The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled Kerry Max Cook is innocent of the 1977 murder of Linda Jo Edwards, concludingone of the most notable murder cases in the last half-century.
Cook, now 68, fought to prove his innocence for more than four decades and was released from prison in 1997 after spending nearly 20 years on death row for a crime he did not commit.
Smith County prosecutors set aside his conviction in 2016 but Wednesday’s ruling, handed down from by the state’s highest criminal court, formally exonerates him.
“Marked by bookends of deception spanning over 40 years, this case has traversed a winding odyssey through our justice system … ,” Judge Bert Richardson wrote in the 106-page opinion.
On June 10, 1977, Edwards’ roommate found her stabbed in their shared apartment in Tyler. Police eventually charged Cook. Prosecutors said he killed Edwards, 21, in a fit of sexual rage, imitating a scene in a movie he watched that depicted the mutilation of a cat.
Cook was convicted in 1978 but the verdict was overturned in 1991, prompting a second trial in 1992 that concluded in a mistrial. A third trial in 1994 sent him back to death row but was overturned by an appeals court in 1996.
Days before Cook was set to face a fourth trial, Smith County prosecutors offered him a no-contest plea deal that allowed him to be released from prison. He remained guilty in the eyes of the law though he never admitted to the killing.
“This case is riddled with allegations of State misconduct that warrant setting aside Applicant’s conviction,” Richardson wrote. “And when it comes to solid support for actual innocence, this case contains it all — uncontroverted Brady violations, proof of false testimony, admissions of perjury, and new scientific evidence.”
Since Cook’s release, he wrote a book, Chasing Justice: My Story of Freeing Myself After Two Decades on Death Row for a Crime I Didn’t Commit, that has served as inspiration for a play, and he has spoken around the world.