Sounak Sengupta
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry? Fresh Start, Rotten End’ chronicles how Randy Cooper viciously assaulted his girlfriend in Fort Worth, Texas, in February 2000. The victim managed to call the authorities and was rescued before she succumbed to her critical injuries. If you’re interested in finding out what happened, here’s what we know.
Who is Randy Cooper?
Christie Smith, in her early 30s, ran into her former high school friend, Randy Joe Cooper, in a Fort Worth bar in the 1999 fall. She was hanging out with her girlfriend, Cristal Laird, when they spotted Randy. On the show, Christie confessed to harboring a crush on Randy since high school. As the three friends reunited and connected over school memories, Christie could not help but notice how handsome Randy was. She stated she was instantly attracted to him again after all these years.
According to the episode, Randy was divorced and worked odd jobs to make ends meet. Christie had two children at the time and was looking to date again after recently coming out of a decade-long marriage. However, she was disheartened when she saw Randy paying more attention to her friend, Cristal, instead of her. Eventually, Randy asked for Cristal’s number, and the two went out for lunch a few days later. But Cristal decided not to pursue him anymore after learning he had a rap sheet.
Christie recalled she was so much in love with Randy that she ignored her friend’s cautionary warnings and decided to go out with him when he approached her. She felt Cristal was jealous that Randy was paying her attention and discarded her friend’s forebodings. The single mother reminisced how Randy was good with her children, helping them in their studies and playing with them, as the two started a relationship. She loved Randy’s breezy and charismatic disposition.
Within two months of their dating, Randy offered to move in, and an ecstatic Christie instantly agreed. However, things began to change within weeks of him moving in. Christie and her children were shocked on seeing how paranoid Randy was and suffered from extreme anger issues. They recalled how Randy shouted at the children even if they forget to switch off lights or made too much noise. Christie even alleged how a paranoid Randy stated someone was living in their attic after finding a few cans of beer and food packets.
Randy Cooper Remains Behind Bars
Over the next couple of months, Randy Cooper’s paranoia increased as he even alleged Christie’s ex-boyfriend — her children’s biological father — was following him in disguise. It came to a point where Christie began to feel as if she had made a mistake by immersing herself too much in the notions of a fairy tale of love. However, Randy’s disposition changed by 2000 Valentine’s Day as he arranged for a romantic dinner with the kids at their father’s place. Christie stated she saw glimmers of the old Randy inside him.
A few days after the Valentine’s Day surprise, Randy and Christie were at a bar when the former went up on the stage and proposed to her. The couple was so happy that they bought everyone present drinks and partied hard late into the night. At one point, Christie became too drunk, and Randy offered to take her home. After they were back, Randy asked her to change her clothes and go to sleep. As Christie slept, she was awakened by a furious-looking Randy.
He alleged her to be promiscuous and asked whether she had kissed one of her male friends before she and Randy began dating. Christie was too drunk and disoriented to process the bizarre line of questioning at first until he began to hit her. For the next few hours, he tortured, beat, and abused her incessantly until she was all bloodied and nearly unconscious. However, Christie managed to drag herself to the kitchen phone and dialed 911. When the police arrived at the scene, Randy told the officers the children had called by mistake.
However, the officers heard Christie screaming inside the house and detained Randy before rescuing the severely injured woman. She was taken to the local hospital and she healed physically over the following couple of years. Randy went on trial and pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on July 9, 2002. During the trial, Christie learned Randy’s ex-wife had also brought similar charges against him. He was sentenced to 99 years in prison on July 11. The 58-year-old is serving his sentence at the James V Allred Unit. He will be eligible for parole in 2030.
Read More: Frederick Brooks: Where is the Sexual Assaulter Now?
