When two boys came across a severed human hand in July 2009, they wasted no time in notifying authorities. The hand led authorities to the human remains and fingerprints determined the victim to be Shannon McKillop. Shortly after, police also discovered the bodies of Shannon’s boyfriend, Frank Scaramuzzi, and her friend, Jeremiah Johnston. Investigation Discovery’s “The Wonderland Murders: Terror in the Pines” chronicles the disturbing murders and shows how the trail led directly to Gregory Cook. If you’re interested in this case and want to know where Gregory Cook is currently, we’ve got you covered.
Who is Gregory Cook?
Gregory (or Greg) Cook was an acquaintance of Shannon McKillop and often spent time with her, Frank, and Jeremiah. However, he preferred to stay behind the scenes and as a result his name wasn’t so obvious when Shannon disappeared. On July 24, 2009, two boys were fishing in a pond in Elgin, Oregon when they found a bag containing a severed human hand.
The police were quickly notified, and in their effort to locate the rest of the remains, they emptied the entire pool. From inside the pool, authorities recovered another bag with another hand and a severed human head. As the bag was weighed down with rocks, police used fingerprints to identify the victim as Shannon McKillop.
According to reports, police initially suspected Shannon’s boyfriend Frank Scaramuzzi of murder. However, upon investigating, they learned that Frank, as well as another friend, Jeremiah Johnston, were strangely nowhere to be found. Determined to locate the missing persons, authorities began searching the area near the pond, but to no avail. According to the show, it was a bartender who put the cops on the right track.
The bartender mentioned that he often saw Shannon, Frank and Jeremiah drinking with someone known only as “Greg”. Authorities were quick to follow up on this lead and discovered that Greg was, in fact, Gregory Cook, a registered sex offender, who had a lengthy criminal history including drug addiction, carjacking, assault and more. again. Gregory immediately became a person of interest, and the police began actively hunting him.
Shortly after, officers spotted Gregory’s car in La Grande and stopped it. However, the vehicle was being driven by Gregory’s girlfriend, who claimed that Gregory confessed to Shannon’s murder. She then revealed how her boyfriend even admitted to killing Frank and Jeremiah before handing officers an elaborate written confession from the killer himself. The written confession even showed where Gregory hid the bodies, and as a result, the police were able to recover Frank and Jeremiah’s remains.
While fleeing the cops, Gregory met a woman named Linda May and asked her if he could spend the night in her RV. Linda was quite worried at first, but Gregory called his daughter, Stephanie, and tried to reassure the woman. Stephanie immediately informed the police of Gregory’s location, and the following morning a SWAT team rescued Linda May before apprehending Gregory Cook.
Where is Gregory Cook now?
Once arrested, Gregory decided to enter into a plea deal in exchange for the state removing the death penalty. He confessed to the murders of Shannon McKillop, Frank Scaramuzzi and Jeremiah Johnston and as a result was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without parole in 2009. Additionally, he was sentenced to ten years for dismembering a corpse, five years to be a criminal. in possession of a firearm and was also ordered to pay $12,600 in restitution. So, with no parole in sight, Gregory remains behind bars at Two Rivers Correctional Facility in Umatilla, Oregon.
Read more: Doug and Rozina Anderson murders: Where is John William Kelley now?
