TOLEDO, Ohio — In April of 2000, something nearly unprecedented happened in the city of Toledo. Serial killers sat down with police and confessed their crimes on video.
Anthony Cook and his brother, Nathaniel, told police about nine killings and multiple rapes. Anthony discussed additional rapes and attempted abductions. Police believe there are many other victims in other parts of the country since the brothers were both long-haul truckers.
The confessions were part of a deal with prosecutors to close several murders that the brothers were believed to be involved in. In exchange for their cooperation, Nathaniel would be released after 20 years of prison. In 2018, Nathaniel walked out of prison and has been living uneventfully in Toledo since.
But those confessions from the brothers were not seen publicly until 11 Investigates released portions of the Anthony Cook interviews on Tuesday afternoon on the WTOL 11+ and YouTube platforms. The release was done after conversations with family members, a victim, and the lead detective in the case. Several of those we spoke to encouraged the release in an attempt to show the absence of remorse from Anthony Cook.
Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates was a pivotal figure in bringing all of the killings to light. After learning about DNA in solving cold cases, she instructed detectives to pursue it in the Cook case. DNA testing tied Anthony and Nathaniel to the rape of Sandra Podgorski in May of 1980. In the same attack, her boyfriend, Tommy Gordon, was killed and Sandra was critically injured. With that connection, Bates was able to negotiate the plea deal that exposed nine killings.
Throughout the years, Bates has been a fierce protector of the families and surviving victims. She has multiple photos of the court proceedings so that her and her staff never forget that dark period in Toledo history. We told her office of our intention to release the videos and they emailed the following response:
“While editorial decisions are, of course, yours to make, we wanted to offer some context. The Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office did not distribute the taped confessions, primarily because we believe their repeated airing can be retraumatizing for victims and their families — particularly after so many years. Hearing defendants describe their crimes in such a cold and calculating manner can deeply disturb and harm those who have already endured so much. While we appreciate that you spoke with some family members about this, we respectfully ask that you consider this impact when deciding whether to reshare these videos in future content.”
In response to this, we are releasing only select portions of video. The police interviews were not graphic, but we are not releasing any mention by Cook of an actual killing or assault. Instead, we thought it was important to release video that showed his thought process, planning, and cold-blooded attitude toward the killings.
Journalistically, we also believe the videos are important and newsworthy since Anthony Cook will have a parole hearing on Thursday and it could be his last bid for freedom. Now a 75-year-old man who has been in prison since 1981, he could be set free early next year. If his bid is rejected, his next parole hearing would likely be in 10 more years. Lead detective Frank Stiles told us that he believes Cook will immediately kill again if he is released.
There are close to three hours of interviews with Anthony Cook on the tapes. At no point does he express any type of remorse or compassion. Instead, he calmly and coldly describes how he stalked his victims, how he planned to subdue them, and how he plotted to throw police off his trail by using multiple types of weapons to kill.