line and constructed a hide in which they waited in case someone returned for it. Cooke was noted loitering in a car in the area several times, and was apprehended when he tried to collect the weapon just after midnight on 1 September. After initial denials regarding the McLeod murder, Cooke cracked after one of detectives, Max Baker, snapped at him. "Cookie, you're gonna hang, you know – there's no doubt about it. You got a wife and kids, think of them, and then think about whether you're gonna be dragged to the gallows like a mongrel dog or you gonna go there like a man." Cooke began confessing to his many crimes, including eight murders and fourteen attempted murders. He was convicted on a charge of murdering Sturkey, one of Cooke's five Australia Day shooting victims. In his confessions, Cooke demonstrated an exceptionally good memory for the details of his crimes irrespective of how long ago he had committed the offences. For example, he confessed to more than 250 burglaries and was able to detail exactly what he took, including the number and denominations of the coins he had stolen from each location. The book Presumed Guilty by Bret Christian includes details of Cooke's confession, made over two days in September 1963 at Fremantle Prison to his Legal Aid lawyer Desmond Heenan. "I have a great respect for the law, although my actions don't show this," Cooke said. Conviction and execution Cooke pleaded not guilty on the grounds of insanity. At the trial, Cooke's lawyers claimed that he had schizophrenia, but this claim was dismissed after the director of the state mental health services testified that he was sane. The state would not allow independent psychiatric specialists to examine Cooke. Cooke was convicted of wilful murder after a three-day trial by jury in the Supreme Court of Western Australia before Justice Virtue. He was sentenced to death by hanging and, despite having grounds to appeal, he ordered his lawyers not to apply, claiming that he deserved to pay for what he had done. After 13 months in New Division, Cooke was hanged at 8 am on 26 October 1964 in Fremantle Prison. Ten minutes before the sentence was carried out, Cooke swore on the Bible that he had killed Brewer and Anderson, claims which had been previously rejected because other people had already been convicted of those murders. Cooke