MURDERED: Nick Cordova
Episode of Crime Junkie · April 6, 2026 · 53 min
Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat examine the unsolved 2020 murder of Arizona businessman Nick Cordova and suspicions surrounding his business partner.
Summary
Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat recounted the May 27, 2020 killing of 40-year-old Nick Cordova, co-owner of the HVAC company Gilbert Air in Gilbert, Arizona, who was shot while on a FaceTime call with his young children. The episode opened with archival 911 audio of Cordova's wife Alicia describing what she heard over the call, then followed the police response, which found Cordova's body blocking the office door and his business partner Dave Sweetman inside, handing officers a bloodied handgun.
Flowers detailed Sweetman's account of a robbery by two masked men offering to sell Freon, and the inconsistencies police noted, including more than $1,000 in cash still in his pocket after he said he had given the robbers everything he had. Surveillance footage showed two intruders and a shooter in the lobby, leading investigators to conclude Sweetman was not the gunman, though the file stated his involvement "remained unclear." Flowers laid out Alicia Cordova's long-standing suspicions: Sweetman's prior criminal record, his withdrawal of $45,000 from company accounts in the months before the murder, life insurance policies the partners held on each other totaling roughly $8 million, and Nick's reported fear that Sweetman would hire a hitman.
The hosts described years of stalled investigation: rotating detectives, more than 200 redacted pages in the case file, no released autopsy or firearms results, and an unidentified man captured on clear gas station surveillance footage two minutes after the shooting. Flowers noted that Alicia Cordova viewed the surveillance video herself in March 2025 and saw Sweetman peek through the blinds as the suspects' truck arrived. Sweetman has never been charged or publicly named a suspect; he and Alicia settled insurance litigation out of court in 2024.
Flowers also raised broader criticism of the Gilbert Police Department, citing a February 2026 Arizona Republic article about an Arizona Attorney General review of claims the town may have illegally destroyed or withheld police records, and teased a follow-up episode about the earlier death of Sweetman's wife, Laura Sweetman.
Chapters
- 0:33
The FaceTime call
Ashley Flowers introduces the May 2020 case and plays archival 911 audio of Alicia Cordova describing what she heard while FaceTiming her husband.
- 6:04
Arrival at the scene
Alicia drives to Gilbert Air, runs through the crime scene tape, and is told her husband is dead.
- 8:24
Dave Sweetman and the crime scene
Police find Sweetman inside, he hands over a bloody gun, and officers document a disrupted office, bullet holes, and scattered evidence.
- 11:16
Sweetman's robbery account and the cash discrepancy
Sweetman describes two men selling Freon and a robbery, but officers find over $1,000 in his pocket after he claimed he gave the robbers everything.
- 18:34
The surveillance footage
Cameras cover most of the building but not the office; footage shows two intruders and the shooting in the lobby, leading police to rule Sweetman out as the shooter.
- 21:12
Alicia's backstory on Dave Sweetman
Flowers recounts how Nick bought into Gilbert Air, warnings that Sweetman was shady, missing company funds, and Nick's fear of being watched and of a hitman.
- 28:00
The office manager's account
Lynn tells police Sweetman was obsessed with money, repeatedly asked when Nick would return the day before the shooting, and argued with Nick that day.
- 31:47
Restraining order and funeral
Alicia tries to obtain a restraining order and declines Sweetman's offer to help with funeral arrangements.
- 33:29
The gas station suspect
Police find AM/PM surveillance footage of one suspect minutes after the shooting and release it on June 12, but no one identifies him.
- 39:27
Insurance policies and litigation
Alicia discovers the policies would pay out roughly $8 million, alleges her signature was forged, and settles out of court in 2024.
- 43:23
Stalled investigation and Gilbert PD criticism
Rotating detectives, redacted records, missing autopsy and firearms results, and an Arizona Attorney General review of Gilbert's records practices.
- 47:09
Alicia views the footage and a new lead
Alicia watches the surveillance video in 2025, notices Sweetman peeking through the blinds, and the hosts tease the death of Laura Sweetman.
Key points
What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers argues that the Cordova case will only be solved if public pressure is applied to the Gilbert Police Department.
“Now it feels like the only way this case will ever be solved. is if we turn up the pressure on Gilbert Police Department”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers recounts that the responding officer pushed Cordova's body aside with the front door to enter rather than finding another entrance.
“This officer, though, decided to just push through the door until Nick's body moved enough for him to squeeze through”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers states that an online theory that a gouged potato found at the scene was used as a silencer is not supported by the police report.
“maybe that potato was like used as a silencer but that is not stated anywhere in the police report”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers reports that officers found over $1,000 cash on Sweetman despite his claim he gave the robbers everything he had.
“Well, imagine this officer's surprise when he's patting Dave down and finds more than $1,000 cash in”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers notes that the only room without a surveillance camera was the office where Sweetman said the struggle took place.
“The one place that doesn't have a camera is the office space where, according to Dave, the struggle took place”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers says investigators wrote that after viewing the footage they no longer suspected Sweetman of the homicide but that his involvement remained unclear.
“investigators write in the file that after seeing the surveillance footage, they no longer suspect Dave in the homicide. However, quote, his involvement remained unclear”
- Brit Prawat
Prawat argues that lying about the money in his pocket is itself a reason for suspicion of Sweetman.
