Carroll Cole

The case, on the record

Carroll Cole Timeline: 1938 to 1985, Every Verified Date

The Carroll Cole case spans 47 years, from a birth in Sioux City to the first lethal injection in Nevada's history. Every date below is verified against court records and contemporary reporting.

Case record · Verified against court records and 1985 press archives · Updated July 2026

The Carroll Cole timeline runs from May 9, 1938, to December 6, 1985, and divides into 4 phases: childhood in Iowa and California, escalating violence and institutional contact from 1958 to 1963, the murders of 1971 to 1980, and the legal endgame from his Dallas arrest to his execution. Dates confirmed by more than one primary source appear below; disputed or unverifiable claims are excluded.

Childhood: 1938 to 1947

  • May 9, 1938Carroll Edward Cole is born in Sioux City, Iowa, the second son of LaVerne and Vesta Cole. The family moves to Richmond, California, after 1939 for shipyard work.
  • Early 1940sWith LaVerne away in World War II, Vesta Cole takes her son along to her affairs and threatens beatings if he tells. She dresses him as a girl; classmates mock his name.
  • 1947Cole, age 8, drowns classmate Duane Eugene Owen in a lake near Richmond. Authorities rule the death an accident. Cole admits the killing almost 40 years later in his death row autobiography.

Escalation: 1958 to 1970

  • 1958The US Army discharges Cole for bad conduct after he steals pistols.
  • 1960Cole attacks two couples in parked cars in Richmond, then telephones police to report fantasies of strangling women. Psychiatric admissions follow.
  • April 1963Stockton State Hospital releases Cole despite a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder and his documented fantasies.
  • 1963 to 1965Cole moves to Dallas and marries Billie Whitworth. The marriage ends after he burns down a motel, convinced she was unfaithful there; he is jailed for arson.
  • Late 1960sCole serves 5 years for attempting to strangle an 11-year-old girl in Missouri. Further psychiatric contact in Nevada ends with a bus ticket to San Diego, not detention.

The Murders: 1971 to 1980

  • May 7, 1971Cole strangles Essie Louise Buck in his car after meeting her in a San Diego tavern. She is his first confessed adult victim.
  • May 1971Roughly 2 weeks after Buck's death, Cole kills an unidentified woman and buries her in a wooded area near San Diego.
  • July 1973Cole marries barmaid Diana Faye Younglove Pashal in San Diego.
  • 1977Cole strangles Kathlyn Blum in Las Vegas. Her murder becomes one of his 2 Nevada convictions.
  • September 1979Cole strangles his wife Diana Pashal at home. Police find her body 8 days later, attribute the death to heavy drinking, and release Cole without charge.
  • 1979Cole strangles Marie Cushman in a Las Vegas motel after meeting her at a bar.
  • November 1980In Dallas, Cole kills Dorothy King, Wanda Roberts, and Sally Thompson within the month.

Arrest to Execution: 1980 to 1985

  • November 30, 1980Police arrest Cole at the scene of Sally Thompson's death. As detectives prepare to rule the death natural, Cole confesses to Thompson's murder and at least 13 more. The full account is on Carroll Cole Confessions: Why He Confessed to 14 Murders.
  • April 9, 1981A Texas jury convicts Cole of the murders of Dorothy King, Wanda Roberts, and Sally Thompson. He receives life without parole at Huntsville.
  • January 27, 1984Vesta Cole dies. Cole drops his resistance to Nevada's murder charges within weeks.
  • February 1984Cole waives extradition and is transferred to Nevada, knowing the state can impose the death penalty.
  • October 12, 1984A Nevada court sentences Cole to death for the murders of Kathlyn Blum and Marie Cushman. Cole replies, "Thanks, Judge."
  • 1984 to 1985Cole writes a handwritten autobiography of roughly 100,000 words at Nevada State Prison and refuses every appeal filed on his behalf.
  • December 6, 1985Nevada executes Cole by lethal injection at 2:10 a.m. at Nevada State Prison, Carson City, the first lethal injection in state history. Hours later his brain is removed for study at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. The full record is on Carroll Cole Execution: Nevada's First Lethal Injection.

Who the Timeline Belongs To

The Carroll Cole timeline is also the record of the women he killed, listed with their case outcomes on Carroll Cole Victims: The 5 Convictions and the 14 Confessions. Their names anchor every date above.