The Two Faces Of A 13-Year-Old Girl

Since learning of this I wasn't able to feel the same about going to the Danbury Mall- the parking garage gave me the creeps. The offender in this case is from Greenwich as well, great...

(CBS, May 31 2002) At her Catholic school, sixth-grader Christina Long made good grades, led the cheerleading squad and was an altar girl. On the Internet, she used provocative screen names and routinely had sex with partners she met in chat rooms, police said.

Police said 13-year-old Christina was strangled by a married restaurant worker she met on the Internet. Her body was found early Monday in a remote ravine in Greenwich.

Saul Dos Reis, 25, an undocumented immigrant from Brazil, confessed Sunday to the killing and led law officers to the body, U.S. Attorney John Danaher III said.

Classes were canceled Tuesday at the St. Peter School so students and parents could attend a memorial service and meet with grief counselors.

"I'm so devastated," former teacher Andrea Cappiello said.

"She was a very good student and a very good cheerleader. She was very spirited, just a doll," said Cappiello, who taught Christina's fifth-grade English and religion classes.

But the girl also had a tougher side, Cappiello said.

"She was streetwise," she said. "But you could see the other side coming up, too. It's clear she was very torn in both directions."

Dos Reis was arraigned Monday in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport on a charge of using an interstate device — the Internet — to entice a child into sexual activity. He was ordered held without bond. A bail hearing was scheduled for Friday.

Police said the teen-ager routinely had sex with partners she met on the Internet and that she had been with Dos Reis several times, The News-Times of Danbury reported.

Authorities found e-mail indicating that the two had agreed to meet Friday night. Dos Reis told police he accidentally strangled Christina while they were having sex in his car in a mall parking lot, The News-Times reported.

Police said Dos Reis then dumped her body about 25 miles away.

Harold Pickerstein, Dos Reis' court-appointed attorney, declined to comment on the allegations but said he expected his client to plead innocent.

Pickerstein criticized Danaher for releasing details of the alleged confession.

"It's inappropriate, in my opinion, to discuss evidence in a case in which there has not even been a charge or an indictment," Pickerstein said.

Christina came to Danbury two years ago to live with her aunt, Shelly Rilling, because her parents had substance abuse problems.

Rilling, who was eventually awarded custody of the girl, has declined to comment. Police said she apparently did not know anything about her niece's online activities.

"There was some pretty graphic stuff," Police Chief Robert Paquette said.

Police said Dos Reis used the screen name "Hot es300," apparently referring to a Lexus model.

Dos Reis has lived in the United States since he arrived here from Brazil at age 10, Paquette said. He attended Greenwich High School and had no criminal record.

He lives in a rented apartment with his wife, a receptionist, and worked long hours at his father-in-law's restaurant in nearby Port Chester, N.Y., neighbor Omar Moreno said.

Monday night, Danbury residents gathered to voice their concerns about the violence in their community.

"It's an opportunity for parents and children to come in and talk a little bit about their feelings. And we have counselors that are in there. They'll certainly be able to express their feelings about the tragedy that has happened to the city," Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton told Hartford, Conn. CBS affiliate WFSB.

Speaking about her son, Beverly Stevens said: "Even though he's 13 years old, he has to ask me every time he goes on and he has to let me know which sites he's going on. And he's never on the Internet without my being there."

Chris Coleman Updates

Remember that douche, Chris Coleman? Strangled to death is wife and kids? Yeah, there's some updates in this case as well to report!

The house he murdered his family in is now on the auction block... Big surprise: No bids!! They should tear it down and put a garden in place.

No Bids On Coleman Family House
COLUMBIA, IL — The infamous Coleman house in Columbia, Illinois was put up for auction on Tuesday at the courthouse in Waterloo, Illinois. No bids were made. The home is still owned by the bank.

Sheri Coleman and her two sons were murdered inside in 2009. A Chicago law firm is handling the sale for Wells Fargo. The mortgage is more than $229,000. Grisly spray painted messages still mark the walls.

