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Cocktail of drugs in system of man killed

Scott Cole’s toxicology report showed a cocktail of drugs in his system that defense claimed could have led him to the bizarre behavior his killer claimed he saw.

Cocaine, alcohol, marijuana, methadone, amphetamines and alprazolam came back positive in Cole’s blood during an autopsy administered after the 36-year-old victim was found with 35 stab wounds on the 300 block of Locust Street last year.

During the fifth day of the trial on Friday, County First Assistant Public Defender Nicole Spring called to the stand forensic and neuropathologist William Cox, who wrote a report on his findings in Cole’s blood.

Cole’s blood contained lethal levels of methadone and a number of chemicals that would have reacted together in his body, Cox said.

Williams testified earlier in the trial that he had attacked Cole early in the morning on June 22 after he woke to Cole in his home, touching his body. Williams explained that when he looked in Cole’s eyes, he didn’t see the man he knew.

“(Could) bizarre, aggressive behavior be consistent with the toxicological findings?” Spring asked Cox. Cox agreed, saying that behavior like that seen at Williams’ home that night could particularly be true for someone who was mixing so many drugs together.

The prosecution, First Assistant District Attorney Martin Wade, responded by asking Cox if it was possible that the number of drugs in Cole’s body could have also led him to be barely conscious, to which Cox also agreed.

Friday was the last day of the trial for the parties to show evidence. Monday is scheduled to be the last day of Williams’ trial in Lycoming County Court.

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