Australia Australia - Jenny Cook, 29, Townsville, Qld, 19 Jan 2009

[SouthAussie]

"Cutting or piercing with sharp objects was rare among fatal cases and had a low case fatality proportion."

http://www.crisis.org.cn/uploadfile/readparty/methods--lethality.pdf

 

[doradodds]

Add to this:

- her husband fully intended beginning a life with another woman and admitted having an affair
- he did not volunteer information about leaving work early that day
- has inconsistencies in his alibi timeline
- told two different stories regarding the night prior to Jenny's death
- spoke of his dead wife in highly unflattering terms
- had a financial motive


Ausgirl - I will only address the following of your post here.

"- her husband fully intended beginning a life with another woman and admitted having an affair" What??? Where did that come from. Please point me in the direction to that information being fact.

"- he did not volunteer information about leaving work early that day" Why would he? Why is that even relevant? Oh shoot him for being so bad and not living up to strangers opinions on what he should have said. He left work at 5.30pm, and by your other assertions she was long dead by that time so how is it relevant?

"- has inconsistencies in his alibi timeline" Oh he said he got back to work at about 12.30pm when in fact it was 12.49pm; he did correct that later and say he was late back to work - and please don't forget he had a receipt for paying for his computer repairs at 12.23pm. I know the area very well and that time frame from the computer shop back to work is about right

"- told two different stories regarding the night prior to Jenny's death" Yes he did - he embellished the story for the workers comp paperwork by adding he comforted his wife when he had not. That does not make him a murderer - it makes him not wanting to admit he gave her the cold shoulder.

"- spoke of his dead wife in highly unflattering terms" I do not know that he did actually - What I read he did was explain his thinking towards her at the time he ignored her crying.

"- had a financial motive" - Just about every husband, wife or person has a financial motive for wanting their spouse dead - I know both my husband and I have super etc - so are you saying that if either one of us dies in unusual circumstances the other should be a murder suspect.


:thinking:[/QUOTE]

 

[Ausgirl]

The information about the sexual relationship Paul Cook stated he had with another woman is in the inquest report.

Any *one* of the elements I mentioned might easily be explained away for anyone who cares to. But view them *collectively* and the picture changes, in my opinion. And also in my opinion, there's sufficient evidence for this case to re-investigated as a homicide.

I forgot to add to that list - "lied to the police regarding how much contact he'd had with the woman in question prior to Jenny's death" - he said five times, the true number was almost ten times that, iirc.

 

[Ausgirl]

"- he did not volunteer information about leaving work early that day" Why would he? Why is that even relevant? Oh shoot him for being so bad and not living up to strangers opinions on what he should have said. He left work at 5.30pm, and by your other assertions she was long dead by that time so how is it relevant?

My opinion has nothing to do with it. This is the day his wife is found dead -- he's talking to the police (who clearly have good reason to be asking him about his movements that day), telling them he 'came home from work' but that wasn't quite true - he'd left work somewhat over an hour prior to getting home, which would have taken him around 15 mins, according to news reports.

"long dead by that time" -- I said nothing of the sort.

 

[FigTree]

Post by doradodds #353

Originally Posted by Cattail View Post
I appreciate your viewpoint. Personally I really struggle to see someone choosing this method for suicide. Not because of its violence. What I find hard to believe about it is the lack of certainty of it working at all, the huge possibility of it working in a very slow and painful way, and the real possibility of it leading to her surviving with more chronic pain and health problems to add to her back pain. jmo.

The trouble is that the degree of certainty appears to be much much lower with the pills poison overdose etc than it is with stabbing cutting - sharp objects etc.

http://www.crisis.org.cn/uploadfile/...-lethality.pdf

"Cutting or piercing with sharp objects was rare among fatal cases and had a low case fatality proportion."

http://www.crisis.org.cn/uploadfile/readparty/methods--lethality.pdf

I was just going to pick up on that too SA -

The research is from 1993-2003

In that 10 year period, there were 444 cases of suicide by sharp objects - 1.84% of all deaths,
as opposed to 3356 deaths from drugs/poisons - 13.87% of all deaths

To clarify the percentages - death by sharp implement as opposes to death by drugs/poisons - was close.
But in terms of gender - female deaths by sharp implement was lower than female deaths by drugs/poisons.

