Uploaded May 2011 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
A former Marine and pastor's son was convicted Thursday of strangling his wife and two sons exactly two years earlier in what prosecutors say was his bid to further an affair and keep a job with a televangelist.
Jurors deliberated 15 hours over two days before finding Christopher Coleman, 34, guilty of three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Sheri Coleman, 31, and their two sons, ages 11 and 9.
Prosecutors theorize Coleman killed his family on May 5, 2009, in the family's lakeside home in Columbia because he feared his affair with his wife's longtime friend would cost him his $100,000-a-year job as the security chief for Missouri-based Joyce Meyer Ministries. His case, with its mix of religion, adultery and violence, has tantalized much of the St. Louis region.Upon hearing the verdict, Coleman bowed his head. He seldom looked up as jurors were polled on their decision.
A former Marine and pastor's son was convicted Thursday of strangling his wife and two sons exactly two years earlier in what prosecutors say was his bid to further an affair and keep a job with a televangelist.
Jurors deliberated 15 hours over two days before finding Christopher Coleman, 34, guilty of three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Sheri Coleman, 31, and their two sons, ages 11 and 9.
Prosecutors theorize Coleman killed his family on May 5, 2009, in the family's lakeside home in Columbia because he feared his affair with his wife's longtime friend would cost him his $100,000-a-year job as the security chief for Missouri-based Joyce Meyer Ministries. His case, with its mix of religion, adultery and violence, has tantalized much of the St. Louis region.Upon hearing the verdict, Coleman bowed his head. He seldom looked up as jurors were polled on their decision.
