Broken Lives : The complete life and crimes of serial killer Eric Edgar Cooke
Estelle Blackburn

Publisher
South Yarra, Victoria : Hardie Grant Books | 2002. | Rev. and updated ed.

Summary
This riveting investigation into the life and untold crimes of Eric Edgar Cooke, the last man to hang in Western Australia, reveals new evidence to indicate that at least one innocent man, John Button, went to jail for one of Cooke's murders. Author Blackburn winner of 2001 Walkley award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism.
WA true crime. The John Button story.
The father of Eric Edgar Cooke despised his baby son from the moment he saw him. Bashings and a hate-filled childhood followed for the boy with the crooked mouth, launching a personality unique among serial killers. He stalked the city of Perth for months, shooting strangers in the dead of night and using a sickening variety of weapons to steal the lives of strangers. Unknown to the terror-stricken citizens of this trusting, emerging metropolis, the young father of seven children who pulled the trigger had for years been doing other sinister night work. In a remarkable twist of fate, the killer’s life tangled with that of 19-year-old John Button, whose 17-year-old girlfriend was killed. Both men confessed to that crime. This riveting investigation into the life and untold crimes of the last man to hang in Western Australia reveals new evidence to indicate that at least one innocent man, John Button, went to jail for one of Cooke’s murders. Estelle’s efforts to clear John Buttons name, have led to the West Australian Court of Criminal Appeal re-opening the case against John Button after nearly 35 years. The new edition will include a chapter covering the case and the final decision.
Eric Edgar Cooke was the last man to hang in Western Australia. Between 1958 and his capture in September 1963, Cooke committed 22 murders and attempted murders that forever changed the face of Perth from a friendly big country town to a city of suspicion and fear. His fantasies and delusions led him to commit a series of sexual perversions and crimes, including theft, deliberate hit-and-runs, vicious attacks on women in their beds and murder - by shooting, stabbing and strangling. When two innocent men were convicted and jailed for crimes committed by Cooke, journalist Estelle Blackburn began an exhaustive investigation which lasted six years.

Notes
Cover subtitle: The complete life and crimes of serial killer Eric Edgar Cooke.
Previous ed. published: 2001.
Awards: Western Australian Premier's Book Award winner 1999 (Historical & Critical Studies Award)

Physical Description
xv, 462 p., [16] p. of plates : ill., map, ports. ; 21 cm.

Dewey Call Number
364.1523 BLA

Museum Call Number
XXX

ISBN
174064073X (pbk.)
9781740640732

Subjects
Cooke, Eric Edgar.
Button, John, 1944-
Serial murderers -- Western Australia -- Biography.
Serial murders -- Western Australia.
Judicial error -- Western Australia.
Cooke, Edgar.
Serial murders -- Australia -- Western Australia.
Serial murderers -- Australia -- Western Australia -- Biography.

To view this document please make an appointment with the Museum of Perth:reece@museumofperth.com.au