Madisonville, Kentucky — Police in Kentucky say that a guy from South Carolina was given a 30-year prison sentence after body parts were discovered in a shallow grave.
In December 2019, multiple 911 calls came into York County, South Carolina, saying that Lawrence Florentine, 56, had beaten his wife Nicole and threatened to kill, burn, and bury her. This is when the investigation began. KSP said Florentine was arrested twice for assaulting a family member.
Lawrence is accused by KSP of starting a fire in their Rock Hill home on May 23, 2020, in order to scare his wife. He told her he did it to destroy her things in angry text messages and pictures of the fire. KSP said that charges of arson are still being thought about by the South Carolina state court.
KSP said that on June 13, 2020, a groundskeeper for Hill Cemetery found a small grave on Hill Cemetery Road. The police found Nicole’s burned body hidden next to a gas can.
Nicole’s death was officially a murder because the police found that she had been shot in the head.
KSP says the investigation found that Nicole and Lawrence were going to North and South Carolina in the days before her body was found in Kentucky. People who were there said they saw Lawrence’s car driving around the graveyard. He reportedly told a worker at a nearby hardware shop that he didn’t like how much a shovel and gas car cost on June 11, 2020.
Authorities say Lawrence ran away to Denver, Colorado after Nicole died and was buried. He was caught there on June 23, 2020.
For interstate domestic violence that killed his wife, using a gun in a violent crime, blocking the police, and using fire to commit interstate domestic violence, Lawrence was given a 30-year prison sentence and five years of supervision. He will also have to pay $5,800 in restitution.
The U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina, Adair F. Boroughs, said, “Nicole’s senseless murder reminds us that domestic violence can happen to anyone, and we must all work to protect and help those who are being abused.” “We hope this sentence gives Nicole’s family and friends peace of mind as they remember her.”
