Nicholas Holbert of Fayetteville was sentenced to life in prison without benefit of parole Friday afternoon for the murder of year-old Army Spc. Kelli Bordeaux in Holbert pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping, admitting that he beat Bordeaux to death after they left together from the former Froggy Bottoms bar on Ramsey Street in the early morning of April 12, Holbert, 28, apologized to Bordeaux's mother and her two surviving children, saying he was "truly sorry" and that "hopefully one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me.
Bordeaux's mother, Johnna Henson, angrily spoke to Holbert from the witness stand, at one point demanding that he look at her. She said her daughter didn't judge people but she wishes she had so she would have known "what kind of demon you are, Mr.
At some point, she met Holbert, who did odd jobs for the Froggy Bottoms bar and lived in the woods behind it in a makeshift camp. About 8 p. They played pool together and she sang karaoke. At some point, Bordeaux learned that Holbert was a registered sex offender.
At a. While walking to the car, Bordeaux made a derogatory comment about Holbert's sex offense and he struck her in the face, knocking her out. Holbert put Bordeaux in his car and drove to his campsite, where Bordeaux awoke screaming. Holbert hit her until she died, drove to a convenience store for gas and then buried her body in a shallow grave in woods off River Road.
Not having enough evidence to charge him with murder, police arrested Holbert for violating the sex offender registry. He was convicted and put in prison until May Sometime that year, David Marshburn, a private investigator from Smithfield, had befriended Holbert and given him odd jobs while secretly working with police to get Holbert to confess.
