Shelby Nealy sentencing trial: Jurors hear details of murders in Day 4 of testimony
Sentencing trial for man who killed wife, in-laws
FOX 13's Kylie Jones shares the latest from the Shelby Nealy sentencing trial as the courtroom saw the video on Monday of him confessing to the murder of his wife and in-laws.
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Testimony resumed for a fourth day Monday in the sentencing trial of Shelby Nealy, who faces the death penalty for killing his former in-laws in Pinellas County nearly a year after killing his wife.
The backstory:
Nealy is already in prison, serving a 30-year sentence after pleading guilty to manslaughter for killing his wife, Jamie Ivancic, 21, in Pasco County in January 2018.
Prosecutors said Nealy strangled and beat Jamie to death, then buried her in the backyard of their Port Richey home.
Pictured: Jamie Ivancic.
In December 2018, he went to Jamie's parents' home in Tarpon Springs and killed her parents, Richard and Laura Ivancic, along with Jamie's brother, Nick.
Pictured: Richard and Laura Ivancic.
Their bodies were found about two weeks later, and investigators arrested Nealy in Ohio in January 2019.
PREVIOUS: Man charged with first-degree murder in deaths of wife's family
In late 2023, Nealy pleaded guilty in Pinellas County to three counts of first-degree murder, along with three counts of aggravated animal cruelty for killing the family's dogs.
Dig deeper:
On Monday, the jury saw text messages sent from Laura Ivancic's cellphone to multiple family members after her death. An investigator read messages sent from Laura's phone around Christmas 2018, after she was murdered.
Family members texted her multiple times and were concerned, because they hadn't heard from her in a while.
The messages sent from Laura's phone claimed she was having issues with her phone and that she was dealing with a family emergency with Jamie.
"This is from Laura's phone," the investigator read. "'I'm so sorry. I just got this, my phone has been acting really weird. I can't even call or hear on the phone. But no, we are going to be in Texas for a while with Jamie. We are currently dealing with a family emergency with her.'"
On Monday afternoon, the jury watched a tape of Nealy's confession. Nealy sat with a detective and confessed to killing his wife, Jamie, covering it up and then killing her parents, Richard and Laura Ivancic, and her brother, Nick Ivancic.
Pictured: Nick Ivancic.
During the lengthy confession, Nealy detailed how he first killed Jamie in January 2018.
"Unfortunately, I went too far," Nealy said. "I choked her out."
Nealy told the detective that an argument with Jamie turned physical. He claimed there was a longstanding history of mental health concerns with his wife and that he was worried for the safety of his children.
"I was just under her control, man," Nealy said. "I know I come across as the evil one and, quite honestly, I am. I'm a monster."
When the detective asked where Jamie's body was, Nealy told him that he buried her in their backyard. Nealy also admitted that he covered up her death by posing as Jamie and responding to messages on her phone for months.
"I knew her so well, I knew how to act like her," Nealy said.
After months of not being able to hear Jamie's voice, her family got suspicious.
Pictured: Shelby Nealy in court during his sentencing trial.
Nealy told the detective during his confession that as time passed, and it neared a year since Jamie's death, he was afraid he was going to get caught.
"I put off killing them and I tried to look for every alternative not to do it," Nealy said. "And of course, I didn't have to do it."
Nealy then walked the detective through how he killed Richard, Laura and Nick Ivancic.
"The parents passed away first, and then I dragged their bodies into their room, cleaned it up, waited for Nick to get home," Nealy said. "Spent one last night with Nick and then, when he went to bed, I killed him too."
He detailed their murders and how he tried to cover up their deaths. Throughout his confession, Nealy told the detective multiple times that he didn't want to kill his in-laws.
"I didn't do this, because I wanted to be evil, and I wanted to kill people," Nealy said. "I did it, because I felt that I had no choice at that time period."
Nealy sat in the courtroom on Monday, watching his own confession, appearing to show no emotion.
What they're saying:
Monday afternoon, the jury heard two victim impact statements from Laura's family. Another family member read a statement from Laura's sister.
Laura's niece also shared a statement over Zoom.
"My Aunt Laura was my absolute best friend," Sarah Lawrence, Laura's niece, said. "To be honest, she was a second mom to me. I could go to her when I felt like I had no one else to go to, and I could confide anything in her and not worry about feeling alone, because that was one of the most incredible things about my Aunt Laura. You never had to wonder if she loved you. She made sure you knew."
She went on to speak about Richard as well.
"My Uncle Rich would do absolutely anything to help anyone if he could. The shirt off his back was yours if you needed it," Lawrence said. "The kind of strength and love he provided to not only his family, but to everyone around him, was enough to make you feel like you were the most important human being in the entire room."
What's next:
The defense reserved its opening statement last week, but is expected to begin making its case this week. The sentencing phase is expected to continue Tuesday morning.
The Source: This story was written with information from Pinellas County court records and previous FOX 13 News reports.