The True Story of Ray and Faye Copeland
No Deal
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 Ray’s 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 Faye’s 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.
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.
