As the last of four people convicted in the kidnapping and murder of Carol and Reggie Sumner, Tiffany Cole is currently the only woman on Florida's Death Row.
Like her co-defendants, Michael Jackson and Alan Wade, she was handed down two death sentences for the double murder. The fourth accomplice, Bruce Nixon, testified for the state against the others, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and got a 45-year prison sentence.
During her trial, prosecutors said Cole had been a familiar face to the Sumners. She was a neighbor when the couple lived in South Carolina. Prosecutors called her the linchpin in the murderous scheme because they said she befriended the Sumners and then set them up.
In South Carolina, Cole's father lived four or five houses from the Sumners. Carol Sumner would go to Cole's father's house to help him because he was suffering from cancer. She had no way of knowing that the girl she met at that home would eventually lead her and her husband into a deadly trap.
Cole's father helped her buy a car from the Sumners just as the couple was moving to Jacksonville. That was about the same time that Cole became involved with Michael Jackson.
Jackson traveled to Jacksonville with Cole in the summer of 2005, when she completed paperwork on the car. That's when police believe the plan to rob and kill the Sumners was hatched.
In an interview with Channel 4, Jackson said he and Cole stayed at the Sumners' home in St. Nicholas in the summer of 2005. He said the older couple was nice and welcomed them into their home, but said things got "pretty much nuts after that."
Just weeks after Cole and Jackson stayed at the couple's home, the Sumners were found buried in a shallow grave in Georgia.
During Cole's trial, jurors were shown pictures of the woman along with two her co-defendants celebrating in a limousine with handfuls of cash and a glass of champagne. The jurors also heard an incriminating audio recording of a call Cole and Jackson made to Jacksonville officers claiming to be Carol and Reggie Sumner.
Two of the jurors with whom Channel 4 spoke said what they saw and heard during Cole's trial would in some ways haunt them for the rest of their lives.
"It was really scary. That's all I could think about was why was I picked?" said Jessica Reynolds
She and Mathew Ray were among the 12 people who decided Cole's fate. After only a few hours of deliberations, the jury found her guilty of murdering the Sumners.
"She brought it on herself. I mean, she didn't have to go with these people. She wasn't held against her will," Reynolds said.
"Everybody thought she was guilty beyond the shadow of a doubt," Ray said.
Five months after the jury convicted Cole of double murder and voted 9-to-3 that she should receive the death penalty, a judge sentenced her to death for the murders and life in prison on the kidnapping charge.
Although Cole is currently the only woman sentenced to death in Florida, she is not alone on Death Row. Also there, but no longer facing execution, is Virginia Larzelere, a convicted and sentenced to death in 1993 for the murder of her husband. In 2005, a Volusia County judge overturned the sentence and ordered a new penalty phase.
The last woman put to death in Florida was Aileen Wuornos. As one of the country's few female serial killers, she murdered seven men in Central Florida starting in late 1989 and continuing through 1990. She was executed in 2002.
Like her co-defendants, Michael Jackson and Alan Wade, she was handed down two death sentences for the double murder. The fourth accomplice, Bruce Nixon, testified for the state against the others, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and got a 45-year prison sentence.
During her trial, prosecutors said Cole had been a familiar face to the Sumners. She was a neighbor when the couple lived in South Carolina. Prosecutors called her the linchpin in the murderous scheme because they said she befriended the Sumners and then set them up.
In South Carolina, Cole's father lived four or five houses from the Sumners. Carol Sumner would go to Cole's father's house to help him because he was suffering from cancer. She had no way of knowing that the girl she met at that home would eventually lead her and her husband into a deadly trap.
Cole's father helped her buy a car from the Sumners just as the couple was moving to Jacksonville. That was about the same time that Cole became involved with Michael Jackson.
Jackson traveled to Jacksonville with Cole in the summer of 2005, when she completed paperwork on the car. That's when police believe the plan to rob and kill the Sumners was hatched.
In an interview with Channel 4, Jackson said he and Cole stayed at the Sumners' home in St. Nicholas in the summer of 2005. He said the older couple was nice and welcomed them into their home, but said things got "pretty much nuts after that."
Just weeks after Cole and Jackson stayed at the couple's home, the Sumners were found buried in a shallow grave in Georgia.
During Cole's trial, jurors were shown pictures of the woman along with two her co-defendants celebrating in a limousine with handfuls of cash and a glass of champagne. The jurors also heard an incriminating audio recording of a call Cole and Jackson made to Jacksonville officers claiming to be Carol and Reggie Sumner.
Two of the jurors with whom Channel 4 spoke said what they saw and heard during Cole's trial would in some ways haunt them for the rest of their lives.
