Man Gets 29-Plus Years For Attempted Murder, Arson
HASTINGS, Minn. (WCCO) -- A 21-year-old Prior Lake man was sentenced Tuesday in Dakota County District Court to 29 ½ years in prison in connection with what court documents say was a "random, brutal assault" and arson back in May of 2008.
Irvin Scott Cook was convicted of first-degree attempted murder, second-degree attempted murder, first-degree arson, first-degree burglary and motor vehicle use without consent on May 17, 2010. All charges were felonies.
According to a criminal complaint, a 52-year-old man who owned a Burnsville townhome was attacked in a home invasion on May 11, 2008. He was stabbed three times in the face and head and 17 times in the back. The invaders set fires in eight different locations, disabled smoke alarms, turned on gas burners and fled.
They left the victim to die and stole his car. The victim was somehow able to escape from the house, ran to a neighbor's home and called police. The criminal complaint states that the victim did not know the attackers.
The criminal complaint states Burnsville Police found blood at the scene identifying Shaqueen Perril Whitfield, a 22-year-old Prior Lake man, as one of the invaders. Whitfield led police to Cook and testified against Cook during his trial.
Whitfield pleaded guilty on June 22, 2009 to first-degree attempted murder, first-degree arson and first-degree burglary and will be sentenced June 16. A third person was also charged in the incident, but those charges were dropped after evidence showed the man wasn't involved with the crime, according to the complaint.
