Charles Cole, 48, has been arrested in the strangulation murder of his mother, Betty
A man has been accused of strangling his mother and living with her remains in a motel room for seven weeks.
Police say Charles Cole, 48, killed his mother at the Pleasant Valley Motel in Pleasant Valley, New York on August 16.
He
then allegedly hid her body in the room for seven weeks before police
knocked on the door on October 6, responding to a request for a welfare
check, according to police.
Cole and his wife, Ronalda, 40, had lived in the motel room with his mother, Betty, 76, and two dogs.
Motel
workers said they had performed maintenance on the room several times
in the weeks cops say the body was there, but never saw or smelled
anything amiss.
They also say they never saw the mother living there, only the couple.
Police came to check on the mom on October 6 after family members said they couldn't make contact with her.
A few hours
after the welfare check, motel employees say that the couple moved out,
taking one dog with them and leaving the other.
Police
say the pair then drove to the small town of Lodge, South Carolina,
which is located about halfway between Augusta and Charleston, and
dumped her body.
Wife Ronalda Cole, 40, has been charged as being an accessory in the murder of Betty Cole
Charles Cole allegedly left his mother's body in a plastic bin in a secluded, wooded area off Interstate 95.
Police would not say why he chose that area.
Her remains were found on October 17 and Ronalda Cole was arrested the next day.
Charles Cole wasn't located until five days later, at a homeless shelter in Poughkeepsie.
'I
find it hard to imagine the circumstances that would lead a son to
strangle his mother, but also to live with the body in a motel room and
then travel several states away and dump her like trash,' state police
Capt. John Ryan said in a press conference held at the Troop K
headquarters in Millbrook, New York.
Charles Cole is charged with second-degree murder and is being held at Dutchess County Jail without bail.
His wife faces a charge of tampering with physical evidence, a felony.
Police
believe she helped her husband transport and dispose of her
mother-in-law's body. She is being held on $10,000 cash bail.
The dog that was left behind at the motel has been placed with a local animal shelter
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