Autopsy: Park Layne woman suffered multiple gunshot wounds; Official cause of death still pending

PARK LAYNE — A Park Layne woman who was the subject of a suspicious death investigation in late August suffered multiple gunshot wounds, according to a preliminary autopsy report by the Clark County Coroner’s Office.

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Jacqueline Coles, 43, was shot six times including four times in her torso area and in both her hands, the report revealed. Her cause and manner of death have not been officially determined and is listed as pending, according to the preliminary report viewed by News Center 7′s John Bedell Wednesday. Jacqueline’s official toxicology report is also listed as pending.

News Center 7 was granted access to view the preliminary report Wednesday, as it is public record under Ohio law when used for newsgathering purposes.

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The Clark County Sheriff’s Office has not called the August 24 incident a homicide and so far has only called Jacqueline Coles’ death suspicious.

Deputies did identify her husband, Noel Coles Jr., 48, was a person of interest in her death but he has not been charged with a crime in connection to Jacqueline’s death.

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Noel was arrested in Indiana just hours after Jacqueline was found dead. Noel was brought back to Clark County and was charged with violating a protection order.

Noel pleaded not guilty to three counts of violating a protection order on August 26. His bond then was set at $250,000 and he remains booked in the Clark County Jail Wednesday, according to online jail records.

Deputies conducted a welfare check on Jacqueline Aug. 24 at her home on Weinland Street after a co-worker called a non-emergency line saying they “heard some screaming and then the phone dropped.”

“I tried to call her back, but she won’t answer. But I know she has a protection order against her husband,” the co-worker said in the non-emergency call.

Jacqueline filed a restraining order against Noel just days before on Aug. 5. Court records showed that, in a written statement, Jacqueline Coles accused her husband of threatening to kill her “on multiple occasions” within the last several weeks.

We’ll continue to update this story as new details become available.

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