Some neighbors want the home torn down to build a park in memory of Sheri and her boys. Chris Coleman, the husband and father in the case, remains behind bars awaiting trial on murder charges.

New search warrants issued for Coleman murders
Oct 27, 2010 COLUMBIA, Ill. -- Police obtained fresh search warrants last week for cell phone data as they press their case against murder defendant Christopher Coleman.

Associate Judge Stephen Rice signed off on the warrants on Oct. 20, which enable investigators to access "PIN" messages, a form of text messages specific to Blackberry phones, from the mobile devices of Coleman, his wife, Sheri, and his mistress, Tara Lintz.

The warrants apply to all PIN logs from May 4, 2009, a day before the murders, to Oct. 13, 2010.

The documents don't indicate what information, if any, was gleaned from the message logs. Police have declined to discuss the case.

Chris Coleman, a former security chief for international televangelist Joyce Meyer, is accused of killing wife and two sons on May 5, 2009 at their home in Columbia, Ill. Police allege that he was trying to escape his marriage without a divorce, to be with Lintz, a girlfriend in Florida. He has pleaded not guilty.

The new search warrants indicate police are attempting to re-create a timeline of the minutes leading up to the discovery of the bodies.

Police arrived at the Coleman home in Columbia to check on the family's welfare after Christopher Coleman called a police officer from a gym. He had said he was alarmed that he couldn't reach his family and asked the officer to check his home, police said.

At the time of the call, police said Coleman reported that he was crossing the Jefferson Barracks Bridge into Illinois, which is a few minutes from his home.

Police arrived at the home and discovered Charles Manson-style messages spray painted on the home's walls. They found the dead bodies in the upstairs bedrooms. Coleman arrived about 13 minutes after he told police he was crossing the bridge, according to the documents.

Police purchased eight Blackberry devices to recreate the calls to determine if Coleman "took a longer route home to ensure that members from the Columbia Police Department" discovered the bodies.

Coleman is expected to stand trial in March 2011 in Waterloo.

Judge weighs hearsay evidence in Coleman trial
December 8, 2010 -Any right Christopher Coleman has to cross-examine his murdered wife about statements she had made about him to friends was forfeited when he killed her, prosecutors said in court documents filed Tuesday.

Prosecutors released new details concerning the case as part of a motion to use such statements as evidence in his upcoming first-degree murder trial.

Coleman, the former security chief for the Joyce Meyer Ministries, is charged with strangling his wife, Sheri, and two preteen sons, Garett and Gavin, in their home in Columbia, Ill.

Monroe County State's Attorney Kris Reitz said Sheri Coleman told friends that her husband beat her up, and texted at least two of them, saying: "Chris wants a divorce. He said me and my kids are in the way of his job. He told me he's leaving me for his job! But if Joyce (Meyer) finds out she will fire him. It got so bad I told Joyce. He was [angry] to say the least but that was the breaking point. She forced him into counseling."

Coleman's defense attorneys are trying to block such material as inadmissible hearsay, in part because Coleman would have no way to confront his accuser, Sheri Coleman. Hearsay rules restrict what a witness can tell a jury about what someone else said.

Police allege that Coleman was trying to escape his marriage without a divorce, to be with a girlfriend in Florida. They say he staged the May 5, 2009, crime scene to look like the work of a deranged enemy of the ministry, and previously reported getting threatening letters and e-mails that he secretly generated.

He has pleaded not guilty.

As part of his motion to support the testimony, Reitz filed an outline of the evidence that provided some new information, such as:

• Tara Lintz, the girlfriend, told police she listened on a speaker phone as Coleman told his wife he didn't love her and wanted a divorce. Police said Lintz reportedly overheard Coleman's conversations with his wife a "handful of times" in the months before the murders.

• Robert A. Leonard, a forensic linguist and professor at Hofstra University, linked Coleman's language patterns to threats directed at the family and placed in their mailbox in the months before the killings.

