GARETT and GAVIN COLEMAN - (2009) / Convicted: Father Chris Coleman - Columbia IL

Police said they have narrowed down
their investigation in the strangulations of a Columbia woman and her Garett, 11, and Gavin, 9
two sons to one suspect and presented their case Wednesday to the
Monroe County prosecutor, but no warrant was issued, pending lab tests
that could take up to eight weeks."You need to make sure before
you make charges on something like this," said Maj. Jeff Connor, deputy
commander of the Major Case Squad of the Greater St. Louis Area.In
the early morning hours of May 5, police found Sheri Coleman, 31, and
sons, Garett, 11, and and Gavin, 9, dead in their Columbia home after
Sheri's husband and the boys' father, Christopher Coleman, called
police from a South St. Louis gym and asked police to check on them.

Investigators turned over evidence to Monroe County State's Attorney Kris Reitz after an
investigation that has taken the 20 members of the squad to Missouri,
Florida, Springfield and Chicago, Connor said. They will decide by the
end of today whether to extend the Major Case Squad's involvement or
disband."After
nine days of investigation on hours that went from anywhere from 14 to
24 hours a day, we've developed information that we believe one person
is actually involved in this homicide," Connor said. "We believe that
this was not a random act, that it was actually intended to kill the
three members of this family."Connor declined to identify the suspect."We
had anticipated the possibility that maybe there would be charges
today, so we presented our case with the information that we had at
this time, and it was decided to defer a little longer," Connor said.
"The evidence that we submitted to (the State's Attorney) he would like
for that to be analyzed before a decision is made."Connor said
he anticipates the suspect will be charged. "I've said all along I feel
confident this case will be solved, and I hold to that," he said.Connor
said evidence was discarded on Interstate 255, and investigators are
asking for anyone who saw something unusual before 6:50 a.m. May 5 to
call police.Columbia Police Chief Joe Edwards is asking anyone
who knew the Coleman family to call police if officers have not yet
interviewed them.Meanwhile, Chris Coleman held a private burial
service Wednesday morning for his wife and sons, attended by only
himself and his parents.Police spent much of Wednesday following
Coleman's movements. Early Wednesday morning three unmarked police cars
and a sport utility vehicle full of detectives were staked out around
his parents' home at 304 Dixie Drive in Chester, where he has been
staying. They left about 3:30 p.m., saying they were told to return to
Columbia. "At this point, we don't have any surveillance on Mr.
Coleman," Connor said shortly after 4 p.m.Shortly after 8 a.m.,
Coleman and his parents left the house and went to Grace Church
Ministries in Chester, where Coleman's father, the Rev. Ronald Coleman,
serves as pastor. Most of the police who were parked near the house
then followed them to the church.About 9:30 a.m., the bodies of
Sheri, Garett and Gavin Coleman arrived at Evergreen Cemetery in
Chester. Chris Coleman arrived with his parents before the burial. He
gazed at the caskets, then the Colemans hugged. Ronald Coleman touched
one of the caskets before the family departed.About 2 p.m.,
Chris Coleman was visited for more than 30 minutes at his parents' home
by Roby Walker, spokesman for Joyce Meyer Ministries. Coleman is
security chief for Meyer, who is an evangelist. Walker was not
immediately available for comment.The private funeral for the
mother and sons was held Saturday morning at Grace Church in Chester.
Burial was delayed by a legal tussle between Chris Coleman and his
wife's family, who wanted to hold a memorial service in Chicago.Sheri
Coleman's family won an order temporarily stopping burial. They had the
bodies transported to the Chicago area, where they held a burial
Monday. Their bodies were to be returned Tuesday and arrived at the
cemetery for burial Wednesday morning.Coleman, 32, gave police his fingerprints Monday.

COLUMBIA, Ill. — A glove found along Interstate 255 may be a key
clue to who killed Sheri Coleman and her two sons in their home here,
law enforcement sources said Monday.

They said the glove appeared to have stains from red spray paint. A
similar color paint was used by the killer to scrawl a message on a
wall in the Coleman home.

Investigators are testing the glove for fingerprints and DNA, the
sources said, and otherwise checking whether it can be linked to the
crime scene.

Coleman, 31, and sons Garett, 11, and Gavin, 9, were found dead in
their bedrooms May 5. Neighbors told reporters that police said the
victims were strangled, although no official cause of death has been
reported.

Christopher Coleman, the surviving husband and father, told
detectives he left home around 5:45 a.m. that day to go to a gym in
south St. Louis County. He called police shortly before 7 a.m., worried
that he could not reach his family by phone and asking that officers
check their well-being. Police found the bodies.

Within several days, investigators walked stretches of Interstate 255 near the Jefferson Barracks Bridge, checking the roadsides for something. They wouldn't disclose what.

Last week, police announced they had identified a lone killer who
targeted the family, and turned evidence over to Monroe County State's
Attorney Kris Reitz. He has deferred a decision on charges, pending
unspecified forensic tests.

William Margulis, the attorney representing Christopher Coleman, declined to comment Monday about the glove.

It was found along what would have been Coleman's route to the gym.
Police have not named him as a suspect. His fingerprints were taken by
court order last week, and he was under obvious police surveillance for
a while.

Asked for comment about the glove, Major Case Squad commander Jeff
Connor responded that it "is not a confirmed piece of evidence."

Police sources have said that someone painted words on the wall to the effect of, "I told you this would happen."

Christopher Coleman told police he had received some kind of threats in
his role as a security manager for Joyce Meyer, an internationally
known televangelist based in Jefferson County. He resigned from the job
last week; a Joyce Meyer Ministries spokesman on Monday cited "a
violation of moral conduct" but declined to give specifics about
Coleman's resignation.

Police sources have said that investigators interviewed a woman in
Florida who had been a friend of Sheri Coleman's in high school and who
was involved in a recent romance with Christopher Coleman, meeting him
sometimes when he traveled on business. His lawyers have declined to
comment on that.

A glove found along Interstate 255 may be a key clue to who killed
Sheri Coleman and her two sons in their home in Columbia, Ill., law
enforcement sources said Monday.
They said the glove appeared to
have stains from red spay paint. A similar color paint was used by the
killer to scrawl a message on a wall inside the Coleman home, according
to a police source.

Investigators are testing the glove for
fingerprints and DNA, the sources said, and otherwise checking whether
it can be linked to the crime scene.

Coleman, 31, and sons
Garett, 11, and Gavin, 9, were found dead in their bedrooms May 5.
Neighbors told reporters that police said the victims had been
strangled, although no official cause of death has been reported.

Christopher
Coleman, the surviving husband and father, told detectives he left home
around 5:45 a.m. that day to go to a gym in south St. Louis County. He
called police shortly before 7 a.m., worried that he could not reach
his family by phone and asking that officers check their well-being.
Police found the bodies.

Within several
days, investigators walked stretches of Interstate 255 near the
Jefferson Barracks Bridge checking the roadsides for something. They
wouldn’t disclose what.

Last week, police announced they had
identified a lone killer who targeted the family, and turned evidence
over to Monroe County State's Attorney Kris Reitz. He has deferred a
decision on charges, pending unspecified forensic tests.

William Margulis, the attorney representing Christopher Coleman, declined to comment Monday regarding discovery of the glove.

It
was found along what would have been Coleman's route to the gym. Police
have not named him as a suspect, although his fingerprints were taken
by court order last week and he was under obvious police surveillance
for a while.

Asked for comment about the glove, Major Case Squad
commander Jeff Connor responded that it "is not a confirmed piece of
evidence."