Statistically speaking male deaths by sharp implement were higher than male deaths by drugs/poisons.
-----

Death by a sharp object: The statistics show that by this method - men use this method of suicide more than women in that category, and it results in death with more certainty in males than it does with drugs or poisoning.

 

[doradodds]

The information about the sexual relationship Paul Cook stated he had with another woman is in the inquest report.

Any *one* of the elements I mentioned might easily be explained away for anyone who cares to. But view them *collectively* and the picture changes, in my opinion. And also in my opinion, there's sufficient evidence for this case to re-investigated as a homicide.

I forgot to add to that list - "lied to the police regarding how much contact he'd had with the woman in question prior to Jenny's death" - he said five times, the true number was almost ten times that, iirc.

I am sorry but I can not find anywhere where it states as you said "her husband fully intended beginning a life with another woman and admitted having an affair" Please show me

I am not trying to explain anything away - I just do not go for innuendo or what someone external to the case thinks should or should not have been said or done. I want proof before I proceed to any conclusion.

And.. sorry but even adding up all the little pieces that are actually facts and looking at them as a whole I still can not grasp any semblance of PC being a wife murderer. I want some solid facts pointing in that direction and the only thing I have been able to hold against him so far was that he lied to Work Cover about comforting his wife when he did not (he did not lie to the police about this though) and he tried to hide how many text/calls/returned texts/returned calls he made to NIFP It was actually 52. I would like to see the breakdown of that to see how many texts were made on each occasion - given that text messages tend to go back and forward between people at any give occasion. I'd like to also see NIFP's phone records too so it could be gauged how many times she instigated such call/text if at all. But even given that I keep coming back to opportunity - I can not see any opportunity time-wise for him to have done this.

 

[FigTree]

Respectfully snipped by me...

I am sorry but I can not find anywhere where it states as you said "her husband fully intended beginning a life with another woman and admitted having an affair" Please show me

I am not trying to explain anything away - I just do not go for innuendo or what someone external to the case thinks should or should not have been said or done. I want proof before I proceed to any conclusion.

Quotes below From the OFFICE OF THE STATE CORONER
FINDINGS OF INQUEST

Statements have now been taken from a number of work colleagues of Mr Cook.
Madeline Ronan told police that Mr Cook left work at 5.30pm on 19 January 2009 after telling her that he had a headache.
Prior to Ms Cook’s death she saw Facebook posts indicating that Mr Cook was spending time socialising with a work colleague, Rebekah Rogers, and another female (the non-identified female person - NIFP) prior to Ms Cook’s death. The NIFP told Ms Ronan that she was spending a lot of time with Mr Cook subsequent to Ms Cook’s death and that he told her that he could give her a better life than her current partner. However, a few months after Ms Cook’s death the NIFP told Ms Ronan that Mr Cook was stalking her and would not leave her alone. Shortly after that Ms Ronan heard that Mr Cook had moved to Brisbane.
-----
It is clear from the information Mr Cook provided to the police the night of Ms Cook’s death that he was finding it difficult to deal with her back injury and the effect it was having on her. He told police that he had told Bek Rogers that day at work that his marriage was over.
-----
He did admit there had been problems in the marriage.
He admits that he'd set off for work that morning barely speaking to her, and later that day told a colleague that his marriage was over.

 

[doradodds]

My opinion has nothing to do with it. This is the day his wife is found dead -- he's talking to the police (who clearly have good reason to be asking him about his movements that day), telling them he 'came home from work' but that wasn't quite true - he'd left work somewhat over an hour prior to getting home, which would have taken him around 15 mins, according to news reports.

