GUILTY ME - Christina Sargent, 36, & her two kids murdered, Garland, 20 Dec 2014

Maine State Police continued Sunday afternoon to investigate the suspicious deaths of a woman and two children, a boy and girl, whose bodies, found at about 9:50 p.m. Saturday night by Penobscot County deputies, according to Maine State Police.

The bodies were removed about 12:45 p.m. from the trailer where the family lived and were taken to the state Medical Examiner’s Office in Augusta for autopsy and identification. The autopsies are not expected to be completed before Monday.

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Police are actively searching for a man after the discovery of a woman and two children dead in the Penobscot County town of Garland Saturday night...

Keith Coleman was last seen in Bangor around noon on Saturday driving tan 2006 Dodge Caravan with Minnesota license plates. He is black, six feet tall and around 190 pounds. Police say Coleman has ties in several states, including New York, Florida and Minnesota.

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Police said Sunday afternoon that he had been taken into custody and that further details would be released later.

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State Police have identified the three people found dead as 36-year-old Christina Sargent, 8-year-old Destiny Sargent, and 10-year-old Duwayne Coke.

Police took Keith Coleman into custody Sunday afternoon. He was located at an apartment complex on School St. in Bucksport.

The minivan that police were looking for was also found in the parking lot at the apartment.

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Coleman confessed to police that he killed his girlfriend in front of the children and then killed them because they witnessed the crime, according to the probable cause affidavit filed by Detective Greg Mitchell of the Maine State Police’s major crimes unit north.

Coleman made his first court appearance Monday before Superior Court Justice Ann Murray who appointed local attorney Martha Harris to represent him and ordered that he be held without bail until a bail hearing can be held on Dec. 30...

Christina Sargent and her two children “died from ligature strangulation,” Tim Feeley, spokesman for the state’s Attorney General’s office, said. “Two of the deaths involved other forms of asphyxia as well.”

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Christina worked as a care provider for the elderly, and her parents said she had a caring heart... “That was her nature and I hope it earned her a place in heaven... We tried to help straighten out his life and especially her, she loved him and those children loved him,” Dwight Sargent said. “And what they got for loving him and caring about him was he murdered them."

Her father said Christina recently split with Coleman, but said Coleman threatened her family once again, prompting Christina to try to reason with him. "He lured her back with, ‘If you don't come here, I'm going to kill your aunt,’” Dwight Sargent said. “So she actually sacrificed her life trying to save the people that she loved"...

Christina also has two adult children.

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The Garland man accused of slaying his girlfriend and her two children the weekend before Christmas was indicted Wednesday by the Penobscot County grand jury on three counts of intentional or knowing murder...

Coleman is being held without bail at the Penobscot County Jail in Bangor. His arraignment date has not been set.

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A Garland man accused of killing his girlfriend and her two children pleaded not guilty Friday at the Penobscot Judicial Center to three counts of murder and one count of gross sexual assault.

Keith Coleman, 28, who lived with Christina Sargent, 36, and her children in a trailer at 12 Paul Road in Garland, where their bodies were found last December, is charged with taking their lives. In August, Coleman also was indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury on one count of gross sexual assault involving one of the children, 8-year-old Destiny Sargent...

The judge has set the trial for April 27.

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Prosecutors showed several screenshots of Facebook messages in court Tuesday.

Prosecutors say they were conversations between Coleman and two women he spent the night with in Bucksport after the crimes were committed.

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Dominic Sargent told jurors that after he saw his mother’s body lying on her bed and was unable to wake her: “I lost my mind and started crying.”

Sargent, 22, of Hancock testified on the second day of the trial of Keith Coleman, the man accused of strangling Sargent’s mother, younger brother and little sister. Sargent said he went to the Garland trailer where the victims were to check on their well-being.

His cousin, Rebecca Raye of Ellsworth, with whom Sargent was staying, had entered the trailer first and found the bodies of Christina Sargent, 36, and her daughter, Destiny Sargent, 8. Raye told jurors late Wednesday that she had looked in the room where Duwayne Coke, 10, later was found dead but did not see him in the dark.

