Vicksburg man accused in officer’s 2008 slaying
Published 1:37 pm Wednesday, November 11, 2009
A 51-year-old Vicksburg man faces a capital murder charge in the 2008 shooting death of a retired assistant police chief.
Tyler Lee Smith made his initial appearance on Monday in Warren County Circuit Court. He’s accused of killing 75-year-old Walter Cole, a Vicksburg Police Department retiree. Authorities say Cole was robbed before he was killed, which is the reason Smith was charged with capital murder.
District Attorney Richard Smith, who is not related to the suspect, says the defendant was ordered held without bond.
The Vicksburg Post reports that Cole was a military veteran who had retired as third-in-command of the police force in 1995.