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Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting our sponsors, you support Casefile to continue to deliver quality content. On Friday, October 15, 1948, Cook had committed his first break in at the age of 17. He forced his way into a flat in Perth's CBD while its resident was out and stole a torch and a small clock. He also opened several bottles of wine and poured them all over the resident's clothing. When police later attended the crime scene, they found Cook's fingerprints all over the empty bottles, though they didn't match anyone in the system, they added the prints to their files. A few weeks later, Cook broke into another home angry after he found nothing he wanted to steal. He trashed the property by pulling all of the clothing from the wardrobes and cutting it with a knife. He also slashed some bedding and a pillow before taking chocolate from the fridge and feeding it to the couple's pet goldfish. His final act was to start a fire in the living room. The resident returned to find his flat in flames, and although firefighters were able to save the home, the damage cost almost $20,000 in today's money. Two weeks later, Cook broke into another home and stole 20 shillings, an engagement ring, a watch and a fountain pen. He later tossed the jury out of fear of being caught. Not long after that, at Christmas time, Cook was asked by a friend to house sit for her while she and her husband were away. Despite having a key to the property, Cook smashed a window to cover his tracks and decided to set fire to the residents. He piled all of his friend's clothing on the bedroom floor, then coated it in fly spray as an accelerant. Yet his plan ultimately failed when he couldn't find any matches. A week later, on New Year's Eve, Cook celebrated the beginning of 1949 by breaking into an empty flat in the CBD. He used some cellophane and a candle that he found inside to light a fire. When the resident came home at 12.35am, she found her bedroom completely destroyed by the blaze. Cook continued to commit more break ins across the city during the first months of 1949, leaving fingerprints behind when he stole whatever cash he found, along with women's underwear. He also lit more fires at other addresses. Once he defecated in a toy cot that belonged to a child. In early March, Cook broke into a house just north of the cbd, entering via the back door. Cook knew the property as he'd delivered groceries there previously while working for a market. It was late at night and the residents were in their beds asleep. The now 18 year old cook was more emboldened and no longer just targeted empty homes. Using a torch to see, Cook found a purse and took it to the bathroom to search through. As he was rummaging through the purse, a man entered the bathroom and found him. It was one of the residents who'd been woken by his wife after she heard Cook creeping about. Cook claimed to be a neighbour who had drunkenly entered the property by mistake and gave his first name. His lies weren't believed when the resident tried to grapple with him, Cook fled. Police tracked him down a week later and matched his fingerprints to two previous break ins. He was charged and taken before the courts. Cook was convicted on two counts of stealing, four counts of arson and seven of breaking and entering. He was sentenced to three years in prison with the recommendation he be released on parole after a few months so that he could be rehabilitated. Cook's father was an abusive alcoholic who terrorised his entire family but focused most of his rage on his son. Cook had been born with a cleft palate and lip, a common birth defect that made his father hate him. He beat his son and verbally abused him. Once, when Cook had tried to stop his father from beating up his mother, his father punched him so badly he suffered a skull fracture. Students at school had also bullied and ostracised Cook, mocking his appearance and a distinctive speech impediment that was the result of his birth defect. One time, Cook's mother saw her son standing in front of a mirror violently pulling at his scarred lip. Desperate for an escape, Cook had started wandering the streets of Perth and stealing from his teachers, neighbours and peers. As a child, there were concerns that hard time would only serve to further criminalise the first time offender. The parole board ultimately decided to release Eric Edgar Cook in August 1949, agreeing that his brief stint in prison had been enough to scare him straight. They felt that Cook had committed crimes because he was socially isolated and saw the acts as a way to gain notoriety and friendships. Although he had been an intelligent student, his education was hindered by his behavioural problems and his father, who forced him to leave school at the age of 14. Cook started working from then on, passing most of his earnings onto his mother and stealing to supplement his own income. From then on, Cook worked a series of menial jobs. He was an accident prone person and his employment record was impacted by repeated accidents. Once his face was badly scalded by steam. Another time he fell and damaged his spine, leading to a weak in hospital. Cook's many injuries included multiple head injuries. He would often slip and hit his head, resulting in concussions and further fractures. Following his release from prison, he started working at a confectionery company and joined a church. Overall, his life improved. His probation period concluded two years later on August 15, 1951. To celebrate his return to freedom, Cook travelled east across the country to Melbourne where he enlisted in the Australian Army. During his training he became an excellent marksman, but was discharged three months later. When the army learnt of his previous offending, Cook returned to Perth and started working as a truck driver. The short, dark haired man had never had much luck with women, but in 1953 he met a young woman named Sally Lavin. They married in November of that year and settled in the inner eastern suburb of Rivervale less than two years later. The couple already had two sons. But Cook's new law abiding image and family man lifestyle didn't put a stop to his criminal activities. In 1953, he broke into the home of some fellow church members and stole from them. His fingerprints led to his arrest and he was placed on a good behaviour bond. In September 1955, two months after the birth of his second son, Cook had set his sights on another woman. When he found out she was playing in a hockey tournament two hours south of Perth in Bunbury, he stole a car to stalk her there. Cook rolled the car along the way, suffering a broken sternum plus face and knee injuries. The incident led to him being charged with assuming control of a motor vehicle. Cook was sentenced to two years hard labour for the theft as well as an additional six months for breaking his good behaviour bond. His young wife Sally had to raise their two children alone as a single parent, but still made sure to visit Cook in prison. She stood by her husband throughout his incarceration. He was back with his family by Christmas 1956. Following Eric Edgar Cook's second release, he appeared to mostly stick to the straight and narrow, focusing on working hard to support his growing family. He and Sally would eventually go on to have five more children, giving them a total of seven, four boys and three girls. On Monday, January 25, 1960, Cook's reputation was tarnished once again when he was arrested