Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
This week’s episode of ID’s See No Evil looks into Omar Medina’s murder by his housemate Timothy Cook. The episode titled “Body in a Barrel” will air on the network on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET.
Here’s an official synopsis, “In 2017, in San Diego, 28-year-old musician Omar Medina goes missing; his family’s worst fears are confirmed when his body turns up in a barrel floating in the bay; police turn to surveillance footage to track down the people responsible.”
According to the Times of San Diego, prosecutors alleged that Timothy Cook fatally stabbed his housemate Omar Medina 66 times in September 2017. Cook then enlisted the help of Derrick Spurgeon to place Medina’s body in a barrel and dumped it in the San Diego Bay. A diver found the barrel containing the victim’s body floating in the Bay on October 12.
CBS 8 reported that a jury convicted Cook on a second-degree murder charge in December 2019. The following January, he received a prison sentence of 56 years. But, the same jury failed to reach a verdict on Spurgeon’s accessory to murder after the fact count. Spurgeon then pleaded guilty to unlawfully disposing of a dead body for six months in county jail.
Timothy Cook is currently serving his prison sentence in California State Prison, Corcoran, per the Department of Corrections.
What was Timothy Cook accused of in Omar Medina’s murder case?
On September 30, 2017, Timothy Cook stabbed Omar Medina 66 times in a detached room at the Chula Vista home they shared. After the murder, he enlisted Derrick Spurgeon’s help to dispose of Medina’s body in a barrel. The two later used Spurgeon’s boat to dump the victim’s body in the San Diego Bay, per Fox 5.
NBC 7 San Diego said that a diver found the barrel floating in the Bay 12 days later on October 12. The diver then called the harbor police, who pulled the object ashore and found Medina’s badly decomposed body inside. The 5-gallon barrel had been weighed down by a makeshift anchor made of wire and cinderblocks. It also had a hazard tag and a wireline attached to it. Medical examiners confirmed that the victim had been stabbed 66 times in the chest, back, neck and head.
Authorities arrested both Cook and Spurgeon in December of that year. They charged the killer with murder and his accomplice in the crime with accessory to murder after the fact.
What was Timothy Cook’s alleged murder motive?
Fox 5 further stated that Deputy District Attorney Cherie Somerville told jurors Omar Medina and Timothy Cook lived and worked together. A text exchange proved that Cook was annoyed with Medina’s drinking habits and his sloppy household behavior. Cook had reportedly kicked Medina out of the house. Somerville also told jurors that Cook killed Medina to gain access to around $84,000 the victim had received in a legal settlement.
Surveillance reportedly captured both men in a green Ford F-150 towing Spurgeon’s boat from El Cajon to the bay. Somerville alleged that the footage also showed a barrel matching the one containing Medina’s body in the pickup truck.
Cook’s defense attorney, Kara Oien, argued that there was a lack of physical evidence tying him to Omar Medina’s death. Oien also said that the prosecution lacked a murder weapon and witnesses to the murder.
According to CBS 8, a San Diego jury convicted Timothy Cook of second-degree murder in December 2019. However, the same jury failed to reach a verdict on Derrick Spurgeon’s accessory to murder charge. The following January, Cook received a 56-year prison sentence. Spurgeon later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of unlawfully disposing of a dead body.
See No Evil’s episode on Omar Medina’s murder by his housemate Timothy Cook will air on ID this January 31, 2024.
