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Man Found Guilty In Murder Of Man Responding To Craigslist Ad In West Oak Lane

By Steve Tawa

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A Montgomery County man has been found guilty of murder in the shooting death of a New Jersey man who was answering an ad for an ATV on the social media site Craigslist.

The jury returned the verdict Tuesday afternoon against 25-year-old Thomas Coffee of Willow Grove. The panel of jurors decided Coffee lured the victim, 27-year-old Daniel Cook of Williamstown, to the West Oak Lane section of Philadelphia in 2013 for an armed robbery by advertising an ATV and then shooting him to death.

Jurors grappled with mostly circumstantial evidence in the death of Cook, who was shot in the back, but it took just four hours of deliberations before they returned a first degree murder conviction.

Judge Glenn Bronson immediately sentenced Coffee to the mandatory life prison term on the murder count, plus another 50-100 years for three more armed robberies days before the murder, two of which used Craigslist ads as bait.

Assistant District Attorney Guy D'Andrea tied together the testimony of those victims. He says "they gave up what they had and were let go." But, he said when confronted, Cook tried to run away and was "executed."

"He violated them in every imaginable way," D'Andrea said, "putting guns to their heads, and then ultimately shooting somebody through the back and through the heart."

After jurors were excused, and even after he was sentenced, Coffee maintained his innocence, just before sheriff's deputies led him away.

The victim's mother, Lisa Cook, said afterward that her son is now resting in peace and that "this animal will not hurt anyone else."

"I did get some closure with the trial," she said. "However, my son is not coming back, and I'll never hear his voice saying, 'mom, I'm home.'"

Outside the courthouse, several members of the jury reflected on case.

"I just felt all of the evidence fit together," said one juror. "There is no way you could dispute the fact he was involved in all of it."

"There were phone records that put Thomas Coffee at the scene," said another, "both before and after the shooting occurred."

When Coffee took the stand, he denied committing the murder, telling jurors it was a riding buddy of his, named Stead, who shot and killed Cook.

The defense is considering appeal options.

 

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