Sheri and Chris Coleman - Part 1

0:00 Hi. I'm Tina, and I'm Rich. And if there's one thing we've learned in over twenty years of marriage, it's that some days you'll feel like killing your wife, and some days you'll feel like killing your husband. Welcome to love, Mary Kill, Hey Rich, Hey Tina. How are you doing pretty good? How are you? I'm great, great and great. I did want to give a little warning though. Today's episode contains course language, adult themes, and violence against women and children, so please listen with care. I will. It's kind of a rough one. Yeah, yeah, but like I usually try to do, I don't go too it's not too graphics. Okay, are you gonna You're gonna stick around? I think I will? Yeah, I do have a choice. You know, you almost made me leave the room. I accidentally said let her rip when we were about to start, and you did. H Our friend Cosmo isn't here.

1:15 Why isn't he here? You know? He usually just sits right on the bean bag chair in this room? Is about something. I think he's on strike because we ran out of chu Ru. If you have a cat and your cat doesn't eat Chu Rou, you might went to or c h u are you? We usually get it on Amazon. I love it. I love it. It's really and we haven't had it for a couple of days, and he has a little salty. Yeah. I don't blame him, okay, with him not being here, I'm a little mad at him. Every night for the last week. He torments you. He does. He just loves you so much. He's coming up the stairs right now, and talk about him. He's here. He did someone say? True?

1:56 It did it? Did? It was delivered today? Yes, it's so funny. You just came up. Are you looking forward to having the house to yourself for the next two weeks? If only I had the house? I guess, not completely to yourself. But I'll be gone. I mean, I don't mind when you travel. It's a little weird for you to be gone almost two weeks. It's weird that you're going to be You're going to completely miss Easter. I know that is kind of weird. Yeah, So I mean that's yeah. But I hope you have a good trip. I hope you're safe. I hope you bring me back some good snacks. Yeah, I plan to. Are you staying. I know you're going to Paris and then you're going to London. Are you staying in just two different places? Yeah, multiple hotels unfortunately, Okay, because I get there, I get to Paris on Monday that I've got a hotel, and then we have an off site meeting at some cool chateau thing, and then I'm going to London on Good Friday, and then I'll be in London over the weekend and then meetings the following week. Yeah. Well, hopefully you can check in on Kate. I will Kate, I'll make Yeah. I hope she's doing Okay, I know that was heartbreaking. Yeah, hey, I brought you a snack. Oh you did? Yeah, what was surprised. There's some grapes right there, some nice bright green grapes. I like grapes.

3:10 I know. There you go. Can you see him there? I can't. Oh okay, yeah, that's grapes, green grapes. By all right, I did make you something. I told you to temper your expectations because I kind of forgot because I was really busy. So we're trying to work ahead, so we're kind of making a lot of content this last week. But I made you snack mix. Oh okay, I made you ranch. Usually you can do this. Everyone out there has probably made this at some point, But it's like spicy ranch crackers. You take ranch and a couple packages of ranch and some dill weed and garlic and onion salt, and you have made it so much oil. I haven't made it in a while because I just I'm the only one hitting you eat. But this time, lick.

4:00 What the fun things I put in there? Can you see? Kind of? Yeah, we usually have a pretty pretty full snack pantry, so there's bugles and cheese. It's and I put some pretzels in there. I put some mini club crackers and there are some oyster crackers too, like Tina's own check spicks. You know, I love an empty calorie. Do you want to take a quick break and try this? Yeah? For sure? Well that was really good? Oh you liked that good? I did? Yeah. I wish I would have put more red pepper flakes in it to make it a little spicier. But I think it's perfect. I think it's good. Yeah. I did skimp on the oil. I kind of doubled it. And you're supposed to use three quarters cup of oil. Really yeah, like I am not using a cup and a half of oil. I probably only used half a cup, and I think it's still pretty. I think it's good, perfect, good, glad you like it. Watch tonight when you are watching the NC Double A game. The Yeah Oakland Golden Grizzlies of Oakland University, your alma mater, undergrad alma mater. Yeah, they're in the second round of the tournament, which is unheard of. Wild.

5:15 It was very excited for you. Yeah, I'm not like the big into it. But we talked about this on our Patreon episodes and apologize to our patreons, but yeah, that was first time they've ever won an NC Double A tournament game. That's amazing. Well, today, when this episode is released, the final game will be on tonight. I'm guessing right. I think that's right. Yeah, surely you must have her prediction. Well I don't, and please stop calling me. Surely, I if I had to, I'm not like, I'm not very knowledgeable about college basketball. I'm very much a like I'll watch March Madness, but that's it. But if this year, yeah, they're not in it. Kind of shocking status though.

5:55 Yeah, Michigan State's in it, which I don't really care about. Oakland University is in it. But if I had to make a prediction. I'm going to say University of Connecticut. It's a safe it's a safe prediction. I think who in the final game. Oh, I don't know. There's good I didn't look. I didn't look closely enough in the bracket to know who they might be playing, which is Zay Oakland? Okay, yeah, is that an university? We don't even know if that's a possibility because it depends on the bracket. We really wanted to do like a mean that we didn't get to it. We'll do it next year. Yeah, I'm going to make you commit to doing it next year because logistically we didn't even know how we would do what we were going to do. We were going to call it like March meanness. I think March monstrousness. Oh gosh, okay, all right, well we have a whole year to fight about it.

6:39 Yeah. But yeah, we're just going to do like brackets with like the most horrible people that we've talked about people. Yeah, we were both going to pick sixteen people, but by next year we'll have even more. Yeah, we'll do sixty four. Who do you think would win? Oh? Boy, there's so many horrible, horrible people that we've talked about, maybe today's I was just going to say, that's a great segue, because Chris Coleman is right up there with the worst people we've talked about. Yeah, he is kind of the original Chris Watts. Oh yeah. Not all chris Is are bad, not all Peterson's are bad, but you know, these these two chriss are pretty horrible. On May fifth, two thousand and nine, Detective Justin Barlow was awakened by his ringing cell phone at a quarter to seven in the morning in Columbia, Illinois. He'd already been awakened once that night by his six month old baby. His neighbor, Chris Coleman, was calling. Chris couldn't get a hold of his family, and he was worried.

