| Tiffany Ann Cole | |
|---|---|
Florida Department of Corrections photo |
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| Born | December 3, 1981 Florida, United States |
| Conviction(s) | Kidnapping, first-degree murder, robbery |
| Penalty | Death by lethal injection |
| Status | Incarcerated on death row at Lowell Correctional Institution Annex |
Tiffany Ann Cole (born December 3, 1981) was found guilty of the kidnapping and first-degree murder of a Duval County, Florida husband and wife and sentenced to death. Also found guilty in the case were three men: Alan Wade, Bruce Nixon, and Cole's boyfriend Michael Jackson. Prosecutors said Cole and the three men developed a plan to kidnap and kill the couple to steal their money, and dug a grave for them in Charlton County, Georgia two days before knocking on their door and asking to use the phone.[1]
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Cole was a familiar face to Carol and Reggie Sumner, having been a neighbor of the 61-year-old couple when they lived in South Carolina. Also, Cole had bought a car from them at the time the Sumners moved to Florida in March 2005. Cole and her boyfriend went to Florida in late June, 2005 to complete the paperwork on the car and stayed at the Sumner home.[2] Shortly after that visit, in early July 2005, Cole and three men appeared at the Sumners home and asked to use the phone. Reggie Sumner was choked and forced to give the intruders his ATM card and its access number.[3] He and his wife were bound and gagged with duct tape, put into the trunk of their car and driven across the border to Georgia, where, blindfolded and bound,[4] they were pushed into the grave and buried alive.[5][6]
Cole subsequently pawned jewelry and other items stolen from the Sumners' home,[7] and the ATM card was used to obtain more than $1000 in cash. Three of the group were tracked back to a hotel in South Carolina by the use of the ATM card and arrested there.[8] Juries were later shown photos of Cole and two co-defendants in a limousine, celebrating with champagne and handfuls of cash.[2]
At Cole's week-long trial in October 2007, the jury deliberated less than 90 minutes before finding her guilty of first-degree murder. They voted 9 to 3 that she should receive the death penalty.[5] Five months later, a judge handed down two death sentences for the murders, and a sentence to life in prison for the kidnappings.[2] As of June 2011, she awaits execution at Lowell Correctional Institution Annex.[9]
Cole is one of four women currently on Florida's death row, the others being Margaret Allen, Ana Maria Cardona, and Emilia Carr, all sentenced to death in unrelated cases.[2][10]
Wade and Jackson also received two death sentences and await execution. Nixon, who had led police to the bodies and testified against the others, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 45 years in prison.[4]