from the scene of death or dismemberment.
Mindi's body was discovered in the woods of a hunting club in Riceboro, Georgia, on December 2, 2022. Her body was discovered roughly one week after investigators suspected she was killed, when a hunter happened upon her body while tracking a deer, according to PEOPLE.
For months, police worked to identify Mindi's body, which was found dismembered and in pieces, along with a knife and a container of blood. After identifying Mindi, a writer and business owner who earned a master's degree in public and international affairs at Virginia Tech, police arrested her husband in connection with her death in May 2023.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that the couple was living in Savannah, Georgia, at the time of Mindi's death. Kassotis' defense attorneys claim that he is innocent, and as the trial began, presented a defense that state prosecutors have dismissed as a "CIA, conspiracy theory type argument."
His defense attorneys claim that Kassotis was a man "who lived in fear, relentless, all-consuming fear" of a man purportedly named "Jim McIntyre," whose identity has never been verified.
According to his attorney Douglas Weinstein, Kassotis had been acting suspiciously and lying to friends and family out of fear of this alleged figure, who, according to the defense, claimed to work for the FBI and warned the couple that their lives were in danger.
"They were living, moving every few days, few weeks, few months, under the control of this person we'll keep calling Jim McIntyre," Weinstein claimed ahead of the trial. "While the state says that that's a fabrication, it's clearly not a fabrication that he makes up after the fact. Because he and Mindi told people about what was going on, why they were on the run, and everything else.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Weinstein said that the McIntyre figure "controlled every aspect of Nick and Mindi's life," calling the victim's death a "mystery." When delivering opening arguments during the first day of the trial, Assistant District Attorney Laurie Baio implored the jury: "Bring your common sense, follow the law, and give justice to Mindi Kassotis."
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Comments
2025-08-11T19:33-0400 | Comment by: Paul
I find it hard to believe they were never told why their lives were in danger.