All language subtitles for People Magazine Investigates Surviving A Serial Killer - S01E06 - Surviving the Cook Brothers

[Janine] The Cook brothers
were a pair of serial killers

who terrorized Toledo, Ohio,

in the early 1980s.

The crimes this year
had more suffering
and more torture.

[Janine] Together
they brutally murdered

and raped victims
as young as 12 years old.

[reporter] Twelve-year-old
Dawn Backes

was found dead
in an abandoned theater.

[Ofc. Harold] They really
are monsters.

In this case brothers.

[Janine] They stalked
young couples

to depraved and bloody ends.

She was repeatedly stabbed
with an ice pick.

[Sgt. Keefe] They were clubbed
with a baseball bat.

These guys are
definitely animals.

[Janine] They tried
to leave no witnesses.

[gunshot]

But this is the story
of one survivor

who cheated death.

I don't know
how she survived...

but she did.

[theme music playing]

[Cheryl] This is
the south end of Toledo

I'm okay till I get over,
um, this side of the town

and then I just
still have bad panic attacks,

but my husband Danny
is my rock.

He helps a lot.

[speaking]

-[Danny] Yeah.
-Yes, we're right here.

We're, um...

Field Street
and down here's an alley,

and I was like
half a block from home...

and then,

it's like my life blew up
in my face.

[Danny] Now, you listen here,

you don't have to do this
you don't want to.

[exhales softly]

[exhales]

[Cheryl exhales]

[Danny] Okay.

While I was growing up
in Toledo

and going to school
at Waite High School,

I was living
a normal teenage life
until I met Bud.

He was kind, funny

and then he asked me out.

Um, my 16th birthday
we were going
to a movie theater

and then we ate at Pizza Hut.

After that we were together
and then we found out
we were pregnant.

I was a little surprised
as I was only 16

but then being
madly in love with him,

I was okay with it.

Eric was born in 1979.

When I'd first seen Eric

couldn't believe
that he was mine

and I loved him beyond

what I knew what love was.

It was just awesome.

For almost two years
we lived with my parents.

We had a lot of good times
as a family.

Eric adored his father.

He was a daddy's boy.

And... just I would love
watching them.

But we had no privacy.

So when I turned
18 years old,

we moved out.

Bud worked at a grocery store
on the south end

of Toledo,

and because
we didn't have a car,

we had no choice
but to live by his work.

The area where they were
wasn't great crime-wise

but they were thrilled
to have their own place.

[Cheryl] My parents said,
"Please don't go."

They were afraid
something's gonna happen,

'cause there was
lot murders and rapes

and everything going on.

[Janine] By January of 1981
the citizens of Toledo, Ohio

are well aware
of an emerging problem
within the community.

Two unsolved attacks
on young white women

has left one woman

and another one's
boyfriend dead.

[Det. Terry] Sandra Podgorski
and Tom Gordon

were sitting in their car

and they were abducted
at gunpoint

by two Black males.

[gunshots]

[Det. Terry]
Tom was shot dead,

put in the trunk,

and Sandra was then

sexually assaulted.

[Baker]
After this horrific rape

they had her redress.

[Det. Terry] At this point
she repeatedly stabbed

with an ice pick
and left for dead.

Although she was unable
to identify the suspects,

she actually survived.

[Janine] Connie Sue Thompson

was not so lucky.

Abducted near her home,

she was found
raped and murdered

in January of 1981.

Investigators recognized that
although she was raped

she was dressed,

and that she had been

stabbed repeatedly

with what seems
to be an ice pick.

So investigators believe that

she was killed
by the same men

who attacked
Sandra Podgorski
and Thomas Gordon.

[Sgt. Keefe]
It was a edgy time.

Women were being careful
where they went,

and everybody
was in a... in a panic.

[Cheryl] I knew about
what was going on

but I was 18, I had Bud

and I thought
I knew world,

I was gonna be okay

and I could
take care of myself.

Our house was a two bedroom
on Segur Street.

Bud's brother Danny
lived with us

to help us
to get on our feet.

Bud was a meat cutter
at the grocery store,

and he worked from 2:00 to
12:00 o'clock at night.

