North Adams Man Guilty of Murder

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A North Adams man was convicted Friday of murdering his wife, Charli Gould Cook, in 2019. 
 
A Berkshire Superior Court jury found Michael Cook Sr., 47, guilty of murder in the second degree, assault and armed assault with intent to murder, and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury and assault and battery on a family or household member.
 
Cook had broken into the Chase Avenue home of his estranged wife on July 11, 2019. The 41-year-old woman was in her bed when Cook hit on the back side of her head with a hammer. The assault resulted in significant injury to her skull causing traumatic brain injury. Emergency personnel found her unresponsive when called to the home approximately 1 a.m. that morning.
 
She passed away approximately five months after the assault at Baystate Medical Center. The medical examiner ruled her cause of death as a direct result of the brain injury from the July 11th assault. Cook was arrested on assault charges and indicted in 2020 of murder. He had been detained without the right to bail since that time after being determined a danger to the community.  
 
Charli Cook was a native of North Adams who attended McCann Technical School and had worked as a certified nursing assistant.
 
Sentencing will take place on Thursday, Oct. 10, at Berkshire Superior Court. 
 

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Healey Makes Berkshire Campaign Swing: 'I Stand With You'

By Tammy Daniels & Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff

North Adams Mayor Jennifer Macksey says she endorses Healey and Kim Driscoll '150 percent' as they pursue a second term as governor and lieutenant governor, respectively. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Maura Healey was in the Berkshires on Monday to rally support for a second four-year term as governor. She spoke at a meet and greet on Main Street, visited small businesses on North Street in Pittsfield, and planned to stop in Great Barrington on Tuesday.
 
Speaking with dozens of supporters at the new Main & Mill restaurant, the Democrat ticked off successes over her term and challenges ahead in education, energy, healthcare and housing.
 
"I go around the state and I talk to colleagues around the country. People are hurting. You know, they can't afford gas, groceries, rent. Everything it seems has gotten more expensive," she said. "We got a president who continues to cut and make things more expensive and more difficult for all of us.
 
"I mean, except for the very rich and the very powerful, it didn't work out really well for a lot of people across this country right now, which is why state leadership I think, is all the more important."
 
Mayor Jennifer Macksey, who hosted the meet and greet, said Healey "gets what it is to grow a community, and she has supported me for the last 4 1/2 years." 
 
"No matter where you sit or who you represent, you are important to Governor Healey, and I know that firsthand because we talk often about the work that we do, the work we do in the weeds, the work we do at higher end, but Governor Healey gets it," she said, adding at a walkthrough of the Greylock School project later that she supports Healey and her running mate Kim Driscoll "150 percent."
 
Healey touted her role in being the "first governor in 20 years" to cut taxes, pointing to increases in tax credits for seniors and families, and signing the $5 billion housing act that allows accesory dwelling units by right and offered incentives for converting office space.
 
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