RAY & FAYE COPELAND: NOT YOUR TYPICAL GRANDPARENTS

Article BY Casey Frank - Art from the comic book Family Bones

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When most of us recall memories of our grandparents we are able to conjure sweet remembrance of our ever doting grandma, a pitcher of cold iced tea in her hand while listening to the ever lengthy yarns of 'the old days' our grandfather could spin for what seemed like hours. These are small details we can recall many years later long after they are gone. A late night in October 1989 forever left a dark residue upon the memories Ray and Faye Copeland's grand children, instead of fond memories occupying their thoughts, they sit around analyzing their memories trying to see how they did not know what atrocities lay in an ordinary white barn.

More than three dozen sheriff's deputies and highway patrol officers all bore shovels and staves, every last one of their eyes cast earthwards looking for even the smallest clue to help them understand what had happened on the rugged farm and to its farm hands. A backhoe's arm gouged out sections of earth for the officers to sift through, as bloodhounds tracked along fences and through thick brush on the length of the property, but it was all fruitless all that could be found as of yet were the bones of various farm animals. The Copelands looked on as officers swarmed like bees to a hive to leave no stone unturned in their search for the missing farm hands. This soil they had cultivated for the better part of two decades and six children later now being examined as if it were carrying gold beneath its surface.

 

EARLY YEARS

Ray Copeland was born in Oklahoma to Jess and Laney Copeland just as World War I was getting started in 1914. It was a cold and harsh welcome into a very rough world as the Copelands moved from place to place attempting to find some sense of stability for their growing family, eventually settling in the great Ozarks in northern Arkansas. Even though the Copelands were dirt poor Ray was as spoiled as child could be without really having anything, later his older sister Nellie recalled, "I never quite understood it, but mom would let Ray get away with things the rest of us never could." Very little is known about Ray Copeland's early childhood, except that as the Great Depression raged and jobs were scarce as the average income was only measured in hundreds of dollars, and most were lucky if they got that. But Ray was forced to drop out of school at only fourth grade to toil beside his father on the family farm in Harrison, Arkansas. Many accounts of Ray as a young man agree on a few things, he was an extremely hard worker who had a strong back, and a cunning eye for any opportunity or scheme to earn a few extra dollars.

At age 20 Ray was purported to have put two of his father's hog into the family wagon and sold them in Eureka Springs, Arkansas without his father's knowledge, however no formal charges were ever filed on the theft. Over the next several years Ray would be involved with numerous petty thefts, often stalking the mailboxes of his local neighbors and even his own older brother John to intercept the government checks that were being sent out to help the poor populace with the ever tightening grip of the Great Depression. Ray would then forge the names on the back of the checks and pocket the money for himself. He was eventually arrested in 1936 at the age of 22 for forging government checks and was sentenced to six months for state charges and six months for federal charges, he was ordered to serve his year sentence in jail. Many years later in an interview his older brother John revealed, " Ray could look you right in the eye and lie to you, even then. He always seemed to be looking for an angle or shortcut to everything. And sometimes, maybe a lot of times, Mom and Dad would know all about it and not do anything." It seemed though no matter what Ray did his parents always stood by him, even buying into stories about how he was being framed even after he was convicted, telling them he would beat the system. Ray would always go into courtrooms and police stations with a smug smile always thinking he was smarter than the cops arresting him many people recalled. For the next three years there are no public records for Ray, although if he had kept his nose clean or just was not caught for other crimes during these years is up for debate.

Everyone was sure Ray would turn himself around when he met a radiant, fair haired beauty at a routine doctor's visit. Faye Della Wilson was only 19 when she was swept off her feet by a smooth talking Ray Copeland. Faye was raised in a very modest dirt floored cabin to her hard working parents Rufus and Gladys Wilson. Rufus was a hard nosed man who required rigid obedience from his seven children, requiring church on a regular basis to instill strong moral fiber  into his offspring. By the time Faye was 10 years old she was working for other people doing a variety of jobs, including, laundry, cleaning houses, or babysitting. Faye was able to stay in school through the eight grade until she had to drop out to lend a much needed helping hand at the family farm. During these dark times Ray Copeland must have seemed like a god send to the young Faye Wilson, impressing her with his flashy talk about how much money he had and how good he was at making money. Faye must have thought she had found the stability she had never really had in her life, but eventually found out that her gangly dream man was all smoke and mirrors when it came to finances. In the Fall of 1940 after six short months of courting, Faye was so enamored with the rugged Ray Copeland they wed in a small ceremony officiated by a judge in Harrison, Arkansas.

Within the first year of marriage the newly weds welcomed their first child into the world naming him Everett Roy. Two short years later in 1943 as the Great Depression seemed to be winding down and World War II was just getting started Faye Copeland gave birth to their second son Billy Ray. Shortly after their son's birth Ray decided it was time to move somewhere else and began a nomadic life style that would last years and take the family across the country. In 1944 Ray uprooted his growing family and moved to Fresno County, California hoping they would fair better there then in Arkansas. Ray and Faye Copeland's only daughter Betty Lou was born in Fresno County, California in 1945. Shortly after Betty Lou was born Ray decided it was time to move again, so he packed up his rapidly growing brood and headed back to Arkansas in search of work to support his family. Alvia Lee the Copeland's third son came in 1947. It seemed things may finally be looking up for the Copelands, until 1949 when Ray decided it was time to move back to Fresno where Faye gave birth to their fifth child William Wayne. Fresno was soon deemed fruitless by Ray Copeland so later that year Ray packed up the family once again to try to make it Arkansas. Although no one could recall the exact facts, it was widely believed by the people who remembered Ray as a young man, that he had fled Fresno to either to avoid being arrested or as a deal he had struck with his former employer for stealing his horses.

