James E. Cooke Jr.WILMINGTON, Del. (AP/WBOC)- A man convicted of raping and murdering a college student in 2005 is scheduled to be sentenced.
Forty-one-year-old James E. Cooke Jr. could be sentenced to death for killing University of Delaware student Lindsey Bonistall. A jury recommended that Cooke receive the death penalty.
Sentencing is set for Sept. 17 by Superior Court Judge Charles H. Toliver IV. Toliver is not required to follow the jury's recommendation.
According to prosecutors, Cooke broke into Bonistall's off-campus apartment in Newark, Del., and sexually assaulted and strangled her. He then placed her body in a bathtub and set the apartment on fire, court records show.
