Unthinkable: High Point killer nears parole date
My column today:
Rob Coulthard gave his wife the final, fatal dose of arsenic on July 3, 1988 — 20 years ago tomorrow. She was a patient at Duke University Medical Center. She died there six days later.
No one suspected he’d been poisoning her since December 1987. Rob and Sandy Coulthard seemed like an ideal High Point couple — Wake Forest graduates, members of Emerywood Baptist Church, parents of two small children, the younger less than a year old. He was a furniture company’s vice president for sales and marketing, and they lived in an attractive home in one of the city’s nicer neighborhoods.
Sandy Coulthard turned 30 on the last birthday of her life. Rob Coulthard marked his 50th birthday last month at Pender Correctional Institute, a medium-security prison in Burgaw. He could walk out as a free man before he’s 51.
Coulthard’s crime unraveled quickly after Sandy’s death. The autopsy indicated she died of arsenic poisoning. Doctors had misdiagnosed her illness as possible Guillain-Barre syndrome. Hair samples showed spikes in arsenic concentrations, mapping each dose. Police found a record of Coulthard ordering arsenic two years earlier, learned he carried $350,000 in life insurance on his wife, that he had girlfriends and gambling debts.
In cold blood, without emotion, he slowly, persistently poisoned his wife, the mother of his children, watching her suffer, to erase her from his life. She never knew.
“By all reports, Coulthard was a prodigious actor, with a gift for promoting himself and enlisting others’ trust,” Davidson College English professor Cynthia Lewis wrote in an article published recently in the University at Albany Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture. She’s studied the Coulthard case and others where husbands have plotted murder in place of divorce.
Despite the cruelty of the crime, Coulthard was ruled ineligible for the death penalty by Superior Court Judge William Helms, who found insufficient evidence of aggravating factors. Instead, represented by two of the state’s top defense attorneys, Coulthard pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and received a sentence of life in prison. Under sentencing guidelines then in effect, he would become eligible for parole in 20 years.
The time has come. A parole review process begins later this month, Parole Commission Administrator Patsy Joiner said Monday. Members of Sandy Coulthard’s family have a 30-minute appointment with parole commissioners next week to express their views.
“We’re strongly opposed to him ever getting out,” her brother, Stephen W. Coles, said Monday. “The children feel the same. ... They’ve had no contact with him and want none.”
Coulthard’s prison photo shows a middle-aged man with a lean face and close-cropped gray hair, wearing wire-rimmed glasses. He works as a groundskeeper at Pender, where he’s been housed since April 2006. In 20 years, he’s incurred an unusually low number of infractions — only six, none since 2001.
Pender’s assistant superintendent for programs said Coulthard doesn’t stand out among the nearly 800 inmates.
“He hasn’t created any management issues,” Brian Wells said last week.
“We knew all along that he’d be a model prisoner,” said Coles, a lawyer who practices in Greensboro, adding that his former brother-in-law is “conniving, calculating ... he has no conscience at all.”
Coulthard has never expressed remorse, and even has claimed in letters to mutual friends that he’s innocent, Coles said.
High Point police Maj. Jim Tate was part of the three-member investigative team that linked the murder to Coulthard. He opposes parole.
“It was one of the worst, most heinous crimes I’ve seen in High Point,” Tate said last week.
“Obviously we would be opposed to his making parole. It was a very bad case,” Guilford County District Attorney Doug Henderson said Monday.
Inmates at Pender sleep in dormitories and follow a basic routine, Wells said. Three meals, eight hours of work. They can spend leisure time in the yard and receive visitors by appointment. Educational programs are offered.
Coulthard’s life may be dull, but it’s a life — more than he allowed his wife.
Now, with his release a possibility, Coles said, the two children, in their early 20s, and his parents, who raised them in Lexington, “are scared to death.”
Who can blame them? The man coldly murdered a woman who loved and trusted him. Trusting him with freedom only 20 years later is a truly frightening idea.
The Parole Commission accepts comments from the public. Letters may influence its decsion in this case. Its address is 4222 Mail Service Center, Raleigh NC 27699-4222.
Thanks for reading. You can call me at 373-7039, email me at dgclark@news-record.com or, even better, post a comment here.
Additional notes:
Coulthard's parole review date is July 14. At that time, Parole Commission staff begins an investigation into his case. That includes receiving statements from the victim's family, other interested parties and the community at large. The offender's record of behavior is examined. Investigators look for evidence of "substantial changes in attitude," Administrator Patsy Joiner said. All factors are weighed, she said.