7:35 Chris's wife, Sherry, and their two sons, Garrett eleven and Gavin, nine, should have been awake and getting ready for their day by now. Chris had left to work out that morning at a gym just over the state line in Saint Louis, Missouri. Columbia, Illinois, where the Colemans lived, is fifteen miles south of Saint Louis. Chris was about ten minutes from his home when he made the worried call to his neighbor. Chris Coleman worked for joyce Meyer Ministries as head of security. In November, he had received some threatening emails. He had also received two typewritten letters in his mailbox, one in January and one more recently at the end of April. The messages advised Chris to quit his job and publicly renounced joyce Meyer Ministries, or else his family would be killed. He didn't comply with the threats. He called them a hoax. Justin was aware of the threat to the Coleman family.

8:26 He had told Chris to call him if there was ever anything he could do to help. After the call from Chris, he quickly dressed and left his house to go check on the Colemans. He called the police station for backup. He rang the doorbell once and waited. A squad car pulled up at six fifty three am as Justin rang the doorbell for a second time. Still no answer. Justin thought Chris should have returned home by then. From the bridge to the Columbia Lake Subdivision was only seven minutes away. Wouldn't Chris be driving as fast as he could to get home to his family one with them. I think if he was worried about them. A uniformed officer, Jason don John, walked around the house and found a basement window open with the screen removed. Justin joined him at the basement window, and they decided to enter the house through the window. They didn't see anything amiss in the dark basement. The two officers crept up the basement stairs that led to the kitchen, guns drawn, they detected the sharp, acrid odor of paint on a wall of family photos in the kitchen. Someone had written over them fuck you I'm always watching and read spray paint. Another wall was painted with I saw you leave. There was yet another message on the living room wall, fuck you bitch punished. A final message painted on the wall going up the stairs to the second floor said you have paid. Oh sounds ominous, m hmmm. A third officer, Steve Patten, arrived at the house the same time as Chris Coleman at six fifty six a m officer. Patten told Chris

9:58 to stay outside. Freeofficers didn't find anything out of place on the first floor other than the spray painted messages, and they went up the stairs the first room. They encountered was eleven year old Garrett's room. He appeared to be sleeping soundly with the covers pulled up around his body, but a closer look revealed his complexion was gray and his lips were blue. He appeared to have ligature marks around his neck, and he was cold to the touch. Red spray paint stained his blanket. They walked down the hall to find nine year old Gavin lying face down on his bed, wearing Spider Man pajamas. He was also covered with blankets and had red ligature marks on his neck. The words fuck you were spray painted on his blanket. Both boys appeared to have been dead for several hours. Their mother and Chris's wife, Sherry thirty one, was found in bed in the primary bedroom. She too was dead.

10:52 Her limbs were stiffening as rigor mortis sat in. Her skin was mottled and purple, indicating that liver mortise the pulling or settling of blood had also set in. Cherry had double ligature marks around her neck, a large bruise on her left eye, and a less prominent bruise on her right eye. The three officers were sickened and shocked by what they saw Chris had been waiting outside for them, but grew impatient. The stunt officers heard him enter the house and yell, what's going on? How were they going to break the horrible news to this poor man that they had failed him and some sick person had killed his beautiful family. Well, you already kind of gave the spoiler of who might be responsible for this, But that's really horrible, especially those kids.

11:35 Yeah, it's a horrible story. Erry Weiss was born on July third, nineteen seventy seven, in Berwin, Illinois, to high school sweethearts Angela and Don Weiss. Her brother Mario was born two years earlier. The family moved from apartment to apartment until they settled in Cicero, on the outskirts of Chicago. Angela and Don were barely out of high school, but they were great parents. Angela put the children in every activity in spae she could find. She even started the PTA in Mario and Sherry school. The kids had a happy childhood, growing up in a diverse neighborhood full of kids to play with. Cherry was bright with a sunny disposition. Mario was smart and more introverted than Sherry. He was a great big brother and protected her fiercely.

12:18 He wasn't a violent kid, but he would throw punches if necessary to defend his sister's honor. The family moved to Largo, Florida, in nineteen eighty eight, when the kids were twelve and ten, after Don took a job there. The kids missed their old neighborhood, but Sherry adapted and was quick to make friends. Mario was slower to adjust. Cherry was a cheerleader in high school and also played softball and was in the drama club. Cherry attended the Barbizon School for modeling, but she was only five feet tall and she was told she was too short to be a model. Cherry was a big sports fan. You could take the girl out of Chicago, but she's always going to be in Asper at Stowe. I've heard she loved the Bulls and the white Sox. I didn't know they were any white Sox. I know that thought every Chicago person was a Cubs fan. Yeah, no, there's two Chicago baseball teams. There are white Sox fans out there. When her favorite player, Michael Jordan, tried his hand at baseball for a season, Cherry went to watch him at training camp. Do you remember that? Oh?

13:16 Yeah, can I forget? Yeah? She brought flowers for Michael. She gave them to an assistant to give to Michael after practice. Serry got the thrill of her life when after the game, Michael pulled up next to her in his corvette and thanked her for the flowers. Angie and Don's marriage, once so strong, crumbled when Sherry was a senior in high school. Cherry and Mario blamed Don for the breakup of their family and refused to speak to him. He didn't have an affair, but as middle age crept up on him, he wanted to see what else life had to offer. Cherry graduated from high school in nineteen eighty five, and to the shock and surprise of her family, she joined the Air Force. Why was that shocking to them? Does she just not seem like the military type? I think it just kind of came the blue. Christopher Coleman was born on March twentieth, nineteen seventy seven, in Percy, Illinois, to Ron and Connie Coleman.

14:09 He has two younger brothers, Brad and Keith. The Colman family has deep roots in Percy. They came from a long line of coal miners on both sides. Chris's grandparents were coal miners and farmers. His paternal grandfather also served as mayor of Percy for two terms. Young men would graduate from high school and then head to the mines for work. After graduation, ron Coleman worked in the mines for a time, but then felt called to join the ministry. He and some friends formed a new Methodist church in Belleville, Illinois, about an hour away. As their church grew, they refurbished an old tavern called the Nighthawk in Chester, Illinois and renamed it Grace Bible Church. It was a lively congregation. People frequently broke out speaking in tongues, even Chris, do you remember the time we saw someone speaking in to I'll never forget it. Our friends, our good friends, who's wedding we met at at they got intertwined with this coldish religion. We were trying to support them and we went to this it was called a sands and we witnessed people. I just remember one lady was there more than one lady, I just remember one also. But it was pretty freaky. It was really freaky, and I mean, I'm not sure if it's real or not it seemed. I don't know. That was such a strange situation. It was very strange. I don't know what else to say about it, but it really freaked us out.