So when he would come home
in the evening

Eric would be in bed

but we always made sure

we had morning breakfast
together with Eric.

Most of the time,
we had maybe

two dollars in our pocket,

but we were happy
because we had

everything we needed.

The house that we lived in
was right here

where there's a vacant lot.

I'm sad
that the house was gone

because we did
have good times in it.

It was the first apartment
that Bud and I had

and then his brother moved in,

and we were
laughing and joking
and cuddling up and...

It was all short-lived.

Life is not fair.

[Janine]
Bud's older brother Danny
proves to be a real help

to Cheryl and Bud.

Not only does he
help with the bills,

he's helpful with Eric.

And on the night
of January 27, 1981,

he happily babysits his nephew

so that Cheryl
can surprise her boyfriend.

[Cheryl]
That night I told Danny

that I wanted
to get dressed up

and surprise Bud
at the grocery store

when he got off at 12:00,

so he didn't have
to walk home by himself.

Just to spice things up,
I did my makeup,

and around 11:45

I put the covers over Eric

and I kissed him
on his forehead

and I told Danny
I'll see him later

and we're just joking

and I said
if I'm not back in

half hour,
come looking for us,

and he just chuckled
and said "Oh, you'll be fine."

And I left the house.

From where we lived on Segur

up to the grocery store
that he worked at

was about six blocks.

I was feeling happy
thinking about our future,

but when I got up
to the grocery store

Bud was very,
very upset with me,

for walking
up there by myself,

and I said, "I just
wanted to come up
and surprise you

and walk home with you

so we could talk about
the wedding

and another child and Eric.

Then he calmed down
a little bit,

and we walked home.

We're a block from the house.

Black man with a full beard,

wearing a army jacket
and a ski cap

came towards us.

He pulled out a gun,

and I lost it.

[softly]

[softly] Yeah.

[sniffles]

-Don't cry.
-Yeah. I'm okay.

[exhales, sniffles]

Buddy and I
were walking this way

and we were, uh...

standing about right here

when he pulled the gun out.

It just...

all happened so fast.

We offered my wedding rings,

his wallet.

All we wanted
to do is go home.

[clicks]

And I kept looking
at his face,

he said, "Don't look at me."

He pointed gun
right at my head.

He handed us two ski caps.

He said, "Put these on,"

and, "I'll be behind you."

And then he had us walk.

We were brought right here,

and I started panicking

and then he took us
down this alley.

[exhales]

I haven't been
back here ever since.

This is the first time.

[exclaims softly]

We were taken
down this way.

There was no light.

Couldn't see in front of you.

We tried to slip
a couple of times.

We tried to see if we could...

get on.

[dog barking]

But he had the gun pointed
at Buddy's head.

I was pretty sure
he was gonna kill us.

All I could think about was
what was gonna happen to Eric.

Bud whispered, "I love you."

And I did back.

We just held
each other's hands tighter.

I kept lifting my ski cap up

to see where we were at,

and the man kept
telling me, "Put it down."

In the process, I'd seen a guy
on the other side of the alley

coming over towards us.

Couldn't see his face,

but he was tall,
husky-built Black man,

and he had a knife.

I was hoping he would help us,

but to my surprise

this man put the knife
to my throat...

and then together

they forced us into a garage.

-Here's the garage.
-[dog barking]

-[Danny] Mmm.
-This is the garage.

[gasps]

Oh, I think
I'm gonna throw up.

[Danny] Mmm.

-You okay?
-Yeah.

[gasps]

When we stepped
inside the garage,

we were stepping over things

and I was tripping

and it smelled of grease,

and just a... a bad odor.

I wanted to run
as fast as I could,

but they had the gun on Bud
and the knife on me.

Bud kept saying,
"Nothing's gonna
happen to you.

I'll make sure of it."

And that's when
one of them grabbed me...

I was so hysterical,

crying and screaming
and they told me to shut up,

and then I heard
the click of the gun go back

so I shut up,

and that's when
they made me get undress.

Bud was probably about
three feet from me,

and they took
the ski cap off his head
so he could watch,

and then one raped me

and then the other one
raped me.

