How a 1998 DNA test solved a decade of unsolved murders
In short: For years, a string of brutal killings in northwestern Ohio remained a mystery. Despite investigators looking into 100 persons of interest, the true perpetrators remained hidden until a routine misdemeanor arrest led to the breakthrough that changed everything.
Between 1973 and 1981, a series of violent crimes terrorized the Toledo area. The spree included the 1973 murder of Vicki Lynn Small, a University of Toledo graduate, and a concentrated period of killings in 1980 and 1981. The victims included Thomas Gordon, Connie Sue Thompson, 12-year-old Dawn Rene Backes, and several others. While some of these crimes were committed by Anthony Cook alone, others were the work of both Anthony and his brother, Nathaniel Cook.
Police did not impound her vehicle for several weeks and failed to seal her apartment, potentially allowing anyone access to the scene for at least a week. Despite seizing firearms to compare with bullets found near the body, no arrests were made at the time. It was not until 1998 that DNA profiling—using blood samples taken during a mid-1990s arrest—linked the brothers to the biological traces left at the crime scenes.
The legal resolution came through a 2000 plea bargain. To avoid further charges, the brothers described their crimes in detail. Anthony Cook pleaded guilty to eight murders and confessed to the 1973 killing of Small, receiving a second life sentence. Nathaniel Cook pleaded guilty to killing Thomas Gordon and being complicit in the deaths of Backes and Thompson, receiving a 75-year sentence. Nathaniel was eventually paroled on August 10, 2018, after serving 18 years, subject to strict supervision including a GPS bracelet.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Anthony and Nathaniel Cook
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