James Bryant Hudson

Case record: James Bryant Hudson

Background

James Bryant Hudson was 57 at the time of execution and was pronounced dead at 9:07 p.m. at the Greensville Correctional Center. He was sentenced to death in Virginia for the shotgun slayings of three people in Halifax County.

Hudson and the Cole family had a long-running dispute. The dispute involved a driveway connected to Hudson’s home and the home of Linda and Walter Stanley Cole on State Route 658, known as Virgie Cole Road. The dispute began after Hudson’s father sold a parcel of land to the Coles containing the road to the Coles. Hudson maintained the right to use a road that ran through the Coles’ property to get to his home, and he frequently complained that the Coles were not taking care of it.

Hudson was a distant relative of the Cole brothers and was described as having a strained relationship with them.

Linda Cole, wife of Stanley Cole, described the effect of the shootings on her family life and said Hudson had taken “the guide through life for my children and the teacher from my grandchildren.”

People

• James Bryant Hudson — defendant, sentenced to death and executed.
• Walter Stanley Cole (56) — victim; brother of Thomas Wesley Cole.
• Thomas Wesley Cole (64) — victim; brother of Walter Stanley Cole.
• Patsy Ayers Cole (64) — victim; wife of Thomas Wesley Cole.
• Linda Cole — wife of Walter Stanley Cole.
• Larry Traylor — spokesman for the Virginia Department of Corrections.
• Warden George Hinkle — spoke with Hudson about last words.
• Gov. Mark R. Warner — governor of Virginia.
• Buddy Ward — Hudson’s attorney/public defender referenced in sentencing-related coverage; appointed to continue serving as Hudson’s attorney through appeal.
• John Greenbacker / John E. Greenbacker Jr. — prosecuted the case as former Halifax Commonwealth’s Attorney / Commonwealth’s Attorney.
• Leslie M. Osborn — Halifax County circuit judge at sentencing.
• Elizabeth B. Lacy — justice referenced in the Virginia Supreme Court decision.
• Kenneth Hudson — Hudson’s brother; testified at sentencing.
• Mr. Greenbacker / Mr. Greenbacker said — referenced prosecution testimony in multiple accounts.
• Execution Technicians — administered injections during the execution.
• Warden Gene M. Johnson — asked Hudson whether he had any last words.
• David Bass — regional manager for the Department of Corrections.
• Warden George Hinkle — asked Hudson about a last statement.

The offence

On July 3, 2002, Stanley Cole and his brother Thomas Wesley Cole encountered Hudson’s vehicle stopped in the middle of the driveway facing them. Thomas Wesley Cole was driving a truck, and Stanley was also in the vehicle.

Hudson and Thomas Wesley Cole exchanged words. After Thomas Wesley Cole began driving away, Hudson took a 12-gauge shotgun from his vehicle and fired through the front windshield of the Cole truck.

Hudson then drove to Thomas Cole’s house next door and found Patsy Ayers Cole working in the garden. Patsy Cole asked Hudson, “What are you doing?” Hudson shot her and drove away.

Witness accounts described Hudson then shooting Walter Cole in the head while Walter Cole was sitting in the front seat of the truck.

Thomas Wesley Cole attempted to flee but tripped and fell in a ditch, and Hudson shot him in the back of the head.

After the shootings, Hudson returned to his home, parked the truck, got more ammunition, and left in another truck. He telephoned his sister-in-law and said that “he had done some shooting.”

Victims and injuries

• Patsy Ayers Cole died from a hemorrhage caused by a shot that penetrated the vital organs of her chest and abdomen.
• Walter Stanley Cole sustained multiple pellet wounds to his head and neck and a fatal shotgun wound behind the left ear measuring approximately two and one half inches wide.
• Thomas Wesley Cole suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head after being shot in the back of the head following an attempt to flee.

Investigation

A farm worker and other witnesses testified about what occurred during the encounter and shootings.

A neighbor saw Hudson drive around the front of the Coles’ home and stop in the driveway beside the garden where Patsy Ayers Cole was working. The neighbor also saw Hudson take a shotgun from the back of his truck and raise the gun, and later observed Hudson shoot Patsy Cole and drive away.

Police officers arrived in response to a call from the Coles’ neighbor. Officers found Patsy Cole’s body and subsequently discovered the bodies of Stanley and Wesley Cole.

The Halifax County Sheriff’s office obtained warrants for Hudson’s arrest that afternoon and apprehended Hudson the next day without incident.

At the time of arrest, Hudson had a 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun and a pistol in his truck. Subsequent analysis determined that Hudson used that shotgun and “Number 00 Buck” pellets to kill the Coles.

Arrest and detention

Hudson was apprehended the next day after warrants were obtained.

Timeline

• July 3, 2002 — Walter Stanley Cole and Thomas Wesley Cole encountered Hudson’s stopped vehicle on the driveway; Hudson used a 12-gauge shotgun to shoot the Cole victims, and Hudson later shot Patsy Ayers Cole in her garden; the shootings occurred in Halifax County.
• September 2002 — a grand jury indicted Hudson for capital murder of Stanley Cole and Wesley Cole; capital murder of Wesley Cole and Patsy Cole; and capital murder of Stanley Cole and Patsy Cole in violation of Code § 18.2-31(7); Hudson was also indicted for first-degree murders of Stanley Cole, Wesley Cole, and Patsy Cole, and six counts of unlawfully and feloniously using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
• Early February (year not specified) — Hudson pleaded guilty to capital murder in the deaths of brothers Walter Stanley Cole and Thomas Wesley Cole, and to the first-degree murder of Patsy Ayers Cole.
• May 12, 2003 — Hudson signed a waiver of his right to appeal his death sentence, and the trial court conducted an evidentiary hearing regarding the propriety of the waiver.
• May 19, 2003 — the trial court entered an order finding Hudson knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently waived his right to appeal.
• April 17, 2003 — Judge Leslie M. Osborn sentenced Hudson to death for the capital murders characterized as “cold-blooded, pitiless (and) senseless.”
• January 16, 2004 — the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed Hudson’s death sentence.
• August 18, 2004 — Hudson was executed by lethal injection in Virginia.

