Jessie Cooks

Serial Killer

Jessie Lee Cooks and the Zebra Murders

Overview

Jessie Lee Cooks was one of four men convicted in connection with the notorious "Zebra" murder case that terrorized San Francisco during 1973 and 1974. The principal defendants were Cooks, Larry Craig Green, Manuel Moore, and J.C.X. Simon. Their prosecution grew out of a series of apparently random attacks in which victims were abducted, shot, beaten, or stabbed. The San Francisco Police Department called its massive investigation "Operation Zebra," a name derived from the police radio channel assigned to the case. Cooks occupies a somewhat unusual place in the history of the Zebra murders. He was unquestionably responsible for violent crimes during the opening days of the series and was convicted of the murder of Quita Hague. He also admitted shooting Frances Rose and pleaded guilty to her first-degree murder. However, Cooks was arrested immediately after Rose's murder on October 30, 1973, and remained incarcerated while most of the later Zebra killings occurred. The California Court of Appeal specifically noted that Cooks was not charged with or convicted of the individual crimes committed by his alleged coconspirators after October 30. His connection to the larger series came through his conviction for conspiracy to commit murder.

The Beginning of the Violence

According to testimony presented during the Zebra trial, Cooks became associated with Anthony Harris and several of the other men who would later figure prominently in the investigation. Harris testified that Cooks possessed firearms and a machete and had spoken about going out to kill people. Prosecutors used this testimony, together with Cooks's later crimes and statements, to establish that he had become part of a conspiracy centered on the indiscriminate killing of white victims. The defense disputed significant portions of Harris's testimony, but the jury ultimately found sufficient evidence to convict Cooks of conspiracy. The first major attack legally connected to Cooks occurred on October 20, 1973. Earlier that evening, Cooks, Green, and Harris encountered three children and attempted to lure or force them into their vehicle. The children escaped. Later that night, Richard and Quita Hague were walking in San Francisco when they were confronted, forced at gunpoint into a Dodge van, bound, robbed, and driven to an isolated industrial area. ...

Confirmed Victims: (15)

Quita Hague Age: (28), Date of Death: October 19, 1973

Survivors:

Richard Hague Age: (19), Date of Attack: October 19, 1973

Robert Stoeckmann Age: (26), Date of Attack: November 9, 1973

Arthur Agnos Age: (36), Date of Attack: December 13, 1973

Angela Roselli Age: (20), Date of Attack: December 20, 1973

Thomas Bates Age: (26), Date of Attack: January 29, 1974

Roxanne McMillan Age: (23), Date of Attack: January 29, 1974

Linda Story Age: (21), Date of Attack: April 1, 1974

Ward Anderson Age: (18), Date of Attack: April 14, 1974

Terry White Age: (15), Date of Attack: April 14, 1974

Jessie Lee Cooks