He’s accused of suffocating girlfriend with bubble wrap on Hilton Head. Now he’s on trial

A Hilton Head Island man accused of suffocating his girlfriend with bubble wrap in their Palmetto Dunes condo in August of 2014 is expected to face a jury Tuesday morning, according to the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

Nick Evangelista, 56, allegedly killed his live-in girlfriend, Rebecca Melton, 55, on Aug. 26, 2014, in their St. Andrews Common condominium in Palmetto Dunes before he stole her Jeep and left the state.

Testimony in Evangelista’s murder trial is expected to start Tuesday, according to Jeff Kidd, communications director of the solicitor’s office,.

Evangelista’s bond was denied in October of 2014 after Beaufort County Circuit Court Judge Carmen Mullen said she believed Evangelista posed a flight risk and was a danger to the community.

In 2014, 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone said in court that Evangelista killed Melton during a fight as the couple prepared to move out of their condo. Stone said Evangelista held Melton down by placing his knees on her chest and then smothered her with bubble wrap; afterward, he checked her pulse.

Melton’s body was found Sept. 4 after security guards conducted a health and welfare check at the condo.

Evangelista was arrested Oct. 1 in Melton’s Jeep in Pensacola, Florida. In the back of a patrol car, he told Florida authorities he killed Melton and reiterated that to officers during an interview, Stone said.

During his bond hearing, Evangelista’s public defender, Trasi Campbell, described Evangelista as a Navy veteran, a physician’s assistant in Savannah and on Hilton Head since 2002 and a father of two sons.

Campbell said her client had been “mired in a relationship of battery” with Melton.

The couple were involved in several incidents of domestic violence, though neither was convicted, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and Hilton Head Island Municipal Court.

This story was originally published December 12, 2017 at 9:03 AM with the headline "He’s accused of suffocating girlfriend with bubble wrap on Hilton Head. Now he’s on trial."