15:37 The whole thing freaked us out. It some day we'll someday we'll do a story time and go into more detail on that. I think, yeah, I think we promised that before. But it was one of the weirdest experiences of our life. It's all like, guess I have to say about it. Ron Chris's dad lacked the charisma and booming voice of a great preacher, but he was determined to succeed. Looking for ends inspiration, Ron began driving to Saint Louis to see evangelical preacher Joyce Meyer, who had become a dynamic force among the community. She was relatable and direct. The people loved her. The Grace Bible Church continued to grow. By nineteen ninety four, they were able to build a new church. Ron was promoted from part time pastor to full time. Ron wasn't the warmest or most alluring preacher, but he was kind and loyal, and his church slowly grew. He was able to quit the coal mine and the family moved to Chester to be closer to their church. Chester, Illinois, is a small town of about eight thousand located in southwest Illinois, about sixty miles south of Saint Louis. Chester is home to Elsie Seeger, creator of the comic Popeye, who was born there in eighteen ninety four. Popeye was not born there, was Elsie was born there? Yes, Okay. The town itself is an homage to Popeye, with statues throughout the downtown honoring Popeye, Olive Oil, and Wimpy, who are all based on real people from Chester. Each fall in Chester, a Popeye parade and picnic are held honoring Chester's most famous resident. That's fun.

17:08 Yeah, it was really cute, and it's not far so. My dad lives in southern Illinois too, and we have made many trips. This is further north where my dad lives, on the very tip of southern Illinois. But Metropolis. I was gonna mention that we used to go to Metropolis, which is basically a big homage to Supermanly. That was a cute little town too. Chester is also home to the Menard Correctional Facility, the second oldest and the largest maximum security prison in Illinois, which used to house Illinois's Death Row inmates. There are at least thirteen churches in Chester, very religious community, it sounds like it. Chris attended Chester High School. He was a good kid, well liked by all, and unlike his brothers, not a troublemaker. He was the golden child of the family. His mother said the worst words she ever heard him say was piss Chris pretty bad. Chris played football and baseball Charlie Maddingly. His coach said, quote, you couldn't ask for a better kid. He was very kind. He was a team player.

18:14 I hardly ever saw him lose his temper. He went out one night and had drunk a little bit. His parents were out of town, and he felt so guilty. He called his high school basketball coach and confessed. Chris struggled with his confidence, though, when a Marine came to his high school, Chris was impressed with his confidence and poise. After high school, Chris enlisted in the Marines. While stationed in Quantico, he met Sherry Coleman while working in the canine unit. After basic training, Sherry was assigned to the canine unit in Quantico, Virginia. She and her German shepherd patrolled the base. Cherry had an adventurous, spunky spirit and loved making new friends in the Air Force. A few months into her job, she met Chris Coleman, a fellow canine officer. They quickly fell in love of Sherry twenty one became pregnant in September nineteen ninety seven, just a few months into the relationship.

19:07 She and Chris twenty two decided to leave the military and start a new life together in southern Illinois, where Chris's family lived. After they left Quantico, Sharry and Chris drove to his parents' house. Chris introduced her as a good friend instead of fiance. Sensing their disapproval, Oh boy, he told his parents that he was driving her to Chicago to visit her family. Years later, Ron Coleman said of the meeting, quote, we didn't pick up anything except she was a worldly little girl, little short shorts, tattoo on her leg. Not the person we thought he'd be with. So that's not very complimentary. No, I wonder how Sherry felt about that. And when Ron said this, Sheherry had already passed, So just they were pretty horrible to her. Yeah, here's Connie Coleman talking about Sherry when he came back with Shay, Sorry, what did you think? Surprise, surprise, I was surprised. I wasn't impressed one or the other. She was just a little blondeheaded girl to me, a little blonde headed girl. So again, this is after Sharry had passed. These people had they didn't have a lot of nice things to say about Sherry, and Sherry was lovely. Yeah, Angela and Mario, Sherry's mother and brother had recently moved back to Illinois from Florida. Scherry was excited to introduce her family to Chris. Unfortunately, that meeting did not go well. Mario took an instant dislike to Chris and found him off putting, distant, and boring. Mario tried to talk his sister

20:38 out of marrying Chris. Neither had told their family that they were expecting at this point. A few days later, Sharry and Chris went to Chicago City Hall and quietly got married, just the two of them. They drove six hours to their new home in Perry, Illinois. The town of only one thousand was a coal mining town that had seen better days by the nineteen nineties. They waited a month to tell their families that they were expecting a baby. You can imagine the Coleman's happy. Although Sheherry had been baptized Catholic, she wasn't particularly religious. She was a free spirit. Life in southern Illinois centered around the church. While the Colemans weren't thrilled at their son's choice of wife, they were pleased that she was malleable and willing to attend church with them. Sharry took to the New Church as if she'd always been an evangelical Christian. She was baptized in nineteen ninety eight and soon was also speaking in tongues. Chris began working at the Chester Mental Health Center as a security therapy aid. On April thirtieth, nineteen ninety eight, Sharry and Chris welcomed their first son, Garrett Dominic. He was his father's image. Sharry doated on her new son. Have you heard of Joyce Meyer before this? No?

21:49 I don't think so. I don't think I had either. But she is definitely a major player in the televangelist community. So she was not just a Southern Illinois oh, she is worldwide. Ron and Connie Coleman were friendly with Joyce Meyer Joyce had a new dog that she needed help training, and Ron and Connie mentioned their son had trained dogs in the Marines. Joyce hired Chris to train her new dog. Impressed with his work ethic, she offered him a job in her security department. He was soon promoted to head of security. A great job for such a young man. Here's a clip of Joy's talking about her ministry and how she hired Chris. We have a large teaching ministry that goes around the world by television and radio, and we have large show outreaches around the world to the poor and the needy. Lot of orphanages and support hospitals and medical programs and things like that for the underprivileged. How many employees do you think you have worldwide? About nine hundred and we'll get right to the point. Do you know the defendant in this case, Christopher Coleman? Yes, I did. How long have you known him? Since he was a little boy? And how was that his parents came to some conferences that I did over in Illinois. I did a weekly meeting over there, and his mother came to it brought him with him. Now, at some point did he become an employee of Joyce Meyer's ministry. Yes he did.

