Bucks Co. Man Admits Stabbing Mother 70 Times, Killing Her

LOWER MAKEFIELD, PA — A 31-year-old Bucks County man admitted he killed his mother, stabbing her 70 times at her home in 2016, authorities with the Bucks County District Attorney's office announced.

According to the District Attorney's office, Zachary Cope was diagnosed with schizophrenia and saw his mother, Rebecca Cope, as an enemy. On Monday, he pleaded guilty but mentally ill to third-degree murder in her stabbing death.

After the killing, Cope told investigators and doctors that he had slain an assassin posing as his mother who had been hired to kill him, the Bucks County District Attorney's office said.

Cope admitted striking his mother with a cutting board and a frying pan before stabbing her and cutting her throat with a knife in their kitchen in Lower Makefield. He told police he had attacked the “imposter” after she ordered him to rub olive oil into the new cutting board – something he said his real mother would never tell him to do, authorities said.

After the stabbing, he fled several blocks and police found him bloodied and standing in a driveway wearing only underwear and a small blanket.

When officers went to his house, they found his 52-year-old mother lying face-down in a pool of blood with dozens of stab wounds, according to the District Attorney's office.

“Zach had troubles; we all knew it,” said Julie Knepp, Rebecca Cope’s older sister, according to information from the District Attorney's office.

Bucks County Common Pleas Court Judge Raymond F. McHugh will likely recommended a sentence of 10 to 40 years. Sentencing has been deferred as Cope’s current mental status is evaluated and recommendations are prepared on the treatment he should receive while incarcerated.