Summary:

At the time of Coleman's execution, there were approximately 3,700 convicted murderers on death row in the United States. Coleman was the only one with death sentences from 3 different states: Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois.

These sentences were the culmination of a 1984 midwestern crime spee by Coleman and accomplice Deborah Brown that included up to 8 murders, 7 rapes, 3 kidnappings, and 14 armed robberies.

Ohio

On July 11, 1984, 15 year old Tonnie Storey left her home in Cincinnati to attend a computer class at a junior high school. Eight days later, her bound and partially decomposed body was discovered in an abandoned building.

The cause of death was strangulation. A classmate testified and identified Coleman in the company of a woman talking to the victim on July 11th, when she was last seen alive.

A fingerprint from the scene also matched Coleman's. Both Coleman and Brown received death sentences. On appeal, Coleman's death sentence was set aside due to ineffective counsel. Brown's death sentence was commuted in 1991 by Ohio Governor Celeste as he was leaving office.

Coleman and Brown bicycled into Norwood, Ohio, on July 13, 1984. About three hours later, they drove away in Harry Walters' car, leaving Harry Walters unconscious and Marlene Walters dead. Harry Walters survived.

He testified that Coleman and Brown inquired about a camping trailer he had been offering for sale. Upon inviting Coleman and Brown into his home, he sat on the couch discussing the trailer title. Coleman picked up a wooden candlestick and, after admiring it, hit Harry Walters on the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.

A few hours later, Sheri Walters came home from work and at the bottom of the basement steps, she found her father, barely alive, and her mother, dead. Both had ligatures around their throats and electrical cords tied around their bare feet. Her mother's hands were bound behind her back and her father's hands were handcuffed behind his back. Her mother's head was covered with a bloody sheet.

Indiana

7 year old Tamika and her 9 year old niece, Annie, were walking back from the candy store to their home when they were confronted by Debra Denise Brown and Coleman. Brown and Coleman convinced them to walk into the woods to play a game. Once there, they removed Tamika's shirt and tore it into small strips which they used to bind and gag the children.

When Tamika began to cry, Brown held her nose and mouth while Coleman stomped on her chest. After carrying Tamika a short distance away, Annie was forced to perform oral sex on both Brown and Coleman, then Coleman raped her. Brown and Coleman then choked her until she was unconscious. When she awoke, they were gone.

Tamika was found dead in the bushes nearby, strangled with an elastic strip of bedsheet. The same fabric was later found in the apartment shared by Coleman and Brown. Annie received cuts so deep that her intestines were protruding into her vagina. Evidence of a remarkably similar murder in Ohio was admitted at trial.

Illinois

Juanita Wheat, the victim's mother, testified that at the time of the offense she resided in Kenosha, Wisconsin, with her daughter, Vernita, and her seven- year-old son, Brandon.

At the end of April or beginning of May of 1984, the defendant introduced himself to Juanita as Robert Knight, showed her an identification card bearing that name, and told her he lived two blocks away. Coleman visited often and ate dinner with the family over the next few weeks.

On May 29, 1984, Juanita allowed Vernita to accompany Coleman to his apartment "to pick up a stereo system." They never returned.

A customer at the local "400 Club" testified that a black man and Vernita entered the establishment at approximately 11:35 p.m. on May 29, 1984, and the man immediately used the telephone. A few minutes later a cab arrived to pick them up.

On June 19, 1984, the body Vernita Wheat was discovered in the bathroom of an abandoned building in Waukegan, Illinois. A fingerprint from Coleman was taken from the scene.

Citations:

Ohio
State ex rel. Coleman v. City of Cincinnati, 1990 WL 59257 (Ohio App. 1990) (FOIA).
State v. Coleman, 1987 WL 18124 (Ohio App. 1987) (Direct Appeal-Storey).
State v. Coleman, 544 N.E.2d 622 (Ohio 1989) (Direct Appeal-Storey).
Coleman v. Mitchell, 268 F.3d 417 (6th Cir. 2001) (Habeas).
State v. Coleman, 1986 WL 14070 (Ohio App. 1986) (Direct Appeal-Walters).
State v. Coleman, 525 N.E.2d 792 (Ohio 1988) (Direct Appeal-Walters).
Coleman v. Mitchell, 244 F.3d 533 (6th Cir. 2001) (Habeas).

Indiana
Coleman v. State, 558 N.E.2d 1059 (Ind. August 24, 1990) (Direct Appeal).
Coleman v. Indiana, 111 S. Ct. 2912 (1991) (Cert. denied) .
Coleman v. State, 703 N.E.2d 1022 (Ind. 1988) (PCR) .
Coleman v. Indiana, 120 S.Ct. 1717, 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000) (Cert. granted).
Coleman v. State, 741 N.E.2d 697 (Ind. December 29, 2000) (On Reconsideration).

Illinois
People v. Coleman, 544 N.E.2d 330 (Ill. 1989) (Direct Appeal).
People v. Coleman, 660 N.E.2d 919 (Ill. 1995) (PCR).
Coleman v. Ryan, 196 F.3d 793 (7th Cir. 1999) (Habeas).

Final Meal:

Filet mignon with mushroom gravy, biscuits and gravy, fried chicken, French fries, broccoli with cheese, collard greens, onion rings, corn bread, a salad, sweet potato pie, butter pecan ice cream and cherry cola.

Final Words:

"The Lord is my shepherd," which he repeated over and over again.

Alton Coleman was twice sentenced to death for Cincinnati-area slayings in 1984 in a killing rampage in which he also terrorized Dayton. The slayings were part of a crime campaign that also led to death sentences for Coleman in Indiana and Illinois.

Coleman of Waukegan, Ill., was sentenced to die in Ohio for the strangulation of Tonnie Storey, 15, of Cincinnati and the beating death of Marlene Walters, 44, of Norwood, a suburb of Cincinnati.

A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the sentence in the Storey case after concluding Coleman’s attorneys did not adequately represent him in a 1985 trial.

The court, however, upheld Coleman’s conviction. The court earlier had upheld Coleman’s death sentence for Marlene Walters’ death. Coleman’s attorneys have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Walters ruling.

They argue that since the same two attorneys represented Coleman in both Ohio cases, it is inconsistent that his sentence be overturned in one case and upheld in the other.

Coleman also was sentenced to die in Indiana for killing Tamika Turks, 7, of Gary, Ind., and in Illinois for slaying Vernita Wheat, 9, of Kenosha, Wis. Vernita's body was found in Waukegan.

Coleman's common-law wife, Debra Denise Brown, traveled with him during the killing rampage and was sentenced to death in the Storey and Turks killings.

Coleman briefly surfaced in Dayton in July 1984 after he and Brown kidnapped Cumberland, Ky., college associate professor Oline Carmical. He was freed from the trunk of a car near McCabe Park after a passer-by heard noises from the vehicle. Carmical was not injured.

That same morning, Coleman beat and robbed an elderly couple, Millard and Katheryn Gay. Her life was spared when Coleman's gun misfired. Coleman tied up and robbed another Dayton couple, Dallas and Flossie Davis, that same day.

Former Ohio Gov. Richard Celeste in 1991 commuted Brown's sentence to life for the Storey murder. Brown is at Ohio's prison for women in Marysville and still faces the death sentence in Indiana.

Celeste had said a report from his staff showed Brown was retarded, suffered from childlike emotional development and had a "master-slave" relationship with Coleman. Brown and Coleman were accused of committing eight random killings in six states during the summer of 1984.

7 year old Tamika and her 9 year old niece, Annie, were walking back from the candy store to their home when they were confronted by Debra Denise Brown and Coleman. Brown and Coleman convinced them to walk into the woods to play a game.

Once there, they removed Tamika's shirt and tore it into small strips which they used to bind and gag the children. When Tamika began to cry, Brown held her nose and mouth while Coleman stomped on her chest.

After carrying Tamika a short distance away, Annie was forced to perform oral sex on both Brown and Coleman, then Coleman raped her. Brown and Coleman then choked her until she was unconscious. When she awoke, they were gone.

