318: The Most Twisted Family You’ll Ever Hear Of | The Coleman Case

Summary

Serialously with Annie Elise

Episode 318: The Most Twisted Family You’ll Ever Hear Of | The Coleman Case

Date: September 15, 2025
Host: Annie Elise

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Episode Overview

In this gripping episode of Serialously, Annie Elise delivers an in-depth, no-holds-barred exploration of the infamous Coleman family murders—a case she calls “diabolical and disgusting” with a cast of enablers that leaves listeners asking, “What is wrong with these people?” Annie walks through the personal dynamics of Chris and Sherry Coleman, the shocking murders of Sherry and their two sons, and the web of dysfunction and denial that surrounded the killer. With her trademark mix of detail, empathy for victims, and exasperation with everyone else, Annie shatters any lingering myths and exposes the red flags, timelines, and overlooked details behind this chilling story.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Background: The Coleman Family and “Picture Perfect” Life

• Setting the Scene (03:40)

  • 2009: Sherry Coleman (31), her husband Chris (32—ex-military, bodyguard for televangelist Joyce Meyer), and their sons Garrett (11) and Gavin (9), living a suburban St. Louis life, “picture perfect on paper.”
  • Sherry: “Total go-getter... fire inside of her.” The boys: sports, church, always together.
  • Chris: Raised by two pastors, disciplined, “so clean cut... didn’t even curse,” yet deeply insecure and emotionally repressed.

• Red Flags from the Start (06:40)

  • Chris's sensitivity framed as weakness by both family and peers.

    “He treated feeling anything like it was a personal failure.” (Annie Elise, 09:36)

  • Meeting Sherry: Opposites attract; she is adventurous and open, he is closed off and uncomfortable with affection.

  • Early marriage: Chris’s parents are openly hostile to Sherry, accusing her of “trapping” their son and calling her “just a little blonde thing, nothing much to look at.”

    “God, she once even straight up told Chris that Sherry wasn’t smart, that she wasn’t interesting, and that he could do way better.” (Annie Elise, 17:10)

2. Chris's Life & Career: Cracks in the Facade

• Chris’s Job as Joyce Meyer’s Bodyguard (20:35)
  • Lands well-paid security role thanks to parental connections.
  • Begins to resent his family obligations and the “fake” protection gig, while feeling pressure financially and emotionally at home.
  • Marriage deteriorates: Chris blames Sherry for the loss of his supposed “destiny” and is hostile about money and affection.

3. The Threats & Staged Storyline

• The Emergence of Anonymous Threats (22:00)
  • Joyce Meyer starts receiving menacing emails, supposedly from a stranger targeting her and (oddly) threatening Chris’s family.
  • Emails come from “destroychrismail.com,” referencing specific dates and places, sent to both Chris and Joyce but written as if Chris should forward them (odd).
  • Police and Annie flag the “off” nature:

    “If this person hated Joyce, why would they threaten Chris’s family? It just wasn’t making sense.” (Annie Elise, 24:50)

4. May 5, 2009: The Murders & Crime Scene

• Timeline (27:55 → 32:45)
  • Chris leaves for the gym at 5:45am, later texts Sherry (“wake up & check on the boys”), gets no reply.
  • Calls neighbor Justin (a police officer), who discovers a window open, screen removed, and horrific scene inside:
    • Spray-painted threats (“I am always watching,” “Fuck you bitch punished,” “You have paid”) in red on the walls.
    • The family murdered in their beds, covered with blankets. Sherry is found assaulted and strangled, with DNA under her nails suggesting she fought back.

5. Police Investigation & Chris’s Interrogation

• Inconsistencies in Chris’s Story

  • Chris’s reaction to the news is described as flat—no grief, just “shrugging,” and he avoids explaining fresh scratches on his arms.

    “Chris barely reacted. No screaming, no sobbing, no shock, nothing like what you’d expect from somebody who just lost their entire family.” (Annie Elise, 38:05)

  • Security footage disproves any break-in; police forcefully challenge Chris’s shifting statements about when Sherry was last alive.

    Detective: “She was not alive when you left. The children weren’t alive when we left this.” (50:04)

• The Phone Evidence (29:25 → 31:10)

  • Chris voluntarily hands over his phone, believing it will clear his name; instead, police discover:
    • The morning texts to Sherry were unprecedented—never before sent.
    • A digital record of financial fights, plans with his mistress, and photos/video evidence of the affair.
    • Annie:

      “Chris is not a smart man—like, at all... Please enjoy this evidence that completely unravels my alibi, completely catches me in a lie.” (29:25)

6. The Affair, Family Dynamics, and Enablers

• The Other Woman: Tara Lynz (35:45)

  • Sherry’s former best friend, now Chris’s mistress.
  • Their affair is serious—trips, plans for marriage and children, shared “promise rings.”
  • Tara is surprisingly open with police, confirms Chris’s dissatisfaction at home, and fully throws him under the bus.

• Hypocrisy of Chris’s Parents (41:05)

  • Once shamed Sherry for “sinning”; now openly support Chris’s affair and even communicate with Tara after the murders.
  • Annie:

    “The very day Sherry, Gavin, and Garrett were killed, Chris’s dad, Ron, was text messaging with Tara, the mistress... How messed up is that?” (55:24)

• Sherry’s Plight

  • She worked to save the marriage, endured abuse, suspected the affair (but never knew who). Had told friends:

    “If anything ever happens to me or the kids, it was Chris.” (37:55)

7. The (Fake) Stalker & Chris’s Sloppy Deceptions

• Tech Evidence:

  • All threatening emails traced to Chris’s laptop (and can of spray paint from the scene bought by Chris).
  • Spelling errors (“opportunity” misspelled) matched Chris’s own communications and graffiti at the scene.

• Police Break the Case (62:29)

  • “With the fake threats, the timeline lies, the affair, the text messages, the DNA, the receipts, the spray paint, I mean, everything. It didn’t take long. Chris Coleman was arrested and he was charged with three counts of first degree murder.” (Annie Elise, 61:22)

8. Legal Proceedings, Aftermath & Family Fallout

• Trial & Verdict (65:39 → 71:33)
  • Chris convicted on all charges; sentenced to life with no parole.
  • Chris's parents continue to defend him, blame Sherry, champion conspiracy theories.
  • Ron Coleman (Chris’s father):

    “If Chris ever did confess, he would be forgiven by me and we would move on. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.” (71:10)

  • Sherry’s family files civil suits (Joyce Meyer named but dismissed); funds donated in memory of Sherry and her sons reportedly embezzled by her own brother.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• Annie on Sherry’s character:

  “She brought this, like, energy, this warmth, this life into his very... sterile, buttoned up type of world.” (13:30)

• On the spray-painted threats:

  “Spray painted in apple red. Almost as though maybe it was supposed to look like blood.” (33:20)

• On Chris’s idiocy:

  “Chris is not a smart man—like, at all... Please enjoy this evidence that completely unravels my alibi.” (29:25)

• On family denial:

  “His parents, Connie and Ron... blamed Sherry. According to them, she was such a terrible wife that Chris had to cheat. He had no other option...” (69:15)

• Detective confronting Chris:

  Detective: “She wasn’t alive when you left.”
  Chris: “She was alive. She was. She was laying right beside me.” (50:00)

• Investigator’s summary:

  “There was one other face in this trial that a lot of people saw... When I looked at Christopher Coleman, that was the face of evil.” (71:08)

• Annie’s recurring outrage:

  “Is there anyone in this case that doesn’t suck besides Sherry and the kids? It is just awful.” (73:10)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Background and Red Flags: 03:40–19:00
• Threats and Emails: 22:00–27:55
• Crime Discovery & Scene: 27:55–32:45
• Chris's Interrogation: 38:05–50:04
• Affair Revealed (Tara’s Interview): 53:44–55:24
• E-mails and Spray Paint Evidence: 58:30–62:29
• Arrest and Police Statement: 62:29–65:29
• Trial, Family Reactions & Aftermath: 65:39–73:10

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Conclusion: Annie’s Takeaways

Annie closes with characteristic bluntness and empathy for the victims—Sherry, Garrett, and Gavin—while blasting almost every other adult involved in the case for their enabling, denial, or outright criminality. Her final lesson:

“Just get a divorce... It’s better than murder. It’s better than spending the rest of your life in prison. Just, just get a freaking divorce.” (73:10)

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For listeners:
This episode is a master class in understanding not just crime, but the winding, often infuriating social systems that enable it. Annie’s mix of empathy, righteous anger, and humor keeps the episode immersive, and every jaw-dropping detail is contextualized for maximum impact.

Transcript

[Annie Elise]

This is the story of the 1.

[Police Officer / News Reporter]

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[Annie Elise]

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[Annie Elise]

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[Police Officer / News Reporter]

May 5th is the day that's gonna stick with the men and women of this police department their entire careers.