This process takes about 30 days. The three-member Parole Commission (as you can see, three seasoned-looking gentlemen) make a decision. If they deny parole, Coulthard's case will be reviewed again in a year. Joiner declined to estimate how often parole is granted at first eligibility or for first-degree murderers.
There is a program called Mutual Agreement Parole, which is offered in some cases. It sets certain benchmarks for an inmate to reach over a period of time. Department of Correction spokesman Keith Acree said these could include making minimum-custody status and holding a work-release job. If the inmate meets a "very long list" of requirements, Joiner said, release by a certain date is pretty much assured.
My take is it's unlikely Coulthard will be admitted into this MAP program at this time. It's hard to say what his chances of outright parole might be. One would think not very good, but his exemplary prison record certainly would count in his favor. One question: Would he pose a risk of committing other crimes if he were released? You could take the view that, no, the circumstances of his crime were unique. The same thing couldn't happen again. That's probably the wrong argument. The point is he was capable of carrying out a ruthless murder with total guile to further his own ends. The specific circumstances don't matter, because he could face another situation where someone stands in his way. Would he again be willing to use any means to remove such an obstacle or achieve his purpose? The fact that he was never expressed remorse to the family of his victim is chilling and warns that he has not been rehabilitated.
The Parole Commission is supposed to notify local District Attorney's Offices when parole review dates approach for high-profile criminals, but Guilford DA Doug Henderson said his office was not informed about Coulthard. He learned about it from me on Monday, immediately expressed opposition to parole and said he would contact the Commission that day.
The children are doing fine, Steve Coles told me. His parents raised them in Lexington. The older, a girl, is 23 and a college graduate. She works for a major corporation in North Carolina. Her younger brother turns 21 next month and attends an out-of-state university. They're good kids, their uncle says. And that's probably the only happy part of this story.
Comments (8)
To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.
Thanks Doug for bringing this to the publics attention - I knew Sandy since I was 6 yrs. old and grew up across the street from the Cole's family.
We (family and friends) have written letters to the parole board against Rob getting out - it is a very scary prospect - as you well know.
Thanks again for taking the time and effort to write this article.
V.V. Robinson
Posted on July 2, 2008 1:40 PM
Thank you, Valeria.
Sandy's father told me today he is very grateful for all the support from the Lexington community -- more than 300 letters written to the Parole Commission and petitions that have gathered 1,000 signatures.
It would be good if the commission also heard from people in High Point, where this crime took place.
Posted on July 2, 2008 1:53 PM
I received the following email from Chet Hodgin, a victims' advocate who lost two sons to violent crime, and am posting it with his permission. He's a director of the N.C. Victims Assistance Network:
http://www.nc-van.org/home/about-ncvan/
Hi Doug, Great Column this morning about the Coulthard case. Unfortunately you've only scratched the surface of the horrors that lie ahead. First off, the parole board does not consider the heinousness of the original crime. That's only up to the original judge and jury. Ms. Joiner and her Board will be considering two things; (1) What kind of prisoner has Coulthard been? Has he behaved himself? Has he created problems for the guards and staff? Has he had an abnormal amount of infractions?
and (2) How badly does the DOC need the bed? I think it's self evident that he will be released first time up although I hope an avalanche of letters from the public may delay this. Your statement that the family has a 30 minute appointment "with parole commissioners" next week is a common misconception. They will be granted an audience with Patsie Joiner who will listen to their pleas and accept any written protests. But this will be done without comment. She will then summarize the meeting and in a memo to the other Board members along with her recommendation. I'm not sure if the Parole "Board" ever meets face to face or even know each other.
Been there, done that. I was expecting to address the Board as if I were addressing the county commissioners or the town council. The family will not know what Patsie has recommended, only the final vote of the Board. Now, if by the Grace of God, he is denied parole, that's only for a year. The family will have to go through the exact same thing next year, and the next, and the next, until Coulthard is released, or dies.
This system was modified somewhat in '94 or '95 when the fair sentencing act was adopted and North Carolina eliminated parole altogether. Except the legislature put in a provision that lifers were subject to a review after 25 years by a committee appointed by the Governor. They also put in a provision that neither the judge nor the prosecutor could explain to the jury that the defendant might be freed after 25 years. (Remember how many trial lawyers were in the legislature?) This was a big help when juries were deciding between life, or death. They were comforted to hear that "life meant life". Except it was a lie, to the jury, the the victims families, and to the public.