for loitering in a park in Lathlane, one of Perth's inner eastern suburbs. He was sentenced to a month's incarceration in Fremantle Prison. While there, police questioned him about a horrific murder that had been committed the previous month. The brutal killing of 22 year old heiress and socialite Gillian Brewer. During Cook's break ins, he was known to steal women's underwear and masturbate with it. This deviant criminal history led police to label him a quote sexo and wonder if he could be behind the young woman's murder. Cook denied having anything to do with the crime, claiming he was home at the time and his wife Sally supported this alibi. After that, Cook was still occasionally cited by the police for Peeping Tom and minor theft offences. But they never suspected him of murder, not until more than three and a half years later, in the early hours of Sunday, September 1, 1963, when he went to the suburb of Mount Pleasant to collect the rifle used to kill university student Shirley MacLeod. Following Cook's arrest, he was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Branch headquarters. He was chatty with the officers, readily admitting that he'd broken into some homes that night in the wealthy western suburbs of Claremont, Peppermint Grove and Mossman Park. He said he'd stolen more than pound 22 in cash from those properties. Cook explained that he'd spotted the rifle a few days earlier while he'd been driving down Rookwood street in his work truck. He'd stopped to adjust the truck's load and noticed that someone had stashed a rifle in some nearby bushes. Cook had decided to come back to take it. His plan was to sell it to make some cash. He adamantly denied having anything to do with shirley MacLeod's murder three weeks earlier. He claimed that he'd been at a bowling alley until 8pm Then he went straight home and stayed there for the rest of the night. Two sergeants were dispatched to Cook's home where they explained to his wife Sally that he had been arrested for breaking and entering. They had a search warrant and they wanted to ask her a question. Where had her husband been on the evening of Saturday, August 10? Sally Cook told them the truth. He had been out until very late that night. Back at the Criminal Investigation Branch headquarters, Eric Cook was told that his wife was refuting his alibi. He flatly refused to believe this, instead demanding that Sally be brought in to see him. Officers obliged and Sally was taken into the interrogation room where her husband sat. When she told him that she had in fact made the statement, he asked her why. Because it is the truth, Eric, and you know it, Sally replied. What do you think I should do now? Cook asked. Sally told him that decision was his to make. Not long after this, Cook borrowed a pen from a detective and began to write. On Saturday, August 10, Cook had left home at 12:30pm and spent the afternoon bowling in East Perth. Later that night, he drove in his car to Cottesloe, then got out and wandered around on foot. When he spotted a fancy looking house, he walked in and helped himself to some coins lying around. He opened up a wardrobe and saw a rifle which he took along with a packet of bullets. Cook then drove to Dalkeith. By now it was pouring rain while thunder rumbled across the sky. Cook claimed that he must have blacked out at this point because the next thing he knew, he was trying to exit a house with the rifle in his hand. He felt as though he must have fired the weapon. And when he learnt the next day about the murder of Shirley Macleod in Dalkeith, he knew he was responsible. Investigators didn't believe Cook had blacked out for a second. However, they had their confession and their case was bolstered by a cartridge case recovered from Cook's car. The case matched the rifle used to kill Shirley Macleod. Late on Sunday, September 1, police charged Eric Edgar Cook with murder. As Western Australia still had capital punishment in 1963, Cook was looking at a death sentence. Although the rifle didn't match the firearm used in the Australia Day killing spree eight months earlier, investigators had always suspected that whoever was behind Shirley's murder committed those crimes too. They just needed to prove it. Over the following days, they spent hours and hours with Cook, questioning him about his other crimes, just as he'd initially done. When arrested, Cook openly admitted to breaking into homes throughout the western suburbs, but denied anything to do with the other murders. On the morning of Tuesday, September 3rd, three officers took cook on a tour past the Netherlands and Cottesloe addresses where John Sturkey, George Walmsley and Brian Weir had been shot. Cook's uncomfortable body language left no doubt in the officers minds that he was responsible. When they stopped for lunch at a pub, one of the investigators stated, cookie, you're going to hang. There's no two ways about that. You'll go to the gallows as a bloody coward for the way you shot those people. Your wife and your kids are going to be reading history about you as a cowardly mongrel who went to the gallows without letting the people know exactly what you've done. So what are you going to do, Cookie? Go there like that, or go there like a bloody gentleman? With that, Cook indicated that he was ready to make another confession. He took the officers on another tour through Perth, this time explaining everything he'd done. On Saturday, January 26, a police photographer accompanied them, snapping pictures at each location. First, Cook guided the group to a home in the suburb of South Perth, where he'd stolen a cream and yellow Holden from. The vehicle had been parked in the garage with the keys in the ignition, a common practice in Perth at the time. Cook used the car as his means of transport on the night in question, then returned it to the garage after the car's owner hadn't even realised it had been taken, let alone used in the notorious crime spree. The Winchester single shot rifle Cook used on Australia Day was also stolen he'd found it in a wardrobe while robbing a home in Cottesloe. It had taken the owner five months to realise it was missing, as he rarely used. Was only when police were asking all gun owners to hand over their rifles for examination that he discovered it was gone. Cook took the officers through his actions at each separate crime scene, explaining how he'd attacked each victim. He'd first set his sights on Rowena Reeves and Nicholas August, who he spotted in a parked car. Cook had initially intended to observe them as a Peeping Tom, but then he felt another urge come over him. It was then that this power came over me, cook explained. It wasn't an impulse. It was stronger than an impulse. It was. It was as though I was God and it was like a mantle or like a cloud came over me and I must. I must use that. He fired at Rowena and Nicholas, injuring them as they sped away. He then broke into Brian Weir and John Sturkey's respective homes and shot them in their beds. Finally, Cook rang the doorbell of George Walmsley's home and shot him as he answered it. All of the victims were random. Cook described his mood as. I felt as though I was God or some person who was untouchable. Just having that rifle in my hand and doing what I had done and I felt that no power could stop me. When asked why he'd attacked people at all, he replied, I just wanted to hurt somebody. After he'd finished, he pulled over on the Narrows Bridge, which connects South Perth to the rest of the city, and tossed the rifle