[Annie Elise]

A husband and father left the house to go to the gym. When he returned, his family was dead.

[Chris Coleman]

This was a promising family.

[Detective]

A great family.

[Chris Coleman]

Manson style spray paintings on the wall. I will kill your wife and children in their sleep. To the left of the staircase was the master bedroom we found Sherry Coleman. To the right was a bedroom of Garrett and G. All three deceased.

[Detective]

Be able to help us to try to figure this out. We already know what happened. We need to know why it happened.

[Chris Coleman]

A monster, I mean monster comes to mind. Somebody with no. No soul.

[Annie Elise]

Hey, true crime besties. Welcome back to an all new episode of Serial as.

[Chris Coleman]

Foreign.

[Annie Elise]

Hey everybody. Welcome back to an all new episode of Serial Lessly with me, Annie Elise, your true crime bestie. Here to break down another wild and crazy case. Now if you've been around here for honestly really any length of time, you know I don't hold back when it comes to calling out criminals, to calling out murderers, to calling out just like generally awful human beings. If you ruin lives of especially if you take a life, you are like fair game. You deserve to be exposed. Period. The end, exclamation mark. All of it. And today's case, it is no different. But what really got me during this case as I was researching it wasn't just the killer, it was also all of the people within the case itself. People who defended the killer, enabled the killer, even encouraged the disgusting behavior. It's almost like this murderer had their own little fan club cheering them on from the sidelines. Truly, it's like so diabolical and disgusting. This story is absolutely infuriating. It is cruel. It's disgusting, like I said. And honestly, it's going to have you asking yourself what the hell is wrong with these people? So we are going to jump right in. Okay, so picture this. It's 2009 and 31 year old Sherry Coleman is living in St. Louis with her husband and her two boys. Sherry's got this dark, long hair, these bright, expressive eyes, and she's got a little bit of a fire inside of her. She's like this total go getter. The kind of woman who could literally juggle a million different things yet still show up perky and with a smile. Basically the complete opposite of me. But Sheri had two sons. An 11 year old named Garrett and a 9 year old named Gavin. Now, Garrett was this very sporty, outgoing kid who had blonde hair and these ears that kind of just like stuck out a little bit. Super cute. And he was very big into football. Also very involved in his church youth group. And Gavin was right behind him, almost like a little shadow of sorts. If Garrett did it, Gavin was doing it too. Same football team, same church group, same everything. They lived in this nice little suburban home with Sherry's husband Chris, who, by the way, on paper seemed like this all American Dad. Chris was 32 years old. He was ex military. He was polite, respectful, and he was raised by not one, but two pastors. He was so like, clean cut and just like on the straight and narrow that he didn't even curse. Everything looked picture perfect. But what was going on inside of that house, well, that's where things start to unravel and fast. Now, like I said, Chris was a great guy, ex military, didn't curse, just raised right. But there was something that was always a little off. He was sensitive, very sensitive. For example, one time he saw somebody butcher a rabbit while out on a hunting trip. And he was absolutely wrecked by this. Completely distraught. Which, look, I mean, fair, not everybody is into like watching a rabbit get slaughtered and butchered. Especially, you know, a little fluffy, innocent rabbit. I get it. But when this happened to Chris's parents, his reaction was a complete red flag. Almost like major disappointment vibes from them because they figured, you know, if he's gonna go hunting, if he's gonn trip, then he should have known what comes with the territory. So instead of comforting him when he was so upset by this rabbit butcher situation, their solution was basically saying, toughen up. Now, look, I know that it's really easy to probably jump to like, okay, Annie, well, maybe the real problem is his parents. Maybe that's the issue here. What kind of parent wouldn't comfort their child when they are so devastated by an animal dying? Which, look, fair question. And maybe they were just super old school. Maybe they were all about bottling things up and thinking emotions are weak and toughening up for all situations. But it also wasn't just them. Chris's Teachers and friends in high school, they also all saw this sensitivity as well. He wasn't just shy or awkward, but he was seriously insecure. Like deep rooted insecure. Kind of like having these I'm not man enough type of feelings. And instead of learning to deal with his feelings, Chris decided that his feelings were the enemy. Being sad, it was weak. Getting angry, nope, not an option. Everything had to be shoved down and just locked away. He treated feeling anything like it was a personal failure. So when a Marine Corps recruiter came sniffing around during senior year of high school, Chris was kind of like, yes, this is it. This is my chance. This is how I'm going to become the man that I'm supposed to be. Because what is more hardcore, more emotionless, more tough guy energy than becoming a Marine. So he enlisted. So once Chris joined the Marines, things actually started to click for him. For the first time, he felt like he belonged somewhere. And right around that same time, he also fell in love. It was 1997 and Chris was now 22 years old. And that is when he met 21 year old Sherry Weiss. Now, Sherry was also in the Air Force, and they were both at this, like, canine training center in San Antonio when they met. And Sherry was the complete opposite of Chris. She was this free spirited, very playful, very kind of like wild soul. Just a stark contrast to who Chris was. In fact, she joined the military not for the structure or for the toughness of it all, but strictly for the adventure. She wanted to travel, she wanted to see the world. She wanted to do something big and do it on her own terms. But then came Chris, this quiet, very intense, very emotionally locked up guy. But Sherry loved it. She thought that he was sweet, maybe, yeah, a little awkward, but in a cute way. So they hit it off and they started dating fast. But as for Chris, he was still Chris. He was still closed off, super private, totally uncomfortable with affection. Even holding hands in public felt like it was too much for Chris. So he didn't know how to show love because he had really been raised to think that showing emotion was basically a weakness. So he kept everything in just like he always had. Sherry, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. As I said, she loved love, she loved hugs, hand holding, telling people how much they meant to her. That's just who she was. She never would hold back. And honestly, that might have been what drew Chris to her in the first place because she brought this, like, energy, this warmth, this life into his very, I don't know, sterile, buttoned up type of world. It Was totally like this opposites attract kind of energy. Now, even though he wasn't big on affection, three months into their relationship, boom, Sheri was pregnant. And for her, that changed everything. She wanted to be a good mom, which also meant stability, routine, not bouncing around with the Air Force. So she made a huge decision. She decided to leave. And that is when things started to get weird, because Chris then takes her home to meet his family. And he introduces her, but he introduces her as a friend. Not his girlfriend, not the mother of his unborn child. Just a friend. And honestly, look, I don't know what Chris was thinking introducing Sherry as just a friend. Like, did he really think that he was going to keep this whole pregnant girlfriend thing a secret? I don't know. Maybe he already knew that his parents weren't going to be fans of her or not approve, which, spoiler alert, they absolutely were not fans of her. They did not approve. But either way, him trying to keep this secret, it definitely didn't work. And it didn't matter, because his parents figured it out immediately. Sherry was visibly pregnant. And not long after that very awkward introduction to his parents, the two of them got married. But now, even as Chris's wife, Sherry still could not win with his family. And Chris's mom, Connie, was especially harsh with Sheri. She once described Sheri as, quote, just a little blonde thing, nothing much to look at, which, like, geez, like harsh, right? God, she once even straight up told Chris that Sheri wasn't smart, that she wasn't interesting, and that he could do way better. And she also decided that Sheri must have trapped him, pressured him into this, you know, sinful relationship just to lock down a marriage and cash in. Which, by the way, made no sense and was a wild accusation because Sherry actually made more money than Chris at the time. And his dad, Ron, it was the same vibe. He told Chris that Sherry was not the kind of woman that he had hoped that he would end up with. Basically, they painted her as this manipulative outsider who just dragged their very sweet, very obedient son into this, like, heathen world of premarital sex. Which, okay, first of all, she didn't get pregnant by herself, right? Hello. It takes two to tango. She's not going to just, like, magically get pregnant on her own. Second, Chris was not some innocent bystander here. Not at all. They were both in that relationship together. And the irony in all of this is that Sheri was incredibly involved in their church. She volunteered regularly. She ran charity fundraisers. She donated her Own money to causes that she cared about. She was a good person. But none of that seemed to matter to his parents, Connie and Ron. They were way more focused on the fact that Sherry had this big, bright, vibrant, adventurous personality and that she was now bringing Chris out of his quiet, once reserved little shell. He loved her energy, but his parents, not so much. So after their son Garrett was born, Chris ended up leaving the Marines. Now, officially, it was so that he could get a better paying job and support his family. However, his dad hinted at a very different reason. He said that maybe Chris had lost faith the military altogether because of the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal that was happening at the time. That was all over the news. Again, kind of a nod back to this very buttoned up, very, you know, non premarital sex, very tightly wound life, which maybe that's the case, but also kind of feels like a stretch. So I don't know. But anyway, after leaving the Marines, Chris landed a pretty cushy new job. He was now a bodyguard for a televangelist named Joyce Meyer. And this wasn't just some random job that he happened to stumble into. Joyce was actually friends with his parents, Connie and Ron. So when they told her that their son needed work, she ended up hooking him up with a job on her personal security team. Now, if you don't know who Joyce Meyer is, let me just explain a little bit of the backstory. She wasn't just any preacher, she was the televangelist at the time. I mean, she was raking in millions of dollars, she was flying, she was preaching around the world. She was just like living this very large life. She also had a hit TV show called Enjoying Everyday Life. And by 2002, she was signing 10 million dollar book deals. I mean, a lot of money. However, all of that success, it came with a lot of controversy. Even inside the church world, people were kind of giving her this side eye for her lavish lifestyle. Kind of like, okay, well how does a servant of God end up with a 2 million dollar mansion? Also a corporate jet, a Mercedes, even a marble topped antique toilet, which I didn't even know that that freaking existed. But you know, why not, right? If you've got the money, why not buy a marble topped toilet? So you can