Man who killed girlfriend at Don Pedro wins parole. DA warns he could harm more women
An inmate has won parole after serving 18 years for the stabbing death of his girlfriend at their Lake Don Pedro home.
The release of Michael Allen Cook, now 65, was announced Monday by Tuolumne County District Attorney Cassandra Jenecke. She warned that he still poses a danger to women.
Cook was accused of killing Mary Priscilla Bisbing, then 54, in August 2003. It happened at the home they shared near Don Pedro Reservoir. Cook was arrested about two weeks later and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2004.
There’s an unusual twist, according to the DA’s news release: The California Board of Parole Hearings found that Cook deserved release in part because he had domestic violence counseling at Ironwood State Prison in Riverside County. And he has married the woman who taught the class. “The Board cited his new wife’s knowledge of domestic violence as a protective factor for preventing future violence against her,” according to the release from the DA’s Office
Jenecke disagreed with this claim. She noted that Cook abused Bisbing over two years and had convictions in 1995 and 1998 for violence against two other women.
Cook was accused of stabbing Bisbing four times during an argument, then fleeing with her vehicle and credit cards. The release said he drove to Fresno, hitchhiked to his ex-wife’s home in Illinois, and was arrested after she tipped off an investigator.
Jenecke, who became DA in 2021, took part virtually in the Oct. 18 parole hearing with the victim’s daughter and other survivors. “It was in Mary’s memory that we fought each year to keep murderer Cook behind bars,” she said. “We’re disappointed with the board’s decision and believe that Cook continues to pose an unreasonable risk to safety.”
The DA urged other victims of domestic violence in the county to call 209-533-3401, the 24-hour crisis line for the Center for a Nonviolent Community in Sonora. The national hotline is 800-799-7233.
This story was originally published November 1, 2022 at 7:16 AM.
