Tag: mystery

Outskirts Press author, Frank Stiles, grew up in Toledo, Ohio. The youngest of nine children, he learned valuable lessons from the older children during his adolescent years. In high school he participated in many sports including football, basketball, track, and was the city of Toledo’s light-heavyweight Golden Gloves champion.  

Drafted by the U.S. Army on October 2, 1961, he completed a two year tour of duty in France.  

He joined the Toledo Police Division on April 2, 1965. After two years as a street cop, he was promoted to Detective. During his next 23 years he worked as an investigator throughout the Detective Bureau. After being promoted to sergeant, he supervised almost all sections of the bureau and investigated many of the division’s high-profile crimes. He taught at the Toledo Police Academy and lectured at local universities.  

A highly decorated and conscientious police officer, Frank Stiles believes everyone has the right to live in a society free from fear and intrusion, and he has dedicated his career toward that goal.  

Retiring after 25 years with the police division, he took a position with Lion Stores as their Loss Prevention Director. In January, 1999, he was hired by Lucas County Prosecuting Attorney Julia R. Bates as the office’s Chief Investigator, and remains there today.  

Stiles was recently featured in the Toledo Free Press.    

Read the full article here: http://www.toledofreepress.com/2010/07/08/investigator-writes-about-1975-ottawa-hills-murders/  

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Books by Frank Stiles:

Evil Brothers  

Evil Brothers is a true crime story about two serial killers, brothers Anthony and Nathaniel Cook.  

Their family migrated to Toledo from Mobile, Alabama while the state was still struggling under segregation. It was a period in time when politicians found it difficult to get elected unless they were outspoken segregationists.  

The parents divorced leaving their unemployed mother to care for nine children. Anthony showed resentment and became incorrigible after the divorce. His younger brother of nine years, Nathaniel, looked up to his older brother as a father-like image. Their brother Hayes Cook II would later be arrested for rape and sent to prison.  

Struggling with depression and a hard life, Anthony experienced the trauma guns can cause when he shot himself while attempting suicide at age 16. He survived his self-inflicted gunshot wound and later in life went on to inflict pain and suffering on others.  

With little self-esteem, Anthony took to the streets at an early age. His street name was “Hawkeye” and his crimes grew from minor offenses to armed robbery. He dropped out of school and was arrested for robbing a man while armed with a gun. After his arrest he was sent to prison. While locked up, the court ordered a psychological evaluation. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia, a psychotic disorder characterized by loss of contact with his environment – having trouble functioning in everyday life.  

While in prison Anthony complained about the ill treatment he received from white guards and was quoted by family members as saying the white man was the enemy.  

Shortly after his release from prison he went on one of the bloodiest killing sprees in history. All his victims would be white, which suggested it was his inner hatred of the white prison guards and his depressed and unhappy childhood that triggered his rage.  

Most of the killings were committed by Anthony alone but, later, he would entice his younger brother Nathaniel to join in his evil deeds. Nathaniel was not known to get into serious trouble on his own, but appeared to be intrigued by Anthony’s crime waive and stint in prison.  

For the next two years Anthony and Nathaniel Cook went on a rape and killing spree, killing nine young people, while being suspected of murdering at least three others.  

They terrorized the city of Toledo and Lucas County, Ohio until Anthony was arrested by Sgt. Frank Stiles in 1981 for the murder of a businessman, the attempted murder and attempted rape of the man’s daughter, and the robbery and attempted murder of the daughter’s boyfriend.  

The other murders and rapes were not solved and Nathaniel Cook was not arrested until 1998 when DNA technology was able to identify both brothers as serial killers. The brothers confessed to nine of the murders and pleaded guilty in April of 2000. They are in prison, Anthony for life and Nathaniel for 20 years.  

The author, Frank Stiles, was a detective sergeant with the Toledo Police Division and was the lead detective during the investigation of the murders. He takes the readers through every step of the investigation, vividly describing the brutal abductions, rapes, and torturous murders of these young people.  

The arrest and detailed confessions from the brothers lay bare the cold-bloodedness of the stalkers and how calculated and premeditated the murders were carried out, with little evidence or witnesses.  

The murder series made national news.  

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BLIND TRUST
A True Crime Story  

GREED AND MURDER shattered the serenity of an affluent Ohio village and set police on a frantic quest to find the killers.  

The murders of 67-year-old Harriett Wernert and her 97-year-old mother, Velma Bush, in the confines of their own home shocked the quiet, affluent village of Ottawa Hills. It also demonstrated that evil can occur in any community. There had never been a murder in this small village, located on the edge of Toledo in northwest Ohio.  

The murders sent shock waves through the village as residents pressed local police for answers and scurried to find ways to protect themselves. Additional deadbolts and security systems were added, and some residents purchased guns.  

The village Chief of Police looked to the city of Toledo’s Police Department for help, and because of the authors’ investigative experience he was assigned to assist in the search for answers.  

The ensuing investigation, arrests, and trials of the three murderers, held simultaneously in three Common Pleas courtrooms, is packed with suspense.  

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