Meet the man who cleans crime scenes for a living

Jerry Cook started out washing carpets as a teenager. Now, he spends his time cleaning crime scenes, deceased estates, prison cells and hoarder houses.

A crime scene cleaner has opened up about his grisly profession - and the one “revolting” job that cemented his passion for scrubbing blood-soaked rooms.

Jerry Cook, owner of National Trauma and Crime Scene Cleaning, operates a business which specialises in cleaning crime scenes, deceased estates, biohazards, prison cells and hoarder houses.

Speaking to news.com.au, Mr Cook revealed how he got into the unique industry and opened up about some of the worst scenes he’s been paid to clean.

Director of National Trauma and Crime Scene Cleaning, Jerry Cook, on-site during a clean-up. Picture: Supplied

The beginning

Mr Cook got his start in the cleaning industry at the age of 18.

He was first commissioned to undertake water and fire damage restoration, odour removal and general carpet and upholstery cleaning work, before then progressing to the commercial cleaning of medical centres and real estates.

In 2002, one of Mr Cook’s real estate clients called him up with an unusual request.

“She said that someone delivering the Yellow Pages had discovered that a person had passed away inside a unit she was managing and asked whether I could go and clean it,” Mr Cook said.

“I was intrigued so I agreed to do the job.”

He was met with a horrific scene when he walked into the Cairns apartment later that day.

“The person’s body was slumped over a dining room chair and had decomposed for nine weeks,” Mr Cook told news.com.au.

“Since the dining room was only 2.5 square metres in size, the person’s bodily fluids had filled the room, spilled into the kitchen area, travelled through the concrete floor and wiring underneath and then poured into the unit downstairs through a light fitting.”

Mr Cook stayed until midnight to clean up the bodily fluids, but the job ended up taking five days with help from two more workers.

“It was, by far, the most revolting cleaning job I have done in my life”, Mr Cook said. “There were flies and maggots everywhere. The odour was a ten out of ten.”

National Trauma and Crime Scene Cleaning now has a branch in every Australian state and territory. Its diverse services range from cleaning deceased estates to hoarder houses to prison cells to hotel crime scenes to sewerage clean-ups. Picture: Supplied

The turning point

The call-out was “life-changing” for Mr Cook who then went home and discussed it in detail with his partner.

After a lengthy conversation, the couple noticed a gap in the market and decided to establish a separate arm to their cleaning business dedicated to trauma and crime scenes. Now, this line of cleaning work is all the business undertakes.

“Trauma and crime scene cleaning is now all we do on a day-to-day basis”, Mr Cook said. “Most people are found dead within 72 hours of their death, but you do get some instances where it takes weeks or months for people to be found as they have got no next of kin, their next of kin is overseas or no one visits them on a regular basis.”

National Trauma and Crime Scene Cleaning has a branch in every Australian state and territory and a team of 42.

Its diverse services range from cleaning deceased estates to hoarder houses to prison cells to hotel suicides to sewerage clean-ups.

According to Mr Cook, cleaning up blood is common for those working at National Trauma and Crime Scene Cleaning. Picture: Supplied

The worst scenes

According to Mr Cook, 52, some of the worst scenes he’s witnessed don’t involve dead bodies.

“I once went into a property where the person’s body had not only decomposed for a long period of time, but they also were an extreme hoarder,” Mr Cook recalled.

“For instance, the person had eight freezers that didn’t really work property which were jam packed with food that was out of date. The odour was repugnant. The whole site was a biohazard. And it was just plain squalor.”

Mr Cook and his team are often called to clean hotel rooms where people have attempted suicide.

“We were called to a swanky hotel at 3am as a person had attempted suicide. When we arrived, the room was brimming with police conducting their forensic investigation,” he said.

While Mr Cook acknowledged that he and his team had seen more trauma than other people would see in their whole lifetime, but said the nature of his work “reinforces that being compassionate, understanding and considerate of others and whatever life throws at them is key.”

If you know of someone who requires the services of National Trauma and Crime Scene Cleaning, you can get in touch here.

Mr Cook said that some of the worst scenes that he has witnessed are often at the houses of deceased hoarders. Picture: Supplied

Originally published as Meet the man who cleans crime scenes for a living