Thursday, April 12, 2007
Police: Cobler admits attack
Court papers say the suspect told police he went to the parsonage to rob Nancy Copin.
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Charles Vincent Cobler Charged with first-degree murder
A man charged with killing a Franklin County minister has admitted that he went to her home to rob her and that he struck her in the face several times during an altercation, according to court papers.
Charles Vincent Cobler, 40, has been charged with first-degree murder of Nancy Copin, the 60-year-old minister of Snow Creek Christian Church. She was killed by blunt-force trauma in her home at the church's parsonage on Snow Creek Road.
Cobler told authorities Sunday that the altercation in Copin's home happened either late April 2 or early the following morning, according to Franklin County sheriff's officials and a criminal complaint filed in court.
Cobler had attended a Palm Sunday service at Snow Creek Christian Church with a relative on the evening of April 1, when Copin gave her final sermon. He was not a member of the church.
Cobler also directed authorities to an area near the parsonage where he had discarded items belonging to Copin, said Capt. Billy Overton of the Franklin County Sheriff's Office.
On Monday, investigators found Copin's pocketbook, wallet and other items in the woods near the intersection of Snow Creek and Sutton Hollow roads, Overton said.
Cobler has not been charged with robbery.
However, he has been charged with stealing fuel from a gas station in Henry County. The theft happened about 6 a.m. April 3, said county sheriff's Lt. David Cundiff.
Members of Copin's church found her body in her home April 5. Cobler was arrested in Ohio several days later on a larceny charge related to the gas theft in Henry County.
He was returned to Franklin County on Tuesday and charged in the killing.
Wednesday morning, Cobler was arraigned on the murder charge in Franklin County General District Court.
Three deputies stood behind him as he faced Judge George Jones and asked for a court-appointed attorney. Jones ordered that Cobler continue to be held without bond.
Rocky Mount lawyer Carolyn Furrow was appointed to be Cobler's attorney. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 14.