Police sources have said that someone painted words on the wall to the effect of "I told you this would happen."
(The police keep doing things that point to him as a suspect and then
they claim that he is not a suspect. If he isn't a suspect they are
doing him a disservice. But he is acting like a guilty man by not
turning over the needed samples willingly. I can understand the lawyer,
being in the murder investigation can't be easy. But what harm can DNA
and fingerprints do? Wouldn't providing the samples be the quickest way
of ending suspicion.)

Coleman had told police he had
received some kind of threats in his role as a security manager for
Joyce Meyer, an internationally known televangelist based in Jefferson
County. He resigned from the job last week; the Joyce Meyer Ministries
citing a violation of an unspecified employment policy.

Police
sources have said that investigators interviewed a woman in Florida who
had been a friend of Sheri Coleman's in high school and who had been
involved in a recent romance with Christopher Coleman, meeting him
sometimes when he traveled on business. His lawyers also have declined
comment on that.

BREAKING NEWS

Columbia, Ill– Police Sources inside the Investigation
of the murders of Sheri Coleman and her two sons, Garrett and Gavin
Coleman, have confirmed to blinkoncrime.com that the arrest of the
husband and father of the deceased, Christopher Coleman, is imminent.
Following the earlier disbanding of the Major Crimes
Division while the Columbia police awaited forensics based on the
advice of the District Attorney, Major Connor is back at the Columbia
Police Headquarters this afternoon rumored to be preparting for an
impromptu press conference, announcing Coleman’s arrest. There are
already news trucks parked outside the Columbia PD although no
announcement has been made.

Check back to blinkoncrime.com for updates to this developing story.

COLUMBIA, Ill. — A southwestern Illinois man was charged Tuesday with strangling his wife and two young children.
Chris Coleman, 32, was arrested at his parents' home in Chester, about 40
miles from Columbia, and charged with three counts of first degree
murder, said Jeff Connor of the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis."We've done all we could to solve this as
quickly as we could but as efficiently as we could," said Connor, who
declined to discuss motive. "We feel very comfortable in these charges."
Coleman did not resist arrest, Connor said. Coleman, wearing an orange jail
jumpsuit and with his arms shackled to his waist, refused to answer
reporters' questions as police escorted him to a waiting vehicle.
Defense attorney William Margulis told The Associated Press his client planned
to plead not guilty at a court appearance scheduled for Wednesday.
Police had said they believed one person was responsible in the killings of
Sheri Coleman, 31, and her two sons, Garett, 11, and 9-year-old Gavin,
who were found in their Columbia home on May 5.
Connor confirmed on Tuesday that all the victims were strangled with a
ligature but he declined to discuss the type of cord used.
The Major Case Squad presented evidence in the case to Monroe County
State's Attorney Kris Reitz last week, but Reitz did not file charges
pending the results of forensic tests. At the time authorities declined
to name the suspect.
"For several days now we have been close," Connor said. "Tonight there was just some more
evidence that came forward and we were able to solidify a more solid
case."
The case remained open, although authorities were not looking for any other suspects, said Columbia Police Chief Joe Edwards.
Edwards said he was relieved Coleman had been arrested.
"We knew there was a road we needed to go down, a goal we needed to reach," he said.The day the bodies were found Chris Coleman
called police from a gym and asked a Columbia police officer who had
investigated prior threats related to the family for a well-being check
around 7 a.m., investigators have said.
Chris Coleman told officials that he called the house and no one answered, authorities said.
Officials have declined to discuss details about the alleged threats. Some
neighbors in the well-kept subdivision have also said the Colemans
received threatening letters and that their mailbox was tampered with.
Police got to the suburban home that morning before Chris Coleman arrived and
discovered the bodies. Shortly after, officers had to restrain the
visibly upset man in his yard.
Chris Coleman worked security for Joyce Meyer Ministries, a Fenton, Mo.-based
evangelical Christian group. Joyce Meyer spokesman Roby Walker said
last week that Coleman resigned after an internal inquiry found he
failed to follow a ministry policy.
Walker would not say what policy Coleman allegedly violated.

COLUMBIA, Ill. — A southwestern
Illinois man charged with strangling his wife and two young children
plans to plead not guilty at his court appearance on Wednesday, his
attorney said.
Chris Coleman, 32, was arrested Tuesday at his parents' home in Chester,
about 40 miles from Columbia, and charged with three counts of first
degree murder, said Jeff Connor of the Major Case Squad of Greater St.
Louis.

COLUMBIA, Ill. — A southwestern
Illinois man charged with strangling his wife and two young sons
pleaded not guilty to the killings on Wednesday.
Chris Coleman, 32, entered not guilty pleas to three counts of first-degree murder in the two-minute arraignment hearing.
He faces life in prison without parole if convicted.

The Major Case Squad reveals new details about the arrest of
Christopher Coleman, and the scene of the triple murder he is accused
of commiting.

When police announced the arrest in a late night news conference
Tuesday, they would only say new evidence gathered that day convinced
prosecutors to file first degree murder charges against Coleman, in the
deaths of his wife Sheri and their sons Gavin and Garett. Just six days
before, police warned it could be weeks before an arrest would come.
They said they had a suspect, but did not have enough evidence to press
charges.

Wednesday night, Major Case Squad Deputy Commander Major Jeff Connor
said it was not one key piece of evidence, but several layers that
pushed the case over the edge Tuesday.

"I can tell you this investigation took us all over the place, several
states, businesses, worship centers, residential areas, all over, so I
don't want to key in on any one piece of evidence," Connor says.

Connor also revealed the bodies of Sheri, Gavin, and Garett were
discovered, strangled, in separate bedrooms upstairs in the Coleman
home on the morning of May 5. A basement window in the back of the home
was open. The chilling words "I told you so" were spray painted in red
on a wall near the stairs.

Detectives have visited stores near the Coleman home that would sell
spray paint, asking for paint samples and looking at surveillance
pictures. They fingerprinted Christopher Coleman last week, after
recovering a rubber glove on the side of Interstate 255 in Illinois.

There is so much anger over this case in Monroe County that people
lined the street near the courthouse, to heckle Coleman as he arrived
for his initial court appearance Wednesday morning.

"Murderer!" they yelled. "Baby killer!" yelled another. They never saw
Coleman, but they screamed at the car in which he was riding.

'It's what he deserves," said one man.

Coleman pled not guilty.

"My client, Mr. Coleman, maintains his innocence and we're going to
play this out in the judicial process," said Coleman's attorney Bill
Margulis.

In the Columbia Lakes neighborhood where the Coleman family lived,
and where three of them died, there is a new sense of calm.

"We're relieved that they finally got him and we know who it is," said
neighbor Jennifer Grimm. "We all feel safer. We were hoping that this
would not have been him, but you just never know who your neighbor is
going to be and what kind of person they're going to be."

"I think one day I'll find peace but right now it's kind of hard," Grimm said.

Connor said it was a relief to make an arrest in this case. He called
it a great night for law enforcement, the city of Columbia, and in
particular, the Major Case Squad.

"It's a very complicated case," said Connor. "The children make it more
complicated, it's more emotional."

"There's some closure now that the person I feel, the judge feels, and the
prosecutor feels is the right person is behind bars."

Meanwhile, a former co-worker finds the allegations against Chris Coleman
almost unbelievable.

There was new insight into the Columbia, Illinois, triple murder case,
Wednesday, from someone who used to work with accused killer, Chris
Coleman, 32; someone who is now covering the story as a photo
journalist.

When police led Coleman from the Columbia police department and into a
waiting squad car to take him to jail, there were reporters and
photographers everywhere. One of them was looking through a camera at
someone he considered a friend.
"Seeing someone I worked with come through the door in the jump suit,
with the handcuffs on, it hurts. It really does," said freelance
photojournalist, George Wise, who's been covering the case for the
Associated Press and others. "I was just shocked. I was just like,
'this cannot be Chris Coleman. There's no way. This is not the Chris
Coleman I know'."

