In the spring of 2004, a promising new chapter in the life of Lora Nikolova, a 25-year-old Bulgarian woman, was brutally cut short in a quiet suburb of Marietta, Georgia. Having arrived in the United States in July of the previous year as part of a student summer work program, she had found employment as a lifeguard and, in time, a relationship with 40-year-old David Andrew Robertson, with whom she had decided to build a life.
On the evening of April 5, 2004, Joshua Kevin Drucker and his girlfriend, Melissa Suzanne McCrayer, arrived at Robertson's home. Drucker and Robertson had a history, but their relationship had been strained by Drucker's persistent requests for money to fuel a drug habit. Unbeknownst to Nikolova, who was in another room, the couple had come with violent intentions, aware that Robertson had recently withdrawn a large sum of money. Drucker, armed with a gun, shot Robertson in the back. When Nikolova ran from the bedroom to investigate the sound, she was shot in the neck.
The assailants then began to rob the house, taking credit cards and one of Robertson's cars. Shockingly, they left Nikolova alive on the floor. After leaving the scene, they decided to return for more valuables. Finding her still alive, Drucker shot her again, this time in the head. In a display of chilling callousness, they would return to the home a total of three times, stealing anything of value they could find, including Nikolova's diamond ring and cell phone.
The investigation into the double homicide led police to Drucker and McCrayer. Drucker was charged with felony murder and credit card fraud, while McCrayer faced charges of murder, robbery, and accessory to a crime. The subsequent legal proceedings brought some measure of justice for the families of the victims. In October 2011, a Cobb County jury found Joshua Kevin Drucker guilty of the murders of Lora Nikolova and David Andrew Robertson. After a short deliberation, the jury recommended the death penalty.
