Anthony and Nathaniel Cook

Anthony (born March 9, 1949) and Nathaniel Cook (born October 25, 1958) are American serial killer brothers who committed a series of at least 9 rapes and murders in Toledo, Ohio area between 1973 and 1981.[1] Their guilt was established in the late 1990s thanks to DNA profiling, after which both brothers were convicted and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.

Anthony Cook
ODRC Mugshot
Born
Anthony H. Cook

(1949-03-09) March 9, 1949
StatusIncarcerated
Conviction(s)murder
Criminal penaltytwo counts of 15 years to Life
Details
Victims9+
Span of crimes
1973–1981
CountryUnited States
State(s)Ohio
Date apprehended
October 14, 1981
Imprisoned atChillicothe Correctional Institution, Union Township, Ross County, Ohio
Nathaniel Cook
ODRC Mugshot
Born (1958-10-25) October 25, 1958
StatusReleased
Conviction(s)murder
Criminal penalty15 - 75 years
Details
Victims3–9+
Span of crimes
1973–1981
CountryUnited States
State(s)Ohio
Date apprehended
February 13, 1998
Imprisoned atAllen-Oakwood Correctional Institution, Lima, Ohio

Early years

Little is known about the brothers' childhood. What is known is that they were born in Mobile, Alabama, in a financially strained family with seven other children. After the family moved to Ohio, the father abandoned them. In Toledo, the family was forced to live in an urban area populated mainly by other African-Americans with low social status and education level, thanks to which the two brothers grew up in an impoverished and racially segregated environment.

After one of their older brothers, Hayes Cook, was convicted in the mid-1960s for rape, Anthony dropped out of school and began spending more time on the streets among petty criminals. In 1974, he was arrested and convicted for robbery, spending the next several years in prison. After his release, Anthony stated that he was subjected to strong physical and psychological abuse by the prison guards and fellow inmates, most of whom were white, after which he began to show signs of racial hatred towards the white populus of the city.

On the other hand, Nathaniel had no problems with the law, did not abuse alcohol or drugs, and worked as a driver, earning a high salary. After his brother's release from prison 1979, Anthony returned to Toledo and began spending more time with Nathaniel. As a result, the younger Cook was negatively influenced by his elder sibling, and soon after, a series of murders was unleashed upon the city.[2]

Murders

The killings began in May 1980, when the brothers attacked 24-year-old Thomas Gordon and his 18-year-old girlfriend in northern Toledo. They threatened them with guns, seized control of their car and held them hostage. The Cooks drove the couple to the woodlands in Lucas County, where they shot Gordon and raped his girlfriend, after which they stabbed her and fled the crime scene. The girlfriend survived, but Gordon didn't. On January 3, 1981, Anthony and Nathaniel picked up a 19-year-old hitchhiker and Michigan native named Connie Sue Thompson, driving her out to Lucas County, where they raped and subsequently killed her. The criminals then threw the victim's body off a bridge into a stream where it was discovered on January 17.

In February of that year, Anthony, while returning from work, lured 12-year-old Dawn Rene Backes into his car. Soon, Nathaniel joined them, after which the two men took the victim to an abandoned theater, where they raped and tortured the young girl for the next several hours, much to their sadistic amusement, before finally hitting her several times on the head with a brick block, killing Dawn on the spot.[3][4] On March 27, Anthony attacked Scott Moulton and Denise Siotkowski, both 21, near a supermarket located in the city center. He took them outside the city to Oregon suburb, where he shot both after raping Siotkowski. In this instance, he acted without help from his younger brother.[5]

On August 21, Anthony, again acting alone, attacked Daryl Cole and Stacy Balonek, both 21. After raping the girl, Cook beat Cole with a baseball bat he found in the latter's car interior, causing him fatal brain injuries. After repeating the act with Balonek, he hid both bodies in the trunk of the car.[6] In September of that year, Anthony committed a crime in the rich part of the city, just two blocks away from the police station. Early in the morning, Cook threatened to rob the passengers of a parked van, who were 21-year-old Todd Sabo and 20-year-old Leslie Sawicki, after which he tied them up and tried to rape the woman. During the attempted rape, Sabo managed to free himself and fight off their attacker, who lost grip of his weapon. Sawicki then called the police and her father, Peter, a well-known businessman in Toledo, for help. While waiting for the arrival of law enforcement officers, Sabo and Sawicki tried to lynch Cook, but he resisted fiercely, managing to get a hold of his gun. He then shot Peter Sawicki and seriously wounded Todd Sabo, before disappearing.[7]

Cook's fingerprints were found at the crime scene by police, and examined. Since the killer apparently didn't pay attention to concealing his tracks, street informants told about him, and soon after, authorities found and arrested Anthony on October 14, 1981.[8]

