Nachtman's brother sheds light on sister's mentality

TAMPA (FOX 13) - When police arrived at Nicole Nachtman's home, they said they found blood in the kitchen, the laundry room and the driveway. As they looked further, they reported finding her parents dead - and soon they arrested Nicole for their murders.

Nicole's older brother, Joseph Carey said the sister he knew could not have killed them.  

"For this to happen, something broke, something broke her," Carey said.

In a police interview, Carey described his sister's strained relationship with their mother. He said he always tried to protect his little sister from their mother's strong grip.

"We've all known she's had problems with my mom, basically her whole life. My mom [has] a very strong personality and my sister has a very weak personality," Carey explained. "My sister is 22-years-old and she is still affected by my mom. She has some kind of control to influence her."

Detectives said last August, Nicole Nachtman left the Florida State University Campus and drove home to kill her mom and step dad.

Her brother maintains, shortly after the murders, he talked to his sister on the phone.

"The first significant thing {she said was], 'I'm going to miss you.' That's the whole thing that made me say... what what are you talking about?" Carey recalled of their conversation that day.

From there, he says the conversation got stranger.

"'You can call me a beast, but don't call me a monster,' and I was like, 'What does that even mean?'" explained Carey.

She replied, "'it means I do what I have to to protect myself, but I'm not a monster. I don't do bad things for fun, or whatever you want to call it.'"

Joseph said the stress from school, and the constant pressure from their mother was taking its toll on Nicole.

 "She described screams in her head, then she said her dreams were being affected. She started having bad dreams. Dreams that she couldn't control," Carey said.

But after the murders, Nicole appeared relaxed, even giddy during a jailhouse visit with her brother.

Nicole: Guess who's my favorite super hero?
Joseph: Who?
Nicole: You, silly! (laughs)

Nachtman faces two counts of murder. If convicted, she faces the death penalty.