23:11 And about when was that probably about nineteen ninety eight, so in through two thousand and nine he was with you about eleven years, is that correct? What kind of employee was he? What was his responsibilities there? He was in the security department? Was he in general security? Did he move up through the ranks? What happened with that? If I remember correctly, he started in general security, and then he became the supervisor of that department, and then one a personal security person that I had left our employee. We offered Chris that job and he took it. Defendant huh I mentioned that was from a deposition. The deposition could have been from any number of legal Okay. Chris overhauled and modernized the whole security tail and hired a team of his choosing made up of former police officers and military. Chris was excellent at his job. He ran the campus and knew exactly where everyone was at all times. When Joyce traveled to her speaking engagements, Chris traveled with her to scope out the venue and ensure her safety. And Chris at this time, he was like twenty three, twenty four. He's very young. That's pretty impressive. Joyce Meyer Ministries was located in Fenton, Missouri, a long joy for Chris. The Colemans moved to Afton, Missouri, a suburb of Saint Louis soon after he got the job, to a furnished three bedroom house that was on the ministry campus. Cherry gave birth to the couple's second son,

24:41 Gavin Christopher, in January of two thousand. He looked just like his big brother, but he had Cherry's bubbly personality. Garrett was more introverted, but Gavin was a little more rampunctious and outgoing. Okay, Soon after, Chris got a vasectomy. He was about twenty three twenty four, which is pretty young to make that decision. Yeah, Scherry wanted more children, but Chris was like, I'm done. Cherry also began working for the ministry, closely with Joyce Meyer. She went on a life changing trip to India. She was forever changed by the hunger and suffering she saw during her visit. She set her mind to returning someday with the ability to help more people. Cherry was proud of the life that she and Chris had built together, and she wanted her parents to be proud of her too. In two thousand and two, she decided to test the waters with her father. They hadn't spoken since her parents' divorce. She sent him an email. Don still lived in Florida and was engaged. He was ecstatic to hear from his daughter. He didn't even know that he was a grandfather. Don asked if he and his fiancee, Deborah could come for a visit, and Sherry agreed. The reunion went great, better than anyone expected. Don wasn't sure about his son in law, though, he was so quiet and expressionless that he was hard to read.

26:00 Despite the Coleman's involvement with Joyce Meyer, they still drove to Chester every weekend to attend church with Chris's parents at Grace Church. George Wise, a co worker of Chris's who was in charge of communications at Joyce Meyer, worked in the office right next to Chris. He thought Chris was wound a little too tight, he said quote. He was staunch and direct in his bearing, very spiffy and military like. He definitely didn't have a friendly demeanor. He was also a perfectionist and very tightly wrapped. He struck me as being potentially explosive. The kind of guy who was always struggling to keep his temper under control. He'd get upset over seemingly minor things, like somebody being on a computer when they weren't supposed to be unquote. Some people thought Chris's power had gone to his head. He was arrogant and off putting to his co workers, but he was proud of how efficient the campus ran, and he knew Joyce Smyer was safe in his hands. He didn't care what other people thought of him. Often, Chris's job required him to travel with Joyce for a week or two at a time. Joyce Smyer liked to shop. Chris would carry her bags. Sometimes she'd buy him expensive things. I guess I'm pretty close to Joyce because I know her bra and panty size, He'd liked to tell people on these trips he served as Joyce's bodyguard. Chris had bulked up over the years and was now one hundred and ninety pounds of lean muscle.

27:25 He'd shaved his head because he thought it made him look tougher. There were rumors that he had a little help from steroids to get his new muscles. I think Chris looked like an idiot with his shaved head. Oh really, I just hate him. He's a horrible person. That's all I'm going to say. Okay, that's all I'm going to do. It's not all i'm gonna say for now, though. Joyce Smyer had been a rising star in the evangelical movement for the past two decades. Growing up in Saint Louis, she was a victim of sexual abuse by her father. Her first marriage, at the age of eighteen, ended in a after five years. As a young divorcee, she frequented bars and had one night stands until she settled down and married her second husband, Dave Meyer, in nineteen sixty seven.

28:11 They've been married ever since, and they have four children together. In nineteen seventy six, Joyce said she heard God calling her. She became drunk with the spirit of God and never looked back. She started teaching Bible classes at her church, then began a successful Bible study radio show. She became an associate pastor at her church, Life Christian Center, until she founded her own ministry in nineteen eighty five, called Life in the Word, which eventually became Joyce Meyer Ministries. Along with her daily radio show, she began a TV show, Enjoying Everyday Life that became nationally syndicated. Her ministry's annual revenue is over one hundred million dollars. I should say that that was estimated from like twenty years ago. It's much bigger now, I'm sure a lot. She has won people over with her plainspokenness and self deprecating humor. She has empowered millions of people, mostly women, to accept God into their lives. Joyce isn't without critics, lots of them. She believes in prosperity Gospel, which advocates for accumulating material wealth and riches. She preaches that the more money you send to her ministry, the more you will prosper God has made her rich, she says, and there's no reason to think that he won't make you rich. Also, if you stay in your faith, you are going to get paid. She once told an audience in Detroit, I'm living now in my reward. Joyce Meyer Ministries sits on a fifty two acre campus in Fenton,

29:42 Missouri, just outside of Saint Louis. The complex contains one hundred and fifty thousand square foot office building, a thirty five thousand foot distribution center and a five thousand foot garage. In two thousand and two, Joyce's headquarters was valued at twenty million dollars. The interior is filled with another six million dollars of extravagant furnishings. Joyce owns multiple homes valued in the millions of dollars, a ten million dollar private jet, a fleet of cars, and extensive art and jewelry collections. She employs a full time hairstylist, and her four children live in luxurious homes paid for by the ministry. Her home in Saint Louis is said to be valued at twenty million dollars. Joyce employs about nine hundred people. A battle has raged for years between Joyce and the state of Missouri about the Ministry's tax exempt status. The tax code states that religious leaders, homes, salaries, and perks must be reasonable to keep their tax free status.

