After more than four decades, Kerry Max Cook was exonerated by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for the 1977 murder of Linda Jo Edwards. Cook spent nearly 20 years on death row before this decision.
Kerry Max Cooknow 68 years old, spent two decades in the death corridor. In 1999, he confessed to the facts to obtain a reduced sentence, which earned him 20 years in prison. Released in the early 2000s, Cook became a staunch advocate against death sentence.
Accused of the rape, murder and mutilation of Linda Jo Edwards, a 21-year-old woman, Kerry Max Cook was first tried in 1979. The victim’s body was discovered by her roommate, and Cook, who lived in the same building, quickly became the prime suspect. His fingerprints were found on the victim’s patio door.
Sentenced to death During the first trial, Cook had this decision overturned on appeal. A second trial in 1992 failed on procedural grounds, and a third in 1994 again sentenced him to death. However, the Texas Court of Appeals overturned that verdict in 1996, due to misconduct by police and prosecutors.
In 1999, a turning point occurred: DNA tests on the victim’s underwear did not match those of Kerry Max Cook. Despite this, he was not immediately exonerated. Before a fourth trial that same year, Texas authorities offered Cook a confession, which he did, allowing him to serve a sentence already served and be released.
Despite the scientific evidence, Cook was still considered guilty until 2016, when all charges were finally dropped. Cook continued to fight for his rehabilitation until the final decision on June 19 of this year. Judge Bert Richardson revealed that during the first trial in 1979, evidence supporting Cook’s innocence was withheld, while other evidence was falsified.
Edward Scott Jackson, an inmate and a key witness in the first trial, had testified that Kerry Max Cook had confessed to him murder. Jackson later admitted to lying to get a reduced sentence, saying, ” I lied about him to save my skin “. Scientific analysis also refuted accusations that Cook’s fingerprints on the patio door were recent.
« Kerry suffered greatly for almost 50 years, and nothing can restore his life “, one of Cook’s lawyers, Glenn Garber, told CNN. « The decision finally and forcefully clears his name “, he added.
