Suspected killer's confession will stand

Raleigh, N.C. — A Superior Court judge on Thursday denied a motion to suppress the confession of a convicted felon accused of killing five people in a string of robberies.

Attorneys for Samuel James Cooper filed the request earlier this year, saying their client was coerced into admitting to the crimes.

Authorities charged Cooper in the shooting deaths of LeRoy Jernigan, 41, Ossama "Sam" Haj-Hussein, 43; Timothy David Barnwell, 34; Ricky High, 48; and Tariq Hussain, 52. The slayings occurred between May 2006 and November 2007, when Cooper was arrested on a bank robbery charge.

After Cooper’s arrest, investigators found a 9 mm handgun that the State Bureau of Investigation linked to the slayings.

During a hearing last month on the motion to suppress, a Raleigh police detective testified that Cooper confessed after prosecutors agreed to dismiss a charge against his father, who had been arrested on a charge of possession of a stolen firearm by a felon.

Cooper will go to trial on five counts of first-degree murder Feb. 1, Judge Henry Hight ruled Thursday.

The case was expected to go to trial earlier this year, but both the defense and prosecutors have continually asked for the date to be moved because of the massive amount of evidence to be reviewed.

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Dick, I think due process has been allowed to drag on to the point justice has been jeopardized. The process needs to be overhauled so justice doesn't take 10 to 15 years.

We can build numerous nuclear submarines in half the time.

twc
December 17, 2009 5:34 p.m.

bngexpress: "If the confession stands that should be the end of it , and him for that matter, why should the taxpaying citizens of this state pay for his defence when he has already confessed!"

It's called 'due process', and YOU are guaranteed it under the US Constitution.

Dick
December 17, 2009 4:29 p.m.

waste of human life!

csplantlover
December 17, 2009 3:59 p.m.

if the confession stands that should be the end of it , and him for that matter, why should the taxpaying citizens of this state pay for his defence when he has already confessed!

bngexpress
December 17, 2009 3:47 p.m.

"What is wrong with people like this??? jesmyopinion"

That's something you'll have to ask his father; his abuse caused most of it. That's what was wrong. What's wrong now is he will not be punished for years--if then.

twc
December 17, 2009 3:47 p.m.