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

From the outside, the Coleman family looked like a shining example of suburban perfection, but what happened inside their Illinois home tells a story so disturbing, it defies belief. This isn’t just a case of murder, it’s about control, image, and a man willing to go to chilling lengths to protect a reputation. The twists in this story don’t just shock… they haunt.🔎Join Our True Crime Club & Get Exclusive Content & Perks 🔎 Join The Club: https://www.patreon.com/annieelise🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to EXTRA deep dive episodes every week on Apple!https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/serialously-with-annie-elise/id1519456164🚩Announcements🚩Want to Catch Annie LIVE on Tour? 🎤 🎟Grab your tickets now for a city near you: https://annieelise.com/pages/tour🌸 SPRING MERCH IS OFFICIALLY HERE! 🌸Shop now at https://annieelise.com/collections/shop-allDon't miss out before your faves sell out! 🛒🌷Follow Annie on Socials 📸 🩷Instagram: @ _annieelise, https://www.instagram.com/_annieelise/?hl=en💜TikTok: @_annieelise, https://www.tiktok.com/@_annieelise?lang=en🗞️ Substack: @annieelise, https://substack.com/@annieelise💙Facebook: @10tolife, https://www.facebook.com/10toLIFE⭐️Sponsors ⭐️SKIMS: Shop my favorite bras and underwear at https://www.skims.com/annieKettle & Fire: For a limited time, get a free carton of Kettle & Fire bone broth by going to http://KettleAndFire.com/AE. Mint Mobile: Shop plans at http://MintMobile.com/AE. Shop Annie’s Closet & Must-Haves! 👗Poshmark: https://posh.mk/Tdbki6Ae0RbShopMY: https://shopmy.us/annieeliseAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/shop/10tolife?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_aipsfshop_BKN1ZMCMEZHACVFQ2R75&language=en_USDisclaimer ‣ Some links may be affiliate links, they do not cost you anything, but I make a small percentage from the sale. Thank you so much for watching and supporting me.🎙️ Follow the podcast for FREE on all podcast platforms! Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/serialously-with-annie-elise/id1519456164Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/6HdheEH8WeMTHoe5da34qUAll Other Platforms: https://audioboom.com/channels/5100770-serialously-with-annie-eliseGet Involved or Recommend the Case 💬 About Annie: https://annieelise.com/For Business Inquiries: [email protected] Sources 🔗48 HoursBelleville News-DemocratCBS NewsCity of St. Louis, MO (.gov)Daily MailFind a GraveFOX 2KSDKNational Library of MedicineOne Last Kiss: The True Story of a Minister's Bodyguard, His Beautiful Mistress, and a Brutal Triple HomicideRepublic-TimesSt. Louis MagazineSt. Louis Post-DispatchThe US SunTrue Crime NewsYen News*Sources used to collect this information include various public news sites, interviews, court documents, FB groups dedicated to the case, and various news channel segments. When quoting statements made by others, they are strictly alleged until confirmed otherwise. Please remember my videos are my independent opinion and to always do your own research. ••••••••••••••••••Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this video are personal and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company. Assumptions made in the analysis are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the creator(s). These views are subject to change, revision, and rethinking at any time and are not to be held in perpetuity. We make no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information on this video and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. It is the reader’s responsibility to verify their own facts.

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• 1:22Speaker 04

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

• 1:28Speaker 05

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

• 1:35Speaker 06

  This was a promising family, a great family. Manson-style spray paintings on the wall. "I will kill your wife and children in their sleep." To the left of the staircase was the master bedroom. We found Sherri Coleman. To the right was a bedroom of Garrett and Gavin, all three deceased.

• 1:54Speaker 07

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

• 1:59Speaker 06

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

• 2:07Annie Elise?

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

• 2:31Annie Elise?