I stayed silent
because they had
a gun at Buddy's head

and I feared if I started
screaming and fighting back

that they would've shot him

or they would've
jabbed the knife in my throat.

I was numb.

I wanted to put myself
somewhere else.

All I did was focus on Eric.

What was gonna
happen with him?

Then, what he'd grow up to be?

And would he
have more siblings?

After they got done,

they made me get up
and get dressed.

I was wobbly
because of everything
that had happened.

I felt...

ashamed of myself.

Like it was my fault.
"Did I do something?

Or did I say something?"

[speaking]

I felt that way
because it was...

I've never been
with anybody else.

Bud was the only one
I was ever with

and then here these two men

took advantage of me
and my body

and they had
no right doing that,

but then I blamed
myself and thought,

"Maybe I wore
the wrong clothes?

Or I did something wrong?"

I stood up
and they told Bud to hold me

'cause this will be
the last time he holds me

and Bud held me tight.

He was so tight
I couldn't even breathe.

Bud told me,
he loved me,

and that he was sorry
he couldn't protect me.

The next thing I knew
I heard the gun go off.

[gunshot]

I started screaming real loud

and they went to fire again
and it was stuck.

[clicks]

And then the next thing I know

they hurry up and ran out.

[exhales]

I was raped in that garage

by those two monsters.

I was hoping that
it was tore down by now.

I can even smell it.

I can't even walk.
I can't take this smell.

[producer] What does it
smell like to you?

It's a greasy,
dirty garage... [sniffles]

pukey smell.

[exhaling, gasping]

And after
the two men took off,

I took off the ski cap
and dropped it.

I had so much adrenalin going.

I just wanted out of there.

We just started
running for our lives.

We ran around
the front of the house

and then we lived

where there's
a vacant lot right there.

So we were
that close from here,

to home.

I didn't realize
how close we were.

There were
street lights on on Segur.

All I remember
is Bud pulling at me

because I couldn't

focus.

So we stopped in our tracks,

and Bud told me
to turn around,

and when I turned around
I had a big puddle of blood

under my jacket.

And then
I started hyperventilating

'cause I realized I was shot.

Then I started going down.

[siren blaring]

I was starting to wake up

and then all of a sudden

I was arriving
at the hospital.

Bud was there
and I was looking around

and everybody was rushing.

Then next thing I knew
my mom was by my side.

She was hysterical,

and I thought it was a dream,

and I was begging Bud
to wake me up.

[Janine] The damage
to Cheryl's insides
is devastating.

After entering her body
the bullet fragmented

and ricochet
collapsing her lungs

and significantly damaging
her bladder and pancreas.

Over the course of nine hours

the surgeons
frantically worked
to save Cheryl's life.

[machine beeps]

[Cheryl]
After I got out of surgery,

I was in the ICU unit

because they had to cut
my breast line

all the way down my stomach.

It was...

bad.

They thought for sure that

I was not gonna
make it through it.

[machine beep continues]

I was out of it for about
a week and a half.

When I was finally awake,

they sent in the detectives
to talk to me.

The detectives said
they went to the garage

and they didn't--
There was no evidence there,

and that they didn't
have a lot to go on.

And I was confused

-because when they...
-[gun clicking]

-...shot me...
- [gunshot]

...and left, we both
dropped the ski caps.

So they must have
came back and got 'em

before the police got there.

And at that point I told them
as much as possible.

I told them the first attacker
had a full beard,

beady eyes.

He was nasty.

That's when
they showed me the pictures.

[Janine] Cheryl picks out
a picture of Anthony Cook,

but second guesses herself.

It was like
everything was still fuzzy,

and I was nervous.

Then when
Bud looks at the pictures,

he picks out another person.

So, they don't know
what to think.

[Cheryl] The detectives asked
if I could identify
the second attacker,

but I wasn't certain
about the second attacker

because I didn't see his face.

[Baker] This is
really frustrating,

but police realize that

the people who attacked
Bud and Cheryl

could be the killers
they're seeking

because the MO
is very similar.

