The Minnesota Court of Appeals has upheld the attempted murder conviction against Irvin Scott Cook, the Prior Lake man serving nearly three decades in prison for the burglary and attempted murder of a Burnsville man in 2008.

In May 2010, a Dakota County jury found Cook, 22, guilty of first-degree attempted murder, arson, burglary and motor vehicle theft. Cook was sentenced by Judge Thomas Poch to more than 29 years in prison, an upward departure from Minnesota sentencing guidelines due to the brutality of the attack.

In his appeal, Cook argued that the court erred in allowing the victim to identify him, allowing a past conviction to be used as evidence and by conducting part of the trial in his absence, among other allegations. Last week, the court rejected each of Cook’s arguments except for one relating to his sentence for motor vehicle theft. Cook’s sentence for the motor vehicle theft was vacated, but all other convictions and sentences stood.

Cook’s co-defendant in the case, 23-year-old Shaquen Perril Whitfield of Prior Lake, is serving 17 years in prison for first-degree attempted murder. Whitfield pleaded guilty in 2009 to first-degree attempted murder, first-degree arson and first-degree burglary for his role in the attack. He testified against Cook on behalf of the prosecution.

According to charges, Whitfield joined up with Cook and randomly entered 54-year-old Paul Traub’s Burnsville townhome through an open garage door. Whitfield and Cook hit and stabbed Traub in the head, back and neck about 17 times, returning to the bedroom at one point to throw a stinging liquid on Traub, and then set him and his home on fire before driving off in his vehicle with a coin collection and some bottles of cologne.

Traub had to wait for the men to leave his home “and then literally run through a wall of fire to escape,” Backstrom said at the time the men were charged.

Traub has since recovered from his injuries and testified against Cook during his trial.

Originally Published: August 21, 2012 at 7:30 AM CDT