Murder suspect arrested in Sagle

SANDPOINT — An Oregon man who relocated to Sagle after his wife disappeared more than two years ago was arrested Thursday and charged with her murder.

Brian Charles Cole’s arrest came two days after the remains of Heather Dawn Mallory Cole’s remains were discovered east of Estacada, Ore. The cause of her death has not been disclosed.

Rod Underhill, chief deputy district attorney for Multnomah County, Ore., said evidence discovered with the remains connected 37-year-old Brian Cole to his wife’s slaying. Underhill declined to elaborate.

“The investigation has been ongoing for two years,” Underhill said after a closed-door hearing at the Bonner County Courthouse on Friday.

The nature of the proceedings was not disclosed, although search warrant hearings are typically held behind closed doors.

Underhill was joined in the hearing by investigators from the Portland Police Department.

Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall said Cole has no pending criminal matters in Idaho. Chief Deputy Prosecutor Phil Robinson said Cole has waived extradition to Oregon, meaning he will not challenge his return to that jurisdiction to face the murder charge.

Underhill declined to say if Cole made any remarks upon his arrest.

Heather Cole, 32, was last seen on March 8, 2008, following an argument with her husband at their former apartment in southeast Portland, according to print and television media accounts.

There was no credit card, bank account or mobile phone activity after her disappearance, and the red Ford Focus she left the apartment in was later discovered abandoned.

Brian Cole denied involvement in his wife’s disappearance when he was questioned by police, although he failed a polygraph examination, investigators told Portland TV station KGW. He made similar denials during TV interviews.

The parents of Heather Cole said the couple had a strained, four-year marriage, The Oregonian reported. The newspaper further reported that Heather Cole had filed a restraining order against her husband, describing him in court documents as a “ticking time bomb with loads of anger festering inside of him.”

Cole, and the couple’s young son, River, moved to Bonner County after police searched their Portland apartment last year.

Underhill said Cole was detained at his Gun Club Road home and taken to the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office, where he was arrested. Deputies and regional FBI agents were involved in the arrest.

Underhill was grateful for the help of local law enforcement and the prosecutor’s office.

“We received a substantial amount of assistance from Louis’s office,” he said.