The Case of Alisa Hartmann

Alisa June Hartmann, 38, was found dead in her Bradenton home on 15 May 2012 after being beaten with an aluminum baseball bat while she slept. Her husband, Nicholas Hartmann, admitted responsibility and was later convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Alisa and Nicholas Hartmann were high school sweethearts who had graduated together in 1991 and married several years later. They had two sons, aged 8 and 15 at the time of Alisa's murder. Friends described the couple as having had no known history of domestic violence. On 15 May 2012, a friend arrived at the Hartmann home on Harvard Avenue to drop off her child for Alisa to watch and discovered Alisa's lifeless body in the bedroom. Police were called to investigate the suspicious death.

Alisa was found dead in the bedroom of the family's Bradenton home. Investigators determined that she had suffered severe blunt-force trauma after being struck with an aluminum baseball bat while she slept.

Manatee County Sheriff's deputies began investigating the death as a homicide. Nicholas returned to the home shortly after police arrived and made statements acknowledging responsibility for his wife's death. According to the arrest affidavit, he told deputies that he had struck Alisa in the back of the head. Nicholas was arrested on 15 May 2012 and charged with murder. Investigators also learned that he had described having problems with alcohol and drug addiction. There was no known prior criminal record or documented history of domestic violence between the couple.

Nicholas Hartmann pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in April 2013 and was found guilty by Circuit Court Judge Peter Dubensky. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison for Alisa's murder.

Friends who had known Alisa and Nicholas since high school expressed shock at the killing, describing the couple as high school sweethearts and saying they had not seen warning signs of violence in the relationship.