A bench warrant has been issued for the arrest an accused man who failed to show up Thursday for the scheduled verdict in his B.C. Supreme Court case in Prince George.
Lloyd William Cook, 50, who is accused of the manslaughter of his stepson, will hear the judge’s decision as soon as the warrant has been executed, said Mr. Justice Glen Parrett. Cook’s defence lawyer Stephen Taylor told the court Thursday his client phoned him about 9:20 a.m. with “a message that Mr. 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.”
Relaying this information to the court, Taylor said that he did not oppose Crown counsel Lara Vizsolyi’s request for an arrest warrant for Cook.
“I can’t imagine what it’s like living on the edge of poverty like he [Cook] is but I have no confidence (the problem) will be solved by waiting for money to be wired.”
After hearing from both Crown and defence, Justice Parrett said that once Cook was arrested, he (Parrett) would be in a position to “set a date we can rely on.”
“There will be a warrant for his arrest. I want this communicated at the first opportunity to the Williams Lake RCMP,” said Parrett.
Cook had earlier pleaded not guilty to several counts relating to the January 2000 death of his step-son, 13-year-old Adam Williams-Dudoward, whose remains were found in a bush off North Nechako Road in 2004.
Cook is charged with one count each of manslaughter, criminal negligence causing death, unlawful confinement, and interference with a dead body. Following a lengthy police investigation, Cook was arrested in Oliver, B.C. in June 2009. The B.C. Supreme Court trial, which lasted just over one week, concluded last week with closing arguments. During the trial, several undercover RCMP officers, two social workers, a DNA expert, a forensic biological anthropologist from UNBC, Adam’s mother Judy Williams and several others testified in the Crown’s case.
