Carroll Edward Cole

Serial Killer

Carroll Edward Cole: A Trail of Strangulation Murders Across the American West

Carroll Edward "Eddie" Cole was an American serial killer whose crimes stretched across several states and whose own confessions made the true extent of his violence difficult to determine. Born on May 9, 1938, in Sioux City, Iowa, Cole was convicted of five murders in Texas and Nevada, admitted numerous additional killings, and at different times claimed responsibility for far more deaths than investigators could independently establish. His documented adult killing period ran from 1971 through 1980, although he also admitted killing a childhood playmate decades earlier. Cole's primary method of murder was strangulation. Many of the women he targeted were people he encountered while drinking in bars, and several victims had consumed enough alcohol that their deaths were initially mistaken for alcohol-related or natural deaths. This contributed to Cole escaping detection even after authorities had direct contact with him. By the time his crimes were finally connected, women had been killed in California, Nevada and Texas, while other confessed killings were associated with Wyoming and Oklahoma.

Childhood and Early Violence

Cole was raised largely in Richmond, California. In later interviews and writings, he described a childhood dominated by resentment toward his mother, Vesta Cole. He claimed that while his father was away during World War II, his mother had affairs with other men, sometimes taking young Cole with her and threatening him if he revealed what she was doing. He also described physical and emotional abuse inside the home. Cole later claimed that these experiences developed into an intense hatred that he eventually redirected toward women he considered unfaithful. His explanation never excused his crimes, but it became central to the story he gave psychiatrists, detectives and juries about his motivation. According to Cole, women he met in bars sometimes triggered his anger when he concluded that they were married or involved with another man. Violence appeared very early in his life. In 1947, when Cole was approximately eight years old, his classmate Duane Eugene Owen drowned near Richmond, California. Authorities considered the death accidental. Nearly four decades later, while Cole was imprisoned, he admitted that he had deliberately drowned the boy. Because the original death was treated as an accident and Cole's admission came many years later, the case never resulted in a murder prosecution. As a young adult, Cole accumulated arrests and psychiatric commitments. In 1960 he contacted authorities after experiencing fantasies about strangling women. He spent periods in mental institutions and was diagnosed with serious personality problems, but he was repeatedly released. During the 1960s he was also convicted of violent offenses, including an attack in Missouri in which he attempted to strangle a young girl. Despite the warning signs, he remained free for significant periods, and by the early 1970s his violent fantasies had developed into serial murder.

The Beginning of the Adult Murders

The first widely documented adult killing attributed to Cole occurred in San Diego, California, in May 1971. Cole met Essie Louise Buck in a tavern and later admitted strangling her in his automobile. He concealed and transported her body before disposing of it. The killing established a pattern that would appear repeatedly over the following decade: drinking, a meeting in or around a bar, isolation of the victim, strangulation and an attempt to leave or conceal the body. Cole later described additional killings in the San Diego area during the weeks following Buck's death. One woman was known to him only as "Wilma," while another was never identified. Their remains were never conclusively recovered or connected to him. These cases therefore depend primarily upon Cole's own account and cannot be treated with the same certainty as the murders for which he was convicted. ...

Confirmed Victims: (6)

Wanda Faye Roberts , Date of Death: 1980-11-12

Suspected Victims:

Duane Eugene Owen Age: (8), Date of Death: 1947

Essie Louise Buck Age: (39), Date of Death: 1971-05-07

Wilma , Date of Death: 1971-05

Unidentified woman , Date of Death: 1971-05

Myrlene Hamer Age: (43), Date of Death: 1975-08-07

Unidentified Oklahoma City woman , Date of Death: 1977-11

Bonnie ONeil Age: (39), Date of Death: 1979-08-27

Diana Faye Younglove Pashal Age: (35), Date of Death: 1979-09

Carroll Cole - Wikipedia