Murder charges filed against Dave McCann in stabbing of estranged wife, mother-in-law

Dave Thomas McCann, who is accused of killing his estranged wife and mother-in-law inside a home in Clovis, will be arraigned Friday in Fresno County Superior Court on two counts of murder.

A criminal complaint filed Thursday charges McCann with murdering Judith Faye Cooper, 68, of Paso Robles, and her daughter, Tierney Cooper-McCann, 37. The two women were stabbed to death last Saturday in Cooper-McCann’s home on the 700 block of West Omaha Avenue near Buchanan High School in Clovis.

If convicted, he faces life in prison.

He is being held in the Fresno County Jail in lieu of posting $2 million bail.

McCann, 49, was arrested Wednesday in the city of Seaside in Monterey County after an intense manhunt by multiple police agencies.

Clovis police say a tip from a homeless person led police to McCann, who was found sleeping in a homeless encampment.

Police had been searching the Central Coast since a moving van rented by McCann was discovered in Paso Robles on Saturday night.

Neighbors say his estranged wife had lived in the West Omaha Avenue home for the past seven years. They say Cooper-McCann was seeking to divorce McCann, who was originally from England, and was attempting to obtain a restraining order.

Clovis Police Capt. Tom Roberts said officers recovered a weapon that may have been used in the alleged murders, but were waiting for DNA processing to confirm it.

Earlier this week, Cooper-McCann was remembered by co-workers at Community Regional Medical Center, where she worked as a child-life specialist in the hospital’s burn center.

This story was originally published May 12, 2016 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Murder charges filed against Dave McCann in stabbing of estranged wife, mother-in-law."