A pattern in Ray that would ultimately lead him down the darkest of paths started to emerge, Ray liked to steal livestock. It was second nature to Ray to find a weakness and exploit it. Ray knew after a cow or pig was slaughtered or even resold it was extremely difficult to prove ownership of livestock back then when all it took to get it was a handshake and a check, the only thing keeping the men honest was the honor system they had in place, Ray knew he could exploit that system, and for half a century he did just that. Ray would sell the livestock he had stolen from one farmer to another and then pocket pure profit for the sale. The law finally caught up with him less than a month after moving his family back to Arkansas and was jailed for a year on cattle theft, Ray was 33. While Ray was serving his time in jail his family was destitute, living with his brother John and at times had to rely on hand outs and welfare to make it to the next day. Faye tried whenever she could to earn a few extra dollars to keep her family alive by doing a variety of jobs. The Copeland boys also vividly remember social workers coming by once in awhile to try to help out with small things like making sure the boys hair was cut, small luxuries that the weary and hardworking Faye could not provide.

In 1950 Ray was finally released from jail and was determined something had to change. Ray decided to uproot his family again and moved to a small town in southern Missouri called Rocky Comfort. Southern Missouri seemed to be a lot like northern Arkansas had at one time, large cheap land was plentiful, privacy was abundant, and it carried the hope that if a man worked hard he could scratch a living out of the soil to take care of his family. It wasn't long before the law was once again after Ray Copeland, his destructive pattern continued to plague him as anyone who dealt with Ray, employers and even friends whom Ray betrayed would regret any association with the farmer, his simple looks and bibbed overalls did not project the cunning and devious mind that rest in Ray Copeland. Ray was arrested yet again in February of 1951 for stealing a calf from a farmer who had hired him, Ray repeated the actions he had done in his very first livestock theft from his father by taking to calf to Eureka Springs, Arkansas and selling it off pocketing the cash for himself. Ray must have thought he had a guardian angel of sorts when the judge did not sentence the man to jail, but instead ordered him to work on the judge's own farm avoiding further jail time. In 1953 Ray has finished his 'sentence' on the judge's farm so he packed up his family once again and moved to a place just outside of Brighton, Illinois, the Copelands did not stay long as such was the nomadic life Ray Copeland had chosen for his family. Al Copeland would later say,"We went to so many schools I cant even remember them all." Ray was arrested at least 3 more times during this Illinois years and ended up serving time on a prison farm for yet again for writing back checks and even forging a person's personal check.

All the years of being in and out of jail had finally caught up with Ray Copeland. He was never an affectionate man, but was fair to his wife and children, that had by now all changed. Ray was prone to fits of extreme physical violence by now and directed it at anyone who he determined a nuisance, most often being directed at his sons, but no one, not even Faye was safe from Ray's violent rages once he got started. Becoming increasingly self-absorbed Ray isolated himself from his family ignoring birthdays, Christmas, and any other holiday that would come and go. Faye would later claim that Ray took great pleasure in berating her on a regular basis calling her stupid often, even though Faye was the one who could read and write and with such skills kept all of the family's records and book keeping. Al and Wayne Copeland would later recall that they were required to help milk a dairy herd everyday that Ray had been hired to care for, and even though snow covered the ground the boys were not allowed to wear their 'school shoes' to milk cows, unfortunately for the boys those were the only shoes they owned so they milked in the snow barefoot. " We used to mush our feet around in the cow shit just to keep them warm, dad thought that was funny as hell." Wayne would later remember. Al Copeland would later recount an incident that happened when he was only 11 years old, while Al was milking a cow the cow kept kicking off her back shackles which interrupted the milking process, to Ray this was not only unacceptable it was also his sons fault yelling at him, "Dad told me how dumb I was for letting old cow to that, and then hit me on the head with the cow kickers, that kind of thing was normal to us." When Al was helping Ray gather hay from a hay wagon Al had broken his wrist, despite the fact that it was extremely swollen and painful Ray would not let his son slow down or stop working that day no matter how badly broken Al's wrist was. Eventually Ray allowed Faye to take Al to the doctors in the evening after all of the farm work had been finished.

The Copeland children later would say they can not remember Faye ever crossing her husband. Faye would not even tell the children that Ray was in jail when he got arrested, she would just tell them he had "gone out of town". One can only imagine what visions Ray and Faye Copeland's children had when they heard their father was just out of town for years at a time. "Mom just knew hard work, and she knew she was supposed to be loyal to her husband, she was just that, just like the rest of us were our of fear." Al would say in an interview years later. But its hard to imagine the hard nosed farm wife being so terrified and dominated when she was in fact the 'brains' of the operation on the Copeland's farm, being the only one out of the two who could read and write. She did all of the families finances and record keeping, some people would after say she encouraged Ray to bring more money in for the bills she had to manage, so one would think Faye had to have some kind say in the way the house hold was run. As soon as they were able one by one the Copeland children would leave the house and some would never look back. One incident that prompted Wayne to leave the house and join the Army was when he had been beaten by Ray with a hammer after an argument between father and son about some chores. Betty found another way out, she married very young to get as far away from her father as possible, Betty has often said while she can think of a very few times her mother was caring, she could not even recall one such incident about her father.

In the early 1960s Ray was spending more time in jail than out of jail for writing bad checks for cattle. Once Ray had figured out cattle auctions were based on a honor system put in place by the local farmers he exploited it. Ray would write a 'hot' check for the cattle and then turn around (sometimes on the same day) and sell the cattle to another farmer pocketing the now honest cash. But Ray had been getting caught with increasing frequency, Ray had found his mistake, the bad checks could be traced directly to his door step, Ray needed a new system and he knew it.

 

A NEW START

During the Great Depression it was common to mistrust or even hate banks and bankers, a fair amount of blue collared workers viewed them as cesspools of greed and corruption. Farmers saw what they viewed as hard working, god fearing men getting bilked out of their homes and livelihoods for the money hungry beast of the government. Following the end of the Great Depression the banks tried to change and build a new relationship with the workers they had previously wronged, the workers may have squirreled away some cash for a rainy day, but for the most part accepted the fact that the bankers that had only cared about profit and not the land owners had began to change. Ray Copeland could not let go of the hatred that had festered inside him his entire life, and in his twisted logic never even believed the bad checks as a crime, since Ray viewed all banks and bankers as criminals anyway. His belief was so stead fast that he was purported to carry in his wallet, kept in his bib overalls to keep it close to his heart, newspaper clippings of articles where banks or bankers had been swindled by con-men or sued by insurance companies. However, despite having the peace of mind of his precious clippings in his wallet, Ray still was not happy, in Ray's mind his enemy the suit-wearing, land stealing bankers still had to pay. But making them pay usually ended up with Ray spending months to years in jail, which started to take it toll on him. When he was younger going to jail was like going to law breaking seminar where he learned how to become a better 'paper hanger', but at his age now, there were just no benefits, usually about this time in a criminal's life they would stop and go straight being so tired of the revolving door of the criminal justice system, but Ray Copeland just wasn't that type of criminal. While Ray spent his youth in and out of jail Faye Copeland was working hard to keep what little they had with no husband around to help, and even when he was around she says she secretly hoped he would get caught again. But still the ever dutiful wife and mother Faye followed her husband to whatever town or state he deemed their new 'home'. The interesting thing about Ray Copeland is that even though he stole untold amounts of money, he never aspired to live lavishly, apparently to Ray it was all about the 'game' he played with the banks and bankers, a game he felt increasingly that he was losing.

