Eric Copple preliminary hearing comes up

Eric Copple accused of killing two Napa women in 2004

Cathy Harrington is flying to Napa on Mother’s Day from her home in Michigan.

Harrington knows she won’t see her daughter, Leslie Mazzara. Instead, Harrington is preparing for the first time to see Eric Copple, the man accused of killing Mazzara and her roommate Adriane Insogna.

“At first I really didn’t want to go. I knew it would be very hard for me,” said Harrington. “But then I got to thinking about it and it’s the ultimate act for a mother to be there to represent her daughter. It’s taking all the strength I can muster up to do this.”

The preliminary hearing for Copple, being held for the 2004 murders of Mazzara and Adriane Insogna, is set to began on Monday.

Insogna’s mother, Arlene Allen, of Calistoga will also be at the hearing.

Copple appeared Wednesday before Napa County Judge Rodney Stone with his attorneys to finalize details for next week’s hearing, which is expected to last up to three days.

At the hearing, Judge Stephen Kroyer will hear evidence and decide if there is enough proof to hold Copple accountable for the stabbing deaths of Insogna and Mazzara, both 26, on Nov. 1, 2004, in their rented home on Dorset Street in southwest Napa.

In addition to two counts of murder, Copple — who turned 27 on May 7 in his jail cell — is also charged with the special allegations of using a knife in the commission of the murders and committing two murders at one time. If found guilty, Copple could face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In the courtroom

At Wednesday’s hearing, Copple’s wife, Lily, sat with her parents and Copple’s mother in the front row. Lily nodded and smiled at Copple when he was led into the courtroom. Copple quickly took his place behind the partition separating the court staff from the inmates.

During the proceeding, Copple talked to his attorneys, deputy public defenders Greg Galeste and Amy Morton, and looked directly at the judge, not making any further eye contact with family members.

Prosecutors Rob Wade and Mark Boessenecker say they intend to call four to six witnesses. As far as going after the death penalty, Wade said, “That decision is a ways off. We have to do the preliminary hearing first.”

In a capital murder case, federal law requires the defendant be represented by two attorneys.

“We have to assume the prosecution will be going for the death penalty. We can’t not be prepared for that,” Galeste said. “There is too much at stake here.

“There is always the possibility we could enter a not guilty by reason of insanity plea.” He also said there is a possibility he could request a change of venue. “With all the publicity this case has gotten, we want to make sure Eric gets a fair trial.”

Galeste said Copple is “holding up, considering the circumstances. He has his good days and bad days.”

Nov. 1, 2004

The night of murder, Insogna, Mazzara and a third roommate, Loren Meanza, had gone to bed around 10 p.m., after giving Halloween candy out to children.

Insogna and Mazzara slept upstairs in separate bedrooms. Meanza retired to her downstairs bedroom. Shortly after 2 a.m., Meanza awoke to the sounds of breaking glass and screams. She tried to call police on the house phone, but the phone was disabled. The upstairs phone may have been knocked off the hook during the struggle between the killer and Mazzara.

After the killer left through a downstairs window, the same way he got in, Meanza climbed the stairs and found her friends, who had been stabbed. She fled the house in her car and called 911 on her cell phone.

During the next 11 months, detectives interviewed 1,300 people who had ties to the women and took 218 DNA samples, but were not able to make an arrest. Copple’s DNA was not among the samples.

The break in the case came in September 2005, when police were able to match the killer’s DNA with cigarette butts found at the murder scene. On Sept. 28, Copple, fearing police were closing in on him, went to the police station, along with family members and turned himself in. During an interview that night, Copple made statements to investigators which led them to believe he committed the murders, Napa Police Chief Rich Melton said at an earlier press conference.

The murder weapon has not been recovered. Police have not given a motive.

Copple is being held without bail in the county jail.

The preliminary hearing is set for 8:30 a.m., Monday, in department H in the criminal courthouse.

This was the murder case of my sister’s friend.  In a lot of ways I hope that this goes quickly and quietly, as these deaths had been hard on her.

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