"long dead by that time" -- I said nothing of the sort.

oh dear me - I think one can make something out of nothing if that is what the care to do. Do you know I must be bad and dishonest because I often refer to when I got home from work when I am telling a story. But often I'll go to the supermarket or call by the pharmacy or call into the service station - sometimes all three - but I still say on the even of my returning home that I have arrived home from work. Maybe its because I consider all those thing as having been done on my way home from work. Now if I was asked specifically if I'd come straight from work to home then of course then I'd say - "no I called into the supermarket ... on my way home" But I do not recall PC saying he came straight home from work- all I recall is that he spoke about his arrival home from work - the arrival time was what was pertinent, not the time he left work or where he may have gone between leaving work and arriving home. I do not see the relevance of anything other than his time of arrival home because we know from the evidence of her estimated time of death that she was dead before he even left work.

 

[doradodds]

Respectfully snipped by me...




Quotes below From the OFFICE OF THE STATE CORONER
FINDINGS OF INQUEST

Statements have now been taken from a number of work colleagues of Mr Cook.
Madeline Ronan told police that Mr Cook left work at 5.30pm on 19 January 2009 after telling her that he had a headache.
Prior to Ms Cook’s death she saw Facebook posts indicating that Mr Cook was spending time socialising with a work colleague, Rebekah Rogers, and another female (the non-identified female person - NIFP) prior to Ms Cook’s death. The NIFP told Ms Ronan that she was spending a lot of time with Mr Cook subsequent to Ms Cook’s death and that he told her that he could give her a better life than her current partner. However, a few months after Ms Cook’s death the NIFP told Ms Ronan that Mr Cook was stalking her and would not leave her alone. Shortly after that Ms Ronan heard that Mr Cook had moved to Brisbane.
-----
It is clear from the information Mr Cook provided to the police the night of Ms Cook’s death that he was finding it difficult to deal with her back injury and the effect it was having on her. He told police that he had told Bek Rogers that day at work that his marriage was over.
-----
He did admit there had been problems in the marriage.
He admits that he'd set off for work that morning barely speaking to her, and later that day told a colleague that his marriage was over.

But all that is a far cry from him having an affair with anyone prior to Jenny''s death not that it would be called an affair if it took place after her death. I am sorry but that does not go anywhere near being able to state with all truthfulness that "her husband fully intended beginning a life with another woman and admitted having an affair"

 

[Kell1]

What you have to remember is that its not "impossible" that it was indeed a suicide, (though I don't feel it was) and work from that angle exhausting all possibilities.

Sometimes, people commit suicide in very odd ways .... in one case, I remember hearing about Roy Hazelwood (retired FBI profiler), explained, investigating a very bizarre suicide, where a man repeatedly stabbed himself in the temple with a ball point pen

 

[Cattail]

The trouble is that the degree of certainty appears to be much much lower with the pills poison overdose etc than it is with stabbing cutting - sharp objects etc.

http://www.crisis.org.cn/uploadfile/readparty/methods--lethality.pdf

Comparing pills to a more normal method of stabbing or cutting, okay. But this run at a knife in a wall business? Not trying to be funny but that's more equatable with throwing pills in the air and seeing which ones you catch in your mouth.

Unless I am missing something here. I am picturing a knife sticking out of the wall and her running at it with enough force for it to go straight in. You would have to run or jump at it surely. With a chronic back problem and her vision possibly obscured by the wrap on her head.

 

[FigTree]

But all that is a far cry from him having an affair with anyone prior to Jenny''s death not that it would be called an affair if it took place after her death. I am sorry but that does not go anywhere near being able to state with all truthfulness that "her husband fully intended beginning a life with another woman and admitted having an affair"

My bold - where did I state this?
You asked for references of the topic which I provided - the references come from the documents.
I will go back and review my posts, as I may have misunderstood you, but the affair is 'alleged' and cant be deemed anything else legally at this stage.
Also, the crux of this WScase is looking at what is considered Circumstantial evidence now, amongst other things.



So my further musings...
Re: The alleged affair; The statement was made by a witness and made in accordance with the law.
And if the investigation had proceeded and questions had been asked by the Police at the time prior to the Official COD being stated as suicide, this matter of an alleged affair would have been dealt with seriously. It was not, and it is something which the Coroner has highlighted in the Report. The recommended Police Investigation that should have followed and be underway should be looking more closely at evidence related to this matter.

