Over the years, several cases have
stood out amongst others as national news sites spread the stories of Rock
Hill’s most violent crimes.
The
story of a young man who killed his parents Thanksgiving week in 1997 in Rock
Hill over inheritance money has gained widespread attention and has also been
published as a book. James Robertson was sentenced to death row after he was
convicted for murdering both his parents in a gruesome series of events.
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| James Robertson in court, 2007. Photo courtesy of the Rock Hill Herald |
“James
Robertson came from a really good family, he came from a neighborhood in
Celanese and India Hook; an upper middleclass family. He had issues; he didn’t
make it in college and couldn’t find a job,” said Captain Mike Bollinger, who
was on the Rock Hill police force at the time.
Robertson’s
parents very well off. According to the Herald, Robertson was constantly
showered with money and gifts from his parents, despite dropping out of college
and being unable to find a job.
Robertson
brutally murdered first his mother, slicing her with a butcher knife and
beating her with a hammer. He then proceeded to blind his father with
Tilex cleaner and bash him in the head with both a hammer and baseball
bat.
According
to Bollinger, Robertson committed a double parricide for their $2.2 million
inheritance.
Robertson
was convicted in 1999 but has been sitting on death row appealing his sentence
to the Supreme Court. His story can be found across the Web on sites such as
Murderpedia and Wikipedia.
More
recently, a sexual assault on a young girl in 2001 rocked the community when
her father, who many believe is innocent, was convicted.
Billy
Wayne Cope’s daughter was asleep in her room one night when, according to Cope,
he awoke suddenly at 3 a.m., feeling that something was not right. His wife was
out working third shift cleaning an office and it was just him and the girls at
home.
Cope
checked in on two of his three sleeping daughters, noticing that his oldest
daughter’s door was shut. He went back to sleep, troubled.
At
6 a.m. Cope knew something was wrong. His eldest daughter, Amanda, did not get
up and was not answering his calls. Cope attempted to open her bedroom door,
but found it caught on something and unable to move. He then grew worried and
burst through the door, only to find his daughter, sexually assaulted, bruised
and lifeless, on her bed. He called the police, and in a very calm, docile
tone, told them his daughter was dead.
This
is Cope’s version of the story.
According
to police reports, there was no sign of forced entry into the house. There was
only one conclusion—Cope molested and murdered his 12-year-old daughter.
Cope
admitted four times to committing the crime, but only after he declared over
600 times that he was innocent. Cope’s lawyer, Jim Morton, claimed that Cope
had been worn down over hours of questions and threats of a death sentence.
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| Billy Wayne Cope in court, 2003. Photo courtesy of The New York Times. |
Morton
also claimed that police made mistakes by not checking the scene of the crime
closely, and more importantly, not releasing the DNA they found on Amanda’s
body, which did not belong to Cope, but another man.
With
the confessions, lack of forced entry and evidence against him, Cope was
convicted of assisting in the sexual assault and murder of his daughter.
He
has since appealed to the Supreme Court for another trial, while his
prosecutor, Kevin Brackett, has created a website for the sole intention of
exposing Cope as guilty.
The
controversy is large and nationwide, with articles from Dateline, The Daily
Beast and The New York Times dissecting and discussing the possibility of his
guilt and innocence.
NBC
Dateline has a segment they showed on air and an article on their website
outlining the situation.
According
to Winthrop Chief of Police Frank Zebedis, these are only a couple of several
crimes Rock Hill has seen affect the community and reach national news media.
The others being the rape and murder of resident Melinda Snyder and the
execution of police officer James “Brent” McCants, who was attempting to
retreat to his vehicle when two men shot him in the back and then in the head.
On
McCants, Zebedis said, “While he tried to
retreat to his vehicle, the suspects continued to shoot him in the back.
They went over to his lifeless body, retrieved his duty weapon and executed him
by shooting him in the back of the head. They stole his duty weapon and
radio.”
"Brent’s funeral service was one of the saddest things I ever
witnessed. This event had a personal impact on me and my family because
of the relationship I had with him. Brent would come to my house during
our patrol shift and my wife would make us dinner and he would play with my
children,” Zebedis said.
The Rock Hill community was deeply
affected by his murder, and dedicated a memorial to him on Dave Lyle Boulevard
in Manchester Meadows.
These
crimes have not only affected the Rock Hill Police and residents, but also the
nation as these stories are scattered across media for all to read and see.
