Case Number: 17746707
In the early morning hours of October 16, 2017, someone arrived at a ground-floor apartment on Barton Street East near Lottridge Street in Hamilton, Ontario. Inside was 37-year-old Nicole Dragisic, a mother of five whose life would be taken within moments of answering a knock at the door.
Nicole was remembered as a loving mother, sister, daughter and friend. She was the mother of five children and those who knew her described her as strong-willed, courageous and someone with a heart of gold. Whatever circumstances may have surrounded her life at the time, five children would soon lose their mother, and a family would be left trying to understand why someone had wanted Nicole dead.
Nicole was reportedly at the Barton Street residence with her boyfriend and another friend during the early hours of October 16. At some point, there was loud knocking at the door.
Nicole went to answer it.
There appears to have been a brief interaction at the doorway before multiple gunshots rang out. Nicole was shot at the entrance to the apartment.
At approximately 3:40am, a man called 911 and reported that his girlfriend, Nicole Dragisic, had been shot. Emergency responders rushed Nicole to Hamilton General Hospital, but her injuries were too severe. She died at the hospital.
She was only 37 years old.
In the moments following the shooting, two men were reportedly seen running away from the residence. One was described as taller than the other, and both were reportedly wearing dark clothing.
No firearm was recovered, although investigators believed a handgun had been used.
Police did not believe Nicole’s killing was random. The shooting was described as a targeted attack, raising an obvious and troubling question that remains unanswered publicly to this day:
Why Nicole?
If someone deliberately went to that apartment intending to kill her, what had brought them there?
There were questions about whether drugs or some form of criminal activity could have been connected to the shooting, but no publicly available police information establishes that as the motive. It is important not to turn speculation into fact. Hamilton Police have never publicly announced a definitive motive for Nicole’s murder.
There are other unanswered questions surrounding what happened at the doorway that morning.
Did Nicole know the person who knocked?
Did she recognize him when she opened the door?
Was she expecting someone to arrive?
What, if anything, was said during the brief interaction before the shooting began?
And what role did the second man reportedly seen fleeing the area play? Was he involved in the shooting itself, was he accompanying the gunman, or did something else happen?
Publicly, those answers remain unknown.
Hamilton Police have indicated that investigators received some cooperation from Nicole’s friends and associates, but they have continued to appeal for information. Police have not publicly explained what information they believe may still be missing or whether they believe someone close to Nicole knows more about what happened.
There is another detail that has emerged publicly since Nicole’s murder. Later reporting identified Frank DiMillo as Nicole’s boyfriend at the time and indicated that he witnessed his girlfriend’s 2017 murder. There is no publicly available information establishing that DiMillo was considered a suspect in Nicole’s death, and his identification as Nicole’s boyfriend should not be interpreted as suggesting involvement in her murder.
Instead, the central mystery remains focused on the people who came to the Barton Street apartment that morning.
Two men reportedly fled.
A handgun was believed to have been used.
Nicole was believed to have been deliberately targeted.
Yet the identities of those responsible have never been publicly established.
Years have now passed since Nicole opened that door.
Her children have had to continue their lives without their mother. Her family and friends have lived with questions that should have been answered long ago. Somewhere between the knock at the door and the two figures reportedly disappearing from the area lies the explanation for why Nicole Dragisic was killed.
Someone may know who those men were.
Someone may know why they went to that apartment.
Someone may know what Nicole said at the door or what happened in the hours leading up to the shooting.
And someone may know the reason a 37-year-old mother of five was deliberately targeted in the middle of the night.
As of September 2026, Nicole Dragisic’s murder remains listed by Hamilton Police Service as an unsolved homicide. The investigation remains open.
Anyone with information about Nicole’s homicide is asked to contact the Hamilton Police Service’s Major Crime Unit at 905-546-3829.
Sources: Hamilton Police Service, “Nicole Dragisic” unsolved homicide case page and Unsolved Homicides database; Someone Saw Something, “The Unsolved Murder of Nicole Dragisic,” October 30, 2023; Ontario Association of Interval & Transition Houses femicide memorial materials; Nicole Dragisic obituary published through The Hamilton Spectator/Legacy.com; later Hamilton Spectator court reporting concerning Frank DiMillo.
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