Convicted murderer faces sentencing in Yuma County killing of Anthony Jordinelli
Nicholas Harder could face 10 to 25 years for murder alone, but the judge must still decide how the five convictions will be stacked when sentencing comes next month.
A Yuma judge still has to decide how long Nicholas Harder will spend behind bars for the killing of Anthony Jordinelli, and whether the murder and aggravated-assault convictions will be served one after another or at the same time. Under Arizona law, second-degree murder carries a prison term of 10 to 25 years, and Harder is scheduled to be sentenced next month.
The most consequential moment in the case came in court on May 21, when Jordinelli’s family delivered impact statements and pressed for the harshest punishment allowed. A brother of the victim told the court, “This family is requesting no concurrent sentences.” That request matters because Harder was convicted not only of second-degree murder, but also of all four counts of aggravated assault, giving the judge multiple convictions to weigh at sentencing.
Harder, 40, was found guilty by a jury on April 27, 2026, after a trial tied to the death of 57-year-old Anthony Jordinelli in May 2023. He had originally faced one count of premeditated first-degree murder and four counts of aggravated assault. The jury returned the lesser homicide conviction, but still convicted him on every assault count, leaving the court to determine the penalty phase that now stands between the verdict and final closure.
The case has been closely watched in Yuma County since the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office said Jordinelli was pronounced dead at the scene in 2023. Deputies arrested Harder, then 37, and booked him into the Yuma County Detention Center on a first-degree murder charge. Inmate records later showed Harder remained held on a $1 million bond during the case.
Harder also rejected a plea deal in April 2025, keeping the case headed toward trial and ultimately to the sentencing hearing now approaching. For Jordinelli’s family, the remaining questions are no longer about guilt. They are about how the court will translate a murder conviction and four assault convictions into years behind bars, and whether the final sentence will bring the kind of closure that has been delayed since the killing in Yuma.
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