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Gateway killings: Judge allows deceptively obtained statements by accused murderer
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Two police statements Fred Cooper gave in the earliest days of the Gateway homicide investigation can be used against him at trial this summer, a judge has ruled.
Cooper, accused in the December 2005 slaying of Michelle and Steven Andrews at their home, had argued through his attorney that he was duped into driving to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office hours after the bodies were found and answering a detective’s questions. But Judge Thomas Reese rejected the defense argument that Cooper’s statements were illegally obtained.
In the Dec. 27 and 29 interviews, which lasted about an hour and then 17 minutes respectively, Cooper is said to have denied any role in the Andrewses deaths.
Reese’s ruling was dated April 7, nearly a month after a hearing on the defense motion brought Cooper’s former girlfriend, Kellie Ballew, to court. She and Steven Andrews had begun an affair in the weeks before he was killed, while she lived with Cooper in Bonita Springs.
Facing Cooper in court for the first time, Ballew testified last month that she’d gone to the Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 27 to meet with a detective.
When the detective asked, Ballew agreed to lure Cooper in by asking him to come bolster her alibi: “I was scared for him, the whole situation — I didn’t know what was going on,” Ballew said in court.
Within weeks of the killings, Cooper, 29, was arrested and subsequently indicted on two counts of first-degree murder.
If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
Defense attorney Ken Garber at the hearing urged Reese to ban the statements Cooper gave, which were not played in court, because he said they were wrongly obtained through deception. The detectives “tricked him into coming,” Garber said, and even though they strongly suspected Cooper was the culprit, they “minimized the importance” of his rights to remain silent and consult an attorney.
Reese wrote in his order that he wasn’t convinced.
“Clearly the law allows the state to employ deception during the course of questioning,” Reese wrote. “The fact that the defendant’s girlfriend was used by the police to get him to come to the Sheriff’s Department is of no moment.”
Cooper’s trial is expected to begin in July.
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I can't believe it's been 2 1/2 years since this happened and this man hasn't been convicted. He deserves to burn in hell after what he did. He left a child in this world with no mother or father and his own child without a father. He left a child home alone in his parents blood until someone showed up. I can't imagine this happening to a love one of mine. My heart goes out this this family and this little boy. I really hope he gets the death penalty.
#1 Posted by CCHICAS82 on April 14, 2008 at 12:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
burn burn burn!!!
#2 Posted by MrKotter on April 14, 2008 at 12:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
My thoughts exactly. So many people have affairs but to shoot & kill both husband & wife (1 a rival to Cooper) and leave that little boy behind is unforgivable.!!! Why not just cut your loss and move on without killing????. Kelly is not a saint in all of this either. She should have been honest with Cooper and moved on. She should feel the biggest shame ever as (of course Steve can't because he is dead) she really "caused" a part of this, even though Cooper pulled the trigger. He should die the same way. We all have had heartaches in our lives but you need to think before acting. I know that is not an easy thing to do at times. Unfortunately no one wins on this. Kelly can now move on to her next "victim"
#3 Posted by moosie on April 14, 2008 at 12:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Come on moosie, Kelly had an affair. She is in no way responsible for her ex's actions. She is guilty of nothing except maybe being dishonest to some loser. She didn't cause the killings.
#4 Posted by MIF on April 14, 2008 at 2:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
And of course all of the vitriol displayed in the last 2 1/2 years is a nice way to let his attorney now make a motion to move this trial to another area and take another 2 1/2 years.
Think about it.
Guilty or innocent what is taking this trial so long to get started? Lack of evidence on the prosecuters side or a nickle slick attorney on the defendants side?
Either way his attorney can keep adding up all of this blogging and probably make an argument his client can't get a fair trial here or anywhere else.
#5 Posted by Neal on April 14, 2008 at 3:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Moosie is correct
She is just as guilty.
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
James 1:15
#6 Posted by EddieEstero on April 14, 2008 at 5:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
She is just as guilty. She knew he was a married man and she messed around anyways. Like someone else said. She could of been honest with Cooper and told him the truth. As a married women with a child..I would like to see her do time. If this was to happen to me but my husband died because of his actions and hers,,,then let them both pay.
#7 Posted by CCHICAS82 on April 15, 2008 at 8:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thank you EddieEstero & CCHICAS82!!
MIF Cooper was not her EX at the time.....seems I read they were still living together? Maybe I am mistaken because indeed it has been a couple of years.
May you all have a great day and love the one you're with and be honest so no one else has to go through heartache like this, especially the children
#8 Posted by moosie on April 15, 2008 at 10:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I couldn't agree with you more Tim1234. It's crazy the way our system works!
#9 Posted by CCHICAS82 on April 15, 2008 at 2:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ecoterror get's it right, is the sky falling?
Just reading this blog you can get a real feel for the Salem Witch Trials, just show's we never learn.
#10 Posted by Ironage on April 15, 2008 at 3:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I heard Fred Cooper on an audio tape and he did not say anything that made me believe he commited the killings. I am waiting for the facts to prove if he is guilty.
#11 Posted by dbstrouble on April 23, 2008 at 1:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
#13 The only one here to type something that makes sense. Innocent until proven guilty.
#12 Posted by democrats_lol on October 1, 2008 at 9:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
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