Bill Cook, were you really film worthy?

                                               Glenn Shirley's book

When I told my younger sister about Joplin murderer Bill Cook's nefarious deeds. the subject of a major Hollywood film in the 1950s, she fairly bolted,

"Why!" she demanded to know. "That type of thing is nothing new."

There's truth there. 

But, according to Joplin's Larry Wood who has written a book on the subject, "Actually, the manhunt for Cook was the largest in U.S. history up to that point, involving more than 2,000 law enforcement officers across 25 states, federal authorities and the Mexican Police. It was a national story, followed by two murder trials in two states. Those facts increased curiosity as to what the man who caused such a manhunt looked like."

Got it now, Sis?