Man killed mother, kept body in motel for weeks

[Scorpion]

New York man killed mother, kept body in motel for weeks: Police

Reuters
First posted: Sunday, October 25, 2015 03:26 PM EDT

New York authorities have arrested a man accused of strangling his mother and keeping her body in a motel room for seven weeks before driving to South Carolina and dumping her remains in an isolated area, police said on Sunday.

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 130 km north of Manhattan, a New York State Police statement said.

"This (is) a particularly disturbing and unusual case," Captain John Ryan said in the statement.

Police arrested Charles Cole at a homeless shelter in Poughkeepsie, New York, on Friday. He was charged with murder in the second degree.

After living with Betty Cole's body for weeks, police say Cole and his wife, 40-year-old Ronalda Cole, traveled more than 1,287 km to South Carolina and dumped her remains in a secluded wooded area in Lodge, off Interstate 95 about 113 km west of Charleston.

Ronalda Cole was arrested on Oct. 18 and charged with tampering with physical evidence. She was arraigned in Pleasant Valley, New York, and is being held at the Dutchess County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Charles Cole was arraigned in Pleasant Valley and remanded to the Dutchess County Jail without bail, police said.

It was not immediately clear if either had attorneys.