Maine Man, 26, Bragged That He 'Just Lost It' When He 'Blasted' His Mom and Her Boyfriend—Before Going For a Beach Day

A man has been convicted of the murder of his mother and her boyfriend by shooting them. After killing them, the man allegedly torched the house, leaving the bodies inside. He has been declared guilty by the jury and sentenced.

Matthew Cote, a 26-year-old man, was found guilty by the jury for the murder of his mother, 47-year-old Cheryl Cote, and her boyfriend, 45-year-old Danial Parkins. Both were found shot dead in their Limington, Maine, home on June 17, 2021.

According to reports filed by Bangor Daily News, first responders were alerted to the scene after the house was set on fire. Authorities said the bodies of the deceased couple were found inside, but it was confirmed that the couple was shot before the fire started. A few hours after the house was set on fire and the bodies were discovered, police pulled over Cote while he was driving his mother’s Chevrolet Trailblazer.

According to court documents, when the cops initially pulled over Cote, he said he “knew this was coming.” The police said he told them, “Once I snapped, I couldn’t stop, and I emptied the whole magazine.”

Several incriminating statements were made by Cote while in jail, according to reports from the Portland Press Herald. During an earlier court hearing, two correction officers at the York County Jail, where Cote was in custody, testified about statements they overheard him making during the jailhouse phone calls.

One of the officers told the court that he heard Cote say to an unknown person on the other side of the line that he “blasted the nasty …” referring to his mother, “then set a fire to hide the nasty bodies because I didn’t want anyone to see them.” He also added that “he just lost it.”

While the actual motive was unclear, the prosecutor told the jury that Cote acted in a goal-oriented manner. He took a semiautomatic rifle into the house, then proceeded to take the lives of two people, and then burned the house. Afterwards, he left to go to the beach.

Cote’s defense attorney said this is not a “whodunit” and “you are going to have to decide on hard facts.” Cote had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. However, the jury found Cote guilty of two counts of murder and one count of arson. On February 27, the judge sentenced him to life imprisonment for two counts of murder and an additional 30 years for arson.

Before Cote’s sentence was handed down, he told the court, “I am just very sorry and I apologize to everybody.”