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Crime Junkie · Audiochuck

MURDERED: Nick Cordova

April 6, 2026·53 min·4 clips
Five-year-old hands her mom a FaceTime call with her dad — and her mom hears the attack happen live
May 2020 opens at the kitchen sink. Alicia Cordova is washing dishes when Capri, her five-year-old daughter, runs in saying something is wrong with dad. It is a horrible, ordinary detail. Capri and her brother had been on FaceTime with Nick Cordova, then he stopped answering. Ashley keeps the moment close to Alicia, who has spent six years fighting for justice over what she saw and heard. From there, the story gets practical. Nick had heard about a chance to buy into Gilbert Air, a long-running company tied to Frank. On paper, it sounded good. Frank said he owned half the business and wanted out because he was burned out. Britt spots the catch right away: a successful company going cheap feels strange. The episode names that tension without trying to dress it up. Frank also warned Nick about co-owner Dave Sweetman, the money guy, and called him shady. He did not really explain what that meant, though Dave's records included charges and infractions. Alicia and Nick did not have those details. They knew Nick liked a challenge and usually pushed through hard things. His past helps explain why. Raised with help from his grandparents, he later became a father figure for younger siblings. So he leans toward the opportunity. He plans a 25 percent buy-in, another friend is supposed to join, and Dave would keep half. Then the friend backs out, saying he has a weird feeling about the leap and whether the business would work. Alicia is uneasy too. Nick moves ahead anyway, convinced the warnings are not enough to stop him.

As heard by us

A family tragedy turns into a sober look at warning signs, business risk, and a murder case still waiting for answers.

Crime Junkie opens Nick Cordova's case with a brutal domestic detail: his children were on FaceTime with him when he stopped responding, sending his wife Alicia into a fight for answers that has lasted years.

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Why you'd press play

A FaceTime call cuts out mid-conversation, and six years later, no one has been charged.

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