No one heard the gunshot in the early morning hours of March 13, 1975. It’s really no surprise. The area around the trailer at 917 W. Washington Street in Bradford was sparsely populated, and the rain likely muffled the sound.
The trailer’s occupant was Richard Cole, a 20-year-old student at the nearby University of Pittsburgh at Bradford (UPB) and the son of prominent car dealership owner Casey Cole.
At 6:30 AM, Rich’s girlfriend, Lise Caldwell, called Casey and asked him to check on Rich because she was worried. Casey arrived at his son’s trailer and let himself in. He discovered his son in his back bedroom, dead from a gunshot wound to the back of his head.
Bill Neatrour, Bradford Township Chief of Police, was the first to respond. The investigation was botched from the very beginning. While some people questioned Chief Neatrour’s integrity, it was most likely due to a lack of experience. After all, Bradford was not a high crime area. Most homicides were due to fights or drunk driving. The last double homicide occurred in the city in 1968.
Therefore, after a cursory look at the scene before him, Chief Neatrour initially thought that Rich had committed suicide and treated it as such. There was no autopsy, and Rich’s family buried him in Bedford, Ohio.
However, even though Rich was laid to rest, questions surrounding his death were not. His father, Casey, disagreed with the suicide ruling, and in April 1976 (less than one month after Bill Neatrour left his position to join the county sheriff’s department), Bradford Township Police re-opened the investigation.
Mr. Cole was not taking any chances. After contacting the county district attorney and receiving no help, he reached out to the Pennsylvania Attorney General.
Rich’s father was not the only one dissatisfied with the lack of investigation. Other people close to Rich refused to accept the ruling of suicide. And on January 3, 1977, somebody wrote an anonymous letter to the editor of The Bradford Era.
The writer stated he had worked “secretly” with Bill Neatrour regarding Rich’s death. I use quotation marks because, according to the writer, even though only the Chief knew of his involvement, he frequently received phone calls and death threats telling him to drop the issue. The letter writer stated that Rich’s death was not self-inflicted because of the body’s position, and no bullet was found.
Furthermore, Chief Neatrour allowed the alleged weapon to be handled and didn’t take any photos of the scene. In addition, the Deputy Coroner, who ruled the death a suicide, claimed that Rich was killed with an 8mm rifle, even though a weapon was never positively identified.
The writer also provided other alleged details, such as:
- $5,000 missing from the trailer
- Indications of dinner preparations for other people
- Somebody found Rich’s wallet 4 1/2 miles away from his trailer with no money inside
- The refusal of Rich’s girlfriend and another friend to take a polygraph test
And, don’t forget, Rich’s father discovered the body because of the girlfriend’s 6:30 AM call to Casey.
The next day, January 4, 1977, The Bradford Era informed its readers that the Pennsylvania Attorney General ordered the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) to begin reviewing the investigation.
A few days later, on January 7, the prosecutor’s office in Summit County, Ohio, where Rich was buried, received a request to exhume his body for an autopsy.
However, unbeknownst to the community, the new Bradford Township Police Chief, Richard Gaertner, had re-opened the case on April 30, 1976 – less than one month after Bill Neatrour left his job to take a position with the McKean County Sheriff’s Department.
Dr. Joshua Perper, a forensic pathologist with the Allegheny County Coroner’s Office, conducted the autopsy and stated that suicide was unlikely based on four findings:
- The entry wound was at the back of the neck
- There was very little gunpowder on the wound, raising doubts that the gun was in contact with the skin.
- The assumed weapon was a rifle, making it nearly impossible for Rich to shoot himself in the back of the neck.
- He wouldn’t have been able to shoot himself and then move the gun to where Chief Neatrour found it.
On Monday, April 4, 1977, a special Grand Jury convened to review the evidence. This particular jury was the first of its kind in McKean County. There were three areas of review for this investigative panel:
- Involvement of another person in conspiracy or crimes involving illegal drugs
- The possibility that evidence was destroyed and police failed at their duties, either intentionally or through neglect
- Who is responsible for the current investigation and possible prosecution
More than 20 witnesses were expected to testify, including the police, ambulance attendants, coroner, deputy coroner, pathologist, and friends and acquaintances:
Joe Marasco, Dale Husted, Thomas Kysar, David Daulton, Harold McMillen (one of the last people to see Rich alive), Michael Hollenbeck, Robert Evan III, James Hoadley, Harry “Hap” Anderson, Faye Anderson, Dennis “Turk” Anderson, and Robert Joy
The last four names were to testify about $800 that someone offered for the murder of Rich Cole.
Another witness, Lise Caldwell, also testified via a 2.5-hour tape recording. For her testimony, she was offered immunity from any crimes, except homicide or perjury.
Witness testimonies lasted eight days, and on Thursday, April 14, 1977, the grand jury ruled Richard Cole’s death a homicide. They also stated that the former chief, Bill Neatrour, used inadequate investigative procedures, but there was nothing to indicate a cover-up.
There was also no mention of the $800, and it didn’t recommend any criminal prosecutions but that the police should continue to investigate.
Other information to come out of the hearing was that Richard Cole was a known drug user and dealer.
And, the jury felt strongly that some of the witnesses had lied, but they didn’t specify who.
The investigation continued, but eventually, all the leads dried up, and no one was ever charged with the murder of Richard Cole.
So, I leave you with this question: who benefitted from Richard Cole’s death?
*** All my source material comes from Marty Wilder’s reporting for The Bradford Era.***