DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A man diagnosed with schizophrenia has been sentenced to 10 to 40 years in the murder of his mother in their suburban Philadelphia home.
Thirty-two-year-old Zachary Cope pleaded guilty but mentally ill in January to third-degree murder and possession of an instrument of crime.
Authorities in Bucks County said he stabbed 52-year-old Rebecca Cope in December 2016 in the Lower Makefield Township home, then flagged down a motorist to tell him about the crime.
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The (Doylestown) Intelligencer reports that authorities said the defendant said he stabbed his mother during an argument about putting olive oil on a cutting board and believed she had “morphed” into an FBI agent “or vice-versa.”
Officials said at Monday’s sentencing that Cope will be credited for time served since his December 2016 arrest.
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