Inset: Robert Cooley (Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Dept.). Background: Police at the scene where Cooley killed his wife (WISH).
A 27-year-old man in Indiana will spend several decades behind bars for killing his wife only five weeks after the birth of their child, beating, slashing, and shooting the kindergarten teacher inside of their home before calling 911 and telling police that he “did something bad.”
Marion County Superior Judge Cynthia L. Oetjen ordered Robert Cooley to serve 45 years in a state correctional facility for the slaying of 26-year-old Amber Cooley, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. Cooley avoided trial after reaching an agreement with prosecutors and pleading guilty to one count of murder in connection with his wife”s death.
Oetjen credited Robert Cooley with 614 days of time already served plus an additional 205 days of “good time credit.”
As Law&Crime previously reported, officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department at about 7:20 a.m. on June 1, 2024, responded to a residence in the 3000 block of Armory Lane after receiving a report of a shooting.
Upon arriving, first responders said they located an adult female — later identified as Amber Cooley — in the upstairs bedroom of the home suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Emergency medical personnel pronounced her dead at the scene.
Robert Cooley exited the residence through an opened garage door to greet officers when they reached the home, the Indianapolis Star reported, citing a probable cause affidavit.
“I did something bad,” he allegedly said to the officers. “I need to go to jail.”
As officers were walking him away from his house, body-worn camera footage showed Robert Cooley saying, “I took my wife’s life,” the Star reported.
In a post-Miranda interview with detectives, police say that Robert Cooley admitted to beating and cutting his wife before ultimately shooting her in the head, local CW affiliate WISH reported. Police reportedly noted that Amber Cooley’s throat had been slit and her face was beaten so badly that she was virtually unrecognizable.
Robert Cooley’s brother told police that Robert Cooley used FaceTime to call him Saturday morning. During the call, Robert Cooley said, “I just killed Amber, bro,” WISH reported.
Police said they also found an infant inside of the home. While police did not state the child’s relationship to Robert or Amber Cooley, the victim’s parents told WISH that their daughter had given birth to the couple’s first child about five weeks earlier.
Amber Cooley’s mother said that Robert Cooley had been verbally abusive to her daughter over the course of their five-year relationship.
Additionally, the victim’s parents told WISH that one day before her death, Amber Cooley had asked her mother to get her a petition for dissolution of marriage.
“We think he tried to confront her and she told him something he didn’t want to hear,” Amber Cooley’s father, Corey Cooley, told the station.
