A former US Navy legal officer has been arrested in the grisly death of his writer wife — whose dismembered body was discovered late last year scattered in the woods of a hunting club in Georgia.
Nicholas James Kassotis, 40, a former member of the Navy’s Judge Advocate General Corps, was arrested Friday in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the death of Mindi Mebane Kassotis, 40, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced.
He faces charges of malice and felony murder, assault, tampering with evidence and the removal of body parts from the scene of death or dismemberment, the GBI said in a statement.
Kassotis, who also goes by the name Nicholas Killian Stark, was arrested a day after his wife was officially identified using DNA technology.
Her partial remains were found Dec. 2 on the grounds of the Portal Hunting Club in Riceboro, Georgia, about 40 miles southwest of Savannah, where the couple where living, officials said.
“Additional remains were discovered within a three-mile radius on the hunting club property in Liberty County, as well as McIntosh County,” the GBI said, adding that additional testing determined that the remains placed in the area around Nov. 27.
Georgia authorities identified the victim through genealogy DNA with the assistance of the FBI, which used a lab specializing in forensic testing.
“The GBI interviewed family members and obtained DNA swabs for comparison to the profile created through genealogy DNA,” the agency said.
Investigators have not yet disclosed a possible motive in the brutal crime.
The couple were married at Morven Park, Virginia, in October 2016, according to their wedding announcement in The Keane Sentinel of New Hampshire.
She was described as a writer and business owner who held a bachelor’s degree from Armstrong State University and a master’s in public and international affairs from Virginia Tech.
Her husband, who attended high school in New Hampshire, graduated from Boston University and the Northeastern University School of Law, according to the wedding announcement.
He served as a judge advocate in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the US Navy.
Kassotis was commissioned as a Navy officer in June 2006 and left the service in August 2019, according to NBC News.
His most recent assignment was in the Navy Reserve at the Region Legal Service Office in the Naval District of Washington, DC, from 2017 to 2019, the news outlet reported.
At the “separation date” with the Navy, he reportedly attained the rank of lieutenant commander.
Mindi’s friends from her Louisiana high school expressed their shock about the case.
“I’m still speechless,” one former classmate wrote in social media, according to People.
“She touched so many lives. I hope she knew how many loved her and how many have missed her for so long. I also pray she didn’t suffer. She was such a special person, a true friend to all,” another wrote.
“OMG, this is horrifying! She was always such a sweetheart. Sending all my love to her friends & family,” third said, according to the mag.
Her husband was being held in Lancaster County Prison pending extradition proceedings to Georgia.