The Murder of Nichole Nick

Episode #62 - The Murder of Nichole Nick

[Shaun] 

Nichole Nick was a Las Vegas local, a loving mother, sister, and daughter whose family described her as vibrant and full of hope, but behind the scenes, she was trapped in a relationship that had turned dangerous.

[John] 

She confided in her mother about her plans to leave Robert Brown, a man with a violent history and controlling behavior. But before she could take that step toward freedom, her life—and her family’s—was shattered in the most devastating way imaginable.

(Music - Pause for 8 seconds)

[Shaun] 

Hi and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence, as well as missing persons and unsolved cases. I’m your host, Shaun, and with me as always, is the one and only John.

[John] 

I am the only John in the room.

[Shaun] 

Today, we’re talking about Nichole Ellen Nick, a loving mother, sister, and daughter who became the victim of a horrifying act of domestic violence. One thing I’ll share before we get started is that Nichole is sometimes referred to as Nichole Nick but also sometimes referred to as Nichole Maestes. (MY EST ISS). 

Let’s start with what we were able to learn about Nichole’s background. John, do you want to take it from here?

[John] 

Sure. Nichole Ellen Nick Maestas was born in Las Vegas on October 31, 1983. Her family described her as kind-hearted, vibrant, and full of life. She had a bright smile that could light up any room. She attended Basic High School in Henderson. Her mother’s name is Esther Maestas and she had a sister named Kathleen. 

Nichole had two children and was described as a devoted mother. She was in the process of resolving a custody dispute, and her two kids were living in Arizona. Her mother explained to the press that Nicole was hopeful and excited to reunite with her children by the end of 2012.

In the summer of 2012, Nichole entered a relationship with Robert Brown Jr.  Brown, born in 1970, had a deeply troubling history of violence. 

He was convicted of attempted murder of his ex-wife in 1998. The press coverage of that crime is inconsistent with news outlets describing the crime he committed as a “carjacking.” 

Both the Review-Journal and Fox 5 News Las Vegas stated that Brown broke into the woman’s car and slashed her multiple times with a box cutter. He was convicted and spent at least 7 years in prison, with some news outlets stating he spent 9 years in prison. News 3 Las Vegas reported he served time in California for assaulting his girlfriend, but it’s unclear if that was the same incident as the attack on his ex-wife.

Unfortunately, Robert Brown is a very common name, which made researching his background very challenging, so we aren’t able to offer any additional details. We know he often used the name Ariel and that the Department of Corrections listed one of his aliases as “Pee Wee.” 

[Shaun]

Before we get to the events leading up to Nichole’s death, there’s another critical chapter in her life we need to discuss. In 2001, when Nichole was just 17 years old, she was dating a 21-year-old man named Jeff Canterbury. They had been together for about two years.

Jeff was wanted by the police in connection with the murder of a 20-year-old Henderson man named Norman Edward Byers. Byers, often called “Little Norm,” was found shot and killed in his Henderson apartment in May of 2001. 

Byers was a young father, leaving behind an infant son, and was deeply loved by his large family. His obituary described him as a devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, someone who enjoyed paintball, BMX bikes, motorcycles, camping, and mountain biking.

At the time of his murder, Byers worked as a culinary employee at the Rainbow Club, a small casino located on Water Street in downtown Henderson. The community was shocked by his death, and the case quickly drew attention. A man named Jeremy Buckles was arrested first, but police also named Jeff as a second suspect. According to Nichole, Jeff told her he didn’t kill Byers and that someone had taken his gun and shot him over a misunderstanding about a debt.

The police obtained information about where Jeff was living, and they obtained a warrant for a late-night raid to apprehend him.  

The police would later admit that they initially incorrectly entered a nearby apartment first, mistaking it for Jeff’s address, and terrifying the family inside. 

Nichole would later explain, that She and Jeff QUOTE “heard them go in the other apartment, and he knew they were coming for him. He told me he loved me, and that no matter what happened he loved the time he spent with me. He told me he wasn't going to shoot. He didn't want to die."

[John]

When police finally entered Jeff’s apartment, they found the two of them lying in bed together. Officers claimed Jeff was armed and using Nichole as a human shield, but Nichole later testified at the inquest about the shooting that it wasn’t true. She said she was trying to protect him from being killed, and she wasn’t afraid of Jeff. According to officers, Nichole was yelling, “He’s got a gun, he’s going to kill me.” Officers said that Jeff had a gun pointed at her side. 

