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Marital dispute ends in deaths

A Georgia man trails his wife to Tampa, where he kills her, then himself, police say.

By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published January 1, 2006

TAMPA - After Aileen Nicholaou's husband broke her shoulder in a fight four weeks ago, she fled their home in Georgia for her sister's house in West Tampa.

But Michael Nicholaou followed. Shortly after he caught up with his wife Saturday, she was shot dead, he was dead by his own hand and Aileen Nicholaou's daughter was critically wounded, police said.

"He apparently armed himself and drove down here ... to Tampa, in effect hunting her," said Tampa police spokesman Joe Durkin.

Aileen Nicholaou, 47, had been staying at her sister, Audrey Leon's, home at 3321 W Walnut St. for three weeks, said Durkin.

About 12:20 p.m. Saturday, Leon, 30, called police. Durkin said she had heard a lot of yelling and feared for her sister's safety.

Two officers met Leon in her driveway and went inside the home. When an officer tried to walk through a partly opened bedroom door, he was met by Michael Nicholaou, who pointed a long-barreled weapon at them, Durkin said.

Then the door slammed shut.

As the officers scrambled for cover and grabbed Leon, they heard at least two gunshots inside the bedroom.

They retreated and called for help.

Soon the police tactical response team arrived and tried to telephone Michael Nicholaou, 56. When that failed, the team went inside and found the two bodies and the wounded daughter, Taryn Bowman, 22.

Bowman was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where she remained in critical condition late Saturday.

Aileen Nicholaou's uncle, Rene Toranzo, 72, had gone to Georgia to bring her to the sister's Tampa home. He said the couple had been married for more than 15 years.

"We got along well," Toranzo said.

The violence Saturday was not Michael Nicholaou's first encounter with law enforcement.

Police were suspicious of the circumstances, but never charged Nicholaou, a failed porn shop owner who moved to Holyoke from Charlottesville, Va.

Nicholaou told Holyoke police that his wife had run off with another man.

In 2001, a missing person's agency located Michael Nicholaou in Tampa and called him. Nicholaou denied ever knowing Michelle Nicholaou, but then told the agency he heard she was doing drugs with a drug dealer, the television station reported.

In Tampa, Saturday's shooting was a shock for the quiet neighborhood.

Oscar Rodriguez, 32, who lives about a block away, said he heard a boom Saturday, but had never heard gunshots in the neighborhood before.

"It is a tight-knit community. Everybody knows everybody here. It's very peaceful. This is the first time anything like that has ever happened around here. It's left me speechless. I can't believe this happened, especially on New Year's."

Staff writer Alex Leary contributed to this report.

Alexandra Zayas can be reached at 813-226-3354 or at azayas@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 1, 2006, 00:28:15]