Ray Copeland: A Detailed Account of His Crimes
Background
Ray Copeland was born on December 30, 1914, in Oklahoma, U.S. He grew up during the Great Depression, which significantly impacted his family's financial stability. As a young man, he began a life of petty crime, including stealing livestock and forging checks. He served several jail sentences throughout his life.
Criminal Activities
In the 1980s, Ray Copeland, along with his wife Faye, devised a scheme to hire drifters and transients as farmhands on their property in Mooresville, Missouri. They would use these individuals to purchase cattle with bad checks, then sell the cattle quickly before the checks bounced. To avoid detection, Ray and Faye began murdering the farmhands after the transactions were completed.
Apprehension and Conviction
The Copelands' criminal activities came to light in August 1989 when a former employee, Jack McCormick, called the Crime Stoppers hotline to report human bones on their farm. On October 17, 1989, authorities arrested Ray and Faye Copeland. They were convicted of killing five drifters and sentenced to death, making them the oldest couple ever sentenced to death in the United States.
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