In 1966 Ray announced they were moving yet again, but for the first time it was in northwest Missouri, a place the Copeland's had not been yet. Maybe it was the draw of cheap land and the local farmer's need for even cheaper labor, or maybe it was the lure of a new place for Ray to ply his trade. Either way the Copeland's were hoping for a chance at a fresh start away from all the legal problems and bankers who already knew them all too well. The Copelands settled in a small run down farmer's house that they were allowed to live in for the exchange of Ray's work. Faye would later say she had hoped this was the answers to her prayers, that her forty-seven year old husband would finally settle down and be the husband and father he had promised to be all those years ago when then married. But like clock work a year later Ray moved his family to a house near Utica, Missouri. Their four oldest children had left as soon as they were able and finally Faye and Ray were looking for a farm of their own to work.  Ray and Faye Copeland has never really owned anything other than an automobile in their lives, so this was the pinnacle of Faye's life, everything she had waited for, all of the scraping and barely surviving while Ray was in jail, this was the light at the end of the tunnel, but it turned out to be the nail in her coffin. Finally in 1967 Ray and Faye what they viewed as the perfect place to finish out their lives, it may have been a small run down house on 40 acres with a pond to everyone else, but to Faye it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, Faye finally had a piece of the American pie. Ray and Faye ended up putting a down payment of five-hundred dollars and agreed to make payments of forty dollars a month, the Copeland's first and last home would cost six thousand dollars, a good price by even those days, for a graveyard.

It wasn't long after the family relocated to northwest Missouri that Faye got a job working at Midwest Quality Gloves Corporation, Faye adjusted well to the hard labor it required as she had worked hard her whole life and knew nothing else, many of her co-workers would describe her as a hard as nails woman, Faye had to be to survive everything that had been thrown at her. Faye worked there from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1978 to 1983, it was also said she was very punctual and loyal employee during those times. Faye couldn't stomach the thought of retiring after 1983, possibly because of her husband's unstable income, she took a part time job at The Holiday Motel in Chillicothe. Motel patrons and co-workers really didn't know a lot about the elderly lady cleaning their rooms and occasionally running the front desk, some were not even aware she was married as she almost never mentioned her husband. But they could agree on a few points, Faye's hard life was deeply etched into her face in deep lines, and she only had one act of pure vanity anyone ever knew, she frequently made trips to the local beauty parlor to perm her now grey hair. Ray would often make appearances at cattle auctions, buying some here and there and having the deals be legitimate, but never made a large sum of money off the deals. No, Ray sat in the sun drenched bleachers watching, or wandering the holding pens looking at the stock that was up for bid, it did seem in 1970 Ray changed his plans up a bit, coming dangerously close the scheme that would set him on his own death row.

By all accounts Ray's early schemes were out right brazen. Ray would show up at an auction often with a very disheveled looking partner, that everyone would swear was a hitchhiker, the two would then split up and work into the crowd. When Ray saw a pig or cow he fancied he would tip his hat to his cohort and the hitchhiker would then bid on it. At the end of the auction the disheveled man would then sign Ray Copeland's name, Ray would sell the livestock right away to some farmer for legitimate money and when the bank would notify Ray about the bad check that had been written Ray would contest it saying it was obvious his signature was forged so he couldn't be held liable, so unfortunately the sale barn was left holding the bag. Not exactly as elegant as a Rip-Van-Winkle caper, but it worked a few dozen times with a few different drifters, the assumption is that the drifters simply drifted on a few bucks richer after these small time cons, but no one really knows what happened to those men. But many law enforcement officers from that era of Ray's timeline of schemes are convinced he was killing of he transient partners even then, and are very convinced that the he hid the bodies so well that they will never be found, " Boy, we really wanted to get him bad, but we never could get the thing put together just right, He was a wily old bird and caught breaks here and there." Officer Rhoades would later say about Ray's schemes. Unfortunately for Ray law enforcement eventually found one drifter, Gerald Perkins, and he had agreed to turn states evidence, finally the law could get justice for all the swindling to the sale barns Ray Copeland had done, but Perkins couldn't stay sober long enough for trial, but at least law enforcement had a reason now to keep an even closer eye on Ray Copeland. In 1971 Ray was in jail yet again and Faye was fed up with it, no longer would she be the idle house wife, she let Ray have it, she bailed Ray out and flat out told him that the next time he was in trouble she would not be around to bail him out, no longer the fragile girl he had married her hard life that he put her through had made her hide as tough as leather and her resolve as strong as titanium.

 

SCHEMES

It seemed for the rest of the 1970s Ray had heeded his wife's resounding words, or at least the bodies had not washed up anywhere some officials whole heartedly believe. The 1980s would be a completely different story, most men in their 70s would be enjoying their golden years, rocking on their front porch just enjoying what little life they had left, but not old Ray Copeland. Ray's withered, hunched over frame was a road map of a hard life, his back was in constant pain, he could barely hear, and was diabetic by now. Ray was also up to eyeballs in debt and it was all falling down around him fast, he had taken out loans against the farm (Faye swore the house was paid off by 1972), the money from the loans he used in his legitimate livestock dealings, but going straight didn't work out for Ray, the bills were due and he had no way to pay them. Ray Copeland was now staring the embarrassment of bankruptcy in the face, and the local bank was breathing down his collar for loans totaling twenty-five thousand dollars, so Ray shifted some of the responsibility to his wife Faye. Faye and her boys convinced Ray to get a lawyer so they went and retained a up and coming lawyer by the name of Doug Roberts. Doug Roberts would help the Copeland's draw up a re-payment schedule with the bank and would play a bigger part later in Copeland's life as the prosecuting attorney who later issued the conspiracy and murder warrants against the Copelands. Roberts had to depart on a trip that was preplanned and when he returned the Copeland's had transferred the deed of their farm to Sonny Copeland and it seemed the crisis of losing their house was averted and Ray Copeland was cooking up a sinister scheme to make anyone who was unfortunate enough to cross his path.