• Robert LaPlante, a family friend, told police that Coleman had showed him a DVR surveillance recorder in the basement on the Friday before the murders — one that was missing from the crime scene. LaPlante said a faceplate that police found on the Jefferson Barracks Bridge "looked like" the one on the missing Coleman recorder. Coleman's route to a gym the morning of the murders would have taken him over that bridge.

• Marc Rogers, a cyber forensics professor at Purdue University, determined that two threatening e-mails sent to the Coleman family came from Coleman's personal laptop computer, and that the sender had signed in using Coleman's personal ID.

Jury selection is set to begin Feb. 15, Circuit Judge Milton Wharton expects to rule on the hearsay motion later this week.

Facebook Page Prompts Police To Reopen '84 Cold Case

LYNBROOK, NY (WPIX) — Nassau County police say recent postings on the social networking site Facebook have prompted them to reopen a case of a missing child that was left unsolved for more than 20 years.

Kelly Morrissey disappeared on Jun 12, 1984 after buying cigarettes at a Lynbrook gas station. The attendant was the last person who reported seeing the 15-year-old, police said.

During the months following her disappearance, two other girls went missing - one was a friend of Morrissey, police said. Both girls were later found dead. Detective say determined that the young women had been raped and strangled.

In the death of Morrissey's friend, Theresa Fusco, police arrested three suspects who were convicted in her killing, but those convictions were eventually overturned.

Now police have been paying close attention to a Facebook page about Hot Skates Rink in Lynbrook, where Morrissey used to hang out regularly. There have not yet been any specific clues, police say, but they are hopeful that by starting a conversation new information will come to light.

Discussion topics on the rink's Facebook page such as "Former & Current Staff" and "Back In The Day," piqued the interest of authorities several months ago when several Facebook friends brought up the disappearances.

Police are urging anyone with information to contact 1-800-244-TIPS. There is a $10,000 reward for information leading to the case's resolution, police say.

Brutal Murder Still Haunts City of Norwalk

On September 23, 1986, eleven year old Kathleen Flynn was reported missing by her mother.

The sixth grader at Ponus Ridge Middle School had not been seen since she left school that day.

Police, firefighters and civilian volunteers searched for the young girl and found her early next morning in some woods alongside the middle school. Kathleen Flynn had been sexually assaulted and strangled.

The State of Connecticut is offering a $20,000 reward for information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of Kathleen Flynn's killer(s). If you know anything about this case, please call Norwalk Detective Sgt. Art Weisgerber at 203-854-3011.

-Detailed article here-

Parents Accused in Child Abuse Case Appear in Court

Animals like these shouldn't have one kid, let alone six..

(10/15/10) STAMFORD - A Stamford couple accused in an attack on its 13-year-old daughter went before a judge today.

Police say Carlos Chaparro, 38, choked his daughter over her grades.

An arrest warrant detalis that Chaparro allegedly dragged the teen by her hair, put her over a piece of wood and beat her. At one point, he allegedly pulled bits of her hair out.

The girl's stepmother, Yellka Chaparro, was also arrested after police say she failed to try and stop the attack.

Police say the girl's brother found her and took her to the hospital.

Police say that the teen and her five siblings have been placed in protective custody. The father and stepmother are due back in court on Nov. 9.

- Video here -

Homicide of Gertrude (Trudy) Ochankowski - East Hampton - January 1998

Timothy J. Liston, State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of Middlesex, and Chief Matthew A. Reimondo of the East Hampton Police Department announced that Governor M. Jodi Rell has authorized an increase in the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the death of GERTRUDE (TRUDY) OCHANKOWSKI to an amount not to exceed $50,000, the maximum allowed by law.

State’s Attorney Liston and Chief Reimondo expressed their appreciation to Governor Rell for her action and her continued commitment to the victims of crime and their families.

Gertrude Ochankowski was a long time resident of East Hampton. She is survived by two loving daughters and is fondly remembered by her family and friends. Trudy Ochankowski was last seen alive on January 11, 1998. Her motor vehicle was found running in front of 82 Main Street, East Hampton, where she had patronized a Laundromat. On the afternoon of January 12, 1998, Ms. Ochankowski’s body was found in a stream off Tartia Road in East Hampton. An autopsy was performed by Chief Medical Examiner H. Wayne Carver, II, M.D., who determined that the cause of death was strangulation.

