Dates set for Cook retrial

Tuesday, July 22, 2008
By Brian Mosely

New dates for jury selection and a trial have been set for Ashley Cook, whose trial for the murder of Bill Ross ended in a mistrial last week.

Cook, 23, is charged with first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder in the Feb. 14, 2007, murder of Ross, a Shelbyville car salesman.

Judge Robert Crigler scheduled jury selection in the case to begin Thursday, Oct. 9, and set opening arguments for Monday, Oct. 13.

Assistant District Attorney Mike Randles told Crigler the prosecution's part of the trial should not last more than two days.

Bill Ross was shot three times while he slept in his bed at his Wartrace Pike home. His wife, 38-year-old Kimberly Ann Ross, was sentenced to life in prison last November after pleading guilty to first degree murder for her role in planning the slaying.

The prosecution claims Cook pulled the trigger while Justin Young, 20, allegedly loaded the gun and let Cook enter the home to shoot Ross in order to make the death look like part of a home invasion.

The date was set to coincide with the time frame in which Young will either make his plea in the case or be bound over for trial.

Cook appeared briefly in court Monday afternoon in shackles. Last week, the case ended in mistrial after the jury declared itself deadlocked after four days of deliberation.

District Attorney General Chuck Crawford said last weekend that his office's belief in Cook's guilt "remains unshaken."

Defense attorney Jack Dearing said last week that while Cook may be guilty of pulling the trigger, she should not be found guilty of conspiracy or premeditated murder.

Comments

Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please Login or Create an account first, and then you will be able to flag a comment as objectionable. Please also note that those who post comments on t-g.com may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.

Both Mr. Young and Ms. Cook need to own up to what they did and take their punishment. It's ridiculous that the tax payers' money must be wasted on proving the obvious.

-- Posted by jtjustice30 on Tue, Jul 22, 2008, at 12:41 PM

Well Ms. Cook did say that she shot Mr. Ross ....It was the system of Bedford County that has caused this and is making the taxpayers pay more than they should.....

-- Posted by rebelrose on Tue, Jul 22, 2008, at 1:22 PM

I don't see why this should have been declared a mistrial. She went to the house knowing that she was going to shoot this man. That's flat out guilty to me! There's no way that she could be innocent in any way. His wife got life just for helping plan the murder. Ashley Cook should at least get the same for pulling the trigger. She could have backed out before it happened or not had any part of it to begin with, but she chose to involve herself. Maybe the next jury will see that!

-- Posted by candasons07 on Tue, Jul 22, 2008, at 2:29 PM

I don't think they should get another trial i think we should hang mrs. cook and mr young both on the court house square.

-- Posted by okbyme on Tue, Jul 22, 2008, at 4:32 PM

Like I said in the other post. I sat in on the trial, because I have to sit in on my son's in about 5 month's. The state stated there case and it was a well presented case. But you had that one juror that held out for voluntary manslaughter. She should have been convicted of 1st degree murder, because they had planned another attempt earlier. So that alone was premediatated. You can't put the blame on the state they presented a good case.

-- Posted by Joseph's mother on Tue, Jul 22, 2008, at 6:10 PM

While I agree there should have been no mistrial in this instance, as it is obvious this was not a "last minute occurrence" but a planned (cannot say well planned) scheme to kill the man and collect a large sum of money and start a new life with an assumedly unknowing new man in Ms. Ross' life. I believe that Ms. Ross is the ring leader of this motley band and the other two were stupid enough to believe this plan would work. It has been stated that Ms. Ross had pretty much taken these two into her home and provided for their needs almost as a surrogate parent with her dead husband. Perhaps her "good deeds" were the beginning of the end for Mr. Ross. A "you owe me now" kind of persuasion. Either way all parties are guilty by either their admission or their conviction.

I will have to disagree with a statement rebelrose made though that "It was the system of Bedford County that has caused this". This is has nothing to do with the county other than the crime occurred here, the perpetrators are being held here, the jurors live in Bedford County, etc. This is a state case, hence the involvement of the D.A's office. As has been stated several times Ms. Cook and Mr. Young have both admitted to their parts in this crime and will be punished accordingly for their actions. Although, sometimes broken we must have faith that the system will work in this regard and these two will never see the outside of a state facility. If this does not happen there will be a Divine Intervention in the end, because no crime goes unpunished.

-- Posted by ghostrider on Tue, Jul 22, 2008, at 9:56 PM

I think that Mr. Young and Ms. Cook both need to be hung on the court house square.

-- Posted by okbyme on Wed, Jul 23, 2008, at 8:10 PM

No ok by me, hung at the court house would be to easy.

They should be shot in the same way Mr.Ross was. In his sleep, as they stood there to his moanings and left there to die.

No going to jail for a life time. Why should our tax money go to support them. When theres more important places for it to go.

They won't pick people like me to be on the jury.Because I'd Volunteer to shave their heads, add oil and flip the switch.

But they will cry tempory insane, get their hand slapped and we will support them.

We need new blood in the system, ones that will set an examples, and the crime makers won't get " AWAY WITH MURDER"

-- Posted by Wheelbillie on Fri, Jul 25, 2008, at 11:31 PM

kimberly ross was the true murderer in this case ms cook should get a lesser charge if i were on the jury she would get manslaughter

-- Posted by bonbon on Tue, Aug 5, 2008, at 10:21 AM

they should move the trial out of shelbyville its got to much covarge ms cook wont get a fair trial down there

-- Posted by bonbon on Tue, Aug 5, 2008, at 10:28 AM