30:45 Religious groups are given liberties that other nonprofits don't enjoy. They don't have to prove their charitable contributions, and they don't have to report their earnings. But Joyce is adamant that she is exempt from paying taxes. She doesn't defend her spaced habits because quote there's no need for us to apologize for being blessed. Unquote. She once said, quote, you can be a businessman here in Saint Louis, and people think the more you have, the more wonderful it is. But if you're a preacher, then all of a sudden, it becomes a problem. End quote. We mentioned Joyce's lifestyle just to say that she had enemies and people that consider her to be a fraud and a scam artist. There's a lot of money. It's a lot of money bringing in Yeah. Yeah, it is hard to reconcile it. We're not here to comfort religion at all. But you know, if your minister has a private jet and multiple million dollar homes, you know that would raise my brains.

31:41 You're living in you know again, if you're asking me to give you money every week and wait and she I believe. She preaches like give till it hurts and it'll come back to you in space. Right. She does bring in a lot of money, but some of the money goes to charitable causes and she supports other ministries and people around the world. Right, We'll be right back after a break. Joyce Meyer was thrilled with the initiative and professionalism of Chris Coleman. In two thousand and four, he was making an impressive seventy six thousand dollars a year, which is about one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars today. He and Cherry bought a nice house in Colombia, Illinois. They moved to a newly developed area of Columbia called Columbia Lakes.

32:30 It was a fifteen minute drive across the bridge to Saint Louis. They moved into a five year old neat two story white house with black shutters on Robert Drive. The new neighborhood was a perfect fit for the Colemans, with lots of other young families. Cherry quickly made friends with many neighbors. Chris was more reserved and slower to make friends. His busiest schedule didn't help. Cherry was also moving quickly through the ranks at Joyce Meyer Ministries. She got a job working in the IT department. Between the boys, her job, friends, and church, Cherry was busy. Her father Don invited her to his wedding in Florida. She'd said she would go, but was a no show on the big day. Don was hurt and the father and daughter had another falling out that lasted sadly until the end of Sherry's life. Cherry went to Chicago as much as she could to see her family. She had tried hard to be accepted into the Coleman family, but whatever she did, she fell short of their expectations and never quite won their approval or love. Which is crazy, because everyone adored Sherry. She was sweet, kind, fun, hard working, and a great friend and mother. Cherry wasn't a pushover and tried to be confident and true to herself, which maybe what irked her in laws. In Ron's Grace Church, he had become more aggressive in his preaching and with his parishioners. This is my church. He'd say, if you don't like the way I'm running things, then you can leave. Or perhaps he'd use his favorite line, which was also my mom's favorite line, if

34:02 you don't like it here, there's the door. Don't let it hit you on the butt on your way out. Connie had also become a pastor, and together they ran their church with tight control. They were more aggressive than nurturing with their flock. If anyone had a gall to leave the church, they were ostracized. There was a rumor that joyce Meyer had given the Colemans one hundred thousand dollars to help pay off the mortgage on Greece Church. For a person who hadn't attended church much in her younger life, it became the focal point of Sherry's life. She was a devoted Christian now. In the spring of two thousand and six, Scherry began attending the non denominational Destiny Church. It was a small, understated cinder block building, but it felt like home to Sherry and Chris and the boys began worshiping with her at Destiny Church.

34:49 In two thousand and seven, Scharry left her job at joyce Meyer Ministries for an opportunity to work with Phil Stern, the pastor of Destiny Church. She worked as a receptionist and and helped plan missions to Asia and Latin America. Cherry also began training to be an EMT, following through with the promise she had made to herself during her trip to India. She saw the dire need for medical care in some of the countries she visited and wanted to help save lives. So Sherry super busy lady Lots Going on two thousand and eight would prove to be a trying year for the Colemans. In January, Sherry grew tired of being a single parent half of the time and asked Chris to quit his job. He agreed initially, the boys, now eight and ten, were growing up fast and he was missing it. Gavin and Garrett were sweet, active boys. They loved sports and wrestling each other. They were well disciplined. Cherry was the permissive parent and Chris was the disciplinarian. No one ever witnessed Chris being physical with the boys, but all it took was a stern look from him for their behavior to change in a split second.

35:52 Garrett and Gavin both played baseball and football. Chris loved watching their games and helping to coach their teams. With his demanding travel schedule, he missed the bulk of their seasons. He had been thinking of starting his own surveillance business, and the timing seemed right, but he'd received another raise from Joyce and decided to hang on a little longer. Joyce and her adult children took advantage of Chris, and he sometimes did menial tasks for them, like shoveling their driveways. His request, I mean Joyce had someone to do everything for. It surprised me that she asked him that his requests for a time off were often denied because Joyce only felt safe when Chris was with her. During her travels, he began to be disgusted by Joyce Meyer and the way she spent the heart, hard earned money of her supporters. It bothered him to see people with modest incomes fork over a hefty percentage of their paycheck to the ministry.

36:46 Most of her supporters came from very modest means. Chris appeared to be a good father and husband when he was in town. Neighbors often saw him playing catch with the boys in the yard. Chris and Sherry went on frequent date nights with other couples and always seemed happy together. One night, though, they were getting into a hot toue with some friends and they noticed that Sherry had several bruises on her arms and legs. Chris had confided in a friend that the couple were deep in debt. Shecherry liked a shop and it was nothing for her to charge one thousand dollars on her credit card on one afternoon of shopping. Chris said he was thinking about divorce. He felt trapped in his marriage and had married Cherry only because she was pregnant. He told a friend that he had never loved her, which is a horrible thing to say. Yeah. In summer of two thousand and eight, while Chris was on a trip, Sherry confided in her friend Megan that Chris had beat her up pretty badly. She told Sherry that she and the boys could stay with her, but Sherry brushed it off and said they were okay, things would get better. She was determined to stay with Chris and work on their marriage.

37:50 For Sherry, divorce was completely off the table. In October, Chris planned to travel to Tampa Bay, Florida with Joyce Meyer. Cherry's best friend from high school lived in the arre. Tara Lynce was divorced and worked at a dog track as a cocktail waitress. She had previously worked at a gentleman's club. Scherry thought that Tara could benefit from hearing Joyce Meyers speak and recommended that she attend the conference. Oh boy, I have a bad feeling where this is going. Chris arrived in town a couple of days before the conference. He called Tara and asked her to meet him for dinner and drinks. They had known each other a little bit previously. I believe Tara accepted the invitation. They met for dinner the first night, and then every night after.

