An Indiana resident faces murder charges following the fatal shooting of a sex offender last month. This event transpired not long after the offender was released from incarceration for abusing a young family member of the accused.
On June 24, Nicholas Stanley, aged 35, is accused of having fatally shot Allen Cogswell at a Daylite Inn located in Elkhart. According to the Goshen News, witnesses observed Stanley carrying a long firearm as he peered through the window of Cogswell’s hotel room. He then reportedly knocked on the door, fired his weapon, and left the premises.
Cogswell was discovered lifeless in his room with gunshot wounds in both his head and chest. Surveillance footage caught Stanley at the location and also showed a vehicle that police traced to his father’s name. Stanley is known to live with his father.
Cogswell was released from prison in May after serving seven years for molesting a young relative of Stanley’s. Elkhart police said Stanley initially claimed he was unaware of Cogswell’s release, but their investigation determined that both Stanley and his father knew Cogswell was staying at a hotel.
“I drove out to go find him. And then when I found him, I did what I had to. I took him out,” Stanley told WBND during a phone interview from jail. “I’m tired of pretending like I did something wrong. You know, I don’t feel like I did anything wrong, and there are thousands of people out there who agree with me. I’m just tired of pretending that I have to be scared of the system when he obviously wasn’t scared of the system. And now I’m going to get more time putting this piece of trash out, than he ever got for hurting my family and the ones that I love. So, if the system wants to throw me away, let them. I don’t even care anymore.”
Despite his comments to WBND, Stanley pleaded not guilty on Thursday to Cogswell’s murder. Jailed without bond, he has a July 31 preliminary hearing before his trial, which is scheduled to begin in October.
[Feature Photo: Elkhart County police]