An intensive investigation was conducted by the East Hampton Police Department with the assistance of the Connecticut State Police Eastern District Major Crime Squad and the Department of Public Safety Forensic Science Laboratory. East Hampton Police devoted countless hours and resources to the investigation and continue to vigorously pursue any leads. Ms. Ochankowski’s daughters also went to great lengths to determine who was responsible for their mother’s senseless death. Despite all of these efforts no arrest has been made.

As the tenth anniversary of Ms. Ochankowski’s unsolved homicide approached, State’s Attorney Liston applied to Governor Rell for an increase in the Offer of Reward from the $30,000 authorized in December 2000. State’s Attorney Liston and Chief Reimondo believe that the increase in the reward will renew public interest and awareness of the tragic death of Ms. Ochankowski and that individuals with information will be prompted to come forward.

The public is advised not to underestimate the significance of what they may know and not to assume that law enforcement must already possess that information. Sometimes a small piece of information may be the key to assist investigators to solve a case and to achieve a successful prosecution.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the East Hampton Police Department at 20 High Street, East Hampton, CT 06424; telephone number 860-267-9922 or 860-267-9544; fax number 860-267-4208.

Homicide of Anne Caro - Mansfield - August 28, 2005

The Connecticut State Police are currently investigating the homicide of Anne Caro, who was found dead in her residence in Mansfield on her 37th birthday on August 28, 2005. The cause of death was strangulation.

Ms. Caro was the mother of two young children. The physical evidence recovered from the scene of the crime and witness interviews have thus far not identified the person or persons responsible for the crime.

In August 2008, the Honorable Governor M. Jodi Rell authorized a $50,000 reward to the person or persons who provide information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person/persons guilty of this crime.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Connecticut State Police Eastern District Major Crime Unit at 860-886-6603 or the State Police Message Center at 860-685-8190.

Anonymous tips can be sent to: Crimes (274637) Text “Tip711 plus your message”.

Sandra C. Hoyt Murdered While Babysitting in Stamford

From a Parents of Murdered Children memorial page:

On February 13, 1979, Bruce D. Williams, Jr. brutally raped and murdered fourteen year old Sandy Hoyt. Williams calculated and planned his crimes by telephoning Sandy and introducing himself as a doctor who required her to baby sit his son at his home.

He stated to her that he just received a call to attend an emergency for one of his patients. Williams met Sandy on his street while using his ten month old son as a decoy to convince her that this was a legitimate baby sitting job.

In his home, while Sandy was occupied with his son, he put a rope around her, tied her to his bed and raped her. After he completed his savage rape he warned her not to disclose to anyone what he did to her. She told him that she would tell her parents and the police.

In an angry rage, Williams strangled her to death, dumped her body in a wooded area to cover and conceal his tracks. He never showed any remorse or responsibility for his crimes. At the time, he was employed as a US Postal worker and special policeman. His father was a Stamford police officer.

After a plea bargain, without our knowledge or consent, he was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 20 years to life. His first parole hearing was held in September 1988. He was denied parole release. We presented over 25,000 petition signatures along with over 100 letters to the parole board protesting his release.

His second hearing was scheduled for September 1994. Williams postponed this hearing a week before, after we presented over 20,000 new petition signatures. We are waiting for reschedule.''



Yet another murder I never heard about before in my life! Then again, I wasn't born until 1985.. But still!

13 Haig Avenue, Stamford, CT

Cop held in slaying of girl, 14
Feb 16, 1979


Stamford Man Submits Record Petition To Keep Daughter's Killer Behind Bars

Sept 21, 1988

The Stamford "Bra Murders"

This blew my mind when I read about this serial killer..

Lord knows how many times I've driven up Riverbank Road, crossing the overpass near the intersection of Riverbank and Roxbury Road..

