The Bizarre Double Murder of Mary Cooper and Susanna Stodden
The mother and daughter were shot and killed while hiking.
Mary Cooper woke up in a good mood on the morning of Tuesday, July 11, 2006. The 56-year-old planned to spend the day hiking with her 27-year-old daughter, Susanna Stodden. Mary and her husband, David Stodden, had always loved spending time outdoors and had passed this love on to their three daughters. Mary and Susanna planned on spending the day hiking on a popular Mount Pilchuck trail; it was a hike they had done many times in the past.
It was around 8:00 am when Mary left her Seattle, Washington, home to pick up her daughter. Although the temperature in the city was close to 70 degrees, David reminded her that there could still be snow on some of the mountain trails and told her to be careful. Mary told him that she had checked the trail conditions online that morning and it looked like they were clear. As she kissed her husband goodbye, she told him that she expected to be home around 4:30 pm. She then climbed into her purple Dodge Caravan and drove away.
David, a contractor who did home renovations, spent the day working on a house near Green Lake, Washington. He got home from work around 5:30 pm to an empty house. Although he had expected Mary to be home already, he wasn’t overly…