William Edward "Billy" Cook (December 23, 1928 – December 12, 1952) was an American mass murderer.

Life

Born near Joplin, Missouri, Cook spent his childhood in and out of reform schools; he was later incarcerated in Missouri State Penitentiary. After leaving prison, he bought a gun and stole a car. After running out of gas, he posed as a hitchhiker and murdered an entire family of five from Illinois, as well as a travelling salesman from Seattle, Washington.

Cook was captured in Mexico, tried in California and put to death in the gas chamber of San Quentin Prison on December 12, 1952.

Cook's body was then returned to his hometown and buried in Peace Church Cemetery in an unmarked grave.

In popular culture

• The 1953 film noir The Hitch-Hiker, directed by Ida Lupino, was based on the Cook crime spree, starring Edmond O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy, with William Talman as the killer.
• An in-depth portrait of Billy Cook, his crimes and execution appears in John Gilmore's 2005 book L.A. DESPAIR: A Landscape of Crimes & Bad Times.
• Mark Zingarelli illustrated and wrote "The "Cockeyed" Cook Story" in 1987. It was originally published in Robert Crumb's anthology magazine "Weirdo" and appeared again in Zingarelli's comic book "Real Life" published by Fantagraphics in 1990. Zingarelli wrote his story of Billy Cook's life after reading a short account of Cook's life written by Miriam Linna in her self-published "Bad Seed". It also appears in The New Comics Anthology, edited by Bob Callahan, Collier, 1991.
• Popular American rock band The Doors released a song loosely based on Cook on their LA Woman album, named "Riders on the Storm".

References

• Gilmore, John (2005). L.A. Despair: A Landscape of Crimes & Bad Times. Amok Books. ISBN 1-878-92316-1.
• 300 Years Is Not Enough. TIME Magazine (1951-04-02). Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
• Billy's Last Words. TIME Magazine (1952-12-22). Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
• The New Pictures. TIME Magazine (1953-04-06). Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
• The Ghost of Billy Cook. Retrieved on 2007-11-12.