Anthony H. Cook: The Toledo Serial Killer
Background
Anthony H. Cook was born on March 9, 1949, in Mobile, Alabama, and later grew up in the Toledo, Ohio, area. He became one of the most prolific serial killers in Toledo history, eventually admitting involvement in nine murders committed between 1973 and 1981. Several of the killings were committed with his younger brother, Nathaniel Cook, while others were carried out by Anthony alone.
Cook's crimes were characterized by sudden attacks on people who appeared vulnerable or isolated. Young couples sitting in parked cars were frequent targets, as were women walking alone. Sexual violence accompanied several of the murders. Victims were shot, strangled, or beaten to death, and Cook frequently attempted to conceal bodies inside vehicles or in isolated areas of Lucas County.
Anthony had a criminal history before the serial murders became known. After committing his first known murder in 1973, he spent much of the middle and late 1970s in prison for an unrelated armed robbery. His incarceration created a lengthy break between his first known victim and the series of murders that began after his release. By 1980, Anthony had begun committing crimes with his brother Nathaniel.
The Murder of Vicky Lynn Small
Anthony Cook's first known murder occurred on December 20, 1973. Vicky Lynn Small, 22, was with friends when they experienced automobile trouble during a severe winter storm in Toledo. Cook presented himself as someone willing to help and ultimately gave Small a ride.
Instead of safely taking her to her destination, Cook abducted and sexually assaulted her. Small was beaten and shot multiple times. Her body was abandoned in Ottawa Park in Toledo and discovered later that same day. The murder remained unsolved for more than twenty-six years. Investigators did not know that it was connected to Cook until he confessed in 2000.
Shortly after Small's murder, Cook returned to prison following an armed robbery conviction. He remained incarcerated for much of the remainder of the 1970s. After his release in 1979, the violence resumed.
Thomas Gordon and the Beginning of the Cook Brothers' Murder Series
On May 14, 1980, 24-year-old Thomas Gordon and his 18-year-old girlfriend were together in North Toledo when Anthony and Nathaniel Cook confronted them at gunpoint. The brothers seized control of Gordon's vehicle and forced the couple into the back seat.
They drove the victims to a secluded area in western Lucas County. Gordon was shot and killed. His girlfriend was sexually assaulted by both brothers and then repeatedly stabbed. She survived by pretending to be dead until the attackers left. Despite suffering serious injuries, she managed to reach help.
Gordon's body was placed in the trunk of his vehicle. Evidence preserved from the attack would become extraordinarily important nearly two decades later. DNA testing ultimately connected both Anthony and Nathaniel Cook to the crime and provided investigators with the breakthrough needed to solve the larger series of murders.
Connie Sue Thompson
On January 17, 1981, 19-year-old Connie Sue Thompson was picked up while walking along Cherry Street near St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo. Anthony and Nathaniel Cook took her into western Lucas County, where she was sexually assaulted and murdered.
During their later confessions, the brothers described their participation in the crime. Nathaniel acknowledged strangling Thompson with a piece of wire. Her body was abandoned in a culvert beneath a road in western Lucas County. The isolated location and lack of an obvious connection between Thompson and her attackers left investigators with few immediate leads.
The Attack on Arnold Coates and Cheryl Bartlett
Not every person attacked by the Cook brothers was killed. On January 27, 1981, 21-year-old Arnold Coates and 18-year-old Cheryl Bartlett were confronted while walking in an alley behind Segur Avenue in Toledo. Anthony and Nathaniel forced the couple into a vacant garage at gunpoint.
The brothers had only one bullet available. They forced Coates and Bartlett together and fired through them. Both victims survived. The attack later became another part of the pattern investigators associated with the Cooks: young couples were confronted suddenly, controlled with firearms, and subjected to violence with little or no prior connection to their attackers.
The Murder of Dawn Rene Backes
One of the most notorious crimes committed by the brothers occurred on February 21, 1981. Dawn Rene Backes was only 12 years old and attended Gesu School. Anthony Cook encountered her near the University of Toledo and forced her into his vehicle. He then picked up Nathaniel.
The brothers took Dawn to the abandoned State Theater at 2460 Collingwood Boulevard in Toledo. Inside the vacant building, the child was held for an extended period, sexually assaulted, tortured, and eventually killed by severe blows to the head with a heavy concrete block.
Her body was discovered inside the abandoned theater several days later. The brutality of the murder shocked Toledo and placed enormous pressure on investigators. For nearly two decades, however, Dawn's family did not know with certainty who had killed her. Anthony and Nathaniel finally admitted their roles during the 2000 plea negotiations.