  Hey everybody, welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialistically with me, Annie Elise, your true crime bestie, here to break down another wild and crazy case. Now, if you've been around here for honestly, really any length of time, you know I don't hold back when it comes to calling out criminals, to calling out murderers, to calling out just like generally awful human beings. If you ruin lives, especially if you take a life, you are like fair game. You deserve to be exposed, period, the end, exclamation mark, all of it. And today's case, it is no different. But what really got me during this case, as I was researching it, wasn't just the killer, it was also all of the people

• 3:15Annie Elise?

  within the case itself. People who defended the killer, enabled the killer, even encouraged the disgusting behavior. It's almost like this murderer had their own little fan club cheering them on from the sidelines. Truly, it's like so diabolical and disgusting. This story is absolutely infuriating. It is cruel, it's disgusting, like I said, and honestly, it's gonna have you asking yourself, what the hell is wrong with these people? So, we are gonna jump right in. Okay, so picture this. It's 2009, and 31-year-old Sherri Coleman is living in St. Louis with her husband and her two boys. Sherri's got this dark, long

• 3:57Annie Elise?

  hair, these bright expressive eyes, and she's got a little bit of a fire inside of her. She's like this total go-getter, the kind of woman who could literally juggle a million different things, yet still show up perky and with a smile. Basically, the complete opposite of me. But Sherri had two sons, an 11-year-old named Garrett and a nine-year-old named Gavin. Now, Garrett was this very sporty, outgoing kid who had blonde hair and these ears that kinda just like stuck out a little bit, super cute, and he was very big into football, also very involved in his church youth group. And Gavin was right behind Behind him, almost like a little shadow of sorts. If Garrett did it, Gavin was doing it too. Same football team, same church group, same everything.

• 4:40Annie Elise?

  They lived in this nice little suburban home with Sherry's husband, Chris, who, by the way, on paper seemed like this all-American dad. Chris was 32 years old, he was ex-military, he was polite, respectful, and he was raised by not one, but two pastors. He was so like clean-cut and just like on the straight and narrow that he didn't even curse. Everything looked picture-perfect. But what was going on inside of that house? Well, that's where things start to unravel, and fast. Now, like I said, Chris was a great guy, ex-military, didn't curse, just raised right. But there was something that was always a little off. He was sensitive, very sensitive.

• 5:24Annie Elise?

  For example, one time he saw somebody butcher a rabbit while out on a hunting trip, and he was absolutely wrecked by this, completely distraught. Which, look, I mean, fair. Not everybody is into like watching a rabbit get slaughtered and butchered, especially, you know, a little fluffy, innocent rabbit. I get it. But when this happened to Chris's parents, his reaction was a complete red flag. Almost like major disappointment vibes from them. Because they figured, you know, if he's gonna go hunting, if he's gonna go out on this trip, then he should have known what comes with the territory. So instead of comforting him when he was so upset by this rabbit butcher situation, their solution was basically saying, toughen up.

• 6:07Annie Elise?

  Now, look, I know that it's really easy to probably jump to like, okay, Annie, well, maybe the real problem is his parents. Maybe that's the issue here. What kind of parent wouldn't comfort their child when they are so devastated by an animal dying? Which, look, fair question. And maybe they were just super old-school, maybe they were all about bottling things up and thinking emotions are weak and toughening up for all situations. But it also wasn't just them. Chris's teachers and friends in high school, they also all saw this sensitivity as well. He wasn't just shy or awkward, but he was seriously insecure, like deep-rooted insecure, kind of like having these, I'm not man enough, type of feelings. And instead of learning to deal with his feelings,

• 6:53Annie Elise?

  Chris decided that his feelings were the enemy. Being sad, it was weak. Getting angry, nope, not an option. Everything had to be shoved down and just locked away. He treated feeling anything like it was a personal failure. So, when a Marine Corps recruiter came sniffing around during senior year of high school, Chris was kind of like, "Yes, this is it. This is my chance. This is how I'm going to become the man that I'm supposed to be." Because what is more hardcore, more emotionless, more tough guy energy than becoming a Marine? So, he enlisted. So, once Chris joined the Marines, things actually started to click for him. For the first time, he felt like he belonged somewhere. And right around that same time, he also fell in love.

• 7:37Annie Elise?

  It was 1997, and Chris was now 22 years old. And that is when he met 21-year-old Sherri Weiss. Now Sherri was also in the Air Force, and they were both at this canine training center in San Antonio when they met. And Sherri was the complete opposite of Chris. She was this free-spirited, very playful, very kind of like a wild soul. Just a stark contrast to who Chris was. In fact, she joined the military not for the structure or for the toughness of it all, but strictly for the adventure. She wanted to travel. She wanted to see the world. She wanted to do something big and do it on her own terms. But then came Chris, this quiet, very intense, very emotionally locked-up guy. But Sherri loved it.

• 8:22Annie Elise?

