A man accused of killing and dismembering his wife in late 2022 will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

A Liberty County jury took about an hour Thursday to reach guilty verdicts on all 12 counts against Nicholas Kassotis, including the most serious charges of malice murder and felony murder, for the death of his wife Mindi Mebane Kassotis. Superior Court Judge Paul Rose imposed the maximum penalty of life without parole plus 25 years.

Kassotis, a former Navy Judge Advocate General prosecutor, was found guilty of killing Mindi and then cutting her into pieces. He discarded the pieces throughout timberland used by a hunting club and stretching over three counties.

“This is truly a heinous crime,” Judge Rose during sentencing.

Judge Rose said Kassotis had concocted a “web of lies” he told Mindi, going so far as to introduce a fictional character named Jim McIntyre who controlled the couple’s moves and bank accounts.

“You write fiction – and your life was a fiction, at least the last six to seven years,” Judge Rose told Kassotis. “And then you carried out a brutal, horrific, gruesome murder of Mindi.”

Judge Rose noted how Mindi Mebane Kassotis had been described as vibrant, smart and beautiful.

“All her hopes and dreams were dashed in an instant,” the judge said. “You were someone who proposed to her to love her and to care for her, then attacked her and then desecrated her body in such a vile way.”

Hunters found Mindi Kassotis’ torso on December 2, 2022. Her legs and head were found in the days following.

But law enforcement did not know who it was they found. Mindi Kassotis had not been reported missing. Her family testified Nicholas told them she had died in a hospital. He testified that she was in a medical facility for three days, but he did not go see her out of safety. When he showed up at a medical facility whose name and location in Savannah he could not recall, he was told she had died suddenly and was prevented from seeing her body.

Mindi’s remains were identified through familial DNA, and Kassotis was arrested in May 2023. By then, he had changed his name to Nicholas Stark and had remarried.

The Kassotises were living in Savannah, having moved over 50 times in a few years on the advice of man Kassotis said called himself Jim McIntyre because they were in danger.

Kassotis had a $1.5 million payment obliged to his first wife from their divorce decree, but she never received it. Kassotis said he thought McIntyre was paying it.

Megan Mebane, Mindi’s sister-in-law, said Nicholas showed no guilt and no remorse over Mindi’s death.

“You are a pathological liar,” she said. “You are a psychopath and a sociopath. You thought you were so much smarter than everyone else. You have forever changed the meaning of trust for me and my family.”

Mebane said Nicholas and Mindi lived with her and her husband Frank for 15 months, but Nicholas never contributed anything financially to the household. Mebane said Nicholas Kassotis deserves life without parole.

“You have no remorse for what you did,” she said. “You deserve to sit in prison for the rest of your life and think about Mindi every day.”

Morgan Paddock said Kassotis kept Mindi away from the people in her life.

“She lived every day in fear and isolation,” she said.

Haddock said Kassotis’ conviction won’t bring Mindi back.

“It just means you can’t do it to anyone else,” she said.

Nicholas Kassotis did not make a statement to the court following the verdict. His parents said they did not agree with jury’s decision and said the jurors didn’t know the Nicholas they did.

“We know him to be a calm, gentle man,” said his mother Linda Kassotis. “That he could take someone’s life is unbelievable. He is a good and kind person. They got this wrong – I’m sorry.”

Judge Rose charged the jury, giving his instructions for their deliberations, Thursday morning. Closing arguments concluded the evidence portion of the trial late Wednesday afternoon.

On the top charge, Judge Rose sentenced Kassotis to life without parole and merged the second count with it.

For more, return to coastalcourier.com and see the August 21 edition of the Courier.