A Tucson man led authorities to parts of his victim’s body after admitting to the gruesome kidnapping and killing of a man who owed him money.
45-year-old John Anthony Cole was arrested on Sept. 20 near Quartzsite on Interstate 10 while traveling to California.
Upon his arrest, officers with Arizona DPS discovered human body parts, including a severed head and hands, in Cole’s vehicle.
The suspect then confessed to kidnapping 28-year-old Antoine Smith on Sept. 16 from his Phoenix home and strangling him in a rural area of Pima County.
Cole then brought Smith’s body to his Tucson home where he mutilated the victim. Officers were investigating a crime scene at South Kolb Road and East Sycamore Park on Wednesday.
The suspect was charged with first-degree murder. Kidnapping, theft by extortion, and concealment of a body.