[Sgt. Keefe]
In the previous attacks,

after the suspects
raped the victims,

they would
make them get dressed,

before they would
actually kill 'em.

So, we got Cheryl's clothing

for processing
for physical evidence,

even though there was nothing

you can do with semen
if it was found

other than
type their blood
back in the '80s.

[Cheryl] They took
all my clothes,

and they did the rape kit,

and then they said
"Okay, thank you,"
and they walked out.

I was in the hospital
for three and a half weeks.

During that time,
Eric was staying

between Bud's sister
Cathy's house and my parents

because after the attack

doctors had to sedate Bud
because he

lost his mind over it.

To know that
I couldn't go home,

it was really hard

'cause all I want to do
was pick up my son
and hold him.

[Janine] Unfortunately, while
she was still in hospital,

Cheryl's attackers
strike again.

[reporter] Twelve-year-old
Dawn Backes

was found dead
in an abandoned theater.

[Ofc. Harold] On
February 21st, 1981,

Dawn Rene Backes was abducted.

Three days later
someone unfortunately

found the remains
of this little girl

and she had been
struck in the head
with a cinder block.

That's evil.

How could someone
do that to a child?

It was a very brutal scene.

She had been raped
and redressed

before she was murdered.

[Ofc. Harold] At that point
the general consensus

among law enforcement

was that we had
serial killers

loose somewhere
in Toledo, Ohio.

[Cheryl] The day
I left the hospital,
I went back to my parents.

I didn't wanna stay
at the apartment.

I was slit all the way down

with staples on my stomach.

Thank God for my parents

because they helped
take care of Eric.

Bud was there
every once in a while,

but Bud didn't wanna
cope with what happened

and knowing that
he was right there
and he couldn't defend me,

he said he felt
so worthless as a man,

and Bud left Eric and I
in March of '81.

I felt worthless.

I felt,
I didn't ask for this.

It's not my fault,

but he's taking out on me,

and he's taking out
on Eric by leaving us,

and my life was turned
upside down.

After that when the police
would come to house
and give updates,

I would tell 'em,
"Tell my parents."

I wanted them caught,

but I didn't wanna see
no more pictures.

I just wanted it to go away.

[Janine] As Cheryl
tries to move on,

the detectives
on her case cannot,

when these two killers
strike again.

[Det. Terry] Denise Siotkowski
and Scott Moulton

were another young couple

found in the trunk
of their car.

[Ofc. Harold] Ms. Siotkowski
was raped multiple times

and they were both killed
execution style.

[Baker] In rapid succession
yet another couple.

Daryl Cole and Stacy Balonek
are found beaten to death

in the trunk of a car.

There was a baseball bat
in there, too

and it was the weapon
that was used.

It was very brutal,
animalistic.

An autopsy determined
that she had been raped

but she had her pants on.

So she was made to get dressed

before they,
they clubbed her to death.

[reporter] Police report
the crimes this year

have been of a more
heinous nature,

more suffering
and more torture.

[Janine] Detectives
are dreading the next attack.

But in September of 1981,

at least one of their killers
makes the fatal mistake.

[Ofc. Harold] Leslie Sawicki
and Todd Sabo

were seated in their van

when they were accosted
by an unknown assailant.

[Sgt. Keefe] The attacker
was a single Black male

armed with a pistol
and he tied up Sabo

and began
to sexual assault her.

But Todd escapes,
and he's able to take the gun

away from the suspect.

Leslie runs for help

and calls her dad
and then the police.

[Ofc. Harold]
Her father, Peter Sawicki

arrived before
any police arrived

at the scene.

[Sgt. Keefe]
Somehow the suspect

recovers the firearm...

-[gunshots]
-...and fires on

Peter Sawicki and Todd Sabo,

and then flees.

Todd was shot but he survived,

but, uh, unfortunately
Mr. Sawicki did not survive.

Unlike Cheryl's attack,
Todd and Leslie

were never forced
to cover their faces,

so both were able to get

a sustained view
of their attacker.

From the descriptions
of Mr. Sabo and Ms. Sawicki,

we were able to get a sketch.

This is one of
the first big breaks
they've gotten,

and they broadcast it
to the community

in hopes that somebody

would recognize the attacker.