Al Copeland would recall one day while riding with his father they saw a hitchhiker on their way to a cattle auction, the man wasn't a obvious drunkard or anything he just appeared to be down on his luck, holes in his well worn shoes and apparently carrying everything he owned, Ray did not stop to pick up the man, but what Ray would say to his son about the man would have made the devil blush, "Welfare bums, all they do is live off the tax payers and drink and bum around and sponge off everyone else". Oddly enough that is exactly what law abiding citizens would say about Ray Copeland's many trips to jail. ," They outta be got rid of, ain't to sure it wouldn't be doing everyone a favor to just take em out and shoot em just to get rid of em." he would continue on. Al would have no idea how much of a tragic foreshadowing this would be.

Ray had attempted just about every scheme someone like him could. He had done small time schemes of stealing livestock and selling them himself and forging signatures on payroll and government checks, he had even escalated to having drifters forge checks as he quickly sold the livestock for cash and contested the purchase, but he never got away with anything and all he had to show for anything was debt and a police record that would make Al Capone look twice. Ray sat down and planned out his final scheme, his masterpiece, this plan would be different he would stay of the banks and bad checks. Ray would meet a transient and offer him a place to stay, food and a little cash to help him with his cattle business, he would have the drifter get a p.o. box for an address and have him open a bank account in his own name, then take him to the cattle auction. Ray would tell him which cattle to buy and the drifter would write bad checks for the cattle, this would happen a few times then the drifter would 'move on', on farms it isn't uncommon for stray dogs, or wild life to be dealt a nice, neat shot with a .22 caliber rifle, one clean shot to protect the farmer's livelihood.

By 1989 Ray Copeland had his ruse down to a science, he would always use his age to his advantage telling men and boys who drifted through the missions ,"I'm getting old and am hard of hearing, I need someone to help me buy cattle at the auctions, I'll pay you fifty dollars a day plus room and board." It was a very enticing offer to men who had nothing to begin with. He would then add strange conditions asking if they had family and saying, "Can you avoid contacting anyone? I want you to work for me and not tell anyone where you are. I don't want a bunch of kinsfolk running around my place." Oddly enough the men at the mission did not even bat an eyelash at these conditions since they most likely did not want to be found in the first place. Many would later recall that Faye was often by his side during these exchanges, to set the men at ease Ray would flash his cash around to reassure the men he was a big time money making farmer who would treat them right if they worked hard, besides who would be afraid of a well off fragile old couple like the Copelands anyway.

 

CRIMES

Dennis Murphy was not like most drifters, he was an intelligent man and even had a small amount of college under his belt. Dennis was spent his childhood in Illinois not very far from when the Copelands spent the 1950s, but unfortunately he loved the bottle drinking too much and never stayed in one place very long. He took whenever where ever he could to earn the few dollars to his next drink and meal, even though he had short comings he was generally well liked by the people who had the privilege of working with him. Dennis was purported to not be a happy drunk often getting into bar room spats, and by the age of 7 had seen his once happy marriage dissolve before his eyes. In in 1986 Dennis was getting his act together and was living with his grandmother when he was contacted for work by Ray Copeland, Ray offered him a good sum of money to assist him buying cattle at auctions, Dennis's grandma knew it was not a good idea, if it was an instinct that she knew Ray was no good or if she thought Dennis would fall off the wagon without her strong guidance we will never know. Ray Copeland took Dennis to the small town of Ludlow, Missouri he made sure Dennis would look the part of a normal farm worker not some random vagrant. Ray gave Dennis some money with instructions to get a post office box in his own name and open a checking account at the Citizens Bank across the street also in his name, Ray convinced him it was all in his best interest to have a permanent address and a checking account to save all the money he was going to make. Dennis did what he was told and he was excited that it was surprisingly easy, coming out of the bank with his very own account must have been an amazing experience, walking out a new man with a address, a new job, and a bank account with money in it. Dennis must have felt like his bad streak was finally breaking, he wasn't yet aware how wrong he was. First thing was first the second when Dennis hopped back into the truck, Ray had Dennis write his first check, a blank one, he must have said in a joking tone to set the man to ease," For Faye just incase you and i were to get into an accident or something." No one knows if these were his words to Dennis but it is confirmed he used those words with other drifters. In the days or weeks while they waited for the printed checks to arrive in the mail Ray would take Dennis to the smaller auctions and they would 'practice' their signals and what type of livestock was healthy and what type they were looking for, during this time Ray must have still been particularly nice to Dennis and Dennis must have felt like a type of apprentice learning at the feet of what saw as a master farmer, Ray was a master of something alright but it was not farming.

