Tiffany Cole
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Tiffany Ann Cole (born December 3, 1981) is an American convicted murderer who was found guilty of the
kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...
and
first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...
of a
Duval County, Florida Duval County is in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 995,567, up from 864,263 in 2010. Its county seat is Jacksonville, Florida, with which the Duval County government has been conso ...
husband and wife and
sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
. 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 Charlton County is the southernmost county of the U.S. state of Georgia, located in the southeastern part of the state. As of the 2010 census, the population was 12,171. The county seat is Folkston. History Georgia, by an act of the Georgia ...
, two days before knocking on their door and asking to use the phone. As of February 2015, Cole is the third youngest woman on death row in the United States; she was 26 at the time of her conviction.


Crime

Tiffany Cole was a familiar face to Carol and Reggie Sumner since her family had been neighbors to the 61-year-old couple in South Carolina. When the Sumners moved to Jacksonville, Florida, in March 2005, they sold a car to Cole. Cole agreed to make monthly payments and often drove to Jacksonville with friends. In June 2005, Cole and her new boyfriend, Michael James Jackson, drove to Jacksonville to complete the paperwork on the car. While there, they stayed at the Sumner home. While staying with the couple, Jackson began hatching a plan to rob the couple and steal money from their bank accounts. In early July 2005, Tiffany Cole, Michael Jackson, and two other men, Alan Wade and Bruce Nixon, drove to the Sumners' home. Wade and Nixon went to the door and asked to use the phone. Wade carried duct tape, while Nixon carried a lifelike toy gun. Once they were let in, Nixon produced the lifelike gun and the Sumners were bound, gagged, and blindfolded with the duct tape. Wade and Nixon proceeded to search for personal financial documents in the residence, before calling Jackson for assistance in finding ATM information. He was unable to locate the PIN numbers. The Sumner's were taken outside where Wade and Nixon locked them into the trunk of their
Lincoln Town Car The Lincoln Town Car is a model line of full-size luxury sedans that was marketed by the Lincoln division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. Deriving its name from a limousine body style, Lincoln marketed the Town Car from 1981 to ...
, still bound and gagged. In addition to the keys of the Sumner's town car, the group took items including Reggie‘s coin collection, mail, and bank records. Wade drove the Lincoln with the Sumners in the trunk with Nixon as a passenger. Cole and Jackson were in the Mazda, which Cole drove. The two cars then drove across the border to a remote part of Georgia to the pre-dug grave. As none of them had anticipated the Lincoln might need fuel, Wade had to stop for gas at a station en route. They did however anticipate the possibility of law enforcement appearing and had planned for the Mazda to get deliberately pulled over for speeding if the police got too close to the Lincoln. Once in Georgia, Wade and Nixon drove the Lincoln into the woods. Cole remained at the roadway with the Mazda. The Lincoln was then backed up to the grave. There was an apparant momentary disquiet as to who was going to do what, but when the Lincoln‘s trunk was opened, it was discovered that the duct tape binding the Sumners had loosened and that they were moderately mobile. They were hugging each other. Jackson instructed Nixon to bind them again and to replace the duct tape, which Nixon did. Nixon then went to the roadside to be with Cole. Wade and Jackson remained at the gravesite with the Sumners. Though there is no direct evidence of exactly what happened, the Sumners were placed together into the grave, still alive, and the grave was filled in. Wade and Jackson then drove the Lincoln away. By that point, Jackson had a yellow pad containing the PIN numbers to the Sumner‘s bank accounts. According to the Medical Examiner, the already frail Sumners were buried alive. They suffered a slow and torturous death from the weight of the soil being built up around them and inhaled into their lungs until they lost consciousness and died. Cole subsequently pawned
jewelry Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western ...
and other items stolen from the Sumners' home, 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. After being arrested Nixon willingly led police to the Sumners' grave.


Conviction

At Cole's week-long trial in October 2007, the jury deliberated for less than 90 minutes before finding her guilty of
first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...
. They voted 9-3 that she should receive the death penalty. Evidence included photos of Cole and two co-defendants in a limousine, celebrating with champagne and hands full of cash. Five months later, a judge handed down two death sentences for the
murders Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...
, and a sentence of life in
prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
for the
kidnappings In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/ asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the ...
. She awaits execution at Lowell Correctional Institution Annex. Cole is one of three women currently on Florida's
death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...
, the others being Margaret Allen and Tina Brown, each sentenced to death in unrelated murders. Wade and Jackson also received death sentences. 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. In 2017, the
Florida Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Florida is the highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven members: the chief justice and six justices. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geographic diversity, and one ...
ordered new sentencing hearings for Cole, Wade, and Jackson, because their juries had not unanimously recommended the death penalty. A 2016 U.S Supreme Court ruling, ''
Hurst v. Florida ''Hurst v. Florida'', 577 U.S. 92 (2016), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court, in an 8–1 ruling, applied the rule of ''Ring v. Arizona''. to the Florida capital sentencing scheme, holding that the Sixth Amendment requires ...
'', found that Florida's prior law permitting non-unanimous jury verdicts in death penalty cases violated the Sixth Amendment, prompting Florida to resentence more than 150 convicted felons. In June 2022, Wade was resentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. In August 2023, Jackson was resentenced to death.https://fladeathpenalty.substack.com/p/michael-j-jackson-resentenced-to


Documentaries

Due to the brutality and notoriety of the case and the fact that one of the perpetrators was a young woman later sentenced to death, the case has been the subject of several TV documentaries. Including the second season, third episode of Your Worst Nightmare, and an hour-long interview of Tiffany Cole and Emilia Carr with Diane Sawyer for 20/20 in 2015 and Wicked Attraction, "Good Deeds Punished" in 2010, and an episode of MrBallens YouTube channel/podcast where he dives thoroughly into the case and the killers.


See also

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Capital punishment in Florida Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Florida. Since 1976, the state has executed 99 convicted murderers, all at Florida State Prison. As of July 8, 2021, 327 offenders are awaiting execution. History Florida performed ...
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List of death row inmates in the United States , there were 2,414 death row inmates in the United States. The number of death row inmates changes frequently with new convictions, appellate decisions overturning conviction or sentence alone, commutations, or deaths (through execution or otherw ...
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List of women executed in the United States since 1976 Since 1976, when the Supreme Court of the United States lifted the moratorium on capital punishment in ''Gregg v. Georgia'', 18 women have been executed in the United States. Women represent less than 1.15 percent of the 1,561 executions performed ...
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List of women on death row in the United States This is a list of women on death row in the United States. The number of death row inmates fluctuates daily with new convictions, appellate decisions overturning conviction or sentence alone, commutations, or deaths (through execution or otherwis ...


References


External links


Florida Supreme Court affirmation of Alan Wade's death sentences
May 6, 2010
Inmate Population Information Detail - Tiffany Cole
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Tiffany Ann 1981 births 2005 murders in the United States American female criminals American female murderers American people convicted of kidnapping American people convicted of murder American people convicted of robbery American prisoners sentenced to death Criminals from South Carolina Living people People convicted of murder by Florida Prisoners sentenced to death by Florida Women sentenced to death