Sex killer, 23, is told he will die behind bars for rape and murder of 18-year-old girl days before her high school graduation

A young basketball star’s ex-boyfriend has been sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of the 18-year-old athlete, who was just days away from graduating high school.

Chase Cook, 23, was sentenced to first-degree murder with malice afterthought Tuesday for the April 2023 murder of his ex-girlfriend Madeline Bills.

Cook waived his right to an appeal and will not be eligible for parole.

His sentence comes more than three years after he jumped the fence into Bills’ Oklahoma home, broke into her room, which was located in the pool house, and raped her while she was unconscious.

Cook recorded the assault on his phone and several others.

Prior to the murder, Bills had talked of moving out of the pool house and into the main home over fears about her ex-boyfriend, Cook.

‘She was scared of him, and she told some friends she thought about moving back into the residence because of that, but no signs that were given to police at all to let us know to be aware of him,’ Moore Police Lieutenant Wes Yost told KOCO-TV at the time.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, video evidence showed Cook jumping the fence several times to gain access to the pool house where Madeline lived.

Chase Cook, 23, will spend the rest of his life in prison after he was sentenced on Tuesday for murdering his ex-girlfriend Madeline Bills in her Oklahoma home in April 2023

He raped her while she was unconscious and filmed it. Her official cause of death was strangulation

That evidence led cops to execute several search warrants, collecting Cook’s car, clothes and DNA samples as evidence, along with his cell phone.

A search of the cell phone revealed multiple disturbing videos showing him with Madeline on the night of her death, according to the affidavit.

Cook was taken into custody at the Navy’s boot camp at Naval Station Great Lakes on the northern outskirts of Chicago a little over a week after her death.

The young man initially lied to police, saying he was training for the Navy in Texas, but investigators were able to piece together evidence that he was in Oklahoma during the time of the murder.

A car matching a description of Cook’s vehicle from a previous traffic stop was initially seen driving around two miles from her home in the early hours of the night.

Comparatively, the affidavit noted that Cook’s home was around 15 miles from Bills’ family home.

At around 4.38am, a separate surveillance camera on a neighbor’s home captured an ‘unknown’ suspect climbing Bills’ fence and sneaking into her backyard.

After briefly entering the property, investigators alleged that around 90 seconds later the suspect climbed back over the fence and left.

She was an up and coming basketball star, who was set to play at Northeastern A&M in Miami, Oklahoma, after graduation

Bills had told people she was afraid of her ex-boyfriend before he murdered her

The vehicle matching Cook’s car was then allegedly seen again on cameras driving in front of Bills’ home at around 6.34am.

At 6.42am, the suspect again climbed the fence and went to the pool house, before exiting her poolside-bedroom at 7:17am and climbing back over the fence.

An autopsy report later concluded Bills died by strangulation.

Madeline was being mourned as a standout high school basketball star and young scholar whose future was tragically cut short.

‘In her short time given here on earth, Madeline made an incredible impact on many lives. She had a personality that would light up any room,’ her obituary read.

She was weeks away from graduating from Moore High School with honors, after achieving a 4.0 GPA.

She was a member of the Osage Tribe and had signed a letter of intent to play women’s basketball at Northeastern A&M in Miami, Oklahoma.

On Tuesday, her family described her as someone full of light.

Cook has waived his right to an appeal and will not be eligible for parole

‘The space she leaves behind is felt in every corner of our lives, in the quiet memories that hurt to remember and in the future she will never have,’ her father said.

Cook was also sentenced to 20 years for possession of contraband in jail and six months for assault and battery. It will run concurrently.