38:30 Chris extended his trip to spend more time in Florida with Tara. Before the end of the week, Chris and Tara had proclaimed their love for each other. Chris, to put it simply, was obsessed. He was like a teenager in love. They both were. Tara was wild and uninhibited. She didn't have any children, and Chris became the focus of her world too. Was Tara really in love with Chris or was she enjoying stealing her friend's husband and spoiling her perfect life in high school? Sherry had gotten all the guys, and now it might be time for Tara to even the score. Chris created a document on his computer titled All About Tara. In it, he listed everything he had learned about Tara in the past week, all of her favorite things, her sizes, passwords, their sexual fantasies together, and even the name of their future daughter, oh boy, zoe Lynn Coleman, which would entail Chris traversing his dyseectomy. They planned to get married within a year in Florida, and then Tara would move to the Saint Louis area so Chris could keep his job with Joyce Meyer. They had a plan all right, but the problem was that Chris was already married with a wife and two children, and Joyce Meyer didn't believe in divorce. That is a problem.

39:46 So they named So they've been together for like a week or two weeks, and they they they're naming their children, and it's that's a little a little fast. Well it's immature too. We're going to have a daughter and we're going to name Zoe. Yeah, that seems like something a fifteen year old would do, right. Yeah. In November, Chris received the following email, Fuck Chris's family, they are dead. I'm sure this will make it to someone in the company. If you jackasses are like any other company, this will be someone's account. Pass this on to Chris. Tell Joyce to stop preaching the bullshit, or Chris's family will die. If I can't get to Joyce, then I will get to someone close to her. And if I can't get to him, then I will kill his wife and kids.

40:30 I know Joyce's schedule, so then I know Chris's schedule. If Joyce doesn't quit preaching the bullshit, then they will die during the Houston conference. I will kill them all as they sleep. If I don't hit there, then I will kill them during the book tour or the trip to India. I know where he lives and I know they are alone. Fuck them all and they will soon die. Tell that motherfucker next time to let me talk to Joyce. She needs to hear what I have to say, and now she will. Oh language that was pretty fierce, I'll say. The email was sent individually to Chris, Joyce, and her family members. The next day, another threatening, rage filled email was sent to the same parties. It said, I know you all got my fucking email. You think I am full of shit? Just wait, I will shoot their asses with my forty kill them all. I am so sick of bitches like her taking everyone's cash so she can fly her jet and pamper her white ass. Fuck you all.

41:30 Tell Chris I will kill them. He has no idea when, but it will happen. I'm sure you motherfuckers are going to try putting your pussy ass security team at the house or police whatever. I kill them. That I am coming after Chris, then you, Danny, then David. I may not be able to get to Joyce, but I'll get the rest of you motherfuckers. Fuck you all. I know when you read these, just wait, you will see fuck you all. Tell that bitch Joyce to give my money back and talk to me, and this will all stop. Until then everyone will die, starting with Chris's wife and kids. I know his fucking schedule. Every time Joyce is gone, he is gone. You motherfuckers are probably wondering how I got your emails, you stupid fucks, just like every company, so fucking predictable, dumb asses. Okay, I'm sorry, but I feel like it was important that we read those. Yeah, there's more than I've sworn in the last three years combined, twenty years probably.

42:25 So who else would you go after? Then? You know? The security guy? Yeah? Like and how would they know his scheduled? Like it's the whole thing is just ridiculous. Yeah, seems a little uh questionable. Like if you have a problem with the minister, you know, go after the minister, go after the minister's family, not this random guy. How would they even know Joyce's security guy's name? Yeah? And his wife and you know family. Why would anyone want to kill his wife and his family. Well, Joyce had her enemies, so it was not altogether shocking, but nothing like this had ever happened before. The ministry wasn't sure if the threats were legitimate. Chris reported the emails to the police and they assured him that they would include his house in their nightly patrols. Joyce had offered to pay for a security system for the Colemans, but Chris declined. He said Sherry owned a gun and she wasn't afraid to use it. It seems a bit strange that he would decline an offer a very nice offer to provide him a security system when he is traveling all over the place. You know, Yeah, he's not there to defend his wife and kids. He's the security guy, right, and you would think the security guy would want to make his family the most secure place of all. Yeah, for sure. Meanwhile, Chris and Tara texted each other NonStop all day and night. Chris took to sleeping in the basement so he could send and receive Tara's explicit messages till the early morning hours. He was all but done with his marriage to Sherry.

43:52 On November twenty fifth, two thousand and eight, Chris told Sherry he was divorcing her, three weeks after he and Tara had begun their relationship. He told Sherry he was tired of fighting and that being married had gotten the way of doing his job. Sherry was confused and heartbroken. She knew her marriage was troubled, but she would do anything she could to save it. She made an anonymous prayer request at Destiny Church for members to pray for her marriage. A couple of weeks later, the pastor to whom she'd made the prayer request received the following text from Sherry. Quote, just want to let you know it's going to be okay with Chris and me. He's got some things to work through, but he's willing to work it out. Thanks for your prayers. It's going to be super tough, but it will work.

44:36 Unquote. Sherry was optimistic, but Chris had no intention of staying in the marriage. Just before Christmas, Chris accompanied Joyce to Florida. He assured her safety aboard a cruise ship, and then met Tara in Orlando and they went to a NKOTB concert. I don't know what NKOTB is no new kids on the block. Okay, I got Chris and Tara exchanged promise rings for Christmas? Oh my god, hey go, so these two they really are like fifteen year old Sherry left home alone again with the boys, pondered the state of her marriage. She began to think that Chris was having an affair. She couldn't help, but wonder if he was having an affair with Joyce.

45:19 He was so loyal to her and wouldn't quit. Joyce was well into her sixties, but she didn't know who else it could be. Cherry reached out to her oldest friend for support. She told Tara all about her deepest fears. Tara was a sympathetic year Oh boy, I bet yeah, I bet she was. You know, it's the worst when that happens, Like when the best friend is involved and they're like playing the sympathetic party and yeah, that's pretty sorrels. Meanwhile, Chris's older brother, Keith, left his wife for another woman just before Christmas and Mario, Sherry's brother, was arrested. Sherry was worried he would be sent to prison. On December twenty first, Chris called Sherry from Florida and told her he no longer loved her and wanted a divorce. He told Sherry that she and the boys were keeping him from realizing God's destiny for his life. Cherry told him that there was no way she would agree to a divorce. She loved him too much to let him go. She wanted to work on things. She begged him to go to marriage counseling, but he refused. Cherry took the kids and went to Chicago a few days before Christmas. Being with her family always made her feel better.