Good afternoon.
Toledo Police are intensifying

their search for the slayer
of an Ottawa Hills man.

Here's the latest story
when...

[Cheryl] I remember
my dad was watching the news

and I just happen
to come in the room

when they said
there was another white couple

that was attacked.

[reporter] ...they were
accosted by an armed man...

[Cheryl] And then they
started showing a sketch

asking anybody to identify him

and in that moment

everything comes
flooding back.

Told my dad, "That's him.

That's one of my attackers."

[reporter] The assailant
is still at large.

[Cheryl] When I'd seen
the sketch on TV,

I felt sick. I had to
go in to the bathroom
and throw up

and then I called
the police department.

Then they sent
a detective out.

When the detective came in
he bring the photo album

and he said,
"Can you point him out?"

And I said, "Right there."

And I pointed
to the same man

I had picked out
at the hospital.

There was no question.

I knew for sure then.

[Janine]
Cheryl isn't the only one
who recognizes the sketch.

Someone who says
he knows the killer personally

says he overheard the man

talking about
shooting Sawicki.

-[gunshot]
-[Janine] What's more,
he says he saw the man

handing a gun
to his neighbor,

and this leads detectives

directly to
a .22 caliber revolver

and 32-year-old Anthony Cook.

Anthony Cook
was a convicted felon.

He was employed and married

and apparently
during the course
of his incarceration

developed an issue
with the white people.

[Baker] Anthony Cook
had served seven years
for armed robbery.

He alleged that
while he was in prison,

he was mistreated
by white prison guards

which fostered
his hate for white people.

When he's released in 1979,

he returns to Toledo, Ohio,
where his family lives,

seeking revenge
for what he endured in prison.

[Sgt. Keefe]
It was also found out
that he had a brother

that he was very close with,
uh, Nathaniel Cook,

and apparently
they were always together.

Nathaniel was over six foot

and very large person.

You know if you looked
at them as a pair,

they fit
the physical description
of multiple cases,

and so Nathaniel
came on the radar.

[Janine] Aside from appearance

there is nothing else
that ties Nathaniel to a crime

but ballistics tests
do confirm

that the bullets removed
from Peter Sawicki

and Todd Sabo were fired

from Anthony Cook's
.22 caliber revolver.

[Det. Terry]
Anthony was arrested

and charged with
aggravated murder,

attempted murder,
attempted rape,

aggravated robbery,

a number of very serious
felony charges.

[Ofc. Harold] Unfortunately,
in the case of Cheryl Bartlett

in 1981,

there was no test
to see if his DNA

could be recovered
from the rape kit

and no fluids
or blood were recovered
from Miss Bartlett's clothing.

And because
the .22 caliber bullet
that entered Cheryl's body

exploded on impact
the fragments can't be tested

to determine
if it was fired

from Anthony Cook's revolver.

This lack of physical evidence
prevents the possibility

of any charges being filed
in Cheryl's case.

In fact no charges are filed

for either
of the Cook brothers

in several other
suspected attacks

because those cases also
lacked physical evidence.

When I first found out
that Anthony was captured

I was happy

that they had found
one of my attackers,

but when they told me
they couldn't take Anthony

on my case,
I was furious with them.

They said that
they didn't have
enough evidence.

Which I understood that,

but I just wanted to be heard

saying,
"This is what he did to me."

I felt like I was just
shoved to the side.

[Baker] On March 13th, 1982,

Anthony Cook is convicted
of murder, robbery,

an attempted rape
and murder.

He's sentenced
to 15 years to life in prison,

with the possibility
of parole.

This is because back in 1982,

the state of Ohio didn't offer
a life term in prison

without the possibility
of parole,

nor did they offer
the death penalty.

[Janine] Cheryl knows that
he's one of her attackers

and is glad
he's being locked up,

but there's not much relief

knowing that
her second attacker

is still walking
the streets of Toledo.

[Cheryl] I was afraid

that he would find me
and kill me.

I was in the house
all the time,

and I definitely
didn't go out at night.

I was in a lot of pain,

reliving the attack every day.

