Brunswick County murder trial concludes with guilty verdict

A woman will spend the rest of her life behind bars after a Brunswick County jury found her guilty of first-degree murder of her mother.

Susan Copenhaver, 63, was found dead and partially dismembered inside her Oak Island home on the morning on Oct. 25, 2018. Her daughter, Julia, was also at the Northeast Second Street home. She was 24 years old at the time.

Julia Copenhaver was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the killing. Her trial began in Brunswick County Superior Court on May 22. After just one hour of deliberation, the 12-member jury returned the verdict: guilty of first-degree murder.

Superior Court Judge Jason Disbrow sentenced Copenhaver to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Assistant district attorneys Jenna Earley and Jacob Ward prosecuted the case for the state. Copenhaver was defended by criminal justice attorney Teresa Gibson.

The state presented evidence last week, painting a picture of the gruesome attack that took place.

Prior coverage:Trial continues for woman accused in mother's 2018 death at Oak Island

According to Susan Copenhaver's autopsy, the 63-year-old woman suffered dozens of stab wounds: 35 to the head, 10 to the neck, 18 to the torso and more than two dozen to her extremities. Susan Copenhaver's body also showed evidence of extensive blunt-force injuries, including to her head, the autopsy reports.

Law enforcement from the Oak Island Police Department and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation testified. Body camera footage presented in court shows Oak Island officers first arriving to the scene. Julia Copenhaver appears in the video at the home, wearing a red hoodie stained with what officers testified they believed to be human blood.

"She attacked me," Julia Copenhaver told the officers in the video.

While Julia Copenhaver didn’t take the stand to testify during her trial, the defense presented its evidence Friday.

Dr. George Corvin testified as an expert witness in the fields of forensic and general psychology. Corvin said while his numerous attempts to discuss the events of Oct. 25, 2018 with Copenhaver were unsuccessful, he used her mental health history, videos, phone calls and other evidence from around the time of the attack to analyze Copenhaver’s mental state at the time.

“Her mental health history isn’t long, but it’s intense,” Corvin said.

Corvin said Copenhaver had sustained several concussions while playing sports as a child and had been medicated for attention deficit disorder.

Corvin ultimately concluded Copenhaver suffered organically triggered psychosis in late September and October 2018 – at which time, he said, she began presenting “odd, obviously delusional” behavior leading up to the attack. Corvin said she was paranoid, rageful and fully convinced of events that had never happened.

Corvin said her previous head trauma, medication and stress lead to the break.

“This all unfolded in a month,” Corvin said.

Copenhaver was taken into custody by the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office following the conclusion of the trial Tuesday.

Jamey Cross covers Brunswick County for the StarNews. Reach her at jbcross@gannett.com or message her on Twitter @jameybcross.