into the Swan river below. Police divers were able to retrieve the rifle from the river. It was still there seven months later, buried beneath 10 centimetres of silt. Cook was charged with two additional counts of murder for John Sturkey and George Walmsley, one count of attempted murder for Nicholas August and one count of unlawful wounding for Rowena Reeves. From there, the floodgates opened. Cook began talking more and more about other crimes he'd committed over the past five years with an intricate level of detail. He said that he'd broken into about 250 houses after his early arrests, where fingerprints led to his arrest. He'd started wearing a pair of leather gloves. He also stayed quiet so that no one would hear his distinctive muffled sounding voice. While he sometimes struck on weeknights, he typically offended on weekend nights because that was when he had time to himself. Free from work and able to escape the demands of his family, he would wander the streets of Perth after dark, walking through residential areas and back laneways all night long, sometimes not returning home until morning. Cook could often remember exactly what he had taken from each house and what he'd done while he was there. Often he would steal cars, too, as many people left their cars unlocked with the keys in the ignition. In those days, it was all too easy for Cook to hop into a vehicle, take it for a joyride and either discard it or or return it later. Detectives followed up at the addresses Cook claimed to have burgled. Some of the burglaries could be confirmed from reports made or the victim's own recollections. Others came as a complete surprise to the residents who had been entirely unaware that there had been a prowler in their home or that anything had been taken. Yet Cook was able to describe their floor plans, furnishings and decor in great detail. He could name particular locations in the house where money had been hidden away or left out in the open. Of the roughly 250 burglaries Cook detailed, he was ultimately charged for 20. Cook said that he'd sometimes done other things while trespassing in other people's homes. Cook watched women through windows, broke into their houses and stole their underwear. He was fixated with young women, angry with how rejected he felt by them and seeking a kind of vengeance against people who didn't even know him. In the early hours of Wednesday, November 26, 1958, he had assaulted a 15 year old girl named Molly McLeod after she woke during his burglary. Cook had admitted to more assaults of women within their own homes. He was behind the attacks against Alex Donkin, Carmel Reed and Ann Melvin. These women all survived, but others hadn't. Cook confessed to the unsolved murders of Penina Berkman and Lucy Madrill. The former came as a shock. Police had been certain that Penina's then boyfriend was behind her killing. Cook said he'd broken into Penina's flat halfway through 1958 and had robbed her. He returned six months later armed with a knife stolen from a home in Wembley in western Perth. Cook claimed he'd been searching Penina's dressing table when he knocked something over and woke her. She screamed and he jumped on her, forcing his heavy weight down and strangling her with his hands. Penina tried to scratch him, which was when Cook pulled out the knife and stabbed her. He later threw away the knife after fleeing the scene, just as he'd done with Penina Berkman. Cook had broken into Lucy Madrill's flat previously before returning and taking her life. He was able to take police to her home and explain every step of what he'd done and how her body was left. While taking another trip with detectives through the streets of Bayswater, Cook admitted that he'd tried to hurt women in other ways. He pointed out a spot where he'd run 20 year old Glenys Peake down in a stolen Holden sedan. His description of the stolen car, where it was dumped and the damage to it all matched the facts of the case. Cook ultimately admitted to all of the mystery hit and runs that had stumped investigators for years. In total, he had run down seven girls and young women between 1958 and 1960. Cook's newfound willingness to talk was at odds with his earlier reticence when admitting to his violent crimes. After one conversation that took place about a week and a half after his arrest, an investigator asked if there was anything else on his mind he felt like talking about. Yes, said Cook, I have committed two crimes for which two men are now serving a sentence of imprisonment. Casefile will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors. Deciding what to make for dinner can take as long as choosing what to watch and before you know it, the night's gone and you're stuck with ramen. Again. If that sounds familiar, you're in luck. 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Acast and use code Acast at checkout. Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting our sponsors, you support Casefile to continue to deliver quality content exactly two weeks after the Australia Day shootings on Saturday, February 9, three young men who'd spent the day at a racehorse track drove home together around 10.30pm despite the fear that was gripping Perth, the young men had enjoyed their evening immensely, with the driver, 21 year old Barry Hanson, winning several bets that he'd placed. They were planning on having one final beer together when they reached one of their homes, but Barry noticed something as they headed along Stubbs Terrace in the western suburb of Shanton Park. Lying a few metres left of the road in some sand was what looked like a bundle of clothing. Slightly unnerved by the sight, Barry asked his two friends if they'd seen it. They hadn't. It looks like a body, barry said. He decided to find a wider spot up ahead where he could safely make a U turn and then drive back by the clothing to check everything was OK. About 60 metres up the road they reached a hospital. Barry pulled into its driveway to turn around, then slowly drove back down Stubbs Terrace. When they reached the spot where Barry had seen the clothing, they saw there was now another car pulled over, a 1962 Simca, a Rond sedan with someone sitting behind the wheel. Barry kept driving further along, then made another U turn and parked about 10 metres behind the other car, making sure to switch his headlights off. He and his friends sat there in the darkness, all feeling slightly nervous. The recent shootings were on their mind as they looked on and Barry warned his friends not to get out of the car. What if the driver of this other car was the killer? The driver of the other car opened the door and ran towards the bundle of clothing alongside the road. Barry's instincts had been right. The pile of clothing was in fact a young woman. The three men watched as the other driver picked up her limp body and struggled to carry it to his Simca. His actions were illuminated by his car's headlights and Barry noticed he was a young man who looked to be wearing shorts and no shirt. The man almost dropped the woman as he took her to his car and placed her in the front passenger seat. By this time, another vehicle was passing by, its four occupants gazing out the windows at the strange scene as they drove past the shirtless man carrying the woman. They pulled over in front of his car. Troubled by what they were saying. The shirtless man paid no attention to the rubberneckers. Barry Hansen believed the shirtless man was the Australia Day shooter and was alarmed to see him place the body