Twenty months after he held lawmen at bay with a high powered assault rifle from the roof of his Wells home, almost fatally shooting one, Peter Mark Coca copped a plea that probably will see him live the rest of his days behind bars.
Coca pled guilty to one count of attempted murder (with deadly weapon) and six counts of assault with a deadly weapon before visiting Senior Judge Charles McGee in Elko Monday.
Originally charged on a total of seven counts of attempted murder and seven counts of assault with a deadly weapon, Coca plea deal ends a log and sometimes bizarre journey through the legal process.
Coca was arrested February 26, 2011 after he turned himself in to police following a three day search for the Wells electrical contractor.
Elko County Deputies and NHP troopers were called to the Wells’ man home in response to a ‘violent domestic dispute’ on February 24. When they arrived the saw Coca on the roof brandishing an assault rifle. From that rooftop snipers’ perch Coca held off the deputies and NHP troopers for about 30 minutes firing well over 50 rounds critically injuring one.
Deputy Lenwood Van Natter was hit by multiple rifle shots in the chest, hip and legs. Deputy Van Natter was pulled from the scene by the other officers and air lifted to a Salt Lake City hospital.
Following the two day multi state manhunt Coca surrendered in Wells where he had been hiding all along in a neighbor’s basement.
Shortly after his arrest Coca complained of chest pains and was sent for medical care and evaluation in Carson City. He was returned to the Elko County Jail on March 17.
Most criminal trials in Elko last at most two weeks and most court watchers predicted that the Coca case if indeed it made it before the jury would last just one.
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“There are about a dozen eye witnesses,” said one law enforcement officer after Coca’s arrest this February. “It’s not like you need a detective to ferret out clues.”
Perhaps one does.
In Coca’s preliminary hearing in the summer of last year summer, Attorney Mark Guralnick argued albeit unsuccessfully that Coca should not be bound over for trial because the prosecution did not prove the Coca had shown ‘murderous intent’ during the shoot out.
The New Jersey attorney was not helped by the tape message his client left on the answering machine of a relative admitting that he shot a “couple of cops. Goodbye.”
And while the no murderous intent defense may seem a bit farfetched especially when doctors say Deputy Van Natter was not killed only because he was wearing body armor, it has been successful in an Elko County court room before.
Some 20 years ago a Wells Police officer escaped an attempted murder conviction after unloading seven bullets into his wife’s lover after he caught the paramours in bed.
While convicted of the much lessor charge of assault with a deadly weapon, jurors were evidently persuaded by the defense argument that the accused was such a good shot he intentionally avoided all vital organs of his victims.
The ex-policeman subsequently served less than 5 years in a minimum security prison and within a short time after his release had the felony expunged from his record. He was later elected to serve on the Wells City Council.
During his change of plea hearing Coca’s attorney suggested that he could have used a number of other innovative defenses including a plea of temporary insanity.
But now that he has pled Coca’s fate is now all but sealed.
Facing a minimum 20 sentence on the attempted murder charge plus another 20 years for the deadly weapon enhancement Coca also faces another six years each for each assault charge and a possible weapons enhancement.
He will be sentenced December 11 and if the Wells man had any hopes of ever breathing free air again, McGee appeared to dash them when he told Coca he would not probably ever win probation.
Coca is 44 years old.