Eric Edgar Cooke (25 February 1931 – 26 October 1964), nicknamed the Night Caller and later the Nedlands Monster, was an Australian serial killer who terrorised the city of Perth, Western Australia, from September 1958 to August 1963. Cooke committed at least 22 violent crimes, eight of which resulted in deaths. Early life Eric Edgar Cooke was born on 25 February 1931 in Victoria Park, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, and was the eldest of three children. He was born into an unhappy, violent family; his parents married solely because his mother, Christine Edgar, was pregnant with him. His alcoholic father, Vivian Cooke, beat the boy frequently, especially when the boy tried to protect his mother. Christine would sleep in the staff room at her job in the Como Hotel to avoid going home and being beaten by Vivian. Cooke was born with a cleft lip and palate, for which he had one surgical operation when he was three months old and another when he was . The operations were not totally successful and left him with a slight facial deformity, and he spoke in a mumble; these disabilities made him the target of bullying at school. The constant mistreatment caused Cooke to feel ashamed and shy, and he subsequently became emotionally unstable. Though very good at subjects that required retentive memory and manual dexterity, Cooke was expelled from Subiaco State School for stealing money from a teacher's purse at the age of six. Once he was transferred to Newcastle Street Infants' School, he was again the target of bullying. He continued to be bullied at every school he attended, including Highgate Primary School, Forrest Street Primary School, and Newcastle Street Junior Technical School. Cooke was also placed in orphanages or foster homes on occasion. Much like his mother, he would hide underneath the house or roam neighbouring streets just to escape a night of his father's violence. He was frequently hospitalised for head injuries and had suspected brain damage because of his accident-proneness. Later it was questioned whether these 'accidents' were due to repressed suicidal tendencies. Cooke also had recurrent headaches and was once admitted to an asylum. His reported blackouts later stopped after an operation in 1949. Cooke left school at age 14 to work as a delivery boy for Central Provision Stores in order to support the family. He would give his weekly wages to his