rosewest
Innocent Victim
Anthony and Nathaniel Cook
Anthony Cook 167235
Ross Correctional Institution
P. O. Box 7010
Chillicothe, Ohio 45601
Anthony Cook, at times aided by his brother Nathaniel, embarked on a murder spree in the Toledo, Ohio, area that killed nine people from 1973 until his 1981 arrest for murder. If not for DNA evidence that had been preserved for twenty years, however, the scope of his and Nathaniel’s crimes would likely never been known.
The best place to begin the tale is with the last slaying. On September 18, 1981, Anthony Cook assaulted a couple completely out of the blue while the pair sat in a van in an apartment complex parking lot. While the young man fought with Anthony Cook, Sawicki escaped and telephoned police and also her father. Unfortunately, her dad arrived on the scene first and was shot dead by Anthony Cook. The man was shot in the neck and shoulder but survived.
in 1997 police decided to compare the brothers’ DNA to some of past crimes. They soon found a match with the murder of a man, and the rape and attempted murder of the mans girlfriend. The Cook brothers confronted the couple while they were sitting in a car and forced them into the backseat, driving them to a secluded area and shooting the male dead. The girl was raped by both brothers and stabbed repeatedly with an ice pick. She was left for dead but did survive the horrible ordeal.
The spree began with Anthony Cook working as a solo act. On December 20, 1973, 22-year-old Vicki Small and some friends had car trouble and Anthony Cook, posing as a helpful citizen, gave Small a lift. She was found raped and shot to death later in the day.
Soon after Small’s killing, Anthony Cook went to prison until 1979 on an unrelated robbery conviction but after his release resumed his killing.. Now teamed with brother Nathaniel, he picked up hitchhiker on January 17, 1981. Both brothers raped her until they tired of her, killed her, and dumped her violated body in a culvert. Just ten days later they struck again, forcing a young couple into a vacant garage where they were both shot but survived. Then on February 21 they abducted Dawn Backes, 12, on her way home from school and took her to an abandoned building where she was tortured, raped, and then bludgeoned to death with a concrete block.
After the Backes slaying Anthony Cook went solo once again. On March 27, 1981, he shot dead 2 people. On August 2 he abducted another couple. They were later found in the trunk of Cole’s car, beaten to death with a baseball bat. Both had been sexually assaulted. The next month Anthony Cook was arrested for Peter Sawicki’s murder and the killings were finally over.
Anthony Cook 167235
Ross Correctional Institution
P. O. Box 7010
Chillicothe, Ohio 45601
Anthony Cook, at times aided by his brother Nathaniel, embarked on a murder spree in the Toledo, Ohio, area that killed nine people from 1973 until his 1981 arrest for murder. If not for DNA evidence that had been preserved for twenty years, however, the scope of his and Nathaniel’s crimes would likely never been known.
The best place to begin the tale is with the last slaying. On September 18, 1981, Anthony Cook assaulted a couple completely out of the blue while the pair sat in a van in an apartment complex parking lot. While the young man fought with Anthony Cook, Sawicki escaped and telephoned police and also her father. Unfortunately, her dad arrived on the scene first and was shot dead by Anthony Cook. The man was shot in the neck and shoulder but survived.
in 1997 police decided to compare the brothers’ DNA to some of past crimes. They soon found a match with the murder of a man, and the rape and attempted murder of the mans girlfriend. The Cook brothers confronted the couple while they were sitting in a car and forced them into the backseat, driving them to a secluded area and shooting the male dead. The girl was raped by both brothers and stabbed repeatedly with an ice pick. She was left for dead but did survive the horrible ordeal.
The spree began with Anthony Cook working as a solo act. On December 20, 1973, 22-year-old Vicki Small and some friends had car trouble and Anthony Cook, posing as a helpful citizen, gave Small a lift. She was found raped and shot to death later in the day.
Soon after Small’s killing, Anthony Cook went to prison until 1979 on an unrelated robbery conviction but after his release resumed his killing.. Now teamed with brother Nathaniel, he picked up hitchhiker on January 17, 1981. Both brothers raped her until they tired of her, killed her, and dumped her violated body in a culvert. Just ten days later they struck again, forcing a young couple into a vacant garage where they were both shot but survived. Then on February 21 they abducted Dawn Backes, 12, on her way home from school and took her to an abandoned building where she was tortured, raped, and then bludgeoned to death with a concrete block.
After the Backes slaying Anthony Cook went solo once again. On March 27, 1981, he shot dead 2 people. On August 2 he abducted another couple. They were later found in the trunk of Cole’s car, beaten to death with a baseball bat. Both had been sexually assaulted. The next month Anthony Cook was arrested for Peter Sawicki’s murder and the killings were finally over.