Linda Cook is the ex-wife of Robert Cook. She was implicated in the manslaughter of Jennifer Talmadge and the kidnapping of Robert and Jennifer's son Stephen. (SVU: "Stolen")
History[]
Linda had an on-and-off relationship with her boyfriend Robert while in college. During one of their off-periods, he began seeing Jennifer Talmadge in 1989, but he returned to Linda when she informed him that she was pregnant with their eldest son Brandon, unaware that he had impregnated Jennifer with another son, Stephen, at the same time. Both boys were born within a month of each other. After changing her mind about putting Stephen up for adoption, Jennifer decided to let Robert know about their son and wrote him a letter informing him. Linda, however, intercepted the letter and read it herself; Robert proposed to her shortly afterwards. Fearful that Jennifer would file a paternity suit and of what it would do to her impending family, she got rid of the letter and went to her apartment. A confrontation ensued, and Linda accidentally killed Jennifer as a result.
Desperate to conceal her role in the death and hide Stephen's existence, Linda posed as Jennifer and sold him to a baby broker named Mark Sanford. Stephen was adopted by Adam and Erin Blake shortly afterwards and renamed Tyler. For two years, Jennifer's parents Herbert and Margaret petitioned the NYPD to find Stephen, but he was never located because of his name change. The case went cold in 1991 after investigating officer Max Greevey was murdered, but the Talmadges repeatedly begged Greevey's partner, Donald Cragen, to keep investigating. In the intervening years, Robert and Linda had a second son. However, their marriage fell apart in 2001, and they battled for custody of the children. Robert eventually gained custody of both sons.
Not long after, Sanford was arrested after crack addict Alicia Brown sold him Emma Daricek, a baby she had kidnapped after her own child was stillborn. In the process of investigating Sanford to see if any of his other brokered babies had been stolen, the detectives at the Special Victims Unit learned Stephen had been adopted through Sanford's agency. Robert was identified as the father and sought custody, leading to a legal battle with the Blakes. Eventually, the SVU detectives discovered Linda's connection to Sanford and how she forged Jennifer's signature on the adoption papers, thus confirming her identity as Jennifer's killer.
Cragen knew she did not mean to kill Jennifer and offered to help her if she confessed but she refused his offer by asking for a lawyer. Robert ultimately won custody of Tyler in court, while Linda was convicted of kidnapping and selling him, as well as manslaughter in Jennifer's death and was imprisoned. (SVU: "Stolen")