Ray and Faye Copeland: Oldest Couple in American History Ever Sentenced to Death
Ray and Faye Copeland
Ray and Faye Copeland married during the year of 1940. They had 4 children together. By the time Ray had met Faye he had already gone to prison more than once. Little did she know that because of him, they would become the oldest couple in American history ever sentenced to death. Many of the cases in which he was convicted were due to forgery. In 1961, Ray paid for 20 head of cattle with an invalid check because of this Ray was arrested and sentenced to nine months behind bars. After his release, Ray forged another check when trying to purchase more cattle. He was again caught and sentenced to nine months in jail. After completing his sentence, Ray realized that something needed to change. Unfortunately, rather than changing his actions he decided to change his methods. He knew he could not continue writing bad checks because of his criminal record, so he wondered if he could convince someone else to do it for him, someone who could disappear without rousing any suspicion. The plan needed some work, but he was certain he had stumbled onto something feasible.
So Ray started showing up at cattle auctions with hitchhikers and drifters. When it came time to complete a purchase, Ray would have the man write out a check out of Ray’s checkbook and sign his name on it. The check would eventually bounce, but by then Ray would have already sold the cattle. When law enforcement confronted him about the checks, Ray would pretend to have no knowledge of the sales and would act innocent, pointing out that the signatures on the checks were not in his handwriting. Ray used several different drifters and all of them would disappear after the sales.
On August 20, 1989, the Nebraska Crime Stoppers hotline logged a call from 57-year-old, Jack McCormick. He worked on Ray and Faye Copeland’s farm. 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
Ray and Faye Copeland married during the year of 1940. They had 4 children together. By the time Ray had met Faye he had already gone to prison more than once. Little did she know that because of him, they would become the oldest couple in American history ever sentenced to death. Many of the cases in which he was convicted were due to forgery. In 1961, Ray paid for 20 head of cattle with an invalid check because of this Ray was arrested and sentenced to nine months behind bars. After his release, Ray forged another check when trying to purchase more cattle. He was again caught and sentenced to nine months in jail. After completing his sentence, Ray realized that something needed to change. Unfortunately, rather than changing his actions he decided to change his methods. He knew he could not continue writing bad checks because of his criminal record, so he wondered if he could convince someone else to do it for him, someone who could disappear without rousing any suspicion. The plan needed some work, but he was certain he had stumbled onto something feasible.
So Ray started showing up at cattle auctions with hitchhikers and drifters. When it came time to complete a purchase, Ray would have the man write out a check out of Ray’s checkbook and sign his name on it. The check would eventually bounce, but by then Ray would have already sold the cattle. When law enforcement confronted him about the checks, Ray would pretend to have no knowledge of the sales and would act innocent, pointing out that the signatures on the checks were not in his handwriting. Ray used several different drifters and all of them would disappear after the sales.
On August 20, 1989, the Nebraska Crime Stoppers hotline logged a call from 57-year-old, Jack McCormick. He worked on Ray and Faye Copeland’s farm. 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