Scott Moulton and Denise Siotkowski
On March 27, 1981, Anthony Cook acted without his brother when he encountered Scott Moulton, 21, and Denise Siotkowski, 22. The two were friends and co-workers at the Centre Supermarket on Navarre Avenue. They were together in a vehicle at the Fountain Circle Apartments in Oregon, Ohio, and had planned to meet other co-workers later that evening.
Cook attacked the pair and sexually assaulted Siotkowski. Moulton and Siotkowski were then shot multiple times. Their bodies were placed in the trunk of the vehicle, which remained at the apartment complex. Investigators found Moulton and Siotkowski together, but the crime initially provided no evidence strong enough to identify Cook as their killer.
Anthony Cook later admitted that Nathaniel had not participated in these murders. The killings demonstrated that Anthony was fully capable of operating alone and that the presence of his brother was not necessary for the crimes to occur.
Daryle Cole and Stacey Balonek
During the early morning hours of August 2, 1981, Anthony Cook encountered 21-year-old Daryle Cole and 21-year-old Stacey Balonek while they were near Balonek's home on Doyle Street in Toledo. The couple had been dating for approximately a year and had recently returned from a trip to Florida.
Cook confronted them with a firearm and forced them into the trunk of Cole's Pontiac Grand Prix. He drove the vehicle to railroad tracks beneath the Central Avenue overpass. Balonek was sexually assaulted. Cook then used an aluminum baseball bat from the vehicle to beat both victims to death.
Their bodies were subsequently found inside the trunk of the automobile. Once again, Cook had attacked a young couple who had no meaningful connection to him, sexually assaulted the female victim, murdered both people, and attempted to conceal them inside a vehicle.
The Murder of Peter Sawicki
The crime that finally led directly to Anthony Cook's identification occurred shortly after midnight on September 18, 1981. Todd Sabo and 20-year-old Leslie Sawicki were inside a van at the Terrace View Apartments in the 4100 block of North Terrace View Drive near Richards Road in Toledo when Cook approached them with a gun.
Cook robbed and restrained the couple and attempted to sexually assault Leslie. Both victims managed to free themselves and fought back. Sabo gained possession of Cook's firearm while Leslie escaped from the van and sought help. She contacted police and also called her father, 43-year-old Peter Sawicki.
Peter arrived at the apartment complex before Toledo police. During the confrontation that followed, Cook regained possession of the weapon. He shot Sabo in the head and neck and then shot Peter Sawicki in the neck. Sabo survived, but Peter died from his injuries after being taken to the hospital.
The Sawicki investigation gave detectives evidence they had not possessed in the earlier murders. Cook was eventually identified as the attacker, and Toledo police arrested him on October 14, 1981. His arrest effectively ended the series of murders.
Confirmed Murder Victims
- Vicky Lynn Small, 22 - December 20, 1973 - Ottawa Park, Toledo, Ohio. Abducted after Cook offered assistance during a snowstorm, sexually assaulted, beaten, and fatally shot. Anthony Cook acted alone.
- Thomas Gordon, 24 - May 14, 1980 - Western Lucas County, Ohio. Abducted with his girlfriend from North Toledo and shot to death after the Cook brothers took control of his vehicle. His girlfriend survived a sexual assault and stabbing.
- Connie Sue Thompson, 19 - January 17, 1981 - Western Lucas County, Ohio. Abducted near Cherry Street and St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo, sexually assaulted, strangled, and abandoned in a culvert. Anthony and Nathaniel Cook both participated.
- Dawn Rene Backes, 12 - February 21, 1981 - State Theater, 2460 Collingwood Boulevard, Toledo, Ohio. Abducted near the University of Toledo, sexually assaulted and tortured before being killed by severe blows to the head. Anthony and Nathaniel Cook both participated.
- Scott Moulton, 21 - March 27, 1981 - Fountain Circle Apartments, Oregon, Ohio. Shot multiple times and placed in the trunk of a vehicle. Anthony Cook acted alone.
- Denise Siotkowski, 22 - March 27, 1981 - Fountain Circle Apartments, Oregon, Ohio. Sexually assaulted, shot multiple times, and found in the same vehicle as Scott Moulton. Anthony Cook acted alone.
- Daryle Cole, 21 - August 2, 1981 - Toledo, Ohio. Abducted with Stacey Balonek, driven to the railroad area beneath the Central Avenue overpass, and beaten to death with an aluminum baseball bat. Anthony Cook acted alone.
- Stacey Balonek, 21 - August 2, 1981 - Toledo, Ohio. Abducted with Daryle Cole, sexually assaulted, and beaten to death with a baseball bat. Their bodies were concealed in the trunk of Cole's vehicle. Anthony Cook acted alone.
- Peter Sawicki, 43 - September 18, 1981 - Terrace View Apartments area, Toledo, Ohio. Shot in the neck after arriving to help his daughter Leslie and Todd Sabo during an attack by Cook. Anthony Cook acted alone.
