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Jessica
Luna Cook and her new boyfriend, Michael Montgomery hatched a
successful scheme to put her husband, Mark Cook out of the picture
in a vicious custody battle. Justice will be served when Mark
Cook is exonerated and these two are locked up. The children,
Taylor and Nathan are doubly victimized because they are both
denied their loving father and subjected to their abusive mother.
Mark Cook's mother contacted injusticebusters when Mark was first
arrested. We were horrified by the story and, even though it
is far from Saskatchewan we provided a link to the Mark Cook
Website.
We really thought there was an excellent chance he would be acquitted
because the only evidence was perjured testimony. Were we ever
wrong!
Mark Cook
Framed in Fort Worth
17 years for a crime
that didn't happen!
Letter from the shocked
mother of Mark Cook
15 Feb 2003
I am writing to you to seek
your help. Mark's trial was this past week. He was found guilty
and sentenced to 17 years, for Aggravated Sexual Assault with
a Deadly Weapon..
I am astonished.
During the trial proceedings
it was learned there was NO DNA testing done, there was no forensic
evidence, there was no rape test The DA claimed he could not
do vaginal secretion test on gun. The case was based was based
on the testimony of Mark's ex-wife and her boyfriend. There were
many contradictions throughout the course of their testimonies.
Mark's attorney made many objections through the trial which
the judge continually overruled. Even when witness statements
were repeated in different manner by the DA. Questions Mark's
attorney would try to ask to establish the motive for all this,
the DA would object and guess what ...Mr. Factor was not allowed
to ask.
The police even testified,
when stopped at the hospital, Mark complied with everything they
told him to do while she screamed and hid behind an officer saying
"he has a knife on him". Well, of course, they searched
Mark outside of the vehicle where they stopped him, and, surprise,
there was no knife or gun on his person. On one occasion, even
the Judge, after their testimony and after the courtroom was
cleared, told Mr Factor and Mark, "these charges will never
hold up, there is not enough evidence."
She and the boyfriend claim
Mark beat her around the knees with a tire tool, but yet the
doctor report states no bruising or damaged tissue. The DA said
Mark plotted and did certain actions that day, which, when the
boyfriend was on the stand and asked about these, he stated Mark
did not do but he, Michael, did. The DA claims since their first
stories still match there is not a problem with later contradictions.
The initial set-up to lure Mark to the "scene of the crime"
was plotted and planned so it is not surprising their initial
stories match. They have now lived together for a year and have
developed contradictions between their stories.
WHY? Why did she call the boyfriend
at work, approx 30-45 minutes away, instead of 911 for help if
someone was trying to get into the apartment?
She claims she got the knife
out of the drawer and carried it around the apartment till the
boyfriend got home, well the boyfriend testified she had the
tire tool, not a knife.
Please, I need help to save
my son from prison for something he did not do. Yes sir, we wish
we could change the fact that he, Mark, had been there but what
he is guilty of is being a young father, who cherished his two
children, (which she has seen to he lost, which she stated she
would do that) and for wanting them to spend time with their
mother. This all stemmed from my son, Mark Cook, filing for divorce
and obtaining custody of the two minor children.
Please, help us.
Judy Cook
The
following reports simply tell what happened at trial. What a
missed opportunity for investigative journalism. What happened
to the days when journalists actually went out and got the corroboration
-- in this case Mark Cook's story could certainly be corroborated
regarding Jessica's previous abuse of Mark and the children,
for instance. If we're warned about graphic language, let's get
the whole damn picture! A good defence lawyer would have run
to the media with this.
Man given 17 years in
attack on wife
By Domingo Ramirez Jr. Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Feb.
18, 2003
This article
contains graphic and explicit language.
A Fort Worth man convicted
of sexually assaulting his estranged wife with a handgun has
been sentenced to 17 years in prison.
A Tarrant County jury decided
the punishment Friday for Mark Cook, 26, who was convicted Thursday
of aggravated sexual assault with a deadly weapon.
Cook faces five other charges
related to the attack in February 2002: two counts of burglary
with intent to commit a felony, two counts of aggravated assault
and a count of aggravated kidnapping.
Cook's defense attorney, Abe
Factor, had argued that no forensic evidence showed that Cook's
estranged wife had been raped with a gun.
Factor and Tarrant County prosecutors
could not be reached to comment Monday.
The attack occurred Feb. 26
after Cook's estranged wife arrived at the apartment of her boyfriend,
Michael Montgomery, in the 2400 block of Meadow Park Circle in
Bedford.
Montgomery testified that he
raced home after the woman called to tell him that a stranger
was in the parking lot and that someone had tried to open the
door.
When Montgomery arrived at
the apartment, Cook forced his way inside, according to testimony.