imagine how all of this rubbed people the wrong way, right? Protesters started showing up to her events, people were calling her a fraud, a thief, I mean, you name it, that's why she actually ended up needing that private security team in the first place. And Joyce didn't skimp out when it came to paying this security team. Chris was pulling in a low six figure salary. Not too bad. And at first, he was very into it. The travel, the money, everything, it all just felt very exciting. But after a while, he started to see the cracks. He would quote with his neighbors that his job was mostly, quote, looking intimidating and that Joyce was never really in any real danger. But then other times, he would complain that he was breaking his back just to protect this rich woman that he didn't even respect. And his wife Sherry was not thrilled with this setup either. Chris was gone all the time because he was traveling with Joyce. Meanwhile, Sherry was stuck at home wrangling the kids. And when she got pregnant with their second son, Gavin, she begged him to be around more, but he wouldn't. Bills had to be paid, he had to work. He had to make money for the family. And here's where things started to take a bit of a turn. Because even if Kris didn't think that Joyce was really at risk, someone out there seemed to. She started getting threats, anonymous emails warning her that she had to stop preaching or else. And then things got personal. Joyce received an email from a sender who called themselves destroy. Destroychrismail.com that was the actual email address. Destroy destroychrismail.com and the subject line said, Chris's family dash they are dead. This email threatened to kill Chris's wife and his kids unless Joyce stopped preaching. And it even mentioned specific dates and locations for their upcoming schedule. But there was something about this email and about this whole thing that just felt off, you know, I mean, for starters, the message was weirdly addressed to Chris and Joyce as if they were like a duo, a pair, which. Pick a lane. Who are you trying to threaten here? Pick one or the other. And it told Chris that he needed to forward the email to Joyce even though it had gone directly to her email address. And also, let's be honest here, if this person hated Joyce, why would they threaten Chris's family? Wouldn't you go after somebody personally or somebody that Joyce was actually close to, maybe like her own husband? Why would you go after her bodyguard? It just wasn't making sense. Something about it just did not add up. But even still, that wouldn't be the last time that Joyce or Chris heard from this so called anonymous threatener. The person behind these emails claimed that they had met Chris at one of Joyce's events. Supposedly, as the story goes, they tried to approach Joyce and then Chris stepped in and stopped them. But when the investigators asked Chris about It. He was kind of like, I don't even remember that. And then when they looked into the event footage, it didn't show anything even close to that happening. So was this all fabricated? Which, on paper, this definitely was not sounding like it was a credible threat. Not at all. But for Chris, he took it seriously. His family was threatened. He also told everyone that he was going to install security cameras all around his house to protect his wife Sherry, and the boys. He even reached out to his neighbor, who was a police officer named Justin, asking him for advice. He hoped that things would die down. But unfortunately, that was not the last email. Destroy. Destroychrismail.com kept sending more emails, and they just got darker and darker. The threats now became graphic, they became violent, and they started expanding. Now, this sender wasn't just targeting Chris's family, but they also mentioned wanting to hurt two other people, someone named Danny and someone named David. Which. Who the hell were Danny and David? Still unclear. But the sender seemed to think that those names would mean something to Chris or maybe to Joyce, or maybe to both of them. Then came the morning of May 5, 2009. Chris woke up early. He wanted to hit the gym before work. Nothing unusual. He kissed his wife Sherry goodbye and left the house at 5:45am and while he was at the gym working out, he sent his wife Sherry, a text message saying, hey, wake up and check on the boys. But he got no reply, which, hey, it was still pretty early, so maybe she was sleeping in. I get it. Except the morning dragged on, and still nothing. No texts, no calls, just total silence from Sherry. So Chris started getting very nervous. He tried her again, but nothing. So eventually, he called that same neighbor, that police officer, Justin, the one that he had told all about the threats to, Right? And he said, look, something feels off. I'm trying to get a hold of Sherry, but she's not responding. She's not answering. He even mentioned to Justin how he always would text Sherry in the morning to wake her up and that she always would respond back. So this definitely was not like her. It was alarming. So Justin agreed that he would swing by the house and check in on the family. And right away, he noticed something very strange. One of their windows was wide open, and the screen had been completely removed. Not broken, just removed. And the screen was just kind of sitting there leaning. It was almost like somebody had very carefully taken it out of the frame. And what Justin found when he went inside was absolutely horrifying. All right, so all my girlies, you guys already know that bras have never really been my thing. I feel like I used to always dread wearing them, so I'd wear like a bando instead. I just felt like regular bras were like uncomfortable. They dug in and honestly I would just avoid them whenever I could. But I told you how I recently changed my underwear to skims. And for the bra game, skims has totally, like made a. I hate saying game changer, but it really has been a game changer. They are so comfortable. My absolute favorite is the Fits everybody triangle bralette. I literally reach for it every single day. I have it in nude black, you know, every single shade imaginable and it feels like I'm wearing nothing at all. But it gives me support, it gives me shape, and it stays put all day long. And as you know, I am constantly on the move, so feeling like I'm getting support, but like that I'm not feeling anything digging into me. It is a lifesaver. And skims made me realize that what I put on first thing in the morning, you know, the bra and the underwear, it's kind of what sets the tone for how I feel the rest of the day. Just like comfortable and like easy. So if you haven't tried skims intimates yet, trust me, now is the time. I have replaced my entire dresser drawer. I of all of my intimate stuff with skims. It is so comfortable. You can shop my favorite bras and [e-mail] and after you place your order, make sure to let them know I sent you. You just select podcast in the survey and then choose serial lessly with Annie Elise in the dropdown. But seriously, if you haven't tried it yet, you really need to. It took me years to get on the skims game and I am so glad that I finally did. It is so comfortable. So Again, go to skims.com Aegis use our podcast in the dropdown and check it out. This is the story of the one As a custodial supervisor at a high school, he knows that during cold and flu season, germs spread fast. It's why he partners with Granger to stay fully stocked on the products and supplies he needs, from tissues to disinfectants to floor scrubbers. All so that he can help students, staff and teachers stay healthy and focused. Call 1-800-granger. Click granger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done. Now, like I said before, Justin was a police officer. So he was literally trained to look for signs of a break in, which is exactly what he thought of when he saw that this screen had been removed. Right? So he immediately called for backup. And then when the other officers arrived, they all went inside the home to investigate, to see what was going on. Was anybody inside? What's happening here? And upon entry, that's when they all saw these very disturbing messages that had been spray painted on the walls. Spray painted in apple red. Almost as though maybe it was supposed to look like blood. One said, you, I am always watching. Then on the wall right next to that one, in the exact same shade of red paint, it said, I saw you leave. Then on a wall in the hallway, it said, fuck you, bitch punished. On another wall on the stairway leading up to the second floor, it said, you have paid. So all of these very disturbing and cryptic messages just painted all over the walls in this house. Understandably, what the police were seeing inside this house was deeply disturbing and even stranger, Sherry and the kids were nowhere to be seen at that point, which just did not make sense. Because if someone had broken in and spray painted these weird ass messages all over the house, you would expect Sherry to be like scrubbing it off, trying to shield her boys, trying to hide it. I mean, it's doing something. But the house, it was still, it was silent. So then the police went upstairs and that's when they found out why it was so quiet. Sherry, Gavin and Garrett were all dead inside their beds. Each one of them had been covered up with a blanket, Almost like someone had tried to tuck them in after killing them. 11 year old Garrett had a spray painted circle on his bed sheet. Nine year old Gavin's bed, well, his had this very graphic message across it, which police have never released exactly what it said, only the fact that it was very disturbing. Now, Sheri wasn't covered. She was found face down, naked in the bed that she shared with Chris. She had been assaulted and also strangled. There was DNA underneath her nails which indicated that she had fought back. But unfortunately, it wasn't enough to save her life. And here's the thing. Strangling someone is not fast. We've discussed that before. It's not like pulling a trigger on a gun and then just being done and walking away. It's something that takes time. It's personal. You have to be right there, up close, up close and center, watching while the life leaves somebody's body. And that kind of murder, it typically points to rage, to hatred. You don't strangle somebody that you feel, I don't know, neutral about. Now we know that Chris left for the gym at 5:45am that was caught on security camera footage. Police arrived just before 6:45am so whoever did this had under an hour to murder three people and then spray paint all of these threats on the walls and on the bed sheets. That was a lot of activity for under 60 minutes. So it just didn't track. And here's where it really starts unraveling, because experts believe that Sherry and the boys had actually been dead for a few hours before the police arrived, that they had been killed somewhere between 3am and 5am, so before Chris went to the gym. And that would mean that they were murdered while Chris was still at home. Then when the police told Chris what they discovered, what had happened, Chris barely reacted. No screaming, no sobbing, no shock, nothing like what you'd expect from somebody who just lost their entire family. And they also noticed scratch marks on his arms. Fresh ones, the kind that you might get if someone was clawing at you while being strangled. And when they asked Chris about these scratch marks, Chris just kind of shrugged and said, I don't know. I don't know how they got there. Then he immediately changed the subject, which, hello, totally normal, right? Not. So police pulled the home's security footage just to be sure. And sure enough, no one came in or went out after Chris left that morning. No masked intruder, no creepy stalker, nothing. Which really begged the question, if someone really wanted to send a message to Joyce Meyer by hurting Chris, why wait until Chris wasn't home? Why kill everyone but Chris? So by the time they sat Chris down for questioning that day, the detectives were already skeptical. And for five hours they tried to get to the truth.

