05/06/1995 - Report #253 - Victim: Melissa Gail Aptman - Location: Olivette, MO
MCS Report #253
Classification: Homicide
Requesting Agency: Olivette Police Department
Date of Activation: 05/06/1995
Commander and Department: Sgt. Michael Boyne, Belleville PD
Deputy Report Officer and Department: Lt. Otto Jakob, St. Clair County Sheriff’s Dept
Victim: Melissa Gail Aptman
Suspects: Andre Eugene Bonds II and Bryan Eric Cook
The Olivette Police Department requested the assistance of the Major Case Squad in investigating the death of Melissa Aptman. On 05/05/1995 at approximately 10:25pm, a 20 year-old female walked up to a Washington Park, IL police officer as he was sitting in his patrol car. She told the police officer she had been raped and shot. She said her friend, Melissa Aptman (age 22), had been shot and killed and Melissa’s body dumped at an unknown location.
As detectives began investigating this case, they learned Melissa Aptman and her friend had been eating dinner at a restaurant in Missouri. As the girls left the restaurant and got into Melissa’s vehicle, two men forced themselves into the vehicle and kidnapped Melissa and her friend.
The men drove the girls to Illinois where they shot and killed Melissa. Her body was dumped in East St. Louis. Her friend was then driven to a different location where she was raped and shot multiple times. Her friend pretended to be dead until the men drove away. Her friend then walked until she found help.
It was originally believed the girls were eating at a restaurant in Olivette where the first crime (kidnapping) occurred. Therefore the Olivette Police Department requested the activation of the Major Case Squad. It was later learned the girls had actually been eating at a restaurant in St. Louis and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department assumed the remainder of the investigation.
As a result of this investigation, the following State charges were issued in Missouri:
Andre Bonds II (age 19) - Murder 1st Degree, Robbery 1st Degree, Kidnapping, Forcible Rape, Forcible Sodomy, Armed Criminal Action. He was arrested on a no-bond warrant.
Bryan Cook (age 16 - charged as an adult) - Murder 1st Degree, Robbery 1st Degree, Kidnapping, Armed Criminal Action. He was arrested on a no-bond warrant.
They were later both charged in Federal court as well.
