The tragic murder of Nancy Cooper gripped the Raleigh / Durham region of North Carolina. Nancy, a beautiful housewife and mother, was strangled to death in her upscale neighborhood in Cary, North Carolina in 2008. Her husband, Brad Cooper, was immediately suspected in what appeared to be a rush to judgment by local law enforcement in order to appease a nervous community. Brad was later arrested and then convicted of Nancy’s murder.
For many, the question remains, did they get the right person? Did the evidence convict Brad of murder or did he merely fit the narrative that the husband did it, which provided a quick solution to an unsolved murder? The murder conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeals, which called into question many of the assumptions regarding what happened to Nancy. Isolated Incident unravels many of the overlooked and ignored details of this very troubling case.
Targeted Age Group:: 25-65
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I was doing research on local crimes in the Raleigh, North Carolina area, and I came across this tragic murder of Nancy Cooper. However, it was the investigation and subsequent trial of her husband, Brad Cooper, that resulted in me deciding to write about her murder and the circumstances after the fact.
Whether one thinks Brad is guilty or innocent in Nancy’s death, he was undoubtedly deprived of a fair trial. The police, District Attorney’s Office, and the judge seemed to have it out for Brad in a way that I thought only happened in the movies. The injustices against Brad have shaken my very beliefs in our judicial system, and I shutter at the thought of how many innocent people are currently sitting in prison. This case is just one example of how being close-minded and easily distracted by circumstances outside of the facts can result in horrific consequences. People are being convicted of violent felonies, not based on the evidence against them, but as a result of their personalities, faithfulness to their spouse, and other behaviors unrelated to the crime at hand.
[Read more…] about Isolated Incident: Investigating the Death of Nancy Cooper by John W. Taylor