Exposure

No evidence was found that could incriminate Anthony Cook in other murders, and so, in 1982, he was found guilty of killing Peter Sawicki and sentenced to life imprisonment. After his brother's conviction, Nathaniel decided to cease his criminal lifestyle, and in the following years was arrested only for minor offences. In the mid-1990s, during one of these arrests, a blood sample was taken from him. Since both brothers left biological traces while committing the crimes, in 1998, DNA testing of the samples was carried out, which showed correspondence between the killers' profiles and that of the brothers.[9] On February 13, 1998, Nathaniel was arrested and charged with the murder of Thomas Gordon and the attempted murder of his girlfriend.[10]

In 2000, the brothers accepted a plea bargain, pleading guilty to the murder of Gordon and describing in detail the other murders, in exchange that they wouldn't be charged with them. Ultimately, Nathaniel plead guilty to killing Thomas Gordon and to being complicit in the murders of Dawn Backes and Connie Thompson. Anthony plead guilty to 8 murders, in addition to confessing to the murder of 22-year-old Vickie Lynn Small, committed on December 20, 1973, which was never connected to the Toledo series.[11] As was the deal, Anthony received a second life imprisonment term in April 2000, while his brother Nathaniel received a sentence of 75 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after 20 years.[12][13]

Aftermath

After spending 34 years behind bars, Anthony Cook filed a motion for parole in 2015,[14] but was denied and forbidden to file another one until 2025.[15] Nathaniel, having served 20 years, also filed a parole application in 2018.[16] Despite protests from the victims' relatives, the court, given the terms of agreement and the deal with the judge made in 2000, found no legal basis to prevent his release and granted the request.[17]

Nathaniel Cook was released on August 10, 2018, but his freedom is extremely limited: he's obliged to participate in rehabilitation programs for sex offenders,[18][19][20] to wear a GPS bracelet, and is forbidden to approach places crowded by children. In 2019, information surfaced that he was living 200 meters from a school in Toledo, but after an investigation by police, it was found that Cook hadn't violated the rules and regulations, and was let off.[21]

See also

References

  1. Walsh, Anthony (2005). "African Americans and Serial Killing in the Media: The Myth and the Reality". Homicide Studies Vol. 9 No. 4, November 2005, pp 271-291; DOI: 10.1177/1088767905280080
  2. Anthony Walsh and Cody Jorgensen (20 January 2017). Criminology: The Essentials. SAGE Publications. p. 392. ISBN 9781506372020.
  3. "Body Of Missing Girl Found In Former Theater". The Blade. February 26, 1981.
  4. "Detectives Question Family, Friends Of Girl Found Slain". The Blade. February 27, 1981.
  5. "Murdered Woman, Man Mourned By Their 'Family' At Supermarket". The Blade. April 5, 1981.
  6. "Victims' Relatives Ask Why". Greenfield Daily Advocate. August 6, 1981.
  7. "Developed Is Slain in Attempt to Prevent Rape of Daughter". The New York Times. September 20, 1981.
  8. "Slayings Solved". The Blade. April 7, 2000.
  9. Reiter, Mark (2008). "True story of killings written by detective", The Blade (Toledo, Ohio)
  10. Robin Erb (February 14, 1981). "Toledoan arrested in 1981 homicide". The Blade.
  11. Seewer, John (2000). "2 admit 9 Toledo slayings in '80s" Associated Press, April 7, 2000
  12. Dale Emch (April 7, 2000). "Cooks admit to 8 slayings". The Blade.
  13. Dale Emch (April 7, 2000). "Family members thankful for the end of their nightmares". The Blade.
  14. Jennifer Feehan (February 12, 2015). "Prosecutor: Serial killer's review for parole 'perfunctory". The Blade.
  15. Amulya Raghuveer (February 24, 2015). "Parole denied for one of two brothers connected to Toledo murders". NBC.
  16. CBS News (March 7, 2018). "Ohio serial killer may be close to release from prison".
  17. http://www.toledoblade.com/local/courts/2018/08/09/Toledo-serial-killer-Nathaniel-Cook-granted-release-from-prison/stories/20180809156
  18. "Confessed killer Nathaniel Cook to be released from prison". August 9, 2018. Archived from the original on August 10, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  19. "Re-entry program helps serial killer Nathaniel Cook adjust to life outside of prison". August 9, 2018.
  20. http://www.toledoblade.com/local/courts/2018/08/09/Toledo-serial-killer-Nathaniel-Cook-granted-release-from-prison/stories/20180809156
  21. Shaun Hegarty (March 1, 2019). "Convicted Toledo serial killer can live close to school". ABC.
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