WASHINGTON – Investigators say a Culpeper man who is suing over the fatal police shooting of his wife has died of natural causes.
Maintenance workers found Gary D. Cook, 62, dead about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday morning inside an apartment in the 1000 block of Friendship Way in Culpeper. The Virginia State Police were called in to investigate his unattended death.
The Medical Examiner’s office in Manassas determined Cook died of natural causes following an autopsy, the Virginia State Police said Wednesday afternoon.
Police did not suspect foul play but the Bureau of Criminal Investigation Culpeper Field Office was called in to investigate Cook’s unattended death. The investigation continues, the state police said Wednesday.
In May, Cook filed a $5 million lawsuit against former police officer Daniel Wayne Harmon-Wright, who is accused of shooting and killing Cook’s wife, 54-year-old Patricia Ann Cook.
On Feb. 9, Harmon-Wright responded to a report of a suspicious woman parked in the Epiphany Catholic School’s parking lot.
Police originally said Patricia Ann Cook tried to drive away with Harmon-Wright’s arm caught inside the vehicle after she closed the driver’s side window. They said he was dragged along and commanded Cook to stop, and that he shot her and the vehicle crashed.
Fauquier County Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Fisher later said the initial description of events was only “partially accurate,” and Harmon-Wright since has been indicted on charges of murder.
He has pleaded not guilty. A trial is set for Jan. 22.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow WTOP on Twitter.
(Copyright 2012 by WTOP and The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
