WATERLOO, Ill., May 5 (UPI) -- The former head of security for Joyce Meyer Ministries was convicted in Illinois of killing his wife and sons Thursday, the second anniversary of their deaths.
Chris Coleman hung his head as the three verdicts of first-degree murder were read, the Belleville News-Democrat reported. As he was led out of the courthouse, about 200 people gathered there cheered the guilty finding.
Coleman said he was working out at a gym when someone broke into his house in Columbia, strangled his wife, Sheri, and their sons, Gavin and Garrett. The killer also left messages on the walls.
Prosecutors said Coleman prepared for the killings for months by sending threatening messages purporting to be from someone wanting to close down the Joyce Meyer Ministry. They said Coleman had been having an affair with his wife's close friend and wanted to be able to marry her without a divorce, which might have cost him his job with the televangelist.
The penalty phase was scheduled to begin Friday. Illinois recently abolished the death penalty so it is likely to be a symbolic exercise.
"If there was ever a case the death penalty, it would be for a father who killed his wife and two young sons," Ed Parkinson, the prosecutor, said.
Sheri Coleman's family refiled a lawsuit Wednesday seeking damages from Joyce Meyer Ministry. Relatives claim in court papers the ministry should have known Coleman was behind the campaign of threats and warned Sheri she was at risk, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