Tamika was found dead in the bushes nearby, strangled with an elastic strip of bedsheet. The same fabric was later found in the apartment shared by Coleman and Brown.

Annie received cuts so deep that her intestines were protruding into her vagina. Evidence of a remarkably similar murder in Ohio was admitted at trial.

Coleman Put to Death

By Marie McCain - Cincinnati Enquirer

April 26, 2002

Lucasville - Convicted serial killer Alton Coleman, who along with girlfriend, Debra Denise Brown, cut a murderous swath across at least four Midwest states during the summer of 1984, was executed by the state of Ohio today.

He was pronounced dead at 10:13 a.m. Mr. Coleman was executed for the 1984 beating death of Norwood resident Marlene Walters. His last words were: "The Lord is my shepherd," which he repeated over and over again.

Prison officials said Mr. Coleman had a fitful night before the execution. "I don't know if it was from indigestion or nervousness," said Reginald Wilkinson, director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Mr. Coleman ordered the largest final dinner of any condemned inmate to date.

He declined to shave or shower when he awoke between 4 and 5 a.m., prison officials said. He ate a single piece of toast. Two sisters and a brother, who were supposed to attend final visits with the 46-year-old Illinois native, did not show.

Prison officials say Mr. Coleman spent the time Thursday evening and early Friday with his attorneys and his spiritual advisers. It was believed that his family had "transportation problems." He was baptized Tuesday. He is a follower of Dallas-based televangelist T.D. Jakes. "He appears to have accepted his fate," said Andrea Dean, an ODRC spokeswoman.

About 16 anti-death penalty protesters were gathered outside the Southern Ohio Correction Facility in Lucasville as the execution began. Six Cincinnati protesters, including Sister Alice Gerdeman, coordinator of the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center in Over-the-Rhine, were part of the group.

Alton Coleman (November 6, 1955 – April 26, 2002) was an African-American serial killer. He was executed by the state of Ohio for the murder of 44-year-old Marlene Walters of Norwood, Ohio during a six-state killing spree in 1984.

Overview

Coleman received four death sentences from three Midwest states: Illinois, Ohio (two times), and in Indiana. At the time of his execution he was the only condemned person in the country to have death sentences in three states. His partner-in-crime, Debra Denise Brown, was originally slated to be executed in Ohio, but in 1991 her death sentence was commuted to life in prison by Governor Richard Celeste. She still has a death sentence for the murder the duo committed in Indiana. However, Brown is serving her sentence, without possibility of parole, in the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, Ohio.

During the summer of 1984, the 28-year-old Coleman and Brown, who was 21 at the time, embarked upon a killing spree through several Midwestern states.

By the time the couple were caught, Coleman was charged or wanted for questioning in assaults on at least 20 people in 13 separate attacks, including seven murders. Almost all of the victims were African-American like Coleman and Brown, but authorities said that was simply because the duo knew they would blend better in the black community, and that there was no racial motive in the murders.

Background of Coleman and Brown

Coleman was a middle-school drop-out who lived with his 73-year-old grandmother in Waukegan, Illinois, and who was well-known to the Illinois law enforcement community. The son of a prostitute who would often have sex with customers in his presence, he was charged with sex crimes six times between 1973 and 1983. Two of the cases were dismissed, and Coleman pleaded guilty to lesser charges in two and was twice acquitted. He claimed to "like it in the butt", and Coleman was scheduled to go on trial in Illinois on charges stemming from the rape of a 14-year-old girl when he fled and began his indiscriminate killing.

One of 11 children, Brown was borderline mentally retarded, suffered head trauma as a child, and was described as a "dependent personality." She was engaged to another man when she met Coleman in 1983, but left her family and moved in with him shortly afterward. Although a willing participant in the assaults and murders, Brown was never violent or in trouble with the law until she met up with Coleman.

In commuting Brown's sentence, Governor Celeste cited her low IQ scores, ranging from 59 to 74, and her "master-slave" relationship with Coleman. Brown was one of eight Ohio death row inmates to have her sentence commuted by Celeste, a staunch opponent of capital punishment, a week before he left office. Four of those whose sentences were commuted were the state's only female death row inmates.

Despite her non-violent history before the spree, Brown remains unrepentant for her acts. During the sentencing phase of her first Ohio trial, Brown sent a note to the judge which read in part: "I killed the bitch and I don't give a damn. I had fun out of it."

Details of the Murders

May 1984

Their crimes began in May 1984 when Coleman befriended Juanita Wheat who lived in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and was the mother of nine-year-old Vernita. On May 29, 1984, Coleman abducted Vernita to Waukegan, Illinois. Her body was discovered on June 19, 1984 in an abandoned building, four blocks from Coleman's grandmother's apartment. The body was badly decomposed and the cause of death was ligature strangulation.

On May 31, 1984, Coleman befriended Robert Carpenter in Waukegan, Illinois, and spent the night at his home. The next day he borrowed Carpenter's car to go to the store and never returned.

June 1984

In June 1984, Coleman and Brown appeared in Gary, Indiana, where they encountered two young girls, 9-year-old Annie and 7 year old Tamika Turks. Tamika's partially decomposed body was discovered on June 19, 1984. The cause of death was ligature strangulation. Annie survived, even though she was sexually assaulted by both Coleman and Brown.

The day Tamika's body was found, Coleman befriended Donna Williams, 25, of Gary, Indiana. On July 11, 1984, Williams' badly decomposed body was discovered in Detroit, about a half-mile from where her car was found. The cause of death was again ligature strangulation.

On June 28, 1984, Coleman and Brown entered the home of Mr. and Mrs. Palmer Jones of Dearborn Heights, Michigan. Palmer was handcuffed by Coleman and then badly beaten. Mrs. Jones was also attacked. Coleman ripped the Jones' phone from the wall and stole their money and car.

July 1984

The day after Independence Day 1984, Coleman and Brown came to Toledo, Ohio, where Coleman befriended Virginia Temple, the mother of several children. Her eldest child was Rachelle, aged nine. When Virginia dropped out of communication with relatives, they became concerned about the children and entering the home found the young children alone and frightened. Virginia's and Rachelle's bodies were discovered in a crawl space. A bracelet was missing from the home and later was found in Cincinnati under the body of Tonnie Storey. The cause of death of both Virginia and Rachelle was strangulation.

The same morning as the murders of Virginia and Rachelle, Coleman and Brown entered the home of Frank and Dorothy Duvendack of Toledo where Coleman proceeded to bind the couple with appliance and phone cords which had been cut. Coleman and Brown took money and the Duvendack's car. One of Mrs. Duvendack's watches was stolen and found later under another victim.

Later that same day, Coleman and Brown appeared at the home of the Reverend and Mrs. Millard Gay of Dayton, Ohio. They stayed with them in Dayton and then accompanied them to Lockwood, Ohio, on July 9, to a religious service. On July 10, the Gays dropped off Coleman and Brown in downtown Cincinnati.

By this time, Coleman had come to the attention of the FBI, which on July 12, 1984, added him to its Ten Most Wanted List as a "special addition". Coleman was just the 10th person since the initiation of the list in 1950 to merit inclusion in such a manner.

Coleman and Brown bicycled into Norwood, Ohio, on July 13 at about 9:30 a.m. Less than three hours later they drove away in Harry Walters' car, leaving Harry Walters unconscious and his wife, Marlene, dead.

Harry Walters survived. He testified that Coleman and Brown inquired about a camper he had put up for sale. Walters sat on the couch as he and Coleman discussed the trailer title. Coleman picked up a wooden candlestick and, after admiring it, hit Harry Walters on the back of the head. The force of the blow broke the candlestick and drove a chunk of bone against Mr. Walters' brain. From that point on, Mr. Walters remembered little else.

Sheri Walters, Harry and Marlene's daughter, came home from work at about 3:45 p.m. and at the bottom of the basement steps, she found her father, barely alive, and her mother, dead. Both had ligatures around their throats and electrical cords tied around their bare feet. Her mother's hands were bound behind her back and her father's hands were handcuffed behind his back. Her mother's head was covered with a bloody sheet.

