Commonwealth v. Cole

After the lunch break at the American Bosch Company’s plant on October 10, 1977, William Cole fatally shot Thomas Coppola. Cole then chased Joaquim Goncalves, shot Goncalves twice, and when Cole’s rifle misfired on the third shot aimed at Goncalves, Cole struck Goncalves on the head with the butt of the rifle. Coppola was Cole’s general supervisor; Goncalves was Cole’s foreman. At trial the sole issue was Cole’s criminal responsibility. After fifteen hours of deliberation, a jury found Cole criminally responsible by convicting him of three criminal charges: murder in the first degree, armed…