  She thought that he was sweet, maybe, yeah, a little awkward, but in a cute way. So, they hit it off, and they started dating fast. But as for Chris, he was still Chris. He was still closed off, super private, totally uncomfortable with affection. Even holding hands in public felt like it was too much for Chris. So, he didn't know how to show love, because he had really been raised to think that showing emotion was basically a weakness. So, he kept everything in, just like he always had. Sherri, on the other hand, was the exact opposite, as I said. She loved love. She loved hugs, hand-holding, telling people how much they meant to her. That's just who she was. She never would hold back. And honestly, that might have been what drew Chris to her.

• 9:05Annie Elise?

  To her in the first place because she brought this like energy, this warmth, this life into his very, I don't know, sterile, buttoned up type of world. It was totally like this opposites attract kind of energy. Now, even though he wasn't big on affection, three months into their relationship, boom, Sherry was pregnant. And for her, that changed everything. She wanted to be a good mom, which also meant stability, routine, not bouncing around with the air force. So she made a huge decision. She decided to leave. And that is when things started to get weird because Chris then takes her home to meet his

• 9:44Annie Elise?

  family and he introduces her, but he introduces her as a friend, not his girlfriend, not the mother of his unborn child, just a friend. And honestly, look, I don't know what Chris was thinking, introducing Sherry as just a friend. Like, did he really think that he was gonna keep this whole pregnant girlfriend thing a secret? I don't know, maybe he already knew that his parents weren't gonna be fans of her or not approve, which spoiler alert, they absolutely were not fans of her. They did not approve. But either way, him trying to keep this secret, it definitely didn't work and it didn't matter because his parents figured it out immediately. Sherry was visibly pregnant. And not long after that very awkward introduction to his

• 10:25Annie Elise?

  parents, the two of them got married. But now, even as Chris's wife, Sherry still could not win with his family. And Chris's mom Connie was especially harsh with Sherry. She once described Sherry as, quote, "Just a little blonde thing, nothing much to look at," which, like, geez, like, harsh, right? God. She once even straight up told Chris that Sherry wasn't smart, that she wasn't interesting, and that he could do way better. And she also decided that Sherry must have trapped him, pressured him into this, you know, sinful relationship, just to lock down a marriage and cash in, which, by the way, made no sense and was a wild accusation because Sherry

• 11:08Annie Elise?

  actually made more money than Chris at the time. And his dad Ron, it was the same vibe. He told Chris that Sherry Was not the kind of woman that he had hoped that he would end up with. Basically, they painted her as this manipulative outsider who just dragged their very sweet, very obedient son into this like heathen world of premarital sex. Which, okay, first of all, she didn't get pregnant by herself, right? Hello, it takes two to tango. She's not gonna just like magically get pregnant on her own. Second, Chris was not some innocent bystander here. Not at all. They were both in that relationship together. And the irony in all of this is that Sheri was incredibly involved in their church.

• 11:50Annie Elise?

  She volunteered regularly. She ran charity fundraisers. She donated her own money to causes that she cared about. She was a good person. But none of that seemed to matter to his parents Connie and Ron. They were way more focused on the fact that Sheri had this big, bright, vibrant, adventurous personality. And that she was now bringing Chris out of his quiet, once reserved little shell. He loved her energy, but his parents, not so much. So after their son Garrett was born, Chris ended up leaving the Marines. Now officially, it was so that he could get a better paying job and support his family. However, his dad hinted at a very different reason.

• 12:33Annie Elise?

  He said that maybe Chris had lost faith in the military altogether because of the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal that was happening at the time. That was all over the news. Again, kind of a nod back to this very buttoned up, very, you know, non-premarital sex, very tightly wound life. Which, maybe that's the case, but also kind of feels like a stretch, so I don't know. But anyway, after leaving the Marines, Chris landed a pretty cushy new job. He was now a bodyguard for a televangelist named Joyce Meyer. And this wasn't just some random job that he happened to stumble into. Joyce was actually friends with his parents Connie and Ron. So when they told her that their son needed work,

• 13:16Annie Elise?

  she ended up hooking him up with a job on her personal security team. Now, if you don't know who Joyce Meyer is, let me just explain a little bit of the backstory. She wasn't just any- Preacher. She was the televangelist at the time. I mean, she was raking in millions of dollars. She was flying private. She was preaching around the world. She was just like living this very large life. She also had a hit TV show called Enjoying Everyday Life. And by 2002, she was signing $10 million book deals. I mean, a lot of money. However, all of that success, it came with a lot of controversy. Even inside the church world, people were kind of giving her this side eye for her lavish lifestyle.