of either a deceased or unconscious woman in his car. Barry started his car and took off to raise the alarm. He'd driven about 300 or 400 metres when the Simca suddenly sped by him at 70mph. Barry decided to follow the Simca, which soon turned left and parked outside of a doctor's office. Barry and his friends watched the shirtless man run to the doctor's front door. One of Barry's passengers, Wilson White, realised he recognised the man. His name was John Button and he was the boyfriend of Wilson's neighbour and former schoolmate, 17 year old Rosemary Anderson. John returned and picked the young woman out of his car, carrying her inside to where the doctor was waiting. It was clear that the young woman was John's girlfriend, Rosemary. John Button had told the doctor, who was Rosemary's general practitioner, that she had a deep cut over her eye that was bleeding heavily. Dr. Joseph Quinlevin examined Rosemary and could tell that she had been struck by a vehicle. The cut on her forehead and the fact that her pupils weren't equal indicated a head injury. The doctor also believed she'd sustained damage to her chest. Rosemary was unconscious. Her pulse was racing and she was struggling to breathe. Her thighs, knees and hips were covered with abrasions. Dr. Quinlevin noticed that John had blood smeared on his bare chest and his hands. There was also some blood on his trousers, which were rolled up to resemble shorts. After treating Rosemary as best as he could, the doctor called for an ambulance and the police. Rosemary was transferred to Royal Perth hospital. Arriving at 11:35pm, she was found to be deeply comatose and unresponsive to painful stimuli. Doctors worked on her for a couple of hours, but just as she was transferred to another ward, Rosemary suddenly stopped breathing. Efforts to resuscitate her failed and at 2:30am she was pronounced dead. Meanwhile, John Barton was being questioned by two traffic officers. He told the police that that day was his 19th birthday and he'd spent the entire day with Rosemary, celebrating. John's parents were out that night, leaving him and his younger brother alone at their family residence in Subiaco. And in a Western suburb of Perth. Late into the evening, John and Rosemary had gone out to pick up fish and chips to share with the Johns brother. While they were eating the meal back at John's house, Rosemary had reached for John's piece of fish. John had loudly told her off, mistakenly thinking it was his brother taking the fish, not Rosemary. Hurt by his angry words, Rosemary had left to walk home alone. At around 10.30pm, John got into his car and followed after his girlfriend. He repeatedly tried to talk to her, pulling up alongside her on the road as she walked, but Rosemary refused to speak to him. John said he'd begged her to get in his car so he could drive her home, to no avail. Finally, John stopped trying and parked his car, turning off the ignition and watching as Rosemary walked away and around the corner to Stubbs Terrace. After waiting several minutes and smoking a cigarette, he started the car up and decided to try again, heading left onto Stubbs Terrace as Rosemary had done. There. He found Rosemary lying unconscious by the road with a head wound. John believed she was the victim of a hit and run and had quickly decided to take her to her doctor to get help. The police noted there was significant damage to the front left side of John's car and it was dotted with spots of blood. In the back seat was a girdle and a pair of stockings. When asked what had happened to his car, John claimed he'd been in an accident with another car a few weeks earlier. He said that Rosemary always took off her stockings when she rode in his car because she didn't want to get ladders in them. But he stammered as he gave his explanation and seemed nervous. John was interrogated for six hours and provided a lengthy detailed statement maintaining his version of events. Detectives didn't believe him. They thought a fight over fish and chips sounded ridiculous and suspected something else had caused the young couple to argue that night. They believed John and Rosemary had likely been fooling around in the back of his car, hence why her undergarments were on the back seat. Perhaps Rosemary had wanted to stop and that was why she'd gotten out and left on foot. Angered, John had followed his girlfriend and ran her down in a rage. Maybe he hadn't intended to hit her. Maybe he'd just planned to scare her but got too close by mistake. Ultimately though, she had been hit and John then panicked about his actions. Detectives continued to interrogate John and started getting physical with him as their frustration grew. They punched the 19 year old several times, but all John could focus on was Rosemary. So he asked if they knew how she was doing. Oh, she's dead. The detectives informed him Rosemary had passed away a couple of hours earlier at the hospital. John became sick after learning this and went to the bathroom to throw up. What have I done? It was all my fault. John said. Do you mean she was struck by your car? The detectives pressed, no longer caring what happened to him. John replied yes. He then provided a new statement, this time confessing that he was the one who hit Rosemary. John abandoned the story about the fish and chips, instead saying they'd argued after playing strip poker. Rosemary had removed her stockings and girdle as part of the game. And then John had tried to fondle Rosemary's breasts. This caused her to storm out. John had grabbed her undergarments and tossed them into his car before driving after her. After repeatedly trying to speak with her while she walked home, he'd decided to scare her by pretending he was going to hit her. As Rosemary walked on the left side of Stubbs Terrace, John drove towards her at 35 miles per hour, or just over 56 kilometres per hour. Before he could realise what had happened, the left side of his car struck Rosemary with a loud crunch. John would later renege his confession, explaining that he'd been through intense questioning and in his extreme grief he'd felt responsible. As it was his mistake of shouting at Rosemarie that led to her refusing a lift from him. He was compelled to tell a story that sounded more believable to the police. The reason Rosemary's undergarments had been in his car was because they'd had sex there earlier that evening. John hadn't wanted to tell anyone that as he wanted to protect Rosemary's reputation. He had adored Rosemary and the two had been planning to get married. Despite all of this, John Barton was tried less than three months later and convicted of manslaughter. He was sentenced to 10 years with hard labour. Months after John was convicted, confessed spree killer Eric Edgar Cook told investigators that he was in fact responsible for the murder of Rosemary Anderson. Cook said that at around 8:30 on the night of Saturday, February 9th, he had stolen a brand new two tone green Holden from a home in South Perth. He drove to the city, then west through the affluent suburbs he particularly liked to prey on. At around 10pm, he was heading along Stubbs Terrace in Shenton park when he noticed Rosemary Anderson walking alone on the side of the road all night. Cook had been feeling a desire to hurt someone rise inside him and he decided Rosemary would be his victim. He continued driving past the teenager, then did A U turn and drove straight at her at 40 miles per hour or just under 65 kilometres per hour. Rosemary didn't make a sound as the front right