The murder case against a South Carolina man who allegedly killed his wife and buried her body in a shallow grave at a cemetery near Fredonia has been dismissed in Caldwell County.
Joseph Florentine is charged with murder and abuse of a corpse in the death of 36-year old Nicole Renee Florentine, whose body was found in Hill Cemetery on June 13, 2020.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Carrie Ovey-Wiggins tells the News Edge this case against Florentine was dismissed without prejudice in Caldwell County because of a federal indictment for the same offenses in South Carolina.
click to download audioA motion to dismiss a case without prejudice means is dismissed for now, but the prosecutor can still re-file the case at a later point.
According to a motion to dismiss the charge of murder filed in January 2022 by Florentine’s attorney, Gregory Coulson of Lexington, Florentine, and his wife were full-time residents of South Carolina. In the discovery provided to the state, he said there is circumstantial evidence that the couple was together around the date of June 9, 2020. Further evidence, he stated, showed that Nicole’s phone was active in Greenville, South Carolina on that day. That evening, Nicole’s phone stopped connecting to cell towers, with the last text sent from her phone around 10:07 the night of June 9, 2020, from the location in South Carolina. The motion states four days later Nicole’s body was discovered in a shallow grave in a cemetery in Caldwell County. The investigation which followed reportedly showed that a vehicle and person which law enforcement believed to match Florentine was seen purchasing fuel and a fuel container in close proximity to the discovery of his wife’s body.
The state further alleges that the rental car which matched this description was discovered in Colorado where Florentine was located. A bag containing Florentine’s computer was found on the side of the road in Illinois, and the vehicle purportedly contained the blood of his wife near the trunk of the car. Thus, the motion says the state has circumstantial evidence that Florentine was involved in the disposal of Nicole’s body in the state of Kentucky. However, the state does not have evidence that she was killed in Kentucky.
The motion goes on to say the condition of the body when it was discovered was notable for, among other issues, advanced decomposition. It states this suggests that Nicole had perished sometime prior to the burial of the remains. Coulson said in the motion when coupled with the evidence of the mobile phone stopping days prior in South Carolina, this creates strong evidence that Nicole neither passed away or suffered a fatal wound while in Kentucky.
Florentine was located and arrested in Denver, Colorado on June 23rd and was extradited back to Kentucky. He remained lodged in the Caldwell County Jail until he was turned over to federal authorities.
The agreed order to dismiss the case in Caldwell County was signed by Circuit Court Judge Jamus Redd last week.
