View source for Ray and Faye Copeland

{{short description|American serial killer duo}}
{{for-text|the American jazz trumpet player and teacher|[[Ray Copeland (musician)]]|the American football player|[[Mule Wilson|Faye "Mule" Wilson]]}}

{{Infobox serial killer
| name              = Ray Copeland
| image             = Serial_Killer_Couple_Ray_and_Faye_Copeland.jpg
| image_upright     = 1.15
| caption           = 
| alias             = 
| birth_date        = December 30, 1914
| birth_place       = [[Oklahoma]], U.S.
| spouse            = Faye Della Wilson Copeland (1940&ndash;1993, his death)
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1993|10|19|1914|12|30}}
| death_place       = [[Potosi Correctional Center]], [[Potosi, Missouri]], U.S.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2003/dec/31/convicted_killer_dies/|title=Convicted killer dies in Mo. Nursing home }}</ref>
| conviction        = [[First degree murder]] (5 counts)
| victims           = {{nowrap|5&ndash;12}}
| country           = United States
| states            = Missouri
| beginyear         = 1986
| endyear           = 1989
| occupation        = Cattle farmer; thief, swindler, forger, killer
| apprehended       = October 17, 1989
| sentence          = [[Capital punishment|Death]]
}}

{{Infobox serial killer
| name              = Faye Della Wilson Copeland
| image             = 
| caption           = 
| alias             = 
| birth_name        = Faye Della Wilson
| birth_date        = August 4, 1921
| birth_place       = [[Harrison, Arkansas]], U.S.
| spouse            = Ray Copeland (1940&ndash;1993, his death)
| death_place       = [[Chillicothe, Missouri]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{death date and age|2003|12|23|1921|4|8}}
| conviction        = [[First degree murder]] (5 counts)
| victims           = {{nowrap|5&ndash;12}}
| country           = United States
| states            = Missouri
| beginyear         = 1986
| endyear           = 1989
| occupation        = Factory Worker, Motel Maid and Nanny for Neela Patel and her children Samir and Amy
| apprehended       = October 17, 1989
| sentence          = [[Capital punishment|Death]]; commuted to [[life imprisonment]]
| criminal_status   = [[Deceased]]
}}

'''Faye Della Copeland''' (née '''Wilson'''; August 4, 1921&nbsp;– December 23, 2003) and '''Raymond W. Copeland''' (December 30, 1914&nbsp;– October 19, 1993) became, at the ages of 69 and 76 respectively, the oldest couple ever [[Capital punishment|sentenced to death]] in the United States. They were convicted of killing five [[drifter (person)|drifters]] at their farm in [[Mooresville, Missouri]]. When her sentence was commuted to [[life in prison]] in 1999, Faye Copeland was the oldest woman on [[death row]].

==History==
Ray Copeland was born in Oklahoma in 1914. While he was growing up, his family moved around, struggling to survive during the [[Great Depression]].<ref name="Greig">{{cite book | title=Evil Serial Killers: In the Minds of Monsters | publisher=Barnes & Noble | author=Greig, Charlotte | year=2005 | location=New York | pages=[https://archive.org/details/evilserialkiller00char/page/64 64–65] | isbn=0760775664 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/evilserialkiller00char/page/64 }}</ref><ref name="DailyNews">{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/case-vanishing-vagrants-article-1.220343 | title=The case of the vanishing vagrants | last=Bovsun |first=Mara | work=The New York Daily News | date=25 March 2008 | access-date=23 January 2016}}</ref><ref name="Miller">{{cite book | title=The Copeland Killings | publisher=Pinnacle Books | author=Miller, Tom | year=1993 | location=New York | pages=1–304 | isbn=1558176756}}</ref> As a young man, he began a life of [[petty crime]], stealing livestock and [[check forgery|forging checks]], until he was caught and served a year in jail. After his release in 1940, he met Faye Wilson, and they were married soon afterward. They quickly had several children and, thanks to Ray's criminal reputation, had to keep moving their family around while money was tight.<ref name="Greig" /><ref name="DailyNews" /><ref name="Miller" /> During this time, Ray served several jail sentences, until he finally came up with a plan to improve his illegal money-making methods so as to be undetected.

Because Ray was well known as a fraud, he could not buy and sell cattle on his own. To get around this problem, he began to pick up [[Drifter (person)|drifters]] and [[hobo]]s and employed them as farmhands on his property in Mooresville, Missouri. He would take his employees to the market, where they would use his bad checks to buy the cattle for him. After the transactions, Ray would sell the cattle quickly and the farmhands would disappear without a trace. For a while, the scam worked, but the police caught up and Ray was once again sent to jail.<ref name="Greig" /><ref name="DailyNews" /><ref name="Miller" /> 

Upon his release, he resumed his criminal activities, but this time he made sure his farmhands were not as connected to him as before. This went on until a previous employee, Jack McCormick, called the [[Crime Stoppers]] hotline in August 1989 to tell them about the Copelands.<ref name="Greig" /><ref name="DailyNews" /><ref name="Miller" /> McCormick claimed that he had seen human bones on their farm while he was employed there and also claimed that Ray had tried to kill him.