Wise has been covering St. Louis for close to 20 years. For close to 3,
he worked as a TV-video specialist for the Joyce Meyer Ministries
alongside Chris Coleman and Coleman's wife Sheri, 31.

Coleman's jailed with no bond on three counts of first degree murder
for the strangulation deaths of his wife and two sons, Garett, 11, and
Gavin, 9.

"I wanted to reach out and say something to him. I think he knew I was
there," Wise said of the scene at the police station.

He remembered Chris Coleman as a serious minded, dedicated security
officer for Joyce Meyer and a dedicated family man; much the same as
Sheri Coleman's family did.

"She had never complained about any infidelity," said Enrico Mirabelli,
a spokesman for Sheri Coleman's family. "She had not complained about
any verbal or physical abuse to any of the family members."

Neighbors said Chris Coleman played with his sons outside daily; taking
them to a Cardinals game a day or two before the murders.

"To see him in this position is just horrifying to me, because of the
Chris Coleman I knew and the Chris Coleman I worked with. I've got to
go into rewind here because it just doesn't make any sense," Wise said.

It's been hard for all of them to think of him as a killer; it's hard for wise
to cover the home-turned-crime scene.

"It's just devastating to stand here and look at his house and just
know that his life there is over. It's just absolutely over," Wise said
standing outside the Coleman home. "I'm really sad. I think when you
look at the pictures of the children you look at Sheri, you look at
him, they looked very happy...I have made it a point to stay on this
story as a journalist," he added, wiping a tear. "Because I want the
truth. I want the truth for me and the community because I care about
Sheri and who she is. I do care about Chris even though he's in this
horrible situation, whether he did it or not, the truth has got to come
out."

Coleman pleaded not guilty in Monroe County court Wednesday.

"My client, Mr. Coleman, maintains his innocence," his attorney, Bill Margulis, said.

You can understand why a part of Wise, was hoping what Margulis said is
true. Wise flashed back to what he considered a defining moment in the
story as viewed through his camera so far, when Coleman was put into
the squad car. A reporter asked if Coleman had any thoughts to share
about his children.

"You did see him drop his head ... you just knew it'd just sunk in to
him. He was having the full realization of the impact of what he's
going to go through."

Coleman bowed his head, pursed his lips and seemed to fight back tears,
as police led him off to jail.

Famed forensic pathologist Dr. Michael
Baden reviewed material related to the triple strangulation slayings of
Columbia mother Sheri Coleman and her two sons, Garett and Gavin.Baden was contacted by police to review the case late last week. He declined to comment on his findings."I did look at some things in the case at the request of police," Baden said Thursday.
Baden, 74, is the former chief medical examiner for New York City
and is the chief forensic pathologist for the New York State Police. He
has performed more than 20,000 autopsies in his 40-year career.Granite
City Police Maj. Jeff Connor declined to comment regarding Baden."I am
not going to discuss any evidence, including people we talked to,
concerning this case," he said.Baden stars in the Home Box
Office program "Autopsy: Postmortem with Dr. Baden." He authored more
than 80 professional articles and two nonfiction books, including "Dead
Reckoning, the New Science of Catching Killers" with Marion Roach.Baden
investigated the deaths of President John F. Kennedy, civil rights
leader Martin Luther King and comedian John Belushi. He testified in
O.J. Simpson's murder case after the football hero was charged with
killing his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman.Police
found the bodies of Sheri Coleman, 31, Garett Coleman, 11, and Gavin
Coleman, 9, about 7 a.m. May 5 after Christopher Coleman called police
from a Gold's Gym in south St. Louis and asked police to check on them.Connor presented the case to Monroe County State's Attorney Kris Reitz on Friday, but the case was taken under advisement.On
Tuesday, Reitz charged Christopher Coleman, a former security guard for
televangelist Joyce Meyer, on Tuesday night with three counts of
first-degree murder. He is being held at Monroe County jail on no bond.Meanwhile,
Enrico Mirabelli, spokesman for Sheri Coleman's family, said the family
will file a wrongful death suit in Monroe County on Tuesday.Belleville
attorney Jack Carey will file the suit on Tuesday on behalf of Sheri
Coleman's mother, Angela DeCicco, and her brother, Mario Weiss. The
suit will seek more than $50,000 in damages and an accounting of the
possessions taken from the home."We want to make sure that Chris Coleman in no way financially benefits from the deaths of Sheri, Garett or Gavin," Carey said.Chris Coleman, 32, resigned from Joyce Meyer Ministries on Monday after a "violation of moral conduct."Ron
Coleman, Chris Coleman's father and minister at Grace Church Ministries
in Chester, helped him get the job with Festus, Mo.-based Meyer,
Mirabelli said.One of the people interviewed by police was a
Clearwater, Fla., woman, whom Mirabelli said was a "friend of the
family" who began a romantic relationship with Chris Coleman.The
woman, who once waitressed at a St. Petersburg, Fla., dog track,
attended Largo High School with Sheri Coleman, graduating a year after
Sheri Coleman. They both belonged to the drama club.Connor confirmed he interviewed several people in the Tampa area.Joyce Meyer offered a conference in November in Tampa, but it wasn't clear whether Coleman traveled with her to the conference.Christopher Coleman's preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 10.

Colemans were dead before suspect left home, sources say
May 19, 2009 -- Police escort Christopher Coleman from the Columbia Police Department to a squad car to transport him to the Monroe County jail for the murder of his wife Sherri Coleman and two sons, Garett and Gavin. (Christian Gooden/P-D)


By Nicholas J.C. Pistor
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/22/2009

COLUMBIA, ILL. — Forensic tests showing that Christopher Coleman's wife and two sons were slain before the time he said he left home focused police attention squarely on him, sources say.

Coleman, 32, is being held without bail on charges of first-degree murder in the strangulation of the three, who were found dead May 5. He told detectives he left for a gym about 5:45 a.m.; he called police before 7 a.m., concerned that they did not answer the phone.

Police revealed that Sheri Coleman, 31, and sons Garett, 11, and Gavin, 9, were slain in their separate bedrooms on the second floor by someone who used a ligature, such as a cord. But detectives have been officially mum on details such as the time of death.

Investigators learned of critical evidence Tuesday that led to an apparently sudden filing of the charges in Monroe County Circuit Court. But Maj. Jeff Connor, commander of the Major Case Squad, would not specify whether it was something new or a result of tests coming back on evidence already in hand.

Sources close to the case say physical evidence, such as liver temperature testing, indicated the victims were dead within an early morning range before Christopher Coleman departed the house at 2854 Robert Avenue.

He resigned last week from the security force of televangelist Joyce Meyer, based in Jefferson County, after what her ministry called a "violation of moral conduct."

Law enforcement sources have said that Coleman was having an affair with a Florida woman who was a longtime friend of his wife.

William Margulis, the defense attorney, said his client "maintains his innocence." Neither Coleman nor his lawyers have addressed the report of the affair.

Meanwhile, the family of Sheri Coleman is planning a wrongful-death lawsuit against Christopher Coleman, a spokesman said Thursday.

Enrico J. Mirabelli, who is a Chicago lawyer and Sheri Coleman's cousin, said the family is working with Belleville lawyer Jack Carey to try to block Coleman from access to various property associated with his marriage. MORE COVERAGE
Coleman arrested in killing of family
Coleman family neighbors are left wondering and in limbo
Husband of slain woman, children, resigns job
Family wins burial delay from court
Police question alleged girlfriend of man whose family was slain
Police return house to Coleman
Community mourns slain family at vigil in Columbia, Ill.
VIDEO
Neighbor reflects on Coleman's arrest
Christopher Coleman arrives in court
Major Case Squad investigates Columbia, IL murders
PHOTO GALLERY
Family guestbook photos
Photos from the scene
SIGN MEMORIAL GUESTBOOKS
Sheri Coleman guestbook
Gavin Coleman guestbook
Garrett Coleman guestbook

"The purpose and goal is to ensure there is no ill-gotten gain from the murder of Sheri, Garett and Gavin," Mirabelli said.

