Have you ever felt your job is crushing you? But you can’t leave it because you have a baby to raise on your own, and you have a student loan to pay; that’s why you are continuing it even if it’s toxic for you. Difficult to even imagine, huh. What if I tell you the story of a young, ambitious woman of 21 years who has to face all these conditions, and eventually, this toxic job takes her life.
We are talking about the murder of Alisha Bromfield. To know the truth and the motives behind her murder, I suggest you keep reading.
Biography
Alisha Bromfield was a 21-year-old woman at the time of her murder. She lived with her parents and was graduated from Joliet Catholic Academy.-Alisha was studying forensic psychology and criminal justice at Western Illinois University and had only one semester left from completing her degree. Her family and friends said that Alisha was a cheery and lively girl who knew how to make people around her happy. Unlike other young people, she was pretty close to her family.
She worked at Home Depot garden centers in northern Illinois, where she met her murderer.
She was pregnant with the baby girl and decided to raise this girl alone as her father, whom she met in high school, wanted to be out of the picture.
Career
Alisha Bromfield has worked at Home Depot since she was 16. The salary package of her job was pretty good, and she jobbed at the Home Depot worked well with her academic life, so she was okay with it. In addition to the excellent salary package, the office also provided her with paid winter vacation. With a new baby girl arriving, you can imagine how important this job is to her.
On the other hand, Brian Cooper, 36, was regional manager at Home Depot garden centers, making him Alisha’s supervisor.
So Brian was the one who managed the work timing of poor Alisha and supervised her work. The people who worked with both of them told the police that Brian wanted Alisha to be his girlfriend, but Alish refused him politely several times. So he started insulting her in front of customers and her colleagues without any reason.
Moreover, he called her a slut several times and threw things at her, knowing that she was pregnant.
Brian also told his coworkers that He and Alisha have a thing, and both are romantically involved with each other, but of course, everybody knew that he was lying.
Alisha was facing all this harassment but wanted to continue her job because she had no other option. Raising her daughter alone without money often bothered her, and she wanted this job until her degree was completed and she found another good job. Her mother and her family were very concerned about her situation and told her to move out of this abusive job, but she always told them that she needed it badly and wanted to continue.
She did complain to her upper management about his abusive behavior, but they did nothing and left her to suffer at the hand of that abusive person.
Brian Cooper’s Sister Wedding
In August 2012, Cooper started bugging Alisha to come with her as his wedding date and attend his sister’s wedding in Door County with him. He started threatening to fire her from her job as she refused him.
With her baby coming, Alisha had no other option to protect her job and herself from financial crises, so she agreed to his offer and decided to go with him as his wedding date.
When Alisha told her mom Sherry Anicich, she forbade her to go because she knew everything about her work life and wanted to protect her daughter from the evil clutches of Brian. Alisha was terrified about losing her job, so she told her mom that she had no other option and was hopeful that this trip would mend her relationship with her boss Brian.
The Trip To Brian’s Sister Wedding
Excited upon hearing her yes, he booked Sand Bay Resort in Door County, Wisconsin. He told her that they would be staying at the wedding party Hotel.
Alisha shared the details of her stay with her mother and told her they would be staying with the wedding party, so her mother was relieved with the thought that her daughter would not be alone.
On August 17, 2012, Both Cooper and Alisha set their four-hour drive to attend the wedding of Brian’s sister. When they arrived at the hotel, Alisha tested her mother to inform her arrival, which showed that she was continuously in contact with her mother.
When they both entered the hotel, she realized that the wedding party was not staying at the same hotel; she became furious with Brian, and they had a fight.
She then texted her mother to tell her about her fight and further told her that she wanted to come home without attending the marriage.
However, Brian apologized for lying, so she again believed him and decided to stay.
During their stay, Brian again started harassing her and made sexual advances, so she decided to leave after the wedding and told Brian her decision.
She further told him that they would no longer be friends once she returned home. Upon hearing her decision, Cooper became furious and started making plans to kill her.
Her Murder
Alisha attended the wedding without showing her feelings. When they returned to the hotel, Alisha went straight to bed. Cooper invited her to watch a television show she liked, but she refused, saying she had enough.
Furious upon hearing this, Cooper jumped into Alisha’s bed and attacked her. Alisha tried to fight back and bite his finger, making him angrier.
During this whole scene, Alisha started crying and said, “think of the baby.”
He then dragged her to the floor and strangled her. After killing her, he took her clothes off and had sex with her two to three times.
