Even as the Charles Cook homicide case is shelved in Indiana County Court, there is some action going on behind the scenes. President Judge William Martin this week ruled that the testimony of former Indiana County Coroner Tom Streams could be videotaped and used at trial, once State Superior Court decides on prosecution appeals.
Cook is charged with criminal homicide and robbery in the December 1991 shooting death of 76-year-old Myrtle McGill at her home along South 6th Street in Indiana. He was identified as a suspect in 2007 and finally located and arrested in Minnesota in 2016. Indiana County District Attorney Pat Dougherty has appealed to Superior Court Judge Martin’s denial of motions to reconsider the admissibility of Cook’s statements upon his arrest and some mental health records. The case is dormant until the appellate court rules on the appeal.
Streams was the county coroner at the time of the murder. In his ruling this week, Judge Martin cited concerns over Streams’ health in relation to the uncertainty over the length of time before the appeal is settled and the case can resume. Streams testified on videotape on Tuesday and the recording and transcript will not be entered into evidence until the trial.
