Sacto 9-1-1: Ask Sacto 911 crime Q&A: What happened to man who fled to France after killing girlfriend, abandoning child

Sacto 9-1-1

Most Wanted | Crimemapper | Arrest Logs | Crime databases | Crime News | Ask Sacto 9-1-1

August 6, 2012

Ask Sacto 911 crime Q&A: What happened to man who fled to France after killing girlfriend, abandoning child

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: Sometime between 1995 and 1999, I believe, there was an older man in Folsom that shot his wife multiple times. This man was in his 50s and she in her 20s. I remember reading that they had a 2-year-old son and when the father tried to flee to France, he could not get his 2-year-old son on the plane due to the son not having a passport. What ever came of this man after they extradited him back to Sacramento from France to stand trial?
Submitted by: Katrina, Orangevale

ANSWER: James Dewayne Nivette pleaded guilty in August 2003 to the second-degree murder of his former girlfriend and was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison.

Now 69 years old, he is incarcerated at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo.

According to accounts in The Bee, Nivette pleaded guilty to the Nov. 16, 1997 slaying of Gina Barnett, 25, who was shot more than a dozen times in what police said was a rage killing. She was found dead in the Folsom condominium she once shared with Nivette, a former San Juan Unified School District researcher.

He is accused of taking the couple's 18-month-old son to San Francisco International Airport and abandoning him in an nearby industrial park before boarding at plane to France. The boy was found unharmed and was living with his mother's relatives at the time of Nivette's sentencing.

Nivette's four-year extradition fight ended in July 2001 when he was sent back to the United States to stand trial..

Have a Sacto911 question? Submit it here.

About Comments

Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.

What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com

Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)

Here are some rules of the road:

• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.

• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.

• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.

• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.

• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.

• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.

• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.

• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.

You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.

If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.

blog comments powered by Disqus

FOLLOW US | Get more from sacbee.com | Follow us on Twitter | Become a fan on Facebook | Get news in your inbox | View our mobile versions | e-edition: Print edition online | What our bloggers are saying