The checks came in finally and they were ready, Ray and Dennis headed to the Tina livestock auction, but told Dennis he had to drop him off a little bit away from the actual sale because a lot of people did not like him and would bid him up just to spite him, Dennis agreed to it and at the auction Dennis would bid for Ray by proxy whenever Ray made the pre-determined gesture they had worked out. They worked the auctions for two weeks making three sperate purchases totaling $13,732. By the time the first check had bounced Ray had already taken care of the owner of the account. By many accounts Ray's vintage Marlin .22 caliber rifle was very well taken care of, and on October 15, 1986 while Dennis was working on Neil Bryan's farm Ray Copeland steadied his breathing to prevent the rifle from waning at all as he fired a single shot through Dennis Murphy's head and watched his lifeless body collapse to the ground. Ray went over to Dennis's body to be sure the man was dead, then Ray relieved the man of all traces of his identification, work clothes, and jewelry, except his specially engraved belt buckle that bore his name. Ray then rolled the body in black plastic sheets and tightly wrapped a large chain three times around the waist of the former Dennis Murphy, Ray took an old heavy cinder block and secured the chain through the holes in the block, Ray would later say he just happened to have these particular items in his truck that day. After he had finished his back breaking labor he threw Dennis's body down a forty foot well that was only a stones throw from where Dennis just working moments ago. The final phase was finally here for Ray Copeland, Ray converted the well into Dennis's tomb by pushing a large concrete slab over the top of the well's, hole forever hiding Ray's brutal secret, well that's at least what Ray thought. It wasn't long before the law was knocking on Ray and Faye Copeland's door asking about Dennis Murphy, much to the officer's amazement Ray in no way denied knowing the vagrant the officer would later recall the conversation vividly, "Fact is I got a bad check on him too." Ray would present the check Dennis wrote when he opened the account, "Sure hope you find him." As the deputy walked away he would say under hid breath, "I hope I find him too."

The very next day after Dennis had been laid to unrest Ray was in Illinois again looking for his next victim, he stumbled upon Wayne Warner an alcoholic Vietnam vet who was prone to violent outbursts when he drank too much. Wayne had met an amazing twenty-six year old woman named Laurie Prather and they were due to be married at Christmas in 1986, so when Ray came to town Wayne jumped at the chance to earn extra money to start his new life, he had told Laurie that this was the chance he needed and that everything was going to work out for them. Laurie thought the deal was a good ideal also hoping that them living in rural area would help both of them stay clean and sober, even if it did mean a brief time apart. The couple was beaming with hope when Ray kept his word and returned for Wayne saying it was time to go, Wayne assured his girlfriend he would soon for her was not to be, the next time Wayne was in Illinois was to pick up the newly printed checks from his p.o. box just as Ray Copeland had Dennis Murphy do. Once again Ray hit the auctions with his newest farm hand, because Wayne was a bit older than the last farm hand the locals actually bought that he was a knowledgeable livestock buyer and gave him the benefit of the doubt, so they accepted his checks without a sideways glance. In November the checks Wayne wrote the auctions started to bounce and Ray was once again left with a loose end he needed to tie up and fast. Ray drove Wayne to the Joe Adams's barn telling him he needed some help with some chores and while Wayne was doing what Ray had asked him to do in the barn Ray leveled his .22 caliber Marlin and in the cold night air Ray pulled the trigger sending the .22 caliber slug twisting through the air and burrowed right through Wayne Warner's unknowing skull. The only sound that night of November 19, 1986 was the echo of the rifle's discharge and the ominous thud of Wayne's body plummeting to the ground below it. Ray again wrapped his farm hand in black plastic but this time left all Wayne's clothes on him, instead of the well this time Ray just shoved Wayne's body under some planks that Ray knew would very shortly have hay piled upon the boards covering up any trace of Ray Copeland's misdeeds. It's hard for police to believe Faye had no knowledge of the killings as Ray would have needed a 'lookout' to sit in his truck and watch for anyone at all, it takes a fair amount time to shoot a person, roll up a body, and dispose of this body, its hard to believe Ray would have planned all this out without a lookout, who else could have been the look out, the farm hands were dead and Faye was the only person he could trust or convince to watch for someone while he disposed of the farm hands.

It seems for a few months Ray went on a hiatus, no one seems to know why Ray stopped for awhile, its possible that the close proximity of the shootings may have shaken Ray and made him nervous, but there were bad checks still being written at the auctions but law enforcement cant pin any of them to Ray Copeland but they firmly believe that the bodies just have not been located yet.

In the fall Ray Copeland met up with a Springfield, Illinois local Jimmie Harvey, Jimmie was not like anyone else Ray had picked up, Jimmie suffered from severe head trauma from a motorcycle accident and epilepsy. Jimmie spent a lot of time at the mission despite the fact she was not a vagrant and his associations there worried his mother endlessly, he had trouble sometimes keeping a job and as a result ended up in jail for burglary for a few years. Jimmie has just finished truck driving school when he crossed paths with Ray Copeland, Jimmie hadn't yet been able to line up a driving job so with his disadvantages Jimmie was a walking victim for Ray Copeland. Ray gave Jimmie his usual smooth talking about how he was too old to hear the cattle auctions, and how Jimmie needed a P.O. Box and a checking account, very shortly Ray and Jimmie were writing hot checks at cattle auctions exceeding twelve-hundred dollars, Jimmie's usefulness was at an end. Ray asked Jimmie to give him a hand with some chores at the Neil Bryan farm, Jimmie of course eagerly followed the cold night of October 25, 1988, and while Jimmie was doing whatever menial task Ray Copeland set him on Ray raised his all too familiar Marlin .22 caliber rifle and sent yet another farm hand to the fields of Elysium with a slug burrowing through the back of Jimmie's head. You can imagine what went through Ray Copeland's head as this loud thud of the body hitting the ground was the only thing he could hear, a sound that was all too familiar by now. Ray was quickly running out of places to hide the bodies, so he grabbed a shovel and dug a shallow grave in the center of the barn and after rolling Jimmie's lifeless corpse into the familiar black plastic buried Jimmie Dale Harvey without a single prayer or word.

About a week later Ray Copeland was back to his old tricks, trolling for his next farm hand, he happened across twenty-seven year old John Wayne Freeman. John was always described as gullible, and constantly struggling against an alcohol addiction. So when Ray Copeland came and offered his fifty dollars a day pay with room and board, John jumped at the chance, he hoped this time he wouldn't get upset and drunk and get in a fight with his boss which apparently had been a frequent occurrence in the past. Once John got to the Copeland's farm he stashed his torn up street clothes in the farm house and got some of the work clothes the elderly couple had laying around from their other farm hands who had "just up and left". Ray would then take John to get his P.O. Box and checking account. Ray and John passed about fourteen-hundred dollars worth of checks before the auction house said the checks were bouncing and on December 8, 1988 John like an old mule had to be put down because it was no longer able to pull the plow. Ray took John out to the Bryan's Barn and quickly and quietly put a .22 caliber round through the back of John's head, Ray quickly buried John next to Jimmie Harvey, the two of them silent roommates. The fact that the Bryan Barn was so off the beaten path was great for Ray Copeland's own personal graveyard, but he had to know eventually it would fill to capacity.