"It was really scary. That's all I could think about was why was I picked?" said Jessica Reynolds
She and Mathew Ray were among the 12 people who decided Cole's fate. After only a few hours of deliberations, the jury found her guilty of murdering the Sumners.
"She brought it on herself. I mean, she didn't have to go with these people. She wasn't held against her will," Reynolds said.
"Everybody thought she was guilty beyond the shadow of a doubt," Ray said.
Five months after the jury convicted Cole of double murder and voted 9-to-3 that she should receive the death penalty, a judge sentenced her to death for the murders and life in prison on the kidnapping charge.
Although Cole is currently the only woman sentenced to death in Florida, she is not alone on Death Row. Also there, but no longer facing execution, is Virginia Larzelere, a convicted and sentenced to death in 1993 for the murder of her husband. In 2005, a Volusia County judge overturned the sentence and ordered a new penalty phase.
The last woman put to death in Florida was Aileen Wuornos. As one of the country's few female serial killers, she murdered seven men in Central Florida starting in late 1989 and continuing through 1990. She was executed in 2002.
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17 comments:
My brother was sadden by what Tiffany did to his friends. He loved the Sumners.
Tiffany Coles deserves what she got.My prayer goes out to the victims family.When i saw what happened i cried it was very sad,and i really hate that happened.
Tiffany will be exonerated. ........Michael Jackson has assumed ALL responsibility for this unfortunate tragedy and has also found peace with our Lord Almighty ...just as my niece has. Tiffany, Michael and all involved deserve our prayers....I applaud Tiffany and Michael Jacksons testimony. God will shine His face on them both.
Cathie,
What a ridiculous thing to say. These two did a heinous thing. Buried two people alive. They were holding hands when they were found.
Are you serious? Applaud the police that try to protect you from these monsters. God won't help them.
I was just watching this for the first time on a show called "Your Worst Nightmare" My heart goes out to the Sumners. They did not deserve what happened them. Tiffany was one cold hearted and greedy woman and they trusted her. So sad. The killers are where they belong!
This hurts so much to know someone good hearted when through this suffering horrid way of dying, id rather be shot in the head, i hope these evil kids go through the same horrid as they die...... god please protect me from evil human demons like the demons that ended the summers life...
R u kidding me???? U need to get a life.... the buried those people alive... they both deserve to be buried alive... an eye for an eye
R u kidding me???? U need to get a life.... the buried those people alive... they both deserve to be buried alive... an eye for an eye
She is detached from reality , she is sociopath , self-centred who stops at nothing to get what she wants. She masterminded this horrific crime by putting the idea in her boyfriend's head. By pretending she is innocent is another lie , she has committed a sin of epic proportion , Her farcical behaviour is an affront to human decency.
She is detached from reality , she is sociopath , self-centred who stops at nothing to get what she wants. She masterminded this horrific crime by putting the idea in her boyfriend's head. By pretending she is innocent is another lie , she has committed a sin of epic proportion , Her farcical behaviour is an affront to human decency.
Seems Cathy should face the same date as this buried alive couple...if Cathy dies with the same overflowing forgiveness for the killers then walking her ridiculous talk may qualify her comment.
This cathy person is delusional tiffany and her pals are psychopaths pure evil they are a dangers to society and should be put down
I am sorry but I believe that there should not be clemency for any of the party concern in this matter. I mean how can you say that after doing something like tat to a human being that you're sorry. the only reason why you're sorry is because you go caught. I really hope that none of them get out of jail. And I really hope that they get beat up regularly by other inmates. That comes from someone that is 100% against violence. But this like that makes me angry.
And Cathy I have one question for you
if your niece comes out of jail tomorrow could you say with all honesty that you would welcome her in your home with open arms? Would you close your eyes at night? Lady comeback to reality.
I just can’t believe you said that! Poor people the Summers and family who went through for so much tragedy.
She needs to die, maybe a live burial or a slow death like someone shanking her in prison. How in God's name could you do that to someone? I believe in the death penalty but they have soften that up over the years because they say it's inhumane...and it's not inhumane for what these people did? She should have already been put down years ago!!
An eye for an eye, Imagine,They buried them alive...What Tiffany Cole did is act of a monster..she deserves where she at now Death row...
I can't believe such a stupid comment. Tiffany is the worst of all because she betrayed the love and trust that this adorable couple gave her. All those who had to do with this crime do not deserve to have any type of consideration because they are the worst thing that can exist in this world. They are human trash who committed a horrible crime depriving the family of their loved ones by stealing from them, because they were unable to earn money by working honestly. None of these criminals deserve any kind of consideration or forgiveness.
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