The inconsistencies told to Police on record by PJC also add suspicion to the alleged affair.

For example: From the Report...

Cook claimed that his relationship with the unidentified work colleague prior to Jenny Lee's death had been strictly professional, with the romance only starting a couple of months afterwards. It began with kiss in a pool at a barbecue after a few drinks and evolved into a relationship with sexual events but not intercourse, he said.
Asked how many times he would have phoned or texted this woman before Jenny's death, he said he would be surprised if it was more than five times.
But when confronted with records that showed 52 calls or texts he said: "Obviously I was talking to her a lot more than I'm remembering, but we didn't have any relationship before that other than friends".

What the inconsistency does is cause Police to question why he would not tell the truth, change his story, and his testament be different to another witness'.

It also adds to a possible motive - which, at the time, was not considered by the Police when questioning him, and when examining the crime scene.

Remember - This case prior to it being suicide was considered a homicide. The suicide COD and investigation was ruled early, 12 hours after homicide was declared, and the house lifted as a crime scene.

The question is - why did Cook lie about his communications and contact with the Unidentified woman?
Jenny had her suspicions about PJC having an affair with the woman at work.
She confronted him with the question - which he denied.

Remembering also that the woman is not named due to the allegations of an extra marital affair (related to this case) and she has been given anonymity due to that allegation. To have an order put is place to suppress a name holds some significance in a case.

The Lawyer representing this case for the Pullens is also now asking for the anonymity to be lifted.

It would be beneficial to see the phone records of NIFP.
Quote: The NIFP told police that she had very little contact with Mr Cook prior to Ms Cook’s death.
This contradicts the communication which was sent to her by PJC prior to Jennys death by sms, and phoning her, not to mention the additional emails - though it does not verify she had contact with him in the form of response, but then again, there maybe reasons for this also which may conclude that she was having an alleged affair.
To look at the documents wont deny or confirm this - this is one of the reasons for further investigation.

and I am hoping that further investigations can sort this - and the other inconsistencies - out.

 

[BatWoman]

<RSBM>

"- had a financial motive" - Just about every husband, wife or person has a financial motive for wanting their spouse dead - I know both my husband and I have super etc - so are you saying that if either one of us dies in unusual circumstances the other should be a murder suspect.


:thinking:

I don't know about Ausgirl but I believe that suspicious deaths should be investigated and the spouse should be investigated to rule them out as being involved. Once the full investigation of the suspicious death has been done they can then confidently submit to the coroner information that would assist in determining the cause of death, including simple things like DNA/fingerprints on the knife.

The police dropped the ball here which is why there is speculation. If they did their job properly and answered these questions to the satisfaction of the coroner we would not be here discussing it. There is circumstantial evidence that gives the spouse motive and opportunity, and no other people of interest were identified at the inquest, so until he's ruled out or the coroner rules out suicide I'm afraid he will be looked at as a suspect.

 

[doradodds]

My bold - where did I state this?
You asked for references of the topic which I provided - the references come from the documents.
I will go back and review my posts, as I may have misunderstood you, but the affair is 'alleged' and cant be deemed anything else legally at this stage.
Also, the crux of this WScase is looking at what is considered Circumstantial evidence now, amongst other things.



So my further musings...
Re: The alleged affair; The statement was made by a witness and made in accordance with the law.
And if the investigation had proceeded and questions had been asked by the Police at the time prior to the Official COD being stated as suicide, this matter of an alleged affair would have been dealt with seriously. It was not, and it is something which the Coroner has highlighted in the Report. The recommended Police Investigation that should have followed and be underway should be looking more closely at evidence related to this matter.

The inconsistencies told to Police on record by PJC also add suspicion to the alleged affair.

For example: From the Report...



What the inconsistency does is cause Police to question why he would not tell the truth, change his story, and his testament be different to another witness'.

It also adds to a possible motive - which, at the time, was not considered by the Police when questioning him, and when examining the crime scene.