The coroner indicated Marlene Walters had been struck on the head approximately 20 to 25 times. Twelve lacerations, some of which were made with a pair of vice grips, covered her face and scalp. The back of her skull was smashed to pieces. Parts of her skull and brain were missing.

The living room hallway, and basement, were splattered with blood. Fragments of a broken soda bottle, bearing Coleman's fingerprints, were found in the living room. Strands of Marlene Walters' hair were found on a blood-stained magazine rack located in the living room. Bloody footprints, made by two different kinds of shoes, were found in the basement.

The family car, a red Plymouth Reliant, was gone. Money, jewelry, and shoes had been stolen. Left behind were two bicycles, clothes and shoes.

Two days later, the Plymouth showed up abandoned in Kentucky. The couple then kidnapped Oline Carmichael Jr., a Williamsburg, Kentucky, college professor and drove back to Dayton with their victim locked in the trunk of the car. On July 17, in Dayton, they abandoned this stolen vehicle and Carmichael was rescued by authorities.

Coleman and Brown reappeared at the home of Millard and Kathryn Gay. The Reverend Gay recognized Coleman, who was by this time the subject of a huge nationwide manhunt, and he and his wife were accosted with guns. The Reverend Gay asked Coleman, "Why you want to do us like that, like this," and according to Gay, Coleman responded: "I'm not going to kill you, but we generally kills them where we go." Coleman and Brown took their car and headed back toward Evanston.

On the way back home, they take time to steal another car, killing the 77-year-old man who owned it.

Capture and Trial

On July 17, 1984, Alton Coleman became the 388th fugitive listed by the FBI on the Ten Most Wanted list.

On July 20, 1984 in Evanston, illinois, someone from Coleman’s old neighborhood pulled up to a red light. As he waited for the light to change Coleman and Brown crossed the street in front of his car. He only knew Coleman casually but did recognize him. As Coleman and Brown continued walking west the witness drove north to a gas station where the police were notified.

The information was dispatched and a description of the two was broadcasted. As officers pulled into the area a detective saw Coleman and Brown sitting on probable bleachers in an empty Mason Park; but noted they were wearing different tee shirts. The detective informed the other units just as two sergeants were driving by the park. As they heard the broadcast they turned and saw the two. As Coleman was approached the officers observed Brown walking away from Coleman toward the rear of the park.

The detective joined the two sergeants and Coleman was approached for questioning. As Coleman was being interviewed, two other officers stopped Brown as she tried to exit the park. She was searched and a gun was found in her purse. Coleman had no identification and denied he was Alton Coleman. Both Coleman and Brown were taken into custody without incident and transported to the Evanston Police Department where both were identified by fingerprints.

In the police station Coleman was strip searched and a steak knife was found between two pair of sweat socks he was wearing. When taken into custody they had a shopping bag full of different tee shirts and caps. It was learned as the two walked they would stop every three to four blocks to change shirts and caps.

A week after they were arrested, more than 50 law enforcement officials from Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio met to plan their strategy for prosecuting Coleman and Brown. Michigan, which does not have the death penalty, was quickly ruled out as the place to begin and eventually Ohio was given the first shot at the alleged spree killers.

"We are convinced that prosecution (in Ohio) can most quickly and most likely result in the swiftest imposition of the death penalty against Alton Coleman and Debra Brown", U.S. Attorney Dan K. Webb said.

Appeals and Execution

Ohio was successful in convicting Coleman and Brown on a pair of aggravated murder charges (In May 1985 for the murder of Tonnie Storey, and in June 1985 for the murder of Marlene Walters), as well as a plethora of other violent crimes. They were both sentenced to be executed and the lengthy appeals process began. Coleman's case went to the United States Supreme Court several times between 1985 and 2002, but his numerous arguments that his conviction and death sentence were unconstitutional failed to sway the justices.

By April 2002, time had run out for Coleman. His last-ditch effort to avoid lethal injection was unsuccessful when on April 25, 2002, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected a claim by Coleman's attorneys that the state's plan to accommodate the large number of victims and survivors who wanted to view the execution would turn it into a "spectator sport". There were so many victims and survivors who were allowed to witness the execution that prison officials had been forced to set up a closed-circuit viewing outside the death house.

For his final meal, Coleman ordered a well-done filet mignon smothered with onions, fried chicken breasts, a salad with French dressing, sweet-potato pie topped with whipped cream, french fries, collard greens, onion rings, cornbread, broccoli with melted cheese and biscuits and gravy. He washed it all down with a Cherry Coke.

On April 26, 2002, reciting "The Lord is my shepherd", Alton Coleman died by lethal injection in the death chamber at the state prison in Lucasville, Ohio.

Reginald Wilkinson, director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said Coleman did not convey remorse for the killings

Court Decisions

• Coleman v. Mitchell, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 268 F.3d 417; 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 21639; 2001 FED App. 0367P (6th Cir.), October 10, 2001

• In re Coleman, Supreme Court of Ohio, 95 Ohio St. 3d 284; 2002 Ohio 1804; 767 N.E.2d 677; 2002 Ohio LEXIS 916, April 19, 2002

• State v. Brown, Supreme Court of Ohio, 38 Ohio St. 3d 305; 528 N.E.2d 523; 1988 Ohio LEXIS 289, August 31, 1988

• State v. Coleman, Supreme Court of Ohio, 37 Ohio St. 3d 286; 525 N.E.2d 792; 1988 Ohio LEXIS 212, July 6, 1988

• State v. Coleman, Court of Appeals of Ohio, First Appellate District, Hamilton County, 1987 Ohio App. LEXIS 9048, October 7, 1987

Wikipedia.org

Clock Runs Out on Alton Coleman

By Randy Ludlow - Cincinnati Post

April 26, 2002

LUCASVILLE - Alton Coleman, who left eight people dead in a murderous rampage through six Midwestern states, was executed today by lethal injection. He was pronounced dead at 10:13 a.m. EDT.

Coleman, 46, who was baptized three days ago, was put to death at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility for the savage beating death of Marlene Walters, 44, in her Norwood home on July 13, 1984.

In a holding cell 13 steps from the death chamber, Coleman spent his last hours scribbling notes to family and friends, meeting with his spiritual advisers and watching videotapes recorded by an evangelical Christian minister.

Prison spokesman Andrea Dean said Coleman woke up about 5:15 a.m. after watching television and listening to music late into the night. He had expected that his two sisters and a brother would visit with him in the death house this morning, but they did not show up.

Sixteen witnesses related to Coleman's victims, including Harry Walters - who was attacked along with his wife but survived the vicious beating - arrived this morning to watch in person and on closed-circuit TV as Ohio executed the only man in U.S. history sentenced to death in three states.

After an 0-for-6 showing in the courts on Thursday in a last-gasp bid to keep their client alive, Coleman's public defenders told the office of Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery there was a less than 1-percent chance they would file further appeals.

Coleman, of Waukegan, Ill., became one of the most notorious serial killers to ever stalk the Midwest in murdering four adults and four children during a six-week reign of brutality that wove through Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky.

That rampage took him to Lexington in mid-July where Mrs. Walters' auto was found abandoned in a cornfield near Lexington July 15, two days after her murder. On July 17, Oline Carmicalof Williamsburg was kidnapped in Lexington and left in the trunk of his car, which was found in Dayton, Ohio.

Coleman, who was black, largely preyed on other African Americans, with Mrs. Walters his only white murder victim. Coleman also was convicted of the rape and strangulation murder of Tonnie Storey, 15, of Mohawk, during his stay in the Cincinnati area.

Coleman made no request of prison officials to contact Debra Denise Brown, his girlfriend and companion in crime who is serving life sentences for the murders of Mrs. Walters and Miss Storey and who faces execution in Indiana.

Coleman arrived at the death house in Lucasville shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday for what would be Ohio's fourth execution - after a 36- year hiatus in capital punishment - since 1999. ''He had a very peaceful evening. He appears to have accepted what lies ahead for him,'' Ms. Dean said this morning.

