Sparks mom crusades to keep daughter's killer in jail

A Sparks woman who has crusaded for more than two decades to keep her daughter's killer behind bars is pounding the pavement again.

Carol Nicoletti has been going door-to-door to gather signatures in support of the presentation she'll make Thursday urging the Nevada Parole Board not to release Simon Macias. It'll mark her seventh appearance before the board.

Macias was the husband of Nicoletti's 19-year-old daughter, Susan, when he stabbed her to death in Henderson in May 1992 and dumped her body in the desert outside Las Vegas.

"He's just ripped my heart out," Nicoletti told KRNV-TV. "I miss my daughter. She didn't deserve that and taping her up, stabbing her, and putting her in garbage bags."

Mishandling of key evidence during a botched investigation lead to prosecutors giving Macias a plea deal for second degree murder in 1993. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

For Nicoletti, Macias' sentence has meant having to collect thousands of signatures and letters every two to three years to present to the parole board in hopes of keeping him locked up.

"I've been very, very sad and at this point I'm terrified," Nicoletti said. "(It's) so very important to keep this evil off the streets."

Through the devastation of losing her daughter, illness, and a mental breakdown, she has gone door to door since 1993 telling Susan's story. She says her family is not the only one who is at risk if Macias gets out of prison.

"I'm not stopping. This is very important to me for everyone's safety not just for my own family but for everyone's safety," she said.

Nicoletti presented more than 44,000 signatures to the board when it rejected Macias' request for parole in 2003. She said her illness has allowed her to collect only about 9,000 signatures so far this time.

Her granddaughter, Nicole Figeley, created a "Justice For Susan" website (www.justiceforsusan.en.st ) where the public can sign the petition as well.

"Nicole came to me and asked me...She said grandma, you've had surgery, hard times, I want to help," Nicoletti said.

Figeley was 3 years old when her aunt Susan was murdered. She says she was victim of Simon Macias, too.

Macias initially was charged with abusing Figeley and her sister when camera film was found with pornographic pictures, but she said the district attorney decided not to prosecute after the pictures were lost.

"It's scary because there are certain things we remember and the fact that we were so young we thought it was just a game," Figeley said. "It's just scary (thinking) that he can be released and (something could) happen to someone else."