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Michael A. Cook Sr., of North Adams in Berkshire Country, was convicted of second-degree murder last week and was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday, Oct. 10, the Berkshire County District Attorney's Office said. However, he will be eligible for parole in 25 years.
Charli Cook, a 41-year-old CNA at the former Willowood Health Care Center, was asleep when Michael Cook broke into her North Adams home in July 2019 and hit her in the back of the head with a hammer, authorities said. She suffered a traumatic brain injury from the attack and died from her injuries at Baystate Medical Center five months later.
Berkshire County District Attorney Timothy J. Shugrue said he hopes the ruling gave Charli's family some sense of justice.
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. I extend gratitude to everyone who came to Charli’s immediate aide and continued to help make this a successful case.
Michael Cook was also found guilty of assault with intent to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a family/household member, and armed assault with intent to murder, authorities said.
Prosecutors asked the judge to have his sentences run consecutively, which would have extended his time in prison by as much as two decades, but the judge declined that request.
During their appeal to the bench, prosecutors brought up Cook's history of abusing previous intimate partners as well as his 2011 conviction for forcefully raping a child under the age of 14. Cook is a level 3 registered sex offender.
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