Tiffany Cole

Parties and roles

• Tiffany Cole (WF), born 12/3/81, was sentenced to death for her role in the double murder of James and Carol Sumner, who were buried alive.
• The case involved three other men: Alan Wade, Bruce Nixon, and Michael Jackson (Cole's boyfriend).

Timeline

• March 6, 2008 — Tiffany Cole was sentenced to death for the murders; she received a death sentence for each murder and a life sentence for the kidnappings.
• October 20, 2007 — A Duval County jury convicted Tiffany Cole of first-degree murder for her role in the deaths of Carol and Reggie Sumner.
• March 11, 2010 — The Florida appellate decision Cole v. State, 2010 Fla. LEXIS 359 (Fla., Mar. 11, 2010) was issued, affirming the conviction and death sentences while striking the heinous, atrocious, cruel (HAC) aggravator.
• June 2011 — Cole awaited execution at Lowell Correctional Institution Annex.

Background

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. The husband and wife were later identified as James and Carol Sumner / Carol and Reggie Sumner. The couple were buried alive by Cole and her co-conspirators.

Cole was described as a neighbor of the 61-year-old couple in South Carolina and was also described as having bought a car from them when they moved to Florida in March 2005. Cole and her boyfriend went to Florida in late June 2005 to complete paperwork on the car and stayed at the Sumner home.

The offence

Prosecutors said Cole and three men developed a plan to kidnap and kill the couple to steal their money. The group dug a grave for the victims in Charlton County, Georgia two days before knocking on the victims’ door and asking to use the phone.

Planning and preparation

Tiffany Cole had met James and Carol Sumner in South Carolina prior to their move to Jacksonville, Florida, as they were friends of Cole’s father. They sold a vehicle to Cole and offered their home to her if she was ever in Jacksonville.

In June 2005, Cole and Michael James Jackson, her significant other, traveled to Jacksonville to visit Jackson’s friend Alan Wade. Cole phoned the Sumners asking to stay the night. While visiting, the couple informed Cole about the $99,000 profit they had made on the sale of their previous South Carolina home.

The plan was described as being formulated by Tiffany Cole, Michael James Jackson, Alan Wade, and Bruce Kent Nixon, Jr. In preparation, Nixon stole four shovels to dig a hole. Cole rented a Mazda RX-8. Two days before the murder, the group selected a remote location in Georgia and dug a large hole approximately four feet deep and six feet square. Jackson, Wade, and Nixon dug the hole, while Cole held the flashlight.

The group decided to kill the couple by injecting them with a lethal dose of medication after discarding the idea of going into the house when the couple left for a doctor’s appointment or were away for another reason.

Events at the victims’ home and murder sequence

On July 8, 2005, Cole and her co-defendants purchased duct tape and plastic wrap. When they arrived at the Sumner household, Cole and Jackson waited outside, knowing they would be recognized. Wade and Nixon rang the doorbell and asked Mrs. Sumner if they could use the phone. When granted entry, Wade ripped the telephone cord from the wall and Nixon used a toy gun to force the 60-year-old couple into compliance, binding them with duct tape in their bedroom.

After searching the house for bank account records, the victims were taken to the garage and forced into the trunk of their own Lincoln Town Car, which was driven by Wade and Nixon. Cole and Jackson returned to the Sumner house where Jackson gathered a bag of the couple’s belongings and put it into the Mazda. The foursome drove to the Georgia location where they had previously dug the hole.

Cole and Nixon remained at the end of the road with the Mazda while the other two defendants took the Lincoln into the woods. Evidence showed that Jackson and Wade retrieved the victims’ PIN number from the couple and retrieved their ATM card, and then buried the couple alive. The Lincoln was discarded, and the group continued in the Mazda to an ATM where money was withdrawn from the victims’ bank account. Cole and Wade returned to the victims’ home later that night after purchasing Clorox and gloves. They took the victims’ computer and jewelry and pawned the items.

Victim capture and ATM-related movements

The case investigation described that Mrs. Sumner’s daughter contacted detectives because she had been unable to reach her mother for several days. On July 12, 2005, detectives learned unusually large sums of money were being withdrawn from the victims’ bank account. Detectives then discovered that someone claiming to be Mr. Sumner, later revealed to be Michael James Jackson, had contacted them asking for assistance in accessing “his” bank account. The detective asked to speak to Mrs. Sumner and so Cole posed as Mrs. Sumner on the phone for detectives. Detectives used cellular tracking to triangulate the calls. The cell phone history revealed the Mazda rental and, using GPS, the defendants were tracked to a hotel.

In the hotel where Cole, Jackson, and Wade were staying, police found the victims’ drivers licenses, credit cards, checkbook, and mail and papers indicating the victims’ online passwords, social security numbers, and birthdates. There was also a new laptop and bags of new merchandise as well as the victims’ coin collection.