“Which, like, makes sense, right? Like, why else would you lie about the money in your pocket? Like, there's just, like, that's weird, right?”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers says Alicia told police that Sweetman withdrew $30,000 from the company account in March 2020 and another $15,000 in April.
“in March of 2020, Nick told her that Dave took $30,000 out of their company account, which he had never done before”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers reports that Alicia told police Nick had worried Sweetman would hire a hitman to collect insurance money.
“he was worried Dave would, quote, hire a hitman to take him out so Dave could collect the insurance money”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers says the previous co-owner Frank refused Sweetman's repeated requests for mutual life insurance policies, saying he wanted to be worth more alive than dead.
“Dave repeatedly tried to get this Frank guy to do the same thing, but Frank refused, telling Dave that he wanted to be worth more alive than dead”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers relays the office manager's account that Sweetman repeatedly asked when Nick would return the day before the shooting and was unusually quiet on the day itself.
“Dave kept asking Lynn over and over, like, where's Nick? When's Nick going to get in? When's he getting back?”
- Brit Prawat
Prawat argues that ruling Sweetman out as the shooter does not clear him of involvement.
“No one's proven to me that he wasn't involved. Just because there are two other guys can't mean he's cleared”
- Brit Prawat
Prawat says that Cordova's wallet still containing money makes the robbery theory harder to accept.
“Which would make the robbery theory even harder to buy”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers says the AM/PM gas station footage is among the clearest images of a suspect's face she has seen and criticizes the delay in releasing it.
“this is close to, if not the clearest image of a suspect's face I have ever seen from surveillance footage in a case”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers reports that more than 200 pages of the police file are redacted and that the gas station footage is the last validated information from it.
“Everything else in the file is redacted. Like we're talking over 200 pages of just blacked out everything”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers says Alicia discovered two policies that together would pay out $8 million rather than the roughly $500,000 Sweetman told her to expect.
“And both policies together would pay out not $1 million, but $8 million”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers recounts that the insurance company said it had already received signed documents and Alicia reported that her signature had been forged.
“She's like this is the first time I've ever signed anything. Somebody if you have signed documents somebody forged my signature”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers says no autopsy or firearms testing results have ever been released, so the type of gun used remains unknown.
“Authorities have also never released any kind of results related to firearms or firearm testing. Like, I don't know what kind of gun was used in the shooting still”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers says Gilbert Air closed about nine months after Cordova's death and Sweetman started a new company, Arizona Family Air, using the client list.
“Dave took the client list, started a new business called Arizona Family Air that the Cordovas have no stake in, and he continues to run that out of his house”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers reports that when Alicia viewed the footage in March 2025 she saw Sweetman peek through the blinds as the suspects' truck pulled up.
“He went to the front door and like peeked through the blinds”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers cites a February 2026 Arizona Republic article reporting that the Arizona Attorney General's office is reviewing claims Gilbert may have illegally destroyed or withheld police records.
“the Arizona Attorney General's office is reviewing claims that the town of Gilbert may have illegally destroyed or withheld police records”
Linked moment · 49:45Skip to 49:45 using a listen link in the info box.
Ashley FlowersFlowers describes Alicia's account that the footage shows Cordova being shot once in the back of the head execution style as he ran toward the door.
“the suspect comes up behind him and just execution style shoots him once in the back of the head, causing him to fall to the ground”
- Brit Prawat
Prawat argues investigators should trace the $45,000 withdrawn from the company and the insurance payout, since hitmen are not paid by check.
“where did the $45,000 go that he took out from the company before all this happened? Like, can we trace where that went”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers argues that definitively ruling out a connection between Sweetman and the suspects would require a deep financial audit rather than a single follow-up interview.
“To me, in order to rule out a connection definitively, you would have to dig deep into this man”
- Ashley Flowers
Flowers reveals that Sweetman's wife Laura died under circumstances she calls mysterious nearly seven years before Cordova's shooting, with no media coverage.
“it turns out nearly seven years before Nick was shot, someone else close to Dave died under mysterious circumstances”
People
In the conversation
- Ashley FlowersCreator and host of the true crime podcast Crime Junkie and founder of Audiochuck
- Brit PrawatCo-host of Crime Junkie, introduced in the episode as 'Britt'
Discussed
- Nick Cordova40-year-old co-owner of Gilbert Air who was shot and killed in May 2020
- Alicia CordovaWidow of Nick Cordova who has campaigned for the case to be solved
- Dave SweetmanNick Cordova's business partner at Gilbert Air, present at the shooting and long suspected by Cordova's family, never charged
- Laura SweetmanDave Sweetman's wife, who died under circumstances the hosts describe as mysterious about seven years before Nick Cordova's death
- Nicole KaganCrime Junkie reporter who interviewed Alicia Cordova and researched the case
- Maritza DominguezArizona Republic journalist who reported on allegations that Gilbert withheld or destroyed police records
- Delia D'AmbraHost of the true crime podcast Park Predators
- Rachel HansenVictim of a 2022 shooting in Gilbert previously covered by Crime Junkie
Topics
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From the publisher
In May 2020, Nick Cordova was shot in the head while on FaceTime with his children. Suspicion initially focused on one man, but surveillance video showed he was not the shooter. Nearly six years later, Cordova’s family is still pleading for answers.
Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 27, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.