Sandi Nieves

Case record: Sandi Nieves

Overview

Sandi Dawn Nieves was convicted of first-degree murders of four of her children and was also found guilty of arson and the attempted murder of her son David. She was sentenced to death on October 6, 2000.

Background

Nieves was 34 at the time of the crimes. She was fighting hard to hang on to her children in an ugly custody battle, and she worried that the allegedly violent behavior of her ex-husband's older son presented a danger to her four young daughters. Nieves wrote a judge: "I am concerned for the safety of our children."

Her stepmother Penny Lucia said the couple's divorce had grown increasingly rancorous since the couple separated in February 1997. The divorce was made final in August, but Folden had applied to the court for custody of the two younger girls, his biological daughters. Folden told the court that Nieves beat the children with a long wooden spoon. Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services officials said they had no reports of child abuse by Nieves. Lucia said she spoke with her stepdaughter Tuesday, the day before the children's deaths, and said they had a typical mother-daughter chat about the children, school and how they missed each other. Lucia said: "Sandi would die for her kids," and added that "That's why the divorce is so bitter. It's over the kids. She wants everything for those kids."

Lucia said that Folden met Nieves when he married her mother, Delores Folden. When he divorced Delores Folden in 1987, he listed Nieves as his daughter in court papers. After that divorce, Nieves and Folden grew close and married in June 1989. Lucia said he eventually adopted Nieves' three children from her previous marriage: David, and his two sisters who were later killed: Nikolet A. Folden and Rashel H. Folden. The couple then had two of their own children, Kristl D. Folden and Jaqlene M. Folden, both of whom authorities said were also killed by the gas.

Friends of the family expressed shock at the killings. A neighbor and friend, Pat Rogers, said she last spoke to Sandi about three months before Nieves left the neighborhood. Rogers said:

"She had just pulled away from everyone. She was very confused and very mixed up about a lot of things, but her kids were everything to her,"

and:

"Maybe the threat of losing custody might have pushed her over the edge. "I don't know where the truth is . . . when you do something like that. If she, in fact, did that, that is not the Sandi I knew," Rogers said. "Something snapped somewhere."

Carol Jernigan, who lived across the street from the family's home, said:

"To sit back and think about this mother planning this is hard to imagine. I can't believe a mother would do this to her own children."

The biological father of the oldest three children, Ferdinand Nieves, could not be reached for comment.

The offences

Nieves murdered her four daughters and set their home ablaze. The four girls were clad in their pajamas when they were found dead in sleeping bags and bedding in the kitchen. They were:

• Jaqlene Marie Folden, 5
• Kristl Dawn Folden, 7
• Rashel Holly Nieves, 11
• Nikolet Amber Nieves, 12

In her allegations and later defense, Nieves was described as having told her five children to sleep in the kitchen as if they were having a slumber party. Prosecutors established that Nieves was financially desperate and angry at the men in her life. In the weeks before the murders, a boyfriend left her, and she was engaged in a child-support battle with an ex-husband. On the night of June 30, 1998, Nieves told her five children to sleep in the kitchen, where she joined them. She then poured gasoline on the carpet and set it afire.

Prosecutors alleged that the children died of smoke inhalation. David, Nieves' son, was hospitalized briefly for smoke inhalation and survived the fire.

During the attack, Nieves was accused of asphyxiating the sleeping girls with natural gas from the oven. Firefighters responded to a 911 call and found the four girls tucked into sleeping bags on the floor of the kitchen.

Investigation

Authorities accused Nieves of killing the four girls, as well as arson. Sources said the killings came just one day before Nieves and her ex-husband, David E. Folden, were due in Riverside County court to reconsider custody of their children and the division of shared property.

Authorities said Nieves would be taken to jail as soon as she was released by doctors after treatment for smoke inhalation. Nieves' son David Nieves, 14, was also taken to a hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation, where he was listed in good condition.

The reporting included that authorities speculated that Nieves may have tried to kill herself after killing her children; the role, if any, of her son in the deaths was unclear.

Deputy Public Defender Howard Waco unsuccessfully argued that Nieves was not "legally conscious" at the time of the crime.

Arrest

Nieves was arrested on suspicion of murder on July 2, 1998, in connection with the deaths.

Trial

The trial lasted 3 1/2 months. Prosecutors established that Nieves was financially desperate and angry at the men in her life, and they presented the custody and child-support disputes as part of the case context.

Charges and verdict

Nieves was convicted of:

• four counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of her daughters Jaqlene Folden, Kristl Folden, Rashel Folden-Nieves, and Nikolet Folden-Nieves, who died of smoke inhalation
• arson
• attempted murder of her son David

The jury recommended the death penalty for Nieves. Jurors found Nieves guilty after one day of deliberating.

