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Alexander Bennett​

The following are statements Bennett made during his plea deal/proffer statement and in court during his testimony.

  • Bennett claimed that Stephen hired both Bennett and Lewis to kill Heidi

  • Early in 2000, Grant Lewis told Alexander Bennett there was some money.  The plan was for Bennett to go to Baltimore to kill the girlfriend of a man Lewis was talking to online.  Bennett claimed that Lewis said they would make $60,000 after the murder and it would be paid from insurance money.

  • Bennett claimed when he arrived in Baltimore he had $4, socks, boxers, a couple of shirts and a computer bag but no computer

  • He had no plan for transportation once he got to Baltimore and had directions to Dundalk from map quest.  He started out walking towards Dundalk from BWI airport and was stopped by a Maryland Transportation Officer for walking on a highway.  He didn't remember if he told the officer the address where he needed to go and he couldn't remember the story that he told the officer as to why he was walking on a highway.  That officer dropped Bennett off in Dundalk where Bennett walked to Stephen & Heidi's home.

  • With no knowledge of what Heidi looked like, Bennett claimed to have walked from Dundalk to Baltimore City to find Heidi at her place of employment.

Alexander Bennett​

The following are statements Bennett made during his plea deal/proffer statement and in court during his testimony.

  • Bennett claimed that Stephen hired both Bennett and Lewis to kill Heidi

  • Early in 2000, Grant Lewis told Alexander Bennett there was some money.  The plan was for Bennett to go to Baltimore to kill the girlfriend of a man Lewis was talking to online.  Bennett claimed that Lewis said they would make $60,000 after the murder and it would be paid from insurance money.

  • Bennett claimed when he arrived in Baltimore he had $4, socks, boxers, a couple of shirts and a computer bag but no computer

  • He had no plan for transportation once he got to Baltimore and had directions to Dundalk from map quest.  He started out walking towards Dundalk from BWI airport and was stopped by a Maryland Transportation Officer for walking on a highway.  He didn't remember if he told the officer the address where he needed to go and he couldn't remember the story that he told the officer as to why he was walking on a highway.  That officer dropped Bennett off in Dundalk where Bennett walked to Stephen & Heidi's home.

  • With no knowledge of what Heidi looked like, Bennett claimed to have walked from Dundalk to Baltimore City to find Heidi at her place of employment.

Walking path Bennett claimed to have taken from BWI to Dundalk

Walking path Bennett claimed to have taken from BWI to Dundalk

Walking path Bennett claimed to have taken from Dundalk to Heidi's work location

  • Bennett wanted to figure out a way to attack Heidi in the parking lot of where she worked.  At that time, he didn't have a weapon so he said it wasn't going to work.  He waited around by the harbor to see if she came out.

  • Bennett was planning on finding a 24 year old woman in downtown Baltimore without a description of her and only the make and model of her car.  

  • Bennett claims Lewis discussed ideas with him on how to make the murder look like an accident.  Among these ideas were lacing cigarettes with a poison, snapping a person's neck to make it look like they fell down a flight of stairs and also possibly purchasing a weapon when he got to Baltimore.  These were the 3 main points they discussed on how to make it look like an accident.

  • After talking to the person Lewis was in contact with through the internet that person told him it wouldn't work because the target wasn't a smoker. (Note - Stephen was not a smoker, Heidi was a smoker)

  • Lewis told Bennett that the target would be driving a red Honda.  (Note - Stephen was the driver of the red Honda.  Heidi took the bus to and from work or Stephen would drive her in the Honda)

  • They did not have a plan on how to get paid for this job.  In Bennett's proffer statement, Bennett claims that Lewis discussed PayPal as an option for payment and claims he told Stephen to get in touch with Grant Lewis to set up everything for this to happen.  He says he believes Lewis was playing the waiting game for the money.

  • During Stephen's trial Bennett claims they never discussed payment which contradicts his proffer statement

  • Bennett stayed in contact with Grant Lewis while he was in Baltimore through collect calls.  Bennett claims they spoke multiple times a day while he was in Baltimore.

Photos of the damage to the basement lock from evidence

  • After a couple of days, possibly a week after Bennett arrived in Baltimore Lewis told him that Stephen wanted to meet with him.  It was in the afternoon, still light out.

