Former Prosecutor Brooklyn District Attorney, Host of the TV show 'True Conviction,' Host of the Podcast 'Anatomy of Murder'

Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi | Biography 2021

Nicolazzi co-hosted three episodes of the crime-themed documentary series, 'Did He Do It?,' along with Darren Kavinoky, in 2015

• By Ojasbi
• Update : August 08, 2021

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Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi is a former homicide prosecutor for the Brooklyn District Attorney Office. She is currently a host for the TV show 'True Conviction.'

Who is Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi ?

Nicolazzi is a former homicide prosecutor for the Kings County District Attorney Office in Brooklyn. She also served at the Homicide Bureau and eventually made her way up to Chief of Trials at the Brooklyn District Attorney Office. Departing from the prosecution field in 2017, Nicolazzi is now a media figure, active in delivering and dissecting insights on homicide. She is the founder of Forseti Media and the host and co-executive producer of Discovery Channel's true-crime series, True Conviction. Furthermore, Nicolazzi also bears the credit for creating and co-hosting the true-crime podcast, Anatomy of Murder.

In 2008, Nicolazzi earned the National District Attorneys Association's 'Home Run Hitter Award,' which was given to her by her peers for her outstanding prosecutorial achievement. She was also the first recipient of the New York City Bar Association's 'Thomas E. Dewey Medal,' given yearly to exceptional assistant district attorneys in five political divisions of New York.

Early life and Education 

Nicolazzi was born on 31 May 1970 in New York City. She received her Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Distributive Studies - English and Political Science from the University of Colorado Boulder. She completed her Doctor of Law (JD) from Brooklyn Law School.

Career

Nicolazzi began her journey in the Brooklyn District Attorney Office in 1995 after receiving her JD from Brooklyn Law School. She worked for the Kings County District Attorney Office in Brooklyn, New York, for nearly 22 years, in different positions handling different responsibilities. From 1995 to 2001, she worked as a prosecutor and assistant district attorney, and then as a prosecutor and senior trial attorney in the Homicide Bureau from 2001 until 2006. She was also the Bureau Chief of the Homicide Bureau for the next 9 years, till 2015. Subsequently, she became the Chief of Trials in 2015 and carried the position till 2017. Furthermore, she has been on the faculty of Harvard Law School's Trial Advocacy Workshop since 2016.

After the departure from the Kings County District Attorney's Office, Nicolazzi transitioned to media engagements. Presently, she is the co-executive producer and television host of Investigation Discovery's True Conviction. Since 2017, she's been a regular on the program. From 2020, Nicolazzi has also been the creator and co-host of Forseti Media's podcast series Anatomy of Murder.

Brooklyn Prosecutor

Nicolazzi rose through the ranks of the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office to become a part of the exclusive Homicide Bureau, where she spent 16 of her 22 years specializing in complicated cases. She handled nearly 50 criminal cases during her time on the bench, including 35 homicide trials.

The murder of the student Ramona Moore from Hunter College, the shooting death of New York City Police Officer Russel Timoshenko, the targeting and murder of Michael Sandy, and the murder of ABC news radio personality George Weber, were among the few cases held by Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi, during her tenure.

Wrongly Convicted?

When it came to homicide investigations, Nicolazzi had a perfect 35-0 success record. She had won every murder case she prosecuted at the Homicide Bureau. But, the conviction of John Giuca for the murder of Mark Fisher, a young college football player, in 2003 garnered multiple headlines for being a false conviction. 

Antonio Russo and John Giuca were convicted, and both were sentenced to 25 years in jail in 2005. In June 2019, the case was again brought to Brooklyn Supreme Court, considering the appeals of suppression of evidence in Giuca's conviction

According to a 2014 piece published by the New York Post, Nicolazzi initially stated that Fisher's murder was gang-related during her opening remarks on the case. However, with the testimony of a drug-addicted jailhouse snitch named John Avitto, she offered an entirely new hypothesis of the crime by the end of the hearing. In a sworn declaration, Avitto had later denied his claim. Instead, he claimed that he made up his entire tale with the help of press articles to win favor on his felony convictions.

Furthermore, according to the 2019 New York Post news article, John Giuca's lawyer Mark Bederow alleged that jailhouse spy John Ingram informed Nicolazzi in a 2005 taped interview that Giuca was innocent in the death of Mark Fisher and that Giuca's co-defendant Antonio Russo admitted to killing Fisher. Nicolazzi, according to Bederow, hid the evidence on purpose.

'True Conviction'

Running under America's top true-crime network, Investigation Discovery, True Conviction presents crime stories through the viewpoint of Nicolazzi, who served as a prosecutor herself. She commutes across the country talking to prosecutors about the most difficult homicide cases they've ever encountered in the quest for a conviction on True Conviction.

Furthermore, Nicolazzi offers her personal views and insights on the case and reveals how murder investigations are solved in the courtroom. Currently on its third season as of August 2021, the show has been on the air for four years from 2018.

She also co-hosted three episodes of the crime-themed documentary series, Did He Do It?, along with Darren Kavinoky, in 2015.

Forseti Media

Nicolazzi established Forseti Media Inc. to steer content on criminal justice with a major emphasis on victims and survivors. It considers an efficient commute of true crime tales and investigates the impact of these crimes on people's lives.

Podcast

Nicolazzi started the real-life crime podcast, Anatomy of Murder in 2020. She collaborated with the 'Emmy Award’-winning investigative journalist Scott Weinberger and provided the listeners an insight into the events of some of the country's most interesting homicide investigations.

"There are many great true crime podcasts out there. What ours brings to the table is this: We approach each story from our backgrounds, and then take listeners behind the scenes, delving into the many Whys of each case", Nicolazzi shared in an interview with The Nerd daily in 2020, stressing the uniqueness of the podcast series.

Personal Life

Her personal life has not been disclosed yet. However, her husband's name has been mentioned as Dominic Joseph Nicolazzi on several websites. According to her Twitter account, Nicolazzi currently resides in New York.