Who killed Nick Cordova? Father's murder heard over FaceTime remains unsolved by Gilbert PD

GILBERT, Ariz. - Four years have passed since Nick Cordova's murder in Gilbert and his wife is steadfast in finding out who took him from her and their two children.

Nick was shot and killed while on FaceTime with his kids. The tragedy happened in Gilbert back in 2020.

A 300-page police report and 911 call leave loved ones with many questions – Who killed him, and why?

His widow believes it’s time to put pressure on the Gilbert Police Department to make a break in the case.

The Cordova love story

"He had the best smile," Alysha Cordova says.

Together, they had it all. Married in 2012, Nick and Alysha Cordova quickly became a family of four.

"We were two and done. We had our son, and we had our daughter. We said if we had two boys, he was like, ‘We’d be done.’ I was like, ’No, if we had two boys, we’d try for a third.’ I could have talked him into it," she said.

Long before a house and two kids, the two met at a graduation party.

"Then at the end of the night, he was standing at the door when I left, and I was like, ‘You're cute, you should give me your number.’ And so, he gave me his number, and I feel like the rest is kind of history from there," Alysha said.

It was a love story filled with unforgettable memories.

Nick was the co-owner of Gilbert Air, a company specializing in air-conditioning and heating services.

Alysha says his goal was to build the business so that one day he could retire early and spend more time with his family.

"He was gone a lot. He would leave sometimes before the kids got up. I'd be like, ‘Please be home before they go to bed so they can see you.’ But, he worked a lot and really tried to build the company up. It was his third baby," she said.

He'd always FaceTime his kids Cruize and Capri from the office just to see their face.

FaceTime call goes awry

On May 27, 2020, just after 5 p.m., life for the Cordova family changed.

"I was in the kitchen, and then I heard Capri say like, ‘Something, something's wrong.’ And so, I grabbed the phone, and, I mean, I couldn't see anything, but like, my instincts just kicked in that something wasn't right," she said. "I could hear muffled noises, like some yelling. I immediately took the phone and ran into my room where my phone was and called 911."

Dispatch: "911, what’s your emergency?"

Alysha: "I’m on FaceTime with my husband, my kids are FaceTiming, and someone came in and started beating him."

Dispatch: "OK, what’s your address?"

Alysha: "He’s at Gilbert Air. Gilbert Air."

"It's terrifying. I felt helpless because I'm just screaming through this phone like someone, like someone do something. Someone say something," she remembered.

While Gilbert Police officers rushed to the scene, Alysha stared at Nick’s office ceiling from his phone's camera while still on FaceTime.

"I’m pretty sure I saw a black glove or black gun above. I didn’t hear any shots or anything though. I could hear him screaming, yelling, someone was hitting him," she said.

The 911 call picks up audio between Alysha and Nick's business partner, who picked up Nick's phone while it was still live on FaceTime.

Dave Sweetman had been Nick’s silent business partner for about a year.

"Nick was the one that had stepped up and built the company to what it was. He'd come home and just say that they had been arguing about this or that. Yeah, their relationship was not … they didn't have a friendship, or a great relationship … was purely business related," Alysha said.

Alysha: "Dave! Dave, is he OK? Is he breathing? Dave, answer me!"

Alysha: "Dave, what the (expletive) is going on?"

When the police arrived, Nick was found with a gunshot to the head.

Gilbert Police say Sweetman was detained, placed in handcuffs and told officers that two men had come into the office.

One suspect hit him on the head while the other shot and killed Nick, Sweetman said, calling it a robbery despite a substantial amount of cash left at the scene.

Sweetman turned his own handgun, a 9MM Sig Sauer, over to the police. 

Two employees later told police that they left the business just after 5 p.m. and didn't see anything suspicious. One of them remembers Nick and Sweetman having a closed-door meeting and that the conversation got louder than normal.

Surveillance video released

Alysha was blindsided.

"He wasn't involved in anything shady or any criminal activity. Is there something I could have possibly not have known? No way. 100%. There was nothing, nothing shady going on with him at all," she said.

The police report says Sweetman was not a suspect at the time, but his involvement remained unclear. He declined to speak on camera about the case, but called this the most traumatic ordeal he’s experienced.

Just weeks after Nick’s murder, Gilbert Police released surveillance video of a suspect seen at a nearby gas station. He walks into the store, head down, briefly speaking to the clerk and then walks back outside.

This is captured minutes after the shooting. Police say the suspects drove off in a two-tone red and silver Ford F-150 truck.

Gilbert Police has high-quality security footage from inside Gilbert Air, but it’s never been released to the public.

A unique piece of evidence found at the crime scene was a potato with a hole in it.

"I do feel like he was targeted. I wish I could say it was a freak accident and someone just came in. You know, two guys came in hoping to, like, rob someone and take some money, but … deep down, that's not what I think happened," she said.

'It's like darkness'

More than four years later and no arrests, Alysha is afraid her husband’s case is cold.

"I say moment by moment because it literally is. That's what it is. As a widow or whenever you're grieving, it's one day I can be 'OK, I've got this, we're good.' Then the next day, I'm in bed and can't function. So, it's been really hard," she said. "Like a roller coaster ride."

The ups and downs are unpredictable, just like what happened to Nick when he was taken from his family at the age of 40.

"It's really hard being in this house, because this is the home that we'd planned to raise our kids in together. He put that tire swing up in the front yard and everything in here we've done together. But, for me, it's like darkness in here. Having to live in this house that we planned on growing old together in, and then him not physically being here," she said. "It's a lot."

FOX 10 asked Gilbert Police to speak on camera about this case, but a spokesperson declined, saying this is an active investigation.

If you have information on what happened, call Gilbert Police at 800-343-TIPS (8477).

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