GUILTY x 3 !!! - Verdict discussion

[Kimster]

The other thread was made up of a lot of waiting posts so let's start a new thread about the guilty verdict.

Why do you think the jury deliberated as long as it did?

How do you feel about the guilty verdict?

Do you think they will hand down a death penalty?

[ynotdivein]

Coleman Guilty in 2009 Murders of Wife, Children

"The verdicts on three counts of first-degree murder were returned in court here at 7:40 p.m., after about 15 hours of deliberations over two days.

Coleman reacted with an exasperated expression and looked down. He looked at his notes as the jury was polled, all agreeing with the guilty verdict."

[Melanie]

One way to get a verdict - GO SHOPPING. I'm really really happy justice was served today, I want to cry. On the 2 year anniversary, Sheri and the boys have not been forgotten. They were supported, loved, and above all - the criminal that took their lives will never be free again. A hell within itself.

While I don't expect the DP, LWOP is good enough for me.

Sheri, Garett and Gavin this day is for you.

Love and peace,

Mel

[Kimster]

http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-chr...,3789729.story

Has a video and article.

[Kimster]

Sheri's family speaks to the media:

Part I: http://www.stltoday.com/youtube_2418...a4bcf6878.html

Part II: http://www.stltoday.com/news/multime...a4bcf6878.html

[ynotdivein]

I am still all weepy.

So very happy for Sheri, Garett and Gavin, and their true family.

[Curious Me]

Justice was done. Thank You! I am so grateful the jurors were able to come to a Guilty Verdict on this day - May 5, 2011.

[BLU83]

CC family posting on FB how much their hearts hurt and how no family should have to go through something like this. I agree - no family should have to be murdered by by their husband/father.

[who knew?]

My husband called me with the verdict on my way home tonight. I can't express how thankful I am for the jury doing the right thing.

Reading through all your comments, I wanted to say one other thing - it's what I was thinking about as I drove home. Wrinkles already touched on it - Chris ruined the life of Sheri's family. He also helped ruin his own family's life. Granted, they created the monster - and continued to feed it for the last 2 years. I have no respect for them - and think they deserve what they got. They have been living off their congregation for years - spending their money like they were millionaires... so caught up in their self-importance that they forgot what serving God was about. They thought God was serving them. Then their "entitled" son murdered his family - and they were sure God would fix it for him. (I have a hard time believing they thought he was innocent.) They spent a ton of their parishioner's money trying to defend Chris - and when they were "investigated" for misuse of funds, I'm guessing they had to pull their own money and whatever money was slid to them under the table, to make sure Chris had the best defense. (Of course, there was no defense to be found!)

Look at what Ron and Connie have left: One son, a murderer, in prison; no grandchildren; one son, Keith, who bilked his ex-wife out of every dime she had, then married his "Tara" 2 weeks later, and then sexted with his murderer brother's girlfriend; their third son who is apparently married and doing fine, but who strangled a deer (and a dog?) and who threatened to kill the Dep Marshall Barlow because he testified to the truth of what happened to Sheri, Gavin and Garrett; a much smaller bank account, and now that his church members have begun to see the truth of the murders, I would think it would continue shrinking; Connie is ill (I thought it was lupus, but someone else said cancer) and I'm sure the stress of the trial and of defending her son to whoever would listen has taken a toll with her illness. 2 years ago, we saw her cleaning out Chris's house and other than a few bandages, she was doing just fine. At trial, her face was swollen (meds?) and she's in a wheelchair. The Coleman's cannot walk with their heads held quite so high now - they aren't fooling as many people as they used to. They've been shown to be what they are and it's not what they're pretending to be.

Karma is a b$#ch! They can thank Chris for being such a good boy.. JMO

ETA - Just had to rant and get this off my chest.

[Curious Me]

It's good to see the Guilty word in connection with CC. We hunger for this kind of justice because without it there'd be no hope in joining forces to make earth safe from the kind of evil that takes innocent lives. Good riddance to Chris from society.

Coleman guilty in 2009 murders of wife, children
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/m...a4bcf6878.html

[BLU83]

@who knew? ........

It appears to me, from FB postings earlier today - they believed he was innocent and would be home in time for Mother's Day. And you hit the nail on the head about thinking God was serving them. One post from about an hour before the verdict came in stated that they knew God was going to show up today "in a BIG way!"

He sure did - and justice was served.

[who knew?]

Originally Posted by BLU83

@who knew? ........

It appears to me, from FB postings earlier today - they believed he was innocent and would be home in time for Mother's Day. And you hit the nail on the head about thinking God was serving them. One post from about an hour before the verdict came in stated that they knew God was going to show up today "in a BIG way!"

He sure did - and justice was served.

I'm glad you joined us BLU - you really added a lot of background! Thanks!