Prison officials served him his final meal last night, the largest yet ordered at Lucasville by a condemned man. His menu included a filet mignon with mushroom gravy, biscuits and gravy, fried chicken, French fries, broccoli with cheese, collard greens, onion rings, corn bread, a salad, sweet potato pie, butter pecan ice cream and cherry cola. He ate part of the meal at 4 p.m. and snacked on it through the evening. He declined breakfast this morning, saying he was still full from dinner.

In motions objecting to the closed-circuit TV broadcast of his death to the large number of witnesses to ineffective legal counsel, Coleman and his lawyers failed to win a reprieve in six attempts before four courts - the 10th District Ohio Court of Appeals, the Ohio Supreme Court, the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Harry Walters, who was to watch in person with sons-in-law Michael Blunt and Scott Lillard as Coleman died from a $43 dose of generic chemicals, had said ''execution is the solution'' to winning the justice and closure he feels his family long has been denied.

Coleman and Ms. Brown were invited into the Walters' home after they pretended to be interested in purchasing a camping trailer posted with a ''for sale'' sign outside their Floral Avenue residence.

Coleman's other murder victims were small girls in Waukegan, Ill., and Gary, Ind., an Indiana woman kidnapped and taken to Detroit, a mother and her daughter in Toledo and an elderly man in Indianapolis.

Relatives of those victims, plus Cincinnatians Harry Storey and Paulette Anderson, the father and aunt of Miss Storey, were to watch Coleman's death on two TVs in J Block adjacent to the death house at Lucasville.

Coleman and his lawyers unsuccessfully pleaded for mercy from the courts and Gov. Bob Taft, contending his violence was the outgrowth of growing up in a brothel where he was abused and brain damage he suffered in the womb from his prostitute mother's alcohol and drug abuse.

Coleman denied he killed Mrs. Walters, with Ms. Brown confessing to her murder, but the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court jury refused to buy their story.

"Alton Coleman & Debra Brown: Odyssey of Mayhem," by Mark Gribben.

Deadly Duo

Maybe people shouldn’t be surprised that a boy who had to endure the nickname “Pissy” because of a tendency to wet his pants would grow up to be one of America’s most savage spree killers.

And it certainly didn’t help that Pissy would go to prison on a robbery charge and emerge two years later with a tendency to dress in women’s clothing and a desire for rough sex.

Whatever the reasons, Alton Coleman and his girlfriend Debra Denise Brown will go down in history as a short-lived U.S. version of Great Britain’s multiple sex-slayers Myra Hindley and Ian Brady.

The story of Coleman and Brown begins in the mid-1970s, takes place in five states and involves one of the largest manhunts in recent history.

It is a tale of American criminal justice that stands among the most depraved and cruel incidents of the modern age -- Coleman and Brown demonstrated a lack of respect for human life that shocked even hardened FBI agents and police officers.

In less than two months, they assaulted, raped and murdered their way from Illinois to Michigan and down to Kentucky before authorities were finally able to capture then.

Coleman and Brown are behind bars, each awaiting a date with the executioner, but the evil they wrought upon their innocent victims lives on to this day. The duo have used every avenue of judicial appeal possible and seek mercy from the courts – mercy they rarely showed when they prowled the Midwest.

With every new court ruling or delay, dozens of survivors relive the horror of their encounters with the murderous pair of lovers.

A child victim who managed to avoid death at their hands vows that she will never marry because of her inability to trust and questions whether she is still “pure”. Another survivor battles drug addiction, suicide attempts, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

A mother and father must adjust to the fact that Coleman will never stand trial for their daughter’s murder and they may never find out the circumstances surrounding her slaughter.

Coleman’s family, on the other hand, consider themselves victims – not of their deadly relative, but of a system that they believe persecutes and plans to kill an innocent man. Debra Brown's mother continues to rue the day her daughter met Alton Coleman.

Brown was “a good girl,” unknown to police before she fell under Coleman’s spell, but by the time the pair were caught, it was clear that Brown was just as vicious and murderous as her ex-con boyfriend.

Probably what is most disturbing about Alton Coleman is that he shouldn’t have been on the streets to begin his rape- robbery -murder spree. Over and over Coleman managed to manipulate the judicial system in his favor, beating sexual assault charges on several occasions.

Frustrated prosecutors and lawmen knew they had a monster on their hands, but could only stand by helplessly as jury after jury let the him walk, confident the system had “worked” to free an innocent man.

A Boy Called "Pissy"

Born in Waukegan, an Illinois town about a half-hour’s drive north of Chicago, Alton Coleman endured the taunts of schoolchildren who teased him because he so often wet his pants. They christened the mildly retarded boy “Pissy.”

Family members and law enforcement officials who had dealings with Coleman since his teen years said Alton was slow to show emotion and generally kept to himself.

Clearly alienated from his peers, Coleman had a reputation for his strong sex drive – reportedly he was bisexual and willing to engage in sex any time, any place with anyone. Said one friend of Coleman’s late mother: “He knew he was different…even as a young child. “As he grew up, (Coleman) was deeply into insidious kinds of sexual gratification.”

Coleman first came to the notice of police as a teenager when he was picked up for breaking windows in his Waukegan housing project. He was quickly labeled as a troublemaker, but for the most part, his crimes were of the petty sort.

There was little indication to authorities of the mayhem to come. Interestingly, property damage, often in the form of arson, can be an indicator of serial murder tendencies. That is not to say that every youngster who breaks windows or lights fires is bound to be a serial killer, but only that many multiple murderers committed similar acts as children.

On the way to becoming a serial killer, Coleman gave the law many chances to put him away, but Alton was “smooth as silk,” according to those who fought him in court. Lawmen said Coleman put on a good appearance in court which often convinced jurors that authorities had the wrong man.

Alton, according to friends, also relied upon the supernatural to help him escape justice. He claimed that voodoo made him invulnerable to attack by the law.

“He was good at conning jurors,” Waukegan Police Lt. Marc Hansen told the Detroit Free Press in 1984 when Coleman and Harris were hiding out in Detroit. “He tells a convincing story in court. People are impressed with his testimony. He comes off as a decent person.”

A prosecutor who watched Coleman beat a rape charge agreed. “He knows what kind of case holds up in court and which ones don’t,” said former U.S. attorney Fred Foreman. “He’s been to the penitentiary. He’s a career criminal”

But when the façade wouldn’t work and voodoo god Baron Samedi wasn’t listening, Coleman resorted to more common forms of beating the rap, most notably witness intimidation. “It’s difficult to get people in court to prove these charges because they are sexual assault charges, they involve kids, they involve family that don’t want to see him go to jail,” said Hansen.

In 1983, Coleman’s sister went to authorities and told them her brother tried to rape her eight-year-old daughter. Three weeks later, she went to court to have the charges dropped. “It’s a misunderstanding,” she said. “A lot of families go through that. It doesn’t make any difference now.”

The judge hearing the motion for dismissal was astounded by the 25-year-old woman’s testimony “I think the woman as she stands here today, is terrified of this man,” the judge said. He called her account of the incident “completely implausible.” But in the end, with no victim and no witnesses, the judge had no choice but to free Alton Coleman and dismiss the charges.

Coleman’s rap sheet before his Midwestern spree reads like a one-man sex crime wave. In 1973 he and an accomplice kidnapped, robbed and raped an elderly woman.

She refused to testify about the rape and Coleman served two years on the robbery charge. Three months after his release from Joliet, Coleman was arrested for another rape. He was acquitted but served time for a lesser charge. Four years after that spell in the pen, Coleman was acquitted of rape.

A year later he was arrested for an attempted rape – the charge was dismissed. In July, 1983 he was charged with the rape of his niece. That charge was dismissed. In early 1984 he was indicted for the knifepoint rape and murder of a suburban Chicago girl whose mother was a friend of his.

Coleman learned he was wanted for that crime but disappeared, kicking off his multi-state crime spree with his girlfriend, Debra Brown.

Odyssey of Mayhem

Why Alton and Debra went underground is still a mystery 15 years after they were arrested. Police blamed Coleman’s “intense hatred of blacks,” but longtime friends dismissed that reason as absurd.