In November, Sheri Coleman's name was removed from the title of the house where they had lived since 2005, leaving only Christopher E. Coleman as owner, according to county records.

Dr. Michael Baden, a celebrity among forensic pathologists given his frequent TV appearances, confirmed Thursday that he has been called in as a consultant for the prosecution.

Baden, former chief medical examiner for New York City, told a reporter, "I can't comment on any aspect of the case right now." He is an author, frequent TV news show guest and host of the HBO series "Autopsy."
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/illinoisnews/story/26849B90C930EBAA862575BE0007BAAF?OpenDocument

Attorney describes messages spray-painted on walls inside Columbia home where slayings occurred
BY BETH HUNDSDORFER - News-Democrat

A lawyer for the family of murder
victim Sheri Coleman described today messages spray-painted on the
walls of the home where she and her two young sons were found strangled.Attorney
Jack Carey filed a wrongful death lawsuit today seeking documents
concerning life insurance obtained by Sheri Coleman's husband, Chris
Coleman, who is accused of the murders. Her family also won a temporary
order allowing them access to the house at 2854 Robert Drive in
Columbia.Carey, Sheri Coleman's brother Mario Weiss and family
spokesman Enrico Mirabelli entered the home with the help of a
locksmith at 12:55 p.m. Carey walked out of the house a short time
later, overcome with emotion.
He described messages he'd seen
spray-painted in red on walls. Laced with obscenities, they appear to
have been directed at Sheri Coleman and include "punished" in the
downstairs dining room, "whore paid" or "u have paid" in an upstairs
room and "I saw you leave, (expletive) you, I am always watching" in
the kitchen.Carey said he told Weiss and Mirabelli, "I've had enough; I need to leave."The
lawsuit filed by Carey in Monroe County Circuit Court seeks information
on trips taken by Chris Coleman and others for Joyce Meyer Ministries.
It seeks airline schedules on commercial flights and private airplane
manifests for travel in connection to Chris Coleman's former job as a
security guard for Meyer's evangelical group.Carey will seek a
permanent order June 5 that halts Chris Coleman or his family from
dissolving the marital assets. The lawsuit, which seeks damages in
excess of $50,000, also seeks any "memorandums or notes" and a complete
work schedule connected to Coleman's job with the Joyce Meyer
Ministries.The two-count lawsuit alleges "intentional acts," a
reference to the May 5 strangulation deaths of Sheri Coleman, and their
two sons, Garret, 11, and Gavin, 9.A second count accuses Coleman of "negligence" in connection to the murders.It was filed on behalf of Angela DeCicco, Sheri Coleman's mother and her brother.The
lawsuit also seeks documents from Coleman's father, the Rev. Ron
Coleman of Chester, who heads Grace Church Ministries in Chester,
including Rev. Coleman's pay records and life insurance records.Neither Ron Coleman nor Joyce Meyer Ministries are named as defendants. The are referred to as, "respondents in discovery."Christopher
Coleman resigned from his security job at the ministries after being
questioned by a Joyce Meyer official about an alleged violation of the
organizations moral conduct policy.Coleman is being held without bail. A preliminary hearing in his case is set for June 10.

Related links

• Family Of Sheri Coleman To File Wrongful Death Lawsuit
  
• New Details Surface in Coleman Triple Murder Investigation
  
• Chris Coleman Pleads Not Guilty To Murder Charges
  
• Police Arrest Chris Coleman In Deaths Of Wife, Two Children
  
• Donate To Coleman Family Memorial Playground
  

WATERLOO, IL (KTVI-FOX2now.com) - "Punished." "You have paid." "I am always watching you." Those phrases, mixed in with profanity, are some of what attorney Jack Carey saw spray painted on the wall of the Coleman home in Columbia Tuesday afternoon. He called the experience emotional and enough to drive him from the house.

Carey was there along with Sheri Coleman's brother and cousin after receiving a court order around noon giving their family access to the house for the first time.

Carey describes the home as packed up to be moved. He says there are no pictures on the walls inside. There are boxes, at least one labeled, "toys," along with trash bags filled with belongings.

None of it will be moved for at least ten days, however. A Monroe County judge ordered that all items be left in the house, by the Coleman family until he begins making rulings regarding possession of what's in the house.

It's all part of a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of Sheri Coleman's family earlier Tuesday morning. In it, the family accuses Christopher Coleman of being responsible for the deaths for Sheri, and her sons Gavin and Garett, or at least negligent.

They say the case is not about money, but about keeping anyone from "profiting from the deaths" of Sheri Coleman and her boys.

Sheri Coleman's brother, Mario Weiss, also spoke in public for the first time about the killings. He described a cordial relationship with Chris Coleman, the accused killer, before the murders happened.

"We weren't close," he said, "but he was my brother-in-law." He described taking Chris Coleman and his kids to White Sox games in his home of Chicago, and spending time with him periodically.

Weiss described himself as, "one of the last hold outs," unwilling to believe that Chris Coleman had actually killed his sister and nephews. He says he now believes Coleman is, in fact, the murderer.

Speaking about the lawsuit, Weiss said any money obtained by his family would be given to the City of Columbia to use toward a memorial, possibly a park, in remembrance of his sister and nephews.

Weiss and Sheri Coleman's cousin, Enrico Mirabelli, described Chris Coleman's treatment of his family in the days following the murders as, "a total lack of respect." He says there were no notes, letters, emails, or any form of sympathetic communication from Coleman to the family of his murdered wife.

Back at the Columbia home, Mirabelli was visibly emotional, even shaken, as he came out of the house where the killings took place. At first he said he was too emotional to speak to the media, but then, after a couple of minutes, he took questions.

Asked if he believe Chris Coleman is the killer, Mirabelli said, "my personal feelings are irrelevant as to whether he's innocent, or guilty as hell."
http://www.fox2now.com/ktvi-triple-murder-coleman-lawsuit-columbia-052609,0,2984988.story

Family: Threats found in Illinois home of 3 killed


By JIM SUHR – 1 hour ago
WATERLOO, Ill. (AP) — The walls inside a home where a woman and her
two sons were found strangled to death had been scrawled with
expletives and warned of a presence "always watching," the family of
the murdered woman said Tuesday.A judge on Tuesday granted Sheri
Coleman's mother and her brother access to the two-story home in
Columbia where Coleman, 11-year-old Garett and 9-year-old Gavin were
found dead May 5.Coleman's husband Chris, 32, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and remains held without bond.Sheri
Coleman's name was taken off the home's deed last year and her family
questioned whether she knew or was coerced into allowing it, the
family's attorney Enrico Mirabelli said.The woman's mother and
brother, Angela DeCicco and Mario Weiss, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit
in Monroe County, which Mirabelli said prevented Chris Coleman from
immediately selling the home or its contents.Many possessions in
the home had been boxed up, with some marked "toys," according to Jack
Carey, an attorney for the family in the civil lawsuit. No pictures
were on the walls, he said.Carey did not know whether the
packing took place before the killings or within days of them, when
Coleman's family removed some items in a trailer.He said there
were no signs of violence or struggle, but that someone had written
expletives and other messages on the walls in red spray paint.He said a writing near the kitchen read: "I saw you leave. (Expletive) you. I am always watching."Mirabelli called the writings "vicious."Police have not yet announced a motive in the killings.Mirabelli
said the family's legal action Tuesday was the only way to get some of
Sheri Coleman's belongings for her mother. Until the judge's order,
Chris Coleman's family had access to the home and its contents.The
lawsuit also seeks financial documents about Chris Coleman from Joyce
Meyer Ministries, a Fenton, Mo.-based evangelical Christian group for
which Coleman worked security until resigning after his arrest, and
from Coleman's father, Chester pastor Ronald Coleman.Any proceeds from the lawsuit, which seeks at least $100,000, would be used to erect a monument to the victims, attorneys said.Representatives
from Joyce Meyer Ministries were "working together with representatives
of Sheri Coleman's family and are gathering the information requested,"
said spokesman Roby Walker.No one returned a telephone message left Tuesday for Ronald Coleman at Grace Church Ministries.Bill Margulis, Chris Coleman's attorney, said he had not seen the lawsuit and could not immediately comment.

