Wayne Warner, a Caucasian man from rural Mooresville, Missouri, was killed on November 19, 1986. His body was recovered wrapped in black plastic and buried in a barn on the Copeland farm; an autopsy found he had been shot in the back of the head with a .22 rifle. Warner’s name also appeared on a written agreement for renting pasture ground signed by him and Ray Copeland, a detail investigators used to link him to the Copelands’ property.

The discovery followed a report from a former farmhand, Jack McCormick, who told authorities about a closet of clothing belonging to missing men at the Copeland home and prompted a search. Ballistics matched bullets taken from the victims to a .22 rifle owned by Ray Copeland, and a quilt sewn by Faye Copeland was made from the victims’ clothing. Prosecutors described the killings as part of a scheme to conceal cattle fraud in which transient farmhands were used to buy cattle and then silenced.

Both Ray and Faye Copeland were arrested and charged; both were convicted. Ray Copeland received a death sentence and Faye Copeland a life sentence. Does anyone have information about Warner’s life in Mooresville or who might have known him around November 1986?