Remember - This case prior to it being suicide was considered a homicide. The suicide COD and investigation was ruled early, 12 hours after homicide was declared, and the house lifted as a crime scene.

The question is - why did Cook lie about his communications and contact with the Unidentified woman?
Jenny had her suspicions about PJC having an affair with the woman at work.
She confronted him with the question - which he denied.

Remembering also that the woman is not named due to the allegations of an extra marital affair (related to this case) and she has been given anonymity due to that allegation. To have an order put is place to suppress a name holds some significance in a case.

The Lawyer representing this case for the Pullens is also now asking for the anonymity to be lifted.

It would be beneficial to see the phone records of NIFP.
Quote: The NIFP told police that she had very little contact with Mr Cook prior to Ms Cook’s death.
This contradicts the communication which was sent to her by PJC prior to Jennys death by sms, and phoning her, not to mention the additional emails - though it does not verify she had contact with him in the form of response, but then again, there maybe reasons for this also which may conclude that she was having an alleged affair.
To look at the documents wont deny or confirm this - this is one of the reasons for further investigation.

and I am hoping that further investigations can sort this - and the other inconsistencies - out.

Absolutely - the alleged affair. There is no evidence there was an affair; it is a mere allegation raised by Jenny's parents. My reply to you about the copied and pasted coroner's report you put up being a far cry from "her husband fully intended beginning a life with another woman and admitted having an affair" was not saying you said that - That quote is from what ausgirl wrote - the proof of which I requested - she said it was in the report - but it is not; it is a fabrication.

 

[doradodds]

I don't know about Ausgirl but I believe that suspicious deaths should be investigated and the spouse should be investigated to rule them out as being involved. Once the full investigation of the suspicious death has been done they can then confidently submit to the coroner information that would assist in determining the cause of death, including simple things like DNA/fingerprints on the knife.

The police dropped the ball here which is why there is speculation. If they did their job properly and answered these questions to the satisfaction of the coroner we would not be here discussing it. There is circumstantial evidence that gives the spouse motive and opportunity, and no other people of interest were identified at the inquest, so until he's ruled out or the coroner rules out suicide I'm afraid he will be looked at as a suspect.

I agree with you about the investigation here - everyone is talking about the police letting Jenny's parents down but I say they let everyone down including PC. If the police had been more thorough in dotting all the i's and crossing all their t's he would not be in the position he is in now having to endure this. Though I have a suspicion there will be those that will still insist he murdered her even if there is deemed to be no proof. You just have to look at those that still won't admit they were wrong about the Chamberlains

Just out of interest - motive is not needed to prove murder but opportunity certainly is. You stated that he had opportunity. I can not see where he had opportunity. Maybe you could explain your conclusion to me.

 

[FigTree]

Absolutely - the alleged affair. There is no evidence there was an affair; it is a mere allegation raised by Jenny's parents. My reply to you about the copied and pasted coroner's report you put up being a far cry from "her husband fully intended beginning a life with another woman and admitted having an affair" was not saying you said that - That quote is from what ausgirl wrote - the proof of which I requested - she said it was in the report - but it is not; it is a fabrication.

From the documents I feel the Police and the Coroner have well assessed the situation and deemed that there was an alleged 'Affair' which needed to be titled as such - and would not have included it as an Affair if they had the evidence enough to disregard it. The proof relating to that lies in the suppression of the Unidentified Female name. It would not be considered as vital in the Inquiry and the Report and mentioned in the documents if it was proven otherwise to be fabricated - it is not a fabrication whilst it is included still. It remains an Allegation which needs to be disproved *or to be* false. It is in their for a reason based on evidence and testimony.
The Coroner also feels that PJC did not tell the truth about it.
When further documents become available it may be clarified a bit further - but on circumstantial evidence available to me right now, the alleged Affair is there to be considered.

JMOO too.

 

[FigTree]

Brief Timeline from available Official docs
You will see some duplicate events in the timeline - these times were given regarding the event and may be duplicated due to change of testimony - or from different witnesses. I have tried to label who said what happened when.