hand side of the car struck her. She was thrown onto the bonnet, struck the sun visor that jutted out over the Holden's windscreen, then rolled off onto the side of the road. Cook continued driving, turning right down a side street, then left before parking. He got out to survey the damage. There was an obvious dent on the bonnet and a few spots of blood which he wiped away with a handkerchief. After about five minutes, Cook got back in the car and drove back to the crime scene. He passed a couple of cars headed in the other direction on the way. When he reached the spot where he'd hit Rosemary, he saw no sign of her. Cook figured somebody must have found the girl and taken her to the hospital. He kept driving east, heading towards a large public garden known as Kings Park. Cook turned left onto a roadway called May Drive and abandoned the vehicle. The entire drive was lined with memorial trees in honour of fallen Australian soldiers and Cook decided to drive into one. He reduced his speed to 20 mph or 32 kilometres per hour, and drove directly at a tree, further damaging the car. Cook got out, walked for a distance, then caught a taxi home. After he took detectives through a step by step process of the night in question, he completed a handwritten confession about the crime. He concluded it with the words, my reason for running down the girl was just to inflict injury and pain on her. I never knew her. The reason I left this statement until I were arrested on other matters was first, when it happened, I didn't want to be charged with this crime. Second, now that I have been arrested on other matters and have so much more against me, this bit can't hurt me and I'd like to see an innocent person like John Button free. Even though this random attack against Rosemary Anderson would be in keeping with Cook's previous hit and runs, detectives weren't buying his confession. When Cook had pointed to the spot on the ground where Rosemary's body had lain, he was out by a few metres. Then when they took Cook to May Drive and asked him to point out the tree he'd driven into, he was unable to. He chose a tree that was actually several trees away from the location where the Holden had been found. After the car was discovered smashed into the tree back in February, it had been returned to its rightful owner. Following Cook's new claims, investigators went to inspect the vehicle but found none of the damage to the bonnet that he'd described, although it had been repaired after its recovery. Detectives also found some of Cook's other details to be at odds with the actual events. Rosemary had been hit at around 10.45pm, not 10pm Some items belonging to her were found some distance from where Cook said that he'd struck her. And his descriptions of where he'd been when he spotted Rosemary, then drove towards her, did not align with where Rosemary was found. As one investigator told him, considering the pace you say you were travelling and the distance you say you covered from the time when you first saw her to where you say you hit her, it appears impossible that these circumstances could have occurred. Cook became confused, stating, I don't understand it. I am sure I killed her. Not long after he had written his confession, Cook penned a retraction in which he put his vivid recollection of killing Rosemary Anderson down to an overactive imagination. By reading all the available papers on this crime and remembering where it took place and the person involved, I were able to describe what I believe I did. Having read some books, I get so engrossed in them that I project myself and believe I'm the person in those books. Having given further thought to my admissions to the detectives, I'm now of the opinion that I couldn't have been the person associated with the death of Rosemary Anderson. As Cook's certainty about this confession waned, so too did his belief in another admission that he'd made. The vicious and violent murder of 22 year old socialite and heiress Gillian Brewer on Saturday, December 19, 1959 had sent shockwaves through Perth. The young woman had been struck with a hatchet and stabbed with scissors while asleep in her bed, with Perth's coroner calling it the worst murder he had ever seen. Investigators hadn't linked it to the spate of break ins or other murders of women. After a 19 year old deaf, nonverbal man named Darrell Beamish came to the police's attention for other offences in 19, detectives began to suspect him of Gillian's murder. Darryl had a difficult life in which he faced discrimination and social exclusion due to his disabilities. He was described as having the verbal understanding of a seven year old and communicated via signing and using his fingers to spell out words. Daryl was close with his family who knew him to be gentle and kind, but struggled to make friends with other members of the community. In turn, he didn't always act appropriately, with some reports that he would rush up to girls at a local cinema in an attempt to get close to them. Darryl later befriended a young woman named Anne who lived at Brookwood Flats, the same Cottesloe apartment complex where Gillian Brewer had lived. Ann later moved away around January 1961, as Darryl couldn't telephone her due to his disabilities, he began hanging around the flats in search of someone who might know where he could find her. At the same time, a prowler around the area had been breaking into apartments. This would lead police officers to believe Darryl and the prowler were one and the same. In April 1961, Darryl was charged with a very serious crime. In four separate incidents, little girls aged between 4 and 5 years old accused him of coaxing them into his car, driving them to Kings park, and then parking the car. He would then lift up their dresses, pull down their underwear and and look at them before driving them back to the location where he'd found them. Darryl admitted to these assaults and would later plead guilty to them in court. His status as a sex offender and association with the Brookwood Flats led investigators to wonder if he could be Gillian Brewer's killer. He initially denied having anything to do with the murder, but eventually admitted to it after hours of intimidation and threats. His written confession was made by copying down the written answers that the detectives provided. In total, the statement was four pages long with very scant detail about the actual crime. Another confession was also made via a sign language interpreter who repeatedly ignored Darryl when he told her he was innocent. He was ultimately convicted of murder and given the death sentence. The matter was considered solved until Eric Edgar Cook threw a spanner in the works two and a half years later by confessing to the crime, just as he'd done with all the other crimes. He gave a detailed description of how he had killed Gillian Brewer and his actions on that night. Cook had actually already been questioned about the crime one month after it was committed. Due to his known history as a prowler, he'd said he was home at the time, an alibi his wife backed up years later. Sally Cook explained that the day after Gillian's murder, Cook had shown her an article about the crime in the paper. The two had discussed how awful it was, and then Cook had asked his wife to tell the police he was at home that night if they asked any questions. He explained that due to his prior convictions for prowling, they would try to pin it on him. Sally Cook accepted this and did as her husband asked. Cook's confession