Investigation and Conviction
Anthony Cook was tried for the attack involving Leslie Sawicki, Todd Sabo, and Peter Sawicki. In 1982 he was convicted of Sawicki's murder and related offenses and received a sentence of 15 years to life. Although Toledo detectives suspected that Cook could be responsible for additional murders, they did not initially have sufficient evidence to prosecute him for the other killings.
The unsolved cases remained open for years. Investigators noticed similarities among several of them, particularly the attacks on young couples, the sexual assaults, and the practice of leaving victims in or near automobiles. Detectives also suspected that Anthony had sometimes been accompanied by another offender, but establishing the identity of that second man proved difficult.
DNA Reopens the Cases
Advances in forensic DNA technology eventually transformed the investigation. Evidence preserved from the May 14, 1980 attack on Thomas Gordon and his surviving girlfriend was reexamined in the 1990s. DNA testing connected Anthony and Nathaniel Cook to the sexual assault.
Nathaniel was arrested in 1998. Prosecutors prepared to try the brothers in connection with Gordon's murder and the attack on his girlfriend. The possibility of a trial also created an opportunity to seek answers about the many other unsolved murders that investigators believed were connected to the brothers.
The 2000 Confessions
In April 2000, Anthony and Nathaniel Cook entered into a plea agreement with Lucas County prosecutors. Anthony pleaded guilty to the aggravated murder of Thomas Gordon and received another sentence of 15 years to life. Nathaniel pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the Gordon attack.
The most important part of the agreement for the families of the victims was the requirement that the brothers provide complete accounts of their other crimes. Anthony admitted involvement in nine murders. Nathaniel admitted participating in the murders of Thomas Gordon, Connie Sue Thompson, and Dawn Rene Backes.
Anthony also revealed that he had murdered Vicky Lynn Small in 1973, a killing investigators previously had not connected to the later Toledo series. The confessions therefore solved cases that had remained mysteries for periods ranging from approximately nineteen to more than twenty-six years.
Prosecutors agreed that the brothers would not face additional charges for the murders disclosed as part of the agreement. For authorities, the arrangement provided admissions and answers in cases where physical evidence had deteriorated, witnesses were unavailable, or there was no longer enough evidence for successful prosecutions. Families who had spent decades wondering who killed their relatives finally learned the identities of the perpetrators and the circumstances surrounding the crimes.
Nathaniel Cook's Role
Although Anthony Cook was responsible for the entire nine-victim series, his brother Nathaniel participated in only part of it. Nathaniel joined Anthony in the Gordon attack and in the murders of Connie Sue Thompson and Dawn Backes. Anthony committed the murders of Vicky Small, Scott Moulton, Denise Siotkowski, Daryle Cole, Stacey Balonek, and Peter Sawicki without Nathaniel's participation.
Nathaniel eventually received a lengthy prison sentence under the 2000 agreement but was promised the opportunity for judicial release after serving approximately twenty years. He was released in August 2018 under restrictions that included sex-offender registration and monitoring requirements.
Anthony Cook's Continued Imprisonment
Anthony Cook remained incarcerated for the murders of Peter Sawicki and Thomas Gordon. He sought parole in 2015 after spending more than three decades in prison, but the Ohio Parole Board denied his request.
Cook again became eligible for parole proceedings in 2025. Families of his victims and former investigators strongly opposed his release. His parole request was denied, and he is not expected to become eligible for another parole consideration until 2034.
Legacy of the Cook Murders
The Anthony Cook case remains one of the most disturbing chapters in Toledo criminal history. Nine people were murdered over a period of eight years, while several other victims survived attacks that could easily have been fatal. The crimes were especially frightening because many appeared random. Victims were selected while sitting in cars, walking along streets, or simply going about ordinary activities.
The case also demonstrated the importance of preserving evidence in unsolved crimes. The biological evidence collected after Thomas Gordon's murder survived for nearly two decades before technology became capable of providing the answers investigators needed. That evidence ultimately exposed Nathaniel Cook's role and placed enough pressure on the brothers to produce confessions to the larger series.
Anthony Cook's admissions in 2000 finally connected murders that had haunted Toledo families and investigators since the 1970s and early 1980s. The confessions could not undo the years of uncertainty or the lives lost, but they established that Vicky Lynn Small, Thomas Gordon, Connie Sue Thompson, Dawn Rene Backes, Scott Moulton, Denise Siotkowski, Daryle Cole, Stacey Balonek, and Peter Sawicki were all victims of the same violent offender, sometimes working with his younger brother. Anthony H. Cook remains identified as one of the most prolific and notorious serial killers in the history of Toledo, Ohio.