Soon it was a beautiful spring in 1989 and Ray Copeland was in need of another farm hand, Paul Jason Cowart was that farm hand. PJ as his friends and family called him was a strapping man of twenty and had wandering in his blood, his father was a wanderer and had abandoned him and his mother, his mother was a truck driver which PJ also longed to be but he could not curb his wanderlust long enough to stay in one place to earn the license. His mother would later think fondly of her son and reminisce saying, "He always wondered what was over the next hill, he was a seeker a wanderer." Whenever PJ would go through Arkansas he would see his mother and she would do small motherly things mend his clothes, buy him new items if he needed them, and sew his initials into all of his clothing, this small gesture of motherly love would later play a huge role in figuring out just how sick the Copelands were. PJ and his stepfather often talked about the dangers of living the life of a vagabond and how not all people were as honest or kind as they all should be PJ's stepfather Gail Chilen recalls once such conversation, "He was all blue and had no color to him once when he was nineteen and said to me one day, "I don't think I'm going to live to twenty-one" I of course told him not to worry and that he was going to live as long as he was supposed to." It is sad to see how right PJ really was when he said those prophetic words to his stepfather, maybe that day when he met Ray Copeland he knew what would happen, but he also knew he would help unravel it all and get justice for others as well. By the time the authorities found any evidence of bad checks written by PJ he was already laid to rest in the Bryan's Barn along side Ray's two previous farm hands, all the cattle they had bought with the bad checks sold off and no trace of PJ was to be found, or was there? It is widely believed that PJ was in fact not shot doing to menial task like everyone else, but in the spare bed in the Copeland's farm house, people can plead ignorance to a great deal many things, but a rifle going off in your house in the room right next to yours is not one of them. PJ was then unceremoniously wrapped up in his black plastic garb and laid beside  his companions in death watching and waiting for their day of retribution against the Copelands, they wouldn't have to wait much longer.

 

BONE BARN

It wasn't long before Ray finally met someone that was his match in every way, at least when Jack McCormick sober, he was. Ray met Jack where he met all of his farm hands a mission, Ray had a love of money, Jacks only love since his beloved wife passed away was whiskey. Jack would work here and there to earn just enough money to lose himself and his sorrow in a bottle for a few days, when Jack crawled back out of his bottle he appeared intelligent even if he really wasn't, he read enough to appear smart but no one ever knew if he was brilliant or just brilliant at faking it. One thing Jack had in spades was 56 years of street smarts to keep him alive and drinking. Jack was a good con man in his own right so he was good at spotting his own kind and that's just what he did with Ray Copeland, Jack worked Ray like a pro refusing to work for him for a few weeks or so and then finally accepted to Ray's delight, Ray mist have thought Jack was just another lamb being led to the slaughter, Ray could not have been more wrong. Jack was offered the same deal as the other workers, $50.00 a day plus room and board, Jack didn't know Ray had absolutely no intention of paying a dime of it. Jack had known a couple of the Copeland's farm hands and asked about one in particular because he was a traveling friend of Jacks, when Jack asked Ray what had happened to RC , when Ray replied he went to see his mother in California Jack didn't believe a single word of it and began to wonder what he had gotten himself into. When Ray and Jack reached the farm house Faye quickly finished making dinner, while washing up for dinner he went to the room Faye had said was his but when opening the closet he was unable to find anywhere to store his belonging due to the entire closet being full of men's clothes. Jack knew a lot of these would not fit Ray's frame, and there was no one else around, so how did this immense amount of clothes varying size end up filling a closet in his new bedroom.

Jack knew a con when he saw one and in Jack's mind there was one hell of a con going on at the farm, he just couldn't put his finger on it. On only the second day of being on the farm Jack decided he wanted to know his surroundings and since the Copelands were sleeping he saw no harm and walking around his new workplace to get a feel for the land he would work. This apparently was not the best idea, Faye Copeland came out of the house like it was on fire screaming at Jack that he could not walk around the farm like that, this is all of course according to the statement Jack McCormick gave to authorities later, Jack also swore he had seen human remains on the Copeland farm itself but later recanted and told authorities he had fabricated that part of the his statement, which makes all of his statement suspect. Ray Copeland was en sensed when they went to the auction and Jack was outbid, Ray berated Jack the whole truck ride back to the farm a even told Faye when they got back that ,"He wasn't worth shit as a cattle buyer." By now Jack knew something wasn't right and told the Copelands, he would not be remaining in their employment, although probably in more colorful language. Ray was visibly upset by what Jack had told him, but reluctantly agreed to take Jack where he needed to go. Early the next morning just as the sun is rising Jack was awakened by Faye Copeland on her way into town, Jack got dressed and from the second he got up you could cut the tension with a knife in the old farm house between Ray and Jack when finally the silence was broken and Ray handed Jack a long stick and asked him to help get a racoon in the barn, Jack was reluctant but decided to help anyway. As Jack was bent over, stick in hand Jack rustled around the hay a bit until he got this sinking feeling and when he all of a sudden he got a sinking feeling (according to what he told officials) and turned around and saw Ray Copeland with his .22 caliber rifle leveled at him, for some reason unknown Ray didn't just pull the trigger and end it there, maybe Ray saw something in Jack, no one will ever know why Ray didn't just pull the trigger. In that moment Jack took charge and told Ray if he didn't take him to Brookfield right then he would hitchhike, Ray relented and they drove to Brookfield.