Despite Nichole’s description of the events, the officers reported that Jeff pushed Nichole to the side and then pointed a gun at them, prompting them to open fire. Jeff was killed instantly, and Nichole, lying next to him, narrowly escaped being hit. She said the bullet went right by her ear. 

During the inquest into the shooting, Jeff’s brother testified that "They both loved each other, and he never would have pulled the gun if there was a chance she would be hurt. If he was by himself, he would have probably shot at the police.”

The shooting was found to be justified. 

Nichole was deeply affected by the incident. She insisted Jeff never raised the gun and that the officers had misjudged the situation. One of the things that stood out in the articles about the shooting and the inquest was that Nichole had kept sentimental items from Jeff, including the label from the last beer he drank and the peel from the last orange he ate.

I think it’s safe to assume that this shooting likely had an effect on her for some time. 

[Shaun]

The author John Irving, our listeners may know him as the author of The Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany, has a quote in his novel “A Widow for One Year” about luck. He wrote, “Fortune and misfortune are unequally distributed, if not at birth, then in the course of circumstances beyond our control; and in the seemingly random pattern of colliding events--the people we meet, when we meet them, and if or when these important people might chance to meet someone else.” 

When I was researching Nichole’s story, this quote came to mind immediately because it sounded like Nichole had an unfair share of misfortune in her life. 

In 2012, Nichole lived in the Canyon Pointe apartment complex in Las Vegas,  located on the east side of Vegas, near Boulder Highway and the Sam’s Town casino. Robert Brown also lived in the same complex. Nichole kept her apartment, but by December 2012, the two of them were living together. 

As the holidays were approaching, Nichole’s mother Esther, came into town to visit from Wyoming. She brought her 3-year-old granddaughter, Nichole’s niece, Amber, with her. 

Since Nichole’s apartment was empty, Amber and Esther arranged to stay there during their trip. Robert Brown gave Esther the keys to Nichole’s apartment when she arrived, and all of them had dinner together on December 5. 

Esther had met Robert several times before. Once, before she moved away to Wyoming, she had talked with him several times over Skype during calls with her daughter. 

Esther was aware that Nichole and Robert’s relationship had started to deteriorate. Nichole had told her mom that she wanted to leave Robert due to the way he had been treating her.

[John]

On December 7, Nichole and Robert had a fight. Robert was reportedly very upset over the rent money that he claimed Nichole owed him. 

This strikes me as pretty weird because Nichole was paying rent on her own apartment, but apparently, Robert expected her to pay part of his rent as well. 

The fight continued over the course of the day, with the two of them calling and texting each other repeatedly. Neighbors reported hearing them arguing. At some point, Robert threw Nichole out of the apartment. The two of them fought like this on occasion, with Nichole going back to her place for a few days before they would get back together. 

But this time, when Nichole got home from work, Robert texted her and told her that all of her stuff was out on the balcony, and sure enough, Esther was able to see that he had put all of her daughter’s stuff out there on his balcony. 

[Shaun]

Nichole returned home to her apartment, and she and Esther rearranged the sleeping arrangements now that Nichole would be back staying with Amber and Esther. 

The 3 of them then sat down in the living room and watched the movie Pocahontas together.

After the movie was over, Nichole and Amber were very tired, so the 2 of them went to sleep in the bedroom, and Esther tucked Amber into the toddler bed they set up in the corner of the bedroom. Esther then went back into the living room to watch another movie. It was around 10 pm. 

Before Esther could even start the second movie, she heard a loud and disturbing bang on the front door, like someone was trying to kick the door in. She heard a second loud bang, and before she could even react, Robert Brown jumped through the large picture window next to the front door, shattering glass all over the apartment.

He was dressed in all black, and wearing gloves and a beanie. He was armed with a gun. Esther of course, recognized him and screamed to Nichole that it was Robert and that he had a gun. 

Nichole shouted for her mom to call the police. She came out of the bedroom and into the living room. 

When Robert saw her he said, “Oh yeah, bitch?” and shot Nichole. She ran back into the bedroom and Robert followed her. 

[John]

Esther also ran towards the bedroom, though she would later say her memory of the exact events was pretty hazy, which is understandable given the circumstances. Esther said she heard several more gunshots and found herself on the floor near the bedroom door. 

