Nicole Speirs

Nicole Marie Speirs made headlines in the area of Tooele, Utah as a domestic violence murder victim. She was killed March 25, 2006 at age 22, by her then-boyfriend and father of her twins, Walter Smith. On the night of Nicole's death, Smith reported that he found her dead in her home, drowned in her bathtub, after returning from a trip to Idaho. The autopsy confirmed that drowning was the cause of death. Tooele is located approximately 18 miles west of Salt Lake City.
The pair met during the summer of 2004, and went on to have a relationship. Later Nicole gave birth to a twin boy and girl.
Smith, her 24-year-old boyfriend and a member of the United States Marines who had returned from Iraq, was not immediately known to have killed her until December 12, 2006, when he confessed to the killing. According to police, Smith walked into a Veteran's Administration hospital building and confessed eight months after the fact. Smith was since discharged from the Marines.
As it was later revealed that Walter suffered from PTSD because of the six months he served in the Iraq War.
Walter could not explain why he murdered her. The detectives on the case suspected that the true motive behind the murder was that Nicole wanted to get married.
On August 14, 2007, Smith pleaded guilty to a second-degree manslaughter charge as part of a plea bargain. He was originally charged with first-degree felony murder.
Smith and Nicole's parents agreed to a plea bargain. He was sentenced 1–15 years for 2nd degree manslaughter on October 9, 2007.
The case was covered by Investigation Discovery show Unraveled, an episode called ''Deadly Demons.''

Additional references

Discovery ID, Unraveled,
America Reframed,, 2014
New York Times, Deborah Sontag,, January 20, 2008
Tooele Transcript Bulletin, Mary Ruth Hammond,, December 4, 2006
KSL News, Sam Penrod,, December 12, 2006
KUTV.com,, December 12, 2006
Nicole Speirs' and profiles
Section of – tracking media coverage of Speirs murder
KSL news, Sam Penrod,, June 5, 2007