Arrest and detention

Detectives, aided by federal marshals, traced Cole, Jackson, and 20-year-old Alan Lyndell Wade to a motel in North Charleston, S.C., where they were arrested.

Trial

Charges and verdict

At Cole’s week-long trial in October 2007, the jury deliberated less than 90 minutes before finding her guilty. The jury found Tiffany Cole guilty of:

• Two counts of first-degree murder
• Two counts of kidnapping
• Two counts of robbery

In one account, the jury recommended death 9 to 3. In another account, prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty and the jury convicted after 90 minutes of deliberations.

Cole’s testimony and the prosecution’s theory

Cole testified that she thought they were only going to steal from the Sumners and that when she found out a shallow grave was dug for the couple, she was shocked. Under questioning during her testimony, Cole stated:

"Michael Jackson got the PIN codes and then he pushed them in the hole"

In response to prosecutor Jay Plotkin during cross-examination, Cole replied:

"That's right"

Prosecutors presented Cole as the connection between all four defendants and the victims, describing that she befriended the couple in South Carolina and then brought her friends to commit the crime.

Sentencing

A Circuit Judge handed down two death sentences for the murders and a sentence to life in prison for the kidnappings. Cole received death sentences for each murder on March 6, 2008.

A judge described as Circuit Judge Michael Weatherby issued the sentence. Cole’s lawyers argued she was not a major participant in the 2005 robbery, kidnapping, and murders and that she was under the control of her boyfriend Michael Jackson, who masterminded the murder plot. The judge disagreed, noting Cole held a flashlight when a grave was pre-dug near St. George, Ga., and was present when the Sumners were driven there bound and gagged in the trunk. The judge said she knew the Sumners, were friends of her parents, and introduced them to the killers, purchased duct tape and gloves, and later pawned jewelry and other items stolen from the Sumners’ home.

During a phone call to Jacksonville police while the killers were at large, Cole impersonated Carol Sumner in a failed attempt to convince detectives the Sumners were still alive. The judge was quoted as saying:

"She was thoroughly involved," Weatherby said. "She knew exactly what she was doing and participated without hesitation."

Cole briefly bowed her head, then turned and mouthed “I love you” to her weeping mother as Weatherby announced his sentence:

"I love you"

Appeals

Tiffany Cole appealed her conviction and death sentences. She claimed she believed the crime would be a simple theft and that she did not knowingly participate in the robberies, kidnappings, or murders. She also insisted that she did not know the victims were in the trunk of the Lincoln until she arrived at the gravesite.

The appeal concerned the application of the heinous, atrocious, cruel aggravator (HAC). The court described that HAC was found to be erroneously vicariously applied to Cole. The Florida appellate decision Cole v. State, 2010 Fla. LEXIS 359 (Fla., Mar. 11, 2010) stated that HAC “cannot be applied vicariously, absent a showing by the State that the defendant directed or knew how the victim would be killed.”

The appellate court found no clear competent, substantial evidence supporting that Cole directed her co-defendants to bury the victims alive or knew, for certain, that this would be the manner of death. The appellate court further held that there was no reasonable possibility that the error affected the sentence, and it described that there were six remaining aggravators after HAC was removed. The appellate court affirmed Cole’s convictions and sentences.

Co-defendants

• Michael Jackson was convicted in May of first-degree murder in this case and sentenced to death.
• Bruce Nixon pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, was sentenced to 45 years in prison in one account, and in another account was described as being sentenced to 55 years in prison. He had led police to the bodies and testified against the others.
• Alan Wade was scheduled to go on trial next week in one account and was later described as having been sentenced to death alongside Michael Jackson. Wade awaited execution.

Outcome

Cole was sentenced to death for the 2005 murders of James and Carol Sumner (also described as Carol and Reggie Sumner) who were buried alive by Cole and co-conspirators. Cole’s convictions and death sentences were affirmed on appeal, while the HAC aggravator was removed as vicariously applied.

Aftermath and current status

As of June 2011, Cole awaited execution at Lowell Correctional Institution Annex. She was described as one of four women on Florida’s death row at the time, including Margaret Allen, Ana Maria Cardona, and Emilia Carr, all sentenced to death in unrelated cases. It was also stated that Lowell Correctional Annex near Ocala had three women’s death row cells.

A family member statement described Revis Sumner, brother of Reggie Sumner, as saying Cole wrote to the family asking for forgiveness and that he had forgiven her.

A quote from Rev. Jean Clark, Reggie Sumner’s sister, was included:

"I pray for Tiffany. I pray for all of them," said the Rev. Jean Clark, Reggie Sumner's sister. "I'm grieved that these four young people have wasted their."