Richard Cooey

Richard Wade Cooey II (June 9, 1967 – October 14, 2008) was an American murderer. With Clinton Dickens, he was responsible for the murders of 21-year-old Wendy Offredo and 20-year-old Dawn McCreery in Akron, Ohio, on September 1, 1986. He became notable for his argument that, with his weight of over , he was too obese to be executed an argument ultimately rejected by the courts.

Youth Cooey was born in Akron, Ohio. He lived in Stow with his parents until they divorced when he was 11. He spent his junior high years and high school years between Stow, with his father, and Akron, with his paternal grandmother. Cooey graduated from Stow High School in 1985 and enlisted in the U.S. Army. The following summer, he returned on leave.

Case Early on the morning of September 1, 1986, Cooey, Dickens and Kenneth Horonetz Jr. were throwing chunks of concrete off the Stoner Street Bridge onto U.S. Interstate 77 in Akron. They also carved X's into the victims' abdomens. Cooey and Dickens each blamed the other for the actual murders, and is serving a life sentence in prison. Horonetz, then age 18, for participating in the destruction of evidence. Grant was sentenced to two years' probation. because (he claimed) his clogged veins would prevent the first drug administered during the executionmeant to render the prisoner insensiblefrom having full effect. He also claimed that prison food was responsible for his obesity. The argument was rejected and he was executed on October 14, 2008.