'Zebra' killings convict Jessie Lee Cooks dies at prison hospital

[Satanica]

Jessie Lee Cooks, one of four men convicted in the racially motivated killings in San Francisco in the 1970s known as the "zebra murders," died at a prison hospital this week, officials said Thursday.

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Cooks, 76, was found unresponsive Wednesday morning at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, where he was in the hospice unit, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement. The Solano County coroner will determine the cause of death.

Cooks was one of four men sentenced to life in prison without parole for a string of killings in San Francisco between October 1973 and April 1974.

The four were convicted of targeting white victims in the rampage that left 14 people dead. Others were shot but survived.

One victim was nearly decapitated with a machete. Art Agnos, then an assistant to an assemblyman who later become San Francisco's mayor, was shot twice and survived.

The killings were known as the "zebra murders" because the police investigation was called "operation zebra" based on radio code letters.

San Francisco offered a $30,000 reward, and in April 1974, a man called police with information that would lead to the arrests and convictions of the four men, according to court records. That man, Anthony Harris, was at some of the crimes, testified at trial and was granted immunity. He said he called police "to stop a lot of senseless killing, that's all," according to the records.

'Zebra' killings convict Jessie Lee Cooks dies at prison hospital

Four men were convicted in the random killings of white people that terrorized San Francisco in the mid-1970s. "Zebra" comes from a police radio code.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Sugar Cookie]

• 1973:
  • October 20:
    • Francis Street: (all attempted to abduct by Harris, Cooks, and Green; all fled and survived)
      • Michele Denise Carrasco, 11
      • Marie Stewart, 12
      • Frank Stewart, 15
    • Chestnut Street: (both were abducted, tied up, robbed, and attacked with machetes)
      • Quita Hague, 28 (was fondled by Cooks and Harris; her throat was hacked by Green)
      • Richard Hague, 30 (Quita's husband; survived, was beaten by Harris and Cooks, and his face was butchered by Cooks)
  • October 23: Waller Street: Linda Lou Enger, 27 (raped and threatened by Cooks; survived)
  • October 29: 55 Laguna Street: Frances Rose, 28 (shot repeatedly in the face and chest by Cooks)
  • November 9: Army Street: Robert Wayne Stoeckmann, 27 (survived, was grazed in the neck by a shot fired by Doctor)
  • November 25: 452 Larkin Street: Saleem Erakat, 53 (tied up, shot execution-style by Simon, and robbed)
  • December 11: Haight Street: Paul Roman Dancik, 26 (shot three times by Moore)
  • December 13:
    • Wisconsin Street: Art Agnos, 35 (survived, was shot twice in the back by Simon, and left wounded in the insides)
    • Divisadero Street: Marietta DiGirolamo, 31 (thrown into a doorway and shot three times in the chest and back by Moore)
  • December 20:
    • Bancroft Street: Ilario Bertuccio, 81 (shot four times in the chest by Moore)
    • Central Avenue: Theresa de Martini, 20 (survived, was shot three times by Simon)
  • December 22:
    • 12th Street: Neal Moynihan, 19 (shot in the face, neck, and heart by Green)
    • Gough Street: Mildred Hosler, 50 (shot four times in the chest by Green)
  • December 24: North Point Street: "John Doe #169" (abducted and hacked while he was alive; his remains were dropped into the San Francisco Bay)
• 1974:
  • January 28:
    • Geary Boulevard: Tana Smith, 32 (shot twice in the back by Simon)
    • Scott Street: Vincent Wollin, 69 (shot twice in the back by Moore)
    • Howard and Ninth Street: John Bambic, 84 (shot twice by Harris)
    • 1440 Silver Avenue: Jane Holly, 45 (shot twice in the back by Moore)
    • 102 Edinburgh Street: Roxanne McMillan, 23 (survived, was shot twice by Simon, and left paralyzed from the waist down)
    • Emeryville: Thomas Bates, 26 (survived, was shot three times by either Simon or Moore)
  • April 1: Geary Street:
    • Thomas Rainwater, 19 (shot twice in the back by Green)
    • Linda Story, 21 (survived, was shot twice in the back by Green, and left with nerve damage)
  • April 14: Hayes and Filmore Street:
    • Ward Anderson, 18 (survived, shot at a bus stop by Moore)
    • Terry White, 15 (survived, shot at a bus stop by Moore)
  • April 16: Vernon Street: Nelson T. Shields IV (shot three times in the back by Simon)
• The Zebra Killers were believed by some, including former mayor of San Francisco Joseph Alioto and author Clark Howard, to have been responsible for at least 73 attacks in total, others believe possibly more.
• https://criminalminds.fandom.com/wiki/The_Zebra_Killers

 

[Sejanus]

I really despise hearing about murderers who have lived into old age. There is a certain fairness to it that is lacking and frankly insulting.