    • During ​Stephen's trial Bennett claims that Stephen told him that he had to make it look like an accident

    • Bennett claims that Stephen said he would give him a key and drop Heidi off at the house

    • There is no talk about front money or any money

  • During Stephen's trial Bennett explains that after meeting with Stephen he broke into the basement door of the house with a screwdriver or "some tool".  His original plan was to break a window with duct tape to muffle the sound but that didn't happen because he couldn't find duct tape​

  • He states he was chipping around the door knob and eventually got in.  His reason for going to the house was that he was going to go inside to see the rest of the house.  He claims he had only seen the living room prior to this break in.  "Maybe go upstairs and look around".  He spent about 15 minutes inside the house.

    • In his proffer statement Bennett states he took a knife from the house that night​

  • At this point Bennett still doesn't know what Heidi looks like.  He was asked in Stephen's trial if there were any times that he went to the house to make contact with Heidi to see what she looked like.​

    • Bennett states that he went to the house once at night to pose as a neighborhood watch person.  He states the he may have had intention of killing her that night but it didn't happen.  He says he made up a fake name and said he was a neighborhood watch and asked Heidi if she had seen anything suspicious in the neighborhood.  She said no I'll look out and then closed the door.​

    • In Bennett's proffer statement he says he had a knife with him when he arrived posing as a block watch person.  He says he was surprised the boyfriend didn't answer because the red Honda was there.  (Note - Stephen was the driver of the red Honda.  The target was the driver of the red Honda according to Bennett.  If Heidi was his target and she was supposed to be the driver of the car, why would he be surprised that Heidi answered the door if the car was there?)

    • Bennett was asked on the stand how he knew it was Heidi that answered the door if he didn't have a picture of her.  He testified, "Well let's see here.  I knew that there were 2 individuals Mr Cooke & his girlfriend.  I would assume that a woman that answered the door is Heidi because no one else probably lived there."

  • Bennett claims that he only met Stephen one other time which was on April 19, 2000.  He claims they met that night at a bus stop in the neighborhood.  Bennett claims it was raining that night.  (Note - Weather records show no precipitation on April 19, 2000)​

Proffer or "queen for a day" letters are written agreements between federal prosecutors and individuals under criminal investigation which permit these individuals to tell the government about their knowledge of crimes, with the supposed assurance that their words will not be used against them in any later proceedings.

  • During Stephen's trial Bennett states at this bus stop meeting that he tells Stephen that "higher ups" are very disappointed because nothing has proceeded.  Bennett says this meeting was possibly to see if he can get some money to live off of, "a hotel or something".  "This needs to happen"  That everything needs to be set up.  He still didn't discuss any up front money, he was only looking for a couple of hundred dollars.

  • During Grant Lewis' trial, Bennett was asked, "So at 21 you are not smart enough to get payment before killing someone?"  He replies that he was "naive, driven by money and had never killed anyone before"

  • On April 20, 2000 Bennett claims he was calling Grant Lewis all day.  At one point Lewis says he wants to read an email to Bennett.  Lewis tells Bennett that Stephen is going to leave a key under the doormat.  Bennet claims the email said Stephen was going to drop Heidi off and it was 20 minutes from the time the email was written.  (Note - At that time Stephen was in downtown Baltimore and had no access to send an email.  As mentioned prior, no emails have ever been discovered or proof that there was any communication between Stephen and Bennett or Lewis.  In 2000 there was not access to the internet and email as it is today.)

  • Bennett testified during Stephen's trial that he jogged to the house in his size 14 shoes covered in duct tape.  He put on some gardening gloves to cover for fingerprints that he found that had been torn

    • Bennett was asked in Stephen's trial where he found the gloves.  Bennett testified "the gloves, maybe I found them before that incident."  He claims that he was walking to the mall and found an old pair of gloves on the side of the road that had holes in the fingers.​

    • Bennett was also asked in Stephen's trial where he found the duct tape if he only had 20 minutes to get to the house.  Bennett testified "I had probably found that in between that time because you know it wasn't like the next day it was a couple of days."

  • Bennett testified in Stephen's trial that he found the key to the house but couldn't recall where it was found.  (Note - In Bennett's proffer he said he found the key under a mat next to the basement door.  The picture of the basement door which is in discovery shows no mat in the area, only a drain next to the door to prevent flooding at the bottom of the basement steps.  Would a mat be placed over a drain that is there to prevent flooding?  Did his memory lapse after seeing the picture in discovery?)

  • Inside the house, the door from the basement to the kitchen was locked.  According to Bennett it was supposed to be unlocked.  Bennett claims put "a nail or something" to unlock the door.  