And now, I'm going to bed because I imagine I'll be monitoring in the morning to see whether the jury goes dp or life!

[Fairy1]

Could someone possibly post a pic of Sheri and the boys? I have recently switched from a PC to a Mac and I can't figure out how to do it!!!

TIA.

[Rhyme & Reason]

I'll try! All I could find was a fuzzy one, so I don't know how it will turn out here..

Attachment 14952

[RR0004]

Today was a good day for justice. Bless Sheri and her beautiful boys...and may her family find some peace in the verdict.

[DairyGirl]

I couldn't figure out what took the jury so long but I can only assume that they wanted to be thorough and not leave open the possibility the verdict being overturned. The arrogance of this man to think he could get away with murder. I know Sheri and her boys played a big hand in this. I don't think it was a coincidence that the verdict came on this day.
I pray that her family and friends can start to heal.

[stmarysmead]

Some random thoughts about the conviction this early morning.

“We’re in Hawaii being bad.” I think this is how Tara changed Coleman’s life. Chris grew up in a devout family. When he married, his wife took on the faith and embraced the Joyce Meyer Ministry fully...finding her friends there...becoming involved in missions....and in bringing others to the peace she’d found.

One of those “others” was her friend Tara, the divorced strip club waitress, whose life had followed a very different path. Sheri hoped to “convert” Tara to a life of faith and service, but it was Tara that converted Chris to a life of “being bad.” I think Tara was Chris strength to rebel...the threat letters calling Meyer a “hypocrite” were Chris venting at his employer, and the values he’d been raised with, the “goody-two-shoes” wife...everything that kept him, to his mind, caged in. Not free.

Tara was freedom. Sexy texts and videos every day. Hotel room trysts in beautiful places. Do whatever feels good. Please yourself. Pleasure yourself. Take what you want.

Sheri was responsibility. God. Family. Faith. Walk that straight and narrow. “Do unto others”... Sheri was a cage.

And Chris’ job was a cage. It paid far too well to leave and he had security that only long-standing personal ties to the Boss might bring you. He wouldn’t be “special” if he went someplace else.

So, he devised, over months, a plan to beat the system. A way to “be free” and in the morality of Tara’s world, get what he wanted and get rid of what he didn’t. Tara’s creed was “take what you want.” Your best friends husband, his kids’ vacation, ..she taught him well.

Chris would take Tara and the job and slaughter Sheri and the little boys.That’s what felt good.

He’d be Tara’s Bad Boy...masquerading in a well paying Good Boy job. Ha! Ha! How they would sneer at them all. Joyce Meyer, Pastor Daddy, Sheri, her family, people who live by rules and morality...FOOLED YA!

So how’d that work out for you, Chris?

Life in prison is the ultimate cage. But, think of it, if he wants to keep Daddy Pastor sending candy-bar money and preaching about his innocence...he has to spend his prison days as The Good Boy again...”saving Souls”...talking the talk...pretending to be what I think...he most despises. Chris is as unfree a it gets. Forced to mouth words he reviles and profess a faith he fully rejected in the most heinous fashion two years ago.

I hope Coleman lives a long, long life.

[robinparten]

I have a question about the penalty phase, sorry if this has been covered. I wish more than anything that he would get the death penalty, but I don't understand why they are even going after it. From what I understand, the governor has said he will commute all death sentences to life, even death sentences that are handed down for crimes that occurred before the law changed. So why go to the expense and trouble of going after the death penalty?

[Alcina]

Wow stmarysmead, I think you nailed it, exactly!! Great post!

[truecrimejunkie]

Originally Posted by stmarysmead

Life in prison is the ultimate cage. But, think of it, if he wants to keep Daddy Pastor sending candy-bar money and preaching about his innocence...he has to spend his prison days as The Good Boy again...”saving Souls”...talking the talk...pretending to be what I think...he most despises. Chris is as unfree a it gets. Forced to mouth words he reviles and profess a faith he fully rejected in the most heinous fashion two years ago.

I hope Coleman lives a long, long life.

Thats great. I'll think about that when I see him on TV clutching his bible doing his interviews with the murder mystery shows talking about his innocence and all the souls he's saved in prison.

