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Frank J. Coppola

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Frank Joseph Coppola
Born(1944-02-25)February 25, 1944
Portsmouth, Virginia
DiedAugust 10, 1982(1982-08-10) (aged 38)
Virginia State Penitentiary
Cause of deathExecution by electrocution
OccupationPolice officer
Criminal chargeRobbery and murder
PenaltyDeath (1978)

Frank Joseph 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]

Hatchell was bound with Venetian blind cords and then had her head slammed repeatedly into the floor, allegedly by Coppola, until she died. Coppola and his accomplices fled with $3,100 in cash and some rings from the crime scene.[2] 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,[3] the first person executed in Virginia since the US Supreme Court reinstituted capital punishment in 1976.[4] He was also the first person executed in Virginia since 1962. The resulting execution was botched as his head and leg caught fire during the execution. This provoked activists to protest calling the method of execution inhumane. Coppola became somewhat of a martyr to the prisoners. An attorney who was present later stated that it took two 55-second jolts of electricity to kill Coppola.[5]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/AMR5105301.pdf Amnesty International report
  2. ^ Bohlen, Celestine (August 8, 1982). "Va. Execution Set Tuesday". Washington Post. The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  3. ^ "Electric chair awaits ex-policeman". AAP-Reuter. The Age. 10 August 1982. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  4. ^ "Coppola a 'tough guy' right up to the last minute". Associated Press. Eugene Register-Guard. 11 August 1982. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  5. ^ Deborah W. Denno, Is Electrocution an Unconstitutional Method of Execution? The Engineering of Death over the Century, 35 WILLIAM & MARY L. REV. 551, 664-665 (1994).
Preceded by
Steven Timothy Judy 		People executed in US Succeeded by
Charlie Brooks, Jr.
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