When they got to Brookfield Jack McCormick's first stop was the bank that Ray Copeland had helped him open an account at, and Jack fully intended to con the con man and steal what he felt he was owed for his daily wages and extra for Ray pointing a rifle at him. Jack's obvious next stop was a bar for a stiff drink, Jack threw back a few and met up with a auto salesman named Harry Wolfe, the two men spoke about used cars and Harry too Jack to see a beat up pinto he had for sale. Jack took his chance and after his drinks was on his game and Harry threw him the keys for a test drive, Harry Wolfe would never see Jack McCormick again. As Jack hit the road, and for unknown reasons, in Nebraska stopped and called Crime Stoppers to reports in that conversation that he saw a human skull and human leg, Jack also claimed he had witnessed murders at the Copeland farm, none of which turned out to be true, the Copeland's victims were long dead and bodies not discovered yet, and Jack McCormick did end up recanting this part of his statement. Jack McCormick still claims he called and reported this en route to the west coast out of wanting to do the right thing, and some people think he reported things he didn't even see for immunity against the bad checks he knowingly wrote since there was now a warrant out for his arrest for the auction checks, to keep the facts straight, yes Jack did receive immunity for his testimony on what he actually saw which teamed with all the evidence was enough to indict the Copelands.

While why we know some of the murders were because of pure unadulterated greed we should looks deeper and see if its something more than financial gain, we should also ask that if Jack McCormick called Crime Stoppers August of 1989, why did the police not search the Copeland farm until mid October of 1989? Nonetheless, some of Jack's information did pan out, but we can imagine what it maybe have been like for the officers searching on the farm in October, it was getting late in the night, the treacherous Missouri fog misted in front of the officer's flashlights, blackening out everything except what was right in front of them, . Each officer with a long steel pole to test the ground, if it was solid they moved on to the next part of the grid, if it sank, well that would mean a possible void in the earth, where a body may be laid to rest. For days there was no results and the whole police force started feeling like they were just on a wild goose chase because of the word of a self admitted drunk, and a few missing drifters, that opinion would change very shortly. As the sun was finally starting to come up, the officers could see the luminescent rays break through the loosened boards in the beat up old barn.  The rays of dim sunshine started to loosen the fog as the deputies were still checking the ground to be sure it was all firm with the years of moldy hay and had not been disturbed in any way, they started to believe they would find nothing but animal's bones as they did on the Copeland's farm, but that thought quickly left when deputy Reith's pole sunk in a few inches indicating that this dirt was loose, Reith quickly ran to his patrol car to radio dispatch, "Sheriff you need to get out here we found.....something, and bring some tools." Within 30 minutes the sheriff was on site and everyone had shovels removing the dirt a little at a time to not disturb the evidence, first a shoe was uncovered, and then the corpses of three men buried head-to-toe very precisely, the outlines were starting to give way to the tattered clothes and the yellowish hue of the bones that still had decaying flesh upon them, some officers with good reason lost their resolve and had to relieve themselves of their last meal. The remains would be positively identified as: John Wayne Freeman, Jimmie Dale Harvey, and Paul Jason Cowart.  It wasn't long before the officers found out Ray Copeland did work for the Joe Adams's farm, a search warrant was issued, officers moved every square inch of hay in that barn and eventually located under the floorboards what was left of the remains of Wayne Warner. As officers interviewed people who knew Ray Copeland a work pattern arose that Ray had repaired a fair many wells in the area, they wasted no time searching the well next to the Adams's barn. The officers put a grappling hook on a rope to lower it into the well to see if there was any reason to lower anyone into it, there was a reason, when the pulled the rope back up was a decaying wet cowboy boot, with the owner's foot still residing in it. The well was far too weak to lower a person into it so the authorities decided to dig along side it then over to access it without it collapsing and them not only losing a person, but losing a tragic victim's remains. Dennis Murphy's remains were recovered almost an entire day later, his personalized cowboy belt covered with muck and death, wrapped in that ever so present black plastic Ray Copeland had on hand, the officers were elated to finally give Dennis a real burial, but devastated of the news they would have to give to Dennis's grandmother.

 

EVIDENCE

Right before the search began deputy Gary Calvert knocked on the Copeland's beaten old farm house door, when Faye Copeland answered the door she was informed by deputy Calvert that as well as her husband Ray she was also under arrest for fraud, and they would be executing a search warrant on their farm. Faye by all accounts became filled with anger that they had interrupted her day and life, Ray was picked up at the local coffee shop by Calvert afterwards. When questioned and without knowing the police had already recovered  Dennis's body offered up a quick confession pointing the finger at Jack McCormick for Dennis's murder, (there is no proof that Jack McCormick ever even know Dennis Murphy), " I saw Jack, A colored guy, and maybe a woman dumping a body down a well, you outta check that out." Ray offered up, "There's a concrete block and chain around him too." Ray continued his obvious lie. Officers already knew that no one knew about the chain and concrete block but the police officers that retrieved the body, and the murderer himself. A confession would have obviously been nice, but the mountains of evidence the search warrants turned up was better, and 5 men we able to be peacefully laid to rest finally, now the roles were reversed, but unlike Ray Copeland the state would give them a chance to fight for their lives.

After the news reported that the elderly couple had been arrested tips, complaints, suspicions, and gossip came pouring in like clock work. Small town Missouri police forces were not equipped to handle a serial killer like the Copelands, no officer ever thinks this can happen in his area, well small town, it can happen in ANY area no one is exempt from depravity. When the various calls would come in the police station made due with what they had they would put all the information on a index card and hand it to an officer who was designated to follow up on every lead, it was a simple system, but it worked. The calls poured in about old out of the way farms and barns that Ray Copeland had worked at, neighbors called in with what they thought was important evidence for law enforcement, which turned out to be either exaggeration or hearsay, but not all were crack pots:

Bonnie Thompson contacted the Northwest Missouri Major Case Squad who was working on the Copeland case and claimed she had watched the Copeland's house for years, seeing "bums" and "winos" around the house and then they would just disappear. She was afraid the elderly couple was hiring lawbreakers, people she feared may endanger the quiet and morality of the community. Little did she know what she feared the most had already shattered.

While Ray and Faye Copeland were in the hot seat in the local precinct interrogation room law enforcement was still at their farm house collecting even more evidence of the Copeland's atrocious crimes. A lot of oblivious evidence was taken, most was little bits and pieces but there were three main items that would send the Copelands to death row, Ray's .22 caliber Marlin bolt action rifle, a strange blanket on the couples bed that was constructed out of their victims clothing (a discovery that made a few officials sick), and a ominous piece of paper hidden inside a Polaroid camera case high in a kitchen cupboard bearing a short list of previous farm hand's name, this list is unaltered and was exactly as it appeared on the actual note:

Gary Misko-left
the Big Fat Man-back
Jim Harvey-X
Jim Geer-back
Wayne Freeman-X
Jack Holiday-Back
Robert Root-Back
Thomas Park-X
Paul Cowart-X

This tiny piece of paper in Faye Copeland's own hand would seal her fate with the jury, at first Faye claimed she had no idea what Ray was doing, then she changed her story claiming she was battered spouse. Ray Copeland knew his scheme was done, but still thought he was smarter than the whole system, he would see how wrong he was, but first Faye Copeland was to have her day in court.