Well.. I found in all of my historical article hunting that in the 1960s a preacher strangled five different women in a time span of just over three years- and dumped their bodies in an embankment near this overpass. They were known as the "bra murders", because victims were found with bras wrapped around the heads, used for the strangulation.
Insane!

I was reading a state's report on the case, and was shocked to have read this part:

"C. Robert Lupinacci

The State's file on Lupinacci, which is included in the present record, included the following information. Lupinacci was considered a "sex nut," was known to patronize black prostitutes, and referred to blacks disparagingly. The bodies of three of the women allegedly killed by Miller had been found within 100 feet of the spot where Lupinacci was arrested; Lupinacci's car had been seen near the murder scenes several times. In addition, in 1967, Lupinacci had been seen in bars in the vicinity of Port Chester, New York, which is near Stamford; Rush, just prior to her death in 1967, also had frequented bars in Port Chester. In 1968, employees at the Hotel Hazelton had seen Lupinacci there; Kahn, killed in 1968, was a resident of that hotel. Lupinacci had been seen cruising the Stamford area on the night Kahn was killed. In 1971, Lupinacci worked at a motel at which Thompson, killed in 1971, resided. Lupinacci was known to sell pornographic playing cards, and in the trunk of his car police found a pornographic deck with the queen of hearts missing; a similar card had been found near Thompson's body. Thompson was last seen alive in a vehicle resembling Lupinacci's car, and such a vehicle was seen near the scene of Thompson's murder. A vacuum sweeping of the trunk of Lupinacci's car revealed negroid limb hairs. In August 1971, Henry was last seen alive on Grey Rocks Place in Stamford. Lupinacci was a member of a club then located on Grey Rocks Place.

A local police officer reported that during the investigations of the deaths of Thompson and Henry, Lupinacci had inquired about the location and duration of police stakeouts related to those investigations. In addition, Lupinacci had commented that not all of the victims had been strangled with brassieres, a fact that was not known to the public.

Because of the similarity between the crimes of which Miller was accused and the act in which Lupinacci was caught, the detectives who investigated Lupinacci turned over complete reports of the information gathered to Gormley. In June 1972, Bundock had moved for the production of all exculpatory information in the possession of the prosecution. Gormley, agreeing that Bundock could have free access to the State's file on Miller, never formally responded to Bundock's request. The State did not offer access to its file on Lupinacci and never turned over to Bundock any of its information on Lupinacci."

So, why has nothing ever been done about possibly examining him as a formal suspect? I'm believing that this guy is the actual killer, but they seemed to have just swept him under the carpet?

"But when the undisclosed facts possessed by the prosecution are added to the fact that Lupinacci was arrested in the act of attempting to strangle a black prostitute in the very area where the other victims had been found strangled, we conclude that the withheld information is sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome of both Miller's decision to forgo any challenge to the State's assertion that he was the murderer and the decision of a rational factfinder as to whether the identity of Miller as the murderer was established beyond a reasonable doubt."

"C. The Materiality of the Withheld Evidence

There is no question in this case that the State withheld the results of its Lupinacci investigation from Miller and Bundock. Both state courts so found. Nor can there be any question that the information gathered was favorable to Miller, in that it suggested that the murders might have been committed by Lupinacci rather than Miller. Indeed, the state appellate court found that the Lupinacci materials were "clearly" and "obvious[ly]" exculpatory of Miller. Thus, the only issue in the present case is whether there is a reasonable probability that disclosure of those materials would have affected the outcome of the proceedings, i.e., whether they are sufficient to shake one's confidence in the outcome of the Miller proceedings."

I didn't even hear about this guy until reading that docket... Nothing mentioned about him before in newspaper archives. Crazy!

_____________________________________

Many of the articles are for sale and are not free for viewing, but I'll link all my resources anyways:

Court Docket - Benjamin F. MILLER, Jr. Appeal

Argued Jan. 19, 1988 - Decided May 20, 1988

Killing of Woman Found Near Parkway Under Inquiry
May 05, 1968

Stamford Skeleton Triggers Search
Apr 6, 1969

Body of Woman Found Near Road
Jul 11, 1971

Possible Tie In Slayings Probed
STAMFORD (AP) -- Police said Monday that the slaying of 17-year-old Gail Thompson of Stamford over the weekend may be related to three so-called "bra murders" here in 1968 and 1969.