Police describe threatening letters, evidence at scene of Columbia triple murders


Twine found near bridge resembles cord from home where 3 were killed
BY BETH HUNDSDORFER AND GEORGE PAWLACZYK - News-Democrat

WATERLOO -- Detectives investigating
the strangulations of Sheri Coleman and her sons found an orange piece
of twine with a noose tied on one end near the Jefferson Barracks
Bridge that resembled twine used to tie four bales of hay found behind
the Colemans' home, according to search warrants unsealed Wednesday.

The search warrants were released on a judge's order in response to a
Belleville News-Democrat request filed last week with a Monroe County
judge.

Christopher Coleman, a 32-year-old former security guard
for the Joyce Meyer Ministries, faces three counts of first-degree
murder in the deaths of his wife and young sons. He remains in the
Monroe County Jail without bond.

For the first time since the investigation began, the contents of
threatening letters sent to the Colemans were revealed Wednesday.
Coleman told police Jan. 2 that someone had mailed the first letter to
the family home at 2854 Robert Drive.

According to a report by Columbia Police Sgt. Jason Donjon, the anonymous letter
read, "(Expletive)! Deny your God publicly or else! No more
opportunities. Time is running out for you and your family.

"The letter referred to someone traveling to Asia but doesn't refer to
anyone by name. Sheri Coleman participated in missionary trips to
southeast Asia, including Cambodia.

"Have a good time in India (expletive)!" the letter concluded.

Christopher Coleman went to police again -- on April 27 -- to report that he
received another letter. The contents of the second letter also are
listed in the search warrants records.

That letter stated, "I am giving you the last warning! You have not listened to me and you have
not changed your ways. I have warned you to stop traveling and stop
carrying on with this fake religious life of stealing people's money.

"The letter referred to an unnamed woman.

"You think you are so special to do what you do protecting or think you are
protecting her. She is a (expletive) and not worth doing it. Stop today
or else. I know your schedule. ... This is my last warning. Your worst
nightmare is about to happen!

"Police found the bodies of Sheri Coleman, 31, and her sons, Garett, 11, and Gavin, 9, before 7 a.m. May
5 after Coleman called Columbia Police from Gold's Gym in South St.
Louis County, saying he could not reach his family by telephone.

Also included in the search warrant information was a report from the
Columbia Police Department describing a horrific scene in the house
when officers arrived and found the bodies of Sheri and the two boys.

"After searching the first level of the house and finding no one, we went
upstairs to the second story. ... As I walked up the stairs, I looked
to my left and saw a white female lying on her stomach," Detective
Justin Barlow wrote. Barlow reported Sheri Coleman was naked and lying
face down.

"I yelled: 'Columbia Police' and she did not move. I called for an ambulance,'
" Barlow wrote in his report.

Barlow described red spray paint "all over the walls on the first story.

"The officer said he tried to determine whether Sheri Coleman was alive, and
noticed that rigor mortis had set in, which usually occurs within two
to three hours, according to experts.

"I attempted to slightly roll her over in order to see her eyes and check for breathing. I
noticed when I lifted her shoulder, her head and neck moved also. It
appeared rigor mortis had set in. I noticed the skin of her chest and
head appeared purple," Barlow reported.

A moment later, according to Barlow's affidavit, a fellow officer shouted, "There are a total of three victims.

"Barlow wrote in his report that he walked to the rear of an upstairs bedroom,
"and saw a younger boy lying on his bed. I checked for a pulse on the
younger boy but found none. I also noticed his face appeared slightly
purple.

"As officers searched the home, they heard Christopher
Coleman yelling from inside the house, "What's going on? What's going
on?" the affidavit stated.

The officer walked Coleman to the driveway, where he sat down and began crying, the report said.

According to the search warrants made public Wednesday, police also took into
evidence a greeting card addressed to Christopher Coleman's post office
box in Columbia from St. Petersburg, Fla., found in the glove box of
Coleman's 1998 green Ford Explorer. Police have said they conducted
interviews with several people from the Tampa area.

Enrico Mirabelli, Sheri Coleman's cousin and family spokesman, said
Christopher Coleman was engaged in a romantic relationship with a woman
from St. Petersburg. The woman went to high school with Sheri Coleman,
according to Mirabelli.

Police also seized an e-mail from the
U.S. postmaster in Columbia regarding an account payment due on a post
office box dated July 2, and a credit card receipt for $36 from the
Columbia post office from the same glove box.

Police also requested a search warrant on the body of Christopher Coleman seeking
any bodily fluid, tissue or marks of defensive struggle or "any
evidence that spray paint was used by the subject.

"Threatening messages in red spray paint were found inside the house, said
Belleville lawyer Jack Carey, who is representing Sheri Coleman's
family and on Tuesday filed a wrongful-death suit against Christopher
Coleman.

Laced with obscenities, the spray-painted graffiti
appears to have been directed at Sheri Coleman and include "punished"
in the downstairs dining room, "whore paid" or "u have paid" in an
upstairs room, and "I saw you leave, (expletive) you, I am always
watching" in the kitchen.

With the search warrant for Christopher
Coleman's body, police took two swabbings of his right hand and noted a
reddish injury to his right forearm, and two scratches on his right
forearm. Police also took handwriting samples from him.

A Home Depot receipt dated July 29 for the purchase of spray paint was
recovered from a travel bag that contained Christopher Coleman's wallet.

Police also took into evidence the original mini digital video cassette
containing sample footage taken from the Coleman home May 5, the day of
the murders, plus airplane tickets for Coleman and his boss, Joyce
Meyer.

Police also recovered two guns and bullets, several
pre-paid cell phones from inside the home, a Blackberry, digital
cameras and computer equipment from the Coleman home.

Also recovered from the basement office of the home was a sealed envelope
containing sales orders for Coleman's company -- Executive Innovations
-- as well as letters written by inmates to Joyce Meyer.

Police also took into evidence tickets to Disneyland found laying on Christopher Coleman's desk in the basement office.

http://www.bnd.com/homepage/story/785459.html

TELEVANGILIST LINKED TO MURDERS: Victims' family names Joyce Meyer in civil suit

The company of international televangelist Joyce Meyer has been cited
in a wrongful death lawsuit by the family of a former employee. Christopher Coleman resigned
his post as a security officer at Joyce Meyer Ministries after what the
company called a "violation of moral conduct."
Coleman has been charged with the strangulation of his wife and young sons after they were found dead
in their Columbia, IL. home in early May.
“This horrible tragedy had deeply saddened us all and although nothing can compensate for the loss
of the beautiful family, our ministry remains fully behind the diligent
efforts of the law enforcement community” said Meyer.
On the day the bodies were discovered she visited the home. Now the family of the murdered woman,
Sheri Coleman, has named the suspect's former employer and his
clergyman father as "respondents in discovery." That means they can be
ordered by the court to provide information about Coleman's finances,
work history, private conversations and emails.
Coleman, 32, was arrested
last week in the strangulation deaths of his wife, Sheri, 31, and sons
Garett, 11 and Gavin, 9. Coleman pleaded not guilty in his recent court
arraignment.

