Nick Pasqual, 'How I Met Your Mother' Actor, Gets 32 Years To Life For Stabbing

Nick Pasqual, the 36-year-old actor known for a guest role on How I Met Your Mother and appearances in Netflix's Rebel Moon, was sentenced to 32 years to life in prison on Tuesday at the San Fernando Courthouse in Los Angeles, following his May 8 conviction on charges of attempted murder, forcible rape, first-degree residential burglary and domestic violence.

A jury had deliberated after a trial that began April 27 and returned guilty verdicts on every count.

The sentence carries a mandatory minimum of 32 years before Pasqual becomes eligible for parole. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman released a statement after the sentencing. "Today's 32-year to life sentence holds Nick Pasqual accountable for the horrific crimes he committed against someone who once loved and trusted him," Hochman said. "Allie Shehorn miraculously survived and courageously stood before her abuser in court to testify about the brutality she endured. Her trial testimony was crucial in securing a guilty verdict so Mr. Pasqual could no longer be free to hurt anyone else."

Allie Shehorn, the Hollywood makeup artist whose credits include Rebel Moon Part One, Mean Girls and the Oscar-nominated Babylon, and who had worked on set with Pasqual, survived an attack that left her with more than 20 stab wounds, permanent injuries, emotional trauma and mounting medical bills.

She had recently filed a restraining order against Pasqual before the attack. She testified at trial. Her testimony, prosecutors said, was crucial.

What Happened On May 23, 2024?

The events of May 23, 2024 began at approximately 4:30 in the morning at Allie Shehorn's home in Sunland, California.

Prosecutors presented evidence at trial that Pasqual broke into the residence, he and Shehorn had been in a relationship and had recently broken up, with Shehorn having sought and obtained a restraining order against him.

He entered her home in the pre-dawn hours and stabbed her more than 20 times, wounds to her neck, chest, back, abdomen, arms and wrists.

After the attack, Pasqual fled. He drove toward the United States-Mexico border, apparently attempting to leave the country. The warrant for his arrest was issued the following day, May 24.

On May 29, federal officers found him at a border checkpoint in Sierra Blanca, Texas, a small town in Hudspeth County near the Texas-Mexico border, during what prosecutors characterized as an attempt to flee across the border.

He was arrested, charged and extradited to Los Angeles County on June 13, 2024, where he appeared in court for the first time and entered a not guilty plea.

Shehorn survived because her friend arrived at her home and found her. The friend described what they walked into when speaking to KTLA after the attack: "I found her and I had to go into the bedroom where it happened."

Emergency surgery followed. Extensive medical treatment followed that. The permanent injuries and emotional trauma that prosecutors described in the sentencing phase represent a life that was fundamentally changed on a morning that began before sunrise.

The Trial And The Verdict

The trial that began on April 27, 2026, nearly two years after the attack, concluded with the jury convicting Pasqual on all counts on May 8. The verdict covered attempted murder, forcible rape, first-degree residential burglary and injuring a spouse, cohabitant or dating partner.

Jurors also made specific findings that Pasqual used a knife during the attack and that the violence occurred under circumstances involving domestic violence, enhancements that contributed to the length of the sentence.

Shehorn's decision to testify, to stand in a courtroom and describe what happened to her while the man who did it sat across the room, was described by prosecutors as having been central to the conviction.

Domestic violence prosecutions frequently face evidentiary challenges when survivors are reluctant or unable to testify. Shehorn testified. Her account, combined with the physical evidence, produced a unanimous guilty verdict.

On May 26, eight days before the sentencing, Shehorn filed a civil lawsuit against Pasqual for sexual battery, assault and negligence.

The criminal sentence does not resolve the civil proceeding. Both will continue in parallel, the criminal sentence now finalized and the civil case pursuing its own process.

Hochman's statement addressed the broader meaning of Shehorn's willingness to testify. He said the case highlights the "painful reality" that domestic violence thrives when its victims live in fear and stay silent. Shehorn did not stay silent. The DA characterized that choice as the reason Pasqual is no longer free to harm anyone.

The Acting Career

Pasqual's most widely recognized role was a guest appearance on How I Met Your Mother, the CBS sitcom that aired from 2005 through 2014. He played Nick Padarotti in Season 8, Episode 6, titled "Splitsville," which aired in November 2012.

The character was Robin Scherbatsky's boyfriend, notable for being physically attractive but not particularly bright, a recurring comedic element of the episode.

He also appeared in Rebel Moon Part One, the 2023 Netflix science fiction film directed by Zack Snyder, and in smaller productions including Poor Paul and Homecoming.

His on-set work on Rebel Moon was where he and Allie Shehorn worked together, she was a makeup artist on the production.

The connection between their meeting on a film set and the events that followed, the relationship, the breakup, the restraining order, the attack, follows a documented pattern in domestic violence cases where proximity through work creates the initial contact and the subsequent relationship dynamics eventually produce violence.

32 Years To Life

The sentence handed down Tuesday means Nick Pasqual will be 68 years old at the earliest point he could be considered for parole, assuming the minimum 32-year term before parole eligibility and assuming the parole board grants release at the first opportunity, which is not guaranteed given the nature of the convictions.

He will be in California state prison for what will likely be the majority of the remainder of his life.

Allie Shehorn has permanent injuries. She survived. She testified. She filed a civil lawsuit seeking accountability that the criminal process does not fully provide in financial terms. Hochman called her survival miraculous.

The friend who found her in that bedroom on the morning of May 23, 2024 made the difference between a sentencing proceeding and a murder trial.