By Tove Tupper
 
November 2, 2009
 
YREKA, Calif. - Closing arguments concluded Monday in a trial for a man suspected of kidnapping and murdering a young Happy Camp boy 33-years-ago.
 
On August 28, 1976, six-year old William Cook Jr., also known as Willie, disappeared from a Happy Camp service station. His body was found about six months later in a cardboard barrel near the Klamath River. Gregory Nelson, age 52, and Suzane Little, age 70, were arrested in October of 2008 for Willie's kidnapping. The first arrests in the case.
 
Gregory Nelson is facing charges of kidnapping and first degree murder. His trial began more than a month ago.
 
Prosecutors claim Nelson kidnapped Cook and took him to Hoopa. They allege Nelson eventually killed Cook by squeezing his neck and covering his mouth for more than two minutes. Prosecutors say Nelson put the boy's body in a barrel and left it at a campsite along the Klamath River. Willie's body was found with his arms folded across his chest. They say Nelson admitted knowing this, which only the murderer would know.
 
"My whole life I've just heard bits and pieces of what has happened. And now it's kinda like the whole story is coming together. It's just really hard to hear exactly what happened in the last moments of my brother's life," Willie Cook's Sister Noblelee Wright said.
 
Meanwhile, the defense stated in its closing arguments that at the time of the kidnapping, police interviewed hundreds of people. They argue that the night Willie was taken, a detective reported Nelson was at his parents house in Happy Camp, contradicting the prosecution's claim that Nelson took the boy to Hoopa that night.
 
The defense also argues that the witnesses who claim they saw Nelson take the boy are unreliable.
 
The jury's deliberation could take anywhere from a few hours to a couple weeks.
 
Meanwhile, Suzane Little is charged with kidnapping Cook. Her trial is set to begin November 19th.