People v. Cole

Following a bench trial in the circuit court of Montgomery County, the defendant, John Sherman Cole, Jr., was convicted of two counts of first degree murder, two counts of home invasion, and one count of aggravated kidnapping. A jury subsequently determined that the defendant was eligible for the death penalty and that there were no mitigating circumstances sufficient to preclude imposition of that sentence. The defendant was accordingly sentenced to death for the two first degree murder convictions and to sentences of imprisonment for the other offenses. The sentence of death has been stayed…