46:30 She returned home and she and Chris spent Christmas together, but he was cold and distant. Few words were exchanged between them. Cherry confided in several friends about her broken heart and Chris's request for a divorce. She asked many of her friends from church for prayers for her marriage. So it's kind of interesting to me that Chris seemed like he was asking for a divorce, because you said earlier that he didn't he wouldn't want to do that because Joyce wouldn't approve exactly. But he did ask for a divorce. And yeah, they kept talking about divorce, but I think he was torn. He was, like I want a divorce, but I know I'll lose my job, and he really I think he had mixed feelings about the job too. I think he liked and he was thinking about starting his own thing as well. Right, yeah, but he liked the status of being, you know, Joyce's security guard. He was got to travel, right, So yeah, I think he was really torn about what to do. After the holidays, Chris received another message from his harassmer. This time a type letter came in his mailbox and it said, fuck you deny your God publicly or else, no more opportunities. Time is running out for you and your family. Have a good time in India, motherfucker. Like, these letters are so poorly written, and what is the letter writer supposedly asking for for him to publicly denounce Joyce and just quit his job. Chris had an upcoming trip to India with

48:00 from January fifteenth to the eighteenth. He took the letter to the Columbia Police Department and they agreed to make some additional patrols during his absence, but they really didn't do anything else because remember he had taken the emails there and they hadn't really done any investigation into them. Cherry continued to ask to attend marriage counseling, but Chris refused to go. He was adamant that he needed to end the marriage so that he could realize my true destiny. He was still sleeping in the basement, but one night he appeared in Cherry's bedroom for sex. He told her not to get the wrong idea, he was just horny. Cherry began to put the pieces together and suspected that Tara could be the new object of Chris's affection. She realized that Chris had started talking about divorce after the trip to Florida. She knew that Tara was beautiful and seductive and even a little jealous of her life. Scherry didn't like to keep things bottled up. She shared her suspicion with several friends about her husband and Tara.

49:04 She even said to one friend, do you want to see a picture of my husband's new girlfriend? And I think it was like Tara's picture on Facebook? In a hail mary attempt Sherry told Chris's newly single brother Keith, about Tara. She sent him Tara's picture and encouraged him to reach out to her, but Tara didn't bite. She was taken, so she was trying to set up She was yeah, although so like nothing happened, but months later some nudes of Tara were found on Keith's phone. Chris told Cherry an old friend had reached out to him with Super Bowl tickets and he was planning on going. Scherry knew the game was being held in Tampa and he would probably be going with Tara. She tried to talk him out of going. Sharry was desperate. She pulled the last card out of her toolbox to try to salvage her marriage. She contacted Joyce Meyer. Oh Boy. Chris was called into a meeting with Joyce the next day. Joyce convinced him to give marriage counseling a try. He knew he had no other choice. Joyce would likely fire or demote him if he got a divorce. Here's a brief clip of Joyce talking about the situation. I have to ask you, if the defendant were having an affair, if you had known that at the time, and I understand you've testified that you didn't, what effect would that have had on his employment? If he would have been having an adulterous affair while he was still married, then it could have definitely affected his job. Were there persons

50:37 over the years that were terminated in situations like that, We had situations where they were Yes, and in fact, he was married during the period of time they'd worked for you, married to Sherry Coleman. Correct. Yes. Were there other persons who had adulterous affairs while married whose employment was terminated at Joyce Meyer Ministry? Yes? For that reason. Yes, And now I have to ask you about the distinction here. What if it was a divorce as opposed to an adulterous affair. Each situation is handled totally separately based on the circumstances. We have many people that work for us that have been divorced, and a person is not necessarily do they lose their job because they get a divorce. It wouldn't have been the divorce so much as the ammorality.

51:25 So, for instance, if a person in your employment, if their spouse filed for divorce against them, and perhaps they had little control over that, you might leave them in your employment. That's possibility. So surprisingly, Chris came home and told Sherry that he would go to counseling and try to make their marriage work. Sherry felt optimistic and was confident things were going to get better. She told him go ahead and go to Super Bowl. I trust you. Wow. Cherry sent Chris a naked selfie while he was at the game. He was with Tara. Of course, Tara saw the picture, grabbed Chris's phone and texted Sherry quote, Honey, you've really got to stop this. I'm not in love with you anymore. Tara was becoming impatient.

52:08 She wanted to get married and moved to Illinois to be with Chris. She even made a wedding registry. She and Chris already had a credit card together too to pay for Tara's travel expenses, and Chris also had a secret credit card that he hid from Sherry. He used it to send surprise gifts to Tara, like lingerie, perfume, and flowers. He'd even sent her a vibrator. He loved spoiling Tara, all this effort to put into Tara, when if he put maybe you know, ten percent of that effort into his marriage, that he would have been you know, they both would have been happier in the marriage. Tara told him he needed to file for divorce by May fourth, or she was done. Chris's hands were tied. He loved the stature that his job at Joyce Meyer gave him. He enjoyed ruling the ministry campus and being a representative for such a successful woman. He knew that he would be demoted or fired if he and Sherry divorced. He couldn't handle the thought of being demoted in his job and losing the status that he had become an integral part of his identity. His job came with so many perks.

