Man sentenced to 80 years for murdering sex offender who assaulted his relative

GOSHEN, Ind. (WNDU) - An Indiana man convicted of shooting and killing a sex offender who assaulted one of his relatives has been sentenced to 80 years in prison.

According to the Elkhart County Prosecutor’s Office, Nicholas Stanley received 65 years for murder and 15 years for a firearm enhancement he admitted to during his trial.

Stanley, 36, was found guilty last month of killing Allen Cogswell, 35, at the Daylite Inn on Cassopolis Street on June 24, 2025.

Cogswell was released from prison in May 2025 and was living at the motel. Court records showed Stanley was a close family member of one of Cogswell’s past victims.

The Goshen News reported that Stanley testified during his trial that he planned to confront Cogswell and beat him up. He said seeing Cogswell through the motel window caused his brain to “explode like a tsunami” and led him to decide to kill him.

Stanley was said to have gone to his car, grabbed a shotgun, knocked on Cogswell’s motel room door before shooting him twice that early morning.

“I decided that I had to do what I had to do to protect my [family]; I had to kill him,” Stanley was quoted as saying under oath.