Billy Cook (criminal)

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William Edward "Billy" Cook
Born December 23, 1928
Joplin, Missouri
Died December 12, 1952 (aged 23)
San Quentin Prison
Penalty executed with gas chamber
Status Deceased (execution)
Parents Paul Delbert Posey (father), Tryone Posey (stepmother)
Children Marilea Schmid (stepsister)

William Edward "Billy" Cook (December 23, 1928 – December 12, 1952) was an American mass murderer.

[edit] Life

Born near Joplin, Missouri, Cook spent his childhood in and out of reform schools; he was later incarcerated in Missouri State Penitentiary. After leaving prison, he bought a gun and stole a car. After running out of gas, he posed as a hitchhicker and murdered an entire family of five from Illinois, as well as a travelling salesman from Seattle, Washington.

Cook was captured in Mexico, tried in California and put to death in the gas chamber of San Quentin Prison on December 12, 1952.

Cook's body was then returned to his hometown and buried in Peace Church Cemetery in an unmarked grave.

[edit] In popular culture

  • The 1953 film noir The Hitch-Hiker, directed by Ida Lupino, was based on the Cook crime spree, starring Edmond O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy, with William Talman as the killer.
  • American rock singer Jim Morrison alluded to Cook in a number of poems and the song "Riders On The Storm". He also made a short film entitled HWY: An American Pastoral, in which he plays a hitchhicker with murderous intent.
  • An in-depth portrait of Billy Cook, his crimes and execution appears in John Gilmore's 2005 book L.A. DESPAIR: A Landscape of Crimes & Bad Times.
  • Mark Zingarelli illustrated and wrote "The "Cockeyed" Cook Story" in 1987. It appears in The New Comics Anthology, edited by Bob Callahan, Collier, 1991.

[edit] References

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