The pair’s victims were mostly black because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Coleman stayed in traditionally black neighborhoods because they provided a place for him to hide.

“That sounds so crazy to me,” said one Waukegan public official who knew Coleman since “he was in diapers.” “Why does he victimize blacks? Black neighborhoods are the logical place for him to go. If he went into a white community, they would have found him long ago.”

A friend of the family said Coleman could not deal with his homosexual tendencies. “He used to dress up like a woman a lot. It was well known that he had different habits than a normal male,” the friend said.

Coleman is a classic “disorganized serial killer.” He rarely stalked a particular victim, but instead lashed out at whomever was nearby.

He used whatever tools he had handy to kill or incapacitate his victims and there did not appear to be any ritual to his violence.

What probably set him off was the realization that he no longer had anything to lose. Perhaps the indictment on the aggravated rape and murder charges – which could have brought the death penalty – were enough to finally push him over the brink to whatever madness prompts such violence.

While the pair was on the run, Coleman was indicted on murder charges in Wisconsin and a federal warrant was issued for his capture.

Regardless of the motivation, Coleman and Brown began their spree on June 5, 1984 when the pair rented an apartment in Gary, Ind. Coleman had been wanted by police since May 31 and Debra Brown had been interrogated about his disappearance June 1.

The Spree Begins

The pair laid low for two weeks until June 18 when two young girls, Tamika Turks and her 9-year-old aunt disappeared on their way to a candy store. Later that day, the 9-year-old was found beaten and raped. Tamika was missing.

A day later, Tamika's badly ravaged body was found in a wooded area in Gary. She had been raped and killed by someone stomping on her chest.

The older girl was forced to watch as the pair killed Tamika – Brown holding Tamika to the ground and covering her nose and mouth and Coleman jumping on her chest and face until her ribs fractured and punctured her vital organs.

The older girl then was forced to have sex with both Brown and Coleman before being beaten about her head. To this day the young woman suffers severe headaches and screaming fits.

“She will get to screaming and crying like someone is hitting her on the back of the head,” said Mary Hilliard, the child’s mother. Her injuries left the family with $15,000 in medical bills, which were substantially, but not completely covered by insurance.

LaVerne Turks, Tamika’s mother, was forced to move to Minneapolis because the memories of Tamika in Gary, Indiana, were too painful. “LaVerne’s gone. Tamika’s missing. My daughter is having these problems. Our family will never be the same,” said Hilliard, who attempted suicide shortly after her granddaughter’s death.

The same day Tamika's body was discovered, Donna Williams, 25, was reported missing by her parents. Her car was stolen, as well.

A week later, Williams’s car was found abandoned in Detroit with a forged identification card featuring Brown’s picture. Residents from the area said the car had been parked in the alley since June 19.

Police in four states were now looking for the pair, working on the assumption that Donna Williams had been murdered, even though her body had not been found.

In the meantime, two days after Williams was reported missing, a Detroit woman was kidnapped by a man and woman whom she later identified as Coleman and Brown. She escaped while driving the pair to Toledo by purposefully ramming her car into oncoming traffic.

Coleman and Brown were able to survive by befriending good Samaritans and later turning on their friends, authorities said. “We’ve come to the conclusion that Coleman and Brown are staying with people they meet,” said FBI Special Agent John Anthony in Detroit. “They spend a day or two with the people, get a little money gambling with them and then assault and rob them and steal their car.”

Detroit Crime Wave

While in Detroit, Coleman and Brown eluded police while instigating a small, but violent, crime wave. Warrants for their arrest were issued for the kidnapping and robbery of the 28-year-old Detroit woman who managed to escape the killers, a June 28, 1984 robbery and beating of an elderly Dearborn Heights couple and the June 30 robbery of two Detroit men.

By the time the deadly duo left Detroit, police in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan, as well as federal authorities, were on the lookout.

Despite Coleman’s disorganized pattern of murder, there were some similarities among the crimes – in every case the cars stolen by Coleman and Brown were recovered within 12 hours.

When authorities were not able to locate a 1975 Buick stolen by the pair after they beat and robbed a 55-year-old woman and her companion, they had good reason to suspect that Coleman and Brown had left the Motor City.

Sadly, even though the pair had fled to Toledo, the evidence of their crimes continued to surface. In an abandoned house near Wayne State University in Detroit, the badly decomposed body of Donna Williams was found on July 11. It was clear that she hadn’t lived long after she arrived, as a hostage, in Detroit.

There will likely never be any closure – legal or psychological – for the family of Donna Williams. When authorities gathered to determine the best course of action against Coleman and Brown, the Williams case was not tried.

“We chose to go with the strongest cases against the two that would result in the death penalty,” said Lake County, Indiana prosecutor Jack Crawford. “It appeared that Williams was killed in Michigan, which does not have the death penalty.”

For Robert and Zenota Williams, Donna’s parents, punishment is not foremost on their minds. “I will always wonder what, exactly, happened,” Zenota Williams told the Detroit Free Press in a retrospective on the spree three years later.

Three other homicides tied to the pair will also probably not ever be tried: the slaying of 77-year-old Eugene Scott of Indianapolis and the killings of Virginia Temple and her 10-year-old daughter in Toledo.

Scott was suspected of being their last murder victim because his car was found in Evanston, Ill. where they were arrested.

From Toledo, the pair continued south, stopping long enough in Cincinnati to murder Marlene Waters, who was found bludgeoned to death in the basement of her home.

Waters’ husband was badly beaten in the attack and left for dead. Coleman and Brown stole the Waters’ car and headed to Lexington, Ky., where they abandoned the car in a cornfield.

In nearby Williamsburg, the duo kidnapped Oline Carmical and drove to Dayton, Ohio leaving Carmical locked in the trunk of his car. An elderly Dayton couple was found beaten and gagged in their home after the fugitives stole their car. Another Dayton couple reported to police that Coleman and Brown robbed them.

The trip from Tamika Turks’ murder to the crimes in Indianapolis took less than a month, with the pair committing felonies on the average of crime every other day. In all, the murderous 53-day rampage – from the time Coleman raped and murdered the 9-year-old in Kenosha, Wis., to the time they were arrested in Illinois -- resulted in a slew of felonies: eight homicides, as many as seven rapes, three kidnappings and 14 armed robberies.

Capture

Some time after the murders of the Temples and Scott, Coleman and Brown returned to the Waukegan area. Their case had inspired a great deal of notoriety across the country and Coleman had recently been named as a “special addition” the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list.

In becoming a special addition, Coleman joined such notable felons as H. Rap Brown and Martin Luther King’s murderer, James Earl Ray.

Coleman’s family aside, they had few friends left after their spree and it wasn’t surprising that when an acquaintance of Coleman’s saw the pair walking near Evanston, Ill., he would turn them in. Authorities had been watching Evanston closely because of Coleman’s known associates there and the fact that the duo had rented an apartment in Evanston prior to fleeing to Gary.

Knowing that there were few criminals as desperate as Coleman and Brown, authorities were cautious in making the arrest.

Once police pinpointed their location – the pair was spotted by undercover officers in a local park – state, local and federal authorities began to converge on the couple.

Shortly before noon on July 20, 1984 Coleman and Brown were watching a pick-up basketball game from the bleachers at Mason Park on the west side of Evanston as officers began to approach.

Coolly, as if he hadn’t a care in the world, Coleman began walking away as plainclothes and uniformed cops neared. Wearing a torn yellow shirt and sporting a short haircut unlike the jheri-curl ‘do he wore in published photos, Coleman surrendered peacefully when confronted. “You got the wrong man,” he told arresting officers. He provided two aliases and Brown identified herself as “Denise Johnson.”

She was carrying a loaded revolver and Coleman had a long knife hidden in his boot, but neither went for their weapon.

“They looked like they did on TV,” said an 11-year-old who witnessed the arrest. “The capture was quick and easy.”

