Yarmouth man found guilty of second-degree murder in death of Colton Cook
A jury has delivered a guilty verdict in the 2020 murder of a man from the Yarmouth, N.S., area.
Colton James Cook, 26, was reported missing from Brooklyn, N.S., on Sept. 27, 2020.
Later that day, police found partial remains near his burned truck in Yarmouth.
On Sept. 29, officers found the rest of Colton's remains near the intersection of Saunders and Raynardton Road in South Ohio, N.S.
Robert Charles Rogers of Yarmouth County was charged on Oct. 2 with murder and interfering with human remains.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges and went to trial at the Supreme Court in Yarmouth this month.
Thursday night, the jury found Rogers guilty of second-degree murder and interfering with human remains.
"Happy for the verdict. Right now, I'm overjoyed,” said Colton's mother, Stacey Cook, by phone from her home in Yarmouth.
“It's hard to be there on our end and sit there and watch what you have to watch, hear what you have to hear, and have no say.”
Jennifer Stairs, the director of communications for the Nova Scotia Judiciary, confirmed the guilty verdict to CTV News.
Stairs says the charge carries an automatic life sentence, but the court still needs to determine when Rogers will be eligible for parole. He remains in custody and is due back in court for a sentencing hearing on Feb. 2.
Two other men were arrested in the case and pleaded guilty.
Wayne Richard Crawford of Yarmouth County pleaded guilty on Jan. 3 to second-degree murder. He remains in custody and is set to be sentenced on May 30.
Keith Arthur Siscoe of Yarmouth County pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder on July 18, 2022. He remains in custody and is set to be sentenced on Feb. 3.
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