I complained to the House and Senate judicial committees in speech in 1997 (I think) I was amazed that a lot of them did not know about this provision. I was hoping that they would allow judges and prosecutors to explain to juries that the defendant might be freed after 25 years, but they gave us an unexpected bonus: They eliminated the 25 year review. Now life means LIFE!
This of course does not help the Coulthards or my family. But at least the families of homicides committed after 1997 don't have to suffer through this travesty of justice.
Thanks for listening,
Chet
Posted on July 2, 2008 4:01 PM
Sounds like another case where the death penalty should have been applied!
Posted on July 6, 2008 6:29 PM
If a life sentence actually meant a life sentence, justice would have been done.
Posted on July 7, 2008 11:35 AM
I worked with Rob in the early 80's as a mfg. rep. @ Lane Furniture. I retired from the business in 2004.
Usually saw him several times annually at company meetings and furniture markets. Even at that time I considered him to be agressive and overly ambitious. He would do whatever it takes to make himself look good at the expense of others.
My wife and myself had the opportunity to meet Sandy at the Atlanta Market one year. Had an enjoyable conversation and found her to be a very sincere person. I understand from old friends, the Cole family is very respected in the High Point community. They have been through enough and to have this parole date thrust upon them annually is too much!
Needless to say we were both shocked when she passed away in July of I believe '83. I was on a business trip in Wilmington, NC when I saw Rob being arrested by the High Point Police on the evening news in I believe November of that year.
IMO, I feel for the crime committed; Murder, for money and greed, he should remain incarcerated for the remainder of his life.
Viewing his prison photo gives me the creeps. He has the look of a Charles Manson etc.
To keep him incarcerated this story should be brought to national attention. He reminds me of Lacy Peterson's husband, Scott.
Posted on July 13, 2008 1:43 PM
So how do we make SURE that this story DOES get national attention BEFORE Coulthard is released (an irreversible state incidentally)?
Doug Clark, is there any way for you to use your editorial "clout" to bring it to the attention of the national media particularly in light of the anniversary and the parole hearing decision just around the corner?
I have noticed that there is very little information about this case either on the internet, news or even in the local paper (probably due to the length of time since it occurred) but it seems to me that this would be the PERFECT story to bring to the surface again through something like Dateline or 48 Hours and thereby HELP raise public awareness of the potential for his release which might absolutely bring a wave of support for his continued incarceration to the attention of the parole board.
Any possibility of Doug C. getting this story to NBC, CBS or ABC national news rooms and hopefully SOON so as to make sure that the “wave” hits the board before they issue their decision?
Secondly, although Mr. Coles has said that Sandy’s children are doing well (and I am sure they are quite extraordinary), which I think speaks to the strength, courage and integrity of the entire Coles family, it has not really been mentioned that the release of Rob Coulthard could potentially be devastating to these, now adult, children who have already had so much taken from them by this monster. From Cynthia Lewis’ published thesis, Monstrous Arrogance: Husbands Who Chose Murder Over Divorce, Rob Coulthard not only systematically planned and carried out his wife’s slow and torturous murder over the course of 10 years, he also calculated and planned the “disposal” of the children to his in-laws as they were also “in his way”. Has anyone thought of the kind of vengeance or sinister designs this man has had plenty of time to concoct while sitting in prison for the last 25 years whether towards his “disposable children” or the grandparents who raised them and who have fought so hard to keep him behind bars? To my mind, THAT should be a TOP consideration of the parole board. Before releasing this man back into a community where the children he also planned to “dispose of” with little or no regard will be forever trying to heal the wound he created when he callously robbed them of their mother, the parole board should most certainly take pause and ask themselves if those two victims who have truly suffered the most in all of this should really be forced to live in a world of fear and injustice simply because the patient and calculating mind of Coulthard allowed him make it through his 25 years inside with very few infractions…. doesn’t that very behavior speak volumes to just how dangerous this man could potentially be… again?
Posted on July 24, 2008 3:58 PM
Thanks, Sheri.
I don't think this is a national story, but I do think it deserves more statewide news coverage. Besides my column, news stories have appeared in the High Point Enterprise and Lexington Dispatch. I think the public response ensures that Coulthard will not be released this year. The parole commission has been made aware of the Coles family's concerns about possible danger to the children and grandparents.
Posted on July 24, 2008 4:21 PM