Warrants: Coleman told girlfriend they'd marry next year; he had alibi for murders

By Nicholas J.C. Pistor
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/29/2009

Christopher Coleman told his girlfriend in Florida that he would marry her in 2010, and that he had an alibi for the murders of his slain family, according to search warrants obtained by the Post-Dispatch.

The girlfriend, Tara Lintz, was interviewed by police in St. Petersburg, Fla., in the days following the murders of Sheri Coleman and her two young sons on May 5. Lintz admitted to investigators that she had sexually explicit communications with Chris Coleman via her cell phone, email, and social networking accounts. She said their sexual relationship began in November 2008.

Tara Lintz was a high school friend of Sheri Coleman. She told police she had talked to Chris Coleman the evening of May 4, just hours before the murders.

The Post-Dispatch first disclosed the affair a week after the murders, but the newly released search warrants provide a deeper look at the relationship.

"In the emails, Christopher talks about his extramarital relationship with Lintz," according to an affidavit filed by a detective. "He also sent emails to Lintz about plans to marry her in January, 2010, and their upcoming trip this summer."

The documents say Christopher Coleman admitted to police that he was having a sexual relationship with Lintz. Earlier this week, search warrants disclosed that police had confiscated travel documents from Coleman’s home.

Chris Coleman, 32, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and held in jail in Waterloo without bail.

The criminal charges are based in part, sources said, on physical evidence that suggests the family was dead before the time Coleman said he left home that day. The three were strangled in separate bedrooms, and writing was found spray-painted in red on several walls.

The documents further say that Coleman created a new email account after the murders, and used it to send the girlfriend a message.

"He discussed the interview he had with the investigators concerning the death of his family. He told her, he did not commit the murders and had an alibi," an affidavit states.

Lintz contacted authorities after getting the email, the documents state.

The documents also state Sheri Coleman closed her Facebook account because there "were unauthorized changes to her Facebook account without her knowledge."

Sheri Coleman told friends she was getting threats on her Facebook account, possibly related to the death threats in the mailbox at her house.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/illinoisnews/story/B1F6BDD14E1D573F862575C5005BFE6B?OpenDocument

http://images.stltoday.com/stltoday/resources/complaintforsearchwarrant.pdf

http://images.stltoday.com/stltoday/resources/chriscolemansearch.pdf

http://images.stltoday.com/stltoday/resources/colemanhousesearch.pdf

http://images.stltoday.com/stltoday/resources/colemanhousesearch2.pdf

http://images.stltoday.com/stltoday/resources/colemanstrawbails.pdf

http://images.stltoday.com/stltoday/resources/colemanvehicle.pdf

Investigators: Triple-murder suspect admits affair
By JIM SUHR

Associated Press Writer
WATERLOO, Ill. --
A man charged in the strangling deaths of his wife and their two sons
was having an affair with a Florida woman and planned to get a divorce
so he could marry her next year, according to court documents released
Friday.Christopher
Coleman's alleged girlfriend, Tara Lintz of St. Petersburg, Fla., told
investigators that Coleman assured her by e-mail after the May 5
slayings that he was not the killer and had an alibi, according to a
newly released affidavit.Investigators have not publicly offered
a possible motive in the killings of Sheri Coleman, 31, and her two
sons, 11-year-old Garett and 9-year-old Gavin. Their bodies were found
in their Columbia home and Coleman, a 32-year-old former Marine, has
pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder in their
deaths.


He remains jailed without bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 10.Lintz,
identified in court papers as a "good friend" of Sheri Coleman,
admitted having a sexual relationship with Christopher Coleman since
last November and said he planned to be divorced by June 14, about five
weeks after the killings, according to the affidavit. Coleman also
admitted the relationship to investigators, the documents say.Lintz also allegedly told investigators she spoke with Christopher Coleman the night of May 4, just hours before the killings.A message left by The Associated Press Friday with Coleman's attorney, William Margulis, was not immediately returned.A
woman who answered the telephone Friday at a St. Petersburg, Fla.-area
phone listing for a Tara Lintz told the AP it was the wrong number.Coleman
told police his wife and children were asleep when he left the house on
May 5 to work out at a Missouri gym about five miles away, but that he
grew concerned when he could not reach them by telephone, Columbia
police Detective Karla Heine has said in an affidavit. The bodies were
later found by police after Coleman asked them to check on his family's
welfare, Heine said.In other search warrants released earlier
this week, investigators said orange twine fashioned into a noose found
near a Mississippi River bridge resembled cord tied around straw bales
behind the Coleman home.Investigators have said the victims were
strangled with a ligature, perhaps a cord. The bridge where the noose
was found alongside Interstate 255 was on the route Coleman would have
taken to the gym the morning of the slayings, investigators said.Coleman
has said that he received anonymous threatening notes in January and
again last month involving his work as a bodyguard with Joyce Meyer
Ministries, a Missouri-based evangelical group, according to the court
documents. The last allegedly warned, "THIS IS MY LAST WARNING! YOUR
WORST NIGHTMARE IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN!"Investigators have suggested
Coleman sent the notes to himself and spray-painted vulgar slogans on
some of the home's walls. One of those graffiti messages, according to
an attorney for Sheri Coleman's family, read, "I saw you leave.
(Expletive) you. I am always watching."The graffiti echoed wording in an April 27 letter.Sheri
Coleman's mother and brother are sued Christopher Coleman, accusing him
of negligently causing the deaths of his wife and children. That legal
action prevents Christopher Coleman from immediately selling the home
or its contents.Sheri Coleman's name was taken off the deed last
year, but her family questions whether she knew about it or was coerced
into signing off on it.

WATERLOO – Christopher Coleman was planning a new life with his
girlfriend in the months leading up to the strangling deaths of his
wife, Sheri, and two young sons, according to search warrants made
public on Friday.
Coleman's
father noted to police after the deaths that Sheri Coleman had a "good
friend" in Florida. The friend, the court documents reveal, turned out
to be Chris Coleman's lover named Tara Lintz.

Police descended on St. Petersburg, Fla. There, they met with Lintz,
who described her six-month sexual relationship with the man now
accused of strangling his family.

Lintz cooperated with authorities, telling police that Chris Coleman
was planning to divorce his wife next month. He also promised a trip
with Lintz this summer, the documents state, and sent her e-mails about
plans for their marriage in January.
yld_mgr.place_ad_here("inlineframe1");


The affair began in November 2008, according to the documents,
around the same time Sheri Coleman's family members say her name was
mysteriously removed from their house title.

Coleman and Lintz had trysts in Hawaii and Arizona, while Coleman was
working as head of security for Joyce Meyer Ministries, sources said.

Joyce Meyer held a conference in the Tampa area in November 2008, around the time when Lintz said the affair began.

The Post-Dispatch disclosed the affair with Lintz a week after the
murders, but court documents provided new details about the
relationship that became a major part of the murder investigation.

Lintz told police she talked with Chris Coleman the evening of May 4.
The bodies were found the next morning. After the murders, she said,
Coleman created a new e-mail address and sent her a message saying he
was innocent and "had an alibi." Lintz turned the e-mail over to
police.

Chris Coleman, 32, told police he left for a gym about 5:45 a.m.; he
called police before 7 a.m. asking them to check on his family, whom he
could not reach by phone.

When police questioned him later, he admitted to the affair, a detective wrote.

Police also served search warrants on e-mail accounts and social
networking sites, which revealed Chris Coleman's messages about the
affair and other "explicit communication."

