Sister accused of murdering brother's pregnant wife in fight

District Judge Valerie Adair ordered 35-year-old Elinor Indico to life behind bars with the possibility of parole after 25 years, handing down consecutive sentences for one one count each of murder with use of a deadly weapon, manslaughter of an unborn child and child abuse, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

February 10, 2016:

In October 2013, a Las Vegas woman just days away from giving birth was brutally attacked and killed inside her home, and police wouldn't have to look very far for the troubled suspect.

Aristeo Indico and his sister Elinor had always been incredibly close. So when Elinor had fallen on some hard times and needed a place to stay, Aristeo and his wife Ashley opened their home to her.

Aristeo and Ashley had been married for six years, had two kids and were expecting their third in a week.

Ashley was the love of Aristeo's life and with the new baby due to arrive, life couldn't have been better. But the blissful marriage and sweet life the Indicos were building was about to meet a horrifying fate, one that would pit brother against sister.

As sisters-in-law, Ashley and Elinor's relationship was up and down. Sometimes they were close, sometimes not. But over the years, despite their differences, Elinor was there for life's big moments.

When Elinor moved into the family's Las Vegas apartment, the first two months were livable. Then things drastically fell apart.

"I gave her one week: You can pack your stuff and go. You've got one week," said Aristeo.

Aristeo had given Elinor two rules when she moved in: Get a job and don't do drugs. Elinor had broken both of them.

Two days later tensions hit a boiling point when Aristeo called to check in on Ashley.

"She was telling me 'I'm totally done with your sister,'" said Aristeo. "'I just got back from the grocery store, I left her with the kids. Annabelle's sleeping, so is Alex, and when I would walk past her she would slam doors, and I yelled at her, and said "Hey, quit slamming the door, my kids are sleeping," then she got in my face,' and she told me 'My blood pressure's skyrocketing through the roof, your sister's stressing me out, I'm nine months pregnant.' And I told her 'Calm down, sweetheart, we'll deal with this when I get home from work tonight.'"

"He came to her door and that he said that his mom was bleeding and that she needed help," said Clark County Deputy District Attorney Tierra Jones. "He did have blood on his hands."

But help couldn't come soon enough. When Aristeo arrived home, Las Vegas Police swarmed his house. A once-happy life had instantly turned into a bloody crime scene.

The horrific injuries included a broken arm and stab wounds to the back of her head, arm, ankle and neck. Both Ashley and their unborn son were dead.

His own once-loving sister Elinor was allegedly responsible.

"I saw her as I ran across that gravel and I told her, I was like, 'What did you do? What did you do to Ash and my baby?'" said Aristeo. "And she just looked at me and looked away. She had nothing to say to me."

But she did have something to say to police. Elinor, who was treated for two shallow stab wounds, claimed Ashley stabbed her first and she acted out of self defense. But she would later give police different accounts.

Elinor Indico was arrested and charged with three counts: one count of murder with the use of a deadly weapon, one count of manslaughter of an unborn quick child, and one count of child abuse and neglect, according to Deputy D.A. Jones.

Can you forgive a loved one when they do the unthinkable? For Aristeo Indico, it is a question he has asked himself over and over again.

"Without Heather, my whole life would collapse," said Aristeo.

Heather's and Aristeo's relationship changed from family to friendship to love.

"The closer we got, we started falling in love, the happiness of us being together was not only comforting for us, it was comforting for the kids," said Heather.

"I miss Ashley all the time," said Aristeo. "It's not at all replacing my late wife Ashley. I chose to start a new relationship, and it just happened to be my late wife's sister. And I'm OK with that."

Last year, they welcomed a son of their own, Jason.

"It really does fill a big huge void in my heart," said Aristeo. "The only thing I'm really good at in life is being a dad. Having him close to me makes me feel like there is hope, I can get through this and I can come back, and slowly I'm coming back."

Aristeo still struggles daily and worries what he'll tell the kids.

And now, his blood, his once closest of allies, is his mortal enemy.

Aristeo says he asked for his sister to face the ultimate punishment, the death penalty, but the state of Nevada denied him.

"I don't know how to forgive her," said Aristeo. "I told the detectives and I told the D.A.: She took two lives from me and I want her life."

"We would definitely be asking for a lengthy prison term for her if she's convicted of this," said Jones, the deputy district attorney.

Elinor Indico has pleaded not guilty. She is being held without bond. With her jury trial set for August, all Aristeo can do is hope for the family to heal and one day try to face the person who did this.

In a statement Elinor's attorney Norman Reed told Crime Watch Daily, in part: "Elinor remains in good spirits and hopeful that this case resolves short of a trial. She honestly and sincerely hopes that her brother can forgive her and that somehow this family can heal and reconnect."

UPDATE June 26, 2018: