On the evening of Wednesday, October 12, 2011 - 36 year old Jolene Cotes had just finished playing in a soccer tournament with her team the Spruce Grove Saints at the Edmonton Soccer Centre West in Edmonton, Alberta. After leaving the soccer centre, Jolene stopped at a local Walmart on Stony Plain Road to pick up some items and then left the Walmart at 1040pm to drive the 15-20 minute distance to the family acreage in Parkland County, just outside the city of Edmonton. The next morning on Thursday, Oct 13th around 6 am Jolene was found by her husband outside the family home in a grassy area dead with a massive gash on her head and to this day nobody knows who murdered the mother of two.
Yet in the 13 years since Jolene was murdered RCMP have said in interviews that “they don't believe robbery was a motive and that Cote was deliberately attacked”.
The unsolved murder of Jolene Cotes is still on the minds of those who new and loved her and they continue to work every day to keep Jolene’s story in the public and to bring the killer or killers to justice.
On the evening of Wednesday, October 12, 2011 - 36 year old Jolene Cotes had just finished playing in a soccer tournament with her team the Spruce Grove Saints at the Edmonton Soccer Centre West in Edmonton, Alberta. After leaving the soccer centre, Jolene stopped at a local Walmart on Stony Plain Road to pick up some items and then left the Walmart at 1040pm to drive the 15-20 minute distance to the family acreage in Parkland County, just outside the city of Edmonton. The next morning on Thursday, Oct 13th around 6 am Jolene was found by her husband outside the family home in a grassy area dead with a massive gash on her head and to this day nobody knows who murdered the mother of two.
Yet in the 13 years since Jolene was murdered RCMP have said in interviews that “they don't believe robbery was a motive and that Cote was deliberately attacked”.
The unsolved murder of Jolene Cotes is still on the minds of those who new and loved her and they continue to work every day to keep Jolene’s story in the public and to bring the killer or killers to justice.
Welcome to Haunted Canada. Hi everyone, my name is Nadine and welcome to episode 13 of Haunted Canada. If this is your first time listening to the Haunted Canada podcast, thank you for joining us, and if you are a repeat listener, I want to sincerely thank you for supporting this podcast. I truly do appreciate it. If you want to continue to support us, please take the time to follow us, give us a like and a five-star written review, as that always does help. Also, you can take the time to follow us on Facebook, instagram and TikTok for all the updates and visit our website, hauntedcanadacom.
Speaker 1:
On episode 13, we are going to talk about the unsolved murder of Jolene Coté. That happened on Wednesday, october 12, 2011,. Outside her home on an acreage in Parkland County, alberta. On the evening of Wednesday October 12, 2011, 36-year-old Jolene Cote had just finished playing in a soccer tournament with her team, the Spruce Grove Saints, at the Edmonton Soccer Centre West in Edmonton, alberta. After leaving the soccer centre, jolene stopped at the local Walmart on Stony Plain Road to pick up some items and then left the Walmart at 10 to 40 pm to drive the 15 to 20-minute distance to the family acreage in Parkland County, just outside the city of Edmonton. The next morning, on Thursday, october 13th, around 6 am, jolene was found by her husband outside the family home in a grassy area, dead with a massive gash on her head, and to this day nobody knows who murdered the mother of two. Yet in the 13 years since Jolene was murdered, rcmp have said in interviews that quote, they don't believe robbery was a motive and that Cote was deliberately attacked. Robbery was a motive and that Cote was deliberately attacked. The unsolved murder of Jolene Cote is still on the minds of those who knew and loved her and they continue to work every day to keep Jolene's story in the public and to bring the killer or killers to justice.
Speaker 1:
Jolene Maria Knapp was born in White Court, alberta, in 1975 and was the New Year's baby that year with a beautiful picture of baby Jolene and her mom Dorothy in the White Court Star, with a local paper writing that Jolene Maria was born at 8.58 am, weighing 8 pounds and 8 ounces, to Mr and Mrs Ron Knapp. She is a sister to Rhonda, aged 22 months. It is a naturally beautiful picture of a wonderful mother, dorothy, looking down lovingly holding her new baby girl, jolene. The family grew to be four girls, including Jolene, and they all lived in White Court for many years and this would have been a beautiful and quiet place to raise a family. By 1989, the family moved to Edmonton, the capital city of Alberta, which is where Jolene began high school. Jolene has been described in many articles that I've read as being a kind and caring daughter and sister, a person who is dedicated to her education, with her focus and goal of being a teacher one day. Jolene made her dream come true as she attended the University of Alberta, graduating in 1996. Jolene's mom, dorothy, said in a 2020 CTV interview that quote she always knew she was going to be a teacher. It was like right from the time she was little she knew.
Speaker 1:
Jolene married Michael Cote, known as Mike, and they had two beautiful children, aiden and Addison. Mike was a carpenter by trade and Jolene was teaching in Spruce Grove when the two began to build their beautiful dream home on an acreage in Parkland County in 2010. Jolene was a busy person from being a mother, wife, teacher and an athlete, and had been teaching at the Greystone Centennial Middle School in Spruce Grove for the three years prior to her death. Jolene was an amazing teacher and everyone loved her. She had a positive impact on the lives of her students. From the many articles that I have read, there have been dozens of quotes from teachers who worked with Jolene and the students that she taught who have spoken about the positive impact she had on their lives and what an amazing and wonderful teacher, friend and mentor she was. One of the former students. Sarah is quoted in a CTV interview from 2020 saying that quote Teachers make an impact for the rest of your life and that's so evident with Jolene. She was one of the reasons I became a teacher. Another former student, haley, said in the same interview that quote she's somebody that you always remember. She's one of the teachers that inspires you to do better things in life.
Speaker 1:
The death of such a beloved teacher really shocked the students and staff at Greystone Centennial Middle School in Spruce Grove. The principal of the school in 2011, mrs Cameron, was quoted in a news article as saying that the difference between a good teacher and an excellent teacher is a teacher that's able to reach those hard-to-reach kids, to make the time to help them see the potential that they have, and Jolene did that with kids. Those kids will remember her. The most important thing that stands out to me and our colleagues, students and the families is Jolene's relationships and how she put herself in every situation and every experience with people. On Friday, october 14, 2011, just one day after Jolene Cote was murdered, an assembly was held at the Greystone Centennial Middle School in Spruce Grove to talk to the students of Jolene Cote's death. The school also had a critical incident response team there to help the students deal with the tragic news about such a beloved teacher. This would have been a difficult day for everyone at the school. The funeral for Jolene Cote was held on Friday, october 21, 2011, at the West Meadows Baptist Church, with hundreds of people attending the service to pay their respects. Jolene's school, the Greystone Centennial Middle School, completely shut down so that all students, co-workers and fellow teachers could attend the services, with fellow teachers serving as an honor guard during the service, which is such a beautiful tribute. In Jolene's obituary, the family requested that, in lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations to be made to the Jolene Côté Memorial Trust Fund. The fund has been established as a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for committing this horrible crime.
Speaker 1:
Jolene was described as a natural athlete who was very competitive and always involved in different activities, including baseball and handball. When, in her 30s, jolene took up soccer and played on a local team, the Spruce Grove Saints, this would have been another way for Jolene to show her athletic side, while also getting an opportunity to get out of the house, exert some energy and just have fun with some other women. Even Jolene's teammates described her as super athletic, bubbly and enthusiastic. I can relate to this, as that's the very reason that I got back into playing soccer in my 30s, and I look forward to playing every Friday and Saturday night with my team, and I'm sure Jolene looked forward to the nights that she played as well. Back in 2011, there were three main indoor soccer facilities the Edmonton Soccer Center, west, east and Central and on any given night, any one of these soccer centres was usually filled with teams playing, from children's teams, female teams and men's teams, ranging from ages and all skill levels. Any night that I've ever been at any of the soccer centres over the years for myself or for my children's games every field has always been filled with teens practicing or playing games, one after another. Women's soccer, of course, is meant to be fun. You're not playing in the World Cup or anything like that. It's truly just a time to have fun with other women, your friends who are there to play soccer, who might have either grown up playing soccer like myself or, like Jolene, took it up in the 30s.
Speaker 1:
The soccer community is a tight-knit family, and when Jolene was murdered just after playing soccer that very night, it shook the soccer community to its core. As I remember, it was something that me and my teammates spoke about often. How could this have happened? How could a mother of two who was playing in a soccer tournament one night leave to go home and be murdered in her driveway? It just didn't make any sense to anyone. On the last day that Jolene was alive, wednesday October 12, 2011, jolene would have had a normal day at her job as a grade 9 teacher at the Greystone Centennial Middle School in Spruce Grove.
Speaker 1:
Teacher at the Greystone Centennial Middle School in Spruce Grove, jolene knew that she was playing in the championship game that night that was scheduled to start at 7 pm on Field 4 at the Edmonton Soccer Center West, about a 15 to 20 minute drive from the family's home on an acreage in Parkland County. This is a soccer complex that I'm very familiar with. However, while Jolene's team, the Spruce Grove Saints were women's classic division 1B, the team that I played on Blue Crush. We were classics division 2C. So while we may have been in the same soccer center playing games, we would never have played against each other as we were in different divisions. But I do remember seeing the Spruce Grove Saints and their classic green uniforms playing and they were really good. They were fast, precise, with the ball always protecting the goalie, passing with such perfection.
Speaker 1:
Jolene's soccer game started at 7 pm that night and in my experience as a player, you always try to schedule yourself to arrive at the soccer center about 30 minutes before the start of the game, if possible. I know with my team that 30 minutes prior that time was used to unwind, get dressed, stretch, play some music in the locker room, have some laughs with your friends and get ready as a team to get mentally prepared, and I'm sure that that was the same for Jolene's team. With this schedule, jolene would have left her home somewhere between 6 pm and 6.15 pm to arrive at the soccer center west at 6.30 pm. From my memories of playing in the eminent soccer complex on the west end of the city, it's a standard procedure you walk into the building, you show your soccer team ID card and then you usually look up at the TV screen to see what field your team is playing on and what dressing room your team has been assigned. Or sometimes you are walking in with your teammates and your coach might be waiting in the center area directing the players to the assigned dressing room. When, as a player, you walk into the dressing room, everyone always lets out a big hello to whoever walks through that door and it's always a great sense of friendship and camaraderie. I can imagine that that was the same for Jolene, walking in and having everybody say hello to her and having that sense of getting ready to go out on the field and give it your all. Then, as it gets closer to game time, you wait for the previous team to get off the field, for your team to go on. You have a little bit of a warm-up and then the game begins.
Speaker 1:
Jolene and her teammates, the Spruce Grove Saints, were playing in the Ken Attenberry tournament that Wednesday evening. That would have been a really exciting night for everybody on the team To make it to the gold medal game in a tournament that shows the team's hard work and dedication to the sport. I remember the butterflies that I would often get in my stomach driving to the soccer arena for any tournaments that I played in, and the excitement in the dress room and how everybody was all pumped up getting ready to go out there and win and again. I can just imagine that that's how Jolene's team felt that very night. During regular games and, of course, during championship games, sometimes family members of the players do come and sit up in the stands to watch. I remember there was a few times when my husband and our kids, who were very young at the time, would come to watch a couple of my games. It wasn't a regular occurrence because in 2011, my kids were small ages 9 and 7, similar in age to Jolene's kids back in 2011. So over the years it wasn't really a regular occurrence that my husband and the kids would come and watch me play, because usually my husband was at home with the kids when I went to play soccer.
Speaker 1:
For this particular championship game, jolene's husband, mike said in an Eminent Journal article from 2013 that quote he planned to go to the soccer game but decided not to because it was late and their four-year-old daughter was cranky. Instead, he says he told his wife to wake him as she felt like celebrating, and later he fell asleep. Reading to the two children in the couple's bed, mike said I love you, good luck. And that was the last time he talked to her. So Jolene played in the tournament that night and her team, the Spruce Grove Saints, won gold. The excitement that the ladies must have had after winning would have been amazing. There was a team photo taken after the win and you can see the pure joy and happiness on all the ladies' faces as they celebrated together as a team after all their hard work. In the picture Jolene is second from the right, on the top row, wearing her green jersey, her blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, and she stands out because she's the tallest. She is beaming with pride and happiness, surrounded by her teammates and coach.
Speaker 1:
After the game, many players will often head upstairs to the lounge, gather around and have a drink, something to eat and talk about the game and have a few laughs with friends to celebrate a win or commiserate a loss For Jolene's team. They were definitely celebrating their win that night with some cake. I have gone up to that lounge after many games when I played and I can understand why players, including Jolene, would have done that, as Jolene was a busy mother of two. It's a great time to hang out with your teammates, let off some steam and celebrate their win, talk with your friends about work, kids, your lives. Before everybody gets ready to head home. After some celebrating and some cake, jolene would have said goodbye to her teammates and left the Edmondon Soccer Centre west and climbed into her 2002 Silver Jeep Liberty to head home.
Speaker 1:
After driving away from the soccer center, it has been well documented that Jolene stopped at the nearby Walmart. The distance from the West Soccer Center to the Walmart on Stony Plain Road is only about a five to six minute drive, and I'm sure a drive that Jolene would have made many times before. The police have released security video from Walmart that shows Jolene would have made many times before. The police have released security video from Walmart that shows Jolene entering the Walmart at 9.51 pm. In the video you can see Jolene entering the Walmart pushing a shopping cart with her blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, just like it was in the team photo that was taken that very night. Jolene spent the next 46 minutes shopping buying groceries and Christmas presents for her 6-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter when, at 10.37 pm. She is seen on the video surveillance walking out of the Walmart with her shopping cart full of items. Jolene would have walked out into the Walmart parking lot to her vehicle and loaded the items in the back trunk to drive home to the family's property in Parkland County, just a 15 to 20 minute drive away. If the timeline is consistent, jolene should have pulled into the driveway on her family's acreage around 11 pm or a little bit after 11 pm and of course at that time of night it would have been very dark.
Speaker 1:
The family home is a two-story house with a double car garage that was still under construction that the Cotes had begun building the previous year, while there are other estate subdivisions in that area with houses closer together. The Cotes home was on a corner lot between Range Road 264 and Township Road 523A in Parkland County and it was very private For the driveway. You would turn in and then go left up the gravel driveway to get to the front of the house, and this area was very private as it was surrounded by trees with a lake off in the distance. This was more of a holding pond and not a lake that anybody could swim or fish in. In the driveway was the family's camper trailer, a kid's small plastic basketball net and a pumpkin by the front door.
Speaker 1:
When Mike woke up in the early morning he was surprised that Jolene was not in the bed with him and that the kids were still there. Mike said that usually Jolene would carry the kids back to their own beds at night. Mike said that quote. Mike said that quote. He then brought Jolene into the house and around 6.05, mike called 911. Mike said that I have never felt skin so cold. I didn't know what to do, how to protect her. I brought her in and put a blanket on her. I put a towel on her head. She had a big gash on her head. At 6.20 am police and ambulance arrived at the family acreage in Parkland County where Jolene Cote was pronounced dead, with Jolene's blood found inside and outside the family home. The next day the medical examiner determined the 36-year-old mother, teacher and athlete was the victim of a homicide, with the police saying in a CTV interview that we do believe the murder happened outdoors. The 911 call that Mike Cote made that morning has never been released as per any homicide investigation.
Speaker 1:
The police and search crew went through the family home and surrounding area searching for evidence as to what had happened to Jolene and who murdered her. On Saturday, october 15th, just two days after Jolene was murdered, parkland Search and Rescue were doing a grid search of the area and also searched the lake that was close to the Cote home. That same lake was searched again on June 6th 2016, five years after Jolene was murdered. The RCMP underwater recovery team from British Columbia wanted to ensure that they hadn't missed anything and to see if there was anything in the lake, by dragging the bottom of the lake and searching it with a metal detector. Yet, for all the investigating and searching that was done, this is where the case went cold. Yet, for all the investigating and searching that was done, this is where the case went cold. The search for the person or persons who murdered 36-year-old Jolene is still ongoing to this day, two years after Jolene's murder.
Speaker 1:
Mike Cote said in a 2013 Eminent Journal interview that quote I've gone over that night for two years. There's not a night that doesn't go by that I don't stand up and look out the window and ask what the hell happened? Why didn't I wake up? Why wasn't I there to protect her? It feels like you're living a nightmare. Mike went on to say in that same 2013 interview that quote he knows police and possibly others in the community consider him a suspect and property. For days, mike said quote they went through my bank accounts, computers, phones. You feel absolutely violated and the only thing I can tell myself is they're doing their job and that's the only thing that gets me from not getting too angry with them. What happened when Jolene arrived home that evening after her soccer game that caused her death? Was there a person or persons waiting for her? Was she attacked? Was it robbery? All logical questions that would come to any person's mind.
Speaker 1:
As of the recording of this podcast, it has been 13 years since the murder of Jolene Cote and there have been numerous interviews over the murder of Jolene Cote and there have been numerous interviews over the years with RCMP and the family surrounding her death. From all the articles and interviews that I have read, the RCMP have made direct statements regarding this case. Some of the things that they have said are, quote they believe the killer knew Cote, but won't share what evidence led them to that theory. They also said that the RCMP have never released the cause of Jolene's death and won't say what weapon was involved, but police have been noted as saying quote investigators are still looking for specific items. The RCMP have also said that quote this is not an interrupted, random crime in progress. This was a targeted event.
Speaker 1:
As the years have passed, family and friends have done their best to keep Jolene's memory alive by hosting different events. One is the annual Jolene Cote Memorial Soccer Tournament that started in 2012. One of the committee members of the tournament and Jolene's coach, alexander, said in a 2023 interview with the Grove Examiner that quote it's important that our memory is not forgotten. For those of us who knew Jolene, the fact that her murder is still unsolved is really uncomfortable for us. We're hoping the tournament could jog somebody's memory so that they could come forward with information that could help out. Alexander had coached Cote on the Spruce Grove Saints classic team in the two years prior to her death and described her as a popular teacher and coach, a really good athlete and a wonderful teammate. The Jolene Cote Memorial Soccer Tournament Committee decided that proceeds from the annual tournament would be donated each year to Kids Sport Parkland, an organization close to Cote's heart as a mother, teacher and coach who greatly valued sports and athleticism.
Speaker 1:
Another event that the family puts on every year is the Jolene Cote Memorial Walk that begins at the Greystone Centennial Middle School, where Jolene was a grade nine teacher. They do this event to bring awareness to this unsolved murder. In a 2018 interview with Global News, jolene's mom, dorothy, said in an interview that quote the memorial walk was to bring awareness that justice has not been served and to honor Jolene's memory and the life that she led. The memorial walk is a time for family, friends, colleagues and former students of Jolene's to get together to keep her memory alive, to let everybody know that they haven't forgotten about her and that the person or persons have still not been held accountable for her death. To keep her memory alive, to let everybody know that they haven't forgotten about her and that the person or persons have still not been held accountable for her death.
Speaker 1:
So, from all the information that we've discussed about what happened on the evening of Wednesday, october 12th 2011, when Jolene was murdered, let's put together some of our own theories of what may have happened. Again, this is just me thinking out loud with you, the listener, about some of the scenarios, with theories of things that possibly could have happened that evening, against the information that we've discussed so far. Theory 1. Was Jolene targeted. Was there somebody watching Jolene at the soccer game who then followed her home? Or was there somebody watching Jolene at the soccer game who then followed her home? Or was there somebody watching Jolene at Walmart and then followed her home, where she was attacked and murdered outside the family home? Rcmp determined that Cote wasn't followed and they don't believe that it was a random attack, as the RCMP did say in the 2018 interview during the Jolene Coté memorial walk. That quote this was not an interrupted, random crime in process. This was a targeted event.
Speaker 1:
So if somebody was targeting Jolene, they would need to know where she lived. They would need to know what time she would arrive home that evening from the soccer game. Did this person or persons know that she was even playing soccer that night? Were they at the game that night and did they follow her home? Or were they waiting for her when she arrived home? And how would the person or persons that attacked her that night if it was a targeted attack, how would they know that she would be by herself? Because, again remember, jolene's husband, mike, and the kids were supposed to go watch or play soccer that night, but plans changed and they didn't go, with Mike staying home with her two young kids aged 6 and 4.
Speaker 1:
We know from everything that's been put out from the police over the years in newspaper articles and TV interviews that Jolene pulled into her gravel driveway, parked in front of the garage, with the family camper trailer to the left. Jolene got out of her 2002 four-door silver Jeep Liberty and went to the back of the vehicle and opened the back trunk For her vehicle. You would have to open the trunk door, with it swinging open to the left, and then swing up the glass. This is what any of us would do if we were getting ready to take groceries and parcels out of the trunk to bring them inside. When I went back and looked at the video footage from that day, you can still see the gray Walmart bags the plastic ones still in the back trunk of her vehicle. So I would assume that she was getting ready to take out the groceries out of the trunk and bring them into the house.