Cook then pointed a 9 mm handgun at the couple and held them
hostage for four hours, at one point ordering the woman to disrobe,
Montgomery testified.
Cook sexually assaulted the
woman with the gun as he called her derogatory names and threatened
to kill her, according to testimony.
Her throat was cut with a steak
knife, and she was stabbed in the shoulder, Montgomery told jurors.
Montgomery said he finally
convinced Cook that the woman needed to go to a hospital. As
Cook drove her to Harris Methodist H.E.B. hospital in Bedford,
Montgomery called 911, and Bedford police arrested Cook in the
hospital parking lot.
Cook's estranged wife testified
against him during the trial.
Domingo Ramirez Jr., (817) 685-3822
Man found guilty in attack
on wife
By Domingo Ramirez Jr., Fort
Worth Star-Telegram, Feb. 14, 2003
This article
contains graphic and explicit language.
A Fort Worth man was convicted
Thursday of sexually assaulting his estranged wife with a handgun
as he forced her boyfriend to watch.
A Tarrant County jury of six
women and six men deliberated about 2 1/2 hours before convicting
Mark Cook, 26, of aggravated sexual assault with a deadly weapon.
The sentencing phase of the trial is scheduled to begin today
in Criminal District Court No. 396 in Fort Worth. Cook could
face life in prison.
The attack occurred Feb. 26,
2002, after Cook's estranged wife arrived at her boyfriend's
apartment in the 2400 block of Meadow Park Circle in Bedford.
Michael Montgomery testified
this week that he raced home after the woman called to tell him
that a stranger was in the parking lot and someone had tried
to open the door.
When Montgomery attempted to
open the door, Cook ran up to him, and the two struggled and
fell into the apartment, according to court testimony.
Cook then pointed a 9 mm handgun
at the couple, according to testimony. For four hours, Cook held
the couple at gunpoint, at one point ordering the woman to disrobe,
Montgomery testified.
Cook sexually assaulted the
woman with the gun as he called her derogatory names and told
her that he was going to be the last man to have sex with her,
according to testimony.
A few hours later, Cook hit
her in the legs with a crowbar when she didn't answer a question
the way he wanted her to, Montgomery testified.
The woman's throat was cut
when Cook hit her in the head while holding a steak knife to
her throat, according to testimony. He then stabbed her in the
shoulder, Montgomery told jurors.
Montgomery finally convinced
Cook that the woman needed to go to a hospital for medical treatment.
Cook drove his estranged wife
to Harris Methodist H.E.B. hospital in Bedford, and Montgomery
called 911.
Bedford police arrested Cook
in the hospital parking lot. Cook's estranged wife survived the
attack and testified during the trial.
Man taunted wife in attack,
witness says
By Domingo Ramirez Jr.,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Staff Writer, Feb. 12, 2003
A Fort Worth man accused of
sexually assaulting his estranged wife with a handgun taunted
her as he raped her, according to testimony Tuesday from a man
who said he was forced to watch the attack.
Mark Cook, 26, forced his way
into a Bedford apartment where his wife lived with Michael Montgomery
in February 2002, according to testimony in Cook's trial Tuesday
in Fort Worth.
Cook made his wife sit naked
on a couch, and he raped her with a black handgun as he called
her derogatory names, Montgomery testified. Cook also stabbed
her in the shoulder with a steak knife and threatened to kill
his two hostages, Montgomery said.
A conviction for aggravated
sexual assault with a deadly weapon carries a maximum sentence
of life in prison. Five other charges against Cook related to
the attack are pending.
Cook's attorney, Abe Factor
of Fort Worth, said the prosecutors' case against Cook is flimsy.
"You will find that there
was no forensic evidence in this case," Factor told the
jury of six women and six men. "There should have been."
Montgomery said he met Cook's
estranged wife in November 2001, and she moved in with him at
the end of December 2001. He said that he was unaware she was
married.
On the night of Feb. 26, 2002,
Cook held his estranged wife and Montgomery at gunpoint for about
four hours in the Bedford apartment, Montgomery testified.
"I rushed to the apartment
when she called to tell me that she had seen a stranger in the
parking lot and someone had jiggled the apartment door,"
Montgomery said.
Chris Farris, a resident of
the apartment complex, testified that he had seen a suspicious
man wearing a hooded jacket and sunglasses in the parking lot.
When Montgomery came home,
he was accosted outside the apartment by a man with a gun, he
testified. He later identified the man as Mark Cook.
"He told me to get in
the apartment," Montgomery testified. "A few minutes
later, he told her to get naked."
For the next four hours, Cook
raped the woman, beat her with a crowbar and stabbed her, Montgomery
testified.
