Sponsored By
An organization or individual has paid for the creation of this work but did not approve or review it.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Duluth man charged with fatally stabbing wife over the weekend

At least one neighbor reported hearing the assault before the suspect allegedly fled the scene in the victim's truck.

The exterior of a two-story home at night with police tape running from the porches to a pole on the street.
Police tape is seen outside the scene of a fatal stabbing at 601 N. 27th Ave. W. on June 28.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group

DULUTH — A man has been charged with fatally stabbing his wife at their Duluth apartment Saturday night.

Corddarro Andrew Cope, 37, is accused of the intentional second-degree murder of Anissa Cope, 49.

ADVERTISEMENT

Court filings show a when she heard a woman screaming for help and apparently being “thrown around” in another unit at 601 N. 27th Ave. W. A man could also be heard telling the woman to shut up.

Corddarro Andrew Cope.jpg
Corddarro Andrew Cope

The caller provided Anissa Cope’s name and indicated her husband was leaving the scene in the victim’s truck, according to the criminal complaint.

Officers arrived on the scene minutes later and found a bloody sandal on an interior staircase leading to an open door at Apartment C. The complaint says Anissa Cope was found inside with “multiple large stab wounds to her arms, abdomen and neck.”

First responders attempted to revive the victim, but she was pronounced dead just after 8 p.m.

The reporting party described the suspect as having a shaved head, no shirt and wearing basketball shorts. She told officers he ran out of the building to a black truck and provided the direction of travel.

also read

Police alerted neighboring agencies and the truck was spotted a short time later by a Carlton County Sheriff’s Office deputy, according to the complaint. Deputies and state troopers then executed a stop in Pine County.

Corddarro Cope matched the description provided by the caller and had blood on his hands, abdomen and feet, authorities said. In a search of the truck, officers located a second bloody sandal matching the one found on the staircase.

ADVERTISEMENT

A search warrant was also obtained for the Copes’ apartment. There, police said they found a bloody chef's knife submerged in a bowl of water in the kitchen sink. Corddarro Cope’s wedding ring was also found on the sink, the complaint says.

Cope does not have any criminal convictions in Minnesota, but pleaded guilty to two separate battery cases in Douglas County in 2019. More serious felony charges of recklessly endangering safety and strangulation were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

He also has a handful of misdemeanor convictions in Missouri from several years ago, including passing a bad check and several driving-related offenses.

Cope was scheduled to make an initial appearance in State District Court on Tuesday. St. Louis County prosecutor Jacqueline Primeau requested $1 million bail, citing the severity of the charges, his battery convictions and his flight risk. She said it remains unclear where he was driving to when arrested, but he has ties to several other states.

The case is the second homicide in Duluth this month, following the neighborhood less than two weeks earlier. Overall, it was the fourth reported homicide in St. Louis County in June, with apparent murder-suicides occurring in and

To get help

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 911.

218-727-8353,

24/7 hotline: 800-656-4673

serves Duluth, Superior and Ashland, Bayfield and Douglas counties; 24/7 hotline 800-649-2921; submit a help request at

serves southern St. Louis County; 24/7 hotline 218-726-1931

serves northern St. Louis County; 218-749-4725; leave a message and an advocate will be contacted 24/7

serves Carlton and Pine counties; 24/7 hotline 800-338-7233

serves Aitkin and Itasca counties; hotline 866-747-5008

serves Lake County; 24/7 hotline 218-834-5924

serves Cook County; 24/7 hotline 218-387-1237

serves Koochiching County; 24/7 hotline 888-344-3264

24/7 hotline 218-348-1817

Grand Portage Human Services 218-475-2453

emergency cell 218-248-0067

Tom Olsen covers crime and courts and the 8th Congressional District for the Duluth News Tribune since 2013. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Duluth and a lifelong resident of the city. Readers can contact Olsen at 218-723-5333 or tolsen@duluthnews.com.
What To Read Next
Get Local

ADVERTISEMENT