  • During Stephen's trial Bennett testifies that there was a dog on the main level so he put the dog in the basement

  • Bennett testified that 3 or 4 minutes later Stephen drops Heidi off and he hid behind the door.  He says that when she came in the door he immediately got behind her, put his hand over her mouth trying to break her neck.  Then he put a hand around her throat trying to choke her.  At one point she had a free hand and scratched his lip.  At some point she lost consciousness and he wasn't sure if she was dead so he cut her throat.  Bennett testified that he didn't recall where he got the knife from.

    • In Bennett's proffer statement he says he attacked Heidi from the front, not behind as he testified to in Stephen's trial.  ​

  • After the murder, Bennett testified in Grant Lewis' trial that he walked to the Kentucky Fried Chicken a few blocks away.  He states that he went there and changed clothes, threw the knife and key into the dumpster and then called Grant Lewis to tell him "Yellow Light".  He says that meant that it was an intentional murder, not an accident.  (Note - In Stephen's trial Bennett states that he called Grant Lewis first, took the key and the knife into KFC with him to change and then threw them away in a dumpster.  Bennett also testified that he only had ONE key)​

  • Bennett claims that his sister bought him a bus ticket home (back to Colorado).  This was investigated but nobody could verify this claim

  • Bennett was asked on the stand if he or Grant Lewis ever received any payment for the murder.  His reply was NO

    • Bennett was asked, "Well you killed Heidi not because you got money but you thought you would get money in the future?"​

      • Bennett testified, "That was the plan"  He would get money after the insurance was paid.  If Stephen didn't pay, the original plan was to go to Baltimore to find him and get money.​

    • Bennett was asked, "Grant was going to go too?"  Bennett testified "Yes"​

    • Bennett was then asked, "Then what...kill him?"  Bennett testified "No, find him and take his money"

    • Bennett was asked, "You thought he would have $700,000 in his pocket?"  Bennett testified, "we believed he would have insurance money and get what we were owed, what we should get"

  • Bennett testified that neither Bennett nor Lewis received any payment from Stephen.  Bennett claims that they reached out through email to Stephen for payment for a few weeks but then they lost contact.

It is our belief that in the time Alexander Bennett was incarcerated leading up to his trial he had the ability to formulate a story which involved Stephen.  He has offered various versions of this story since he has been incarcerated.  Witnesses have testified that he had several versions while in jail.  He has also offered various versions of this story in his proffer statement, Lewis' trial and at Stephen's trial.  Key facts have been "forgotten" and changed as he had recalled the events of April 2000.  He clearly benefited by creating this story which has now given him a chance to be free in about a decade.  A confessed killer, free.

Grant Lewis
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According to the State, Grant Lewis was the person who listed a "cleaning job" that Stephen replied to.  The state claims that Lewis then used longtime friend, Alexander Bennett, to travel to Baltimore to kill Heidi per Stephen's request.  

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Grant Lewis was interviewed several times by Baltimore Detectives.  One of the last interviews was for 11 consecutive hours.  At this point of multiple interviews Lewis never mentions Stephen by name or any connection to a boyfriend.

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5 hours into the interview the following exchange occurred this his in the video below.

  • The State's Attorney, Garrett Glennon, entered into the interview for the 2nd time about 5 hours into it.  He says, "Grant your memory seems to be very selective.  I think you know a lot more about this than you are saying.  I am profoundly interested in learning more about the boyfriend.  The person you dealt with on the computer who lives in Dundalk."

  • During the interview Detective Childs and Mr Glennon repeatedly state that they need something to corroborate the story with Bennett.

  • 3 minutes later Lewis says, "Maybe he was the boyfriend??  He might have said that, I can't recall"

  • At this point the questioning was over.  They held Lewis in the room for an additional 5-6 hours where they brought him food and drinks but never continued questioning.  This one question/response from Lewis was enough for the State's Attorney and detectives to charge both Lewis and Stephen with this crime.