[Chris Coleman]

Just. I'll tell you what, from the beginning, let's just start off from when you got up this morning until the time you pull up at the house. Just kind of walk me through that first and then we'll go through and kind of explain, you know, talk about some different things as far as the emails you can get. Okay, well, I set my alarm clock for 5:30 and I used my phone for my alarm clock and got up at 5:30, went in the bathroom, put these, these clothes here on, on and went to the bathroom, basically got in the truck and left and drove off. I got to where I was at, but called Sherry to wake her up, get her going, and she didn't answer, of course. And so I went on to. To the gym, to Gold's Gym over by Ryan's Plaza in South Kenny, and started working out. I text her, text her some, at some point, might even call her again? I don't remember. I could probably look at my phone if you want me to. Do you guys have done. Do you guys have a home phone number two or just cell phone? We just use.

[Detective]

Okay.

[Chris Coleman]

So I text her and then she still didn't respond. And probably now, well after 6 o' clock sometimes when I text her or called her, I'm sure it's still on her phone. Time it was okay. And she didn't respond. It's not like her because the kids should have been up and stuff are getting up and going by then, I believe. And so I called her again, called her again on the way back or when I was getting ready to leave in town. She didn't respond again and started getting a little concerned because it's not like her not to answer the phone. Sometimes she won't answer. She's in the shower. But she always calls me back right away. And so she didn't do that at all. So that's when I called you.

[Annie Elise]

Now, part of the way through questioning, Chris insisted on handing his phone over to the police. They didn't pressure him to do anything. They didn't pressure him to do this. He was the one who wanted to do it just to cooperate, to show that he had nothing to hide. And he said that he thought that it would prove that he was innocent.

[Chris Coleman]

So what time did you text her back the second time? I can tell you 6:23. So it's 23am Is when you first text her this morning to say, baby, are you awake?

[Detective]

Did you try to call before that?

[Chris Coleman]

I'm sorry. Yeah, I can pull up a call up too, if you want me.

[Detective]

Okay. That just does text.

[Chris Coleman]

I'm sorry.

[Detective]

All right, so you're just looking at texting. How are those objectives?

[Chris Coleman]

So the first one is from you. It says, hey, baby.

[Detective]

6:23.

[Chris Coleman]

I'm sorry, 6:23. And then she doesn't respond to you.

[Detective]

Correct.

[Chris Coleman]

Right. Okay.

[Detective]

Okay.

[Chris Coleman]

And so the second one for me says, I know you was tired last night. 6:23 says, I have about 5 minutes left on cardio, then I'll be home. And she never responded any. Because they could tell.

[Detective]

Yeah. Okay.

[Chris Coleman]

And then 7:27 says, hello, you up? I'm sorry. 627. 627. And then at the same time, 6:27, another one goes out, says, time to get the kids up.

[Annie Elise]

