Cold Case Suspect in Wife's Stabbing Death Dies Before Murder Trial

PASADENA, CA -- A 76-year-old man who had been awaiting trial for his wife's 2001 stabbing death in Arcadia has died, prompting the dismissal Tuesday of the murder case against him.

Richard Keith Cole -- who had been free on bond -- was charged just over four years ago with the Sept. 1, 2001, killing of his 50-year-old wife, Charlotte.

Cole was declared a "person of interest" after his wife was found dead of multiple stab wounds behind a restaurant in the 50 block of Las Tunas Drive on Sept. 1, 2001, Lt. Wes Sutton of the sheriff's Homicide Bureau said shortly after Cole's arrest. But detectives lacked enough evidence to arrest him, and the case went cold for about a decade, Sutton said.

Sheriff's cold case detectives, working with Arcadia police detectives, revisited the case in 2011. They served a search warrant at Cole's residence in Arcadia and arrested him on April 28 of that year, though he was soon released pending further investigation.

Additional evidence was gathered, resulting in the issuance of a murder warrant for Cole, who was taken into custody again in November 2012.

"By law we cannot proceed with a case once a defendant is dead. Despite that, I am incredibly disappointed that he will not face a jury, where I am confident he would have been held accountable for this heinous murder," Deputy District Attorney John Lewin said.

Cole's attorney, Anthony Robusto, called the evidence in the case "thin" and said he believed there was a "good probability that he would have been acquitted."

Cole was found dead last week inside a residence, according to the coroner's office. A determination on what caused his death has been deferred pending further investigation.

City News Service