Eric Cooke spent four years on a killing spree before police ever suspected him of the crimes. His victims were unrelated, there was no obvious MO, and all police had to go on was a discarded rifle used in one of the killings.
So how did police catch The Night Caller?
In 1963, an elderly couple were picking flowers in the affluent Perth suburb of Mount Pleasant when they found a rifle hidden amongst some bushes. Through ballistics testing, police determined the weapon had been used in one of the murders.
Police then hatched a plan. Disarming a rifle of the same model, police stashed it in the same spot the murder weapon had been found. They then launched a round-the-clock watch on the site, in hopes the killer might return for his gun.
On September 1st, their suspicions were confirmed. After loitering in the area on multiple occasions, Cooke was finally arrested after attempting to retrieve the weapon just after midnight.
Eric Cooke confesses
Cooke initially denied any involvement, but reportedly broke down during interrogation from one of the detectives:
“Cookie, you’re gonna hang, you know – there’s no doubt about it. You got a wife and kids, think of them, and then think about whether you’re gonna be dragged to the gallows like a mongrel dog or you gonna go there like a man.”
Eric Cooke then confessed not only to the murder using the apprehended rifle, but to a total of 8 murders and fourteen attempted murders.
Find out what happened during his trial on this episode of True Crime All the Time.
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