Crime Tape Still Up At Home Of Murdered Woman

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OAKLAND PARK (CBSMiami) -- More than 21 hours after the discovery of a woman's body in her Oakland Park home, crime scene tape is still up.

A uniformed police officer has also been on continuous guard since  64-year-old Charlotte Nicholas was found mortally wounded Tuesday night in a duplex in a blue-collar neighborhood.

Investigators would only say the scene is remaining secured pending further crime scene analysis. They would not elaborate.

The night before, authorities were called to the duplex at 3920 N.W. 3rd Avenue, by the victim's friend and next door neighbor, Debra Kincy, after she got no answer at the victim's door.

"I said 'Charlotte,' and I didn't hear anything. I heard the TV going, so I opened the door - she always left her door unlocked - and I walked in and called her name," Kincy told CBS4's Gary Nelson. "I walked into the kitchen and there was the body on the floor with a bunch of blood. There was a lot of blood."

Kincy immediately called 911. First responders arrived quickly, and the victim died just minutes after police and rescue reached the house.

"I wish I had come over sooner," Kincy said. "I calld them as soon as I found her. I couldn't get any response from her."

Kincy said Nicholas was a retired nurse, living on disability, and did not have family in South Florida.

BSO investigators are offering no information on a possible motive for the murder, a suspect or suspects if any, or how the victim was killed.

Nicholas apparently struggled with substance abuse issues. She had a record of more than a dozen arrests in Broward County for possession of cocaine and other drugs, including heroin.

State records show Nicholas was a licensed registered nurse and had no history of complaints or discipline during her career.

On Wednesday afternoon, a BSO deputy stood guard at the apartment, nearly 17 hours after the victim was discovered.