Investigation

Although there were some holes in the authorities’ investigation, it was clear that they had been expecting the two-person crime wave to return to Evanston. Neighbors in the area said they had heard for three weeks that Coleman and Brown would eventually turn up there.

The mood of the neighbors was as jubilant as that of police who clearly basked under the media spotlight. “There was a community awareness about him,” said one neighbor. “He wasn’t going to be able to come in here and snatch anybody. We were waiting for him.”

Residents of the Mason Park area told the media that Coleman looked tired and emaciated when arrested and they speculated that the lethal duo had “just run out of steam.”

Law enforcement officials thought along similar lines with one officer wondering if they had unconsciously wanted to do so: Coleman had never worried about leaving fingerprints at his crime scenes, and FBI agents said he was so lackadaisical it was almost as if he was trying to leave a calling card.

Those same fingerprints would eventually do in Alton Coleman. Despite his protests that officials had the wrong man, Evanston police were able to positively identify the man arrested in Mason Park as the man who left fingerprints at crime scenes in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky. Fingerprints on file with the FBI conclusively proved that the suspects in custody were Coleman and Brown.

Brown's Confession

With Coleman and Brown in custody, the problem fell to state and federal officials to untangle the slew of accusations against the couple and to decide which cases to prosecute. It was clear from the outset that the most punitive states would have first shot at the pair.

That meant capital crimes committed in Michigan and Wisconsin, which have no death penalty, would be tried last – if at all. “We want him first,” said Lake County DA Fred Foreman. “I’ve been in court with this man before and I want to bring him back.”

Brown and Coleman were separated by police and Debra, easily the most wanted woman in the country, was advised of her constitutional rights. She immediately invoked her right to remain silent and asked to speak to an attorney.

In the Evanston police station, the FBI agent who administered the Miranda warning continued to ask Brown questions about her identity – things like her name, age, birth date, and address, according to court documents. An Evanston detective questioned Brown as well, seeking clues to an attack in his jurisdiction for which the pair was suspected.

When the time came to transport Brown to the federal lockup, she spoke with agents on the trip to Chicago. Arriving at the federal building, she was once again advised of her rights and she once again refused to sign a waiver. She did, however, agree to talk to officers as long as she could stop when she wanted to.

Over the next two and a half hours, Brown discussed the crime spree in detail, in effect confessing to many of the crimes committed during the brief, but violent odyssey across the upper Midwest.

When she finished, she once again asked to speak with an attorney. No further inquiry was made until after Brown spoke to a lawyer.

During trial, Brown’s attorney protested that her Fifth Amendment right – the right against self-incrimination – was violated because authorities continued to interrogate after she had asked for counsel.

The trial court found that the Evanston detective did violate her rights and the evidence from his questioning was ruled inadmissible.

However, the confession given to federal authorities in Chicago was used in the trial and with it conviction was easily obtained.

Brown was sentenced to die for the murder of Tamika Turks. Later, Brown was sentenced to die for the Cincinnati murders, but she continued to be held on Indiana’s death row.

Coleman was convicted of the same murders and also sentenced to die. In January 1991 the governor of Ohio commuted Brown’s death sentence, saying she was retarded and “dominated by” Coleman. She is now serving two life sentences in Ohio for her crimes there. However, Indiana is not finished with her.

It took almost seven years, but in August 1991 the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court had not erred by allowing the confession into evidence. The conviction and death sentence would stand.

The appeals court found that despite her repeated attempts to speak to an attorney, the confession was separated by “space, time and subject matter” from her first request for counsel that it was proper. Brown willfully gave the confession, the court noted, after being advised of her rights.

Interestingly, it was Brown’s conversations with authorities while she was being transported to federal custody that created the loophole which could result in her execution. She asked questions like “where am I going?” and “what am I charged with?”

Criminal defense attorneys fumed at the court’s decision, with one saying to the Indianapolis Star that the Fifth Amendment was being “squeezed to death.” “If you ask anything, you create an opening the state can drive a truck through,” said Daniel L. Toomey, who argued Brown’s case before the Court of Appeals. Today, Debra Brown, the only woman on Indiana’s Death Row, is serving out her sentences in Ohio. Whether or not she will ever see the executioner in the Hoosier State remains up in the air.

Punishment

In August 2000, ruling in a Virginia capital murder case, the U.S. Supreme Court said a murder defendant is entitled to constitutionally adequate legal representation. Coleman's attorneys immediately filed for relief under the high court's ruling and the Court ordered the Indiana Supreme Court to reconsider Coleman's death sentence.

Coleman alleged that during the sentencing phase of his trial his counsel was inadequate and did not bring up mitigating factors that might have spared Coleman from a trip to the electric chair. Alton suffered from a troubled childhood, a personality disorder and brain dysfunction, attorneys said.

The Indiana high court had already upheld his conviction and sentence on direct appeal.

"Given these aggravating circumstances, even had his counsel presented the evidence of Coleman's impoverishment and abuse, we see little likelihood the jury recommendation or the trial judge's sentence would have been different," wrote the Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court.

Even if the state of Indiana spares Alton Coleman, there are any number of prosecutors who are still awaiting a crack at him. The chances of Coleman, or for that matter, Brown, ever seeing the outside of a prison cell are slim. If Indiana takes a pass on Coleman, then Ohio wants its turn, and if the Buckeye State spares his life, then it's on to Kentucky.

Alton Coleman was executed by lethal injection at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville at 10 a.m. Friday, April 26, 2002.  He was 46 years old.

He spent his last days fighting tenaciously for his life, but appeals that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court were unsuccessful. Coleman claimed ineffective counsel and that the prohibition against cruel or unusual punishment would be violated by having his execution broadcast over closed-circuit television.

The spree killer also charged that his jury was racially biased.

Relatives of Coleman's victims in Illinois and Indiana were able to watch the death sentence being carried out via a secured television link, but no recording was made of the event.

Coleman was executed for the beating death of Marlene Walters, 44, of Norwood, Ohio on July 13, 1984.  Harry Walters, the victim's husband, and two of the couple's sons-in-law observed the execution inside the Death House.

His execution, the third since Ohio reinstated the death penalty, was well-covered by media, with the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections reporting that 43 news outlets had applied for credentials, including TV stations, and newspapers in each state where Coleman and Debra Brown killed.

He ordered a huge last meal: filet mignon with sauteed mushrooms, fried chicken breasts, corn bread, biscuits and brown gravy, french fries, broccoli with cheese, salad with french dressing, onion rings, collard greens, sweet potato pie with whipped cream, butter pecan ice cream and a cherry Coke.

Six Thousand Days

Alton Coleman spent more than 6,000 days on death row in Ohio's Mansfield Correctional Institution and used nearly every means available to save his life.

During his more than 16 years as a condemned prisoner, Coleman was described by prison officials as a model inmate who enjoyed the media attention his crime spree and status as one of the first Ohio inmates in decades to realistically face the executioner. He particularly enjoyed speaking to female reporters, and often tried to use his "celebrity" status to curry favors such as girlie magazines and money for the commissary from those who sought to interview him.

The appeals process for capital crimes is lengthy, even when the condemned inmate forgoes his or her right of appeal. Under Ohio law, the first review of a conviction with a death penalty specification is a "direct appeal" that examines the trial record to ensure there were no errors leading to an incorrect verdict and sentence. This direct appeal involves a review by the trial court and the state Supreme Court. Depending on the date of the conviction, as was the case for Coleman, an intermediate state appeals court also reviews a case on direct appeal.

Coleman's direct appeal began shortly after his 1985 conviction, but was not concluded until September 1989.

Alton Coleman's next appeal was a "post-conviction" review, which looks at the case to determine if any errors outside the trial record resulted in a violation of his state or federal Constitutional rights or to an incorrect verdict and sentence. His post-conviction review motion was filed in September 1990 with the trial court in Hamilton County, Ohio. The Ohio Supreme Court rejected his post-conviction appeal more than three years later.

Ohio capital defendants are given the opportunity for a third state appeal, a so-called "Murnahan Appeal," named after the inmate who brought the first action of this type. In a Murnahan Appeal, the inmate challenges the effectiveness of the lawyers who handled the previous state appellate actions. Effectiveness of trial counsel is examined in the post-conviction review.

