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.

Joyce Meyer Ministries Dropped from Coleman Wrongful Death Suit

St. Louis Globe-Democrat-- A ruling on a motion in Monroe County Circuit Court on Tuesday to drop Joyce Meyer Ministries Inc. from a wrongful death suit was a “tactical retreat,” according to an attorney for the family of murder victim Sheri Coleman.

It doesn't mean Coleman’s family will not pursue a civil action against Joyce Meyer Ministries Inc. or Ronald Coleman.

“We are not dropping Joyce Meyer Ministries, we are not dropping Ronald Coleman,” said Jack Carey, a Belleville attorney representing the family. “We can file against either or both between now and May 2011”

Carey had filed a civil suit last year against Christopher Coleman, 32, accused of the first degree murder of his wife, Sheri, 31, and sons Garett, 11, and Gavin, 9. The three were found strangled at their home on May 5 last year at their home in Columbia, Ill.

Joyce Meyer’s ministry, where Christopher Coleman worked as a security guard, was named a respondent-in-discovery. Ronald Coleman, also named as a respondent-in-discovery, is Christopher Coleman’s father.

Carey had six months to seek depositions to convert the ministry and Ronald Coleman as defendants

But Monroe County Judge Dennis Doyle ruled earlier this month that the six-month window had elapsed for the family’s attorneys to take depositions from Meyer or employees of her ministry. A hearing was set in Monroe County Circuit court to name the ministries and Ronald Coleman as defendants.

Then more legal maneuvering ensued. Last week, Carey filed a motion to drop Meyer from the suit. That motion was approved Tuesday.

Carey said without the depositions, attorneys weren’t sure they had enough evidence to proceed with the action. They wanted to be cautious, he said. “It’s a tactical retreat,” Carey said outside the court room.

“This is just something we were not comfortable with going forward on Friday,” Carey said. “It was better to withdraw the respondent-in-discovery and determine in the next few months how we want to proceed against the ministry and Ronald Coleman, or both.”

The six-month deadline was missed for reasons that the judge didn’t find acceptable, he said.

Scheduling problems with Enrico Mirabelli, another attorney representing the family from Cook County, Ill, and with obtaining information with the ministries delayed the process, he said. Another complicating factor involved Carey’s open heart surgery in October.

Some evidence was obtained and Carey said they tried to have the period extended to obtain depositions, he said. The court said, however, that time had run out. “The judge said six months, six months,” Carey said.

Carey said the family’s civil case could be stronger with the completion of Christopher Coleman’s criminal trial. More evidence will become available, he said. “My brief exposure to that evidence that there is plenty there to support a civil case,” Carey said.

Joyce Meyer Ministries is significant because of evidence involving testimony from employees, computer records, cell phone use and other information, he said. Carey distributed interrogatories on Tuesday that he suggests the ministry provided marital counseling to Christopher and Sheri Coleman.

Carey acknowledged that monetary damages in the case would come from Joyce Meyers Ministries. In Illinois, specific amounts can’t be sought in wrongful death suits. A “judicial amount” in access of $75,000 is sought.

Any damages if the case is successful may not come from Christopher Coleman. His house is in foreclosure and his pension has been frozen by court order. “It may give the family at least some emotional satisfaction,” Carey said.

Coleman Hearing Postponed

WATERLOO, Ill. (KMOX) -- It'll be at least early February before we find out if Joyce Meyer Ministries will be added as a defendant in the civil lawsuit against Chris Coleman.

A judge today continued the case because one of Sheri Coleman's family's attorneys is recovering from heart surgery, and the other is in court in Chicago today.

Ministry attorney Michael King claims the family's attorneys are trying to delay the decision, because they don't have any evidence that the ministry could have prevented the murders of Sheri and her two sons.

The family contends the Ministry should have known the alleged murderer, Chris Coleman, was having an affair with a woman in Florida and had sent threats from his office computer. Coleman worked in security at the Ministry.

The judge will set the next hearing date in early February.

