LEBANON, Ind. — A Boone County man who won a primary election earlier this month while facing charges in his wife's murder has withdrawn from the race.
According to our partners at the Lebanon Reporter, Andrew Wilhoite took his name off the ballot for the Clinton Township Board in the November general election. Wilhoite was one of three Republicans to earn a place on the November ballot, where candidates will vie for three open seats.
Murder charges were filed against Wilhoite in March after he told detectives he struck his wife, Nikki, with a flower pot during a fight outside their farmhouse. He said he then dumped her body in a creek northwest of Lebanon, where police found her on March 26.
Court documents say Andrew initially lied to detectives about his wife's whereabouts when she was first reported missing after she failed to report for work on March 25.
The coroner's office determined Nikki Wilhoite, who a friend said had just finished her last chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer, died from a blow to the head.
According to the Reporter, the Boone County Republican Party will be allowed to replace Wilhoite with another candidate on the November ballot. There are currently no Democrat or Independent candidates running in the general election for the seat, though candidates from those parties, as well as the Libertarian Party, can file to run through noon on June 30.
Brad King, co-director of the bipartisan Indiana Election Division, told the newspaper Wilhoite was the only person that could withdraw his name from the election.
Wilhoite faces 45-60 years in prison if convicted on the murder charge. He has a pre-trial conference scheduled for May 27, with a jury trial currently scheduled to begin Aug. 29.