UPDATE @ 1:05 p.m. (Oct. 10, 2014):
Michael J. Wood was sentenced to 34 years to life in prison. He did not comment when given the opportunity to speak to the court.
UPDATE @ 8:39 p.m. (Oct. 9, 2014):
Michael J. Wood, accused in the 2013 killing of 78-year-old Sidney resident James Cole, is expected to plead guilty to aggravated murder and kidnapping at a hearing on Friday, Shelby County Prosecutor Tim Sell said in a statement Thursday night.
Wood, 40, of the 400 block of Brookburn Street, was arrested in late October. Police have said that Wood and Cole were neighbors and the arrest was made following a citizen's tip.
In the statement released through the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, Wood is to be in a "final pretrial" hearing in Common Pleas court on Friday morning.
"It is believed at this time that Wood will change his plea, and plead guilty," Sell and Chief Deputy James Frye said in the statement. It is anticipated that Wood will be sentenced following his change of plea, according to the statement.
Cole was reported missing on Oct. 14, 2013. At the time he went missing, police said there was no evidence of any kind of struggle in his home. His dog was left behind, which his family said was highly unusual.
His family had asked area residents to check their properties, barns and outbuildings for any sign of Cole.
A farmer found Cole's remains a week later in a cornfield, in the 9000 block of Smalley Road. He had been shot in the head as many as four times. At the time, Sell said he would pursue the death penalty. Attempts to reach him Thursday night for comment were unsuccessful.
FIRST REPORT (Nov. 1, 2013):
An arrest has been made in the killing of missing Sidney resident James Cole.
A Sidney man is in the Shelby County Jail charged with aggravated murder in the death of 78-year-old James Cole, who was reported missing on Oct. 14.
Sidney Police Chief William Balling, in a news release issued early this morning, said his officers learned through the course of their investigation that Cole was a victim of a homicide.
Officers arrested Michael J. Wood, 39, of the 400 block of Brookburn Street, on Friday. Police said Wood and Cole were neighbors, and the arrest was made following a citizen tip.
Cole's body has not been found, and officials are asking residents to be alert and on the lookout.
Wood was taken to the county jail, where he's being detained on a charge of felony aggravated murder. Authorities said he is not cooperating.
Cole's family had asked area residents to check their properties for any sign of the man, who was last seen at about 3 p.m. on Oct. 13 at his Sidney residence on Brookburn Street.
At the time Cole was reported missing, police said there was no evidence of any kind of struggle in his home. His dog was left behind, which his family said was highly unusual. The family had asked area residents to check their properties, barns and outbuildings for any sign of Cole.
Cole had diabetes, but was described as healthy otherwise, his family said.