"This is not a case of
whodunit," prosecutor D.D. Rhoden said in opening statements
Tuesday. "Those were a scary four hours for her and her
boyfriend."
Rhoden told jurors that Cook
stalked his estranged wife before he burst into the apartment.
"He's ranting and raving
the entire time he's in the apartment," Rhoden said. "He
questioned her during the evening, and hit her with a crowbar
when she answered him."
But Factor said Cook's estranged
wife called him to the apartment that night.
"She had two motives for
this," Factor said. "One, she desired attention from
more than one man. Second, she wanted a confrontation between
her new boyfriend and her husband."
Factor said Cook should have
been charged with a lesser crime.
"The charge is not true,"
Factor said. "It's just impossible."
The couple escaped when Montgomery
convinced Cook that the woman would die if she did not receive
medical treatment, Montgomery testified.
As Cook drove her to Harris
Methodist H.E.B. hospital in Bedford, Montgomery called 911.
Cook was arrested in the hospital parking lot.
Testimony will resume today
in Criminal District Court No. 396 in Fort Worth.
Trial begins for man
accused of raping, stabbing estranged wife
By Domingo Ramirez Jr.,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Staff, Feb. 11, 2003
An angry Fort Worth man used
a gun to rape his estranged wife at a Bedford apartment last
year while her boyfriend was forced to watch, a prosecutor said
today.
Mark Cook also beat her with
a crowbar and stabbed her with a steak knife during a four-hour
period on Feb. 26, 2002.
"This is not a case of
whodunnit," prosecutor D.D. Rhoden said. "Those were
a scary four hours for her and her boyfriend."
Rhoden's statement opened the
first day of testimony in the aggravated sexual assault trial
of Cook, 26, who is accused of breaking into his estranged wife's
Bedford apartment and attacking her.
Five other charges related
to the attack are pending against Cook.
Rhoden told a jury of six women
and six men that Cook stalked his estranged wife before he burst
into her apartment, taking her and her boyfriend hostage.
"He's ranting and raving
the entire time he's in the apartment," Rhoden said. "He
questioned her during the evening, and hit her with a crowbar
when she answered him." He also stabbed her in the shoulder
with a knife, authorities said.
But Cook's attorney, Abe Factor
of Fort Worth, questioned prosecutors' case against Cook.
"You will find that there
was no forensic evidence in this case," Factor told jurors.
"There should have been."
Factor said that Cook's estranged
wife called him to her apartment that night.
"She had two motives for
this," Factor said. "One, she desired attention from
more than one man. Second, she wanted a confrontation between
her new boyfriend and her husband."
Factor said Cook should have
been charged with a lesser crime.
"The charge is not true,"
Factor said. "It's just impossible."
The couple escaped when the
woman's boyfriend finally convinced the attacker that the woman
would die if she did not receive medical treatment, police said.
The suspect drove her to Harris
Methodist H.E.B. hospital in Bedford, and the woman's boyfriend
call 911. Cook was arrested in the hospital parking lot.
Florida and Texas:
Something just ain't right!
More injustices from Jeb and
Dubya Bush country: Monique
Turenne: Canadian military wife framed for husband's murder
| Tulia | Brenton
Butler | Shaka Sankofa | Gilmer,
Texas: "A Touch of Evil." | Steven Kaminski: Bizarre
sex, lies cited in wrongful conviction of Red Deer man | | Alabama: BEVERLY BRABHAM: A
Victim of the Good Old Boys | Wrongfully
convicted and imprisoned |
David Milgaard :
Totally vindicated everywhere but Saskatoon where the cover-ups
continue | Leon Walchuk
Another Milgaard? | Other wrongful convictions in Canada: Robert Baltovich | Ronald Dalton | Jason
Dix | Jody Druken
| Randy Druken | Clayton
Johnson |Kulaveeringsam
"Kulam" Karthiresu | Donald
Marshall | Felix Michaud
| Chris McCullough
| Guy Paul Morin | Shannon
Murrin | Greg Parsons
| Louise Reynolds | Thomas Sophonow | Gary
Staples | Steven Truscott
| Most of these cases were assisted by the Association
in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted led by Rubin "Hurricane
Carter," himself a wrongfully convicted person
See also the cases of wrongful
arrest and malicious prosecution in Saskatchewan where innumerable
people have been publicly smeared as violent pedaphiles and numerous
others have had their Charter Rights illegally taken from them
for trying to make the truth public.
Foster Parent case | Martensville
| Defamation
cases
What's a fair settlement? | Clayton
Ruby revisits Stinchcombe
From the University
of Missouri at Kansas City School of Law | Visit Jurist | for a whole list
of famous
trials
| or chronological prepared by Dr. Linder
| Inherit
the wind
|
Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