• 13:58Annie Elise?

  Kind of like, okay, well, how does a servant of God end up with a $2 million mansion? Also, a corporate jet, a Mercedes, even a marble topped antique toilet, which I didn't even know that that freaking existed. But, you know, why not, right? If you've got the money, why not buy a marble topped toilet? So you can imagine how all of this rubbed people the wrong way, right? Protesters started showing up to her events. People were calling her a fraud, a thief. I mean, you name it. That's why she actually ended up needing that private security team in the first place. And Joyce didn't skimp out when it came to paying this security team. Chris was pulling in a low six-figure salary. Not too bad.

• 14:39Annie Elise?

  And at first, he was very into it. The travel, the money, everything, it all just felt very exciting. But after a while, he started to see the cracks. He would quote with his neighbors that his job was mostly, quote, "looking intimidating", and that Joyce was never really in any real danger. But then other times, he would complain that he was breaking his back just to protect this rich woman that he didn't even respect. And his wife Sheri was not thrilled with this setup either. Chris was gone all the time because he was traveling with Joyce. Meanwhile, Sheri was stuck at home wrangling the kids. And when she got pregnant with their second son, Gavin, she begged him to be around more. But he wouldn't. Bills had to be paid. He had to work. He had to make money for the family.

• 15:24Annie Elise?

  And here's where things started to take a bit of a turn. Because even if Chris didn't think that Joyce was really at risk, someone out there seemed to. She started getting threats, anonymous emails, warning her that she had to stop preaching or else. And then, things got personal. Joyce received an email from a sender who called themselves [email protected]. That was the actual email address, [email protected]. And the subject line said, "Chris's family, they are dead." This email threatened to kill Chris's wife and his kids unless Joyce stopped preaching. And it even mentioned specific dates and locations for their upcoming schedule.

• 16:08Annie Elise?

  But there was something about this email and about this whole thing that just felt off, you know? I mean, for starters, the message was weirdly addressed to Chris and Joyce, as if they were like a duo, a pair, which, pick Elaine. Who are you trying to threaten here? Pick one or the other. And it told Chris that he needed to forward the email to Joyce, even though it had gone directly to her email address. And also, let's be honest here, if this person hated Joyce, why would they threaten Chris's family? Wouldn't you go after somebody personally? Or somebody that Joyce was actually close to? Maybe like, her own husband? Why would you go after her bodyguard? It just wasn't making sense. Something about it just did not add up. But even still, that wouldn't be the last

• 16:52Annie Elise?

  time that Joyce, or Chris, heard from this so-called anonymous threatener. The person behind these emails claimed that they had met Chris at one of Joyce's events. Supposedly, as the story goes, they tried to approach Joyce, and then Chris stepped in and stopped them. But when the investigators asked Chris about it, he was kind of like, "Uh, I don't even remember that." And then when they looked into the event footage, it didn't show anything even close to that happening. So was this all fabricated? Which, on paper, this definitely was not sounding like it was a credible threat. Not at all. But for Chris, he took it seriously. His family was threatened. He also told everyone that he was going to install security cameras all around his house

• 17:34Annie Elise?

  to protect his wife Sheri and the boys. He even reached out to his neighbor, who was a police officer named Justin, asking him for advice. He hoped that things would die down. But unfortunately, that was not the last email. [email protected] kept sending more emails, and they just got darker and darker. The threats now became graphic, they became violent, and they started expanding. Now, this sender wasn't just targeting Chris's family, but they also mentioned wanting to hurt two other people. Someone named Danny and someone named David. Which, who the hell were Danny and David? Still unclear, but the sender seemed to think

• 18:18Annie Elise?

  that those names would mean something to Chris, or maybe to Joyce, or maybe to both of them. Then came the morning of May 5, 2009. Chris woke up early, he wanted to hit the gym before work. Nothing unusual. He kissed his wife Sheri goodbye and left the house at 5:45 a.m. And while he was at the gym working out, he sent his wife Sheri a text message saying, "Hey, wake up and check on the boys." But he got no reply, which, hey, it was still pretty early, so maybe she was sleeping in. I get it. Except, the morning dragged on, and still nothing. No texts, no calls, just total silence from Sheri. So Chris started getting very nervous. He tried her again, but nothing.

• 19:01Annie Elise?

