The True Story of Ray and Faye Copeland

�

The following week, investigators searched another barn Ray was known to use.� �More than a dozen deputies and volunteers spent several hours removing 2,000 bales of hay, which was stacked ceiling high. Investigators discovered a body wrapped in black plastic beneath the barn floor.� The victim had also been killed by a single gunshot to the back of the head.� He was later identified as Wayne Warner, age unknown.

�

During a search of Rays home, investigators seized a .22 caliber Marlin bolt-action rifle.� According to the Kansas City Star, ballistics tests later revealed it was the weapon used in each murder.� Investigators also discovered a handwritten list of farm helpers in Fayes writing.� Twelve of the names had scrawled X's by them.� Five of those men turned up dead, and investigators suspected that the others, who turned out to be missing, were also dead.� In addition, they also found a quilt, which Faye had made from the clothing of the murdered men.

As the search began to wind down, investigators made one final discovery.� �While examining an old well close to where Warners body was found, they discovered the body of another man.� He was later identified as 27-year-old Dennis Murphy.� As with the others, his death resulted from a single bullet to the back of the head.
Prosecutors were quick to offer Faye Copeland a deal -- if she were to tell investigators where more bodies might be found, they would only charge her with conspiracy to commit murder and she would serve a few months in jail for her cooperation.� Regardless, Faye claimed to have no knowledge of any of the murders.� Both Ray and Faye Copeland were arraigned on 5 counts of first-degree murder.

Prosecutors did not want to take any chances and Ray was taken to a state mental hospital for evaluation.� �The last thing the state wanted was an insanity defense.� The public defenders office knew it would be hard to defend the couple together, so they filed for a motion to have the cases tried separately.� No one knew for certain which direction the trial would take, but everyone suspected Faye would have a better chance on her own.� The prosecution was playing hardball and rather than life in prison, they were seeking the death penalty in both cases.