“My cousin told me not to go down to aunt’s room, but I did,” Dominic Sargent, who is the oldest of Christina Sargent’s four children, said. “I saw my sister on the bed. Her arms and legs were spread and her eyes were wide open. Her mouth had something stuffed inside of it.

“After that, I went outside and screamed my head off because my family was dead,” he said.

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Employees of the Maine State Crime Lab testified Thursday.

A forensic chemist said she found Coleman’s DNA on both Sargent and her 8-year-old daughter Destiny, who Coleman is charged with sexually assaulting.

The defense argued there’s no way to tell how it got there or what time the DNA was transferred.

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A sobbing Keith Coleman confessed that he killed “Chrissie and the kids” in a videotaped interview played for jurors on the seventh day of his murder trial on Friday at the Penobscot Judicial Center.

Jurors followed along with transcripts as a portion of the interview was played Friday. At times, it was difficult to understand what Coleman was saying because he was sobbing so hard and because of the quality of the audio.

“We think you made a mistake that morning,” the detective said. “We know you did something wrong that you can’t take it back. Tell us what happened. It’s time.”

Coleman said that he was drunk that morning.

“I don’t remember,” he said. “I blacked out. Nothing is coming clear. We were fighting. I hurt her so bad.”

As Coleman sobbed harder, Mitchell offered to take him outside for a cigarette break so he could compose himself.

“When you’re ready, take it right from the beginning,” Pickering told Coleman.

“I did it,” Coleman replied, sobbing. “I did it. I don’t want to say that word but … I did it. I killed my girl.”

“When you say you killed girl, who did you kill?’ Mitchell asked.

“Chrissie and the kids,” Coleman said.

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The defense continued their case Monday, first calling to the stand forensic science professor Dr. Heather Coyle, asking her about evidence used in Coleman’s sexual assault charge against 8-year-old Destiny Sargent.

Coyle said, even with Coleman’s DNA present, it’s impossible to tell who touched Destiny’s clothing last or when DNA may have been transferred.

Coyle also said she doesn’t completely agree with the state’s DNA findings.

She said she observed at least one other person from a “completely unknown source” on the cord used to strangle 10-year-old Dwayne Coke.

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The defense also called Sherrod Owens to the stand without the jury in the room.

He dated and lived with Christina Sargent in garland about six years ago.

Owens wouldn’t answer whether he and Sargent communicated around the time of the crimes or whether he was involved in the murders.

Owens did say in cross-examination there was never any drama between him and Sargent, although he did ask for a police escort when he broke up with her.

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A jury of five women and seven men began deliberating about 5:55 p.m. Wednesday at the Penobscot Judicial Center on the 10th day of the trial of Keith Coleman, who is accused of strangling his girlfriend and then killing her children in December 2014.

Jurors sent out a note about 8 p.m. asking to recess overnight. They will resume deliberations at 8 a.m. Thursday.

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The man accused of killing his girlfriend and her two kids in Garland nearly two years ago has been found guilty of murder.

A jury in Bangor returned the verdict for 29-year-old Keith Coleman just before 9 a.m. Thursday.

He faces 25 years to life in prison.

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A Maine man convicted of killing his girlfriend and her two children faces 25 years to life in prison when he's sentenced later this month.

Keith Coleman, of Garland, was originally scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday but the hearing was delayed until Jan. 19.

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The man convicted of murdering his girlfriend and her young son and daughter more than two years ago in the Garland trailer they shared was sentenced Thursday at the Penobscot Judicial Center to life in prison.

Keith Coleman, 29, also was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually assaulting the girl.

In addition, Superior Court Justice Ann Murray ordered Coleman to pay more than $15,000 in restitution for funeral costs.

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Keith Coleman appealed his convictions for murder and gross sexual assault and the imposition of three life sentences by a judge. He cited alleged prosecutorial misconduct, insufficient evidence, and a judge’s decision limiting cross-examination of a witness.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the conviction and sentences on Thursday.

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