Spoiler alert. Chris is not a smart man, like, at all. This guy worked as a bodyguard. But apparently he learned everything he knew about crime from, like, reruns. Of CSI or law and order. Because it never, never even occurred to him that once he handed over the phone, that the police might actually check his phone and do just that and look into his phone to see if he was lying. He told the investigators that he always texted Sherry early in the morning to wake her up, right? To check in on her cute story. Right? If it were true. Except that had literally never happened once in the past. Not once. The day that Sherry was murdered was the first and only time that he ever sent that kind of text message, which. What a wild coincidence, right? And the cherry on top of all of that is he handed his phone over voluntarily. Kind of like, here you go, Please enjoy this evidence that completely unravels my alibi, completely catches me in a lie. But I'm gonna hand it to you because maybe the motion of me handing it to you will be enough for you not to even look into my phone. Like, what a complete idiot, right? And it didn't stop there. The phone was like a full on gold mine of information, photos, messages, videos, all of it. And it painted a very, very clear picture. Things between Chris and Sherry, they had been bad for a long time, pretty much from the moment that they got married. Sherry, once a carefree, very adventurous soul, had shifted into full on mom mode. She wanted a stable home, something grounded for the kids. All while Chris was missing the thrill seeking version of her. And instead of adjusting, he started resenting her for growing up, for becoming a responsible mother. He started venting to all of his friends and neighbors about their what he called a shotgun wedding, saying that he wished he hadn't rushed into it. And whenever Sherry tried to be affectionate with Chris, he just shut her down. She even confided in her friends that sex with Chris felt cold, transactional, like they were roommates who barely even tolerated one another. Sherry believed that their kids needed more of their dad. And she reminded him that both of them had sacrificed. Both of them had left their jobs and they had both done this to raise a family. But Chris, he didn't see it that way. He thought that she had it easy. She was staying home, just hanging out with the kids all while he worked and busted his ass. He even accused her of wasting his money, even though she also had a job and actually stuck to their budget, which also, I just will say this too. Being a stay at home mom, job or no job outside of that is a job in and of itself. It is so hard. It is so insane. I give, you know, so much credit to anybody listening who is A stay at home mother. Because it is, in my opinion, way more difficult than working. A true 9 to 5. Truly, I mean that. I don't think that I could ever be built for that life. So props to you. But in Chris's eyes, he didn't see it this way. And he saw that every dollar he made was his. Not theirs, not hers, his. And he believed that no one, not his wife, not even his kids, deserved to touch his money. And people around him, including televangelist Joyce Meyer herself, they knew how rocky his marriage was. Chris made no secret about wanting out. He talked openly about divorce, but he said that he was worried that it might cost him his job. And just like his parents, he started blaming Sherry for everything that was wrong in his life. He even said that while he, yes, loved his kids, they got in the way of what he should be doing with his life. Now, read into that how you want. I have no idea what the that means, but whatever. Like that's what he believed. Sherry, meanwhile, still believed that they could fix things, that they could make their marriage work, that they could make their family just this nuclear whole family. She thought that all they needed was more time together and of course, less interference from Chris's parents, who, by the way, after years and years, never stopped criticizing her. Joyce eventually even stepped in, and she suggested counseling with a pastor that she knew. And for a moment, it seemed like maybe they were making progress. The counselor even said that Chris did seem committed to working things out. But behind the scenes, that could not have been further from the truth. Sheri was working hard to save her marriage. But Chris, he had already moved on to someone else, someone who bore a striking resemblance to Sheri. And it was none other than Sheri's former best friend, Tara Lynz. Tara and Sheri had known each other since high school. They actually had a lot in common. They were both adventurous, both down for anything. But while Sheri settled down to raise a family, Tara went in the opposite direction, continued to kind of go down that adventurous path. She started working at a gentleman's club as a cocktail waitress, just continuing to be this independent, fun, exciting person, just kind of always living for the thrill of it. And to Chris, she really reminded him of everything that he used to love about Sherry, the Sherry before she became a mother. So their affair started In November of 2008, coincidentally, when Tara had showed up to one of Joyce Meyer's events, one of the events that was taking place in Florida, which, by the way, was an event that Sheri had encouraged Tara to attend, hoping that maybe the sermons would inspire Tara to find a more grounded path, to leave the gentleman's club and to perhaps, you know, pursue more of a. Whatever. Life on the straight and narrow, I guess you could say. Which, yeah, this obviously backfired, because instead it introduced her to a life with Sheri's husband. Instead of finding Jesus, Tara found Chris. And this wasn't just a fling. Chris became obsessed. He kept these very detailed notes in his phone. Dates, milestones, future plans, gift ideas, even potential baby names, which I gotta say, is really rich. When he already was saying that he loved his kids, but that they got in the way of his life. And now he's thinking of possibly having more kids. Like, probably not, my guy. You probably shouldn't, but. But whatever. Just my two cents. But it's given. Delusional. Okay. He also started telling people that Sheri and his kids were keeping him from his real destiny, and that destiny was Tara. So the two of them started going on trips together. Arizona, Hawaii. They were even planning a cruise the following year. But here's the twist. Tara wasn't nearly as into Chris as he was into her. She was still seeing other guys. She even went on a cruise In December of 2008, the same year their affair started with somebody else. She was also very flirty with Sherry's brother and with Chris's own brother, which I guess that takes a whole new meaning into keeping it in the family. But, like, she was still out there dating. She saw this as casual at most. Now, it's unclear if Chris knew about all of that, but in any event, he was spiraling. He started talking openly, too, about how he just was not attracted to Sherry anymore. And he also was such a prickly that he would take these very unflattering photos of her while she was sleeping and would start writing these nasty comments about her body, just a complete. Meanwhile, he and Tara were doing the opposite. They were making videos together, sexual videos together, naked videos together. They were talking about marriage. They were talking about how much they loved each other, even though Tara was still dating other people. In a true, like, cringe, ick, disgusting moment. Chris even filmed himself in one of these home movies where he was literally jerking off in the shower while he was saying how much he loved Tara more than he ever loved Sherry. Which, I mean, like, not to give you a disgusting graphic visual, but can you just imagine that for a moment, like a video this guy's taking of himself holding his phone? Like, if you're watching the video version of this, you I'm not showing you the video, but I'm reenacting holding his phone, just like. Like, jerking off in the shower, being like, I love you so much more than I ever loved her. Like, it's so pathetic and so freaking disturbing. It. It just makes me laugh. It's so embarrassing. But whatever. He apparently, like, was into this, which. To each their own. Okay, I'm not trying to shame him, but if this guy ever sent me that kind of video while comparing me to his wife and doing that and just, like, so cringy, I'd be blocking his number immediately. It's so embarrassing. It was gross. It was manipulative and desperado, if I'm just being honest. And to make matters even worse, Chris's own parents, his pastor parents, they knew about this affair, and they were weirdly supportive of it. These same people who had once slut shamed Sherry for getting pregnant before marriage were now suddenly fine with Chris cheating on his wife with a stripper or a cocktail waitress, I should say, at a strip club. Just the hypocrisy of it all is wild. Sherry, meanwhile, was still fighting for the marriage. She went to counseling. She tried to reconnect. She tried everything and anything to keep her family together, but Chris was just stringing her along. Every time they left a counseling session, he would go right back into belittling her. All the while, he was texting Tara behind her back, and Sherry could feel that something was off. Eventually, she found enough clues, too, to confirm it. She knew Chris was cheating. However, she didn't know who the other woman was. But she did show a friend of hers a photo of Tara, kind of asking, like, do you think that this could be the one? She was just so uncertain. Sheri also confided in friends that Chris had assaulted her twice. She started dropping these terrifying hints, too, saying things like, if anything ever happens to me or the kids, it was Chris. How many times have we heard something like that before? And here's the part that really stings. It all escalated so fast. Chris met up with Tara in late November, and by Christmas Day, he told Sherry that he wanted a divorce. He said that she and the kids were holding him back from what he called, quote, God's plan. He told his friends he had already emotionally checked out long before Tara came into the picture, too. Just that he was over Sherry, over the kids, over this suburban dad life. He wanted freedom, he wanted money, and he wanted no one to answer to. So basically, his dream was to be a deadbeat dad and go on vacation and get a tan, I don't know. But Sheri was not going to roll over and take this lightly. She had given up everything, her military career, her independence, all to build a life with Chris. So she told him that she was not going to make this easy. But then fast forward a few months, and it was May 2009, and Sherry and the boys were gone. And now, remember the police? They had Chris's phone right there in their hands, and they now knew everything. And they were not done with him yet. Okay, so tell me if this sounds familiar. You're working out, you're eating clean, you're, you know, doing everything right, but you're still feeling bloated, dealing with cravings or kind of like dragging with low energy. That was me almost every day. But then I tried Kettle and Fire bone broth as a friend had recommended it to me. And it has totally, like, upped my energy and just, like, how I feel. It's packed with protein, collagen, and it helps my gut health. It supports digestion, and it actually gives me, like, steady energy. And the best part is it's so easy. It's literally two minutes in the microwave and I'm good to go. So for me, it's kind of like the easiest upgrade that I've made to my wellness routine. You know, morning, I can sip a little instead of grabbing a protein bar. I'm getting 19 grams of protein in the bone broth just to start the day. Anytime I feel like I'm kind of in an afternoon slump or I'm not super hungry for, like a full meal, I'll just heat up like a mug of it and it keeps me full until dinner. At night, it's, you know, warm and cozy and good. I mean, but it's actually so good for you. And right now, for a limited time, you can get a free carton of Kettle and Fire bone broth by going to kettleandfire.comae just buy any three cartons in store and they'll pay you back for one. And it works on any flavor at any retailer. And you can now find Kettle and fire in over 22,000 stores nationwide, including Costco, Walmart, Target, Publix, Whole Foods, Kroger, even Sprouts. So that's K E T T l e&fire.com ae so let's get back into Chris's interrogation because things started to get very interesting.

[Detective]

Were you able to see anything when you were in the kitchen area?

[Chris Coleman]

Yes.

[Detective]

And would you describe what.

[Chris Coleman]

What you're talking.

[Detective]

What did. What would the source have been on the.

[Chris Coleman]

On the side substance. I don't know.

[Detective]

Did you think it's paint?

[Chris Coleman]

Did you think it was probably paint? All right.

[Detective]

Could you see what it said or what. What it's. I mean, does.

[Chris Coleman]

I didn't read it. All right. I just. It was just such a horror. I didn't know.

[Detective]

Do you have any paint at your house?

[Chris Coleman]

Think so.

[Detective]

Don't.

[Chris Coleman]

I don't think so.

[Detective]

Okay. Any spray paint?

[Chris Coleman]

Know I. If I do, it's old. We kind of talked about the divorce.

[Detective]

A little bit this last December.

[Chris Coleman]

Yeah. And I went to Joyce with it, told her about it, or Danny, I can't remember which one. And they knew about it. They suggested that we meet with somebody and see if we could work out whatever it was. Really all it was was just communication, not communicating very well.

[Annie Elise]

At one point, Chris casually mentioned seeing a car backing out of a driveway when he left the house. Almost like he was trying to paint this. Little vague, you know, maybe that's who did it. Maybe that's who is responsible, kind of leaving a breadcrumb behind. But what's interesting is he couldn't even commit to that story. It was just kind of like thrown out there, almost like this half baked distraction. And as you're hearing him talk, ask yourself, does this seem like a man whose entire family was just brutally murdered? Because nothing about his demeanor, to me at least screamed grief. If anything, it screamed guilty. Any.

[Chris Coleman]

Anything as far as that sticks out in your mind from this morning. I mean, when you left, did you notice anything? No, the only thing I told somebody was, the only thing I can remember is having to slow down for a car back in our driveway. That's from the. Which driver were they backing up? I don't know. Yes, the same thing. It's like three or four up, I don't know. On the left hand side. That's the only thing I remember. You never say anything about the car. It was just a darker color. I'm sorry, I should have been more disturbing. Anything that. Anything that sticks out. I mean, were you able to tell like what kind of car it was? I mean, did you recognize it in the neighborhood at all? No, I was just backing out of the driveway. Didn't even.

[Annie Elise]

At one point during the interrogation, Chris asked for a blanket or sweatshirt, saying that he was cold. And this struck the officers as very odd because the room was hot, it was stuffy, which, to be fair, people do run differently. Some of us blast AC all year round. Others throw a hoodie on when it's 80 degrees out. So whatever, I get it. It's not the biggest red flag in the grand scheme of things, but still, I mean, given everything else else, it did add to some of the weird vibes that were already going down. And the detectives also noticed that Chris sort of held up this blanket in a way that covered the scratches on his arms. Almost like he was hoping that if the police weren't looking at them and seeing them, that they might forget that they existed entirely. Or maybe it was a subconscious thing where he was feeling guilty and felt like he needed to cover up or hide himself because of shame. I don't really know, and I don't even know if that could be true. Because the truth of the matter is Chris was shameless. At one point, the officer stepped out of the room for a minute, and what does he do? He leans over and he starts reading through their notes, going through their notepad, everything that they had. Like, trying to see what they were writing, what they had sussed out on him. It was almost like he couldn't resist looking and finding out what they thought of him, whether or not they were buying his story. Then finally, the detectives came back in, and that's when this exchange happened.

