Stephen Cole, a former member of the Clarksville Mongols gang, was accused of stealing motorcycles that belonged to William Boylston, a gang member and defendant in the case. Boylston's reputation among the Clarksville Mongols was at risk due to Cole's actions, leading to his kidnapping from a house in Clarksville, Tennessee. He was taken by Boylston and Meyerholz to a shed in Trenton, Kentucky, where he was subjected to hours of interrogation, torture, and beating before being murdered by having a 10-inch tent stake driven through his head.