The jury consisted of five women and seven men.

Defense position and contested points

Deputy Public Defender Howard Waco contended that at the time of the blaze, Nieves was in a legally unconscious, sleepwalking-like state induced by a combination of hormonal imbalance, stress and an adverse reaction to prescription drugs.

Nieves testified in her own defense and said she had a flashback of holding a lighter in her hand, but otherwise had no idea what happened.

Waco argued that letters written by Nieves before the fire had been mischaracterized by prosecutors as suicide notes. Waco said one letter to an ex-husband who sought to reverse his adoption of the three oldest children included the line: "Now you don't have to support any of us." Waco characterized that language as "hyperbole," and said using dramatic language was not unusual for her. Waco said:

"She was a very depressed person. But not so depressed that she would want to kill her children,"

and:

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely,"

attributing the quote to Thomas Jefferson after saying that prosecutors and detectives of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department were sneaky and biased in how they handled the case. Waco repeatedly apologized to jurors for his own conduct during the trial.

During the closing argument, the defense urged jurors to find Nieves not guilty. Waco said:

"Sandi Dawn Nieves is and was not a murderer,"

and also asked jurors to:

"squeeze the grape of truth" so that "justice will come out."

During closing, prosecutors and Waco fought over evidence, and Wiatt repeatedly sanctioned Waco, mostly for making improper objections or statements, and slapped him with thousands of dollars in fines. Waco asked to have Wiatt removed from the trial, alleging that the judge was biased against him. Wiatt denied those allegations and stated that his rulings conformed with the law.

Wiatt announced he was wiping out thousands of dollars in monetary sanctions imposed on the defense attorney, except the first one: a $500 fine for failure to comply with discovery rules. Waco said he planned to appeal that fine.

Quotations from the trial coverage

Juror Bob Fisher of Van Nuys said during a break:

"The mother, taking the lives of her children, it's just unthinkable."

Charlotte Nieves, stepmother of the two older girls, described the suffering of her husband Fernando and Dave Folden, father of the two younger girls. Charlotte Nieves said:

"My heart aches because of all the memories we didn't get to make,"

The deputy district attorneys argued Nieves deserved death row. Deputy Dist. Atty. Beth Silverman said:

"We've yet to see her remorse,"

and:

"Justice was served today."

Deputy Dist. Atty. Kenneth Barshop said:

"How do you forgive someone who did the unforgivable?"

Proceedings involving judge Wiatt

At sentencing, Judge L. Jeffrey Wiatt described the murders as "cold, vicious and calculated" and condemned Nieves for taking "final revenge" against the men in her life. He said:

"She betrayed the trust of her children,"

and he condemned Nieves for the "horrible and violent deaths" of her daughters after she set their house on fire.

Wiatt also said:

"She was staging this multiple murder as the final revenge at the men in her life,"

Sentencing

After the jury recommended death, Sandi Nieves was sentenced to death on October 6, 2000. The sentencing occurred in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Judge L. Jeffrey Wiatt said:

and he condemned the deaths as "horrible and violent deaths." He also called the murders "cold, vicious and calculated."

During the sentencing hearing, Nieves hid her face behind white paper. When asked if she had anything to say, she responded:

"If I could take back time . . . if I was smarter . . . if I had time before everyone passed out, we would have gotten out of that house."

Appeals and outcome

After the conviction and death sentence, the case would automatically be appealed to the state Supreme Court under California law.

Aftermath

David Nieves, now 16, lived with his father Fernando and stepmother and did not appear in court Friday for sentencing. The boy refused all contact with his mother. Fernando Nieves said:

"The mail he receives from jail, he throws in the trash,"

and he also said:

"I have to deal with my life without my daughters,"

and:

"The pain never goes away."

In remarks reported outside court, Fernando Nieves said he would like to watch his ex-wife's execution and said:

"The jury never lost focus of what this trial was all about--it was about four innocent little girls."

The reporting also said that jurors shunned the news media and Nieves' attorney and shared doughnuts and cookies in the jury room, then hugged outside San Fernando Superior Court before going their separate ways.

An alternate juror, a crime scene photographer for the LAPD who declined to give his name, said:

"We did our civic duty. That's all we can be held accountable for."

Prosecutors and jurors described the unanimous decision on guilt and punishment as swift, after a quick unanimous deliberation.

Finally, prosecutors said:

and included remarks about remorse in court statements as part of their punishment arguments.