Jessie Lee Cooks was born around 1946 in the United States, though few public records detail his early life or upbringing. Like his fellow Zebra killers, he was in his 20s at the time of the murders and was involved in militant Black separatist ideology through his affiliation with the Death Angels, a fringe offshoot allegedly tied to a radical interpretation of Black Islam.

Cooks’ professional background, education, and family life remain undocumented in public court or press records, but what is known is that by late 1973, he had joined a group of young Black men carrying out a coordinated campaign of racially motivated violence across San Francisco.

Jessie Lee Cooks’ involvement in the Zebra Murders began early in the crime spree. On October 20, 1973, he was one of four men involved in the abduction of Richard and Quita Hague. Cooks personally attacked Richard, slashing and beating him, while his associates, including Larry Green, decapitated Quita with a machete.

Ten days later, on October 30, 1973, Frances Rose, a 28-year-old woman, was shot repeatedly in her car near the University of California Extension. Cooks was arrested shortly after that murder and was positively identified by witnesses. His connection to the earlier Hague murder, however, only came to light through the testimony of Anthony Harris, a Death Angels associate who later became the prosecution’s star witness.

According to Harris, Cooks and Green picked him up in a van and, rather than dropping him off at home, forced him to participate in the Hague abduction. Cooks also allegedly bragged about his role in the slashing of Richard Hague. Harris described in court how the group attempted to abduct three children before settling on the Hagues as targets.

Cooks’ name came up again during the grand jury proceedings when a 12-year-old girl testified in open court, identifying him as the man who tried to abduct her at gunpoint on October 20, just before the Hague attack. This damning testimony aligned with Harris’ timeline of events.

After his arrest on May 1, 1974, Cooks was formally indicted along with Green, Moore, and Simon. He was charged with one count of murder, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of robbery, and one count of assault with a deadly weapon. Though he initially pled not guilty, evidence mounted against him—including ballistic testing, Harris’ detailed testimony, and physical evidence such as Frances Rose’s wedding ring.

During trial, Harris described how Cooks took part in the Death Angels’ random selection of victims and how members earned status by decapitating or mutilating their targets. The prosecution revealed a disturbing pattern: the killings were not just hate crimes—they were ritualistic, reward-based executions inside a covert extremist network.

After a year-long trial, on March 12, 1976, Jessie Lee Cooks was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. During the verdict reading, he laughed, mirroring the reactions of Green and Simon. He served out his sentence at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in California.

Cooks died in prison on June 30, 2021, at the age of 75. His exact cause of death was not made public, but no foul play was reported. He never showed remorse and was denied any form of clemency or release.