 

FAYE COPELAND: SCARED VICTIM OR ACCOMPLICE?

On November 1, 1991 a disheveled Faye Copeland entered the courtroom to stand trial for the five counts of murder in which her husband Ray Copeland was the executioner. Her gaunt appearance surprised everyone who knew her, she never wore make-up or anything fancy and had always worn the fact that she had a hard life on her face, but this was different it was like every line now was etched into a face of hard marble. The prosecution put forth the best case they could with various witnesses who time after time took the stand and said Faye was often by her husband's side when he would pick up these vagrants to work on their small farm. Everyone who testified had without doubt said Faye was a hard nosed woman who often stood up to her husband, she did after all run a lot of the house hold being the only one of the two how could read or write. They presented the jury with the blanket Faye had painstakingly made out of the clothes the "missing" farm hands had left behind to keep herself and Ray warmer when it was cold. Then there was the infamous list written in Faye's own hand, a small piece of paper hidden in a Polaroid case, which bore names of different drifters most of the men with the X next to their name were either never heard from again, or their body was found by law enforcement at different places Ray Copeland was known to have worked. The prosecution put forth that Faye was not the executioner, her husband Ray Copeland was (the only fact the defense and prosecution could agree on). But that Faye was just as guilty for knowing that her husband was shooting his farm hands for financial reasons, the prosecution maintained that there is no way Faye could not be aware of Ray's dealings with how closely she was to the whole situation, one of the men even being shot while sleeping the room right next to the room she and Ray had slept in. Their star witness Jack McCormick was questionable at best due to the fact he initially lied to law enforcement saying he had seen human remains directly on the Copeland's farm, which he later admitted he had completely lied.

Faye Copeland instructed her attorneys to not take the deal that the prosecution had offered, they would only seek a conspiracy charge instead of the murder charges facing her now, Faye turned it down saying she didn't know of any other bodies and stuck to her story that she was unaware of her husband's crimes. The defense readied itself for a very exhausting case, stating she never knew what happened to the farm hands, and she was terrified of her husband Ray. There is no doubt Faye Copeland was abused, numerous witnesses would tell authorities during the investigation about all the bruises they had seen, Ray hit her and their children on a regular basis, it had gotten bad enough that everyone just avoided the very selfish Ray Copeland. The defense also tried to put forth that Ray not only physically and emotionally abuse Faye, but sexually as well, forcing her sometimes at gun point (according to the defense) to have sexual relations with the vagrants and homeless men that Ray brought home for farm hands while he watched. The defense made a strategic move when they called Jack McCormick out on every lie he had told almost destroying the prosecution's star witness. They did focus on a particular statement, Jack McCormick had told authorities that Faye had gotten very angry and cold with him when he pointed out that there were bones on the farm, the problem with the statement is that Jack McCormick admitted he lied about seeing bones, so the defense put a question to the jury, if he never found bones how did he have this encounter with Faye at all. The defense felt like they had put together a good case and now as they rested, all of the testimony and evidence boxed up, it was now up to the jury, to sift through it all and see exactly how culpable Faye Copeland was for Ray's murderous schemes. When the jury finally returned Faye Copeland  cried uncontrollably as the judge read her verdict , "Guilty on all five counts of murder in the first degree." Faye was being held responsible for her part in what had happened, the judge solemnly handed down the maximum penalty, so at the age of 69 Faye Copeland was sentenced to death by lethal injection on four counts, and life without parole for the fifth count. Faye who was obviously distraught, would finally talk about Ray in an interview two weeks after  receiving her sentence.

"I couldn't have flowers at home, he didn't like me tending to anything other than him. As long as I was with him or working the cattle or the tractor that was ok. But flowers, no, he didn't like them."

"I was raised to love my husband and support him no matter what. The man is the head of the family. The bible says it should be that way. It wouldn't do to say if Ray was mean to me or not. Yes, he did mess up my life, but that's not to say that I wasn't a good wife to him. I was never mean to him. Maybe we'd have got along better if I had knocked the shit out of him a few times."

"I've often thought since, maybe this was for the best. Where did I go wrong, if I went wrong? I know one place was getting married at all. but he was my life for so many, many years. I didn't know anything else. Will I get out? I may go feet first but I'll get out of here someday."

Faye was right she did get out, in 2002, Faye suffered a severe stroke, which left her partially paralyzed and unable to speak. She was paroled to a nursing home in her hometown where on December 30, 2003 at age 83 Faye Copeland died of natural causes.

 

RAY'S TRIAL

When Ray was arrested he tried to strike a deal with prosecution that if he revealed where more bodies may be they would drop all charges against his wife, it was Ray's only act in his whole life that was not completely selfish, that would not last for long. After Faye's trial a sheriff asked if Ray had heard about Faye's verdict, he replied he had not heard and asked what happened, the officer relayed that Faye was given the death penalty, the only words from the cold Ray Copeland were," Well, those things happen to some you know." He never spoke of Faye again. Ray's trial was a lot shorter than Faye's, the prosecution had slam dunk evidence, they not only had witnesses for the entire check scheme, they had ballistics from Ray's .22 caliber Marlin rifle, and the parade of witnesses to attest to how violent Ray was on a regular basis. It only took the jury two short hours to convict Ray Copeland of all five murders, and he received the same penalty, death by lethal injection. But the state would be denied its vengeance, Ray Copeland died in prison at the age of 78 in 1993 of natural causes.

To this day the Copeland's children refuse to believe their mother had anything to do with or any knowledge of the murders despite the evidence. No one will ever know how involved Faye really was in the murders that made her and her husband the oldest couple to receive the death penalty.