In the early morning hours of April 25, 2018, Somerset County Sheriff's Corporal Eugene Cole, a 61-year-old Caucasian male, was shot and killed in Norridgewock, Maine. The tragic event unfolded after Cole had a late-night encounter with John D. Williams, then 29, on a darkened road. This chance meeting between the lawman and the man he was attempting to arrest on drug charges would end in violence, sparking a massive manhunt that gripped the state.
The initial alert to authorities that
something was amiss came not from the scene of the shooting, but from a local convenience store. Williams, after shooting Cole, stole the corporal's fully marked police cruiser and drove it to a Cumberland Farms. After robbing the store, he fled in the stolen vehicle. The cruiser was later found abandoned on Martin Stream Road, setting off an intensive search for the missing officer. The grim discovery was made later that morning when Cole's body was found on the lawn of a residence on Mercer Road. He had been shot once in the neck.
The killing of Corporal Cole triggered a massive four-day manhunt for John Williams, involving numerous local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. The extensive search put the local community on edge, with helicopters overhead and heavily armed officers combing the wooded terrain. The search came to an end on the fourth day when a team of officers located Williams outside a remote cabin. He was arrested without incident, reportedly with Corporal Cole's own handcuffs.
John Williams was subsequently charged with the murder of Eugene Cole. During his trial, the defense argued that Williams was heavily under the influence of drugs and did not intend to kill the deputy. However, the prosecution maintained that he acted intentionally to avoid going back to jail. Williams was ultimately found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. In the wake of the tragedy, the community mourned the loss of the veteran law enforcement officer, who was remembered as a respected and beloved member of the community he had served for 13 years. The town of Norridgewock later declared April 25th as Corporal Eugene Cole Day in his honor.
