PHOENIX (TCN) — A 48-year-old man will spend more than three decades behind bars after a missing man’s dismembered remains were found in his car nearly two years ago.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced Nov. 4 that John Cole pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder, one count of aggravated assault, and one count of abandonment or concealment of a dead body in connection with the death of Antoine Smith. Cole will serve 31 years in prison.
Smith reportedly disappeared and was reported missing in 2022. Smith allegedly sent concerning text messages to his friends, claiming Cole had kidnapped him and shared his location. According to KTVK/KPHO-TV, Cole abducted Smith to collect a debt owed by one of his roommates.
Smith’s other roommate reportedly told Phoenix Police Cole called him and told him he planned to kill Smith if he didn’t get the money. Police tracked Smith’s phone from Phoenix to Tucson, where authorities searched Cole’s home and found “suspicious items, including cleaning supplies and a bloodstained shovel.”