A Bensalem man was found guilty of robbing an elderly Bristol Township couple this week.
According to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, William Cottrell, 30, of Bensalem, as found guilty by a jury on Wednesday of first-degree felony burglary, two counts each of first- and second-degree felony robbery, one count of aggravated assault and one count of simple assault. The conviction came after the jury deliberated for nearly four hours after a three-day trial at the Justice Center in Doylestown.
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Sentencing for Cottrell has been deferred by Judge Rea B. Boylan so a pre-sentence investigation can be conducted.
More from the district attorney’s office:
On June 16, 2012, Cottrell accosted 70-year-old Fox McClure as he returned to his home at approximately 2 a.m. He forced Mr. McClure into the house, struck him twice in the head with the butt of a handgun, and robbed him of about $200.
Disguised in a dark cap, a hooded sweatshirt and a black bandana covering his face, the robber forced Mr. McClure into a bedroom, where he demanded that his wife, Willie Mae McClure, 65, remove money from a safe.
Mrs. McClure, dressed in a nightgown, gave Cottrell a bag of old, valuable coins from the safe. Cottrell then pointed his semi-automatic handgun at her face and demanded more money.
When Mrs. McClure insisted that there was no more money in the house, Cottrell, still pointing the gun, ordered her to face away from him. She refused, telling Cottrell that he would have to look her in the face if he was going to shoot her.
Cottrell then fled on foot. The couple called police and gave officers a description of the assailant.
Cottrell made his way from the Bloomsdale section of Bristol Township to a back yard on Beaver Dam Road, where he encountered a resident who had heard him and had seen police lights outside. Cottrell offered to give the resident money to stay quiet before disappearing over a stockade security fence.
A police dog was able to track Cottrell’s scent to the Beaver Dam Road neighborhood, but officers were unable to locate him.
Later that day, the man who had encountered Cottrell in his back yard found a black hooded sweatshirt and a dark baseball cap concealed under the deck of his above-ground pool. Inside a pocket of the sweatshirt was a black bandana.
DNA samples were taken from the hat and bandana. Eventually police were able to match DNA found on the hat to Cottrell’s DNA, which had been entered into a law enforcement database as a result of Cottrell’s prior convictions on felony drug charges. DNA on the bandana was also consistent with Cottrell’s DNA.
In addition to the DNA evidence, accurate descriptions of Cottrell’s clothing, his build, and his eyes – which could be seen above the bandana – were given by the victims, Deputy District Attorney Christopher Rees told the jury.
Those descriptions were consistent with information given to police by the man who encountered Cottrell in his back yard, where the hat, bandana and sweatshirt were found. Burrs were found on the sweatshirt, most likely picked up in a wooded area through which he had been tracked by the police dog.
“He can’t run from his DNA,” Rees told the jurors. “He can run from his crime. He can run from the police and the police dog. But he can’t run away from that hat.”
After the verdict, Rees gave credit to Bristol Township detectives and the Pennsylvania State Police Forensic Unit, which performed the DNA testing.
“It’s very gratifying,” he said, “to assist the Bristol Township Police in providing justice for two deserving and innocent victims of such terrifying and invasive crimes.”