Police were initially skeptical of the claims, but after checking Ray's criminal record, they decided to investigate further. In October 1989, they visited the Copeland farm armed with a [[search warrant]], dozens of officers and a team of [[bloodhound]]s.<ref name="Greig" /><ref name="DailyNews" /><ref name="Miller" /> Initially, they did not find any incriminating evidence, but after further searching, the bodies of three young men were discovered in a nearby barn. As the search continued, more bodies were found, all killed with the same weapon: a [[.22 caliber]] [[Marlin Firearms|Marlin]] rifle that was later found in the Copeland home.<ref name="Greig" /><ref name="DailyNews" /><ref name="Miller" />

It became clear that Ray killed his employees in the pursuit of money, but Faye's actions were initially questioned.<ref name="Greig" /><ref name="DailyNews" /><ref name="Miller" /> When she went to trial in November 1990, her defense mounted a picture of her as a dutiful wife and mother who had endured beatings and general ill-treatment from her husband. However, the jury convicted her of five counts of first degree murder. She was given four [[death sentence]]s for the murders and one life sentence. 

In March 1991, Ray went on trial, was convicted of five counts of murder and sentenced to death.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/05/23/Elderly-farmer-sentenced-todeath/6516674971200/|title=Elderly farmer sentenced to death}}</ref> Upon hearing that Faye had been sentenced to death by [[lethal injection]] as well, Ray showed no emotion and replied "Well, those things happen to some, you know."<ref name="Greig" /><ref name="DailyNews" /><ref name="Miller" />

Ray died of natural causes on October 19, 1993. His body was cremated. Faye's attorneys appealed her conviction, contending that the jury had not been allowed to hear evidence that Ray had abused her for years. On August 6, 1999, Judge [[Ortrie D. Smith]] overturned the death sentence, but let the convictions stand and commuted her sentence to five consecutive terms of life without parole. 

On August 10, 2002, Faye suffered a stroke that left her partially paralyzed and unable to speak. Weeks later, in September 2002, Governor [[Bob Holden]] authorized [[medical parole]] for Faye, fulfilling her one wish that she not die in prison. She was paroled to a nursing home in her hometown of Chillicothe, Missouri, where she died of natural causes at the age of 82 the following year. She left behind five children and 17 grandchildren.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jan-01-me-passings1.3-story.html|title=Faye Copeland, 82; Convicted of Killing 5 Men in Missouri|website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=January 2004 }}</ref>

==Known victims==
*Dennis K. Murphy of [[Normal, Illinois]]; killed October 17, 1986
*Wayne Warner of [[Bloomington, Illinois]];<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1908&dat=19901102&id=JtkhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vJ4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=2606,2196620&hl=en The Nevada Daily Mail Nov 2, 1990]</ref> killed November 19, 1986
*Jimmy Dale Harvey, 27 of [[Springfield, Missouri]]; killed October 25, 1988
*John W. Freeman, 27 of [[Boonville, Indiana]]; killed December 8, 1988
*Paul J. Cowart, 20 of [[Dardanelle, Arkansas]]; killed May 3 or 4, 1989

==In other media==
The Copelands' story has been fictionalized in a comic book ''Family Bones'', written by Ray's great-nephew Shawn Granger.<ref name="Granger_1">{{cite book |author=Granger, Shawn |title=Family Bones Volume 1 |publisher=King Tractor Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0978748609 |location=La Verne, CA |pages=1–176}}</ref><ref name="Granger_2">{{cite book |author=Granger, Shawn |title=Family Bones Volume 2 |publisher=King Tractor Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0978748616 |location=La Verne, CA |pages=1–170}}</ref> The play ''Temporary Help'' by David Wiltse, which appeared [[off-Broadway]] in 2004, was based on this story.{{Cn|date=January 2023}}

The case was documented in multiple television series, such as ''[[Forensic Files]]'',<ref>{{cite web|title=Forensic Files Episode List|url=http://www.forensicfiles.com/forensic-files-episode-list.html|website=Forensic Files|publisher=Cable News Network|accessdate=3 March 2017|date=27 August 2001}}</ref> ''[[Wicked Attraction]]'', ''Becoming Evil: Sisterhood of Murder'' and ''[[The New Detectives]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=THE NEW DETECTIVES – Season 5 Ep 2 "Partners in Crime"|url=http://filmrise.com/the-new-detectives-season-5-ep-2-partners-in-crime/|website=FilmRise|publisher=The Discovery Channel|accessdate=3 March 2017|date=26 December 1999}}</ref>

It is speculated that the 2022 film ''[[X (2022 film)|X]]'' is loosely based on the killings committed by the Copelands.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stipidis |first1=Julieann |title='X' in Real Life – The True Story of the Ray & Faye Copeland Killings |url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3708097/x-in-real-life-the-true-story-of-the-ray-faye-copeland-killings/ |publisher=[[Bloody Disgusting]] |access-date=22 March 2022 |date=22 March 2022}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of serial killers in the United States]]
* [[List of serial killers by number of victims]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==

*Miller, Tom (1993). ''The Copeland Killings:The Bizarre True Account of Ray and Faye Copeland, the Oldest Couple Ever Sentenced to Death in America!'' {{ISBN|978-1558176751}}

*

==External links==
* {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | title = The Morgue Archives July-August, 1999 | work = Mayhem Net | publisher = | date = | url = http://www.mayhem.net/Crime/morg9908.html | accessdate = }}
* {{cite web | last = Lohr | first = David | title = The True Story of Ray and Faye Copeland | work = TruTV Crime Library | publisher = | date = | url = http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/partners/copelands/index.html | accessdate = }}
{{authority control|additional=auto}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Copeland, Faye}}
[[Category:20th-century American criminals]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American female serial killers]]
[[Category:Criminal couples]]
[[Category:Married couples]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by Missouri]]
[[Category:People from Harrison, Arkansas]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to death by Missouri]]
[[Category:Serial killer duos]]
[[Category:Serial killers from Missouri]]