Posted on 06/06/2007 7:11:27 PM PDT by Pyro7480
Man Gets Death Penalty In Murder Of U Of Del. Student Woman Raped, Strangled In Off-Campus Apartment
WILMINGTON, Del. -- A judge sentenced a man to death Wednesday for raping and strangling a University of Delaware student from New York before torching her apartment in an attempt to destroy evidence.
The jury convicted James E. Cooke Jr. in March of first-degree murder, arson, rape, burglary and reckless endangering in the death of Lindsey M. Bonistall, of White Plains, N.Y., whose body was found covered with charred debris in her bathtub on May 1, 2005.
Bonistall, who was white, was a 20-year-old sophomore. A handwriting analyst testified at trial that Cooke, who is black, had used a marker to write "KKK," "White Power" and other phrases on the walls of the apartment where Bonistall lived.
Cooke, 36, also told police in a 911 call before his arrest that Bonistall's death was part of a drug war involving white supremacists.
With DNA from semen in Bonistall's body and found under her fingernails pointing to Cooke, defense attorneys had asked jurors to find him guilty but mentally ill.
Cooke, who denied he was mentally ill, was banished from the courtroom after frequent outbursts, including one in which he had to be wrestled to the floor.
...Members of Cooke’s family, who sat a few rows behind him, wiped tears as Herlihy passed sentence. They declined to comment.
On the other side of the aisle, Bonistall’s family also broke down in tears as this portion of their life came to an end.
“The decision was fair and just,” said Mark Bonistall, Lindsey’s father. “There is still a lot more legal proceedings to happen. They’ll take their course and hopefully the decision will be upheld and justice will be served.” Cooke’s attorneys said they will appeal that sentence.
“There’s a lot of fight ahead,” Cooke’s attorney, Kevin O’Connell said. “We lost this battle but there is still more to be done.”
All executions in Delaware have been on hold since a federal lawsuit was filed more than a year ago to stop the execution of Robert W. Jackson, who was convicted of murdering 47-year-old Elizabeth Girardi with an ax in 1992 during a robbery. Earlier this year, District Judge Sue L. Robinson changed the case to a class action lawsuit, including 15 other people on Delaware's death row....
Delmarva ping!
Justice will be done when the execution is carried out.
Sounds like he was trying to take a page from Charles Manson.
she was white, he is black. I can imagine our commie msm would be going nuts if the skin colors were reversed wouldn’t they?
Squeeze the syringe, flip the switch, pull the trigger, drop the trap door... however this bastard’s gonna die, the line to volunteer to be his executioner starts behind me.
This would have made a great Newsweek cover story if only the races had been reversed.
Imagine how the talking MSM heads would have pontificated about what this means about race and gender in America, etc. etc.
Not quite.
Charlie ditched the white victims ID, and credit cards in gas station scattered around black ghettos in south central LA.
The guy in this story is black, kills a young white lady and writes KKK," "White Power" on the walls, calls the cops and tells them the victims death was part of a drug war involving white supremacists.
He not only needs the death penalty for the murder, but also for being very stupid.
Well, I'm very thankful that criminals are stupid!
Not all are stupid, just the overwhelming majority. A good thing.
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