Another tale of death and dismemberment comes to us from out west as an Arizona man was arrested for kidnapping a man in Tucson and killing him. During the weekend of September 16, 2022 John Cole (45) went out to collect on a debt with 28-year-old Antoine Smith.
According to Cole’s recollection, the two of them drove to a rest stop in Pima County where Smith attacked him. He claims he was able to overpower the young man and strangled him to death.
Death and Dismemberment in Arizona as Murderer Strangles Victim as Part of Unsettled Debt
John Cole then took the body to his Tucson home and left to pick up supplies to dismember Smith’s body and clean up afterwards. He would dismember the body outside of Tucson and prepare to leave for California.
Perhaps knowing the nature of Cole and Smith’s relationship, Smith’s family reportedly contacted John Cole about the young man’s safety. The Arizona Department of Safety arrested Cole as he was heading to California on September 20. Inside of the car, authorities found the head and hands of Antoine Smith.
The convicted drug trafficker would reveal the location of the rest of Smith’s body but declined to submit a DNA sample. As you would expect, Cole was thrown into Maricopa County Jail for homicide, kidnapping, and theft.
These are the more severe offenses as he was also looking at charges from another possibly unrelated situation earlier in 2022. Those charges include aggravated assault and aggravated harassment.
As mentioned above, John Cole previously did over 15 years federal time in 2003 for trafficking coke. He is currently being held on $3 million bond.
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