  So eventually, he called that same neighbor, that police officer, Justin, the one that he had told all about the threats to, right? And he said, "Look, something feels off. I'm trying to get ahold of Sheri, but she's not responding. She's not answering." He even mentioned to Justin how he always would text Sheri in the morning to wake her up, and that she always would respond back. So this definitely was not like her. It was alarming. So Justin agreed that he would swing by the house and check in on the family. And right away, he noticed something very strange. One of their windows was wide open, and the screen had been completely removed. Not broken, just removed, and the screen was just kind of sitting there, leaning. It was almost like somebody had very carefully taken it out of the frame.

• 19:46Annie Elise?

  And what Justin found when he went inside was absolutely horrifying.

• 19:58Annie Elise?

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• 20:43Annie Elise?

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• 21:25Annie Elise?

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• 22:05Annie Elise?

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• 22:49Annie Elise?

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• 23:14Annie Elise?

  Now, like I said before, Justin was a police officer, so he was literally trained to look for signs of a break-in, which is exactly what he thought of when he saw that this screen had been removed, right? So he immediately called for backup. And then when the other officers arrived, they all went inside the home to investigate, to see what was going on, was anybody inside, what's happening here? And upon entry, that's when they all saw these very disturbing messages that had been spray painted on the walls, spray painted in apple red, almost as though maybe it was supposed to look like blood. One said, "Fuck you, I am always watching." Then on the wall right next to that one, in the exact same shade of red paint, it said,

• 23:58Annie Elise?

  "I saw you leave." Then on a wall in the hallway, it said, "Fuck you bitch, punished." On another wall on the stairway leading up to the second floor, it said, "You have paid." So all of these very disturbing and cryptic messages just painted all over the walls in this house. Understandably, what the police were seeing inside this house was deeply disturbing. And even stranger, Sherri and the kids were nowhere to be seen at that point, which just did not make sense. Because if someone had broken in and spray painted these weird ass messages all over the house, you would expect Sherri to be like scrubbing it off, trying to shield her boys, trying to hide it. I mean, it's doing something.

• 24:42Annie Elise?

  But the house, it was still. It was silent. So then the police went upstairs. And that's when they found out why it was so quiet. Sherri, Gavin, and Garrett were all dead inside their beds. Each one of them had been covered up with a blanket, almost like someone had tried to tuck them in after killing them. 11-year-old Garrett had a spray painted circle on his bed sheet. 9-year-old Gavin's bed? Well, his had this very graphic message across it, which police have never released exactly what it said, only the fact that it was very disturbing. Now Sherri wasn't covered. She was found face down, naked, in the bed that she shared with Chris. She had been assaulted and also strangled.

• 25:27Annie Elise?

  There was DNA underneath her nails, which indicated that she had fought back, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough to save her life. And here's the thing, strangling someone is not fast. We've discussed that before. It's not like pulling a trigger on a gun and then just being done and walking away. It's something that takes time. It's personal. You have to be right there, up close, up close and center, watching while the life leaves somebody's body. And that kind of murder? It typically points to rage, to hatred. You don't strangle somebody that you feel, I don't know, neutral about. Now, we know that Chris left for the gym at 5:45 a.m. That was caught on security camera footage. Police arrived just before 6:45 a.m.

• 26:10Annie Elise?

  So whoever did this had under an hour to murder three people and then spray paint all of these threats on the walls and on the bed sheets. That was a lot of activity for under 60 minutes. So it just didn't track. And here's where it really starts unraveling. Because experts believe that Sherri and the boys had actually been dead for a few hours before the police arrived. That they had been killed somewhere between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. So before Chris went to the gym, and that would mean that they were murdered while Chris was still at home. Then, when the police told Chris what they discovered, what had happened, Chris barely reacted. No screaming, no sobbing, no shock,

• 26:56Annie Elise?

  nothing like what you'd expect from somebody who just lost their entire family. And they also noticed scratch marks on his arms, fresh ones, the kind that you might get if someone was clawing at you while being strangled. And when they asked Chris about these scratch marks, Chris just kind of shrugged and said, "Mm, I don't know. I don't know how they got there." Then he immediately changed the subject, which, hello, totally normal, right? Not. So police pulled the home's security footage just to be sure. And sure enough, no one came in or went out after Chris left that morning. No masked intruder, no creepy stalker, nothing. Which really begged the question,

• 27:36Annie Elise?

  if someone really wanted to send a message to Joyce Meyer by hurting Chris, why wait until Chris wasn't home? Why kill everyone but Chris? So by the time they sat Chris down for questioning that day, the detectives were already skeptical. And for five hours, they tried to get to the truth.

