Friday, February 04, 2000
Brothers convicted of plot to kill 3
Copes could face life in prison
BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — Sitting in the back row of a federal courtroom, Ryle High School teacher Sarah K. Jackson bowed her head Thursday when a 12-person jury convicted her ex-fiancee, Randall Cope, and his brother, Terry, of hiring someone to kill her.
Then she lifted her head as a U.S. District Court clerk kept reading the individual charges.
Randall Cope, 41, a former businessman from Benton, Ky., and Terry Cope, 43, a former Northwest Airlines pilot from Hendersonville, Tenn., were found guilty Thursday of hiring someone to kill Ms. Jackson and Elizabeth and Ronald Nimmo, Terry Cope's ex-wife and her new husband, of Tennessee.
The jury also found the Copes guilty of charges stemming from Jan. 22, 1999, when Ms. Jackson's car was shot at while she and her teen-age son were leaving their Florence residence.
The Copes were cleared of targeting David Bunning in their murder-for-hire plot. Mr. Bunning is the son of U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning and is the federal prosecutor who was handling an Internet harassment case against Randall Cope.
The Copes will face up to life in prison when U.S. District Judge Jennifer B. Coffman of London sentences them May 11.
Ms. Jackson declined comment after the verdict. The Rev. Bill Crosby of Erlanger Baptist Church, where she is a member, sat with her. He said Ms. Jackson was relieved and felt some sense of justice.
Throughout the eight-day trial, the Copes were calm and composed. Prosecutors called about 45 witnesses.
Just some of those testifying were Ms. Jackson, the Copes' father, a Secret Service agent, a flea market gun dealer and the Campbell County police officer who posed as the contract killer. They helped establish the prosecution's case that the Copes were obsessed with getting rid of their ex-lovers and anyone else who got in their way.
Testimony detailed how Randall Cope and Ms. Jackson were romantically involved for four years before Ms. Jackson ended the relationship in late 1997. Some months later, he began sending e-mail messages in Ms. Jackson's name to her friends and co-workers. They alleged that she was having sexual relationships with students.
He eventually pleaded guilty to the Internet harassment charges. While in the Kenton County Jail awaiting sentencing, he asked his cellmate if he knew of someone to kill Ms. Jackson.
The cellmate tipped off the Secret Service about the plans. On April 6, Terry Cope and the supposed contract killer, “Bill,” met in the Kmart parking lot in Florence. Terry Cope was arrested upon offering $2,500 in partial payment to kill Ms. Jackson and allegedly Mr. Bunning.
In the trial, letters that Randall Cope sent to his brother and father also were submitted as evidence. They indicated a deepening rage at Ms. Jackson.
“Boy, do I want Sarah to go away and permanently,” one said. “She's becoming a major pain in the ass.”
“It was a very thorough evaluation” of the evidence, Assistant U.S. Attorney E.J. Walbourn said after the verdict was read.
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