Speaker 1:
When she was attacked by a person or persons. It is known that she wasn't found next to her vehicle on the gravel driveway. She was found a little bit of a ways away from the vehicle, next to the driveway in a grassy area. So Jolene opened the trunk, as seen in the pictures, and at this, what happened? Did somebody come up from behind her and attack her as she's getting ready to take the groceries out of the trunk? Or was she surprised? Was she grabbed? Did a struggle happen? Or did she have a few grocery bags in her hands and was walking towards the home when she was attacked? Or did she have a few grocery bags in her hands and was walking towards the front door when she was attacked? We know that she was attacked, which led to her having a big gash on her forehead. What kind of gash was it and what kind of object or instrument was used to make that gash? That information has never been released by the police. Is this what the police were potentially looking for when they searched the lake that was next to the Cote home several times, One time searching it with a metal detector, rcmp determined that Jolene was not followed and they did not believe that she was randomly attacked, so investigators started looking into somebody who might have had a grudge.
Speaker 1:
So investigators started looking into somebody who might have had a grudge. This was a theory that Mike Cote spoke about in his 2013 Edmond Journal interview when he said that quote. There were two people arrested on his driveway in the summer and police never told him why. He says he also wonders whether Jolene could have been killed by a student. Sergeant Zajulak said in a CTV 2020 interview that what they found is that there are no former students, associates, anyone who would have had anything but glowing and positive things to say about Jolene. So we know that Jolene was targeted, as the police have said, but the biggest question is who targeted her?
Speaker 1:
Theory 2. Was Jolene robbed or did she interrupt somebody who was robbing her property? Did somebody see Jolene at Walmart and decide to follow her home, attack her and try to rob her outside of her home? It is also known that nothing was stolen. Tried to rob her outside of her home? It is also known that nothing was stolen. Jolene's purse and phone were still in the car and the items that Jolene purchased at Walmart were still in the back trunk of her vehicle.
Speaker 1:
In a 2020 CTV interview, police said that initially, police reported Cote's jewelry was missing, suggesting a possible robbery. Yet it was later determined that this wasn't the case. Rcmp said that Jolene didn't normally wear jewelry when taking part in sports and that the evidence outside the home did not support the theory of robbery. However, what this evidence was has never been released by police, so we know that Jolene didn't have any jewelry on and nothing was stolen. I can also relate to this because whenever I would go and play my soccer games, I would always take my jewelry off and leave it at home on my bathroom counter, because when you're playing, you're not allowed to have any jewelry on no rings, earrings or watches, nothing like that. So for me it was easier just to leave it at home, which is what I assume Jolene did as well. So this makes sense to me, while other players do take their jewelry off and just leave it in the dressing room, so both ways can work.
Speaker 1:
Or, when she pulled into the driveway on the acreage, did she surprise a person or persons who could have been potentially trying to break into the home or steal something belonging to the family? As Mike Cote did state in the 2013 Edmonton Journal interview that quote, there were two people arrested on his driveway in the summer and the police have never told him why. It is also well known in Alberta that theft and robberies from acreages in the middle of the night and daytime are very common and on the rise. We have all seen the videos of it happening, not only in the city but outside, on the acreages. The RCMP also said in a 2020 interview that quote there were other valuables, such as her purse and her cell phone, that were in plain view and those weren't disturbed or taken and we don't believe that it was a robbery or a theft interrupted. So, from everything that the police have said, they do not believe that it was a theft or robbery.
Speaker 1:
Interrupted Theory 3. Someone intentionally murdered Jolene Cote. Who would have wanted to murder Jolene? She was a well-liked, respected teacher, loved by her co-workers, a busy mother of two very small children ages 6 and 4. Life was busy for her, between work and taking care of the children and her extracurricular activities, like soccer, as well as any sports or activities that the kids might have been doing as well. Who would have wanted to murder Jolene? Soccer, as well as any sports or activities that the kids might have been doing as well. Who would have wanted to murder Jolene?
Speaker 1:
The police have stated that it was a targeted event and a highly emotional crime. Who was waiting on the family acreage to murder Jolene? Was the murderer hiding somewhere on the family property in the darkness waiting for Jolene to drive up the driveway. Where were they hiding? Behind the house? In the trees? Behind the camper? And again, the biggest question is if someone was targeting Jolene to murder her, how did they know what time she'd be home and that she would be by herself?
