Brothers have no answer for killing of woman

Kim Smith

Friday, Jan. 12, 2001 | 11:10 a.m.

The family of Walburga Soult didn't get any answers Thursday, but they did get justice.

The two young brothers who brutally murdered Soult just days shy of her 62nd birthday were sentenced by District Judge Joseph Bonaventure.

James Cook, 17, received a life sentence in addition to a four to 15-year sentence. He will have to serve at least 24 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.

Daniel Cook, 20, got a 25-year sentence in addition to a two-to-five-year sentence. He will have to serve at least 12 years before parole becomes possible.

According to prosecutors and Soult's family members, Soult took the brothers into her home after they lost their apartment. Daniel Cook was a former boyfriend of Soult's daughter, Pamela Fremou, 23, and the father of her unborn child.

On April 8, Daniel Cook and Soult got into an argument, and moments later James Cook shot Fremou in the head, neck, earlobe and arm.

Soult tried to come to Fremou's assistance, but Daniel Cook prevented her from doing so. When she tried to call 911, James Cook yanked the phone away from her.

Fremou jumped out of a window to get help, and when she returned moments later, her mother was dead on the floor. She had been nearly decapitated in front of Fremou's 5-year-old son.

Days later, Fremou had a miscarriage.

The brothers entered plea agreements in November.

On Thursday several of Soult's family members sobbed as they spoke about their loss. James Cook hung his head and cried as he listened, joining several other inmates who were awaiting their own hearings. Daniel Cook sat expressionless.

Bonaventure then gave the brothers an opportunity to speak. Each apologized to the victims' family members and vowed to become productive members of society.

James Cook told Bonaventure he couldn't tell him why he did what he did.

"Didn't this lady take you in with Daniel and try to do the best she can, and you had to cut her throat? That's the thanks you give her? Why? People want to know why," Bonaventure said.

"We've got people out there crying. We've got people, the rest of their lives are ruined, and they want to know why. Why were you compelled to kill her?"

"I didn't ... I didn't ... I wasn't compelled. I had no reason. None," James Cook said after a long pause.

In his statement, Daniel Cook tried to answer Bonaventure's question.

"There is no reason why someone should've been killed. There is no reason at all. No reason on this earth why someone should've been hurt in any way," Daniel Cook said.

Unsatisfied, Bonaventure pushed for a better answer, noting that it wasn't like a gang-revenge killing or a convenience store robbery/murder. As horrible as those are, they are at least explainable, he said.

"I can't answer that your honor," Daniel Cook said.

He then went on to say he graduated a life skills class while in jail.

"It was my start of bettering my life and knowing myself better spiritually," Daniel Cook said.

Although they noted it doesn't excuse their behavior, the brothers' attorneys, Drew Christensen and Daren Richards, noted the two have been in and out of foster and group homes since James Cook was 1 year old.