A Fairview man that had faced the death penalty on capital murder charges in connection to the December 2013 beating death of an elderly Cullman man has joined his co-defendant in being released from jail as the two men await trial.

The Cullman County District Attorney’s Office revised its charges against John Edward Cole, 34, in April, reducing its original capital murder charge to felony murder — taking the death penalty off the table.

Cole was released from the Cullman County Detention Center April 25 when Circuit Judge Martha Williams agreed to District Attorney Wilson Blaylock’s amended indictment and ordered Cole’s bond be lowered from $200,000 cash to $75,000 property.

Cole is now charged with murder and four counts of first-degree burglary in the killing of Fredrick William Galin, 71, at his home St. Joseph Drive on Dec. 16, 2013.

Cole’s co-defendant, Robert Gene Espy, Jr., 37, of Vinemont, has been out on bond since April 2015. He was released on a $75,000 property bond for murder, two counts of first-degree burglary, first-degree theft and hindering prosecution. He had a separate $15,000 property bond for third-degree burglary in another case.

Cullman County Sheriff’s investigators arrested both men in January 2014, alleging Cole beat Galin with a pipe wrench and stole two rifles and one shotgun from his home, along with a red 1966 Chevrolet II Nova Super Sport.

Authorities found Galin’s body three days later, Dec. 19, 2013, inside the home after an acquaintance who checked in on the victim regularly due to Galin’s declining health requested a welfare check.

Investigators developed Cole and Espy as suspects early on, and both were questioned about Galin’s death and the missing Nova Super Sport in late December 2013. They were later charged in January 2014, and a grand jury returned indictments against each of them in April 2014.

As a condition of their bonds, Cole and Espy are required to have no contact of any kind with each other’s family or the victim’s family. Cole is also required not to violate any laws beside minor traffic tickets, per Williams’ order.

Meanwhile, Espy was ordered to Court Referral Office drug testing and a strict curfew between 6 p.m.-6 a.m., leaving his home only to attend work or church. The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office was also advised to conduct routine checks to verify Espy’s compliance within its discretion.

Espy completed CRO and was released from the program in October 2016, court records show.

In June, Cole and his attorneys, Brandon Little and Johnny Berry, appeared in court for a jury trial setting, and both the prosecution and counsel agreed to continue the case to Aug. 21.

In February, Cole’s attorneys asked Williams to order prosecutors to disclose what evidence had been sent away for forensic processing, to which facilities and what items were still awaiting return.

The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office dive team recovered a wrench in Lake George believed to be the murder weapon in June 2014.

 

In a July 2014 motion to dismiss the indictment against Cole, his attorneys argued the indictment was defective and should be thrown out since it didn’t state an aggravating circumstance which is required to make Cole eligible for the death penalty.

Cole’s attorneys have also requested a change of venue due to media exposure. They argue Cole has maintained his innocence throughout the investigation and passed a polygraph test — which is inadmissible in court — while Espy made incriminating statements against Cole while under arrest on separate burglary charges “in an effort to save his own hide.”

According to court records, Espy told sheriff’s investigators he accompanied Cole to Galin’s home and watched him put on gloves, grab a pipe wrench from Espy’s vehicle and go inside the home, returning minutes later with three guns. He went on to allege he watched Cole wrap the pipe wrench in a cloth and toss it into the lake.

The Nova Super Sport had been towed from Galin’s home and sold to a man who authorities said came forward to report he had the missing vehicle which he said he had purchased from Cole around the day of the murder.

 Tiffeny Owens can be reached at 256-734-2131, ext. 135.