Chief: Suspect didn't ask how wife, boys died

As reported by Philip Rosenbaum and Debony Miller on June 9, 2009 on CNN

WATERLOO, Illinois (CNN) -- A southwestern Illinois man accused of strangling his wife and two young sons did not ask how his family was killed or see their bodies after he learned of the deaths, a police official said at a preliminary hearing Wednesday. Christopher Coleman, 32, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Garett, 11, Gavin, 9, and his wife, Sheri Coleman, 31. The victims were strangled in their beds last month. A pathologist will testify during the trial that the time of deaths May 5 was between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m., hours before Coleman said he drove to a gym, said Chief Joe Edwards of the Columbia Police Department.

Coleman, a security supervisor, was arrested May 19. The chief also said that a handwriting expert has concluded that the profanity-laced messages scrawled in red spray paint throughout the house match Coleman's handwriting. Spray-painted messages were also found on Gavin's bed sheets, he said. Threatening letters left in the family's mailbox and an e-mail allegedly sent to Coleman before the killings were traced back to the suspect's laptop, he said. The letters had no envelopes and no postage, according to Edwards. Testifying at a hearing at the Monroe County Courthouse, the chief said that a police chaplain noticed an abrasion on Coleman's right arm as he was escorted to an ambulance after the bodies were discovered. The suspect was having an affair with a friend of his wife who lives in Florida, according to prosecutors. Computer forensics found videos, photos and messages between the two, Edwards said. Coleman pleaded not guilty to all charges. The next court date is set for August 26.

Editor Rozek’s Note: This was clearly not a well thought-out plan. Doesn’t this guy watch CSI? I mean…it’s on nearly every single hour. I think it may actually have it’s own channel. Um…Note to Self: find giant magnet to at least erase contents of hard drive. Come on! That’s the trouble with criminals these days – they just haven’t spent enough time on their education. A 5th grader would’ve known that he needed to drive to the next town to get a postmark on his letters! I’m unimpressed. The trouble with this one is that any good lawyer could get him off purely on the fact that it clearly wasn’t premeditated…all that well!