A serial rapist who served time alongside Ian Huntley in Monster Mansion has been found dead in jail.
Ronald Cole had been in prison from the age of 29 following his last horrific crime – where he raped a 25-year-old woman as her baby son lay in bed beside her.
His cruel offence came just 36 hours after he was paroled from prison for a carbon copy horror – when he raped a 24-year-old while her 13-month-old was in the cot beside them.
Cole died on May 27 aged 74, 45 years after being sentenced to a minimum of 14 years. The investigation into his death is still in progress.
Before being transferred to HMP Full Sutton, where he died, Cole spent time inside Britain’s most notorious jail in Wakefield.
Known as Monster Mansion, the feared prison has held the likes of The Angel of Death Harold Shipman, with nearly two thirds of its 750 lags incarcerated for the most serious sex offences.
When Cole was an inmate, he shared the jail with double child killer Ian Huntley, ‘Hannibal the Cannibal’ Robert Maudsley and hardman Charles Bronson.
Cole attacked his second victim shortly after being released from serving four years of a six year sentence for rape.
He travelled back to his hometown of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, to hunt for his next victim, following a woman home from a nightclub.
But when he broke into the house he went into the wrong bedroom, and confronted another woman with her 20-month-old son.
The savage rapist warned his victim that if she made a sound ‘I will kill your baby’.
The woman who was followed home by Cole had seen him peering through a window at her and was later able to pick him out of an identity parade.
He received his previous sentence for attacking a 24-year-old woman while her husband was at work for a night shift.
During the attack, in which he was armed with a knife, her 13-month-old child was in the cot next to the bed.
Cops caught Cole because he left his palm print on the bedroom door after both attacks. He was arrested within hours of his second offence.
During his sentencing remarks 45 years ago, Mr Justice Brown said: ‘I regard you as a dangerous man and the women of this country must be protected from you, especially in their own homes.’
Cole denied both attacks in court and claimed police had ‘set him up’ and planted the fingerprint evidence.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ‘Ronald Cole died at HMP Full Sutton on May 27 2025. As with all deaths in custody, the Prison and Probation Ombudsman will investigate.’
