Frank James Coppola

Case overview

Frank James Coppola (1944–August 10, 1982) was a former police officer from Portsmouth, Virginia. He was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1978 capital murder of Muriel Hatchell.

The offence

Muriel Hatchell was murdered during a 1978 robbery at her home. After Hatchell allowed a coconspirator disguised as a flower delivery woman to enter her home, the woman pulled out a pistol from amidst the floral display which she was carrying, allowing cover for Coppola and others to rush into the home.

Hatchell was bound with Venetian blind cords. Coppola then had Hatchell’s head slammed repeatedly into the floor until she died.

The group fled with $3,100 in cash and some rings from the crime scene.

Trial

On September 26, 1978, Coppola was convicted of first-degree capital murder and sentenced to death in Virginia’s electric chair.

Coppola waived his appeals.

Appeals

Coppola dismissed his lawyers and waived his appeals. He said that he wished to spare his family the “tremendous hardship” of further appeals and to save his children from “schoolyard taunts”.

Chief Justice Warren E. Burger overruled a stay granted earlier that day by a Federal appeals court judge. Coppola was executed after that overruled stay.

Sentencing

Coppola was sentenced to death in Virginia’s electric chair following his September 26, 1978 conviction.

Outcome

Frank J. Coppola was executed by electrocution in Virginia. He was electrocuted in the basement of the Richmond State Penitentiary. He was pronounced dead at 11:29 P.M.

Although no media representatives witnessed the execution and no details were ever released by the Virginia Department of Corrections, an attorney who was present later stated that it took two 55-second jolts of electricity to kill Coppola. The second jolt produced the odor and sizzling sound of burning flesh, and Coppola’s head and leg caught on fire. Smoke filled the death chamber from floor to ceiling with a smokey haze.

Coppola was the first inmate executed in Virginia since Carroll Garland was executed for a Lynchburg murder in 1962. He was also reported as the first person executed in Virginia since the Supreme Court reinstituted capital punishment in 1976.

People involved

• Frank James Coppola — former police officer; convicted and sentenced to death
• Muriel Hatchell — victim

Other details

Coppola maintained his innocence of the 1978 murder of Muriel Hatchell.

Ben A. Franklin reported for The New York Times on August 11, 1982. In that report, Coppola was described as “adamantly” wishing to be electrocuted. In the report, Coppola was described as a 38-year-old former policeman and execution details included his pronouncement of death at 11:29 P.M.

Coppola’s execution location was identified as the basement of the Richmond State Penitentiary.