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During Grant Lewis' trial he testified to the following regarding "the job"

  • His basic defense was that there was never any intent for harm, he was going to turn Stephen in after Bennett returned from Baltimore

  • Stephen was going to pay them $40,000 for the "job", $20,000 to be paid up front and $20,000 after the job was complete Note - During Stephen's trial Bennett claims the job was for $60,000 and all was supposed to be paid after Stephen received the insurance money

  • Bennett was supposed to get the up front money to pay for his airfare and return home and they would "maybe" turn Stephen into the FBI but there was no intent on their part to ever harm anyone

  • Bennett was to make contact with Stephen as soon as he arrived in Baltimore Note - Bennett never made contact with Stephen.  Bennett claims that he met up with Stephen several days after arriving in Baltimore but not as soon as he arrived as Lewis told him per their plan

  • Lewis also testified that he didn't recall any collect calls from anyone during this time.  Note - Bennett testified that he ONLY made collect calls to Lewis to stay in contact while he was in Baltimore

  • He stated that the last time before the murder that he spoke to Bennett was a week or week and a half prior to Heidi's murder when Bennett contacted him for a way back home to Colorado.  Note - Bennett testified in Stephen's trial that he collect called Lewis the day of Heidi's murder and Lewis said he just received an email from Stephen as they were talking.  Bennett claims the email said Stephen was dropping Heidi off in 20 minutes.  Lewis testified he never spoke to Bennett during this time.

  • Lewis also testified that he believed that Bennett broke into Stephen's house on the day of the murder, that there was never a key left for him.  Note - Bennett testified that the day of the murder he called Lewis.  During that phone call he claims Lewis received an email from Stephen that stated the key was to be left under a mat at the bottom of the basement steps.

  • He testified that Bennett told him he dumped "everything" into the river after the murder (jewelry & knife).  Note - Bennett testified that he got rid of the key, clothes and knife into a dumpster at KFC.

  • Bennett also told Lewis that he got the murder weapon (the knife) from the house.   Note - In Bennett's proffer statement he claims he got the knife from inside Stephen & Heidi's house; however when questioned about this during Stephen's trial Bennett could not recall where he got the knife.

For two people that worked together on this master plan, they have never been able to get any of the key facts straight if this did happen in this way.

  1. Payment - How do you perform a job of this kind and not know how much money you will receive and when it will be paid?  After the job is complete and money is collected by Stephen, there was never any effort to return to Baltimore or contact Stephen for payment?

  2. The Key - Bennett & Lewis have never been able to explain how they got into the house.  Each has a different version they have testified to.

  3. Communication - Bennett has testified he stayed in contact with Lewis for instructions via collect calls on a daily basis.  Lewis testified he didn't recall receiving any collect calls from Bennett and also testified that he didn't speak to Bennett for at least a week prior to Heidi's murder.

  4. Plane Ticket - Bennett claims he picked up his plane ticket to Baltimore at the gate and it was paid for by a fraudulent credit card.  Lewis and another witness testified that the plane ticket was mailed to Lewis' house not picked up at the gate.

  5. Posting "The Job" - Lewis claims he made the website/posting with Bennett.  Bennett does not recall doing that.

Rebecca Love​
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An anonymous caller contacted Baltimore County Homicide detectives on January 24, 2012.  She said that when she learned about Alexander Bennett's arrest the local news stated that the police didn't know how Bennett was connected to Heidi.  She advised police that she had knowledge of the connection and the connection was through Grant Lewis.​

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She went on to tell detectives that in 2000, Grant Lewis told her that some girl promised him work in Baltimore for "a lot of money".  He said that the girl backed out which made him very angry and he decided to pay Alexander Bennett to go kill her.  Lewis told this witness that he bought Alexander Bennett a ticket (airfare) to Baltimore from Colorado.  She remembered the ticket being sent to Grant Lewis' house.

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When questioned about how Grant Lewis may have known or met this female in Baltimore she said Grant said they may have met through an online business.

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This witness testified in Grand Lewis' trial and the State's Attorney said in their closing that you can take this witnesses testimony "to the bank".

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This witness told police about Grant Lewis' involvement prior to him being named as a suspect.

Dave Munson

 

Dave Munson is an insurance agent for State Farm Insurance and works out of Ellicott City, Md. At the time Stephen met Heidi, Dave was Stephen’s agent for both auto insurance and Life insurance. Stephen was driving a new Ford Mustang, fully insured through State Farm, and had a Life insurance policy with a death benefit of $200,000 and his sister was the primary beneficiary. The Life insurance policy had been in effect since 1997.

 

In February of 2000, immediately after Stephen and Heidi decided they would marry, Stephen decided to approach State Farm to increase his life insurance and to change his beneficiary from his sister to Heidi. When he went to Dave Munson’s office to do this, Heidi accompanied him. 

