In the winter of 2018, the quiet community of Lakewood, Pennsylvania, was shaken by the violent death of 51-year-old Suzette G. Bullis, a female resident. On the morning of December 19, 2018, Bullis was found deceased in her home on Como Road in Mount Pleasant Township. An investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police quickly determined that her death was a homicide. She had been fatally shot in the back of the head with a 9mm handgun. The scene at her home, where prescription pills were found scattered, suggested a narrative that would soon become clearer to investigators.
The ensuing investigation into Bullis's death led authorities to a 25-year-old Pleasant Mount man named Cole Francis Dufton. Investigators learned that Dufton had been at Bullis's residence just days before her murder, where he was reportedly yelling and upset about being shorted $1,500 in a drug-related transaction. It was revealed that Bullis had supplied Dufton with prescription pills in the past. Witnesses reported that a week or two prior to the shooting, a furious Dufton had been at Bullis's home, where he slammed a black handgun down and threatened to kill the person who had 'stiffed' him. Tragically, Bullis had indicated that she also had money involved in the deal.
The evidence against Dufton began to mount. He was the last person known to have seen Suzette Bullis alive. A crucial piece of evidence, a 9mm Taurus G2c semiautomatic pistol, was discovered in Dufton's bedroom. Ballistic analysis confirmed that the cartridge casing found near Bullis's body was discharged from this very weapon. Ammunition matching the casing at the murder scene was also located in Dufton's room. Despite initially denying any knowledge of the firearm, a social media post from October 2018 showed Dufton with a pistol resembling the one used in the killing. In February 2019, Cole Francis Dufton was arrested and charged with one count of criminal homicide for the execution-style murder of Suzette Bullis.
Following his arrest, Cole Dufton was held in the Wayne County Jail without bail. His first trial ended in a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a verdict. However, justice was eventually served. In March 2022, a jury found Dufton guilty of the murder of Suzette Bullis, a verdict they reached in under 20 minutes. Subsequently, he was sentenced to life in prison for her shooting death. The prosecution successfully argued that Dufton's motive was his anger over being shorted $1,500 in the drug dealings he had with Bullis, a dispute that ultimately cost the 51-year-old woman her life.
