Charles Mark Cohen

Case record: Charles Mark Cohen

Background

Charles Mark Cohen was 41 when the Delaware Board of Pardons refused to recommend commutation of his life prison sentences. He pleaded guilty but mentally ill in the brutal 1988 murders of his parents, Martin and Ethel Cohen.

Cohen told the Board of Pardons he was a changed man and that he had embraced Christianity. He said, "With the help of Jesus Christ, I've made a full turnaround," and he added, "I'm not the same person." He then told the board, "That was then, this is now," and he stated, "I didn't have God in my life back then. I didn't have anything at all. I was just a totally different person."

Cohen was being held at the Delaware Psychiatric Center for mental health treatment but was expected to return soon to Sussex Correctional Institution.

Cohen’s father, Martin Cohen, was director of the state hospital for the mentally ill when he was murdered. Cohen’s family had moved to Delaware from Galesburg, Ill., just months earlier.

Cohen told the board he had been taken to the psychiatric center after suggesting that a witchcraft spell had been cast against him. He explained: "It's spoken of in the Bible several times. It's a very real thing that's out there. There are covens, there's such a thing as witchcraft."

The offence

Cohen’s parents were Martin and Ethel Cohen. In November 1988, Cohen bludgeoned his parents with a dumbbell, then stabbed and cut them, almost decapitating his mother.

After the murders of his parents, Cohen traced movements to San Francisco, where he was befriended in February 1989 by businessman Conrad Lutz, a vice president of Wells Fargo Bank. As Lutz lay naked in his bed expecting to have sex with Cohen, Cohen told Lutz to close his eyes because he had something to give him, then stabbed him repeatedly with a dagger.

Cohen also appeared in the material as having been charged with trying to mug a woman and not paying a taxi fare in New Orleans.

Investigation

Deputy attorney general Robert O'Neill Jr. recounted Cohen’s crimes for board members.

O'Neill said Cohen in November 1988 bludgeoned his parents with a dumbbell, then stabbed and cut them, almost decapitating his mother. O'Neill said he traced Cohen's movements to San Francisco, where Cohen was befriended in February 1989 by Conrad Lutz. O'Neill described the attack on Lutz as repeated stabbing with a dagger after Cohen told Lutz to close his eyes.

O'Neill told the board that Cohen fled California after killing Lutz and surfaced about a year later in New Orleans.

Arrest

Cohen was arrested in New Orleans, and he was charged with trying to mug a woman and not paying a taxi fare.

At a hearing before a Louisiana judge, Cohen unexpectedly revealed his true identity and confessed to the three murders.

Trial

Cohen pleaded guilty but mentally ill in the murders of his parents, Martin and Ethel Cohen.

After being brought back to Delaware in 1992, he was sentenced to two life terms plus 60 years for killing his parents.

He later pleaded guilty in California to killing Lutz and was sentenced to life in prison for that crime.

Sentencing

Cohen was sentenced to two life terms plus 60 years for killing his parents in Delaware in 1992.

He was later sentenced to life in prison in California for killing Conrad Lutz.

Appeals

The Delaware Board of Pardons did not recommend commutation of Cohen’s life prison sentences.

Lt. Gov. John Carney told Cohen tersely after a hearing that lasted about 15 minutes: "In light of the heinous nature of these crimes, the opposition of the state Board of Parole, and the obvious threat to society, we will not recommend that commutation be granted,".

Outcome

The state Board of Pardons refused Thursday to recommend commutation of the life prison sentences for Charles Cohen.

O'Neill told the board: "Mister Cohen is where he belongs," and added: "He's extremely dangerous. ... He never deserves to be released in society."

Aftermath

Cohen was held at the Delaware Psychiatric Center for mental health treatment and was expected to return soon to Sussex Correctional Institution.

Cohen twice appeared on the television show America’s Most Wanted.

Timeline

• 1988 (November) — Cohen bludgeoned his parents with a dumbbell, then stabbed and cut them, almost decapitating his mother.
• 1989 (February) — Conrad Lutz befriended Cohen in San Francisco.
• 1989 — Cohen fled California after killing Lutz and resurfaced about a year later in New Orleans.
• 1992 — After being brought back to Delaware, Cohen was sentenced to two life terms plus 60 years for killing his parents.
• 2006 (August 31) — The Delaware Board of Pardons refused to recommend commutation of Cohen’s life prison sentences.

Other details

Cohen was described as sporting a full beard and dressed in a red sweatsuit, with his legs shackled and hands cuffed in front of him during the hearing.

The board deliberated less than three minutes.

Cohen told the board: "With the help of Jesus Christ, I've made a full turnaround," and, "I'm not the same person." He stated, "That was then, this is now," and, "I didn't have God in my life back then. I didn't have anything at all.

Cohen’s motive was described as PC/CE MO: "Stabbed/bludgeoned parents; stabbed/robbed gay man." The material also indicated the disposition as "Life term for killing parents in Del., 1992."