Coleman's Murnahan Appeal was rejected six months after it was filed, on August 3, 1994 -- some 10 years after he was first indicted for the crimes for which he was convicted.

Having run out of state appeals, Coleman turned to the federal judiciary for relief. He filed a habeas corpus action -- a claim alleging that his federal Constitutional rights had been violated -- in December 1994 that the U.S. District Court in Cincinnati rejected in February 1998.

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals received Coleman's notice of appeal of the lower court ruling in May 1998 and for the next two years, the state and the prisoner filed briefs with the appellate court. On December 5, 2000, more than 15 years after his conviction, the two sides squared off in oral arguments before a three-judge panel. Those judges rejected Coleman's habeas petition in March 2001.

On October 15, 2001 the United States Supreme Court denied Coleman's request to review the lower federal court rulings. The way was clear for the Ohio Supreme Court to set an execution date, which it did, choosing April 26, 2002.

Coleman was not out of procedural means to escape execution, however. Once the high court sets an execution date, the state clemency process begins. During his clemency hearing before the Ohio Parole Board -- which can recommend clemency to the Governor -- Coleman's attorneys submitted an apology of sorts from the killer and tried to convince the board that Alton was mentally incompetent.

Chicago Tribune, July 22, 1984, “Police Bask In Glory Of Fugitives' Arrests”

Detroit Free Press:
June 28, 1984, “FBI, Police Search For Slaying Suspect”
July 4, 1984, “Unsuspecting Residents Aid 2 Fugitives, FBI Says”
Friday, July 6, 1984, “Mother Fears 'Some Kind Of Spell'”
July 15, 1984,“Mother Frets For Daughter With Fugitive”
July 15, 1984, “Alton Coleman 'Smooth As Silk': Police Say Fugitive Has Frustrated Justice”
July 21, 1984, “Alton Coleman Held In Illinois: Bond Set At $25 Million Cash”
July 21, 1984, “The Chase For Alton Coleman”

Associated Press
February 13, 1987, “1984 Midwest Crime Spree Continues To Exact Price In Pain”

Indianapolis Star
August 30, 1991, “Murder Spree Conviction Upheld”
November 17, 1991, “Confession From A Killer: Did Police Cross The Line?”
February 3, 1998, “Lone Woman On State's Death Row Is In Ohio”
April 25, 2000, “High Court Edict May Aid State Death Row Inmate: Justices Tell Court To
Restudy Sentence Of Murderer Who Claims He Received Ineffective Legal Counsel.”

Next Up: April 26, 2002

Alton Coleman Ohio Conviction: Made Whitey feel sexually inadequate. Also killed a bunch of women. Handicapping Factors Pro:Once made the F.B.I.'s most wanted list so he has a modicum of fame to trade on... Never actually admitted his guilt for what that's worth...

Ohio was all assholes and elbows the last time they tried to kill someone, John Byrd Jr, requiring 4 or 5 death dates before they finally made one stick... It's certainly not a highly tuned killing machine... Con: After the paucity of background on folks being executed here lately it's a relief to find someone whose case is so well documented. That's a great story if you go on and click his picture there.

Unfortunately, this is the rare case where the more attention he recieves the worse his chances get... The Supreme Court has rejected his appeal and refused to stay his date... House Pick: A detective who was on his trail characterized him as the Black Ted Bundy, smooth and disarming and all that.

His schoolmates, on the other hand called him "Pissy" as he was prone to whizzing on himself in class. If you've got your home psychotherapy kits handy you might have some fun with that little nugget. But of the many hats he wore and names he answered to, none is more compelling than this.

He is known as the only man in America with a death sentence in 3 seperate states. So, if you are going by sheer quantity, that makes him the consensus choice for "Baddest Man in America". I guess on the bright side there's 47 other states that don't have any immediate plans to kill him. The Line is a Wise to Ohio: 9 - 5 Dead as Hell

Alton Coleman on deck? Serial killer may be next for execution

By Andrew Welsh-Huggins - Cincinnati Enquirer

Thursday, February 21, 2002

COLUMBUS - (AP).- Serial killer Alton Coleman, convicted of slayings in the Midwest in 1984, could be the next inmate scheduled to die in Ohio.

The state asked the Ohio Supreme Court on Feb. 6 to set an execution date for Mr. Coleman, 45, who also faces death sentences in Indiana and Illinois. “We believe that his case is the next one up, but there's no guarantee with the court system and different issues he can raise,” Bret Crow, a spokesman for Attorney General Betty Montgomery, said Wednesday.

The state Tuesday executed John W. Byrd, the third inmate to die since Ohio reinstated the death penalty in 1981 and the first to proclaim his innocence. It was the second execution in eight months, following Jay D. Scott's execution by injection in June.

The Ohio Public Defender's Office said that as many as 10 death row inmates could exhaust their appeals this year.

Most are awaiting a review of their case by the U.S. Supreme Court. Such reviews are very rare, said David Bodiker, the Ohio Public Defender. “The chances of getting one of those things heard is greater than the lottery,” Mr. Bodiker said.

Mr. Coleman's attorney, Dale Baich, would not discuss the likelihood of an execution date. “I don't think it's appropriate to make predictions,” he said Wednesday. “Circumstances in these cases may change, and it doesn't serve the public, the victims or Mr. Coleman to engage in such speculation.”

Mr. Coleman, of Waukegan, Ill., received two death sentences in Ohio. One was for the July 11, 1984, strangulation death of Tonnie Storey, 15, of Over-the-Rhine.

The second was for the July 13, 1984, beating death of Marlene Walters, 44, of Norwood. An execution date could depend on the resolution of conflicting rulings by the same federal court.

A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out Mr. Coleman's death sentence in the Storey case after concluding that his attorneys didn't adequately represent him in a 1985 trial.

The court, however, upheld the conviction. A different three-judge panel of the court had already upheld Mr. Coleman's death sentence for Mrs. Walters' death.

Oppose the Execution of Alton Coleman!

Ohio is preparing to execute Alton Coleman, a man whose trial was fundamentally unfair. During the trial, not only did the prosecution use racially discriminatory tactics to exclude African-Americans from the jury, but the jury was never told about Mr. Coleman's mental illness.

Whether you support or oppose capital punishment, there is mounting evidence that the system is broken. A review of national death penalty judgments over a 23-year period has found a national error rate of 68 percent. Executions should not take place when people are being sentenced unfairly.

Urge Governor Taft to Commute Alton Coleman's Death Sentence to Life in Prison!

The prosecutors who tried Mr. Coleman adhered to the racially discriminatory jury selection practices. In Alton Coleman's trial, prosecutors used 9 of their 12 jury strikes to eliminate qualified African Americans from the jury.

The prosecution has never been forced to explain why these otherwise qualified jurors were removed. This pattern of racial discrimination in jury selection is highly suspect and completely unacceptable when someone's life is on the line.

People who suffer from serious mental illness must not be subject to the death penalty. As vulnerable members of society, the mentally ill are tremendously over-represented in Ohio executions.

Judge Throws Out Coleman's Lawsuit Over Televised Execution

By Andrew Welsh-Huggins - Chicago Tribune

April 23, 2002

COLUMBUS, Ohio - (AP) A judge today threw out a lawsuit that sought to prevent the state from televising the scheduled execution of Waukegan's Alton Coleman to relatives of the five victims he was convicted of killing.

Judge Beverly Pfeiffer of Franklin County Common Pleas Court said Coleman's lawyers presented no evidence to justify their claim that broadcasting the execution on closed-circuit television would violate his rights.

Because there are so many witnesses from victims' families, the state plans to let them watch Coleman's execution from a closed-circuit television in a room of the prison where he will be executed.

Coleman's lawyers argued that state law prohibits broadcasting equipment at executions, but Pfeiffer said the law referred only to recording an execution. "It's a closed-circuit transmission," she said. "It goes from one room to another. There is no capability for any recording to be made."