[Detective]

We've got. When. When you left the house this morning, was your wife alive?

[Chris Coleman]

Oh, yeah, that's right.

[Annie Elise]

So he's.

[Detective]

What would you say if I told you I. That I don't think she was?

[Chris Coleman]

I don't know. I don't know what to tell you. I mean, I think she was. She was.

[Annie Elise]

I mean, what are you even supposed to do with that? I think she was alive. Like, you think. So someone just broke in, strangled Sherry, left her dead in your bed while you were sleeping next to her and you didn't notice? I mean, come on. This guy is just a walking red flag. And I will say this, too. I get it. Interrogations, they are stressful. People will stumble over their words. But this wasn't just a one time slip up. All throughout the interview, Chris's body language was screaming guilty. There was that blanket moment where he, you know, felt cold and conveniently covered up. The scratch marks on his arm. He kept fidgeting, kept rubbing his hands, his knees, almost like he was trying to, like, physically distract himself and calm himself down. And there was also this other part of it. He did get emotional at times. And I will say, in some of those moments, it actually felt real.

[Chris Coleman]

If I just been there this morning, what we're gonna do, you know, Chris, we're gonna get past that, okay?

[Detective]

We're gonna.

[Chris Coleman]

We're gonna work this out and get through it, all right? But what we need. The best thing you can do for us is help us. You are. You're doing a great job. But the best thing we can do is work together and try to figure all this up. Okay? All right.

[Annie Elise]

So at one point, he asked if he could use the bathroom. Almost like he just wanted to get a break from everything. But when Chris came back, the police did not let up.

[Chris Coleman]

She was laying right beside me.

[Detective]

And I'm not doubting that. I'm not doubting that. That you were there, and I'm not doubting that you care, but I am. I am doubting that she was alive when you left this morning. Physically. What we can't ever do different ways to tell how long a person's been deceased. That was done. And what do you think that showed?

[Chris Coleman]

I don't know. I guess the time frame when I was gone, I mean.

[Detective]

No, you guess wrong. Chris, we. We need to get this resolved. Okay. That you can't argue with physical evidence.

[Chris Coleman]

I'm not trying to argue with it at all.

[Detective]

What. What I'm telling you is there is no other explanation. There's no other reason that the information we have would support what you're telling us.

[Chris Coleman]

That.

[Detective]

It can't. It can't. You've told us a story, and we've gone over it numerous times. You know what? We walk up to Justin. Maybe. Maybe we missed this. Let's go in and talk to him about this and just make sure that we're not missing something. Let's give him every opportunity to tell us exactly what happened.

[Chris Coleman]

Happen.

[Detective]

And. And maybe we're missing something. So that's why we go out and we come back in. And we go out and we come back in. I did have to use the restroom. That was legitimate. But we go out and we come back in. And we felt very comfortable that we were giving you every opportunity to tell us something that was going to contradict the information that we had. All right? We. We've got this information. You're saying it, and we're giving you opportunities to give us something contrary to what you've told us before. So that. Okay, yeah, all right. That would make sense. That hasn't happened.

[Annie Elise]

And then it got worse. The detectives told Chris straight up, they knew that Sherry was already dead when he left the house that morning. But instead of backing down, Chris just kept doubling down, saying, no, she was alive, or I think she was alive. You know, trying to just, like, jump and jumble his words around, but the cops, they were not buying it for a second.

[Detective]

Listen, man, she wasn't alive.

[Chris Coleman]

She was alive. She was. She was laying right beside me.

[Detective]

We can go back and forth with this all day long, but the physical evidence doesn't lie. She was. She was not alive when you left this morning. The children weren't alive when we left this.

[Annie Elise]

No.

[Detective]

Come on, Chris. We got to get over this now. There's reasons. There's reasons, and that's what we're. That's the point we're at. I want to hear the reasons. Now is when we need to find out what happened, man. It's so important. You're at a great point to be able to help us, to try to figure this out. We already haven't. We already know what happened. We need to know why it happened. Listen. No, you do. You do know what to tell us. Come on, Chris. She was. She was not alive when you left. The children were not alive when you left. You know that's true, and I know that's true. We need to clear this up now. We need to clear it up now. Did something happen? What happened?

[Chris Coleman]

Nothing happened.

[Detective]

What was going on in your life, Chris? Because I can't buy what you're saying. The physical evidence does not lie, Chris. It does not. She was not alive when you left. Period. Out. Physical evidence does not lie, man.

[Chris Coleman]

What do you want me to tell you? I don't. I'm telling you.

[Detective]

How. How did. How did. How did we get to this point? That's what I need to know. I need to know how and why we got to the point we're at right now. We both know you're not telling me the truth. We both know that I've done this a long time. I'm looking into your eyes, and I can tell you you're not being truthful. Chris, we need. We need an answer. Our answers. As bad as this sounds, as bad as it. As this looks, or you may think it looks, we understand. And I've talked to many people who have given me reasons, and it's like, you know what? Okay, all right. I. I can understand how somebody might have been feeling that at that time, and maybe they acted on it and they shouldn't have and they regret it. There's no way to turn clocks back. You can't turn clocks back. You understand that, don't you? You can't turn the clock back. The only thing we can do is go forward from this point and need to know what and why it happened. Come on, Chris, help me out with this.

[Chris Coleman]

I'm telling you. I've already told you. I've told everybody. I told the guy in the ambulance. I told you. I told him.

[Detective]

The more we go back like this, the more it makes me think that there may be even isn't a good explanation for it.

[Chris Coleman]

I mean.

[Detective]

I mean, we need to know what happened. We can't keep going on this. It didn't. You know, she was alive when I left. We know that's not true. And there's nothing we can do about changing that if we know she wasn't alive when. When? When you left this morning. There's got to be an explanation. Now is the time to tell us. Now's the time to get this out of the.

[Chris Coleman]

I don't know what else to tell you.

[Detective]

Yes, you do. You have to tell me the truth.

[Chris Coleman]

Chris, I'm telling you the truth.

[Detective]

You.

[Chris Coleman]

You.

[Detective]

Were you involved in her death?

[Chris Coleman]

No.

[Detective]

Okay. With someone you know? Involved in her death?

[Chris Coleman]

I don't know.

[Detective]

Did you know? Did you. Did you talk to anybody about arranging her death?

[Chris Coleman]

No. Absolutely not.

[Detective]

Okay.

[Annie Elise]

Chris also flat out denied having an affair, even though he had literally already handed over his phone to the police, which was packed with photos, text messages, even those gross sexual videos of him and Tara. But he tried to play this good Christian dad card, claiming that he was too focused on counseling, too committed to fixing his marriage, that he would ever do anything like that, which. Hello, Ira. Sure, Jan. But then when the police brought Tara in for her own interview, her version of events were very different. She immediately said that she had nothing to do with any of it. And then, without even hesitating, she just threw Chris straight under the bus. She started spilling all about things that he had said and done, and somehow she managed to make him look even more guilty than he already did.

[Chris Coleman]

How long have you been in a relationship with Chris?

[Annie Elise]

Since late November, early December.

[Chris Coleman]

Where all you guys been together?

[Annie Elise]

Phoenix and Hawaii. Maui. What would you tell his wife when he was gone?

[Chris Coleman]

He.

[Annie Elise]

We did just tell it that he was working. So Sherry was not aware of the affair that you and him were having? No. I know she suspected, but, you know, he always would take pictures when he was going to sleep to prove that, you know, he wasn't sleeping with her or anything. See, now, to us, he tried to paint that it was a rosy, perfect marriage. No, they never kissed, never hugged.

[Chris Coleman]

Shortly after all this happened, after I come home and discovered all this, he texted me. What was the message from there?

[Annie Elise]

From then? Call you when I can. I'M all right. Now, this next part isn't technically related to the murder investigation, but it was just, I think, too ridiculous to not include. Because in the middle of her interrogation, Tara gets a phone call from her job. And the way that she handles it, I'm not even going to try to explain it. I just want you to hear for yourself. It's Tara.

[Chris Coleman]

Hey.

