[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A nursing student in Ohio killed her father-in-law before telling family members he’d moved to Cincinnati. Then, a day after the man’s death, she went on a family vacation to Orlando, Florida — only for her husband to discover his father’s dead body two weeks later and ALSO become embroiled in the case!
Last week, Brittany Cole (pictured above, in her mugshot) pleaded guilty to murder and abuse of a corpse. in the tragic death of her father-in-law, David Cole Sr., Following her plea, Brittany was sentenced by a judge to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 16 years.
This whole investigation began when officers in Zanesville, Ohio responded to a shocking call to a home on the night of February 10. They’d been called about the presence of a dead body in a shed, per a press release from the Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office. Upon arrival, responding officers discovered the body of an 80-year-old man wrapped in a plastic mattress cover and a tarp.
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The body was in such an advanced state of decomposition it was impossible at first for authorities to tell what happened — but the body being wrapped in plastic and a deeper investigation quickly told a gruesome story.
According to the press release, three days after the body was discovered, Brittany confessed to killing David Sr. while being interrogated by detectives. When he began complaining of pain on Christmas Eve of 2024, she purposely gave him a lethal combination of medications.
That combo included multiple Tylenol 3 tablets with codeine, as well as multiple doses of ZzzQuil distributed at around 9:30 p.m. that night. Then, when her father-in-law continued to complain of pain about 90 minutes later, she gave him more medication — later admitting to cops she knew the added doses would be fatal. (The prosecutor’s release said investigators were eventually able to source the Tylenol tablets with codeine to a family member’s dental prescription inside the house, BTW.)
In her confession, Brittany said she went to bed… and woke up at around 5:00 a.m. to a horrifying Christmas present: David Sr. lying died.
Prosecutors don’t know how many members of Brittany’s family knew about what happened that night, but she instructed them to tell other people that David Sr. had moved to Cincinnati.
Then things took an unsettling turn: during the course of their investigation, detectives uncovered a Google search Brittany had allegedly made on a device belonging to her on Christmas night which queried:
“When someone dies how long does it take for the body to start smelling”
WTF…
And even that arguably isn’t the most unsettling part! One day after David Sr.’s death, on December 26, Brittany and the rest of the family traveled down to Orlando, Florida for a weeklong vacation. While they were gone, Brittany left the old man’s body in the bedroom where he had died. Just… out there in the open! Yeesh!!
Two weeks later, on January 8, while Brittany was away at nursing school, the prosecutor’s office release said her husband — David Cole Jr. — discovered his dad’s dead body in the bedroom. According to WJW News, it’s not yet clear if David Jr. knew that his dad had been murdered, or if he thought the old man had just passed away from natural causes. But it kiiiinda seems the former, since he didn’t call the cops after the discovery, either!
Detectives later uncovered texts sent between husband and wife in which they allegedly discussed David Sr.’s decomposing body and their plans to move it. David Jr. ordered a mattress cover from Amazon Prime, cops said, and the couple reportedly wrapped the body in that and a tarp. First, they moved it to a sunroom in the family home, before eventually moving it to the shed — where it was eventually discovered.
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Like we noted above, cops say the 37-year-old confessed to killing her father-in-law a few days after his body was found early last month, and was sentenced by a judge last week.
According to WKBN News, David Jr. has been charged, too — with processing criminal tools, obstructing official business, endangering children, and two counts of tampering with evidence. That outlet reports further charges against the younger Cole may still come as cops continue to try to determine his involvement in the case.
As for a possible motive in the killing, Muskingum County District Attorney Ron Welch told local media outlets David Sr. had been the recipient of monthly $2,300 Social Security payments. Those checks were being deposited into an account managed by David Jr., who Welch says had power of attorney over his aging father. Even after David Sr.’s death, Welch said the couple “continued to receive and spend these funds,” paying for household needs and related bills.
The prosecutor added:
“Brittany Cole’s actions reflect a shocking betrayal of trust. She not only ended her father-in-law’s life but then exploited his death for financial gain, hiding the truth for weeks while manipulating her family. This case underscores the devastating impact of elder abuse and the importance of protecting vulnerable individuals. Brittany Cole’s guilty plea today closes a tragic chapter for the Cole family. Her sentence — life with parole eligibility after sixteen years — reflects the severity of her crimes.”
No kidding.
We honestly can’t even believe this entire sequence of events. The old man’s death itself is awful enough on its own — and then this story just kept getting worse and worse. Ugh. So terrible.
Sending all our condolences to David Cole Sr., and those who loved him and miss him. Rest In Peace…
[Image via Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office]
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