Rachel Cooke

Saturday, June 16, 2007

The last time Michael Keith Moore surfaced in public, he was expected to
admit to kidnapping and killing Rachel Cooke, whose 2002 disappearance
still haunts her family and Williamson County.

But Moore, serving life sentences for a 2003 murder, pleaded not guilty
in November in the Cooke case — reneging on a deal with prosecutors and
dragging the Cooke family through another round of bitter disappointment.

Now Moore, in his first prison interview since that surprise plea, said
he was telling the truth when he pleaded not guilty. He claims he duped
investigators because he was getting special treatment in prison,
including extra visits with his ex-wife and having prison infractions
wiped off his record, as long as he cooperated.

Investigators, calling Moore a born manipulator, aren't buying his story.

Cooke's father isn't sure what to think.

"It's kind of hard to tell with this guy. He's probably a compulsive
liar. He's a predator, and that's part of the way he goes after people
is to lie," Robert Cooke said. "He's definitely a suspect, and they have
to look closely at him. But based on his history, how much of what he
says can you believe?

"I'm hoping somehow we can piece all this together. Either get more
evidence on him, or else omit him," Robert Cooke said.

Shortly after his not guilty plea, Moore scheduled — then canceled —
interviews with several TV and newspaper reporters. The
American-Statesman published a profile of Moore in December that
characterized him as a narcissist who craves attention and who believes
his intelligence allows him to toy with, and outwit, investigators.

Moore, who has spent most of his adult life in prison, took exception to
that article in a January letter to the newspaper, but fell silent when
invited to give his version of events.

Since January, no investigators have interviewed Moore in prison, and
after four months without contact, Moore sent a letter to the Statesman
in mid-May offering to talk. "Earlier the better for me," he wrote. "I
will not cancel out this time."

Sitting behind the bullet-proof glass in the visitors lounge of the
Hughes Unit in Gatesville, with his thick forearms heavily tattooed,
Moore was wary at first and asked if the reporter was acting on behalf
of the FBI or Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley.

He warmed to the task of describing how investigators should have seen
the holes in his story about kidnapping Cooke, who was 19 when she
disappeared. And he apologized to the Cooke family for promising closure
in the case and then failing to deliver.

"I can imagine them thinking their daughter, their loved one, just
disappeared again right there in that court. That's what I feel so bad
about," said Moore, 31.

For Robert Cooke, the apology rings hollow: "That's the part I don't
believe. I don't think he cares."

Moore insists that he got caught up in a game with investigators,
especially Fred Rhea with the FBI's violent crimes task force. Rhea was
the one who brought up Rachel Cooke, Moore said, and he played along,
right up to his confession.

"I already went so far, I guess you could say I made my bed, so I had to
lie in it," Moore said. "I guess you could say I was basically being an
(expletive), thinking about what benefits I could get from this guy
coming to see me, this FBI guy."

Changing his story

Moore told investigators that he was driving around Georgetown on the
morning of Jan. 10, 2002, in search of businesses or homes to break
into. He said he drove past Cooke, who was jogging. He pulled over and
parked, he said, and then ran a short distance in front of his truck
before turning around. Pretending to be out jogging, Moore said, he
timed his run so he and Cooke would meet at his truck, where he hit her
in the head with a hammer.

He told investigators he drove her to another location and raped her,
hid her body in the truck's large toolbox, and then drove to Matagorda
Bay to hide the body.

He changed his plea in court, Moore said, because he didn't want to help
"somebody get away with murder."

Bradley, the district attorney, scoffs at that notion.

"I would note that Michael Keith Moore is serving four life sentences,
is a psychopathic killer, a proven pathological liar, and has repeatedly
used the media to manipulate his circumstances. It would appear to me
that he's attempting to manipulate the media once again," Bradley said.

Before his February 2006 trial in the murder of Christina Moore, no
relation, Michael Moore made several calls to KVUE-TV, saying he was
innocent but knew who had killed the Round Rock woman. He declined to
reveal names for fear that his wife would be killed, KVUE reported.

In fact, Moore slit Christina Moore's throat as she kneeled in her
bedroom closet on Sept. 23, 2003. She was 35 and three months pregnant.

Prosecutors sought a capital murder verdict, and possible death
sentence, but jurors declined — finding Moore guilty of murder,
aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping.

Before his sentence could be imposed, Moore pleaded guilty and received
concurrent life sentences.

Investigators, stumped for years by Cooke's disappearance, approached
Moore last year in the belief that somebody who had killed once might
have killed before.

Moore's confession was the product of repeated meetings, including a
supervised visit to Matagorda Bay, where Moore said he pointed out the
cove where he threw Cooke's body, covered in a tarp and weighed down by
rocks.

Searches revealed no sign of her body.

Speaking this week from prison, Moore said he lied about the cove,
choosing a secluded spot after being driven around the bay for several
hours.

He also said his confession about Cooke's disappearance should have
raised questions, such as:

How could he have feigned jogging in street clothes?

Wouldn't a hammer-carrying jogger, or one running with one arm behind
his back, raise suspicions?

If Moore was casing businesses for a break-in, wouldn't they have been
open by the time Cooke disappeared, estimated to be after 9:15 a.m.?

Moore also said he gave away the large metal toolbox, which he had
claimed was used to hide Cooke's body, two months before Cooke's
disappearance.

Finally, he said, he was so muscular after lifting weights before his
2000 release from prison, "I wouldn't need a hammer. That's something
(investigators) would know."

Bradley declined to discuss an ongoing investigation.

"We're going to behave professionally and not have a public debate about
Michael Moore," Bradley said.

"We are going to continue to collect evidence in hopes that someday we
can prosecute him for the death of Rachel Cooke."

Rachel's Cooke's father said he merely hopes for some finality.

"We just don't know. We've got (Moore) out there, but I don't think we
should 100 percent focus on him, based on the lies that he's told in the
past," Robert Cooke said.

"It's hard for me to know what part of that story is true right now."

clindell@statesman.com, 912-2569




Monica Caison
CUE Center for Missing Persons
PO Box 12714
Wilmington, NC 28405
(910) 343-1131
(910) 232-1687 24 Hour Line
Email: cuecenter@aol.com
Website: http://www.ncmissingpersons.org/