Curtis Reeves, a 71-year-old retired police captain, claimed self defense and was recently acquitted of second degree murder in Chad Oulson's 2014 death. “Not guilty, at least to me, does not equal innocent,” Chad's widow tells Inside Edition.
The wife of a man gunned down in a Florida movie theater eight years ago is speaking out for the first time since his killer was acquitted.
“Not guilty, at least to me, does not equal innocent,” Nicole Oulson told Inside Edition.
In 2014, Nicole and her husband, Chad Oulson, went to the movies in Tampa to see “Lone Survivor,” an action movie starring Mark Wahlberg.
But before the movie even started, they got into an argument with 71-year-old Curtis Reeves, a retired police captain.
Chad Oulson was texting his babysitter, when Reeves told him to put away his phone. The argument escalated, and Chad threw a bag of popcorn. Reeves reacted by pulling out a handgun and shooting Chad in the chest.
In February, a jury found Reeves not guilty of second-degree murder after he said he feared for his life and claimed self defense.
“There was doubt and what that was that the jury saw, I don't know. Maybe it was his age or that he was prior police. To me, no, justice was not done,” Nicole said.
Nicole, who was sitting next to her husband, was also injured in the shooting when the bullet hit her ring finger.
“It's a little crooked and I can't bend it and close it all the way,” she said.
Nicole says she still does not have closure after losing her husband in such a horrific way.
“He was the love of my life. He was just an amazing, awesome, outgoing, caring, kind man,” Nicole said.
Their 10-year-old daughter Lexy was just 22 months when her father was shot to death. Now the family is trying to move forward, launching the Oulson Family Foundation in hopes of helping victims of gun violence.
“This is the light at the end of the tunnel, where now we can turn things around and give back and keep his legacy alive,” Nicole said.