Speaker 1:
Yet we do know that the RCMP have stated many things in different interviews that narrow the thought process. Police have stated that she was targeted. They believe the killer knew Cote, but won't share what evidence led them to that theory. That it was not robbery, that this was not an interrupted, random crime in progress, that it was a targeted event. The evidence at the scene suggests to us that this was not an interrupted, random crime in progress, that it was a targeted event. The evidence at the scene suggests to us that this was a highly emotional crime and that there is an emotional link. What we do know is that Jolene arrived home that night, got out of her vehicle and at some point was murdered. She was found the next morning dead in a grassy area next to the gravel driveway with a big gash on her head, with the police declaring it was a homicide. But again, this is where the case goes cold, as Mike Cote found his wife's body, he was questioned as this would have been the normal procedure.
Speaker 1:
Mike spoke about this interview process in a 2013 Edmonton Journal interview, saying that quote he knows police and possibly others in the community consider him a suspect right from day one. That's the first thing the police told me. I feel sick thinking about it. I can't let it bother me. The people who are close to me and know me know the kind of relationship we had. The people who are close to me and know me know the kind of relationship we had. In a CTV article from October 16, 2020, just four years ago. Police did state in that interview that Mike Cote was not ruled out as a suspect. Also in that article it states that quote Documents from a court case involving Jolene Cote's life insurance payouts include an RCMP letter to the court in June 2014 indicating that Mike Cote has not been eliminated as a suspect in his wife's homicide.
Speaker 1:
Staff Sergeant Zazulak told CTV News that still had not changed. In the same 2020 CTV News article, it also included other information from the police that stated that quote. There's additional questions and additional information that we would like to pursue with Mike Cote. Rcmp said that Cote cooperated with the investigation initially, but that he has since moved to Mexico with the couple's two children, has remarried and is no longer in contact with investigators. Rcmp said that quote the last time we actually had a conversation with Mike Cote would go back a couple of years.
Speaker 1:
Mountie said Mike Cote also refused to take a polygraph. Mountie said Mike Cote also refused to take a polygraph, commonly known as a lie detector test. It is also important to note that the RCMP did state in the 2020 CTV interview that quote Mike Cote has never been arrested or charged and has never been publicly named as a suspect. He has a legal right to refuse to answer questions from police or take a polygraph For the news article. Ctv did reach out via text message to Mike Cote to ask for an interview on the case. Mike declined that request.
Speaker 1:
As each year passes, the family of Jolene Cote do their best to keep her memory alive. And as life moves forward, that does not mean that the brutal murder has been forgotten. Jolene's mom, dorothy, said in a 2016 Edmund Journal article that quote the person who murdered Jolene must be without conscience. Living and enjoying life while Jolene's family serves a life sentence, living with the devastation of her murder, while Jolene's family serves a life sentence, living with the devastation of her murder. It's disappointing that no one has been held accountable, but I believe eventually they will be, not only in this life, but also in the afterlife, when the ultimate justice will be served and that brings me a bit of peace. Jolene will always be missing from her family and her children cannot have their mother back. No form of justice will change that. Jolene's mom, dorothy, is also quoted in a 2016 Eminent Journal article as saying some very heartful and poignant words that really sum up, I'm sure, how everybody's feeling. Dorothy said that quote. We have many great memories of Jolene, but my thoughts are always haunted by the unknown details of her brutal murder. She didn't deserve to die and her innocent children didn't deserve to have lost their mother at the hands of an evil person. All of our lives have changed forever.
Speaker 1:
I wanted to cover the Jolene Cote case on this podcast, from the connection that we both shared, from our love of soccer, and to bring light to this unsolved murder that should have never happened to such a wonderful person. If you have any information about the murder of Jolene Cote, please call the Spruce Grove RCMP at 780-962-2222. Or you can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS, that's 1-800-222-8477. Well everyone, that is the end of Episode 13 of Haunted Canada, and I would like to sincerely thank each and every person for taking the time to listen. I truly do appreciate it. If you have enjoyed this podcast, please take the time to give it a like, a five-star review and a written review, as that always does help. Also, please take the time to follow us on Facebook, instagram and TikTok and tell a friend about this podcast. Again, thank you for your continued support. I truly do appreciate it. Have a good evening, everyone, and stay safe. You.