How would I go about putting together a legal memo on this case, discussing murder in the first degree charge? What other defenses might exist that could help lessen the charge that might be a point of negotiation for a plea deal? Things you should consider is that Kinley had unmedicated schizophrenia. He had previous violent episodes. He left a note prior to the killings and that he eventually turned himself into police. Here's the full case Kinley Cooper was taken into custody Thursday after he fired a shotgun blast in the direction of state troopers and sheriff's deputies who cornered him at a remote pond near the Deer Run ski resort on the Delaware-Schoharie County border, about 55 miles southwest of Albany. Earlier that day, the bodies of his father, Robert Cooper, 59, his mother Elizabeth, 48, his brother Daniel,, 22, and grandfather Charles Smith, 78, were found at Smith's hunting cabin outside the village of Stamford. Police said Smith was killed in his bed while the bodies of Robert and Daniel Cooper were found outside near a pond. Elizabeth Cooper's body was found in the pond, where police speculate she had tried to flee from her son. Police say they think the killings occurred late Wednesday. Delaware County District Attorney Malcolm Hughes said Kinley Cooper was arrested in January on a reckless endangerment charge after attacking his father, an attorney, with an axe. Hughes said Kinley Cooper spent time in various psychiatric programs and was a diagnosed schizophrenic. 'Bob (Cooper) didn't want me to pursue the charges,' Hughes said. Delaware County Sheriff Paul Peterson said he understood Kinley Cooper had shown threatening behavior towards his family at other times, once even punching his father in the face. Hughes said Kinley Cooper left a note on the door of his father's office in Stamford after the killings and intended it to be interpreted by police as a note from his father. 'Basically it alluded to the fact that he was sorry it happened and he wanted it to appear it was Bob writing it,' Hughes said