Teenager who killed his father and brother in Fresno last year on his way to prison
A 19-year-old Fresno man was sentenced Monday to life in prison without parole for making what the prosecutor called a tragic and horrendous decision to murder his father and brother.
Robert Cotter reacted with little emotion as Judge James Kelley ordered he spend the rest of his life incarcerated. Cotter pleaded no contest on May 20 to fatally shooting his father, 53-year-old Patrick Cotter, and his 15-year-old brother, Brian.
Cotter’s defense attorney Emily Takao asked the judge for leniency by dismissing some of the sentencing enhancements.
Takao argued that Cotter was young, had no criminal history, and grew up in a home environment that she described as abusive and traumatic.
She added that there were also some “indications of mental illness in this offense.”
“He did not have control of the situation in which he was growing up,” she said.
Prosecutor Daniel Walters acknowledged Cotter’s home life was less than ideal. But the murders of his father and brother, who had autism, were not rash or impulsive acts. The killings were carefully researched and planned.
Cotter is accused of researching the Internet for how to make a murder look like a suicide, whether police search your computer, how do police investigate, and how to shoot a Colt 1911 semi-automatic handgun.
Walters said Cotter also wanted to know, “What happens to your stimulus check if you die?”
On the day of the murders, May 17, 2021, Cotter waited until his father and son were asleep inside the family’s mobile home in west-central Fresno, Walters said.
Cotter took the Colt handgun, went to where his father was sleeping, shot him once in the head, and seconds later shot him in the back.
“His brother woke up and started to run away, but he pulled his brother back by the collar and shot him in the head,” Walters said.
Walters noted that the probation department’s sentencing report describes Cotter’s plan as “compassionate” in the way it was carried out.
“That is false,” Walters said. “This was carried out in a way so that Mr. Cotter could get away with it.”
Cotter initially told police his father and brother died as part of a murder-suicide. But detectives soon discovered inconsistencies between the evidence from the scene and statements made by Cotter. Detectives spoke with Cotter again, and this time he confessed to killing his brother and father.
The judge said he was aware Cotter had a rough upbringing. That’s the case for many people in his courtroom, but they don’t all commit a double murder.
Kelley declined to dismiss any of the sentencing enhancements, sentencing Cotter to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“I don’t know what his issue was with his father that could cause him to commit homicide,” Kelley said. “But to execute his brother in this fashion is beyond anything that I think is justifiable. It was the cold-blooded murder of a kid who did nothing wrong.”
This story was originally published June 20, 2022 at 3:32 PM.