She said she didn’t even realize she had been shot until she tried to stand up and her arm was just dangling by her side. She would later state in the preliminary hearing that she might have blacked out at some point because she didn’t recall exactly how she got to the bedroom. 

She then saw Brown standing over Nichole. Nichole was telling him that he was hurting her. He said to her, “Do you think you’re going to disrespect me and make a fool out of me?” Esther couldn’t see what Brown was doing to Nichole, but the police believed he was stabbing her. 

Amber woke up and started crying. Robert turned to the girl and pointed the gun at her. Esther and Nichole started screaming and pleading with him not to hurt the baby girl. Nichole, in a final act of absolute selflessness and bravery, dove towards Amber and shielded her as the two of them fell to the floor.  Esther heard more gunshots and believed both of them had been shot as neither of them were moving. 

[Shaun]

Brown then climbed over Esther on his way out of the apartment. He then turned around and fired several more shots at her. He then fled the apartment. 

Esther knew she needed to get help, so she crawled out of the front door and to a neighbor’s apartment and pleaded with a neighbor to call the police. She tried to crawl back to the bedroom to her daughter and granddaughter, but she collapsed in the living room. 

When police arrived Esther was lying on the floor bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds. She had been shot 6 times - thigh, groin area, leg, left arm, in her side, and in her stomach. She told the officer, “Robert did it, Robert did it.” She was taken to Sunrise Hospital in serious condition for emergency surgery. 

Amber was completely unharmed physically, due to her aunt’s bravery. But Nichole was pronounced dead at the scene. She was only 29 years old. 

The doctors at Sunrise ordered the staff not to disclose Nichole’s death to Esther because she was fighting for her life. Esther did recover from her physical injuries, including needing to have most of her upper left arm reconstructed, but Esther has said that the emotional scars of the attack will never go away. 

Amber also suffered trauma as a result of Brown’s actions. Amber believed that Brown was shooting at her & knew he had killed her Aunt Nichole. For hours, she thought her grandmother had been killed as well, until she was finally able to be reunited with her grandma in the hospital. According to Esther, after the shooting Amber started hiding in closets out of fear. 

[John]

A bullet hole was found in Amber’s bed, and one bullet that Robert fired went through the wall and hit the side rail of a toddler bed in a neighboring apartment. Robert’s actions could have easily resulted in the deaths of multiple people. 

Nichole’s autopsy revealed that she had died from multiple gunshot and stab wounds. 

As Shaun said, Robert had fled the apartment. Police recovered his gun not far from the complex, just one street over. 

But Robert himself evaded capture for 14 months. 

It wasn’t until April 14, 2014, that he was finally arrested. Las Vegas Metro police did not make the details of his arrest available to the press. He was charged with multiple felonies including murder with a deadly weapon, attempted murder, child abuse or endangerment, and home invasion. 

The arrest brought relief to Nichole’s grieving family, though it marked the beginning of a long and painful legal process.

[Shaun]

We’ve covered cases before where the justice system moves extremely slowly. This unfortunately is another example of that. Robert Brown was able to delay his trial date for 10 years. During that time Brown always claimed to be innocent and he dismissed multiple court-appointed attorneys. 

John, you pointed out that not only did this remind you of Thomas Randolph, but also Bobby Richards, who murdered his wife Bronwyn in 2010, but wasn’t sentenced until 2016. 

Early on, the State of Nevada announced its intent to seek the death penalty in the case against Richard Brown. Brown’s attorneys did attempt to challenge the constitutionality of the death penalty under Nevada law but failed. 

The defense’s case stressed that there was minimal forensic evidence found that linked Brown to the crime scene. However, the prosecution had a very strong case, primarily because Esther was a credible witness who had identified Brown as the shooter.

The jury convicted Brown of home invasion with a deadly weapon; burglary with a deadly weapon; murder with a deadly weapon; two counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon; eight counts of discharging a firearm within a structure; child abuse, neglect or endangerment with a deadly weapon; and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

[John]

It was pointed out in the Review-Journal that Nichole Nick’s murder had gotten very little media coverage, up to the point that Robert Brown was sentenced on October 9, 2024. 

