Nicholas Stanley was found guilty of killing Allen Cogswell after arguing that intense rage over Cogswell’s past abuse drove the shooting.
GOSHEN, IN — An Elkhart County jury found Nicholas Stanley guilty of murder Friday in the 2025 shooting death of Allen Cogswell, a convicted sex offender who had sexually abused one of Stanley’s relatives.
Stanley, 36, was convicted in the June 24, 2025, killing at the Daylite Inn on Cassopolis Street in Elkhart. The verdict followed a five-day trial in which Stanley admitted killing Cogswell but his defense sought to argue that he acted in “sudden heat,” a legal theory that could have supported a voluntary manslaughter conviction. Elkhart Circuit Court Judge Michael Christofeno declined to give jurors that option, finding the evidence did not support the lesser offense.
Cogswell, 35, had been released from prison in May 2025 after serving years for a child molestation conviction. Court records and authorities established that Stanley was related to the victim in that earlier case. The relationship between the two cases became a central part of Stanley’s explanation for the killing, though prosecutors argued Cogswell’s criminal history did not legally justify his death.
Stanley testified in his own defense Thursday. He said he initially intended to confront and assault Cogswell rather than kill him. Stanley testified that his anger became overwhelming after he saw Cogswell through a motel window. He then returned to his vehicle, retrieved a shotgun and went back to Cogswell’s room before fatally shooting him.
The defense argued that Stanley’s emotional state supported a “sudden heat” theory. Christofeno rejected that argument before the case went to the jury. The judge found that Stanley’s actions, including leaving the area of the room to retrieve the gun and then returning, provided time for reflection and did not support allowing jurors to consider voluntary manslaughter as a lesser offense.
Prosecutors argued the sequence of events instead showed deliberate action. During closing arguments, Deputy Prosecutor Ashley Faire pointed to Stanley’s own testimony and argued that anger toward Cogswell did not make the killing legally justified. Defense attorney Vincent Campiti argued that prosecutors had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Stanley knowingly committed murder and described his client as acting on “auto-pilot” during the shooting.
Evidence presented by prosecutors also included information about Stanley’s movements before the killing. Reporting on the trial said the state presented location evidence indicating Stanley left his phone at home and emphasized the distance he traveled to retrieve the firearm. Prosecutors used those circumstances to challenge the defense argument that the shooting resulted from an uncontrollable, immediate reaction.
The investigation began after Cogswell was found fatally shot at the Daylite Inn. Authorities reviewed surveillance footage from businesses near the motel and identified a man traveling between a maroon SUV and the area of the motel around the time of the shooting. Investigators later connected the vehicle and images from the surveillance footage to Stanley. Authorities also learned that a shotgun was missing from a residence associated with Stanley.
Stanley later publicly admitted killing Cogswell in an interview while jailed before trial. At trial, prosecutors also challenged claims that Cogswell had posed a new threat to the relative after leaving prison. Elkhart County Prosecutor Vicki Becker said after the verdict that Cogswell had not attempted to contact the family following his release. Her statement disputed a narrative that she said had circulated publicly before the trial.
While jurors were deliberating, Stanley admitted to a firearm enhancement connected to the murder, according to Becker. The enhancement can add up to 20 years to his sentence. Stanley is scheduled to be sentenced by Christofeno on Oct. 22. Until then, the murder conviction and firearm enhancement leave the length of his prison term to be determined at sentencing.
Author note: Last updated Sept. 26, 2026.