Everett Daily Herald, June 29, 2019 by Sound Publishing

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Talbott guilty of 1987 double murders Genetic genealogy was the star witness in the trial of the truck driver accused of killing a young Canadian couple decades ago. By Caleb Hutton Herald Writer

EVERETT — For three decades, the families of Jay Cook and Tanya Van Cuylenborg had only questions and fleeting memories. On Friday morning, one longawaited answer arrived. A jury found William Talbott II guilty of two counts of aggravated murder in a trial that was the first of its kind. The truck driver, 56, of SeaTac, had been identified in a pioneering investigation led by the Snohomish County Sheriff ’s Office. A genealogist used a public DNA site, GEDMatch, to help build a family tree for the suspect based on DNA from a crime scene. Her research pointed to Talbott. Since then, dozens of arrests have been made in cold-case crimes nationwide through a forensic method known as genetic genealogy, stirring a heated debate over police use of public ancestry databases. Many suspects, including the former cop accused of being the Golden State Killer, await trial. Talbott’s case marked the first time that the technique had gone before a jury. Other than semen at two crime scenes, little else tied the defendant to the killings. His defense argued the semen was the result of a consensual act. He grew up seven miles from a third crime scene south of Monroe, where Jay Cook had been bludgeoned with rocks, strangled with twine and left dead under a bridge in 1987. Talbott did not testify. He walked into the courtroom Friday dressed in dark gray. After a law clerk read the jury’s verdict — guilty as charged — he flinched and gasped. “No,” he said, quietly. “I didn’t do it.” Moments later his head lolled back and forth, as his attorneys put their hands on his neck and back. Jail guards pushed him out of the room in a wheelchair. Family and friends of the victims embraced. Judge Linda Krese set sentencing for July 24. There is only one possible sentence: life in prison. “While the main interest on this case has been focused on the use of genetic genealogy, we’ve been trying to find a killer,” said Capt. Rob Palmer, head of

COURTROOM PHOTOS BY KEVIN CLARK / THE HERALD

May Robson (from left), Kelly Cook and Lee Cook hug after William Talbott II is found guilty of killing Jay Cook and Tanya Van Cuylenborg, at the Snohomish County courthouse in Everett on Friday. Robson was Van Cuylenborg’s best friend.

Jay Cook

Tanya Van Cuylenborg

as well as those involved in the genetic genealogy analysis that led to Talbott’s arrest.

Jay and Tanya

Defense attorneys Jon Scott (left) and Rachel Forde talk with Talbott after the verdict is read.

investigations for the Snohomish County Sheriff ’s Office, after the verdict. “It’s an amazing tool, and we’ll be using it again.” Added Laura Baanstra, the sister of victim Jay Cook: “This would not have been solved if it had not been for the DNA evidence. The use of GEDMatch — I hope more and more people

will be willing to allow their DNA on these sites so that this world can be safer.” “Our family is very grateful for all the people that helped bring this to fruition,” said John Van Cuylenborg, brother of Tanya Van Cuylenborg. He thanked the Snohomish County Sheriff ’s Office and its cold case team,

Cook stood a stalky 6-foot-4. At age 20, he hadn’t beefed out. He’d learned to play rock ’n’ roll bass guitar with friends in his hometown on Vancouver Island. He worked at a pizza parlor for a while. One night after a shift, he rode his bike three hours through rain and darkness to a cabin where friends were staying for a weekend, balancing a pizza the whole way to bring them food, recalled his sister. He had a bizarre habit of losing his clothes, she said. Sometimes after school he’d come home

without his jacket, with no idea where it ended up. One day the family packed for a ski trip, about a four-hour drive. “We get there — snow on the ground, right? — and Jay only had one shoe,” Baanstra said. He had a sweetness about him, taking his younger sister out for dinner and, once, for high tea with the good money he’d earned on a fishing boat. One uncle coined a phrase about his nephew: “Jay had no rough edges.” “It’s really no wonder that Jay ended up with someone like Tanya,” Baanstra said. “Tanya was very sweet and caring, and they looked up to each other.” She was 18. Much like the Cooks, her family loved long boating trips around the Salish Sea. Van Cuylenborg played tennis at her family’s home on an acre, and led a student push for a girls’ basketball team at her high school, her brother said. For years she lobbied her See TRIAL, Page A8

Biking, disc golf mark seasons’ shift at Stevens Pass Herald Writer

INSIDE

STEVENS PASS — As slush slowly melts away and spring slips into summer, Stevens Pass undergoes an almost unbelievable transformation. Snowy hills owned by skiers and snowboarders just months ago are replaced by disc golfers and bold BMX riders barreling down the resort’s highest summits that are now dotted with flowers and wildlife. Summer at Stevens Pass is just

different and as of Friday, you can experience it for yourself as the park is officially open for the season. “We have this amazing mountain that a lot of people only know about in the winter time, but it’s such a great place in the summer,” said Ted Everson, bike park operations manager. Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday through late September, offerings at Stevens include the aforementioned mountain biking and disc golf, in addition to hiking, scenic rides on the

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chairlift and almost weekly events aimed at attracting a wide-ranging audience. With eyes set toward new niches, an easier, more familyfriendly disc golf course was added this year in conjunction with the more challenging course played down the mountain. Additionally, Stevens Pass will host a series of mountain biking events for women and girls. “We are always looking to increase women ridership, it’s definitely more male dominated in the sport,” said Kelly Carter,

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brand experience manager at Stevens Pass. Sisters in Action Sports Ladies Day on July 27, Get the Girls Out on Aug. 10 and weekly ladies laps Friday evening from July 5 to Aug. 30 offer safe environments for novices looking to learn the sport or challenging communities for more advanced riders. Mountain bike lessons and camps for children and adults are also available to make a Stevens Pass trip a family experience. Stevens Pass, the only liftserved mountain bike park in the

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state, will host two of the Northwest Cup mountain bike races, including the downhill series’ finale from Sept. 6-8. Bikers of all ages and skill levels, with proper licensing, can register for the cup events. From July 19 to 21, the Northwest Mountain Challenge, a 3-D archery challenge, will make its return to Stevens Pass. Fun on the mountain isn’t free. Ticket prices to the bike park vary, the disc golf fee is $15 and a See STEVENS, Page A2

DAILY

By Ian Davis-Leonard

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