 

While at the office, Heidi initially inquired about switching her automobile insurance to State Farm, but wasn’t yet qualified. Then she decided to apply for a life insurance policy of her own, She made an application for $700,000 with Stephen as her primary beneficiary and her brother Tim as her secondary beneficiary.

 

During the course of the criminal investigation, Detective Meyer asked Dave Munson if he thought it was odd for people of Stephen and Heidi’s status to have such a large amount of insurance. Munson replies that it was not unusual.

 

On April 17th or 18th of 2000, Munson received a call from Heidi. She asked if the policies were in order. Munson said he had not yet received pay stubs from Steve or medical records from Heidi’s doctor. He said Heidi could not believe that Steve had not taken care of his pay stubs yet.

 

During Stephen’s trial Munson was asked about a fax that was sent to his office on April 18, 2000. The fax was two pages and contained only a cover letter and Stephen’s pay stubs. The fax was sent from a number at Heidi’s employer and was signed by Heidi. 

 

At the time of Heidi’s death, only Stephen’s insurance policy was active. Heidi’s policy never took effect because she never sent the required medical records from her primary care physician . 

 

The letter below is dated April 10, 2000 and arrived at Stephen and Heidi’s home a full week before she was murdered. The letter clearly states that Heidi’s Life insurance policy was not approved because necessary underwriting information (Heidi’s medical records) had not been received, and that it would only continue to receive consideration on a non-binding basis. 

 

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Bridgett Price
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Bridgette Price was a member of the Wednesday night pool team Heidi belonged to. She barely knew Heidi, and contradicted herself several times on the short time she spent on the stand. 

 

Her first contradiction came when asked how long she actually knew Heidi. She initially said she knew Heidi for about two years, but then went onto explain that she: 

  1. Only hung with Heidi on pool nights

  2. She and Heidi were in their second session as teammates  and that sessions were only 26 weeks long.

 

Her next contradiction came when asked about the topics of conversations between Heidi and her. When asked “Did she talk to you about her relationship with Stephen Cooke?”, her response was “when we came to pool we would talk about everything but personal.” She also said the women would get together and “just talk about anything that made you laugh.” 

 

However, when the State continued its line of questioning and asked her, “Did there ever come a time when she talked to you about the state of her relationship with Stephen Cooke?”, she changed her story to say, “She told me she was thinking of leaving him.” When asked how many times Heidi said that, she responded, “The night before she was murdered.” 

 

So in the span of just two minutes she went from saying that she knew Heidi for two years to that she knew Heidi for just over six month.  She also went from stating that she and Heidi didn’t talk about anything personal to Heidi confided in her the night before the murder that she was thinking of leaving Steve. 

 

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As the facts clearly show, Heidi never followed through on completing her own application, but made sure Stephen’s policy was valid. At the time of her death, Heidi’s State Farm policy was not in effect.

It’s clear Bridgette Price was lying and was placed on the stand just to say what the State wanted to hear. Why else did the State ask her if Heidi discussed her relationship with Stephen after she already said Heidi didn’t discuss personal matters with her?

Earl Wisner
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Earl Wisner shot pool on the same Tuesday night team as Heidi, Stephen and Robert Shortt. Wisner and Shortt were close friends who knew each other for years. 

 

In the course of their investigation, police interviewed Wisner shortly after Heidi was murdered. Wisner confess to being attracted to Heidi and trying to start a relationship with her. Wisner told detectives he shared a kiss with Heidi on April 4, 2000. He then testified in trial in 2004 that  Heidi told him that same night that she did not want a relationship with him because she still loved Stephen and wanted the relationship she had with Stephen to work. Earl further testified that he also wanted his current relationship to work out and agreed with Heidi that they should not start a relationship. 

 

However, Wisner changed his story when he testified at Stephen’s trial in 2015. This time he shared that kiss with Heidi on the Tuesday before her death, April 18, 2000. In his 2015 testimony he also left out the part about Heidi saying she didn’t want to start a relationship with him, but still loved Stephen. Instead, he testified that the only reason he and Heidi did not start a relationship is because she was murdered two days later.

 

It should be noted that Wisner’s friend Robert Shortt gave testimony that directly contradicted Wisner’s 2015 version of events. Shortt testified that the kiss happened on the night Stephen wasn’t there which was April 4, 2000. The State knew Wisner was committing perjury because the State had the transcripts from his 2004 testimony and the police reports. 

 

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