A man who was executed in Mississippi for killing his wife confessed to his attorneys three weeks before being put to death that he also killed his sister-in-law and hid her body.
Two days after David Neal Cox was executed on November 17, his attorneys turned over "hand-delivered writings" that disclosed the alleged location of the body of his brother's wife, Felicia Cox. She disappeared in 2007 and Cox was the last person to see her alive, according to reports.
"Cox has been a long-time suspect in her disappearance," District Attorney John Weddle said at a news conference. "There is no indication anyone other than Cox is responsible for Felicia Cox's death."
Cox apparently confessed to the murder and provided the alleged location of the remains to his legal team on October 26. Weddle said Cox "waived attorney-client privilege effective upon his death," allowing his legal team to share his admissions.
The Pontotoc County Sheriff's Department and the District Attorney's Office were in contact with Cox prior to the execution urging the disclosure, Weddle added. Mississippi's Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel, which represented Cox, said he confessed because he "felt deep remorse and wanted to bring closure to her family."
Police have not disclosed where Cox claims the body is located, though reports describe it as a "rural area" in Pontotoc County.
Investigators said they will try to locate Felicia Cox's remains using the information provided by Cox, but they're not sure if the details are accurate. Archaeology and anthropology experts at Mississippi State University will be contacted to help in the event that remains are found, officials said.
Cox, 50, is the first inmate to be executed in Mississippi in nine years. He pleaded guilty in 2012 to multiple charges, including capital murder, for fatally shooting his estranged wife and sexually assaulting his young step-daughter as her mother lay dying. Cox abandoned all appeals, instead filing court papers describing himself as "worthy of death."
Related
Related