Suspect Called 'Baby Killer' Outside Court

(CNN) -- A southwest Illinois man accused of strangling his wife and two young sons appeared in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to murder charges, officials said.

Christopher Coleman, 32, will remain jailed without bond pending a June 10 preliminary hearing, according to the Monroe County, Illinois, district court clerk's office.

He is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Sheri Coleman, 31, and sons Garett, 11, and Gavin, 9. Their bodies were found May 5 in the bedrooms of the Coleman's two-story home in Columbia, Illinois, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri.

The three died of strangulation by ligature -- a string, cord or wire -- police said. Coleman was arrested Tuesday at his parents' home in Chester, Illinois.

As a police patrol car carrying Coleman arrived at the Monroe County courthouse for Wednesday's hearing, a waiting crowd shouted "murderer" and "baby killer," according to video posted on the Web site of CNN affiliate KSDK.

Coleman told police he left the house at 5:43 a.m. the day of the deaths and drove to a gym to work out.
Watch report of Coleman's actions after deaths »

"Shortly thereafter, he started calling his house, realized that nobody was answering and on his way back at around 6:50 a.m. is when he made the phone call to the Columbia Police Department, said Maj. Jeff Connor, commander of the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis.

Coleman said he was calling the house to make sure the boys were waking up for school, Connor said.

Threatening messages were found on the walls inside the home, Connor said, but would not disclose the exact wording. In an article posted on the Major Case Squad's Web site, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper reported the message said something to the effect of, "I told you this would happen."

A glove with red spray paint on it was found along Interstate 255, which would have been on Coleman's route to the gym, the newspaper reported. The message in the Coleman home was written in paint of a similar color, the article said.

Coleman previously worked in the security department for Joyce Meyer Ministries, an evangelical Christian organization based in suburban St. Louis, said spokesman Roby Walker.

Walker told CNN Coleman resigned last week after the two met regarding "a violation of moral conduct." He would not elaborate.

The Post-Dispatch cited police sources as saying Coleman had more than one romantic rendezvous with a Florida woman, a friend of his wife, during out-of-town ministry trips. Neither Coleman nor his attorneys have commented on that report, the Post-Dispatch said.

Police said Tuesday they did not have a motive for the killings.

Joyce Meyer Ministries said in a statement Wednesday that it had learned of the charges against Coleman.

"This horrible tragedy has deeply saddened us all and although nothing can compensate for the loss of this beautiful family, our ministry remains fully behind the diligent efforts of the law enforcement community," the statement said.

Glove Found In Coleman Killings

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH- 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 spray 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."

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 cited 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.

Illinois Man Whose Family Was Murdered Resigns From Security Job

An Illinois man whose wife and two sons were found strangled in their bedrooms resigned from his job working as a security guard for a televangelist.

Chris Coleman left his position at Joyce Meyer Ministries after an internal inquiry found he had failed to follow a company policy.

A spokesman for the company, a worldwide television evangelist organization based in Jefferson County, Ill., would not say which policy had been violated.

The latest news comes amid reports that Coleman had met up with a Florida woman described as his girlfriend while on trips for the ministry, a source told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Police reportedly interviewed the girlfriend in Largo, Fla. The woman, believed to be a friend of Coleman's wife Sheri since high school, has not responded to messages, the Post-Dispatch said.

Sheri Coleman and her sons, 11-year-old Garett and 9-year-old Gavin, were found murdered on May 5.

Police have identified a suspect in the murders, but have not disclosed the person's identity as they await further forensic results, a reporter for the Post-Dispatch told FOX News Friday.

Police have not said Coleman is a suspect but have been closely tracking his movements. On Monday, they got a court order to take his fingerprints.

Coleman’s attorney William Margulies says the family isn't commenting.

No charges have been filed.

Investigators working on the case turned over evidence to the prosecutor Wednesday and announced that one lone killer, whose name was not revealed, had been identified.

Detectives said that, as of late Wednesday afternoon, they had stopped their surveillance of Chris Coleman, who has been staying with his parents in Chester, Ill.

Click here for more on this story from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.