to the murder of Gillian brewer amounted to 14 pages. When transcribed, he said that he had been to Gillian's apartment building before and had robbed her mother. On the night of Saturday, December 19, 1959, he went there again and watched Gillian with her fiance through her bedroom window. He heard the two chatting and saw when Gillian's fiance left. Cook went around the back of the apartment and entered via the rear door, which was unlocked. As he pushed the door open, he heard a scraping sound on the cement floor. Shining his torch down, he saw a small bottle of milk that had just been delivered to the home. Placing his time of entry at 1am, Cook used the bottle to keep the door propped open, then went to Gillian's bedroom, where he attacked her with a hatchet he'd stolen from a nearby property. The sound of the assault woke Gillian's pet poodle, who hid under the bed in fear while barking at the intruder. Cook was able to soothe the dog by patting him and making a gentle shushing sound. A neighbour had verified hearing Gillian's dog briefly bark at this time. But once again, police were able to convince Cook that he could not have committed this crime, and he agreed to retract this admission as well. Three weeks after his initial arrest, Coke was transferred to prison to await his trial. He was assigned two defence lawyers. Through Western Australia's legal aid program, he provided more candid confessions to his attorneys, even going so far as to confess to killing Rosemary Anderson and Gillian Brewer. Again, police would keep many of these confessions secret from the public, including the seven hit and runs against women and the assaults of women in their own homes. Eric Edgar Cook's trial began in November 1963, less than three months after his arrest. The first charge he was facing was for the murder of John Sturkey during the Australia Day shootings. Because Cook openly admitted to killing his victims, his lawyers were arguing that he was not guilty by reason of insanity. After reviewing Cook's background and speaking extensively with his family, they believed he was suffering from a mental illness, most likely schizophrenia. Cook's mother told the attorneys about her son's history of headaches and blackouts. The defence wanted to have a private psychiatrist examine Cook and provide an assessment of his mental state, but this was denied by the court. Instead, he was assessed by a senior mental health practitioner employed by the state, Dr. Aranelis. Dr. Ellis found no indication that Cook was suffering from delusions, a symptom of schizophrenia, nor that he lacked the ability to control his actions. In fact, Dr. Ellis pointed to the lengths Cook had gone to in order to conceal his responsibility, such as wearing gloves and discarding weapons. These were not the actions of someone who wasn't in control. Cook had also been able to maintain the facade of being a good husband and father and worked hard to provide for his family. His total lack of remorse for his crimes was concerning but not an indication of insanity. Instead, it was more likely the consequence of a, quote, psychopathic character disorder such as antisocial personality disorder. Dr. Ellis believed Cook's criminal behaviour was the result of a long simmering resentment towards society at large. In superficial encounters, he presented as polite, compliant and passive. Beneath that surface image was a self obsessed man who wanted to vent his rage against those who he perceived as rejecting or wronging him. He often chose victims from well off areas because they represented the people he believed had rejected him. Cook himself had always lived in working class suburbs. I think this man's antisocial reactions can be traced back to his early childhood and his resentment at having been born with a hare lip and cleft palate. The children at school picked on him and he regarded himself as the freak of the family. His persistent stealing, arson and finally murders all seemed directed towards satisfying his craving for power over others. Cook harboured particular resentment towards women who made up the majority of his victims. He was both traumatised by his father's violence towards his mother and angry at the women he perceived as rejecting him socially and romantically. His wife Sally would later tell Perth journalist Brett Christian, Eric wasn't really insane. He had a grudge against society. He saw his mother beaten up. He didn't know how to relate to women. The trial lasted just three days and it only took the jury of eight men and four women one hour and five minutes to reach a verdict. Guilty. Eric Edgar Cook would be sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of John Sturkey. This sentence meant that the prosecution would not be pursuing the other murder and criminal charges against Cook. Cook ordered his attorneys not to file an appeal even though they were still concerned about his mental state. His hanging was set to be carried out at 8am on Monday, October 26, 1964, one year and two months after his arrest. Fifteen minutes before Cook was executed, he took a Bible from the hand of a reverend who was visiting him and while holding it, he stated, I swear before Almighty God that I killed Anderson and Brewer. Eric Edgar Cook was the last person to be executed in the state of Western Australia. The death penalty was later abolished. In 1984, Cook had repeatedly confessed to the murders of Rosemary Anderson and Gillian Brewer. During his incarceration, he'd written statements detailing those crimes and signed affidavits. But neither the police nor the Judiciary believed him, instead thinking he was just trying to delay his sentence. However, the truth was there were multiple issues and inconsistencies with their cases against the two men who had been convicted. Convicted of those crimes, John Button tried to appeal his manslaughter conviction, citing Coke's confession as new evidence. His appeals failed and he served five years of his ten year sentence before being paroled. He struggled to put the pieces of his life back together, grappling with grief and an intense guilt for not being able to prevent Rosemary's murder. The young couple had been planning to get married when Rosemary turned 18. Instead, John had to mourn Rosemary and also take the blame after her life suddenly ended in a violent and shocking way. Rosemary's parents and many of John's friends cut him off, believing he was guilty. He was still desperate for his name to be cleared, so he wrote to everyone he could think of who might be able to help. John did this for three decades with no success. He eventually married and had two children, but still felt stuck. Haunted by grief and injustice, John sunk into a deep depression. He attempted suicide multiple times and had to be admitted for psychiatric treatment. The aftershocks of Cook's crime would continue to be felt by John Button's wife and two children, who also suffered the consequences of John's trauma. John's story eventually caught the attention of Perth journalist Estelle Blackburn. She had been in her early teens when the nightcaller stalked the city and had experienced the same fear as other residents after the Australia Day shootings. She was so terrified that she refused to use the outhouse at her family home after dark in case the shooter was lurking nearby. Three decades later, in 1991, Estelle was at a dance where she had a chance encounter with John Button's brother Jim, who told her that his brother had been wrongfully convicted for a crime