Trial

Hudson entered guilty pleas pursuant to a plea agreement. He pleaded guilty to:

• the capital murder of Stanley Cole and Wesley Cole,
• the first-degree murder of Patsy Cole,
• and two counts of unlawfully and feloniously using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

The Commonwealth agreed to decline to prosecute the remaining charges, including the remaining capital murder charges and other counts described in the indictments.

The trial court accepted the guilty pleas after determining they were freely, intelligently, and voluntarily made.

At the sentencing hearing, the Commonwealth sought the death penalty. The Commonwealth presented:

• the pre-sentencing report,
• victim impact statements,
• the testimony of Hudson’s brother,
• and testimony of various persons affected by the loss of the Coles.

Hudson refused to present mitigating evidence and instructed his attorney not to do so.

The trial court found the evidence supported both vileness and future dangerousness. The trial court imposed the penalty of death after findings that Hudson had a history of “significant criminal activity,” showed no evidence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance, lack of mental capacity, or history of mental retardation, and had engaged in deliberate, execution-style murders described as “cold-blooded, pitiless, [and] senseless slayings.” The trial court also commented that Hudson showed no remorse, justification, or motive for killing innocent people.

Sentencing

Hudson was sentenced to:

• death for the capital murders of Walter Stanley Cole and Thomas Wesley Cole,
• life in prison for the first-degree murder of Patsy Cole in coverage describing sentencing outcomes beyond the death sentence,
• and five years on each of two firearm charges in the same coverage.

A quote attributed to Judge Leslie Osborn included:

“The killings were cold-blooded, pitiless, senseless slayings.”

In coverage describing sentencing details, Judge Osborn also set an execution date of October 28, 2003, and ordered Hudson to be sent to Greensville Correctional Center to await execution. The judge appointed Ward to continue serving as Hudson’s attorney throughout any appeal.

In the sentencing process, Hudson’s brother Kenneth Hudson testified about instances including an allegation that in 1991 Hudson had acted violently toward Kenneth Hudson and their father, pulling a knife on them. Another alleged incident involved Hudson attacking Linda Cole in 1992 while she tried to move a mobile home purchased from Hudson’s father, striking her in the chest so forcefully that she suffered a spinal injury requiring two years of medical and chiropractic treatment.

Judge Leslie M. Osborn also told Hudson:

“You stood mute before this court when asked if you had any statement to make,”

Appeals

Hudson signed a waiver of his right to appeal on May 12, 2003. On May 19, 2003, the trial court entered an order finding the waiver was knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently made.

Virginia law required review of the death sentence under Code § 17.1-313. The Virginia Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court. The decision referenced Hudson v. Commonwealth, 590 S.E.2d 362 (Va. 2004) (Direct Appeal), and stated “Affirmed.”

Gov. Mark R. Warner stated he would not intervene and that there were no legal challenges pending, expecting the court-ordered sentence to be carried out.

Outcome

Hudson was executed by lethal injection in Virginia on August 18, 2004.

Prosecutors and trial proceedings were described as ending with Hudson’s refusal to present mitigating evidence and refusal to allow witnesses.

Aftermath

In statements about the execution, Gov. Mark R. Warner was quoted as saying:

“I have not been asked by Mr. Hudson to intervene and there are no legal challenges to this scheduled execution. Accordingly, I expect the court-ordered sentence to be carried out.”

Hudson’s last words were:

“No sir.”

Hudson also told Warden George Hinkle:

Execution details included that he was pronounced dead at 9:07 p.m. after receiving lethal injection at the Greensville Correctional Center, with the execution carried out with multiple injections administered manually behind a second blue curtain.

Linda Cole issued a statement on Wednesday’s execution of James Bryant Hudson to The Gazette-Virginian. Her statement was:

“On July 3, 2002, James Bryant Hudson murdered my husband Stanley, my brother-in-law Wesley, and my sister-in-law Patsy Cole. On that day, our lives changed forever. On that day, the man I had spent 30 years with was gone. He was the love of my life, my friend, my partner, my advisor. We talked about each day at dinner and when I enter my house now, it is silent and empty. Bryant (Hudson) also took the guide through life for my children and the teacher from my grandchildren. Wesley and Patsy were wonderful people. We were a close family and were really enjoying each other since they had built a new home and moved next door to Stanley and me. They had worked hard all their lives, retired, and were enjoying their new home and their retirement when their life was ended. Patsy and Wesley played a big part in their children's and grandchildren's lives. Their lives will always have a gap that cannot be filled by anyone else. "I have always believed in capital punishment. I never thought that my family and I would be in the situation to witness it first-hand, but how much can one man be allowed to do to one family without paying the ultimate price, his life? I regret that he has only one life to give for the three he took.””

Hudson’s final meal was reported as a cheeseburger, french fries with ketchup, a tossed salad and saltines.

Members of the victims’ families witnessed the execution, but names were not identified in coverage due to department policy.

A half-dozen protesters held a vigil in a field just outside the prison grounds.