Nitz Sentenced Following Guilty Plea for Murder

BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio – A man has been sentenced for the death of his wife and then fleeing to Meigs County, Ohio.

Bobby Jo Nitz, 45, was sentenced Feb. 13, 2018 following a previous guilty plea in January in the death of his wife, Crista Virginia Nitz, 41. Bobby Nitz was sentenced in the Butler County Court of Common Pleas according to a life sentence with the possibility of parole in 15 years for the murder of his wife. Due to the plea agreement, a gun specification was dropped and another charge merged.

As previously reported in the Meigs Independent Press, the Middletown Division of Police reported that on Sunday, April 30, 2017 at 9:13 p.m. they received a call from an 11-year-old girl stating her mother was deceased. Officers responded and found Crista Nitz dead on the floor in the bathroom.

In a statement from the Middletown Police, “We found that Crista had been arguing with her husband Bobby Jo Nitz, age 45, and it became violent. The little girl heard a loud sound and Bobby fled the area on his motorcycle. Bobby told a friend that he had just killed his wife, so we sent out a message to other police agencies that we were looking for him.”

Bobby Nitz fled Butler County and was reportedly headed toward Meigs County, where both he and his wife had connection to relatives. Information was sent out to other law enforcement that he may be on his way to the county with the Meigs County Sheriff’s Office being notified just after 11 p.m. that the suspect could be in the area. Sheriff Wood said Middleport Police Department spotted Bobby Nitz at 11:56 p.m. That was when pursuit started as he fled law enforcement.

At the time, Sheriff Keith Wood said, “Our units were in the area” near Alligator Jacks when Deputy Chris Jones made contact with the suspect. By 12:02 a.m., Deputy Jones had Bobby Nitz in custody and by 12:08 a.m. Middletown law enforcement had been contacted their suspect was in custody once Nitz’s identity had been confirmed.