Woman Strangled at Stamford; 5th Victim There in 3 1/2 Years
STAMFORD, Conn., Aug. 23 -- For the fifth time in the last three and a half years, the body of a woman strangled with a brassiere has been found near the Merritt Parkway here.

Police Seek Clue to Stamford Murders
STAMFORD, Conn., Aug. 28 -- The state and local police, already baffled by the murders of four young black women here, are puzzling now over the murder of a fifth last weekend.

Minister Held in 5 "Bra Murders"
- EXCELLENT article-

Lay Preacher is Charged with 5 Slayings
March 18, 1972

Suspect in Bra Murders Ordered Free
May 26, 1988 - and see this..

Coleman Murder Trial: Jurors Outside of Monroe County Will Hear Case

WATERLOO -- The trial of Christopher Coleman will take place in Monroe County, but the jurors will be brought to the courthouse in Waterloo from another county.

That was the crux of a court order issued Tuesday by 20th Judicial Circuit Judge Milton Wharton in response to a request by defense attorney John O'Gara for a change of venue because of massive pretrial publicity. The order did not specify which county would be used to supply jurors.

Coleman, 33, is accused of the strangulations of his wife Sheri Coleman, 31, and their sons Garett, 11 and Gavin, 9, in their Columbia home in May. Police reports state that Christopher Coleman killed his family so he could marry a Florida waitress who was a high school friend of his wife.

In March, O'Gara and Monroe County State's Attorney Kris Reitz argued the merits of a change of venue during a hearing where Wharton presided. O'Gara said intense media coverage, including inflammatory and sometimes erroneous newspaper and broadcast reports, both locally and nationally, made it all but impossible to select jurors in Monroe County who had not already made up their minds about Coleman.

O'Gara had commissioned a survey showing that most residents of Monroe County believe Coleman is guilty.

Wharton wrote in his ruling: "This court must give strong consideration to the inherent difficulties in conducting a trial of this nature in a close-knife community where even if the jurors are sequestered, there remains an enhanced possibility of a breach of Illinois Supreme Court Rule 436(b), which even if inadvertent and/or unintentional, could result in a mistrial or compromise of a jury verdict resulting in a reversal during the appeals process."

Reitz had argued that while it might be difficult, impartial jurors could be found. He also stated that the people of Monroe County deserve to have the trial held in the jurisdiction where the murders occurred.

Wharton agreed the proceedings should be held in Monroe County. He wrote that county residents should "be given an opportunity to exhibit their capability of providing a peaceful and orderly trial forum and to have access to the proceedings."

When Coleman initially was charged, onlookers gathered outside the courthouse and shouted taunts at him such as "baby killer," "murderer" and "they finally got you."

Wharton wrote in his order: "My personal observations of the sparseness of spectators, inside and outside of the courthouse, on pretrial hearing dates indicates to me that the preliminary heated interest in this matter may have, to some degree, waned. I have not observed a repeat of previously reported individual public expressions of animus directed toward the defendant."

The judge's order continues: "It is the opinion of this court that there has been no showing, relative to locality of the trial, that there exists reasonable grounds to believe that a community passion or prejudice appears to exist in Monroe County, which would give rise to a reasonable apprehension that defendant's safety might be threatened, a jury's performance of its duties might be impeded, a 'circus-like atmosphere' might develop, or that the defendant cannot receive a fair trial. If subsequent events are to prove otherwise, there should be ample warning early in trial proceedings and opportunity for the court to chance course, before the attachment of jeopardy."

Wharton stated in his order that he'll decide later on the county from which the jurors will be chosen.

Coleman was linked to the crimes through evidence gathered by the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis. He did not confess to the killings, which he blames on an unknown assailant or assailants who sent threatening messages to him through the Internet and wrote vulgar and violent messages in red spray paint inside the house.

