A Santa Barbara County criminal grand jury on Tuesday handed down murder indictments against a man suspected of killing his parents and two children in their home near Goleta earlier this year.
Nicolas Holzer, 45, previously was charged with four counts of murder after allegedly calling 9-1-1 late Aug. 11 to report that he had murdered his family in their home in the 600 block of Walnut Park Lane.
Responding deputies found four bodies with multiple stab wounds, and the victims were identified as Holzer’s parents and two children: William Charles Holzer, 73, Sheila Garard Holzer, 74, Sebastian Holzer, 13, and Vincent Holzer, 10.
The family’s Australian shepherd, Dixie, also had been stabbed to death.
Holzer entered a not guilty plea in Santa Barbara Superior Court last month, and was scheduled to appear in court again on Nov. 4, but will now go before a judge in two weeks.
Holzer’s attorney, Christine Voss, could not be reached for comment on the indictment charges.
Holzer is facing the same charges as before, including allegations that he used a knife and committed multiple murders.
However, the grand jury indictment allows the trial to move forward at a faster pace, according to prosecutor Ron Zonen of the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office.
“In this county, we have a tradition of taking to the grand jury very serious cases,” Zonen told Noozhawk. “There’s something very democratic about it.”
Zonen said he could not disclose who was called to testify to the grand jury because the proceedings are done in secret, but witnesses who appeared may be called to testify during the trial.
“We knew we were going to have people for whom this is very raw, and we felt that the confidentiality aspect was key,” he said.
Because an indictment eliminates the need for a preliminary hearing, the case will be brought to trial more quickly, Zonen said.
“We’re taking the prosecution very seriously,” he said.
Holzer will be arraigned on the indictment on Oct. 28 before Superior Court Judge Brian Hill.
If convicted, Holzer is facing the possibility of a life sentence for each count of murder without the possibility of parole.
District Attorney Joyce Dudley said Tuesday her office is still deciding whether to pursue the death penalty in the case.
— 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.
