All Blog Posts from Crimesider

COLUMBIA, Ill. - He's charged with murdering his family, but he was a model employee. That was the assessment from the far-reaching Joyce Meyer Ministries of its security guard Chris Coleman, the southwestern Illinois man accused of strangling his wife and two sons.

Employment records say Coleman was "hard working, diligent and very trustworthy."

However, Coleman also took a personality test for the ministry where he described his weaknesses as being withdrawn, moody, tactless, and unaffectionate.

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COLUMBIA, Ill. - The day of the funeral for his wife and two young sons — who allegedly died by his own hands — Chris Coleman also found time to text his girlfriend in Florida, messaging that he missed her and he loved her.

According to search warrants released this week, Coleman, the southwestern Illinois man who is charged with strangling his family to death as they slept, sent text messages to girlfriend Tara Lintz, who once worked at a strip club in the Sunshine State.

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WATERLOO, Ill. - A new judge will preside over the case of Chris Coleman, the southwestern Illinois man charged with killing his wife and two sons.

St. Clair County Chief Judge John Baricevic assigned the case to himself on Monday. Monroe County Circuit Judge Dennis Doyle used to have the case, but he stepped down at the request of attorneys for Christopher Coleman.

31-year-old Sheri Coleman and her children, 11-year-old Garett and 9-year-old Gavin, were found strangled to death in their Columbia home on May 5, 2009. Coleman's husband, Chris, is charged with three counts of first degree murder in the deaths of his wife and children. Authorities have said that all three victims were strangled with some type of wire, rope or cord.

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WATERLOO, Ill. A coroner's inquest will be held after all in the southwestern Illinois slayings of a Columbia mother and her two sons.

31-year-old Sheri Coleman and her children, 11-year-old Garett and 9-year-old Gavin, were found strangled to death in their Columbia home on May 5, 2009. Coleman's husband, Chris, is charged with three counts of first degree murder in the deaths of his wife and children. Authorities have said that all three victims were strangled with some type of wire, rope or cord.

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CHESTER, Ill. - Money donated to pay for the funerals of a slain mother and her two sons might be going to the man accused of killing them.

That's according to a lawyer representing the family of Sheri Coleman, who was found strangled in her Columbia home on May 5 along with her sons Garett, 11, and Gavin, 9.

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COLUMBIA, Ill. - A southern Illinois judge says the home where the bodies of Sheri Coleman and her sons, 11-year-old Garett and 9-year-old Gavin, were found dead is now authorized for sale.

But proceeds won't go to the Sheri Coleman's husband, Chris Coleman, who's accused in the killings.

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WATERLOO, Ill. (AP) - Chris Coleman, the southwestern Illinois man accused of strangling his wife and two sons this May, sent his family threatening e-mails from his laptop leading up to their deaths, and the vulgar statements spray-painted throughout his house - including on the children's beds - matched his handwriting, according to testimony Wednesday.

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WATERLOO, Ill. - Authorities in Monroe County say there will be no inquest in the strangling deaths of Columbia resident Sheri Coleman and her two young sons. County Coroner Julie Gummersheimer said Wednesday an independent pathologist performed autopsies on the three, so an inquest isn't necessary.

Illinois statutes don't require an inquest, but leave it up to the county coroner whether or not to hold one.

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Last night, Nancy Grace called out Chris Coleman, the southwestern Illinois man who is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife and kids. Coleman told his girlfriend that he would marry her in 2010, according to court documents. Grace asked: "Will the bride be wearing white? Because the groom will definitely be wearing orange, as in jumpsuit."

31-year-old Sheri Coleman and the couple's children, 11-year-old Garett and 9-year-old Gavin, were found strangled to death in their Columbia home on May 5. Chris Coleman maintains his innocence.

PREVIOUSLY ON CRIMESIDER:
Amid Shouts Of "Baby Killer," Murders Unsettle
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"Punished" Spray Painted In Coleman Home Says Lawyer

WATERLOO, Ill. - Folks in this largely rural yet fast-growing St. Louis suburb aren't accustomed to violent crime - certainly nothing like the case of Christopher Coleman, a former Marine accused of strangling his wife and their two boys in their beds.

"Murderer!" some jeered. "Baby killer!" others shouted. Most applauded as the car disappeared into the sally port, vocally lauding police for cracking the case.

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