Bethel Twp. death investigation: Woman killed had ‘fear for her life’

Person of interest waives extradition to Ohio, is booked into Clark County Jail,.

A Park Layne woman found dead in her home Tuesday sought a protection order against the person of interest named by authorities investigating her death and said she feared for her life and the lives of her children.

Noel Patrick Coles Jr., 48, will be arraigned this morning in Clark County Municipal Court for three counts of violation of a protection order. He was identified Tuesday as a person of interest in the death of Jacqueline Coles, a 43-year-old nurse and mother.

Noel Coles waived extradition Wednesday following his arrest Tuesday evening in Hancock County, Indiana. Clark County Sheriff’s deputies returned Coles to Ohio, according to a news release issued Wednesday night. He was booked shortly after 7 p.m. into the Clark County Jail, online records show.

Noel Patrick Coles Jr.

Credit: Hancock County, Indiana, Jail

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Credit: Hancock County, Indiana, Jail

Jacqueline Coles filed a petition Aug. 5 for an order of protection against her estranged boyfriend for herself and three children, court records state.

She stated in her protection order petition that Coles had threatened to kill her “multiple times.” She cited an incident when he was at her residence “to talk” in her backyard and covered her mouth to muffle her screaming. She said her teenaged son walked outside and saw it happen.

“I fear for my life and that of my children,” she wrote.

Jacqueline Coles was the director of nursing at Laurelwood Assisted Living in Dayton. A request for comment was forwarded to the assisted living community’s executive director.

A memorial has been erected around a tree in the front yard at 141 Weinland Street in Park Layne for Jacqueline Coles. BILL LACKEY/STAFF

Credit: Bill Lackey

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Credit: Bill Lackey

Noel Coles was arrested Tuesday evening in Hancock County, Indiana, after a deputy there spotted his car and recognized it from an all-points bulletin sent to law enforcement, Clark County Sheriff Deb Burchett said.

Clark County deputies were called Tuesday morning to Jacqueline Coles’ home in the 100 block of Weinland Street in Park Layne to check on her wellbeing. A co-worker said he was on the phone with a her around 7:30 a.m. when he heard screaming and the phone disconnected abruptly. Deputies found broken glass at the rear of the Weinland Street home, although it was unclear whether the glass was recently broken, the call disposition said.

Coles told a deputy that around 7:25 a.m. Tuesday he was near Jacqueline Coles’ house “watching the kids get on the bus,” according to an affidavit in the case.

Clark County Sheriff’s deputies and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations are investigating Jacqueline Coles’ death.

They have not said how she died; however, before Noel Coles was captured in Indiana authorities described him as “armed and dangerous.” Also not clear is whether investigators have recovered any weapons that may be involved in the case.