Man convicted in 1999 ranger killing dies in Oregon prison

Associated Press

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A 75-year-old man has died in hospice care at the Oregon State Penitentiary while serving a life sentence without parole for the kidnapping and shooting of two Oregon park rangers in 1999. Corrections officials did not specify Larry Cole’s cause of death. The Oregonian/OregonLive reported Monday that Cole had been convicted in 2001 for kidnapping and shooting the two rangers, Danny Blumenthal and John Kerwin. Blumenthal died of his injuries; Kerwin survived. Cole had told the jury he was framed. Cole had also served a decade in prison in the ‘70s and ’80s for kidnapping a Virginia real estate agent.