Then he made a bed on the floor for Alisha and covered her body with a blanket. (source)
The Confession Of Brian Cooper
When he realized what he had done to this poor girl, he started panicking and decided to take his own life.
He first tried to kill himself with the knife, but he failed and finally slept in the room’s bathtub.
The following day he swam in the water to drown himself but did not find the courage. Then he went to a nearby gas station soaking in water to ring 911.
According to True Crime Daily:
911 Dispatcher: “Do you know who murdered her?”
Brian Cooper: “Yes.”
911 Dispatcher: “You did. Okay. Was it an accident, or were you angry, or?”
Brian Cooper: “It was intentional.”
911 Dispatcher: “It was intentional? Okay. Well, you’re doing the right thing. I’m glad you called me.”
Brian Cooper: “I’m a good person besides what I did last night. Alisha’s family is going to flip. Everyone is going to flip.”
Police responded immediately. With guns drawn, they arrested Cooper on the spot.
Brian Cooper’s Arrest
After his confession on the phone, Door County police arrived to arrest him while at the gas station.
The case was investigated by Mark Winkel, Door County Sheriff’s Investigator.
According to Mark Winkel,
When I arrived, after opening the door, I could see a female decedent in her 20s. She was laying on the floor. She was nude but did have a blanket covering her up to about her chest, and her head was on a pillow and obviously deceased, but it just appeared like she was resting. A little closer examination of the body, you could see that there were injuries, bruising, scratch marks.
He then talked to Brian Cooper about murdering Alisha. Following is the conversation between Winkel and Brian.
Winkel: “And how do you know Alisha?”
Brian Cooper: “We’re coworkers, and we’re somewhat dating. Was. And she’s pregnant.”
Winkel: “She pregnant with your child?”
Brian Cooper: “No.”
Winkel: “OK.”
Brian Cooper: “I’ve always wanted more but I always was respecting her because of her pregnancy.”
Brian Cooper: Then I kinda just jumped on her bed.”
Winkel: “Okay was she on her back?”
Brian Cooper: “She was. And I jumped her, and she got scared, I got scared.”
Winkel: “So you were on top of her then. And you kind of straddled over her?”
Brian Cooper: “Yeah, and then I just started strangling her.”
Winkel: “Did you have sex with her last night?”
Brian Cooper: “Yeah, after I strangled her.”
Winkel: “So after she’s dead you took her clothes off and then um s, he’s on the floor right?”
Brian Cooper: “Right. I just wanted to see her naked I ,guess.”
Winkel: “Okay. And then did you take your clothes off, or were you already . . .”
Brian Cooper: “I just took my pants off.”
Winkel: How long did you have sex with her?
Brian Cooper: “Probably a minute or two, maybe three, tops.”
Postmortem Report of Alisha
The Postmortem report of Alisha confirms the story Brian told to the investigator, and it also revealed that Alisha faced torture from Briam as she had bruises on her body.
Court Trial Of Brian Cooper
Despite all the proofs against Cooper. He told the jury that he was intoxicated, so he had a defense.
But the Jury verdict him a third-degree sexual assault for having sex with the dead body and two guilty verdicts for first-degree intentional homicide for killing Alisha and her unborn child.
He was also charged for spying on Alisha with the camera.
Judge Ehlers final statement was,
The final character issue, which I didn’t know how this was all going to come down this afternoon, Mr. Cooper. But I just heard your statement, I listened to you read your poems,” Ehlers said. “I didn’t hear an apology to the family of Alisha and Ava … and that is troubling for me. It doesn’t speak well, sir, of your character.
The Purple Project
The murder trial was attended by Alisha’s mother, who wore purple color during the hearing as it was her daughter’s favorite color. This led to starting of the Purple project. This project’s primary purpose is to help and support the people in need.
Home Depot Faced A Lawsuit
Home Depot, the office she worked, faced a lawsuit for not protecting Alisha from her abusive Boss even after filing a complaint against him.
Conclusion
The fate of Alisha could be changed if her office management took strict action against her abusive manager. She would live a healthy life with her daughter if any customer stood with her and stopped that abusive manager insulting her. She could be fulfilling her dreams if her colleagues tried to stop this harassment.
Today, there are so many Alisha out there facing the same issues in her work, but like Alisha, they cannot do anything for themselves.
Next time if you see someone harassing his coworker in your office or any other, stand up for her.
This is how you can pay homage to the soul of Alisha Bromfield and her unborn baby girl.
