The True Story of Ray and Faye Copeland

On August 20, 1989, the Nebraska Crime Stoppers hotline logged a call from 57-year-old Jack McCormick.� �He had recently moved from Missouri, where he had witnessed several events that made him fear for his life.� He had worked on a farm for an elderly couple named Ray and Faye Copeland, who would use drifters to commit crimes involving the sale of livestock.� In the beginning he was unaware of the illegal activities, but he eventually realized what was going on.� McCormick said Mr. Copeland eventually became aware of his suspicions and tried to kill him, which was why he fled.� As the conversation came to a close, McCormick mentioned he had seen several human bones on the farm.� Nebraska authorities, while somewhat skeptical of the story, notified detectives in Missouri.�

Copeland had a long arrest record for forgery and cattle theft, so Missouri�authorities took the tip very seriously.� They spent the next few months gathering evidence and used McCormicks statements to secure a search warrant.� On the morning of October 9, 1989, Sheriff Leland ODell, along with as many as 40 officers, several backhoes, and teams of bloodhounds, descended upon the Copeland farm.� With such a large area to cover, ODell needed all the help he could get.

After spending a week scouring the farm and surrounding property, investigators had not found any evidence to back up McCormicks story.� �Some were beginning to wonder if they had made a terrible mistake.� Nonetheless, on October 17, 1989, all doubts were put to rest.� According to The Copeland Killings, by Tom Miller, investigators discovered three bodies in a local barn Ray Copeland was known to use.� Each one was buried in a separate grave and they were later identified as 21-year-old Paul Jason Cowart, from Dardanelle, Arkansas; 27-year-old John W. Freeman, from Tulsa, Oklahoma; and 27-year-old Jimmie Dale Harvey, from Springfield, Missouri.� All three had died from a single gunshot wound to the back of the skull.