Michael Cook Sr. (Sex Offender Registry Board).
A Massachusetts man was convicted on Friday of breaking into his estranged wife’s home and fatally beating her in the head with a hammer.
Michael Cook Sr., 47, is scheduled for sentencing to take place Thursday, state local reports out of Berkshire County. Charges were second-degree murder, armed assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to murder, assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, and assault on a family or household member, according to Massachusetts Live.
Charli Cook, 41, initially survived with a traumatic brain injury and died five months later.
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“While today’s guilty verdict cannot bring Charli back to her friends and family, I am pleased with the jury’s decision. Charli, along with her friends and family, deserved justice, and today that justice has been served,” Berkshire County District Attorney Timothy Shugrue said, according to Springfield NBC/CW affiliate WWLP.
Charli Cook had worked as a certified nursing assistant at a nursing home. But authorities reportedly say that on July 11, 2019, Michael Cook broke into her home in the city of North Adams and struck her in the back of the head with a hammer as she lay in bed. Testimony at trial established him as possessive of his wife, according to The Berkshire Eagle.
Records show he is also a sex offender from a Sept. 14, 2011, conviction for three counts of rape of child with force, and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 years of age.
“Domestic violence is a devastating reality in the Berkshires,” Shugrue said in reference to the murder. “We must work together to proactively prevent domestic violence while also supporting survivors and achieving justice for the abuse they endured.”
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