For Harvey handyman's murder, Port Allen man sentenced to life in prison

A Port Allen man was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for killing a Harvey handyman who was beaten and shot in his own home. Terrol "Nasty" Cole, 33, was convicted last month of the second-degree murder of Donald Bates, 53, who was killed by intruders seeking $12,000 in his Eastmere Drive home.

The crime happened Jan. 29, 2010. The cash was in Bates' house because he had just sold a car.

Cole, the third of three defendants convicted in the case, denied committing the crime. But a Jefferson Parish jury found him guilty as charged Aug. 22.

His sentencing was one of 55 criminal matters on Thursday morning's docket for Judge Michael Mentz of24th Judicial District Court. As such, Mentz dispensed with the case in a matter of minutes; there was no testimony.

Cole's conviction was in part based on prosecutors' flipping Rhonda Skinner, 42, a Westwego-area woman who set up the robbery. She knew Bates had the cash in the home, and she admitted that she enlisted Cole and Darnell Turnerto go in and take the money.

Skinner was arrested shortly after the crime in a West Bank motel. Cole and Turner were arrested a week later, in a hotel in Little Rock, Ark.

Cole asserted that he was in Baton Rouge when Bates was killed. Skinner and other witnesses contradicted that, and prosecutors also showed the jury his phone records, indicating he was in West Jefferson when Bates was killed.

Skinner was initially charged with second-degree murder but pleaded guilty two years ago to conspiracy to commit armed robbery and obstruction of justice. In return, she agreed to testify against Cole and Turner. On Tuesday, Mentz sentenced her to 25 yearsin prison.

Turner, 31, of Harvey, was convicted of second-degree murder last year. In April, he, too, was sentenced to life in prison, the mandatory punishment for second-degree murder.

Go here to read the rest:
For Harvey handyman's murder, Port Allen man sentenced to life in prison