[Annie Elise]

No, I'm in the middle of a really high profile murder investigation. I've got a murder investigation. I'm right in the middle of it. I have four detectives here sitting at my house. They have no problem giving you proof or anything like that. I thought I was coming into work. Work. Today, Tara told the police that Chris had planned to serve Sherry with divorce papers in early May 2009. Then, once that was out of the way, he wanted to take Tara on a cruise through the Caribbean in June and then marry her in January of 2010. Very specific, right? Almost like it was all fully planned out. And this wasn't just pillow talk. They had even looked at engagement rings. They had set up wedding registries. Like I said, they were even tossing around baby names, which he had in his phone. They also exchanged promise rings. Promise rings, which. What are we really doing here? You're grown adults. Why are you exchanging promise rings? It just didn't really make sense. One of you is married. You're already sleeping together. Why do you need a promise ring? What promise are you making? It makes no sense. And here's where it gets even darker. After all of that talk about divorce in early May, Chris didn't file. Supposedly he had messed up the paperwork, which. Okay, it's like, okay, if you messed up the paperwork, then fix it and file again. You were obviously so dead set on this, right? And that's how legal documents work. You mess up maybe on accident, and you fix it and you file. So instead of his marriage ending because of divorce, his Marriage ended on May 5 when Sherry and the boys were found murdered. Now, here's one more thing that I have to mention about this affair, too, before we move on, because it is absolutely infuriating. The very day that Sherry, Gavin and Garrett were killed, Chris's dad, Ron, was text messaging with Tara, the mistress, which, yes, you heard that right. His son's wife and his grandchildren had just been brutally murdered. Yet this man was texting his son's mistress, offering her support. How messed up is that? It's like you need to recalibrate everything in life if that is the decision that you're making. And we already know that. Chris's parents didn't like shit, Sherry. But this. I mean, this was a whole new level. I get that sometimes people just don't vibe with one another, but Sherry was the mother of their grandkids. She was family. And after she was killed, murdered, Ron and Connie were still fully team Tara. No grief, no decency, just reaching out to the other woman like she was the one who had lost something in all of this. And Sheri never did anything to hurt them. And yet still, they just trashed her memory. They erased her, they erased her kids. It was cold, it was cruel. And honestly, it was psychotic, if we're just going to call it like it is. And let's not pretend that Tara was any better. Because remember before she started hooking up with Chris, she was supposedly Sheri's best friend. They had known each other since high school. But during her interrogation, her tone, her attitude, the way that she talked about Sheriff, it was clear she did not care that her so called friend was dead. So at this point, neither Chris nor Tara was doing a great job pretending to be innocent. It was all unraveling. Now you also might be thinking, okay, well wait a second. What about that stalker? What about that weird Gmail account that was sending all those threatening messages saying that they were going to hurt Chris, hurt the family, all of these things? Why weren't the police looking into that at all? Well, they did. Okay, so let's be honest. We are in the circle of trust. Are you guilty of procrastinating? You know, putting off something that could literally save you a ton of money? I definitely was still kind of em with some things. And the thing that I always procrastinated on was my phone bill. That is until I finally did make the official switch and check out Mint Mobile. 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Speeds may slow above 35 gigabytes on a limited plan. Taxes and fees. Extra cement. Mobile for details. When the police dug into those threatening emails, it did not take long to crack that case fully open. Because as it turns out, big surprise to absolutely no one. They all came from Chris's laptop. And the investigators even gave him an out. They asked, you know, could anyone else have used it? Could they have borrowed your computer? Did they have access to it? But Chris didn't even take this out. He just said, nope, he's the only one who ever touched it. Which you, once again, are a. But we love to see it. We love to see it. Now, even worse in all of this is the emails all had the same word misspelled. The word was opportunity. And guess what? That exact same misspelling showed up in those spray painted messages that were on the walls within the house. Also in regular emails that Chris had sent to. So unless this killer was also a horrible speller and had the exact same matching typos and didn't know how to spell the word opportunity, it was pretty clear who wrote all of these things. Chris had sent those threats to himself, trying to throw the police off, trying to make it look like there was some sort of dangerous stalker out there who was after Joyce Meyer but gonna go through him to get to her. But there was no stalker. There was no outside threat. It was just Chris. Just Chris trying to play criminal mastermind and failing pretty epically and spectacularly. And it didn't stop there. The police tracked down the exact can of red spray paint that was used at the crime scene. And sure enough, Chris is the one who purchased it. Now, in most true crime cases, you're lucky if you get one smoking gun. But Chris, Chris gave them the whole freaking firing range. He is just a. And thought he was being so strategic, creating an alibi, creating a third party culprit doing all this stuff, but yet quite literally handing them the proof on a silver platter via his phone to unravel all of that. It's like, get a grip, guy. So with the fake threats, the timeline lies. The affair, the text messages, the DNA, the receipts, the spray paint, I mean, everything. It didn't take long. Chris Coleman was arrested and he was charged with three counts of first degree murder.

[Police Officer / News Reporter]

Thank you for coming tonight. As stately we have some breaking news. We have made an arrest and the homicide of Sherry Gavin Garrett Coleman. We have a Christian for Colbert custody. He was charged late this year. He made three counts plus three months until the deaths of his wife. I just first like to say that thanks go out to these men and women. This is just a small piece of this investigation this breaking news. We got some information tonight that secured a warrant and we started making phone calls and we had an officers here within within 45 minutes. They show our dedication towards this investigation. We've done all the pre solid as quickly as we but also as efficient very comfortable on these charges to make it out. Mr. Go ahead processing and he will be then transferred county jail later on this.

[Annie Elise]

Where's he.

[Police Officer / News Reporter]

He's. He. He may be here right now. I'm not really for sure. He's in transit. I'm sorry.

[Annie Elise]

No.

[Police Officer / News Reporter]

We went to his parents home and placed him possibly there.

[Annie Elise]

What changed between last week and this week?

[Police Officer / News Reporter]

I've been talking about how we were waiting on some career forensic evidence forensic testimony different things and it just all started coming together and for several days now we've been close and just tonight there was some more evidence that came forward. We were able to solidify just a more solid case. The prosecutor felt as we did that at this point there was enough time to charge it with these crimes. They were just Judge late this evening here Judge after reviewing the evidence of re presented to the tree and issued this warrant for the council.

[Annie Elise]

You folks can't speak to the prosecutors but have they indicated what kind of.

[Chris Coleman]

Punishment they would seek if it's noted?

[Police Officer / News Reporter]

We have not talked about any. Thank you sir. Do you think the death penalty is appropriate? Well that's got to be out for the prosecutor to tie there some information that te and you know for me to stand up there. He said what what's right or wrong that would be inappropriate. Did Mr. Coleman offer any resistance when he was arrested this evening? None to my office.

[Annie Elise]

Where was he arrested?

[Police Officer / News Reporter]

At his parents house in Chester.

[Detective]

Is he here now?

[Police Officer / News Reporter]

Do you know for sure? I didn't know if he.

[Annie Elise]

Was. What is that time would be arrested.

[Police Officer / News Reporter]

Around the same time the warrant.

[Annie Elise]

Are you looking for any other suspects in connection with this case or anyone who helps him?

[Police Officer / News Reporter]

Well I'll tell you we. We are always looking for additional information that we need to follow up on. I would not say there we are not looking at anybody else. You know Having involvement that. I mean, our case remained open. If additional information pops out, then that we need to go out and investigate. Sorry, they do that.

[Annie Elise]

Then Sher's family filed a wrongful death suit against him as well. There's no words. There's no words.

[Chris Coleman]

The.

[Annie Elise]

The only thing that I have to say at this point is what Mr.

[Chris Coleman]

Romanucci said regarding the suit. Okay.

[Annie Elise]

