RCMP have arrested a man in Osoyoos after a warrant was issued when he failed to show up for the verdict in a manslaughter trial.
Lloyd William Cook, who was accused of the death of his stepson, was located and arrested at a residence on Monday morning in Osoyoos. RCMP said they acted on information provided to the police to locate him.
“We received information from the public and followed up on that and located him in Osoyoos. He was arrested without incident,” said Cpl. Craig Douglass. “No judge or justice will release him because the judge here has said he will appear in front of me. However long it takes he will be transported up to Prince George and will appear in court.”
A bench warrant was issued for Cook’s arrest when he failed to show up on Jan. 31 for the scheduled verdict in his B.C. Supreme Court case in Prince George.
Stephen Taylor, defence lawyer for the 50-year-old man, said his client phoned him the morning of Jan. 31 with a message that Cook was at the side of the road in Williams Lake, waiting for money to be wired to him so he could fix his fuel pump. He had not been seen or heard from by the court until his arrest in Osoyoos Monday morning.
Cook was found guilty on Feb. 8 by Justice Glen Parrett of unlawful confinement and interference with a dead body. He was found not guilty of manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death.
Evidence was heard during the week-long trial that 13-year-old Adam Williams-Dudoward had died in 2000 after being confined in a bedroom and tied up for two to three days. The teen was living with Cook and his biological mother Judy Elaina WIlliams and his younger brother at the time of his death. His parents stored his body and it wasn’t until weeks later he was buried in the woods near Prince George. The family eventually moved to Oliver and in 2004 the dead teen’s mother told police where the remains were.
It wasn’t until 2009 that Cook was arrested on the charges after a lengthy investigation by police. Williams pled guilty last year to interference with a dead body and was given a two-year conditional sentence.