actually committed by Eric Edgar Cook. Estelle didn't believe Jim at first, as she had a strong faith in the police and the justice system. But she began digging into the case out of curiosity. Estelle met with John and was intrigued by his story. Through her contacts, she was able to access all of the police files about the Cook and Button cases, which had been archived decades earlier and never made public. While trawling through the files, Estelle stumbled across confession after confession made by Eric Edgar Cook, admitting to countless violent crimes across Perth. Through these statements, Estelle Blackburn was able to track down other victims and hear their stories firsthand. She spoke to the seven women who'd survived Cook's hit and Runs. All of the stories matched up. Estelle believed their stories were deliberately withheld from the public as they would make the case against John Button far weaker and police did not want to undermine his conviction. She continued digging over the next six years and her efforts uncovered a brand new witness who had never been interviewed before. A man who had been out riding his Vespa scooter with his girlfriend on the night Rosemary Anderson was killed. Doug Wilkie had been riding along Stubbs Terrace, the street where Rosemary was run down, when a light coloured Holden sped up behind them. Doug also sped up to put some space between them. But the Holden pursued, its engine revving. Doug knew the driver wanted to run them down. Suddenly, another car appeared ahead of them. This new witness prompted the Holden driver to slow down and Doug was able to get away. This story seemed to back up Cook's claim that he was in the area looking for victims. Estelle Blackburn wound up writing a book about the case titled Broken Lives. It was published in 1998 by Brett Christian, who owned the Perth community publication Post Newspapers. Broken Lives led to renewed interest in the old case and soon lawyers were offering to represent John Button pro bono. An American crash test expert was brought in and conducted a series of tests using a dummy and the same models of Holden and Simca that Cook and John had been driving, respectively. Via these tests, the expert was able to determine that the damage to John's car was inconsistent with having hit a pedestrian as it was too low down on the bumper. There was no dent on the bonnet where Rosemary would have fallen. Meanwhile, Cook's description of how Rosemary's body was struck and fell when hit by the Holden he was driving was entirely accurate. Eventually, four years after the publication of Broken Lives, John Button's conviction was quashed in 2002. The following year, he was awarded $460,000 by the state as compensation. John Button's exoneration paved the way for Daryl Beamish to file his own appeal. He had originally been sentenced to death for killing Gillian Brewer. However, this sentence was subsequently reduced to life in prison and Beamish was ultimately released after 15 years. While many across Perth breathed a sigh of relief after Darryl's conviction for the horrific murder, those who knew him well were uneasy. Although Daryl was a convicted sex offender, there was a belief that these crimes had stemmed from his childlike manner and repressed curiosity about sex. He wasn't known to be at all violent or aggressive, as Gillian's killer clearly was. It turned out that there had always been issues with Darryl's Confession. He hadn't accurately described the injuries to Gillian's body, said he had raped her despite no evidence of sexual assault, and even named the wrong day the attack had taken place. Journalist Estelle Blackburn's friend and colleague Brett Christian of Post Newspapers turned his focus to Daryl Beamish's case. In his own book, Presumed Guilty, he described how Darryl had difficulty communicating with police officers due to being deaf and non verbal. He repeatedly got facts wrong about Gillian's case, including saying he'd fled her flat via the back door, which was locked from the inside when the crime scene was discovered. The lead detective had also taken Darryl to Gillian's home and lay on her bed, miming how she had been stabbed in various parts of her body by making chopping motions with his hands. Darrell had apparently nodded as the detective did this, which was taken as a confession. In contrast, Eric Edgar Cook's confession aligned perfectly with the details of the case. He overheard part of Gillian's conversation with her fiance, which her fiance was able to confirm was most likely correct. Evidence also linked him to her home at the Brookwood Flats well before her murder and a burglary of Gillian's mother's home next door. In 2005, three years after John Button was exonerated, Darrell Beamish had his conviction overturned as well. He was awarded $425,000 compensation by the state government. Although Eric Edgar Cook apologised to John Button and Daryl Beamish for their wrongful convictions prior to his execution, the Western Australia police force never has. Much of the blame for the wrongful convictions has been placed on a former detective named Owen Leach. He was the officer who extracted a confession from Daryl Beamish and his solving of Gillian Brewer's high profile murder directly led to him being promoted to the top position of Western Australia's Police Commissioner. Leach was also responsible for convicting another deaf man who was friends with Daryl Beamish for a burglary and assault committed by Eric Edgar Cook. The victim's description of her attacker matched Cook exactly, but Leach instead pinned it on an innocent man who was taller than Cooking and looked nothing like him. In the documentary series after the Night, former Western Australia Premier Brian Burke said that in his experience, Owen Leach intimidated other officers and was a frightening person to deal with. There was no one more fervent in his efforts to keep innocent people in jail. One of Leach's detectives, who was directly responsible for Cook ultimately confessing to the Australia Day attacks, admitted to driving Cook past Gillian Brewer's home after his arrest. His hope was that Cook would admit to the murder, which the detective didn't believe Beamish was responsible for. John Button and Daryl Beamish were just two of Eric Edgar Cook's living victims whose lives were permanently altered and damaged. Cook's own family were victims of him as well. He kept up a facade with his wife, Sally, while also spending copious amounts of time away from her and their children. Sally was never allowed to ask her husband questions about what he got up to at night or query his frequent absences from home. She believed her husband was cheating on her, as strange women often came to their house looking for Cooking. He had told them Sally was his widowed sister and he was helping to raise her children. In the aftermath of the Australia Day shootings, Cook acted as though his family needed to fear the Nightcaller the same as everyone else. In the documentary series after the Night, Sally, Cook told the filmmakers how Cook had insisted their children no longer sleep outside during the summer. They all had to sleep on the bedroom floor next to her. Instead, he'd demand that she lock all the doors to stay safe while he was out prowling the streets of Perth. He came up with his own special knock and whistle, so when he returned home after a long night out, she would know it was him outside. When he arrived home, Sally quickly pulled him inside and said, I hate this killer on the loose. When