A Goleta man accused of murdering four of his family members made a brief appearance in court on Tuesday, but did not enter a plea as the Santa Barbara County Superior Court works to assign a judge to the case.
Nicolas Holzer, 45, was charged with four counts of murder after allegedly calling 9-1-1 late Aug. 11 to report that he had murdered his family.
When deputies arrived at the house in the 600 block of Walnut Park Lane a short time later, they discovered the bodies of Holzer’s parents and his two sons, all of whom had suffered multiple stab wounds.
The family’s Australian shepherd also had been stabbed to death.
The victims were identified as William Charles Holzer, 73, Sheila Garard Holzer, 74, Sebastian Holzer, 13, and Vincent Holzer, 10.
Holzer appeared in Santa Barbara Superior Court on Tuesday in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs and a full beard, which he did not have at his last court appearance last month.
His arraignment was continued until Sept. 16, according to Judge Thomas Adams.
Several Walnut Park Lane neighbors of the Holzers were in the courtroom’s audience, but left quickly after the hearing and would not speak to reporters.
The case was assigned to Judge Jean Dandona’s courtroom, but Holzer’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Christine Voss, filed for a disqualification and asked that a different judge be assigned to preside over Holzer’s case.
“We have the right to disqualify a judge and we chose to do that,” she said, but would not comment on why the decision was made.
When asked whether any psychiatric evaluations have occurred on Holzer yet, Voss said “that’s certainly been an issue and something we are looking into. Obviously, his psychiatric condition is something we’re taking seriously.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
