Kriti Mehrotra
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Murder in the Heartland: Beautiful Mess’ examines the 2015 killing and rape of 23-year-old Patricia Richmond in a home at 56730 Lupine Court in Routt County. On the evening of June 29, a Monday, she was discovered tied up, lying face down on a bed by family members. But when she didn’t respond to any calls or even the treatments of emergency responders, she was pronounced dead. And after days of probes, her passing was officially ruled to be a homicide. Subsequently, Cole Pollard, Patricia’s fiancé’s distant cousin, was charged and arrested in connection to her brutal murder.
Who Is Cole Pollard?
Cole Pollard was a suspect for the authorities almost as soon as Patricia’s body was discovered. At first, although they didn’t reveal exactly why they were looking for him, they did alert the public to be on the lookout for the 5’9″ 160 lbs Steamboat Springs High School graduate. They even publicly released his license plate number, his image, and the fact that it was believed that he lived with his grandparents in Routt County. And after four days, the officials finally concluded their search after spotting him near a lake about seventy miles away from the home where Patricia was declared dead.
During the entire search process, Cole was considered to be a suicide risk, but that didn’t seem to be the case when he was taken into custody. And because the authorities didn’t have any concrete evidence against him, instead of being charged with Patricia’s death, Cole was initially only held on suspicion of stealing valuable items from the house in question, which included, amongst other things, a rifle. However, that didn’t last for long as Cole confessed to everything soon after he started getting interrogated. And so, he was charged with first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, and theft.
Where Is Cole Pollard Today?
In May 2016, Cole Pollard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and attempted sexual assault, which resulted in the prosecution dismissing all the initial charges against him. As a part of the plea agreement, Cole was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison. More specifically, he got ordered to serve 40 years for murder, followed by ten years to life for the attempted assault. Therefore, to this date, he is behind bars, incarcerated at the Sterling Correctional Facility in Sterling, Colorado. According to reports, Cole is expected to serve a minimum of 37 to 38 years before being eligible for parole. So, he will remain in jail until at least 2053.
In Colorado, sex offenders of any kind serve “indeterminate sentences,” meaning that they can be held for life. In other words, when the time comes, if the parole board finds that Cole didn’t successfully complete his sexual assault treatment or that he’s still a danger to the society at large, they can and will deny him release. On the other hand, even if Cole is granted parole, he would then have to follow the rules of his discharge for either ten years or the rest of his natural life. Cole, currently 27, would be under the strictest of supervision if he ever does get the opportunity to leave the four walls of prison again, but that is still very far away.
Read More: How Did Patricia Richmond Die?
