RALEIGH -- A Wake County District Court judge has ordered a plastic surgeon accused this month of second degree murder to turn over his mobile phone records, according to court records made public today.
Police are hoping the phone records will help them determine the identity of a woman the physician was seen sitting with at a North Raleigh bar minutes before his Mercedes Benz slammed into another vehicle, ending the life of Elena Bright Shapiro, an aspiring professional ballerina, according to a court order filed this morning at the Wake County Clerk of Courts Office.
It was on Sept. 11, at about 8:30 p.m., that police say Raymond Dwight Cook, a physician with WakeMed Facial Plastic Surgery and UNC-Chapel Medical School faculty member, was drunkenly speeding at 85 mph in a black, 2005 Mercedes Benz E55AMG west on Strickland Road.
Witnesses that night told police that a silver, 2008 Hyndai driven by Shapiro was also traveling west on Strickland Road after turning right off of Lead Mine Road. Cook's Mercedes rammed the rear of the Hyundai and Shapiro died from her injuries. Shapiro, 20, danced with the Carolina Ballet and was supposed to appear in the company's production of "Swan Lake" last week.
More witnesses, officers and emergency medical workers who arrived at the crash all reported that Cook showed obvious signs of impairment: "a strong odor of alcohol coming from his person, being unsteady on his feet, actually bumping into people and objects as well as red, glassy, bloodshot eyes, according to the court order signed by Wake District judge Ned Mangum.
Police later learned that Cook, 42, who was also charged with driving while impaired and careless and reckless driving, had been at the Piper's Tavern on Falls of the Neuse Road shortly before the crash. The tavern employees told the police that Cook showed signs of being impaired not only when he left the establishment, but also when he arrived.
The tavern employees also told the police that Cook was in the company of an unknown woman while at the business, although he was alone in his car at the time of the crash, court records show.
Investigators also discovered that Cook was at the Raleigh Country Club off Donald Ross Road before he arrived at Pipers Tavern, court records show.
Investigators think Cook's mobile phone records as well as potential Global Position Satellite data will help them determine Cook's whereabouts during the day of the accident, where and how much alcohol he consumed and also identify the woman he was seen with at Piper's Tavern just before the crash, Master Officer C.A. Bradford with the Raleigh police stated in the court order.
Police specifically want to review the AT&T mobile phone's call logs, the duration and time of the calls, text messages and GPS location of the phone when the calls were made, Bradford stated.
Police also seized the electronic data recorder from Cook's car, according to separate search warrant application filed in court this morning. Police are hoping the EDR will help them discover other evidence such as seatbelt and headlight use and whether Cook was impaired.
Cook was first charged with felony death by motor vehicle on the Friday night of the crash. The charge was upgraded to second degree murder on Tuesday, Sept. 15. Cook turned himself in at the Wake County Jail that day. He was at first placed under a $2 million bail. The bail amount was reduced later that afternoon to $250,000 by Wake District Court Judge Jane Gray, the same day that Shapiro's family buried her in Winston-Salem.
Cook surrendered his medical license and resigned from his job the day he was charged with second degree murder. He was released from custody just before 6 p.m., authorities reported.
Cook's next court date is Oct. 5, the Wake County Sheriff's Office reported this afternoon.