I was drinking really heavy.

I was smoking weed.

I was doing some drugs

and I wasn't
caring about life.

The turning point came
when I went to visit
my friend in Asheville

and I loved it there,
I felt safe

and I decided
it was time to move there

and stop the downhill
spiraling of my life.

[Danny] When I met
my wife Cheryl,

she had just come to Tennessee

and she got an apartment

and I lived
in the same building

and me and her started dating

and one thing led to another

and we decided
to move in together.

Okay, she woke up--
We woke up this morning

and she said that
the trip down the alley

was really hard on her.

There's the garage.

I was raped and shot
in that garage

by those two monsters.

She said, "I don't wanna go
if it's okay with you."

I said, "You don't have to go.
I can go."

Okay.

After Cheryl and I
started living together,

I learned about
what happened to her.

Of course you know,
we can't understand
something like that,

but I still tried my best,

and on November 26th, 1988,

that's when
me and Cheryl was married.

Life in Tennessee
suits Cheryl.

She often joins Danny
on his trucking jobs,

and together
they raise four sons.

And for nearly ten years

the events
of January 27, 1981,

take a back seat
in her new-found happiness.

That all changes in 1997.

[Det. Terry]
The Toledo Police Department
Cold Case Unit

began in the late '90s

to look at all of the cases

connected to
the serial killing crime spree

that happened
in 1980 and '81.

Although we had
long suspected Anthony Cook

and his brother Nathaniel
as a potential suspect,

there was no physical evidence

that could link
the two of them

to all of these other cases,

and so we pulled
all of the physical evidence

in all of these cases

and examined them
for potential DNA evidence

to attempt
to link these two suspects

to these victims.

[Baker]
Of all the evidence examined,

one piece of clothing
seems promising.

[Sgt. Keefe]
After her boyfriend
Thomas Gordon was murdered,

Sandra Podgorski was raped
by two Black male suspects

that had made her
get dressed afterward

and the semen
went down into her pant leg

and that's where we found it.

[Ofc. Harold] At that point
the Cold Case Unit
collected that evidence

and sent it to the Bureau
of Criminal Identification

and there was a hit.

When the DNA results came back

on Podgorski's pants,

we had a positive match

to Anthony Cook.

[Janine] The results
also reveal a second profile.

It turns out, it's someone
closely related to Anthony.

[Sgt. Keefe] At that point
we got a warrant

to collect DNA samples
from Nathaniel Cook.

[Janine] After 17 years,
it takes less than one week

to determine that
Nathaniel Cook's DNA

is a match
to semen found inside

Sandra Podgorski's pants.

[Sgt. Keefe] Nathaniel Cook
had been scot-free

for all these years
but the gig was up

and he was going down
with his brother.

[Cheryl] When I found out that
they had my second attacker,

Nathaniel Cook in custody,

I was ecstatic

and I thought finally
I can breathe a little bit

because now I...
I don't have to worry so much
about him trying to find me.

I wanted to face them
in the court room

and tell them
what they had done to me,

what they had done to my life,
what they took from me.

[Baker] Unfortunately,
Cheryl finds out

that her case
will not be part of the trial

because they don't recover
any DNA evidence

to link the Cook brothers
to her case.

This is like
history repeating itself.

I couldn't believe it
and I was furious.

I was crying.
I couldn't stop.

Back in '81,
they performed a rape kit.
They took all my clothes,

so I don't understand
why they couldn't get any DNA.

I felt like they had enough
to prosecute them on my case,

and I just wanted to be heard,

and have them admit
what they did to me.

[Janine]
Many of the victims
family members

feel the same way

with their loved ones
rapes and murders

being excluded
from the new indictment.

But then a potential solution
for closure arises.

The defense
ask for a plea deal.

In exchange for confessing

to all the crimes
they committed,

including Cheryl's,

Nathaniel will
only serve 20 years

and will become
eligible for parole in 2018

at the age of 59.

[Cheryl] I told
the prosecution

I don't agree
on the plea agreement

because I know 20 years
would've been done in fast,
real fast,

and they said the majority
of the families agreed on it

and we have to go with that.

