BANGOR, Maine (AP) - Maine’s highest court has denied another appeal of a Guilford man convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend and the toddler she was babysitting.
Jeffrey Cookson sought a new trial for the 1999 killings in Dexter based on a provision of Maine’s DNA statute.
His attorneys argued that a DNA test of hair found on his ex-girlfriend’s hand could exonerate him, but the state supreme court said Tuesday it didn’t represent clear and convincing evidence someone else committed the crime. A judge previously said the hair could’ve come from emergency responders or others who lived in the household.
This was Cookson’s fourth appeal. He’s serving a life sentence for the shooting deaths of 20-year-old Mindy Gould and 21-month-old Treven Cunningham.
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