Sunday 8 May 2022 05:26 PM Indiana GOP candidate wins township primary while being held in jail for MURDER ... trends now
An Indiana GOP candidate won a township primary despite being in jail for the brutal murder of his cancer-stricken wife who demanded a divorce on learning he'd been cheating.
Andrew Wilhoite, 40, won 60 votes in the Republican primary for the Clinton Township board election last week.
Wilhoute, who will now appear on the ballot, swept to victory even though he's in jail awaiting trial for the March murder of his wife Nicki, 41.
He is said to have confessed to killing Nicki with a giant concrete flower pot - who is the mother to two of his three children - during a police interview.
Nicki was beaten to death with the heavyweight garden ornament, before her body was dumped in a creek.
She had just completed chemotherapy treatment for cancer, and was killed shortly after she asked her husband for a divorce, it is claimed.
It is unclear whether the 60 people who voted for Wilhoite knew of the horrific allegations he faces, although he's still within his rights to run for the seat.
Andrew Wilhoite, 40, a Republican from Indiana, won a primary to serve on his town board
He is currently in jail for the alleged murder of his wife Elizabeth 'Nikki' Wilhoite, 41
Voters in the rural town in Boone County - about 30 miles northwest of Indianapolis - were asked to select three names to fill the vacant seats on the township board, and Andrew was one of the only three Republicans running, according to Law and Crime.
His name will now remain on the ballot for the general election on June 15, unless he decides to withdraw his own name, elections officials have said.
Under the Constitution, they explain, an individual is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty of a crime. It is only if they are convicted of that crime that they may not serve in public office under Indiana law.
The Constitution allows convicted criminals to run for office, regardless of the seriousness of their offense, although many states - including Indiana - have their own rules barring convicts from running.
'It's really important for people to understand in Indiana, and all states in the United States, is the fact that being accused of a crime is very different then being convicted of a crime,' Elizabeth Bennion, a professor of political science at Indiana University, told FOX 59.
'A person loses ballot access in Indiana - in other words, the right to run or serve in public access if they are convicted of a felony,' she explained.
'This is very different than being accused, because there is a presumption of innocence, which means that person very well may be found innocent - and therefore be able to serve in office.'
In the meantime, Wilhoite will remain in jail until his trial, which is preliminarily scheduled for August 29. He is due back in Boone County Superior Court on May 27.
Andrew was first arrested on March 26, just hours after state authorities found Nikki's body submerged in a nearby creek, and Boone County Superior Court Judge Matthew C. Kincaid found probable cause for a murder charge against him two days later.
Authorities say they began investigating Nikki's disappearance on March 25 when she 'did not report for work.'
Andrew allegedly told authorities they got into a fight after she found out he was having an affair, and originally claimed she was likely with her sister
She and Andrew's three children - one of whom is from Andrew's previous marriage -- tried repeatedly to contact her,