While it was
a deal with the devil
and it was made,

it was definitive.

[Baker] In total,
Anthony Cook confessed

to nine murders
and multiple rapes.

Nathaniel Cook confessed
to three murders

and multiple rapes.

[Sgt. Keefe]
Doing that has cleared

all these cases
up from the '80s.

There was actually
one from back in '73,

that we didn't even know.

And through their confessions
the prosecution believe

that the older brother Anthony

was leading
the younger brother Nathaniel

during these crimes.

[Det. Terry] In fact when
Anthony was arrested
in the Sawicki case,

Nathaniel never got
in any trouble after that.

So there is no doubt
that Nathaniel was influenced

by Anthony.
He was a follower,

but just as guilty.

[Ofc. Harold]
They are monsters.
They really are monsters,

and in this case brothers,

because they didn't just

kill people.

These were
crimes of opportunity,

where they could
select victims

without fear
that they would be discovered,

so they could take pleasure

in the torture
of young white people.

[Cheryl] I was glad
that they confessed,

but when I heard
how they attacked

everybody that
they attacked and killed,

I felt bad,

and then I would
sit and think,

"How would their life been
had they were lived?"

Then you start feeling guilty
'cause you lived

and they didn't get a chance.

And Dawn,
she was 12 years old,

and never got
a chance to go to a prom,

or have a boyfriend or,
or know what life was about.

Twenty years ain't enough.

[Sgt. Keefe]
Was justice served?

Not to me.

These serial killers
should have been
taken off the Earth.

I mean they were evil,

but that was not my decision

and these victims
and their loved ones
needed closure.

For Cheryl the fact that

she no longer
has to look over her shoulder

mean she can live
for a while in peace,

but as predicted,
20 years fly by.

[Cheryl] I was notified that

Nathaniel Cook
was going out for parole,

and so I finally went to court
and faced him in 2018,

and he just looked at us

with a smirk
on his face, like,

"I'm getting out.
There's nothing you can do."

I was crying.

I couldn't stop.

I'm angry because
I feel like I was failed.

I never got to speak
at either one of the trials.

I never got to speak
when he was released.

I wanted to get up there
and I couldn't do it.

When Nathaniel Cook
first got out,

somebody went to his door
and he said,

"Oh, that's in the past.
I wanna forget about it."

I probably had
about 15 to 20 surgeries

over different things
that's happened in my inside.

I live with a scar
for the rest of my life
since I've been 18

but he wants to walk around,
forget about it.

I wanted to tell my story

so more people
will know how...

[deep breath]

...how these people are
and what they've done

and how they have
affected many lives

and there one's
walking around now

and the other one
goes up for parole in 2024.

People need to be aware

of the Cook brothers
being on the loose in Toledo.

They're not gonna change.

It's just a matter of time

before they go back to it.

Buddy and I would bring
Eric here and take long walks.

Really great memories.

After 40 years,
I'm starting to live life.

I have four boys.

I have 14 grandchildren,
five great-grandchildren.

I have a husband
that I love tremendously
of 35 years.

I'm grateful to be alive.

[Danny] Cheryl to me
is nothing but muscle...

strong.

She don't back down
from nothing

and that's a fact.

[Cheryl] A lot of people
say I'm a victim,

but I think I'm a survivor
because I went through it.

I ordealed with it

and I'm still living.

Just going back to where
I was attacked was hard.

I went through
heck and high waters

for couple of days
of crying

and I was not in a good place

and I started now

seeing a therapist.

I think when
you've been through
what I've been through,

getting help
is the best thing for you.

Waiting as long as I did,

um,

over 40 years,

doesn't do you
no good to hide it.

You need therapy
right after it

and I wish
I would've done it, now.

[Danny] How are you
feeling today?

Just in general.

-I feel good
because I'm with you.
-All right.

That's good.

Yeah. It's nice to remember
the old memories,

but it's even better
when I'm with you.

That's right.
Thank you.

-I love you.
-I love you, too.

Maybe we can get us a camper
and just live like this?

[chuckles] Yeah.

-[Danny chuckles]
-That would be nice.

[dramatic music playing]