ZANESVILLE ‒ One man saw his wife go to prison for murder earlier this year when a dead body was discovered in a backyard shed, but he also received a lengthy sentence for his ancillary role.
David Ralph Cole Jr., 44, of Zanesville, received nine years in prison when he went before Judge Gerald Anderson May 28.
He was convicted on five counts after entering a plea bargain on April 16, including tampering with evidence, obstructing justice, and endangering children, all third-degree felonies, and gross abuse of a corpse and possessing criminal tools, fifth-degree felonies.
On Feb. 10, Zanesville police responded to Cole’s Somers Street address. They found the body of his father, David Cole Sr., 80, wrapped in a tarp and plastic mattress cover and hidden in a shed.
On Dec. 24, Cole’s wife, Brittany Lee Cole, 38, gave her father-in-law double doses of Zzzquil and Tylenol No. 3, a combination of codeine and acetaminophen, after he became ill and bedridden and complained of pain. She had been his primary caretaker, noted an announcement from the Muskingum County Prosecutor’s office.
Brittany found Cole Sr. dead the next morning.
Cole didn’t check on his father often, the prosecutor’s office noted, and he didn’t discover his body until Jan. 8, after the family returned home from a trip. He then reportedly worked with Brittany to wrap the body and relocate it several weeks later, the prosecutor’s office added.
His body was found in an advanced state of decomposition, and his death was attributed to the medications, confirmed the Licking County coroner in February.
Police later found incriminating texts messages, videos and Google searches from the Coles.
“Although David Cole was not involved in his father’s death, the evidence shows he wasn’t much involved in his father’s life,” said Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John Litle. “We hope that this sentence brings some closure to David Sr.’s remaining family and gives what dignity we can for a helpless victim who was badly mistreated both in life and in death.”
On Feb. 26, Brittany was convicted of murder, an unclassified felony, and gross abuse of a corpse, a fifth-degree felony. She was received life in prison with parole possibility after serving 16 years.
She claimed she’d been helping her father-in-law, who had sunk into a depression and wished to be with his late wife.
Shawn Digity is a reporter for the Zanesville Times Recorder. He can be emailed at sdigity@gannett.com or found on X at @ShawnDigityZTR.
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Zanesville man who helped conceal his deceased father’s body sentenced to nine years
Reporting by Shawn Digity, Zanesville Times Recorder / Zanesville Times Recorder
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