A St. Martin Parish jury unanimously convicted Linus Shelvin, 57, of Lafayette, of Second-Degree Murder on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, following a weeklong jury trial.
The conviction stems from a 2021 domestic homicide in which Shelvin killed his girlfriend, Nicole Hamilton, and disposed of her body off Mills Highway in Breaux Bridge. A joint investigation between the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Lafayette Police Department led to Shelvin’s arrest.
Key evidence presented at trial showed that Shelvin initially lied to law enforcement about seeing the victim on the evening of her disappearance. Law enforcement recovered surveillance video showing the victim arriving at Shelvin’s house. Thereafter, Shelvin disabled a surveillance camera directed towards his home.
Law enforcement also tracked the victim’s vehicle traveling to Mills Highway, where a passerby on an ATV later discovered her body. The vehicle was subsequently found abandoned in Lafayette’s Heymann Park, within walking distance of Shelvin’s residence. Multiple surveillance videos captured a person wearing the same clothing Shelvin wore on the day the victim went missing. The person was seen in the area around the time the victim’s car was abandoned and walking toward Shelvin’s home.
Further, blood was found in the back seat of the victim’s vehicle which was forensically determined to match the victim. Additional bloodstains were located inside the defendant’s residence, including a recliner and the back door which also matched the victim.
Sentencing is set before the Honorable Roger Hamilton, Jr., for March 31, 2026 at 9 a.m.
Convicted
Second degree murder in Louisiana carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment at hard labor without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
According to the Louisiana Department of Health, 181 people lost their lives to domestic violence between 2020– 2022. Louisiana continues to have one of the highest rates of women being murdered by men in the nation. If you or someone you know may be experiencing domestic violence, please seek help immediately by contacting local law enforcement or a family violence crisis center. In St. Mary, Assumption, Iberia, and St. Martin Parishes, Chez Hope provides resources and assistance to victims of domestic violence; their crisis hotline number is 1-888-411-1333 and their website is www. chezhope.org.
First Assistant District Attorney Alister Charrier prosecuted this case with the assistance of Assistant District Attorney Halee Maturin. The investigation was led by Detective Vicky LaGrange of the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office, with digital forensics processed by Sgt. Dina Theriot. Additional support was provided by the Lafayette Police Department and the M. Bofill Duhé Acadiana Criminalistics Laboratory.