07.30am
• Jail logbooks, which had Cook entering the jail at 7.30 on the morning of his wife's death and leaving
at 12.49pm, were also incomplete, with no record of him re-entering the prison that day.
• Renovations were being undertaken at the jail at the time and the cameras at the entry and exit gates weren't working.

08.00am – 8.49am
• Jenny Lee was suspected of dying some time between 8am and 2pm, according to the autopsy.
• The last known contact with Ms Cook was by an officer at WorkCover Qld who had a phone conversation with Ms Cook at 8.49am on 19 January 2009.

10.30am – 11.00am
• Ms Pullen tried to call her daughter a number of times between 10.30am and 11am (Qld time) on 19 January but she did not answer the phone. Mr Cook called the home phone after lunch but there was no answer.

11.00am
• PJC cannot be accounted for at work:
• Maderline Ronan, another prison employee who was rostered on with Cook that day, described him in her statement to the inquest as “very quiet” and didn’t know where he was between 11am and 1.30pm.
• PJC says: He said that on 19 January 2009 he left work to go to lunch at about 11am. He went to pay a bill at Action Electronics.

11.45am
• PJC says he called Jenny: Called her today to get the email address for Action Electronics but she didn’t answer so went there in lunch break; 11.45am left work to pay bill; Paid it on credit card then got back to work 10 minutes late for first session.

12.00pm approx..
• Midday Asked about his movements, Cook tells police that he left his job as a prison guard at Townsville Correctional Centre about midday to pay a bill at a computer shop for repairs to his laptop, then returned to the jail about 12.30pm.
•
12.00pm Midday
• Midday – the dog starts crying:
• Witness: She was at home that day and she heard the Cook’s dog crying. It began about midday and did not stop until about 3pm or 4pm

12.23pm
• Quote: the credit card payment receipt in his wallet shows the bill was paid at 12.23pm – giving him the almost impossible task of travelling the eight or so kilometres back to the jail, negotiating a number of intersections and traffic lights, by 12.30pm.
• PJC told police that he had sent an email to the shop, but the shop has no record of receiving any such email that day.

12.30pm
• PJC says: … to pay a bill at a computer shop for repairs to his laptop, then returned to the jail about 12.30pm.

12.49pm
• Jail records show that PJC left the jail at 12.49pm – the records were incomplete, with no record of him re-entering the prison that day.

01.30pm
• Maderline Ronan, another prison employee who was rostered on with Cook that day, described him in her statement to the inquest as “very quiet” and didn’t know where he was between 11am and 1.30pm.
• Date not known for this statement – after 19th Jan –
• Later in the afternoon, Cook told her he had a headache and finished up early, around 5.30pm.

2.00pm
• Jenny Lee was suspected of dying some time between 8am and 2pm, according to the autopsy.

03.00 - 04.30pm
• Midday 12.00pm– barking started.
• Barking Dog: The barking stopped around 4.30pm

05.30pm
• PJC leaves work – unconfirmed – there are no logs at the jail – the last log of PJC leaving the Jail was at 12.49pm
• Date unknown – after 19th Jan –
• Later in the afternoon, Cook told her he had a headache and finished up early, around 5.30pm.
• Madeline Ronan told police that Mr Cook left work at 5.30pm on 19 January 2009 after telling her that he had a headache.

5.30pm – 6:45pm
• No confirmed details as to the whereabouts of Paul Cook
• Additionally – he said he drove home (15 minute trip by car)

06.45pm
• around 6.45pm, another neighbour saw Cook drive up and chatted to him before he went inside.

06.50pm – 06.55pm
• Lorraine Lawton was the neighbour of Mr and Ms Cook in January 2009. She gave evidence that she saw Mr Cook return home from work at between 6.50 and 6.55pm on 19 January 2009.