• 27:56Speaker 06

  Just, I'll tell you what, from the beginning, let's just start off from when you got up this morning until the time you pulled up at the house. Just kind of walk me through that first. And then we'll go through and kind of explain, you know, talk about some different things as far as the emails you've been getting, okay?

• 28:11Speaker 08

  Well, I set mine at 1 o'clock for 5:30, and I used my phone from 1 o'clock. And I got up at 5:30, went in the bathroom.

• 28:20Speaker 08

  Got these clothes here, got on, on. And went to the bathroom, basically got trucked and left. And drove off, I got to where I was at. Called Sherry to wake her up, get her going. And she didn't answer, of course.

• 28:43Speaker 08

  So, I went on to, to the gym, to Gold's Gym, over by Ronnie's Plaza in South Cuddy. And, I don't know, started working out, I text her, text her some, at some point, I might even call her again, I don't remember. I could probably look at my phone if you let me do it.

• 29:02Speaker 06

  Do you guys have, did you guys have a home phone number too, or just cell phones?

• 29:05Speaker 08

  We just used cell phones. So, I text her, and then, uh, she still didn't respond, and, um, probably now, it hadn't been, well, after six o'clock sometime, when I text her, called her. I'm sure it's still on her phone, the time it was. And, uh, she didn't respond, that's not like her, because the kids should have been up and stuff, or getting up and going by then, I believe, and so, I called her again. Called her again on the way back, or when I was getting ready to leave, and, um, she didn't respond again, and I started getting a little concerned, because it's not like her not to answer the phone. Sometimes she won't answer if she's in the shower, but she always calls me back right away. And so, she didn't do that at

• 29:50Speaker 08

  all, and so, that's why I called you.

• 29:52Annie Elise?

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

• 30:08Speaker 06

  So, what time did you text her back, the second time?

• 30:11Speaker 08

  It was eight.

• 30:11Speaker 06

  Six twenty-three, so at, um, six twenty-three AM is when you first text her this morning, it says, "Hey baby, you awake?" Is that right?

• 30:21Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 30:21Speaker 06

  Did you try to call before that, I'm sorry?

• 30:23Speaker 08

  Yeah, I can, well, I'll call up too if you let me.

• 30:25Speaker 07

  Okay, well, that just does text, I'm sorry. Alright, so you're just looking at the text, and how are those up, Justin, should I do?

• 30:30Speaker 06

  Uh, uh, so the first one is from you, it says, "Hey baby, you awake?"

• 30:34Speaker 07

  Six twenty-three, I'm sorry.

• 30:35Speaker 06

  Uh, six twenty-three AM. And then, uh, and she doesn't respond to you, correct?

• 30:40Speaker 08

  It would be on there.

• 30:41Speaker 06

  So, right, okay, okay. And so, the second one from you says, "I know you were tired last night." Six twenty-three, says, "I have about five minutes left on cardio, then I'll be fine." And she never responded any, I don't know, because I could tell, yeah, I could tell on the phone. And then, seven twenty-seven, says, "Hello, you up?"

• 31:07Speaker 06

  7:27? Oh, sorry, 6:27. 6:27. And then at the same time, 6:27, another one goes out, says, "Time to get the kids up."

• 31:17Annie Elise?

  Spoiler alert: Chris is not a smart man, like, at all. This guy worked as a bodyguard, but apparently, he learned everything he knew about crime from, like, reruns of CSI or Law & Order. Because it never even occurred to him that, once he handed over the phone, that the police might actually check his phone and do just that, and look into his phone to see if he was lying. He told the investigators that he always texted Sherry early in the morning to wake her up, right, to check in on her. Cute story, right, if it were true? Except that had literally never happened once in the past. Not once. The day that Sherry was murdered was the first and only time that he ever sent that kind of text message.

• 32:00Annie Elise?

  Which, what a wild coincidence, right? And the cherry on top of all of that is he handed his phone over voluntarily, kind of like, "Here you go, please enjoy this evidence that completely unravels my alibi, completely catches me in a lie, but I'm gonna hand it to you because maybe the motion of me handing it to you will be enough for you not to even look into my phone." Like, what a complete idiot, right? And it didn't stop there. The phone was like a full-on goldmine of information. Photos, messages, videos, all of it. And it painted a very, very clear picture. Things between Chris and Sherry, they had been bad for a long time. Pretty much from the moment that they got married.