Police, however, according to the search-warrant documents, have linked the e-mailed threats to a computer at Joyce Meyer Ministries, where Coleman worked as head of security for the famed televangelist. He was asked to resign after evidence surfaced that he was having an affair with Tara Lintz, the waitress at a Florida dog-racing track. She has told reporters she will not comment.

Recent documents that surfaced in Monroe County Circuit Court include police reports that allege Coleman told Lintz that he would have surgery to reverse a vasectomy so he could have children with her.

Man Who Strangled, Stuffed Woman In Trunk Convicted Of Murder

KENT, Wash. -- A 25-year-old man who strangled a woman in the parking lot of the nursing home he worked at and then stuffed her body into the trunk of her car was convicted of murder Wednesday.

The body of 75-year-old Jane Britt was found on March 19, 2008 in the trunk of her car parked at Garden Terrace Care Facility in Federal Way, where Joseph Njonge worked as a certified nursing assistant.

Britt was believed to have been visiting her husband at the facility the day before her body was discovered. He died two weeks before the trial began.

The jury deliberated the case for more than a day and a half at the Regional Justice Center in Kent.

Prosecutor Carla Carlstrom said the jury couldn't agree on first-degree murder, so Njonge was convicted of murder in the second-degree.

"This case was difficult because unfortunately only Mrs. Britt knows exactly what happened that night, along with the defendant, so since the jury couldn't know exactly why he killed her I think that certainly factored to a difficulty of convicting him of murder in the first degree," Carlstrom said.

King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said that Britt fought hard against her assailant "over a prolonged period of time" and was strangled by Njonge, who used a ligature and came at her from behind.

It was DNA from skin cells found under the victim's fingernails that led to the Njonge's capture, Satterberg said. Britt's husband's credit card was also found in Njonge's pocket.

The Britt family said through the prosecutor that they are “satisfied” with the verdict.

Njonge will be sentenced next month and could be sentenced from 10 to 20 years in prison.

Man Who Strangled, Stuffed Woman In Trunk Convicted Of Murder

KENT, Wash. -- A 25-year-old man who strangled a woman in the parking lot of the nursing home he worked at and then stuffed her body into the trunk of her car was convicted of murder Wednesday.

The body of 75-year-old Jane Britt was found on March 19, 2008 in the trunk of her car parked at Garden Terrace Care Facility in Federal Way, where Joseph Njonge worked as a certified nursing assistant.

Britt was believed to have been visiting her husband at the facility the day before her body was discovered. He died two weeks before the trial began.

Pathologist reports Chris Coleman's Family Died Hours Before He Left For the Gym

WATERLOO -- On the night before his family was strangled, Chris Coleman told his Florida girlfriend that his wife would receive divorce papers the next day, according to testimony Wednesday morning in Monroe County Court.

And renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden put the time of death for murder victims Sheri Coleman and her sons Gavin, 9, and Garett, 11, at between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. -- well before the time her husband Chris Coleman said he left for a gym workout.

Images from a surveillance camera mounted right across the street from the Coleman home at the house of Columbia Police Detective Justin Barlow, one of the investigators on the triple murder, showed Coleman leaving at 5:43 a.m. on May 5.

"The expert said that it was not possible for them to be alive at 5:45 a.m.," said Columbia Police Chief Joe Edwards, the only witness to testify at Coleman's preliminary hearing on Wednesday morning.

Coleman, 32, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the ligature strangulations of his wife and sons. Coleman remains in the Monroe County Jail without bail.

Chris Coleman told police in a lengthy interview following the murders that he and his wife had a good marriage, but encountered marital problems in 2008 and received marriage counseling, Edwards testified.

Chris Coleman later admitted to police that he was engaged in an affair with one of his wife's friends, identified in court documents as Tara Lintz of St. Petersburg, Fla. Lintz and Coleman had at least one credit card in both their names that was used to pay for airfare for Lintz to accompany him on trips for Joyce Meyer Ministries.

