Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 27, 1992 TAG: 9203270341
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER
DATELINE: BLAND LENGTH: Medium
The Coopers' 11-year old daughter says her parents put her out of their car on Interstate 77 near Rocky Gap on Saturday before continuing on with their 5-year old son to carry out a suicide pact.
During the brief hearing, Bland County General District Judge Ray W. Grubbs amended the charge against the Coopers to intent to commit rather than the commission of felony child abandonment.
The couple smirked as a Bland County deputy escorted them to a table in a courtroom full of curious onlookers.
Cassandra Cooper, 29, wore jeans, tennis shoes and a multicolored jacket with a U.S. flag and an Army service patch on its sleeves and an inscription on the back for the 12th Signal Battalion of the 2nd Infantry. She is a large woman with red hair and glasses.
Authorities said Lorne W. Cooper, 27, was in the service recently. But Thursday his uniform was a solid blue exercise suit and high-top tennis shoes. His black hair was far from a military cut, covering his upper ears and the back of his neck. His clothing reinforced the look of a lean, fit jogger.
The Woodbridge couple was caught near Beckley, W.Va., thanks mainly to information on a license and other papers found by the daughter in her father's wallet.
He had given her his jacket, which had the wallet, before she was put out of the car. She was not given her shoes, however, and walked for about 10 minutes along the median in her socks before a Marion minister and his family saw her and took her to police in Bluefield, W.Va.
The Coopers were returned Wednesday to Bland County, where they were still being held in jail with no bond. Their trial date has been set for April 20.
They seemed articulate when Grubbs questioned them individually about their attorney. They told him they had hired one in Wytheville through their regular attorney in Maryland. Both seemed to take the matter lightly. Cassandra Cooper even chuckled while explaining they'd had no time to confer with their local lawyer yet.
It was over in minutes. They were led out of the courtroom and downstairs to a rear exit where, still wearing handcuffs, they marched briskly across the courthouse lawn to the jail flanked by deputies and pursued by TV people.
"Mr. Cooper, anything to say at all? Mrs. Cooper?" inquired one of the cameramen as they marched back into the jail. Both looked straight ahead, declining to comment.
Lorne Cooper said, when he arrived Saturday in Bland, that his daughter's version of what happened was "incredible." But neither has said anything beyond that.
by CNB