Coleman's lawyers said they were considering appealing. "The judge has sanctioned Mr. Coleman's execution to being a spectator sport," said Lori Leon, an attorney representing Coleman.

Coleman is scheduled to die Friday by injection for the beating death of a woman in 1984. He also has been convicted of four murders that occurred during a multistate crime spree in 1984 and has been sentenced to death in Indiana and Illinois.

He is the only current inmate to face death sentences in three states, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center.

On Monday, Coleman asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his claim that prosecutors chose a racially biased jury 17 years ago. He also asked Justice John Paul Stevens, who oversees death penalty appeals in Ohio, to delay the execution while the court considers the appeal. "This is an important constitutional question and it should be reviewed in due course, not under the press of an impending execution," Dale Baich, one of Coleman's attorneys, said in a statement Monday.

On April 16, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal on a technical procedure and refused to postpone Coleman's execution. Coleman, 46, has accused prosecutors of racism during jury selection in his 1985 trial for the beating death of Marlene Walters, 44, in the Cincinnati suburb of Norwood, on July 13, 1984.

Coleman's lawyers claimed that then-Hamilton County Prosecutor Arthur Ney's team improperly removed nine of 12 black jurors from the trial. Coleman is black.

On Friday, the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Coleman's request came too late. It should have been raised on the direct appeal of his conviction, rather than after his appeals ran out, the court said.

Alton Coleman: His time to die

By Randy Ludlow, Post Ohio Bureau - Cincinnati Post

April 23, 2002

As Alton Coleman pedaled into blue-collar Norwood, not even 24 hours had lapsed since he had earned the rare distinction of becoming an 11th member of the FBI's ''Most Wanted'' list.

With six weeks, 600 miles and six bodies behind him, the serial killer arrived having perfected his predatory pattern during his murderous migration across the Midwest.

The horror about to visit 4118 Floral Ave. on the muggy morning of July 13, 1984, was typical Coleman. He would hide behind a facade of charm to win over his unsuspecting victims and then strike.

Dropped off in Cincinnati five days earlier by a minister they befriended, Coleman and his companion, Debra Denise Brown, figured it was time to move on before they were betrayed by what they had left behind in Walnut Hills.

The near-nude and strangled body of 15-year-old Tonnie Storey - ''I hate niggers. Death'' scratched into a wall and outlined in lipstick above her - still lay undiscovered in a building on May Street.

Coleman needed cash, a change of clothes and a car to continue life on the run. And he had no qualms about killing to obtain them. Noticing a camping trailer for sale outside the home of Harry and Marlene Walters around 11 a.m., Coleman and Ms. Brown sized up the opportunity and parked their bikes.

Again employing the convincing and friendly manner of a con man, the 28-year-old Coleman worked to earn the trust of the middle-age white couple, to disarm them of suspicion, as they haggled over a price for the camper.

A deal struck with the ''very polite'' man, the Walterses invited the couple inside their home to sip lemonade. As Harry Walters sat on a couch talking with his guest about the trailer title, Coleman picked up a heavy wooden candlestick and expressed admiration for the piece.

It was the last thing Walters would recall. ''I've seen brutal homicides, but this is it. These are No. 1. They were cruel, savage,'' Norwood Detective Capt. Thomas Williams said amid the manhunt for Coleman and Ms. Brown and the Walters' stolen red Plymouth Valiant.

Sherri Walters, 19, found her parents at the bottom of the blood-spattered basement steps when she arrived home at 3:45 p.m. Her mother was dead, her father barely alive.

A bloody sheet lay over the head of Mrs. Walters, 44, a mother of three and Sunday school teacher and librarian at nearby Grace United Methodist Church. Struck 20 to 25 times with a soft drink bottle, magazine rack and other items, her skull had been pulverized, her face and scalp raked a dozen times with a pair of Vise Grips.

Walters, then 45, lay in a coma. The candlestick had driven a sliver of skull into his brain. He had been stabbed in the abdomen and a rope cinched around his neck. Both he and his wife had their hands and feet bound.

Harry Walters saw neither the death nor the funeral of his wife of 26 years. But, he will witness the death of her killer to confirm the receipt of justice and closure he says should have been his a decade ago. ''On April 5, 1958, Marlene and I were married, exchanging the vows 'until death do us part.' We were parted by murder,'' Walters says. ''Execution is the solution. The Bible tells me so.'' Lucasville will be a busy place Friday as 17 witnesses arrive from three states to watch Coleman die.

Nearly 18 years after terrorizing the Midwest during a six- state spree of eight murders, seven kidnappings, four rapes and numerous assaults, home invasions and other crimes, Coleman's number is up.

Absent an unlikely court stay or grant of clemency, Coleman, 46, of Waukegan, Ill., will die by lethal injection at 10 a.m. Friday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Ohio's fourth execution since early 1999.

Ohio in effect also will carry out the death sentences imposed on Coleman in Indiana and Illinois for the murders of 7- and 9-year-old girls as it executes the only man in the nation condemned in three states. Walters, his son Daniel and son-in-law Scott Lillard will see the execution in person from behind a death chamber window.

In another room, at least 14 more witnesses - whose daughters, sisters, brothers, mothers and nieces or nephews were killed by Coleman - will watch the execution live on closed-circuit TV.

Among those present will be Harry Storey, the father of Tonnie Storey, and her aunt, Paulette Anderson. Coleman and Mrs. Brown both were sentenced to death for the murder of the ''B'' student at Bloom Junior High School.

However, Ms. Brown's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by Gov. Richard Celeste in 1991 and a federal appeals court last year found errors in the Storey trial and ordered Coleman resentenced. ''This is someone who deserves to meet his maker. He is one of the most vicious, cold-blooded serial killers in the history of the Midwest,'' says Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen.

Whether it was helping a woman struggling with a bas ket of laundry, expressing a seemingly sincere interest in religion or politely inquiring about a camper for sale, Coleman was a deadly chameleon. Speaking of the murder of Mrs. Walters, Ohio Assistant Attorney General Jim Canepa observed: ''He smooth-talked his way into their house. He's convincing. And, he convinced all of these people into their graves.''

A rarity as a black serial killer, Coleman preferred to victimize African Americans - with Marlene Walters his only white murder victim - and once said he was forced by blacks to kill other members of his race.

By the time he killed 9-year-old Vernita Wheat in Waukegan, Ill., on May 29, 1994, Coleman was well known to Chicago-area police as a sexual predator.

While only once convicted and sent to prison (where he forced three other inmates to have sex), his rap sheet contained four arrests for rape. He had even been accused by a half-sister of sexually molesting his 9-year-old niece.

A prison psychiatric profile found Coleman, a ninth grade dropout with an IQ on the lower edge of normal, to be ''a pansexual willing to have intercourse with any object, women, men, children, whatever.''

Coleman reportedly was thrown into a garbage can by his mentally ill, prostitute mother as an infant. ''Unfortunately, someone heard my cries and rescued me before death could take me,'' Coleman recently wrote. ''In my life, I had fear, lots of pain and many tears.''

The boy was raised mostly by his grandmother, who oper ated a brothel and gambling house. As a child in a whorehouse, Coleman was physically and sexually abused and exposed to beastiality, pedophilia and group sex whose participants included his mother and grandmother. His grandmother also purportedly practiced voodoo and forced the young boy to kill animals and harvest their body parts for use in her potions.

Coleman's habit of soiling his clothes earned him the nickname of ''Pissy'' in the Market Street ghetto in Waukegan. ''Alton walked around all day in his own waste. He had no clean clothes,'' said the Rev. Robert Evans, a neighbor. ''He had a very profound, tragic life as a youngster. He has to be responsible for these crimes, but given the circumstances presented, his life should be spared,'' Rev. Evans said.

Ohio Execution Alert: Alton Coleman

Scheduled Execution Date and Time: 4/26/02 10:00 AM EST

Alton Coleman, a black man on death row in Ohio, is scheduled to be executed on April 26th for the murder of Marlene Walters. Coleman has been on death row since 1986, when he was convicted in two separate death sentences.