Before Charles Starkweather, there was William Cook, a brutish hell-raising young punk who held a grudge against any poor soul that ever crossed his path. And for over a brief two-week period in 1950-51 he reigned as the terror of the Southwestern region of the Unites States.

An incorrigible hellion from the very day of his birth, William Cook spent his entire youth in and out of reform schools. Eventually he would become a full-time drifter. When he reached his late teens took the pleasure of getting a tattoo across his knuckles that spelled out H-A-R-D-L-U-C-K. The tattoo represented the life of his that he found to be a burden and full of hatred for fellow human beings. By the time he had reached the age of 21, he was ready to kill whoever he felt unworthy of living.

On December 30, 1950, Cook launched his senseless blood-letting spree by kidnapping a motorist near Lubbock, Texas. Armed with more than one loaded handgun, Cook forced the motorist into his own trunk. The motorist was spared though by the Good Lord when he managed to force open his trunk and escape with his life on foot on a small backroad. Cook's next targets however would not be spared.

The family of Carl Mosser picked up Cook in New Mexico a few days later and were immediately held captive by the drifter after he displayed his gun. The Mosser consisted of Carl Mosser, his wife Thelma, and their three small children. Cook ordered the family to continue driving and they complied out of sheer fear for their lives. Cook, a merciless psychopath absent of a conscience, shot and killed all five members of the Mossler family. For no apparent reason except for the helluva it he shot and killed the family dog as well. Cook dumped the corpses in an abandoned mine shaft outside of Joplin, Missouri. The Mossler's car was found in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Not long after, the bodies of the Mossler family were discovered. Cook, although quite evil and bloodthirsty, was not the smartest of murderers having left behind a receipt for the gun he used to kill the Mosslers with in their car. The police used this damning clue and soon learned the identity of the fiendish killer. And so began the hunt for William Cook.

Meanwhile, Cook remained busy with his quest to create total mayhem and bloodshed. He kidnapped a deputy sheriff in California and ordered the officer to chauffeur him around. During the forty-mile road trip with the deputy, Cook bragged continuously about murdering the Mossler family. At some point, Cook ordered the lawman to stop and told him to get out of the car. After tying the officer's hands behind his back he decided to display an act of kindness by letting the officer live, even though he had already told the deputy that he planned to put a bullet in his head. Cook drove away and soon came across a motorist named Robert Dewey. Cook did not show mercy in this instance and shot the poor man to death in an execution style.

Cook fled to Mexico, well aware of the search that was being probed by the FBI. He made it about 400 miles south of the border and kidnapped two more men. The nightmare would all end though in the small town of Santa Rosalia. The chief of police recognized the killer and simply walked up to him and arrested him. FBI agents soon arrived in the town and extradicted Cook back to the United States. Tried and convicted for the murder of Robert Dewey, Cook was sentenced to death. He died in the gas chamber at San Quentin on December 12, 1952.