Terrifying & True | Anthony & Nathaniel Cook: The Toledo Serial Murders

Anthony and Nathaniel Cook terrorized Toledo, Ohio, through murder, abduction, rape, and attempted murder—then DNA helped expose crimes that had remained unresolved for nearly two decades.

Beginning in 1980, the brothers attacked couples and young people across Lucas County. Their victims included Thomas Gordon, Connie Sue Thompson, Dawn Rene Backes, Scott Moulton, Denise Siotkowski, Daryl Cole, Stacy Lynn Balonek, and Peter Sawicki. A surviving victim’s account and fingerprints led to Anthony Cook’s arrest after Sawicki’s murder, but the larger pattern remained hidden from the public.

Terrifying & True follows the forensic breakthrough that changed the case. DNA testing in the late 1990s connected the brothers to evidence from earlier attacks. A 2000 plea agreement brought confessions and admissions that clarified responsibility for nine murders, while sparing the families another series of uncertain trials.

The episode also examines the controversial sentences and releases that followed. Nathaniel Cook was released in 2018 under strict supervision. Case update: Anthony Cook’s renewed request for parole was denied in 2025, and he is not eligible to apply again until 2034. This is the story of the victims and survivors, the long wait for answers, and the scientific evidence that finally revealed the full scale of Toledo’s nightmare.

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🎥 Produced by: Daniel Wilder
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