Man Freed in Tyler Stabbing Says Former Prosecutor Has Knife

TYLER (AP/Staff) – Attorneys for a man twice sentenced to death but later freed over the 1977 rape and stabbing of a Tyler woman are accusing a former prosecutor of keeping the knife used to kill the woman for the past decade. Kerry Max Cook pleaded no contest in 1999 to murder for a sentence of time served. Cook was twice convicted of killing Linda Jo Edwards. Courts overturned both convictions. Judge John Ovard has granted Cook’s request to conduct new DNA testing to demonstrate his innocence. But Ovard refused to have a Smith County judge recuse herself. Cook’s attorneys want Ovard to reconsider. In a motion filed Monday, they said former Smith County District Attorney A.D. Clark III had the knife in his possession. Clark, in an interview, denied the allegation.