Originally posted Wed, 2009-08-26 20:52
Courtesy photo/Volusia Jail mug. A Volusia County grand jury handed up an indictmentin August charging Joseph Edward Jordan, 39, with first-degree murder and robbery in the June 29, hog-tied beating death of his Edgewater roommate, 50-year-old Keith Cope.
EDGEWATER -- He was hogtied and left for dead. And that's exactly what happened to 50-year-old Keith Cope. He died two weeks later at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach. A Volusia Grand jury earlier today returned an indictment of first-degree murder and robbery against his roommate, 39-year-old Joseph Edward Jordan, said Assistant State Attorney Christopher Kelly on behalf of State Attorney R.J. Larizza.
Cope was pronounced dead June 29, at Halifax, having suffered a number of injuries resulting from being tied so tight with duct tape to his bed on Victory Palm Drive that his left arm had to be amputated and he quickly slipped into a coma, according to an Edgewater police report, which classified his death a homicide.
Police reports listed Cope's roommate, 39-year-old Joseph Edward Jordan as a suspect almost from the onset. Jordan was arrested last month in Broward County on warrants out of Volusia County charging him with failing to register as a sex offender and grand theft auto for allegedly stealing the victim's truck. Jordan was transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail on those charges levied by Edgewater police and his bond was $20,000. ]
Police were first alerted to Cope's situation when he was found unconscious by a friend, Marlon Powell of Miramar who had planned to rent a room from him. According to the police report, Powell and his girlfriend, Sadia Haque, drove Cope's truck up from South Florida after Jordan handed them the keys.
Powell described the victim's duct tape situation as being "hogtied and then tied across his biceps to the bed posts." And he stated in the report, the victim also "had duct tape around his facial and neck area," as well as to his wrists and ankles.
Powell told police he used a kitchen knife to "cut the rope from across the victim's chest, causing him to fall forward."
Police tacked on robbery charges against Jordan, alleging he not only took the victim'ds truck, but his wallet as well along with its undisclosed contents.