Lintz and Coleman exchanged conversations about "body parts" that" his wife would not be very happy about," Coleman told police during the interview. The couple began a relationship on Nov. 5 and planned to be married in January 2010. Lintz was looking for work and a home to share with Chris Coleman in the St. Louis area, Edwards testified.

The couple was also planning to take a cruise together in August.

Edwards also testified that the first alleged threat to the Coleman family reported by Chris Coleman came on Nov. 14 to his work e-mail at Joyce Meyer Ministries, where he worked as a security supervisor. Detectives later discovered the e-mail was created on Coleman's Meyer Ministries-issued laptop and sent through the laptop's air card.

Other type-written, hand-delivered threats directed at the Coleman family were delivered to their mailbox at their home on Robert Drive in Columbia on Jan. 2 and April 27 with the message, "Your worst nightmare is about to happen."

Evidence gathered by the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis included routine documents written by Chris Coleman that had the same misspelling of the word "opportunity" that was noted in an anonymous threatening letter left in the Coleman family's mailbox.

During a phone conversation the night before the murders, Lintz told police that Coleman told her that his wife would receive divorce papers the next day -- the day that the bodies of her and the boys were found.

Edwards testified Joyce Meyer Ministries did not employ people who get divorced, but Meyer spokesman Roby Walker had earlier told reporters that policy wasn't in place.

Lintz also told police that she and Chris Coleman exchanged sexual graphic videos and messages, Edwards said.

On May 5, Barlow, who lived across the street from Coleman, received a call from Chris Coleman on his cell phone, asking him to check on his family because he couldn't reach them, Edwards said.

Barlow called for an additional officer, Jason Donjon, then got dressed and walked across the street, Edwards said. They discovered the open basement window and crawled through.

They found threatening messages spray painted in the house in red paint.

Barlow discovered Garett first, Edwards said. His bed had red spray paint on it. Donjon discovered Sheri. Edwards said the sheet that covered Gavin was spray painted with an obscenity.

Emergency medical personnel were called to the scene and Chris Coleman was loaded into the ambulance with the chaplain for the Columbia police.

The chaplain reported seeing an abrasion on Chris Coleman's forearm and asked how it happened, but Edwards said he told the chaplain he didn't know. He later told his father, Ronald Coleman, minister of Grace Church Ministries in Chester, that he got the injury punching a gurney after learning of his family's deaths.

The chaplain left when Chris Coleman's relatives and co-workers began to arrive, Edwards said.

Police also noted the video surveillance cameras inside the Coleman's home were operational, but Edwards said the digital video recorder used to save the images was missing. Police discovered a "face plate" to a Digital Video Recorder in the westbound lane of Interstate 255 near the base of the Jefferson Barracks Bridge -- the same route Chris Coleman would have taken to get to the south St. Louis County gym the morning of the murders.

After hearing the evidence, Monroe County Circuit Judge Dennis Doyle found there was probable cause for Chris Coleman to stand trial.

Father and son team William Margulis and Art Margulis, Coleman's attorneys, entered a not guilty plea on Chris Coleman's behalf and waived the reading of the charge.

William Margulis asked the trial be delayed to allow his father and him to pursue certification through the Illinois Capital Litigation Bar. That certification would allow them to continue to represent Coleman, if State's Attorney Kris Reitz decides to pursue the death penalty. Reitz has 120 days to declare whether he will seek capital punishment if Coleman is convicted.

Doyle ordered Coleman to stand trial and set the next hearing in the case for Aug. 26.

Ronald and Connie Coleman, Chris Coleman's parents, attended the hearing, but didn't talk to reporters.

Mario Weiss, Sheri's brother and Garett and Gavin's uncle, attended the hearing, along with Sheri's godfather Joe Miglio, hearing the details of their deaths.

"It was extremely emotional. I felt a thousand different emotions," Weiss said after the hearing. "I didn't want to disrespect the judge by vomiting in court."

Suspect Didn't Ask How Wife, Boys Died

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 tha 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.

Coleman then repeatedly punched the gurney with the arm, Edwards said, adding that when the suspect's father asked him about the abrasion, he said it was from punching the gurney.

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.