War crime victim Lindsey Bonistall
War criminal James E. Cooke [guestimate: 2005-2007]
Posted by Nicholas Stix
W’chester Student’s Murderer Gets Death [No link; no longer on line]
June 7, 2007
New York Post
June 7, 2007 -- WILMINGTON, Del. - A judge sentenced a cold-blooded burglar to death yesterday for raping and strangling a beautiful University of Delaware student from Westchester before torching her apartment in an attempt to destroy evidence.
"The decision was fair and just," victim Lindsay Bonistall's tearful dad, Mark, told the Wilmington News Journal.
"There is still a lot more legal proceedings to happen. They'll take their course and hopefully the decision will be upheld and justice will be served."
The jury convicted James E. Cooke Jr. in March of first-degree murder, arson, rape, burglary and reckless endangering in the death of the White Plains co-ed, whose body was found covered with charred debris in her bathtub May 1, 2005.
Sophomore [sic] Bonistall, 20, was white. A handwriting analyst testified at trial that Cooke, who is black, had used a marker to write "KKK," "White Power" and other phrases on the walls of her apartment.
Cooke, 36, also tried to convince police in a 911 call before his arrest that Bonistall's death was part of a drug war involving white supremacists.
With DNA from semen in Bonistall's body and found under her fingernails pointing to Cooke, defense attorneys had asked jurors to find him guilty, but mentally ill.
Cooke, who denied he was mentally ill, was banished from the courtroom after frequent outbursts, including one in which he was wrestled to the floor.
Bonistall had been an all-state cheerleader and National Honor Society member at her high school, Good Counsel Academy in White Plains.
[A tip ‘o the hate to Violence Against Whites and The Phora for the first article. I dug up the rest.]
Jury selection begins; Cooke acting as own lawyer
February 21, 2012
LOHUD.com/The Journal News [Gannett]
0 Comments [Likely none permitted.]
James E. Cooke of Newark, Del., is representing himself in his second trial in the murder of Lindsey Bonistall, a University of Delaware sophomore. Bonistall's family lives in White Plains. / File photo
Written by Sean O’Sullivan
Jury selection is under way this week in the Delaware retrial of James E. Cooke Jr. on charges he raped and murdered White Plains native Lindsey Bonistall in 2005.
Though Cooke, 41, was disruptive at his first trial — and has since fired two sets of defense attorneys — he was well-behaved Monday, on the first day of jury selection.
Cooke is now acting as his own attorney.
Bonistall, 20, was a sophomore at the University of Delaware when she was raped and murdered in her off-campus Newark, Del., apartment May 1, 2005.
Cooke was found guilty at his first trial in 2007 and was sentenced to death by Judge Jerome Herlihy. The Delaware Supreme Court overturned that outcome in a 3-2 ruling in 2009.
The justices ordered a new trial because the majority found Cooke’s first set of attorneys violated his rights when they entered a plea of “guilty but mentally ill” over Cooke’s explicit objections.
Cooke maintains he is neither guilty nor mentally ill.
The process of picking a jury, which will have to consider the death penalty if Cooke is again found guilty, is expected to take at least two weeks.
The trial in Wilmington is expected to last three months.
Because of the lengthy time commitment, nearly 60 potential jurors were excused Monday.
Cooke, dressed in a white prison uniform with the letters D.O.C. stenciled on the back, was largely subdued during the selection process.
A change of clothes was brought for him to wear in court, said his standby attorney, Anthony Figliola, but Cooke did not wear them.
Cooke’s demeanor was very different during a pretrial hearing last week before Superior Court Judge Charles H. Toliver IV.
Cooke became emotional when he was told he could not bring up certain issues, such as Bonistall’s sexual history, without meeting certain legal requirements.
Cooke then loudly claimed, as he has previously, that the prosecution was racially motivated, prompting Toliver to call in correction officers when Cooke would not calm down.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Toliver warned Cooke on Thursday as two Department of Correction officers hovered over him. “Let’s not do this. ... I won’t permit it.”
Cooke grumbled loudly that he felt Toliver was acting “like God.”
“Mr. Cooke,” Toliver answered, “No one has ever confused me with a deity. But I am a judge of the Superior Court of the State of Delaware and I will control my courtroom.”
Bonistall’s parents, Mark and Kathleen, who spent months in Delaware at the first trial, are also in court for the retrial.
The parents expressed dismay after the first verdict was overturned, saying in an email to The Journal News that “the rights of victims are virtually nonexistent in this country,” adding: “We want our family to be rid of this judicial nightmare, and Lindsey’s killer to be punished.”
Staff writer Richard Liebson contributed to this report.
Death sentence verdict in Delaware rape and murder case of Lindsey Bonistall
By Nichelle Polston
September 17, 2012
News Works
James Cooke Jr., has been sentenced to death by lethal injection, again, in the rape and murder case of University of Delaware student Lindsey Bonistall.
The ruling came Monday afternoon from Superior Court Judge Charles H. Toliver IV. However, Cooke still claims his innocence. "I never got a fair trial," said Cooke in the courtroom filled with jurors and Bonistall's family.
"The verdict I think was fair, it was proven twice now that Lindsey was an innocent victim and that she was killed by a career criminal. The way that Lindsey died was undeserving of any human being," said Kathleen Bonsitall, the victim's mother.
The murder of Bonistall who was killed in her off campus apartment in May 2005 went to trial twice, but the guilty verdict in the first trial was later overturned by the Delaware Supreme Court. Cooke represented himself during the retrial earlier this year and received the death sentence.
"It was pretty much anticipated that the judge was going to come down with the death sentence, we were prepared for that, said Anthony Figliola who represented Cooke after Judge Toliver suspended Cooke's right to represent himself.
An automatic appeal because of the death penalty will be filed in the next few weeks. "You are totally wrong for sentencing me period," said Cooke after Judge read all the charges in detail.
"What happened here today doesn't change the fact that Lindsey won't be getting in the car this afternoon returning home to West Chester, New York with her sister and her dad and her mom....but at least today's sentence reflects the brutality of Lindsey's attack and her murder," said Attorney General Beau Biden who was there during the ruling.
"This isn't an end for us, this is an end to an arduous process where we had to sit and endure lies about our daughter as a defense, there's something wrong with that system, it's broken, it needs to be fixed....victims need a voice and their voices need to be heard," concluded Kathleen.
Even into the twentieth century, Delaware used to have at least one whipping post at one of its prisons. Delaware should bring it back: Cooke gets whipped before his execution.
ReplyDeleteSay, that reminds me of something! A buddy of mine, with a strong interest in ancient history, once told me an interesting story about the ancient Scythians.
In a certain encampment, the Scythian men went raiding and left no guards in charge of their camp. Their slaves took advantage of this opportunity to seize the camp, fortify it, and seize all the people and material inside the camp, including the families of the warriors who had left.
When the Scythians returned, they tried to break into their camp and regain control, but to no avail.
Eventually, one the Scythians had an idea which worked. Instead of bearing weapons, each of the Scythian warriors attacked the encampment bearing a whip. Resistance melted before them, and their camp was secured. The slaves were punished.
A savage story, but one which bears repeating for our times.
I never head of this case. It sickens me. A beautiful young woman met a horrible death because of a feral fiend. The poor parents, I feel so bad for them. Crimes like this are happening more often thanks to Section 8,
ReplyDeleteI remember being selected as one of the potential juror members for this case. I'm so glad that I wasn't chosen to sit on the panel of jurors. This case would've drained me mentally.
ReplyDelete