
Michael Evans says that our criminal justice system may have failed to identify a victim years before she became an assailant herself
Nicole “Nikki” Addimando was recently sentenced to 19 years to life in prison for killing her boyfriend of 9 years who was also the father to her children. By looking at the charges and subsequent conviction, you would assume that she had a selfish reason to shoot such an important person in her life. However, Kingsman Founder and Security Expert, Michael Evans, believes that she was the real victim for years prior to this incident and this sentence may send the wrong message to women who have suffered abuse at the hands of their abusers with no legal recourse. We spoke with Michael about the case.
This case was prosecuted successfully and Nikki was sentenced. In your opinion, what went wrong here?
“In my opinion, this sentencing should be celebrated like a Michael Jordan-style, 360-degree-slam-dunk into the wrong basket. I think the world is looking on in disbelief of the failures of the system from the start when Nikki claims to have been assaulted by her boyfriend. Nikki was able to produce a myriad of evidence of rape, torture and assault over the course of years – all documented. I believe that evidence should’ve been taken into consideration in the sentencing stage.
What type of evidence did Nikki produce that should have been taken into consideration?
“According to Nikki, she had been attacked by her live-in boyfriend on several occasions. Nikki had gone to the hospital, which had a program that allowed sexual abuse victims to document assault without involving police. The records that were submitted as evidence contained graphic pictures of severe injuries to Nikki’s body and genitals. The evidence included photos of a prolapsed vulva, a bleeding vagina, a bleeding anus and bruises all over her face and body. Nikki also located pornographic videos of her on the internet of forced sex with her as the victim on porn websites, uploaded by the man she shot. The videos depict vile acts meant to resemble rape.”
You mentioned failures by the system that led to this sentencing. What did you mean?
“In this case, there were documented visits by Child Protective Servies to the home. According to Nikki, she was afraid to lose custody of her children, and insisted that her abuser was a good father and that she had a propensity for falling often and bruising easily. In my opinion, it’s lazy for authorities who handled those incidents to not aggressively follow up on obvious instances of assault in the name of clearing cases and moving on.
Outside of this case, the acronym ‘VRC’ is the brick wall for prosecution in some areas of the U.S. VRC is short for, “Victim Refused to Cooperate.” I’ve seen with my own eyes, officers taking it upon themselves to reduce a misdemeanor assault offense in the field to Harassment 2nd Degree, a mere violation in NY, which is less than a misdemeanor. Labeling the offense as Harassment 2nd and adding VRC to the report, signals that there wasn’t a crime and the victim will not cooperate. This the type of shoddy police work can enable an abuser over the course of a relationship. I’m not saying this is what happened in the Addimando case, but this is the sort of lazy police work that can prevent prior cases from being presented when invoking the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act.”
Is there anything you would like to add?
“For most of my adult life, I have been dealing with cases like the Nikki Addimando situation. I have certainly noticed that the cases leading up to the final action; whether its escaping, utilizing family court for custody and stay-away orders, criminal action or even killing their abusers, were handled differently. Some jurisdictions take matters of sexual abuse and domestic violence more seriously than others and that leads to a deficiency of options for some women. The Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act is there to assist victims by untying judge’s hands in mandating strict sentences. In 2019, Nikki sought such help to no avail and wound up being sentenced to 19 years to life in prison.
If you’re a woman who is being abused, physically, sexually or emotionally, reach out to Kingsman Philanthropic Corp. We are a non-profit organization that will help get you away from your abuser. We never charge victims a penny for our work. Before you take desperate action, contact us. Hopefully, we can help.”
You can find more information about Kingsman at www.therealkingsman.org
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