06.45pm – 07.38pm
• Mr Cook told police that at about 6.45pm on 19 January 2009 he returned home from his work at Townsville Correctional Centre and was unable to locate his wife or find a note from her:
• Jenny was not home;
• The dog was upstairs;
• The back door was unlocked;
• He walked the dog;
• He returned and drank a Pepsi;
• He had a shower;
• He searched the house but could not find her;
• He texted her and heard her phone;

07.38pm
• He (PC) sent her a text message at 7.38pm but heard her phone in the house, and noticed a knife missing from the knife block.
• He saw the knife was missing and emptied the dishwasher;
• He searched the shed;
• He turned all the lights on;
• He went around the side and could see something white lying there;
• He came back in and turned the floodlight on and then went back out;
• Jenny was cold and stiff – he moved her lips but didn’t move her body at all;
• He called 000 and they told him to do CPR;

07.51pm
• Queensland Ambulance paramedics, Robert Haydon and Christopher O’Connor, were the first to arrive on the scene. They received a call to attend 44 Sheerwater Parade at 7.51pm.

07.56pm
• They arrived at the house at 7.56pm and Mr Haydon said that there was nobody out the front of the house and there was no external light on. They knocked on the front door and Mr Cook answered. It seemed to Haydon that he was upset but Mr O’Connor thought he was ‘emotionless’.

07.56pm – 07.58pm
• Mr Cook led them through the house and out to the back yard and then down the side of the house.
• They saw Ms Cook lying on her left side on a timber board. Both her arms were out to the left. Haydon stated that Ms Cook was in the same position as depicted in the photographs taken by Scenes of Crime Officer (SOCO) Kraatz.
• Haydon saw that rigor mortis had set in.

07.58pm
• The paramedics pronounced Ms Cook deceased at 7.58pm.

08.00pm
• Constables Bower and Mann were the first officers to arrive at 8pm – they remained there until 10.45pm.

08.10pm
• Arrival at house: Detective Sergeant (DS) Osborn and Plain Clothes Constable (PCC) Cotter of the Kirwan Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) and
• Detective Senior Sergeant (DSS) Wilkie arrived at 8.10pm.

08.20pm
• Constables McSwan and Corsan arrived at the house at 8.20pm and were tasked to speak to neighbours.

08.50pm
• At about 8.50pm Mr Cook called his father and told him that Ms Cook had killed herself.
• Const Bower and DS Osborn also spoke to Mr Cook’s father on the phone.

08.53pm
• Detective Inspector (DI) Kitching, the Regional Crime Coordinator (RCC), arrived at 8.53pm and was given a briefing by DS Osborn, DSS Wilkie and PCC Cotter.

08.55pm
• SOCO Kraatz arrived at the house at 8.55pm
• SOCO Kraatz took photographs of the scene and certain items inside the house and took a ‘walk through’ video of the inside of the house.

09.00pm
• Just before 9pm, Jenny Lee's dad, Terry, phoned Lorraine with the terrible news and Lorraine rushed to Townsville.

09.32pm
• DS Osborn and PCC Cotter left the house with Mr Cook at 9.32pm and took him to the police station, arriving at 10.08pm, where PCC Cotter interviewed him.

09.38pm
• SOCO Brad Bardell arrived at the scene at 9.38pm.

09.40pm
• Acting Inspector Arthy - he was the Senior Sergeant in charge of the Townsville forensic officers. He was advised of the death and attended the scene at 9.40pm.

09.53pm
• DSS Wilkie assisted in coordinating the investigation until he left the house at 9.53pm.

10.08pm
• PJC arrives at Police Station:
• DS Osborn and PCC Cotter left the house with Mr Cook at 9.32pm and took him to the police station, arriving at 10.08pm, where PCC Cotter interviewed him.

10.39pm
• Professor Williams arrived at the house at 10.39pm.
• Kraatz took photographs of the wound located on Ms Cook at the direction of Prof Williams.
• Kraatz also recorded a video of the scene.

10.45pm
• Leave – Constables Bower and Mann were the first officers to arrive at 8pm – they remained there until 10.45pm.

11.20pm
• The interview concluded at 11.20pm and they then took Mr Cook to alternative accommodation.


20th January 2009

12.10am – 12.40am
• At 12.10am 20 January 2009 DS Osborn and PCC Cotter re-attended the scene and entered the house and conducted further ‘investigations and examinations’ but ‘nothing of interest’ was located (quotes from statement of DS Osborn).
• DI Kitching left the house at 12.30am.
• Kraatz left the house at 12.40am.

