Charles Cole allegedly strangled his 76-year-old mother, Betty Cole, and then kept her body in his motel room for seven weeks.
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Charles Cole, 48, is accused of killing Betty Cole, 76, in August at a motel where he stayed along with his wife in Pleasant Valley, a town about 80 miles (130 km) north of Manhattan, a New York State Police statement said.
Charles and Ronalda then kept the body in their motel room for the next 7 weeks until travelling to South Carolina where the remains were dumped in a wooded area. He was being held in Dutchess County Jail without bail.
State Police worked jointly with the Dutchess District Attorney’s Office and were assisted by the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina.
Ronalda Cole was arrested on October 18 and charged with Tampering with Physical Evidence for assisting her husband with transporting and disposing of Betty Cole’s body.
Even for New York State Police Captain John J. Ryan of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the case is “disturbing” and odd.
Police came to check on the mom on October 6 after family members said they couldn’t make contact with her. New York State Police say that Charles strangled her to death over two months ago. There, he left the remains in a secluded area off of Interstate 95 in the town of Lodge, which is about halfway between Augusta and Charleston. Ronalda Cole was arrested the next day.
A man who answered the phone at the motel Saturday denied there was a body there for seven weeks, saying guests would have complained about the smell.
A few hours after the welfare check, motel employees say that the couple moved out, taking one dog with them and leaving the other.
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