LAKE COUNTY – Former Lower Lake firefighter Wilbur H. Cope pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder for a September 2006 shooting spree, according to the lawyers defending and prosecuting him.
Cope was accused of shooting and killing Clearlake resident Kristen Raviotta and attempting to murder his ex wife Michelle Cain, her husband Terry Cain and Sharon England. The charges against him included first-degree murder, three counts of attempted first-degree murder, mayhem with great bodily injury for shooting Terry Cain multiple times at point blank range, and firearm enhancements. Cope faced the possibility of life in prison.
“My client really wanted to enter into a plea disposition on this because he didn”t want the victims to go through a trial. He is exceptionally remorseful, and he wants to face the consequences for what he did,” Cope”s defense attorney Stephen Carter said.
The plea bargain means Cope now faces life in prison, with his first opportunity for parole coming after he serves 74 years in state prison, according to Lake County District Attorney Jon Hopkins. According to Carter, Cope previously faced a 140-year term because of the multiple charges and enhancements.
Carter said in a Monday press release that because Cope will not be in prison for first-degree murder, the plea will also give him better placement in the state prison system.
“The prison system looks at the charges you were convicted of. He (Cope) is going to be in prison for the rest of his life – he”s 38 now – and he knew that going into the plea. In the long term, you want as good of placement as you can get when you are paying your debt to society,” Carter said.
Hopkins said he isn”t sure without checking with prison officials how the plea bargain will affect Cope”s placement in state prison.
Of Carter”s plan to present evidence regarding Cope”s physical and mental condition at the time of the incident at an Oct. 27 sentencing hearing before Lake County Superior Court Judge Arthur Mann, Hopkins said it wouldn”t affect the sentencing by more than two years.
According to Carter, Cope was on leave from the fire department because of disabilities after he was injured when he fell through a floor while fighting a Clearlake fire in January 2001. Carter said Cope was suffering from severe, untreated depression at the time of the incident, and said Cope was intoxicated at the time.
Hopkins said the only charge that carries any leeway in sentencing is the attempted murder charge, which carries a prison term of five, seven or nine years.
“This case is a terrible tragedy for the victims, their families and for Mr. Cope and his family. Mr. Cope has come to terms with what he did. There are no winners in a case like this,” Carter said.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com or call her direct at 263-5636 ext. 37.
