Episode 85: The Murder of Christine Cole
On January 6th, 1988, two days after her birthday, 10-year-old Christine Cole left her home in Pawtucket, Rhode Island to buy a few things at the store for her mom. She visited a friend before going to a local market for milk, and then was on her way to a seafood store to pick up clams. This was the last time Christine was seen alive.
54 days later, Christine’s body washed up on Conimicut Point, a beach in Warwick, Rhode Island. Her underwear was missing and her pants had been put back on in a haphazard manner. Her death was ruled as a murder from asphyxia. Christine’s case quickly went cold until 2018, when Pawtucket detective Susan Cormier reopened her case.
A small blood splatter found inside Christine’s pants that had previously gone overlooked was determined to be from a male. DNA testing revealed that the closest match to the blood sample was a 26-year-old man, who was not alive at the time of Christine’s murder.
Investigation moved to 59-year-old Joao Monteiro, the man’s father. He had moved at least 19 times in the last 30 years, living at multiple addresses in Christine’s neighborhood. It was determined that he had lived at an apartment at 78 Slater Street directly above Saints Market, which was the store where Christine was last seen in.
Joao was a legal immigrant from Cape Verde who spoke primarily Creole, but police neglected to provide Joao with an interpreter at several points during the arrest and investigation. He was charged with the murder but the case was dropped just ten months later due to lack of evidence.
Joao became homeless as a result, and Christine’s case is still cold. Anyone with any information on the murder of Christine Cole is asked to please call 1-877-RI-Solve.
Image sources:
bostonglobe.com - “Police claimed they solved a famous R.I cold case. Now it’s being dropped”