Nicolas Holzer walked into Judge Brian Hill’s courtroom Friday morning already dead certain he’d be spending an eternity in hell. When Holzer left Hill’s courtroom, he departed with the additional knowledge that he’ll be spending the rest of his days on Planet Earth behind bars in a California state prison.
Four years ago, Holzer — then in the throes of psychotic delusions — stabbed to death his parents, William and Sheila Holzer, and his two young sons — Sebastian and Vincent. Having previously determined that Holzer was legally sane at the time of the killing, Judge Hill had little discretion in what sentence he could impose. Accordingly, Hill sentenced Holzer to four lifetimes behind bars without the possibility of parole — one lifetime for every person he killed. In addition, Hill also ruled Holzer had to serve eight years for killing the family dog and using a knife in the commission of the killings. Lastly, Hill ruled Holzer had to pay $10,000 in restitution and imposed $650 in various administrative fines.
Holzer, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit with his hands manacled in front of him, said nothing and betrayed no reaction. His criminal defense attorney, Christine Voss, described Holzer, now 49, afterward as “dead inside.” During the sentencing proceedings, Voss — her voice cracking with emotion — lamented that “the system failed the entire Holzer family.” Had Holzer’s mental illness been treated sooner, she’d argued earlier, Holzer’s bloody outburst on August 11, 2014, could have been averted.