Testimony: Cote told friend he slit Cole's throat

Jason Cote; below right, Ricky Cole

SKOWHEGAN, Maine - A witness in the trial of the man prosecutors say killed a Rochester native testified on Monday that Jason Cote told her he slit Ricky Cole's throat the day after his death.

The witness, Heidi Woodbury, said she is a friend of Cote, whom she spoke with in person while getting high along the Newport waterfront.

She testified in Somerset County Superior Court on Monday that she asked Cote if he slit Cole from his throat to his groin, to which she said Cote replied, "No, I just slit his throat."

Cote, 25, of Palmyra, is charged in the bludgeoning death of Cole, 47, inside his Detroit home.

Prosecutors say Cote was high on drugs and looking for more when he visited Cole the evening of July 17, 2013, but testimony on Monday pointed to the possibility of another motive that could have led to friction between the two.

Cote also told Woodbury during their meeting in Newport that he had gone to Cole's house the night before, and that Cole had smashed a metal pipe against a coffee table in an attempt to scare him.

Woodbury, of Pittsfield, testified on Monday that Cole was a drug dealer for both her and Cote.

She also said she could recall Cole several times threatening to break Cote's legs and that he'd killed before and was not afraid to kill again, and that he spoke often about his imaginary friend Vern who would advise him whom to hurt.

Trial testimony has also revealed that Cole was being investigated by the ATF for weapons charges and had recently posted on Facebook that if Cote didn't "take the rap" for him he could go to jail.

Woodbury said she told Cote about the post because she was afraid of Cole.

She also told Cote about a phone call from Cole the night he died. Woodbury said in the call, Cole said that if Cote didn't take the blame for the weapons charges, he would accuse him of manslaughter in relation to an accident they had been in.

"He told me he needed to talk to Jason, not about money he owed him, just that he really needed to talk to him," Woodbury testified.

The following morning at the waterfront, Woodbury said that Cote never said he feared Cole would kill him, but he did say he felt he had to defend himself.

Cote's attorneys have argued that Cote acted in self-defense.

The trial resumes today.