'You're dying today': Sounds of life-or-death struggle heard in dash cam video

Jun. 16—It was a quiet Sunday evening as Thomas Cook and his dog neared the end of their walk in Meadville's Plateau neighborhood a little before 8 p.m. on April 30.

The quiet — as well as the multiple gunshots and the life-or-death struggle that disturbed it — are evident on the dash cam video played Thursday at a preliminary hearing for Martin L. Chaney, the man accused by Meadville city police of shooting Cook five times just before he rounded the corner leading to his Lakemont Drive home.

The 61-year-old Chaney was held for court at the hearing before Magisterial District Judge Samuel Pendolino and saw his $250,000 bail, which he had not been able to pay, revoked entirely by the judge.

"This is extremely disturbing," Pendolino said of the testimony and video evidence presented during the hearing. "I don't feel that monetary bail should be set at all."

The video shown at the hearing was taken from the front of Chaney's red Toyota RAV4, according to city police, and does not contain images of either man during the encounter. But as Cook was shot repeatedly and then grabbed the barrel of the .22-caliber rifle being used against him, the voices of two men and the sounds of an intense struggle can be heard.

Coming from the voice that Cook, 64, told the court was Chaney's, the first words were uttered in a tone that sounded both surprised and amused.

"This is too easy," the unseen driver said after coming to a stop on Belmont Drive.

Cursing at the man, the same voice continued: "You're dying today."

But despite the callous announcement and the first gunshot to Cook's lower chest and then another that broke his sternum and went past his heart, Cook was determined to live, his testimony suggested. He grabbed the barrel held by the man whom he identified as Chaney and began struggling for the weapon.

"I'm calling the ... cops," Cook's voice, adding a profanity, can be heard saying as the sound of the men grappling continued. "What is your problem?"

The first man does not respond to the question directly, but when he spoke again it was in a tone reminiscent of his initial comments.

"You're bleeding pretty good," the shooter said. "How about another one in the hand?"

At this point, Cook, a retired computer engineer who wore a blue checked shirt and striped gray tie as he testified, was holding the barrel of the rifle. When Chaney fired for the third time, the bullet entered near his wrist and exited near his elbow, Cook said. In the video, labored breathing and then a scream and groaning could be heard.

"You're messing up my car," the shooter said to Cook at one point.

With Chaney behind the wheel and Cook beside the car on Belmont Drive, the struggle continued as Chaney then took out a knife and tried to stab Cook in the torso, according to Cook's testimony.

Finally, the wounded Cook tried to make his way down the street past the rear of the SUV. As he did so, he was shot for the fourth time in the back of the head. That bullet, along with the two that struck his chest, remains lodged in his body, he told the court. His fractured skull and breaks to the sternum, his neck and a rib have healed, but more than six weeks later, he continues to have problems with dizziness and numbness in one finger.

As the video continued playing in a courtroom filled to capacity by 15 people, nearly all of them friends and family of the two men, Cook's voice, growing more distant, can be heard calling for help and telling the shooter to stop.

"Hey, somebody call the cops," Cook said. "I've been shot."

Cook made it about 20 or 30 feet past the car before he fell to the pavement, he testified. In the video, the voice Cook identified as Chaney's echoed its earlier words: "You're dying tonight."

According to police testimony at the hearing, Chaney confessed soon after the shooting that he approached Cook on the ground and shot him again in the head.

A neighbor told police that he saw a man carrying a dog returning to the red vehicle, its door ajar, at around this time, according to the probable cause affidavit filed by police in the case. The man with the dog told the neighbor that the nearby person laying in the street was dead.

In fact, according to police, the bullet had grazed Cook's head.

Believing he had killed Cook, Chaney, who resides in the 20500 block of Route 86 in Venango, drove to Saegertown and threw his gun near the bridge that carries Jordan Drive over French Creek. He also drove to Wal-Mart and disposed of his cellphone, according to testimony from Sgt. Neil Falco of Meadville Police Department.

A man in a red SUV delivered Cook's dog to a family friend at about 10 p.m., according to the affidavit.

Chaney's comments regarding the gun and phone came after he turned himself in at the police department later on April 30, according to Falco.

"He basically confessed to everything," Falco said. Both the gun and phone were found by police where Chaney said he had left them. Police also recovered the dash cam video from Chaney's RAV4.

Chaney's alleged attack on Cook resulted from a family dispute over the woman who was Chaney's mother-in-law and Cook's wife, according to testimony at the hour-long hearing.

An obituary for Ann Cook was published on the website of Cambridge Springs-based Van Matre Funeral Homes when she died March 1.

Cook said that Chaney was married to his stepdaughter and that on the morning of the shooting Chaney had come to Cook's house to confront him. Cook called the police while Chaney remained outside, banging on the door and yelling, Cook testified.

Chaney sent emails that afternoon, Cook told the court, saying that "he would see me soon and I wouldn't have to worry about anything then."

In the courtroom Thursday, Chaney's gray hair and full beard were cropped short and he appeared thinner than in the photo taken after his arrest. Wearing a dark blue prison uniform and orange Crocs, he spoke and listened to his lawyer during the hearing but said nothing audible to audience members a few feet away. As the hearing ended, he smiled briefly at one woman seated immediately behind him and nodded to several other members of the audience.

Crawford County District Attorney Paula DiGiacomo withdrew one felony count of attempted criminal homicide at the hearing. Four charges were added to the remaining felony charge of aggravated assault: felony counts of attempted murder of the first degree and aggravated assault and misdemeanor counts of possessing instruments of crime and simple assault.

After his May 1 arraignment on two felony charges, Chaney was assigned bail of $250,000. At the hearing Thursday, DiGiacomo cited the dash cam video, which was not available at the arraignment, in asking that the bail amount be increased. Defense attorney Mario Medina, on the other hand, asked that the bail be cut in half, pointing to Chaney's family support and willingness to submit to any additional bail conditions.

Pendolino, however, cited the need to ensure the community's safety in withdrawing bail entirely.

A trial will be scheduled for the November term of Crawford County Court of Common Pleas.

Mike Crowley can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at mcrowley@meadvilletribune.com.