'I Am Not A Widow': Wife Of Slain Sheriff's Deputy Shares Heartbreaking Note

NORRIDGEWALK, Maine (CBS/AP) – The wife of murdered Maine Cpl. Eugene Cole posted an emotional message to social media on Monday, recalling the last time she saw her husband and detailing the "hell and torture" she's experienced in the days since his death.

Sheryl Cole's Facebook post has been shared more than 8,000 times. She lovingly recounts the last hours they spent together, being annoyed by him not putting away his razor and telling her husband that she loved him and to be safe before he went off to work.

"The next time I saw my husband, he was laying in a casket," Sheryl wrote. Cpl. Cole was killed after an encounter on a darkened road in Norridgewock with 29-year-old John Williams, who appeared in court Monday on a murder charge.

Sheryl Cole said that the search for her 61-year-old husband's body and subsequent days-long manhunt was "the purest form of hell and torture." But she also said the "overwhelming support" from the community, especially law enforcement ("Words haven't been invented yet to even come close to describing what they've done for me"), has been a blessing.

"It is truly humbling, and I need you all to know that it really has helped," Sheryl Cole wrote. "I spend most of my alone time reading any and all posts regarding Gene, and reading every word of every article in the paper."

Cole emphasized that she doesn't consider herself a widow.

"I am the wife of Corporal Eugene Cole. . . I am not a victim," she said. "With the help and support of my family, my community, and my country, I will get through this."

She closed by asking everyone to respect law enforcement, and said she "will always proudly be the wife of Somerset County Sheriff's Corporal Eugene Cole."

"I will hold my head high as I work my way through this," Sheryl Cole wrote. "May you rest in peace, my husband, my best friend. You are loved. Let your brothers in blue, black, brown tan, or green take it from here."

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)