Bobby Cook

Bobby Glen Cook, 41, was executed by lethal injection on 11 March 2003 in Huntsville, Texas for the robbery and murder of a 42-year-old man.

On 8 February 1993, Nicki Pulley was at a gas station near Cayuga when he spotted a large object partially submerged in the Trinity River. Moving closer to take a look, he noticed that the object was a blue pickup truck, and that there was a dead body in the bed, inside a sleeping bag.

The Anderson County sheriff's department pulled the truck from the river. The body was identified as Edwin Earl Holder, 42. The officers noted that the truck was in first gear, the ignition switch was on, and the windows were rolled up. The medical examiner found six gunshot entry wounds and one exit wound in Holder's head. Five .22-caliber bullets were still lodged in his brain. According to the autopsy, the shots were tightly grouped and were fired from no more than three feet away. The medical examiner, finding no sign of a struggle, theorized that Holder was shot while sleeping in his sleeping bag.

Holder's wife had reported him missing the previous day. She said that her husband left on 5 February to go camping and fishing on the Trinity River. He packed his blue Dodge pickup truck with camping and fishing gear, and also took his boat and trailer. Holder's boat was later found downriver, with the engine missing. It had holes punched in the bottom and was partially submerged.

Walter Grolemund, an employee at the gas station where Holder's truck was spotted, told police that on 6 February at 3:00 a.m., he heard a loud muffler. He saw two vehicles, including a noisy red and white truck, parked about 60 to 75 yards from the river. Grolemund said that when he told the driver that he was on private property, the driver told him he was having truck problems. Grolemund told police that the driver appeared nervous and would not look at him.

After speaking with other witnesses, police arrived at the residence of Robin Jenkins, 21, and Steven Cockroft, 28, where they discovered a red and white pickup truck. The couple implicated Bobby Cook, then 28, in Holder's murder. Cook was later arrested at Jenkins and Cockroft's residence. Some of Holder's belongings were found there. Cook gave a statement in which he admitted that he, Jenkins, and Cockroft were at the river at the same time as Holder. He said that Holder was drinking and waving a gun around. Cook said that he became frightened and attempted to grab Holder's gun, but it went off two or three times. Cook admitted to disposing of some of Holder's belongings while keeping others, including his outboard motor and some of his camping gear.

Cook had at least four prior felony convictions and had spent most of the preceding eight years in prison. He served 3 years of a 6-year burglary conviction from 1985 to 1988. Six months after being released, he was returned on a parole violation with a new 5-year sentence for theft. He served four months before being paroled again in January 1989. By November 1989, he was in prison again with a 10-year sentence for burglary. He served 9 months of that sentence and was paroled for the third time in August 1990. In September 1991, he returned to prison with an 8-year sentence for theft. He was paroled for the fourth time in March 1992, after serving 6 months. (At the time, early release was common in Texas due to strict prison population caps imposed by U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice.)

A jury convicted Cook of capital murder in April 1994 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in January 1997. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Steven Ray Cockroft, who also had an extensive history of felony burglary and theft, was convicted of capital murder in a subsequent trial and was sentenced to life in prison. Robin Elaine French Jenkins pled guilty to robbery and received a 15-year sentence in exchange for her testimony against Cook.

On death row, Cook repeated his version of the story. "I've never been violent," he said in an interview. "Just thefts." Cook said that he committed burglaries and thefts to support his methamphetamine habit. Describing the shooting, Cook told an interviewer, "the dude pulled a gun on me." He said that Holder pulled the trigger, but the gun misfired. That's when he grabbed it and shot Holder. "If the gun hadn't misfired, I'd be dead," he said. Cook said that he threw the pistol, which was never found, into the river. As for the $21, "I think I spent it on gas."

None of the victim's family witnessed Cook's execution. Nevertheless, Cook asked them for forgiveness. "Please forgive me for what happened," Cook said. "It was self defense ... I was never able to get up on the stand to tell them ... I know this is wrong, but I'm going home to the Lord." His last statement finished, the lethal injection was begun. Cook was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m.