As the state declared they would be seeking the death penalty, a separate sentencing hearing was held, and both sides presented arguments to the same trial jury on whether Brown should be sentenced to death. 

Brown requested that he not be required to attend the sentencing hearing, and the judge granted his request. Which, again, is not something I thought you could do – to refuse to be transported for your own sentencing hearing.

Brown’s legal team argued that he had been abused as a child and had witnessed his father abuse his mother. While in prison, Brown had received treatment for mental illness and he had tried to die by suicide multiple times. 

His attorneys argued that he should receive a sentence of life in prison, and pointed out that he would be confined to his cell for 23 hours a day. 

His attorney said, “Why would I be asking you to give Robert Brown life in prison? It’s simple. His life matters because all life has value. … We’re talking about the punishment, and nothing I say to you diminishes Nichole Nick. She was a beautiful young woman who didn’t deserve to die. But an eye for an eye is not the answer.”

[Shaun]

The prosecution pointed out Brown’s history of violence against women, and that he had committed multiple acts of violence while incarcerated, including an incident where he beat up another inmate while the other man refused to hit him back. 

They also pointed out that he had disguised himself during the crime and evaded capture for 14 months. 

The jury deliberated for only 2 hours before they returned Robert’ Brown’s sentence - death.

This death sentence surprised the prosecutors and many members of the community, including District Attorney Steve Wolfson. 

This was the first time in 7 years that someone had been sentenced to death in Clark County. The last person was Thomas Randolph, the Black Widower, who had been sentenced to death in 2017, for hiring a hitman to kill his wife and then murdering that hitman, Michael Miller. 

The Nevada Supreme Court later overturned that conviction, but during his second trial in 2023 he was found guilty but prosecutors spared him from the death penalty based on his advanced age. Randolph is currently serving a life sentence. We covered his story in a 4 part series last season, and you can listen at https://sinspod.co/blackwidower 

[John]

Nevada hasn’t executed anyone in almost 20 years. The last time was in 2006.

Brown’s attorney, Lance Maningo told the press that the defense was “shocked and disappointed’ by the sentence.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson told the Review-Journal.“This is not a case where I would have thought that the death penalty would have been returned as compared to so many other cases,” 

“There are some cases — the triple murders, the double murders of children — that you can see where a jury would come back death more easily than others… but it all depends on the makeup of the 12 people.”

Wolfson also revealed that during the trial, Brown’s attorneys asked the State to take the death penalty off the table, but the State refused. DA Wolfson told the RJ that since Brown wouldn’t plead guilty, the state wasn’t willing to take it off the table without exchanging it for something. 

We want to note that In that same interview, Wolfson denied using the death penalty as a negotiating tool. 

[Shaun]

Wolfson said that he is willing to stop pursuing capital punishment in cases when the defense comes to him with mitigating evidence and that he’s been more selective when seeking capital punishment. 

During my research, I came across several articles where both death penalty abolitionists and people who support capital punishment pointed out that the sentencing of Brown to death in this case seemed disproportionate to the crime. 

As many of you are aware, the appeals process in death penalty cases can last decades. Also, Nevada’s supply of lethal injection drugs expired in 2022, and just a few years ago there was talk of commuting all of Nevada’s death row sentences to life in prison as a result. 

Currently, there are 60 people on death row in Nevada, and we have no way of knowing if Robert Brown will ever be executed. 

He was also sentenced by the trial judge to 32 to 80 years for the other crimes he was convicted of, such as the attempted murders of Amber and Esther and the home invasion. 

[John]

Nichole was laid to rest at the Palm Mortuary in Henderson. On her memorial page, a friend of hers left this message:

 “My kids are missing you. You were a big part of our lives and without you here we feel empty. My son is taking hard and my daughter still knocks on the apartment door waiting for you but I told them to look up because you are watching us through the holes in heaven's floor.”

Of course, if we have any updates about this case, we will be sure to share them with you all. 

A reminder that if you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence and needs support, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). There’s also a list of resources on our webpage at sinsandsurvivors.com and in our show notes. You can always access those at sinspod.co/resources

[Shaun]
We also want to remind you that you can also call 988 if you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis.

Please also be sure to follow us on social media for updates and resources. January is Stalking Awareness month and we are sharing information and resources on our Instagram and Facebook to help folks who are affected by stalking. 

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Thanks as always for listening and remember what happens here, happens everywhere.