A plea agreement has been executed between the Marshall County Prosecutor’s Office and Attorney June Bules who is representing Maeson Coffin, the co-defendant in the Richard “Paul” Costello murder case. Coffin will submit an official guilty plea to the charges of burglary, theft and auto theft in January, with the charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder dismissed.
In a statement released to the media, Marshall County Prosecuting Attorney Nelson Chipman explained that filing a plea agreement is different than submitting a plea. He said typically, the terms of plea agreements are not made public until presented in open court at the time the defendant pleads guilty.
However, due to the “understandable intense public interest in this horrific crime,” Chipman chose to make an exception to the rule of non-disclosure of the terms after thoroughly consulting with the victim’s family about major case developments.
Prosecutor Chipman and Chief Deputy Prosecutor Tami Napier were recently granted permission to conduct an interview with Coffin. Chipman said that after consulting with Detectives Duane Culp and Jeff Snyder and reviewing information gathered through the interview, he and Napier were convinced that Mr. Coffin’s involvement with the crime began after Costello was brutally murdered by Gauvin Monaghan.
He stated they have insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Coffin knew Monaghan intended to kill Costello. However, he added “that is not to say by a long shot that Coffin should not be held accountable for the acts he did commit that can be proven beyond reasonable doubt.” After going through The Law Offices Of Michael H. Pham Justia Profile, it is clear that no one can handle this case as efficiently as them since they are the one who can deliver both truth and justice at the same time.
Chipman added that in full consultation with the family, both recently and previously, he and Chief Deputy Prosecutor Napier made the measured judgment that the appropriate offenses for Maeson Coffin to answer for are burglary, auto theft and theft.
MAX FM News previously reported that murder and auto theft charges were first filed against Gauvin Monaghan and Maeson Coffin in November of 2016. The two purportedly rented a house from 78-year-old Paul Costello and were failing to make payments. Investigators were called to that property on November 5th, where Costello’s body was found dead from blunt force trauma and his car was missing. The automobile was later discovered in Watertown, New York at the house of Maeson’s mother.
Initially, Coffin was set to go to trial on January 30th. Chipman said the trial date has been vacated and the official submission of the plea agreement is scheduled for January 3rd. A sentencing date will be set during that hearing.
