Help keep cop-killer Phillip Copeland, DIN #89A5229, in prison for life for the 1988 murder of NYPD P.O. Edward R. Byrne. Please help us oppose parole by sending a letter to Ms. Sayeeda Gault, Supervising Offender Rehabilitation Coordinator, Attica Correctional Facility, 639 Exchange Street, Attica, NY 14011 (email [email protected] ) no later than November, 2022. We have included a sample letter below.
Ms. Sayeeda Gault
Supervising Offender Rehabilitation Coordinator
New York State Division of Parole
Attica Correctional Facility
639 Exchange St. Rd.
Attica, NY 14011
RE: Philip Copeland, DIN #89A5229
Dear Ms. Gault and Members of the NYS Parole Board:
In the very early morning hours of February 26, 1988, NYPD Police Officer Edward Byrne, a 22-year-old rookie with only seven months on the job, was shot in the head and killed in cold blood by four remorseless, vicious, drug-dealing guns-for-hire while he was guarding a witness in a narcotics case. One of those killers was Philip Copeland, DIN #89A5229. Officer Byrne was sitting in his car at the time when four men approached his vehicle, knocked on the window, and then opened fire at point blank range. Officer Byrne’s death was ordered by a jailed drug kingpin named Howard “Pappy” Mason whose sole motive was to exert his power by having a New York City cop murdered at will and at random.
Four criminals were cheaply bought by Pappy Mason for a few thousand dollars. They bragged, in graphic detail, to their friends and later to Investigators, how they murdered young Officer Byrne. They were tried and sentenced to 25-years-to-life on murder and weapons charges. They are being housed at different correctional institutions, including Copeland at Attica.
Almost three decades later, the law enforcement community still reels from this senseless crime. Officer Byrne’s homicide does not seem all that long ago. And it is hard to believe these criminals are eligible for parole.
It would be a terrible travesty of justice if Copeland was released from prison. He brutally murdered a young, enthusiastic public servant dedicating his life to maintaining law and order. He tore apart the family of Officer Byrne, as well as those of his friends and colleagues. He terrorized the witnesses in the case against ruthless drug kingpins. The case shocked even the most hardened New Yorker and ripped the collective heart out of the City at a time when the entire nation was gripped in the escalating crime rate, terror, violence, and death of the 1980s crack epidemic.
Much has been written and publicized about this case, because of its callous brutality and senselessness. It defies imagination, even more than three-and-a-half decades after it occurred.
I believe there is only one answer to the question of parole for Philip Copeland. That answer is “No!”
I urge the Parole Division of the State of New York to deny the parole petition of Philip Copeland. This criminal lost his right to freedom the moment he agreed to stalk the streets of New York City in search of an honest young Police Officer to kill.
I believe cop-killers, especially those who despicably execute public servants in cold blood, should stay behind bars for life.
Thank you for considering my position.
Sincerely,
