Faye Copeland: Oldest aged Female Serial Killer?

(Lohr, 1). 

Faye Copeland along with her husband, Ray Copeland, became the oldest couple to be sentenced to death in American history (Lohr, 7). The Copeland's were convicted of killing five men in the early 1990's.  They were husband and wife killers who were known to be the most bizarre. Not only were they eligible for social security at the time of their crimes, but none of the crimes seemed to based off of passion (Lohr, 1). It's hard to tell the motive of the crimes the Copeland's committed. Even more inconvenient, there is very little information on and studies done on perpetrators over the age of sixty (Lohr, 1). "According to the 2000 Russian Journal of Psychiatry, by L. K. Khokhlov, E. A Grigoryeva., and M. M. Rozum, most elderly murderers demonstrate a close relationship between pre-senile, senile disorders and social-psychological factors and more than half demonstrate clear evidence of psychopathology" (Lohr, 1). Could insanity be the motive for the elderly couple to start committing crimes?


The Nebraska Crime Stoppers hotline logged a call from Jack McCormick, on August 20, 1989. McCormick had recently moved from Missouri, where he worked on a farm for an elderly couple. He began to explain, that the couple used drifters to commit crimes involving livestock. In the beginning, McCormick stated he was unaware of the criminal activity. Although, when Mr. Copeland found out about his suspicions he tried to kill McCormick. Luckily, McCormick escaped and fled to Nebraska (Lohr, 2). Before closing up the phone call with the Crime Stoppers, he mentioned he had seen some human bones on their property (Lohr, 2). When Missouri police received this tip they took it very seriously, considering Copeland had a long arrest record for forgery and cattle theft (Lohr, 2). 

(Lohr, 3). 

On October 9, 1989 over forty officers showed up on the Copeland's property with a search warrant (Lohr, 2). Five days passed, with no evidence of human remains found on the farm land. Finally, on October 17, 1989 police discovered three bodies in a local barn on their property (Lorh, 2). Each body was buried in a separate grave, with a single gunshot wound to the back of the skull (Lorh, 2). Later, police found two more bodies on the Copeland's property. One body was found in another barn the Copeland's used, the last body was found in an old well that police were searching (Lorth, 3). As with the others, both of these bodies had one gunshot in the back of the skull (Lorth, 3). 

Both Copeland's were to be charged with five counts of first-degree murder. Faye Copeland had her trial first, on November 1, 1990. During her trial Faye was an astonishing 69 years old (Lohr, 7). Faye's defense was that she was unaware of her husband's actions and was a victim of Battered Women Syndrome. The jury found Faye guilty of five counts of first-degree murder. The Judge sentenced her to death by lethal injection for the four counts and one count life without parole (Lohr, 7). 

The very next day after Faye's trial, Ray Copeland was informed about Faye's trial. 

 "You hear about the verdict Ray?

Nah ...what happened?

Well, they found her guilty and recommended execution for her, Ray.

Well, those things happen to some you know, he responded" (Lohr, 7).  Ray never asked about Faye after being informed on her sentence (Lohr, 7).

On March 7, 1991 Ray Copeland went to trial. Copeland was 76 years old during his trial (Lohr, 7). After weeks of testimonies the jury came to a verdict, Ray Copeland was found guilty of five counts of first-degree murder (Lohr, 7). He was sentenced to death by lethal  injection. After hearing the verdict, Ray simply mumbled, Im OK (Lohr, 7). 

Two years later, Ray Copeland died while awaiting execution. He died at the Potosi Correctional Center at age 78 (Lohr, 8). While in prison Faye Copeland will go to trials and her sentence will be lowered to life in prison (Lohr, 8). In the early 2000's an attorney was in the process of appealing the judges ruling. The attorney wanted to reinstate the death sentence on Faye Copeland (Lohr, 7). Before any more progress could be made on the appeal, Faye Copeland suffered a stroke, which left her partially paralyzed and unable to speak (Lohr, 8). She was then paroled to a nursing home in her hometown. Not even a year later, at age 82 Faye Copeland died from natural causes at the nursing home (Lohr, 8). 

 To this day, investigators still believe the couple committed more than five murders. The biggest piece of evidence to back this up was a handwritten list. During the searching of the Copeland's house they discovered a handwritten list written by Faye (Lohr, 3). It had names on it, all farm helpers on the property. Twelve of the names had X's by them. All five bodies found had a X by their name. The rest of the names with the X were all missing and presumed dead (Lohr, 3). After reading this evidence I completely agree with investigators. It's sad that the Copeland's weren't charged with all the murders they convicted. The motive is hard to determine, and as a result it's another case that is a bit of a mystery. In the end, if it wasn't for McCormick we may have never known about this couple's dark secrets. Just like female serial killers, senior serial killers are just as rare. Sadly, no one would assume an elderly person could commit such a crime, which is how they, like females, can get away with murder. 

 
Works Cited: 

Lohr, David. "The True Story of Ray and Faye Copeland". <Crimelibrary>. Web. 6 Mar. 2013.