Starbucks murders
The Starbucks murders occurred on July 6, 1997, in a Georgetown, Washington, D.C. store, where three employees were killed: Mary Caitrin Mahoney, Emory Allen Evans, and Aaron David Goodrich. The killers used a .38-caliber snub-nosed revolver and a .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol.
On the morning of July 8, Starbucks regional director Dean Torrenga toured the crime scene and said nothing like this had happened before in the company’s history.
On March 1, 1999, Carl Derek Cooper was arrested for questioning about a 1996 attempted murder of an off-duty Prince George’s County police officer. He was charged with three counts of first-degree murder on March 5, 1999. Keith Covington was questioned by the DC police and the FBI for 15 hours; he acknowledged knowing Evans and that he grew up near Cooper, but that was all.
Cooper later admitted to other crimes, including a 1993 murder of a security guard, a 1996 attempted murder, and a series of robberies across D.C., Maryland, and Pennsylvania. He pled guilty to 47 counts as part of a plea deal, with prosecutors agreeing not to charge his mother or his wife with related lesser crimes. A prosecutor described Cooper as the head of a violent criminal operation who would shoot if there was any resistance.
On April 25, 2000, Cooper was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
On July 6, 2022, the 25th anniversary of the murders, Starbucks held a ceremony at the Georgetown store to remember the three employees.
The FBI Files episode from season 4, titled The Coffee Shop Murders, was based on the case and aired January 31, 2002. The episode does not name Starbucks to avoid legal complications.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 17:56 (CET).