53:14 Among them was playing in a celebrity of football flag football game. Joyce sponsored an annual flag football game, and he'd gotten to play with the likes of Kurt Warner, Donovan McNabb, and Phil Simms. I don't know who those people are. I mean, they're pretty famous people that would be that would be a fun perk to have in a job, right, And I know, he said he got to like he got to drive them around and spend the day with him, And yeah, he really enjoyed that. Yeah, Chris was on his cell phone NonStop, texting, calling, and sending brisque pictures and videos to Tara. He used his work cell phone, which if you're listening and you're having an affair, don't do that. Remember, Cherry used to work for Joyce Meyer too, and still had several good friends there. Christine Sencta paid employees cell phone bills, and she noticed a dramatic uptick in Chris's cell phone data usage. She and Serry had had dinner together recently, and Scherry had told her that their marriage was struggling. Christine shared the information about the cell phone with Daniel Meyer, Joyce's son. He called the number that most frequently appeared on Chris's bill. When Tara answered, he hung up. Daniel confronted Chris about having an affair, but Chris lied, claiming Tara was an old friend he wasn't having an affair. After that, Chris purchased a BlackBerry for personal use. He was excited because now he could send even better videos to Tara. Once he sent her a five minute video of himself masturbating in the shower. It was his gift to her. He

54:46 said he'd never done that for anyone else. She brought his wild side his true personality. Isn't that like almost verbatim like Chris Watts, Yes, yeah, and Nicole, I mean it's very similar, right, eerily similar? Yep. In February, Sherry approached Chris about scheduling a family vacation for that upcoming summer with the boys to Disney World. He agreed with hesitation. When Chris told Tara about the trip, she was furious. She loved Disney and couldn't stand the thought of Chris taking Sherry and the boys, and the trip reached the deadline of May fourth that she had sut for Chris to end his marriage. She demanded Chris cancel the trip. He refused because they would lose their deposit. Tara took the matter into her own hands and called Disney and canceled the trip. Then she called a travel agent and booked a cruise to Saint Thomas for her and Chris for that same week in July. It's pretty bold. That was the other night I was reading when I think you were in the bedroom, and I was like my mouth dropped open, and I was like, I can't believe she did that. Yeah, it's so.

55:58 I was so horrible, Like she can't stand the thought of Chris going to Disney World with his kids. That is really horrible. And it's also a good way to turn him against her as well, right, Like he's you know that can't be something attractive to someone that you're that demanding and controlling. I think at that point she could do anything, and chrisy was he was still like a schoolboy. Later that month, friends and family were shocked to see Sherry's Facebook status changed from married to single and her last name changed to Weiss, her previous surname. Cherry had made the changes in hopes of deterring the person who was leaving her threatening messages multiple times a day, among them messages like you're not good enough for Chris and you don't deserve him. They didn't stop. Cherry eventually deleted her Facebook account. Gosh, I wonder who would leave those messages? I can't even imagine. In March, Chris and Tara met up in Arizona when he attended a charity football event held by Kurt Warner. Tara attended the games, and she and Chris even canoodle on the sidelines. They also had a tryst in Hawaii that spring. In late March, Chris returned home after weeks of traveling abroad with Joyce. He went into Sherry's bedroom and sexually assaulted her. Later, Cherry called her friend Kathy Laplant, crying as she recounted the assault during her drive to Chicago to see her mother. During that phone call, Sherry told Kathy that if anything happened to her, it was Chris. Hear that so often. I hate it so much. I know. Yeah. In late April, the Colemans received another

57:30 threatening typed letter in their mailbox, fuck you. The letter began, I am giving you the last warning. You have not listened to me, and you have not changed your ways. I have warned you to stop traveling and to stop carrying on with this fake religious life of stealing people's money. You think you are so special to do what you do protecting or think you are protecting her. She is a bitch and not worth you doing it. Stop today or else. I know your schedule. You can hide from me. Ever, I'm always watching. I know when you leave in the morning, and I know when you stay home. I saw you leave this morning. I will be watching you. Better stop traveling and doing what you are doing.

58:12 This is my last morning. Your worst nightmare is about to happen. Chris went to the police station and dropped off the letter with Officer Sean Westfall. Officer Westfall noticed that the address on the letter was the same street that his friend, Detective Justin Barlow lived on. Officer Westfall went to talk with Justin. Yeah, Justin said he knew who Chris was, but he didn't know him well. They'd lived on the same street for years. Justin had given a friendly wave to Chris numerous times, but eventually gave up, writing him off as unfriendly and arrogant. But Justin had an idea. He knew that a window in his son's bedroom looked down to the Coleman's driveway and mailbox.

58:54 He suggested mounting a camera near the window to capture the Coleman's letter writer. Chris agreed to the plan. Justin gave Chris his cell phone number if he ever needed help or felt unsafe. After the most recent letter, Chris finally installed a security system at his house. I think we're going to stop there. Okay, what do you think so far of Chris Coleman. I think he's a horrible, horrible person. I think he's going to get more horrible in part two. Yeah, he's pretty unlikable. Yeah, very unlikable. So you're headed to France. How much French do you know? I know, you know a little French. I know almost no French. Really, I took one year in high school. Oh that's right. You only took one year of four language in high school. Yeah, isn't that sad?

59:39 It's not sad. It was just like I think when I was in high school, which was four hundred and twelve years ago, we had we didn't have to take four years. But if you were going to college, like, oh, yeah, you need four years. And I don't think I had to take any if I didn't want to. I think I took one year just because I thought it was a good idea, and then I didn't really enjoy it, so I didn't go back say something French blue, the sky is blue, the notebook is blue. That's right, that's right. I mean I don't know French, but I know remember well you know hi Hello? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know enough to say, like, yeah, thank you. I probably want to bring back any French bake goods because you're going to be gone a whole other week. Yeah, I'll bring you back some fish and chips from London and put them in your pocket. Yeah. Sure, they'll be delicious by the time I get back.

1:00:30 I could go for some fish and chips, but maybe Yeah, maybe some day I'll go with you. Well, I do have a colleague that lives in Ireland that's going to be in London, and she told me she's going to bring me some Irish snacks, so that's amazing. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. That's very Irish. I have no idea. I don't know what to expect, Guinness. Really it could work, huh, I don't know. I would like to go to Ireland. My daughter went to Ireland, she did. Yeah, I would love to go to Ireland. I did want to mention the last episode that we recorded. I think it was the last episode we had talked about something negative that someone had said to us, and our intent wasn't We weren't looking for looking for sympathy.

1:01:13 It was just we wanted to make it clear that we didn't plagiarize, because that's, you know, kind of a bad accusation. But to all you view amazing sweethearts that sent us messages or I think we got to pot a couple of nice reviews out of it, we thank you. Yeah, that is so nice, so much. You guys are so generous to us and we appreciate it more than more than we can express here. Yeah. If you'd like to listen to part two of this episode right now, you can subscribe at patreon dot com slash Lovemrykill. We have one tier five dollars a month, early ad, free access, and a bonus episode every month. Please rate, review, follow and subscribe, find us on social media, or send us an email at Lovemarykill at gmail dot com. Until next time, don't kill your husband and don't kill your wife,