GREENFIELD, Pa. — Police said the husband of a woman whose body was found bludgeoned in the basement of their Greenfield home late Thursday told investigators that he didn't know where she was.
Pittsburgh police charged Bruce Cook, 62, in the death of his wife, in addition to charges of tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse and creating a fake weapon of mass destruction.
When his wife, Lois Cook, 57, didn't show up to work and missed an important meeting, a co-worker called police to ask that they check on her at her home on Windsor Street at about 5:30 p.m., according to a criminal complaint filed against Bruce Cook.
Pittsburgh police Officer Igor Boyko responded and noticed a man walking up the staircase to the second floor of the home and asked him about Lois Cook.
Bruce Cook responded, “I don't know where she is, I haven't slept with her for 10 years and she has many lovers,” the complaint said. He then told police he hadn't seen Lois Cook in three days and that police could check his house.
Boyko noticed dried blood on the kitchen floor that appeared to be from a foot or shoe smear, the complaint said. The blood continued to the basement door and down the steps to the basement leading to a brown tarp that appeared to be covering a body, the complaint said.
Boyko notified his sergeant and more officers arrived. They discovered Lois Cook's body with blunt-force trauma wounds to the head and neck area. Police also spotted what looked like an explosive device on a shelf -- an aerosol can with PVC tubing and wires protruding from it with a switch, the complaint said.
Police called the bomb squad, and Officer Carlos Schrader determined it was a replica bomb that lacked the components for detonation, the complaint said.
Bruce Cook told homicide detectives he lives with his wife and has been to the basement several times in the past three days and noticed the tarp, the complaint said. Bruce Cook told police he cleaned the basement steps with a garden hose recently.
Police said that after questioning Cook, they learned that he had gotten into an argument with his wife and proceeded to hit her with some type of blunt object before striking her in the head with a pick-ax.
Cook is being held at the Allegheny County Jail in lieu of a $200,000 bond.
Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE contributed to this report.