An Elkhart County jury Friday found Nicholas Stanley guilty of murdering the man who sexually molested his family member. Prosecutor Vicki Becker says she’s confident the 35-year-old Stanley will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Elkhart Circuit Judge Michael Christofeno will sentence Stanley on Oct. 22. He faces from 55 to 85 years in prison.
Stanley had admitted that he fatally shot Allen Cogswell, not long after Cogswell was released from prison. His attorney, Vincent Campiti, had argued outside the presence of the jury that Stanley shouldn’t be convicted of murder because he acted in “sudden heat,” meaning he didn’t intend the killing but did it because he was so blinded by rage.
But Christofeno believed Stanley acted deliberately so he refused to tell the jury they could convict on the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Stanley had public support on social media but after the trial Becker told WVPE that Stanley got that support by falsely telling people Cogswell had tried to contact his victim after his prison release.
“Mr. Cogswell did not try to contact the family in any way," Becker said. "He posed no threat. He had accepted responsibility, he had served the maximum sentence for the crime for which he was convicted, so as usual, the court of public opinion was misinformed and we have to try cases in a court of law.”
