Eric Edgar Cooke was born in Perth, Australia, in 1931. When he grew up, he married a woman called Sally. Together they had seven children.
Eric Edgar Cooke was known to the local police as a small-time criminal. He was a peeping-tom and a petty thief.
Unknown to the police, he was much more than that.
From September 1958 to August 1963, he terrorized the citizens of Perth by committing more than twenty violent attacks on innocent people. Each time he picked a new victim. In eight cases, the victim died as a result of his attack.
He was a murderer. A serial killer. But the police could not catch him.
Why not?
Because Eric Edgar was clever and careful. He always wore gloves. He never left a fingerprint or anything else which could reveal his identity at the scene of the crime.
Most of these crimes were never solved by the police. Two of his crimes were solved, according to the police. However, they were wrong.
The police had arrested the wrong guy in both these cases.
In 1963, Eric Edgar made one small mistake which eventually led to his capture and arrest.
At first, he refused to talk to the police. He admitted he had done something wrong, but he refused to offer any details.
But after a while he changed his mind. And once he started to confess, he could not stop.
Apparently, he had an excellent memory and he confessed to several crimes giving details of the time and the place and what had happened at this particular place.
He knew details which had not been published in the media. He had information that only the real perpetrator could have.
The police regarded most of his confessions as credible and reliable, but failed to act on them.
And when Eric Edgar confessed to having committed two attacks which had already been solved, according to the police, they refused to believe him.
The two guys who had been arrested and convicted for these crimes remained in prison.
There were two cases of wrongful conviction!
Eric Edgar was tried in a court of law and found guilty. At that time the penalty for murder was death.
Eric Edgar was executed on 26 October 1964.
After the Night is a documentary series in four parts which premiered on Australian television (Stan) in November 2020.
The topic is Eric Edgar Cooke and the violent crimes which took place in Perth from 1958 to 1963.
The series is based on a book written by Estelle Blackburn:
Broken Lives: The Complete Life and Crimes of Serial Killer Eric Edgar Cooke (published in 1998).
Another book about this topic is written by Bret Christian:
Presumed Guilty: When cops get it wrong and courts seal the deal (first published in 2013; a second edition appeared in 2015).
After the Night is directed by Thomas Meadmore.
It covers the topic very well. There are interviews with several people who lived through these events, including Sally Cooke who was the widow of Eric Edgar.
Episode four - the final episode - is a real eye-opener which focuses on the question of truth and justice.
If you are interested in the question of human rights - if you want to know how a criminal justice system can work and sometimes make terrible mistakes - this documentary series is definitely something for you.
REFERENCES
** Eric Edgar Cooke: The True Story of The Night Caller by Jack Rosewood and Rebecca Lo (2016)
Ben Pobjie, “True-crime docu revisits Perth serial killer Eric Edgar Cooke,” Sydney Morning Herald, 18 November 2020.
** Karl Quinn, review of After the Night, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 December 2020.
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Darryl Beamish (born 1941)
Victim of a wrongful conviction in 1961
His conviction was overturned in 2005
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John Button (born 1944)
Victim of a wrongful conviction in 1963
His conviction was quashed in 2002
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Estelle Blackburn (born 1950)
Author of the book "Broken Lives"
on which the documentary series is based
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The cover of the book
Broken Lives by Estelle Blackburn (1998)
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