The man who brought life to a standstill in northeast Nevada for three days 18 months ago will probably spend the rest of his behind bars.
Peter Mark Coca was sentenced to a minimum 24 years to a maximum 48 years in prison by Senior District Judge Charles McGee in Elko Tuesday. The 45 year old Wells electrical contractor will be 69 years old before he is eligible for parole.
Coca’s sentencing is the last act of a drama that began in February 2011 that shattered the quiet of the small town of wells and put one lawman in hospital fighting for his life.
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.
“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.”
But as the case began to wind its way through the legal system, it became clear that if the case had gone to trial circus might be an understatement.
In Coca’s preliminary hearing in the summer of last year, 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 sentencing hearing Tuesday, Guralnick suggested that Coca may have been experiencing something akin to “roid rage”. According to Coca’s lawyer the wells man had been receiving testosterone injections from his doctor.
While the roid rage defense was used in the 1980 and early 1990’s it has since been largely discredited. Although young athletes taking natural or artificial hormones can exhibit increased aggression and even out bursts of violence, Coca’s crime and his age do not fit the diagnoses.
Roid rage attacks are sudden and violent, climbing on top of a roof with an assault rifle and enough ammunition to hold off an armed assault indicates some planning not usually associated with the condition. Also as a middle aged man coca is well outside the age parameters usually associated with the condition.
Facing a minimum 20 sentence on the attempted murder charge plus another 20 years for the deadly weapon enhancement Coca also faced another six years each for each assault charge and a possible weapons enhancement.
While it will be at least 24 years before Coca is eligible for parole it is highly unlikely that he will be granted it on his first attempt. Indeed his best hope to ever breath free air again is to become so disabled in prison that his continued incarceration is considered too expensive for the state.