Coleman, the son of a Chester, Ill., pastor, is charged with three
counts of first-degree murder. He maintains his innocence and claims he
may have been targeted by someone with a grudge against televangelist
Joyce Meyer. Coleman had previously contacted Columbia police about
threatening letters related to the Meyer ministry that he said were
being delivered to his mailbox .

Coleman resigned from his job after the killings; the Meyer organization cited an unspecified violation of a morals clause.

YEARBOOK AD

Tara Lintz had known Sheri Coleman since their days at Largo High
School in Largo, Fla. Lintz graduated a year after Coleman, in 1996.
She worked on the school newspaper and was a member of the Key Club. A
former teacher recalled Lintz as intelligent, popular and pretty — "a
pleasure to have in class." He also said that she struck him as
"straight-laced" and "prim and proper."

In an ad in the back of the high school yearbook, Lintz's parents and
brother wrote, "How lucky we've been! Being able to watch you grow in
every way. From a happy healthy baby to a beautiful young woman who
knows what she wants. That is what makes you as special as you are. "

But not everyone may have been a fan. In the copy of the 1996 yearbook
in the Largo library's local history room, one of Lintz's photos has
been vandalized with a scrawl of ink. Librarians said they could not
recall anyone asking to see the yearbook recently and do not track who
looks at it.

Lintz married Peter J. Belcastro in August 2001.

By the fall of 2004, their relationship was ending; they filed for
divorce. By mutual agreement, Lintz, who was earning $77.76 a week plus
tips as a cocktail waitress at a dog track, got the 1997 Cadillac STS
and their 1985 Yamaha V-Max motorcycle. She also got the leather and
purple couch and other furniture totaling $6,000, plus $10,000 in
jewelry and a $4,000 collection of rhinoceros-themed items. Lintz also
took on $11,200 in debt.

Belcastro, who was a machine operator at a wheel shop, got a 1997 Chevy
Tahoe, $1,000 worth of martial arts swords and more than $29,000 in
debt, plus the car payments.

Lintz reclaimed her maiden name in the divorce, which was granted Dec. 7, 2004.

About a year and a half after filing for divorce, Belcastro and "Tara
Belcastro" bought a condo north of downtown St. Petersburg, property
records show.

No one answered the door of the two-story, tan stucco and aluminum-clad
condo when a reporter stopped by several times in mid-May. The blinds
were closed tight, but Lintz appears to live there, judging by the mail
and the rhino-themed address number plate on the door.

Belcastro didn't return requests for comment.

Lintz has not responded to a reporter's e-mails or multiple messages
left for her with friends, family, neighbors, her ex-husband and her
employer.

http://thedirty.com/2009/01/05/would_you3f_-213/comment-page-1/#comment-1160099

Apparently someone else doesn't like this Tara....posted a pic of her and some not so nice comments from people about her.

COLUMBIA -- In the hours before
Christopher Coleman's wife and two sons were found strangled in their
Columbia home, Coleman talked long distance to a girlfriend in Florida
he planned to marry, according to search warrant records filed Friday.Coleman
planned to divorce his wife by June 14 and marry his wife's "good
friend" Tara Lintz, 31, of St. Petersburg, Fla., next year, according
to the records that became available after legal action filed by the
Belleville News-Democrat in Monroe County Circuit Court.Coleman
has been charged with first-degree murder in the May 5 ligature
strangulations of his wife, Sheri Coleman, 31, and their sons Garett,
11, and Gavin, 9. The 32-year-old former head of security for the Joyce
Meyer Ministries is being held in Monroe County Jail without bond.
The records reveal the following:• During
an interview with homicide investigators from the St. Petersburg Police
Department, Lintz admitted having a sexual relationship with
Christopher Coleman, 32, since November. Lintz said Coleman planned to
divorce Sheri Coleman by June 14. The relationship started several
weeks after Sheri Coleman signed off the family's deed to their
$230,000 home at 2854 Robert Drive in Columbia on Oct. 6.• Lintz told police Coleman told her that he did not commit the homicides and that he had an alibi.• Coleman
told investigators from the Major Case Squad that he denied committing
the homicides but admitted having a sexual relationship with Lintz.• The
last login date of Sheri Coleman's MySpace account was May 4 -- the day
before her body was found. The time of the login was not known. Lintz
was listed as a friend on Sheri Coleman's MySpace account.• Sheri
Coleman's friends told police that she recently closed her Facebook
account because she received threats possibly related to death threats
she had received at her residence."Sheri also reported to
friends that there were unauthorized changes to her Facebook account
without her knowledge," the records stated.• Lintz
told Florida officers that Christopher Coleman was receiving death
threats and that he had e-mailed Lintz pictures of the threatening
letter to her Gmail account.• Lintz
admitted having "explicit communication" with Christopher Coleman by
using her Blackberry, which can transport instant images, and her
Facebook account.• Christopher Coleman's father, the Rev. Ronald Coleman, told an investigator that Lintz was a "good friend" of Sheri Coleman.• When
investigators first contacted Lintz, she was already aware of the
homicides, which were widely publicized. She told police she had spoken
to Christopher Coleman the evening of May 4.Search warrant
records were also released Wednesday. Those records showed that
detectives found an orange piece of twine with a noose tied on one end
near the Jefferson Barracks Bridge that resembled twine used to tie
four bales of straw found behind the Colemans' home.Those
warrants also showed that Sheri Coleman was found naked and face down
in bed. Rigor mortis, which stiffens a corpse and usually occurs after
two or three hours, had set in, the records showed.He also
described messages spray-painted in red paint across the walls. Laced
with obscenities, they appear to have been directed at Sheri Coleman
and include "punished" in the downstairs dining room, "whore paid" or
"u have paid" in an upstairs room and "I saw you leave, (expletive)
you, I am always watching" in the kitchen.Coleman told Columbia
police that he had gone to a gym to workout, leaving the house about
5:45 a.m. Before 7 a.m., he called the Columbia police to report that
he could not reach his family and ask that they check in on them.Christopher
Coleman resigned from his security job after consultation with a Joyce
Meyer Ministries official concerning an alleged violation of the
religious group's "moral policy."Mike Cole, an employee of Joyce
Meyer Ministries, in April "provided a list of names as well as photos
of people that have threatened Coleman and other Joyce Meyer Ministries
employees and who Coleman stated he believed could be responsible for
the threats" the Coleman family had received.Maj. Jeff Connor of
the Granite City Police Department, commander of the Major Case Squad
assigned to the Coleman family homicides, said Friday he would not
comment on evidence.

There will be no inquest in the strangling deaths of Sheri Coleman and her two young boys.

Monroe County Coroner Julie Gummersheimer said an independent
pathologist performed the autopsies, therefore an inquest isn't
necessary.

Illinois statutes don't require an inquest, but leave the option open for coroners.

Sheri Coleman and her two sons, Garett and Gavin, were found murdered
in their Columbia home on May 5. Chris Coleman, the husband and father,
is charged with three counts of first degree murder for their deaths.

In Illinois, an inquest is commonly held to determine the cause of any
violent or mysterious death. Inquests are open to the public and
testimony is presented before a coroner's jury. They are not binding in
a criminal court, but often release specific details about a person's
death.

Judge extends order protecting Sheri Coleman's assets

By Nicholas J.C. Pistor
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/04/2009

An attorney representing the family of Sheri Coleman said a judge granted a motion today extending a court order protecting her assets.

“We are working with Mr. Coleman's attorney to get some sort of agreed order,” said Jack Carey, a Belleville lawyer.

The family won a temporary order last week allowing them access to Sheri Coleman's former home in Columbia. They also sued Chris Coleman in civil court, accusing him of being responsible for the deaths of Sheri Coleman and her two sons, Garett and Gavin.

