Thomas Cooper

 VICTIMS : 1

This one really is a weird story. And it centres on Thomas Cooper, 19, who was apparently a very quiet bloke who just went nuts after a fight with his girlfriend on August 29, 1999.

Sometime after the argument with his girlfriend Thomas ripped the leg off a table and went out onto the street, which is where he ran into Roy Trumblay and his family, who were on their way to a Chicago White Sox game. For some reason that even the police don't understand, he lifted the table leg up over his head and started beating the family viciously.

55-year-old Roy Trumblay and 22- year-old Christine Trumblay were left in critical condition with multiple blunt traumas to the head. Christine's mother and boyfriend were slightly injured in the attack while two children, ages 8 and 10, were not harmed.

"He just attacked them and he went after the grandchildren, but he couldn't catch them,'' said Roy Trumblay's brother, Peter. "They (the grandchildren) ran and screamed and the police came from across the street. It was at this time that Thomas Cooper was arrested.

"They were walking from my house to get something to eat. I guess they turned the corner and this guy just appeared out of nowhere and started hitting people over the head," Peter added.

"Their skulls were crushed,'' he said. "They had brain surgery Saturday night and we won't know how things will be until they wake up, or if they wake up, in three days. It's a shame. They were going to a ball game to have a good time and they almost get wiped out. Things will never be the same."

"With no conversation, with no verbiage, he just started beating these people," said Commander Tom Folliard of the Chicago Police Department.

All he would say in relation to a motive is that Thomas "told police he had a bad day. A bad day, and that's all he said."

One officer also stated, in a moment of brilliant understanding, "The person who did that is just crazy."

Thomas Cooper, 19, who also goes by the name "Taurus," was charged with four counts of attempted murder and four counts of aggravated battery.

And unfortunately that's all I know. I was never able to find a follow up story so I don't know if either Trumblay died, and I don’t know if Thomas was found mentally competent to stand trial (although in America I don't think that they bother finding out any more, they just seem to send them to prison anyway.)

If you know anything about this case please e-mail me and let me know so all of your fellow readers can have some closure on this one.

 
UPDATE: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=News&id=661756

Man guilty in fatal beating near U.S. Cellular Field

October 16, 2003 (Chicago) - A man accused of killing one person and attacking three others with a wooden table leg is facing as much as 90 years in prison.

Twenty-two-year-old Thomas Cooper was found guilty by reason of insanity yesterday in the August 1999 attack on a family as they walked to U.S. Cellular Field.

Police say Cooper beat 56-year-old Roy Trumblay and three of his family members as they walked to the ballpark.

Roy Trumblay died after being struck in the head. One daughter was critically injured.

Defence attorneys argued that Cooper was insane when he committed the attack.

Cooper was found guilty of murder and 16 other offences. He will be sentenced on November 12th.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

 

MY OPINION

A table leg is just too damn wacky to not put up here.