Thaindian News

By Meena Kar
July 10, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The Dateline NBC network revisited the 2001 case of the rape and murder of 12 year old Amanda Cope in a two hour documentary on Friday. Billy Wayne Cope was convicted for the rape and murder of his daughter and was sentenced to life along with 30 years with no parole. Later, investigations had revealed that he was innocent but he was again sentenced after he confessed to the police several times that he had committed the crime. The documentary ‘The Mystery In Rock Hill’ focused on the stories of conspiracy about the case and the mysterious convictions of Edward Sanders and Billy Wayne Cope.

Billy Wayne Cope was later found to be innocent after subsequent DNA tests but was eventually sentenced to life in prison due to the confessions. The members of the VC3 (Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse) of the Washington And Lee Law School have worked on the case for years. The Director of VC3 argued on the first appeal of Billy Wayne Cope in the interview on ‘Dateline NBC’. In 2009 Billy Wayne Cope had appealed to the Court Of Appeals but the judge had affirmed all the charges and only reversed the conspiracy charged. He is presently serving life sentence.

The documentary on NBC featured the interview of David Bruck and also focused on the story of Edward Sanders who was also convicted for the rape and murder of Amanda Cope along with Billy Wayne Cope. Several points in the history of the case have led to speculations that Billy Wayne Cope could be innocent. Several other theories have also surfaced saying that Billy Wayne Cope might have played a role in staging of the crime.