Robert Raymond Cook
Robert Raymond Cook (born July 15, 1937 in Hanna, Alberta - November 15, 1960 in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta) was a Canadian mass murderer. Convicted of the slayings of his father, Raymond, stepmother, Daisy, and the couple's five children, he was the last man to be executed by the province of Alberta.[1]
Overview
On 28 June 1959, police discovered Raymond and Daisy Cook along with their 5 children shot and bludgeoned to death in the grease pit of their garage in Stettler, Alberta. Robert Cook, Raymond Cook's son by his first wife, had been arrested in Stettler a day earlier, and charged with obtaining goods under false pretenses after he had traded the family's 1958 Chevrolet station wagon for a '59 Impala convertible. Despite being implicated in the deaths of all of his family members. Robert Cook was only charged with the murder of his father in order to speed up the trial process.
At just after midnight on July 11, 1959, Cook escaped from the Ponoka Mental Institution after he was denied permission to attend the funerals of his family members. He was found several days later hiding at a pig farm near Bashaw, Alberta.
It took two trials and just under 16 months for Cook to be convicted of murder. He maintained his innocence up until his execution. Cook was sent to the gallows at Fort Saskatchewan Provincial Gaol at midnight, November 14, 1960, and pronounced dead at 12:19AM on November 15, 1960. The case has been the subject of several books and two plays.[2][3]
Further reading
- Jack Pecover (1996). The Work of Justice: The Trials of Robert Raymond Cook : the Story of the Last Man Hanged in Alberta. Wolf Willow Press. ISBN 1-55056-423-4.
- Frank W. Anderson (2008) The Robert Cook Murder Case, Gopher Books, ISBN 9780921969204
- Betty Jane Hegerat (2011) The Boy, Oolichan Books, ISBN 9780889822757
External links
- "R. vs. Robert Raymond Cook" The Legal Archives Society of Alberta 14 July 2010
- "The Last Hanging: Docudrama on Gruesome Stettler Murders" The Red Deer Advocate 5 December 2008 14 July 2010
References
- ↑ Alberta Law Source
- ↑ "ASA Honours Hugh Dempsey". Legal Archives Society of Alberta. Winter 2000–2001. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
- ↑ "New Play a Success" (PDF). Legal Archives Society of Alberta. Summer 2001. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
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