SUSPECT DISPUTES ‘CONFESSION’
Accused cop-killer says admission was coerced
The man Maine State Police claim confessed he “eliminated” Somerset County Deputy Cpl. Eugene Cole with a bullet to the head earlier this year now says his cooperation was coerced by a beatdown and treatment “like a game trophy,” by the police who arrested him.
Cumberland County Superior Court Judge Robert E. Mullen has ordered jury selection in the murder case of John Daniel Williams to begin June 3, 2019, in Portland, Maine.
Beginning Feb. 28, Mullen will hear Williams’ motion to suppress the “confession” he made to “overzealous police officers” after his arrest. Williams — who marked his 30th birthday behind bars in July — wants statements he allegedly made to detectives tossed out because, he argues, they were obtained by physical abuse and being put on display for a law-enforcement camera “like a game trophy.”
“Despite zero resistance by Mr. Williams, officers beat and pummeled him to the point of causing him to defecate himself,” attorney Verne Paradie Jr. claims in a court document. “Photos show that the officers severely injured Mr. Williams, kicking him in the head and face, among other things, and causing severe bruising and then holding up his head by the back of his hair like a game trophy.”
Maine State Police did tweet out such a photo of Williams upon his April 28 arrest in the woods of Norridgewock, Maine, after a three-day manhunt. It was accompanied by this explainer: “Team needed to confirm his ID w/command staff. He wouldn’t cooperate so they needed to facilitate this photo.”
A spokesman for the department could not immediately be reached for comment yesterday.
Williams was captured while free on $5,000 bail stemming from firearm charges he incurred in Massachusetts on March 22 after allegedly crashing his car on Interstate 495 in Haverhill.
According to a Maine State Police affidavit, Williams admitted to murdering Cole, a 61-year-old father of four, after encountering him on the streets of Norridgewock in the early morning hours of April 25. He allegedly told troopers he drew a 9 mm pistol from his waistband when Cole tried to arrest him and “got the drop” on the officer when Cole tripped and fell down. Williams allegedly said he “eliminated” Cole by shooting him in the head as Cole lay on the ground with “a hand up in front of his face.”
Williams didn’t feel like going to jail, according to police.
Massachusetts State Police responding to Williams’ car crash one month before Cole’s slaying reported recovering an illegal handgun, ammo and large-capacity magazine in the trunk for which Williams faces a 2 1⁄2year minimum sentence if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty to both the weapons charges and Cole’s murder.