are they going to catch him? The date that Cook was finally arrested for murder in 1963 was Father's Day. When there was a knock at the Cook residence later that morning, the children all raced down the hallway with presents in their hands, expecting to greet their father. Instead, they were met by police officers who'd come to inform Sally Cook of her husband's arrest. The news of what he was charged with had come as an enormous shock. As Sally Cook stated in after the night, I knew he was a thief and a womaniser, but that's far different to being a murderer. The family also had to grapple with what might have happened to them if police hadn't managed to arrest Cook first. He admitted to detectives that he'd been keeping a rifle and ammunition in the ceiling of his home and intended to kill his wife, children and finally, himself. If it ever seemed the police were closing in. I wasn't going to leave them behind for anybody else, he stated. Sally Cook was left with no money and had to survive on a pension while raising seven children all alone. Her siblings would no longer associate with her due to the social stigma. Despite this, Sally refused to leave Perth, explaining that she wanted to teach her children that painful experiences had to be met and confronted head on in after the night. Sally described how proud she was of her seven children, stating, my family could have been a lot different to what they were not. One of them took after him. The couple's eldest child, Tony Cook, became a highly regarded social worker and later a union leader who fought for workers rights. In 2002, he and his mother met with John Button and the parents of Rosemary Anderson to apologise for his father's crimes. This meeting was covered in an episode of the ABC television program Australian Story. When asked in a televised interview about how his father's crimes had shaped his life, Tony answered, I'd have to say it has made a huge impact on me as a person. It guides me in what I do. It's formed my values and my attitudes. It's given me the conviction that what I should be doing is working towards a more positive society, the sort of society that doesn't breed people like my father. Tony Cook passed away in 2018, followed by his mother Sally, one year later in 2019. The victims of Cook's attacks who survived were also changed forever by what was done to them. Some suffered permanent or temporary physical disabilities and brain damage. Many battled post traumatic stress. In the months and years after their assaults, their goals and ambitions changed. Some relocated and moved away from their homes. A sense of safety, freedom and security was taken from them. Even victims of Cook's burglaries, who had no idea they'd been robbed until later notified by the police, have had to live with knowing they'd had a close brush with the notorious murderer. Others faced different battles when they realised they would never get their day in court. According to Estelle Blackburn's book, Broken Lives, hit and run victim Jill Connell only realised who was behind her attack after her mother read an early headline about how Cook had lived nearby. She immediately suspected he must have been Jill's attacker and followed it up with the police. The police confirmed their suspicions and Jill was overjoyed to finally know what had happened to her. However, her relief turned to despair when investigators told her Cook would not be trialled for her crime. Jill wanted the vindication of a public trial so everyone would know who had hurt her. The hit and run left Jill with significant scarring, physical pain and emotional trauma. When she initially told her friends that her case was solved and Cook was responsible, they hadn't believed her. This further traumatised victims like Jill, who were left with a feeling of injustice. Journalist Estelle Blackburn has argued that police never publicised Cook's confessions about assaulting women in their homes because they didn't want the public to make the connection between Cook and Gillian Brewer's murder. This was in keeping with their decision to keep Cook's hit and runs a secret so he wouldn't be suspected of Rosemary Anderson's murder. Just as she had done with those cases, Estelle Blackburn tracked down the survivors who had been assaulted in their homes. One of these was Molly McLeod, who had been 15 years old when Cook hit her over the head while robbing her family's home, concussing her. For 30 years, the McLeod family had believed Mollie had simply fallen out of bed. Until Estelle Blackburn uncovered Cook's confession and reached out to Mollie's father. Police hadn't just concealed Cook's non fatal crimes. For years they had believed that Cook's first murder victim, Pernina Berkman, was killed by her boyfriend who subsequently left Australia for Greece. After Cook provided a highly detailed admission to the crime, they accepted that he was the true culprit. But they never charged him with Pernina's murder and nor did they notify any of her family members that the case was solved. At the time of her murder in 1959, Pernina had an eight year old son named Mark. She and Mark had relocated to Perth from Melbourne after Penina and her Polish born husband divorced. On the night of his mother's murder, Mark had been staying at a friend's house for the school holidays. He never understood the truth of what happened to his mother and the next four years of Mark's life remain a blur to this day. His father took Mark back to Melbourne and the pair later relocated to Israel. In the documentary series after the Night, Mark described his grief as all of a sudden you lose a mother or one day you see her, the next day you don't and you don't know the reason and it doesn't really matter. I see it as a private holocaust. It only belongs to me. In 2004, Mark visited Australia to see some extended family members. A cousin told him about the book Broken Lives and how it told his mother's story. Mark got hold of a copy and was stunned to learn the truth. It was the first he'd ever heard about what happened to his mother and who was responsible for taking her life. The family members and friends of Cook's seven other murder victims have been dealt a life sentence as well. Countless individuals have had to grieve loved ones under the most painful circumstances and live in a new reality that was far more terrifying than the one they knew before. This loss of innocence was felt more broadly by the entire city of Perth, which was fundamentally different after Cook. Even though Cook's crimes are now more than 60 years old, some longtime residents still have first hand memories of his reign of terror. As Estelle Blackburn stated in the 2020 documentary after the Night, all these years on, there are still all these people who carried the scars of the crimes of Eric Edgar Cook. Far more people than we realised at the time really affected by his attacks. Their families, their friends. There are a lot of people still in Perth who sleep with a light on at night. Hey guys, have you heard of Gold Belly? It's this amazing site where they ship the most iconic famous foods from restaurants across the country anywhere nationwide. I've never found a more perfect gift than food. They ship Chicago deep dish pizza, New York bagels, Maine lobster rolls and even Ina Garten's famous cakes. So if you're looking for a gift for the food lover in your life, head to goldbelly.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code GIFT.

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