Raymond W. Copeland was born on December 30, 1914, in Oklahoma. He grew up during a difficult time called the Great Depression. His family moved around a lot because they struggled to find work and make enough money to survive. As a young man, Ray got involved in petty crime. He started stealing livestock and forging checks. Eventually, he was caught and spent a year in jail.

After getting out of jail in 1940, Ray met a woman named Faye Wilson. They got married soon after and started a family quickly, having several children together. Money was tight for them, especially because of Ray's reputation as a criminal. This forced the family to keep moving from place to place.

During these years, Ray had several other run-ins with the law. He continued to find ways to make money illegally. He looked for plans that would help him avoid being caught by the police. 

Raymond W. Copeland, along with his wife Faye, was involved in a series of murders that shocked many people. They lured drifters and homeless men to their farm in Mooresville, Missouri, promising them work. Once these men arrived, they were never seen again.

In August 1989, a former employee named Jack McCormick contacted the authorities. He claimed to have seen human bones on their property and alleged that Ray had tried to kill him. Police began to investigate. In October 1989, they obtained a search warrant and visited the Copeland farm with many officers and bloodhounds.

At first, the search didn't reveal any evidence. However, after more thorough searching, police discovered the bodies of three young men in a barn on the farm. The investigation continued, uncovering more bodies. Each victim was killed using a .22 caliber Marlin rifle, which was later found in the Copeland home.

The murder spree lasted from 1986 to 1989 and involved at least five known victims, including Dennis K. Murphy, Wayne Warner, Jimmy Dale Harvey, John W. Freeman, and Paul J. Cowart. The police concluded that Ray murdered these men to financially benefit from their disappearances.

In November 1990, Faye went on trial. Her defense portrayed her as a victim of Ray’s abuse. However, she was convicted of five counts of first-degree murder and received four death sentences and one life sentence. Ray’s trial followed in March 1991, where he was convicted of five counts of murder and also sentenced to death.

On October 19, 1993, Ray died from natural causes while in prison. Faye's death sentence was appealed, leading to her sentence being commuted to five consecutive life sentences without parole in 1999. She was paroled to a nursing home in September 2002 and died there on December 23, 2003, at the age of 82.