[Brian5671]

my 2 cents on it all.
1. Too much evidence to overcome-even if you toss out half the evidence, there's still enough to convict. While we all worried a bit about a mistrial or innocent verdict, the reality is that there was a 99% chance of a guilty verdict.
2. Appeal by CC and his defense team? Forget it-this was an open and **** case with little in the way of controversy or jury misconduct. Jury looked long and hard at the evidence and as much as we all despise CC, he deserves a fair trial and fair look at the evidence...after all if I were on a jury and faced with putting someone away forever, I'd want to make sure I scrutinized the evidence and was 100% sure.... Coleman will never see the light of day again and will likely be brutalized in a general prison population.
3. Will be interesting to see what happens with the civil suit--I'd be JMM settles for a tidy sum out of court. And hopefully Coleman will be hit with a sizeable financial figure so that he nor his family can ever profit from this tragedy.
4. Closure for Sherri's family? Yes, to a degree, but they've still lost their daughter who they will never see again and 2 children who they will never get to see grow up...that's the ultimate sadness here.
5. Closure for the rest of us-yes to the same degree-while most never met Sherri or the boys-we just cannot imagine having the sick mind to kill your wife and young children....
6. Stupidity by CC--obviously not that smart to think he could get away with this--it was a poorly planned sequence--his arrogance and narcissism likely got in the way too--he also could not have imagined the attention the case would get or that the major crime squad would get involved....a stupid risk to chance your life on a triple murder and trying to get away with it. He could have walked away from his plann or walked away from sherri and his family--the latter 2 choices would have caused grief, but not the unimaginable grief of his grand plan...
7. Good riddance to CC-let's all forget about him in prison and be glad he is off the streets of our great country.

[stmarysmead]

Will they be back in court today?

[luvhockey]

Bill McClellan's write up after the verdict.

I especially like this line about the defense attorney

In a sense, it was a closing argument version of a Chinese meal — it was tasty, but you're hungry half an hour later

[JenniferTx]

I think the jury deliberated as long as they did because there had to be some wingnut on the jury....sure we will hear soon....I just hope the hold up will not stop them from handing down a death sentence. I usually don't get on the DP bandwagon but in this case I felt all along that he was guily. I never believed he wasn't responsible for this crime. He thought he would fool LE with the writing of the red paint......guess what looser you lost and did a really bad job trying to make it look like someone else killed your family.

I just hope the jury will not have any mercy on his soul because he deserves none!

I am very happy with the guilty verdict and pray we will hear DP today. I see no logical reason why they should let this guy live the rest of his life in prison and waste money on feeding his sorry butt. I just want him dead. That is the only way I will feel that justice has been served for the family. He will be taking a quick trip down to hell for eternity!!!! burn baby burn!!!!

[TallCoolOne]

Originally Posted by stmarysmead

Will they be back in court today?

I think the article I read said at 10:00 Central time.

First, Thank you Stella for the text when the verdict came in. I would have been fretting about it all night at work had you not been so kind to do that for me. I can't tell you how much I appreciated that.

Talk about a whirlwind of emotions, if it feels like this for me I can't begin to imagine how Sheri's family and friends are feeling. Hopefully this will at least enable them to try to move forward in their lives instead of like they are treading water about to drown. I hope that they feel as if a bit of the weight that they have been carrying around for the past two years has lightened at least a bit.

Thank you to all of you who have stuck it out for the past two years and also to the new 'hats' who have joined in the meantime. Thank you for posting and keeping those of us who are not able to be here informed. I kind of want to have a group 'cyber hug', I know I could use one.

Brian, I'm sorry if I got snippy yesterday. There was no good excuse for it and I apologize for my bad behaviour.

Wrinkles, bless your heart. You've been here the whole time sharing the shock and sadness at what took place two years ago. That justice was handed down on the two year anniversary was to me, sureal and right.

I can't help but feel that there are a few others who also have a price to pay, but if it isn't in the legal sense, I hope it will be Karma. I hope the parish at Colemans church can now see that family sans the rose colored glasses and they are left with an empty offering plate. For people who profess themselves to be of the faith they sure let the devil do their bidding.

I'm going to refrain at the moment from making any comments concerning Chris' paramour, I don't trust my fingers at the present time to keeping it in the TOS and I like it here way to much to jeopardize my membership at the best website in the entire world. (I love this place!!)

What a week huh? First Bin Laden, then Brad Cooper and Chris Coleman both go down on the same day. Talk about a two-fer!! The only thing that possibly could have made this week any better for me would have been if Casey Anthony and drEWWWW (emphasis on the EWWWW) Peterson would have gone down as well. That would have been the icing on the cake. (Okay, stop talking about cake, that's making me hungry, now I need to go find something to eat and see if I can't get some sleep before work again tonight, ugh) Bet Chris wishes he could go grab some cake whenever he got the inkling for some..........

You know when I first came here it was before the crashes, when Laci was missing. I followed that case to the bitter end and after the emotional toll I claimed I was going to swear off following any more cases. Yeah, well I guess we know how that turned out, huh?

Well, whatever the jury decides for his fate is okay fine with me. I will feel satisfaction that he is and will remain where he deserves to be for the remainder of his miserable days.

You people are the best. I'm glad you're all here. We sure have a good group here, don't we?