01.40am
• At 1.40am on 20 January 2009 DS Osborn sent an email to ‘Inquiries Townsville’ (police) stating that the death was being treated as suspicious pending the outcome of the post mortem but would more than likely be ruled a suicide.

02.39am
• DS McLucas - At 2.39am when he obtained the warrant it was being treated as a homicide.

01.30pm
• …the autopsy had been held (at 1.30pm).

02.56pm – 03.10pm
• DS Osborn and PCC Cotter attended the house again at 2.56pm on 20 January 2009 and left at 3.10pm when the crime scene was released.

03.10pm
• Following the post mortem she had significant discussions with the Officer in Charge of Townsville CIB, Christopher Hicks, and the RCC, DI Kitching, and it was as a result of those conversations that the decision was made to release the crime scene at 3.10pm on 20 January 2009.

Time unknown
• On 20 January 2009 DS Osborn, PCC Cotter, SOCO Kraatz and SOCO Bardell attended the post mortem of Ms Cook. Kraatz took photographs of the autopsy.

 

[BatWoman]

I think we really do need a timeline...

from http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/217931/cif-cook-jl-20131206.pdf

Mr Cook stated that he could not recall any specific conversations with Ms Cook
about her WorkCover claim in the couple of days before her death. He did not recall
seeing the advice that was found on the kitchen bench.
He said that on 19 January 2009 he left work to go to lunch at about 11am. He went
to pay a bill at Action Electronics. Documents obtained from that business by the
ONC reveal that Mr Cook paid the bill at 12.23pm. He said he could not estimate
how long the trip was between the prison and Action Electronics.
He said when he got back to work he attempted to phone Ms Cook to get an email
address that he needed for an insurance claim but she did not answer the phone.
Mr Cook said when he got home that evening from work (at about 7pm) he thought it
was unusual that Ms Cook was not there. He found the dog shut out on the upstairs
balcony. He took the dog for a walk and at some stage texted Ms Cook and heard
her phone beep in the office.

If he planned it before hand that would give him time to go home and do the deed before going to the computer store to get his alibi.

 

[MsAnais]

Sorry there i seem to have got confused with the "professional" involvement when I was replying to Ausgirl. She did say she had experience with suicide as well.

I do not in anyway imply that being involved in a profession detached (lets face it - one would not be acting in a professional manner if they were attached) way with suicide negates anyone's understanding in that area. I do however say that being involved in an attached way (several times over) adds much much more to ones understanding of the issues. Surely from your profession observations you have come across relatives of suicide victims who just will never accept it was suicide and are desperate to find something else to explain it all away. This phenomenon is often exaggerated in relatives who believed they had a close relationship with the victim and thus would have know or have been told by the victim or left a note by the victim. One conversation with the daughter of a man who committed suicide and never left any message for her was particularly heart-breaking when she said "I just keep wondering if he thought about us at all at that time, if we figured at all to him and I will never know because he never left us a note, but then again I do not know how I would handle it knowing that he was thinking about us but went ahead and did it anyway" All I could do was hug her - my daughter.

Hi Dora.

I'm sorry you've had such personal experiences with suicide. And I honestly feel for you.

But as I said before, our personal experiences are not relevant to investigating this case objectively. Looking coolly at all angles requires a steady head, not one coloured by strong emotion IMO.

Also - I hear what you're saying about some families struggling to accept their loved one has suicided - but in this case it makes total sense that the parents would question it. The method of 'suicide' here is just SO bizarre and so unlike a female method IMO that I'd be screaming to anyone who would listen if it were my daughter who's life was lost in this way.

And in terms of the article you linked before, they are NOT referring to 'self-impalement' - which is what this suicide methodology is - when they were referring to knife use. They are referring to the slitting of throat or wrists - the common types of methods.

<modsnip>

And that is what most of us are here for.

 

[BatWoman]

Brief Timeline from available Official docs
<RSBM>

Thanks Figtree, you read my mind!!!