A couple who were found dead in a car near a golf course in a suspected double suicide were facing serious sex offences including rape, it emerged yesterday (Thurs).
The bodies of Cheyevette Cooke, 46, and her husband David, 41, were found in a Honda Civic next to their pet dog Kat who was still alive.
Police were called to Cat and Kittens Lane in the Bushbury area of Wolverhampton following the grim discovery at a golf club car park.
Officers found the pair at around 12.30pm on March 9 and said their deaths were not being treated as suspicious.
Today (Thur), it emerged the married couple were both facing allegations of serious sexual offences.
The Cookes were due to appear before a hearing at Cannock Magistrates Court for the first time on the day their bodies were found at Greenfield Golf Club.
David Cooke faced 12 charges including allegations of rape, sexual assault and other serious sexual offences which were allegedly committed between July 2002 and May 2013.
His wife was also accused of assault and a serious sexual offence allegedly committed on various dates between July 2002 and July 2009.
A warrant was initially issued for their arrest but it was withdrawn later in the day when a solicitor got a message from police saying they had been involved in an “incident”.
The case was then adjourned after magistrates were told the couple had been found dead in a car.
On Wednesday (16/3), the Crown Prosecution Service withdrew the case against the Cookes during a short hearing at the same magistrates court.
Prosecutor Lynne Warrington told JPs: “It has been confirmed that the two defendants are deceased and in those circumstances we wish to withdraw the proceedings.”
There was no solicitor in court representing the Cookes who lived on on a narrowboat called Katty Boo moored at Napton Narrowboats in Pendeford, Wolverhampton.
Local residents and councillors reacted with shock when the bodies of the Cookes were found in the car last week.
Neighbours at their former home in Featherstone, Staffs., also paid tribute to the pair and said they lived for their German Shepherd Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross Kat.
But Julie Bradley, 52, who lived next door to the pair, said there was a mystery surrounding where they went when they moved out in June 2014.
She added: “They just upped and left. We didn’t even get to say goodbye, there were just gone.
“Someone told me they had gone to stay with family while they had a house built in Worcester because they were selling their furniture.
“But I’ve also heard from a few people they left to live on a barge so no-one really knows.
“I wouldn’t put them down to do this. Chev was very bubbly and friendly.
“They were great neighbours, they were friendly, we would communicate a lot with them.
“If we were out in the garden we would have a laugh over the fence and Dave would have water fights with my kids.”
West Midlands Police said they weren’t treating the deaths as suspicious after a post mortem and the matter has been referred to the Black Country Coroner.
When the bodies were found a spokesperson for West Midlands Ambulance said: “On arrival, crews found two patients, a man and a woman, both of whom were inside a car.
“Unfortunately it quickly became apparent that nothing could be done to save either of them and they were confirmed dead at the scene.”
David worked as a gas man for the National Grid and Cheyevette, who was known as Chev, worked in sales for a company in Bilston, West Mids.
The couple didn’t have any children but Cheyevette had two daughters, Danielle, 23, and Amy, 20, from a previous marriage.
It is thought Cheyevette was brought up in Featherstone, where her parents are still believed to live, but David was not originally from the area.
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