Jury Picked For Man Charged with Running Over Wife and Stomping on Her Face

A jury was picked Monday for the trial of a man charged with running over his wife in the garage of their Crest Hill home and then stomping on her face after he called 911.

Jerry Nichols, 64, allegedly murdered his wife 55-year-old wife, Diane, in January 2013.

Nichols reportedly ran over his wife with a four-door Honda. When he called for an ambulance, he said he accidentally hit her with the car, according to police.

But when the ambulance arrived, there appeared to be nothing accidental about the way Nichols was going after his wife, a prosecutor said at the Crest Hill man’s bond hearing in 2013.

“As emergency personnel approached the scene, (Nichols) was stomping on the victim’s face in the garage,” said Assistant State’s Attorney John Connor.

Nichols is a Vietnam veteran and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a motion filed by his attorneys.

The “accident (in his garage) was such a situation that was reminiscent of when a soldier died in (Nichols’) arms in Vietnam,” the motion said, “evoking frustration and anger at his own helplessness.”