Me and my family, our goal is to keep my daughter's memory alive, my grandchildren's memories alive, and continue doing things that my daughter has been doing down the road. And if we can save one person from being abused or done what was done to my daughter, that would just make us feel wonderful. Now, I will just note this. Sherry's parents actually named Joyce Meyer in their civil suit, too. However, a judge dismissed that, basically saying that there was no way that Joyce could have known what her employee, who she may not have even known that, well, just gave him the job because she was doing her friends a solid. She couldn't have known what he was planning. And I think that's fair. And I couldn't find out much about what happened in the civil case against Chris, but honestly, the criminal trial, that was the one that really mattered in the grand scheme of things. Right. And before we get into the verdict, there's probably one final big question that you have on your mind. And it was the same one that I kept asking while I was researching this case. Why would Chris kill his entire family, including his sons? We always say, just get a divorce. Right? But even in the cases where they don't get a divorce, usually they just kill the wife and they try to get away with it so that they can then have custody. They can move on with their life. They get the life insurance. Insurance, and they can start anew with their mistress. So why would he have killed his wife and his sons? And why not just get a divorce? I mean, divorce isn't that bad. Not worse than murder bad. But with Chris, it wasn't just the divorce. He was also worried about keeping his job. Joyce Meyer, his boss, was this high profile Christian leader, and her ministry had very strict rules. No cheating, no adultery, no, quote, moral failure was allowed. So if Chris filed for divorce and it came out that he had been having an affair during all of that, he would lose that very cushy, very sweet six figure job as a bodyguard. And that wasn't just speculation. During the trial, Joyce took the stand and she straight up said, yeah, if I found out that he was cheating, I would have fired his ass. So what did Chris Do? Well, instead of filing for divorce like a normal human being might have done, he decided that the only way to avoid getting caught was to kill Sherry. And as for the boys, he wanted a clean slate, a fresh start. No more wife, no more kids. Just a single guy living this fantasy life with Tara with zero responsibility. So in order to get that clean slate, he murdered them as well. Now, of course, Chris claimed his innocence the entire time. His parents, Connie and Ron, also took the stand in his defense. And huge shocker, they blamed Sherry. According to them, she was such a terrible wife that Chris had to cheat. He had no other option, which I don't think I even have anything new to say about these two at this point, except. What in the actual, like, come on. You are horrible human beings. It really. What's the expression? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I mean, hello, look at what his parent, who his parents were. Now, Chris's defense did admit that he had bought that spray paint, the one that was used for those messages on the wall. But their theory. Their theory was somebody else broke in. Somebody else murdered the family. Then they just happened to find that exact paint that Chris had lying around, and they used that paint to stage the scene. Oh, and the timing, you know, right when Chris had originally planned to file for divorce, that was just a total coincidence, according to the defense, which, again, sure, Jan. They also tried to make a big deal about that DNA that was found underneath Sherry's fingernails because it wasn't a full match for Chris. But the medical examiner did say that there was a high probability that it came from him or a close male relative, which, I'll just be honest. In my mind, that's as close as you're gonna get to saying, like, yeah, it was him. So the whole courtroom was a mess. I mean, you had Connie and Ron, who were embarrassing themselves. Tara, who made an absolute fool of herself. And Chris, with all his lies, his fake threats, his twisted logic, he did not have a leg to stand on. So the jury found him guilty on all three counts of first degree murder. And Chris Coleman was sentenced to life in prison. No parole, no second chance. Just exactly what he deserved.

[Police Officer / News Reporter]

Well, the. You know, I respect the judge's decision. He sat through this entire trial, entire case, for over a year and a half, like he said. And he's. He's traveled down this. This road in a number of murder trials. And so that's his decision, and I respect it. Would you have liked to see the death penalty given in this case? Personally, I would have and for a couple of reasons, you know, there were. There were a lot of faces in this trial, face of the professionals, the law enforcement personnel, the prosecutors, even the defense team. You know, I mean, they were a professional group of individuals. Then you had the faces of innocent innocents, and that were the victims in this case. Sherri Garrett, Gavin Coleman. And then there was one other face in this trial that a lot of people saw. At least that's what I saw when I looked at Christopher Coleman, and that was the face of evil. And throughout this trial, he's had three very competent, very professional defense attorneys representing him to make sure that he was treated fairly. I just Wish that on May 5th of 2009, Sherry Garrett and Gavin Coleman would have had somebody there.

[Annie Elise]

Yet none of this made a difference to Ron and Connie. Even after the guilty verdict, they kept giving interviews. They were telling anyone who would listen that Chris was the real victim here. Not Sherry, not Garrett, not Gavin, but Chris. Ron also told reporters he just couldn't believe that his son would kill his own kids, which that right there was his sticking point. He said that there was no motive, no explanation. And in his mind, that was the one detail that proved that Chris had to be innocent because he couldn't believe that he would do it. Because for a parent to kill their own children, that takes a special kind of evil. I think we all would agree on that. And he didn't believe that Chris was capable of that evil. And here's where it goes a little off the rails. Ron and Connie actually started pushing this bizarre little conspiracy theory that, that Sherry was the one who sent those threatening emails and that she sent them from Chris's laptop, the same laptop that Chris himself admitted nobody else ever had access to. And when a reporter asked Chris's father, Ron, what he'd say if Chris ever did confess, he said, quote, he would be forgiven by me and we would move on. That's the way it's supposed to be. I would never turn my back. Cool. So your daughter in law and grandchildren are dead, brutally murdered. Your son is convicted of murdering them, but your plan is just to forgive and move on. I mean, I wish that I could move on from these shitbag parents. But even after Chris quietly, like, disappeared into prison, Ron and Connie kept going, still doing interviews, still defending him, still acting like they were the ones who had been wronged in all of this. It is just infuriating. Ron was even a minister at Grace Church, and he apparently gave a bunch of sermons where he said the devil himself, the literal devil, had gotten Chris convicted. It was all a part of some effort to destroy the Christian church somehow, some way. So I don't know. I'm done trying to make sense of anything that these people say. Now, as for Chris, you know how we always say it's very coincidental that people find religion when they're incarcerated? Well, Chris, he became a minister in prison because of course, he did. He even tried to overturn his sentence, claiming that there wasn't enough evidence to prove that he was guilty. And I'm not sure which trial he sat through, but it definitely wasn't his own, because had he sat through that, he would see that there was a lot of evidence to prove that he was guilty. But just like his parents, he claimed that Sherry probably got onto his laptop and that she sent those threatening emails herself. He also said that he and his dad found video footage of some mysterious stranger dropping a threatening letter into the mailbox. But every time that somebody asked to see that footage or that letter, poof. It just conveniently didn't exist. No one ever saw the footage. No one ever saw the proof. It was all just smoke and mirrors. So Chris's appeal was denied in 2020. Yet that didn't stop him or his dad, Ron, from insisting that he was somehow innocent. Despite the mountains of evidence, Connie ended up passing away that same summer. But Ron is still out here, still out in the streets, defending his son like. Like he's the second coming and like he could do no evil ever. Which, let me just be clear. Having crappy parents does not mean that you get a free pass to murder people. Certainly not. Plenty of people grow up in toxic homes and have horrible parents, and they do not become killers. But watching how Ron and Connie responded to all of this, I have no problem believing that they raised Chris with this, like, deep, deep rooted sense of entitlement. Like he was always right, that he always deserved more, that he shouldn't be held accountable for literally anything. Because even after murdering three people, two of them being his own children, they still coddled him. So, I mean, is it really that shocking that Chris believed that he was owed this perfect life, this sexy, exciting wife, this freedom to spend his money however the heck he wanted. No nagging, no bills, no responsibility. And then when Sheri didn't give him that, when real life didn't match his fantasy, he didn't walk away. He destroyed it. And I will just say this. If he had married Tara, I think that would have fallen apart as well. Because he didn't want a partner. He wanted this prop for this life that he thought that he deserved. Now, I mentioned at the beginning of this episode how everyone involved in this case is awful, right? And unfortunately, it didn't stop with Chris and his family. After Sherry's murder, her friends and family raised about 35 grand to build this beautiful memorial for Sherry, Gavin and Garrett. And the plan was then to use any of the leftover money to support domestic violence causes. Well, the memorial, it never happened. And almost all of that money, 35 grand, just vanished. And after an investigation into the missing funds was done, Sherry's own brother Mario was sued for allegedly stealing that money, which. Let me repeat that her own brother allegedly stole tens of thousands of dollars from his murdered sister's memorial fund. And I'm saying allegedly because there's almost no public information on how that lawsuit ended. But someone clearly pocketed the money and it is absolutely vile and disgusting. So, yeah, almost every single person in this case, everyone except Sherry, Gavin and Garrett, acted like the worst version that a human being could possibly act. Fact. I mean, what is wrong with these people? And I'm sure you've got a lot of thoughts on your own, which I want to hear them. So let me know in the Q A section on Spotify or in the comment section over on YouTube. Also in the review section on Apple. What do you think was going on in Chris's head? And why do you think his parents were so blind and so enabling to all of this? And honestly, is there anyone in this case that doesn't suck besides Sherry and the kids? It is just awful. So I'm going to leave you with this. Just get a divorce if you are going to cheat or you want life insurance or you want out of your marriage. I know it sucks. I know divorce can be messy. I know that sometimes it can be expensive, but just do it. It's better than murder. It's better than leaving your children without their parent. It's better than spending the rest of your life in prison. Just. Just get a freaking divorce. All right, guys, that's it for today's episode. I will be back with you very soon with another deep dive of a case. Plus, headline highlights this Thursday where I will be breaking down everything happening this week in the true crime world. As a reminder, we are back out on tour. I think we have a couple tickets left for some of the shows, but it's a brand new case like we have never explored before. It's an interactive tour. There's meet and greets, there's. There's a lot of things that I'm not going to share here. You just have to go to see it. But I'm really excited to meet with all of you guys in person. So you can find the whole breakdown of all of the cities over on the website, Annie elise.com it also will have direct links with how to purchase tickets, if you want to go, if you want to do the meet and greets, all of that stuff. So check that out. I am so excited to meet you guys. Being on tour is like one of my favorite things because I just love getting face to face with you and talking about all these cases and, you know, just meeting you guys in person. So check that out. All right. Other than that, I will talk with you soon. And my sign off for today's episode. Say it with me. Just get a divorce. All right. Bye.