Convicted murderer accused of concealing newlywed wife’s death in North Georgia

Bob Jay Cole

Credit: Georgia Department of Corrections

Credit: Georgia Department of Corrections

Bob Jay Cole

After serving 28 years in prison for a murder conviction, a North Georgia man is back behind bars after allegedly concealing the body of his newlywed wife, according to multiple media reports.

Bob Jay Cole, 46, faces one count of concealing the death of another after the remains of his wife, 31-year-old Britney Nicole Parker, were found in June near Lafayette, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.

The couple was married four days before Parker was found dead, according to her public Facebook page.

Her body was discovered June 18 in a grassy field near the 2900 block of Old Mineral Springs Road, the newspaper reported. Two men were checking livestock in the area when they stumbled across the remains early that morning.

An autopsy performed by the GBI determined that Parker had a lethal amount of methamphetamine in her body and labeled her death as an accidental overdose, the Times Free Press reported.

The Walker County Sheriff’s Office alleges that Cole moved Parker’s body into his SUV after she overdosed and left it in the grassy area.

The day after Parker’s body was discovered, Cole allegedly sold his SUV to a car dealer in Walker County. Investigators seized the SUV as evidence and found traces of Parker’s blood in the luggage compartment, the sheriff’s office said.

Cole was arrested in June on an unrelated parole violation charge, Chattanooga-based news station WRCB reported. He received parole in August 2018 after serving 28 years for a 1990 Catoosa County murder conviction. He admitted to robbing and killing Benjamin West when he was 16 years old.

He was moved from the Wheeler Corrections Facility to the Walker County Jail after being charged with hiding his wife’s body. The charge is a felony that is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

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