Tiffany Ann Cole (born December 3, 1981) is an American convicted murderer who was found guilty of the

kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

and

first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse ...

of a

Duval County, Florida Duval County ( ), officially the City of Jacksonville and Duval County, is a County (United States), county in the First Coast, northeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was ...

husband and wife and

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

. Also found guilty in the case were three men: Alan Wade; Bruce Nixon; and Cole's boyfriend, Michael Jackson. Prosecutors said Cole and the three men developed a plan to kidnap and kill the couple to steal their money, and dug a grave for them in

Charlton County, Georgia Charlton County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,518. The county seat is Folkston. History Charlton County was created from a portion of Camden County, Georgia, by an act ...

, two days before knocking on their door and asking to use the phone. As of February 2015, Cole was the third youngest woman on death row in the United States; she was 26 at the time of her conviction. Cole was resentenced to life imprisonment in 2023.

Background

Tiffany Cole knew the victims, 61-year-old Carol and Reggie Sumner, prior to the murders; both Cole's family and the Sumners knew each other from when they both lived in South Carolina. The Sumners moved to

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, in March 2005, after which they sold a car to Cole. Cole agreed to make monthly payments on the car and frequently drove to Jacksonville with friends.

Crime

In June 2005, during one of her excursions to Jacksonville, Cole and her new boyfriend, Michael James Jackson, stayed at the Sumners' house; during this time, Jackson discussed plans with Cole to rob the Sumners and steal money from their bank accounts. In early July 2005, Cole, Jackson, and two men, Alan Wade and Bruce Nixon, drove to the Sumners' home. Wade and Nixon approached the Sumners' door and asked to use their phone. Upon being granted entry, Nixon threatened the couple with a fake gun, while Wade, carrying duct tape, bound, gagged, and blindfolded the Sumners. Wade and Nixon then searched for personal financial documents in the Sumners' home before calling Jackson for assistance in finding ATM information. Jackson was unable to locate the couple's personal identification numbers. While searching the Sumners' home, Wade, Nixon, and Jackson stole Reggie's coin collection, mail, and bank records, as well as several items of

jewelry Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...

. The Sumners, still bound and gagged, were then taken outside and locked into the trunk of their own

Lincoln Town Car The Lincoln Town Car was a model line of full-size luxury sedans that was marketed by the Lincoln division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. Deriving its name from a limousine body style, Lincoln marketed the Town Car from 1981 t ...

. Wade and Nixon drove the Lincoln to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, while Cole and Jackson followed in a

Mazda is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima (town), Fuchū, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, Japan. The company was founded on January 30, 1920, as Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd. ...

vehicle, until they reached a remote part of Georgia near which they had prepared a pre-dug grave for the Sumners. Wade and Nixon drove the Lincoln to the grave site, and Jackson accompanied them, while Cole remained by the road in the Mazda. After driving the Lincoln to the grave site, investigators believe the Sumners told Jackson their PIN codes, which he recorded on a yellow notepad, after which they were placed into the grave, still alive. Investigators believe that while Nixon returned to the Mazda with Cole, Wade and Jackson remained at the grave and filled it with dirt, after which they drove away, leaving Carol and Reggie Sumner buried alive; a medical examiner found that the couple suffocated to death. Cole subsequently pawned jewelry and other items stolen from the Sumners' home, and the ATM card was used to obtain more than $1,000

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

in cash. Investigators tracked three members of the group back to a hotel in South Carolina by their use of the Sumners' ATM card and arrested them there. After being arrested, Nixon willingly led police to the Sumners' grave.

Conviction

At Cole's week-long trial in October 2007, the jury deliberated for less than 90 minutes before finding her guilty of

. They voted 9-3 for her to receive the death penalty. Evidence included photos of Cole and two co-defendants in a limousine, celebrating with champagne and hands full of cash. Five months later, a judge handed down two death sentences for the

murders Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse ...

, and a sentence of life in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

for the kidnappings. Cole awaited execution at Lowell Correctional Institution Annex. Cole was one of three women on Florida's

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...

, the others being Margaret Allen and Tina Brown, each sentenced to death in unrelated murders. Of the previous 14 women ever sentenced to death in Florida since the 1976 ''

Gregg v. Georgia ''Gregg v. Georgia'', ''Proffitt v. Florida'', ''Jurek v. Texas'', ''Woodson v. North Carolina'', and ''Roberts v. Louisiana'', 428 U.S. 153 (1976), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. It reaffirmed the Court's acceptance of the ...

'' ruling, two were executed ( Judy Buenoano in 1998, and Aileen Wuornos in 2002). Wade and Jackson also received death sentences. Nixon, who had led police to the bodies and testified against the others, pleaded guilty to

second-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excus ...

and was sentenced to 55 years in prison. In 2017, the

Florida Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Florida is the state supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven justices—one of whom serves as Chief Justice. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geog ...

ordered new sentencing hearings for Cole, Wade, and Jackson because their juries had not unanimously recommended the death penalty. A 2016 U.S Supreme Court ruling, '' Hurst v. Florida'', found that Florida's prior law permitting non-unanimous jury verdicts in death penalty cases violated the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, prompting Florida to resentence more than 150 convicted felons under death sentences. In June 2022, Wade was resentenced to life in prison. In August 2023, Jackson was resentenced to death. Cole was resentenced to life imprisonment on August 23, 2023, after the jury voted 10-2 in a three-hour deliberation to spare her life.

Documentaries

Due to the brutality and notoriety of the case and the fact that one of the perpetrators was a young woman later sentenced to death, the case has been the subject of several TV documentaries, including the third episode of the second season of ''

Your Worst Nightmare ''Your Worst Nightmare'' is an American television documentary series on Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true ...

'', an hour-long interview of Tiffany Cole and Emilia Carr with

Diane Sawyer Lila Diane Sawyer (; born December 22, 1945) is an American television broadcast journalist known for anchoring major programs on two networks including ''ABC World News Tonight'', ''Good Morning America'', ''20/20 (U.S. TV series), 20/20'', and ...

for '' 20/20'' in 2015, and an episode of '' Wicked Attraction'', "Good Deeds Punished", in 2010. This story is also recognized on ''

Deadly Women ''Deadly Women'' is an American true crime documentary television series produced by Beyond International Group and airing on the Investigation Discovery (ID) Television, network. The series focuses on murders committed by women. It is hosted ...

's'' second episode of the fifth season, "Loathe Thy Neighbor", and the subject of a 2024 episode of the podcast Sword and Scale.

References

External links