Frank James Coppola
Frank James Coppola (February 25, 1944 – August 10, 1982), was a police officer from Portsmouth, Virginia who was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1978 capital murder of Muriel Hatchell, although he maintained his innocence until his execution.[1] According to reports,[which?] a co-conspirator with Coppola disguised herself as a flower delivery woman to enter her home, the woman pulled out a pistol from amidst the floral display which she was carrying, allowing cover for Coppola and others to rush into the home.
Hatchell was bound with Venetian blind cords and then had her head slammed repeatedly into the floor, allegedly by Coppola, until she died. The group fled with $3,100 in cash and some rings from the crime scene. On September 26, 1978, Coppola was convicted of first-degree capital murder and sentenced to death in Virginia's electric chair. He waived his appeals and was executed on August 10, 1982,[2] the first person executed in Virginia since the Supreme Court reinstituted capital punishment in 1976. He was also the first person executed in Virginia since 1962.
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This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (June 2009) |
- ^ http://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/AMR5105301.pdf Amnesty International report
- ^ http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19820811&id=E7wQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hpQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5782,3985224 Melbourne newspaper, The Age, August 11, 1982.
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| Preceded by Steven Timothy Judy |
People executed in US | Succeeded by Charlie Brooks, Jr. |
- 1944 births
- 1982 deaths
- American people convicted of murder
- American municipal police officers
- American police officers convicted of murder
- People executed for murder
- People executed by electric chair
- People from Portsmouth, Virginia
- 20th-century executions by the United States
- People executed by Virginia
- Executed American people
- People convicted of murder by Virginia