In November, Sheri Coleman's name was removed from the deed for the home, leaving Christopher Coleman as sole owner, according to Monroe County records. It has aroused suspicion among her relatives.

Carey is also seeking a large list of documents from Chris Coleman's former employer, televangelist Joyce Meyer. Those documents include information on life insurance policies, travel records, and other information.

Chris Coleman resigned the job shortly after the murders – and after the Post-Dispatch disclosed that he was having an affair with a Florida woman. Joyce Meyer Ministries said he resigned for an unspecified “morals violation.”

The ministries said it is working on providing the requested information.

Chris Coleman is charged with three counts of first degree murder. A preliminary hearing, which could reveal a portion of the prosecution's case, is scheduled for next week.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/illinoisnews/story/DABE650267542738862575CB0063ABB9?OpenDocument#tp_newCommentAnchor

http://www.bnd.com/372/story/794373.html
BY GEORGE PAWLACZYK AND BETH HUNDSDORFER - News-Democrat

"COLUMBIA -- The final word as to cause of death in the triple murder of Sheri Coleman and her two sons will come after several weeks when toxicological reports are returned.
But because autopsies were conducted on the three victims, investigators know the victims were murdered by ligature strangulation May 5.
Coleman's husband and the boys' father, 32-year-old Christopher Coleman, is in the Monroe County Jail charged with three counts of first degree murder.

....."

BELLEVILLE -- A judge extended a court
order Thursday protecting the assets of murder victim Sheri Coleman,
which consist primarily of the Columbia home where she and her two sons
were found strangled, allowing time for attorneys to work out a final
settlement.The main asset listed so far, according to courts
documents, is the home at 2854 Robert Drive, where Coleman, 31, and her
sons Gavin, 9 and Garett, 11, were found strangled May 5. Their father
and Sheri's Coleman's husband, Christopher Coleman, 32, has been
charged with three counts of first-degree murder in their deaths.St. Clair County Circuit Judge Michael O'Malley reset a hearing in the matter from today to June 15.
"The temporary restraining order has been extended by court order.
We're hoping that in the interim period of time, we can agree on a
permanent injunction," said Belleville attorney Jack Carey, who
represents the family of Sheri Coleman in a civil lawsuit filed late
last month seeking to protect the assets.St.
Louis attorney William Margulis, who represents Christopher Coleman in
the criminal case and the lawsuit, said the extension will allow time,
"to see if we can work out some sort of agreement on a permanent
injunction. We're not there yet."Carey said he expects to
receive information through the discovery process that could point to
further assets, such as bank accounts or other property. The complaint
states that this information could come from Christopher Coleman's
former employer, Joyce Meyer Ministries in St. Louis, where he worked
as a supervisor of security. Meyer and Christopher Coleman's
father, the Rev. Ronald Coleman of Chester, who heads Grace Church
Ministries in that community, were named as "respondents in discovery."
The lawsuit names only one defendant, Christopher Coleman. Carey said he recently heard from Joyce Meyer Ministries that the televangelist's organization "will fully comply.""He assured me that Joyce Meyer Ministries will cooperate fully," Carey said.Ronald Coleman could not be reached.Christopher
Coleman faces a preliminary hearing Wednesday, during which much of the
evidence against him could be laid out in open court. According to
information from search warrants made public through legal intervention
by the News-Democrat, Coleman is linked to the crime through a noose
made from orange, hay-baling twine similar to twine found at the home
that had been used to hold straw. The noose was found by members of the
Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis during a search along Interstate
255.The search warrant information also showed that Christopher
Coleman was involved in an extramarital affair with Tara Lintz, of St.
Petersburg, Fla., who was described as a good friend of Sheri Coleman
and the Coleman family. The affair began in November, the search
warrants stated.The documents also stated that on May 4,
Christopher Coleman spoke long distance with Lintz several hours before
the bodies of his family were found. An autopsy has determined that all
three victims died from ligature strangulation.

WATERLOO, Ill. (AP) — Many residents of this largely rural yet fast-growing St. Louis suburb have made up their minds about a former Marine accused of strangling his wife and their two boys in their beds less than a month ago.

"Murderer!" some jeered as Christopher Coleman arrived shackled and sullen in a sheriff's car for his recent arraignment at the Monroe County courthouse. Most of the couple of dozen people gathered outside applauded police for arresting him as the car disappeared into the sally port.

That reaction still upsets seven-term Sheriff Daniel Kelley. But he's convinced Coleman, whose alleged crimes were splashed across the national news, can get a fair trial in a county that hasn't had a murder since 2003.

"We're not a lynching community," said Kelley, 61, who's been sheriff since 1982. "The average person is willing to see what the courts produce and are not jumping to conclusions, wishing evil on this person.

"After Coleman's May 20 arraignment on three counts of first-degree murder, his attorney, William Margulis, said he'd likely push to have the trial moved to another county. He refused to comment further, but it's not difficult to guess why he might try.

The spotlight on the killings has been intense and virtually unavoidable around St. Louis and its Illinois suburbs since the bodies of 31-year-old Sheri Coleman and her two sons, ages 11 and 9, were found May 5 in their Columbia home, about 10 miles from here.

Investigators believe Coleman carefully planned the slayings, sending threatening notes to himself in the months beforehand, then spray-painting vulgar messages on the home's walls as the stalker-killer's supposed calling card.

Coleman acted alone, they allege, strangling his family with a ligature, perhaps a cord, then claiming they were killed by someone else during the hour or so he claimed he was working out at a gym in nearby Missouri. Police found the bodies after Coleman called them to check the family's well-being after he could not reach them by phone.

Investigators also found a noose fashioned out of orange twine — resembling cord tied around straw bales behind the family's home — near a Mississippi River bridge along what would have been Coleman's route to the gym, according to court documents.

Police have not offered a motive for the slayings. Search warrant documents released last Friday, however, allege that Christopher Coleman was having a sexual relationship since last November with a Florida woman who was a close friend of his wife, and that he planned to get a divorce by June 14 so he could marry his lover next year.

The woman allegedly told investigators that Coleman assured her by e-mail after the May 5 slayings that he was not the killer and had an alibi, according to court documents.

Waterloo resident Brenda Rey said the steady dribble of details about "a very sad" and "horrendous" case hasn't worked in Coleman's favor around this town of about 9,000, which the city's Web site says is "known for its friendly demeanor and its historic German ancestry.

""It sure seems like he is guilty," the 50-year-old said at her embroidery and garment-printing business. "They keep finding new evidence that sure makes him not look so good.

"Even so, she believes she could decide the case impartially if asked to serve on a jury, saying the courthouse jeerers shouldn't reflect on all the county's 30,000 residents.

"It's not like we're just a bunch of hicks," Rey said. "I think there's enough intelligent people that would wait and see all the evidence and make their decision from there.

"Sheriff Kelley thinks likewise, offering as proof the last murder trial here, when jurors in August 2005 acquitted James Wiley in the shooting death of his pregnant wife, whose body was found in a creek bed in a Waterloo park two years earlier.

Monroe County State's Attorney Kris Reitz, who also is prosecuting Coleman, had argued that Wiley killed 21-year-old Twila Wiley in a jealous rage after discovering she had an affair. But the defense said the woman was depressed and shot herself in the head.

Reitz didn't comment then, and he's not publicly discussing the Coleman case, including whether he'll pursue the death penalty.

Kelley believes the publicity around the case will wane well before any trial. But for now, resident Ruth Grimm says, the killings have been the talk of the town, and many locals already have made up their minds.

"It normally doesn't happen in this area, so we're all kind of shocked by it," said Grimm, 45, who works at J&J Septic Tank and Sewer Cleaning. When it comes to Coleman, "I kind of said all along he was the one who was involved in it."