• 32:43Annie Elise?

  Sherry, once a carefree, very adventurous soul, had shifted into full-on mom mode. She wanted a stable home, something grounded for the kids, all while Chris was missing the thrill-seeking version of her. And instead of adjusting, he started resenting her for growing up, for becoming a responsible mother. He started venting to all of his friends and neighbors about their, what he called, "a shotgun wedding," saying that he wished he hadn't rushed into it. And whenever Sherry tried to be affectionate with Chris, he just shut her down. She even confided in her friends that sex with Chris felt cold, transactional, like they were roommates who barely even tolerated one another.

• 33:25Annie Elise?

  Sherry believed that their kids needed more of their dad and she reminded him that both of them had sacrificed, both of them had left their jobs and they had both done this to raise a family. But Chris, he didn't see it that way. He thought that she had it easy. She was staying home, just hanging out with the kids, all while he worked and busted his ass. He even accused her of wasting his money, even though she also had a job and actually stuck to their budget. Which also, I just will say this too, being a stay-at-home mom, job or no job, outside of that, is a job in and of itself. It is so hard, it is so insane. I give, you know, so much credit to anybody listening who is a stay-at-home mother,

• 34:05Annie Elise?

  because it is, in my opinion, way more difficult than working a true nine-to-five, truly. I mean that. I don't think that I could ever be built for that life, so props to you. But in Chris's eyes, he didn't see it this way, and he saw that every dollar he made was his. Not theirs, not hers, his. And he believed that no one, not his wife, not even his kids, deserved to touch his money. And people around him, including televangelist Joyce Meyer herself, they knew how rocky his marriage was. Chris made no secret about wanting out. He talked openly about divorce, but he said that he was worried that it might cost him his job. And just like his parents, he started blaming Sherry for everything that was wrong

• 34:48Annie Elise?

  in his life. He even said that while he, yes, loved his kids, they got in the way of what he should be doing with his life. Now, read into that how you want, I have no idea what the fuck that means, but whatever. Like, that's what he believed. Sherry, meanwhile, still believed that they could fix things, that they could make their marriage work, that they could make their family just this nuclear whole family. She thought that all they needed was more time together. And of course, less interference from Chris's parents, who, by the way, after years and years, never stopped criticizing her. Joyce eventually even stepped in and she suggested counseling with a pastor that she knew. And for a moment, it seemed like maybe they were making progress. The counselor even said that Chris did seem committed to working things out. But behind the scenes?

• 35:34Annie Elise?

  That could not have been further from the truth. Sherry was working hard to save her marriage. But Chris, he had already moved on to someone else. Someone who bore a striking resemblance to Sherry. And it was none other than Sherry's former best friend, Tara Lince. Tara and Sherry had known each other since high school. They actually had a lot in common. They were both adventurous, both down for anything. But while Sherry settled down to raise a family, Tara went in the opposite direction, continued to kind of go down that adventurous path. She started working at a gentleman's club as a cocktail waitress, just continuing to be this independent, fun, exciting person, just kind of always living for the thrill of it. And to Chris, she really reminded him of everything

• 36:19Annie Elise?

  that he used to love about Sherry, the Sherry before she became a mother. So their affair started in November of 2008. Coincidentally, when Tara had showed up to one of Joyce Meyer's events, one of the events that was taking place in Florida, which by the way, was an event that Sherry had encouraged Tara to attend, hoping that maybe the sermons would inspire Tara to find a more grounded path, to leave the gentleman's club and to perhaps, you know, pursue more of a whatever, life on the street and narrow, I guess you could say. Which, yeah, this obviously backfired because instead it introduced her to a life with Sherry's husband. Instead of finding Jesus, Tara found Chris. And this wasn't just a fling.

• 37:02Annie Elise?

  Chris became obsessed. He kept these very detailed notes in his phone. Dates, milestones, future plans, gift ideas, even potential baby names. Which I gotta say is really rich when he already was saying that he loved his kids, but that they got in the way of his life. And now he's thinking of possibly having more kids. Like, probably not my guy. You probably shouldn't, but whatever, just my two cents. But it's given delusional, okay? He also started telling people that Sherry and his kids were keeping him from his real destiny. And that destiny was Tara. So the two of them started going on trips together. Arizona, Hawaii, they were even planning a cruise the following year.

• 37:45Annie Elise?

  But here's the twist, Tara wasn't nearly as into Chris as he was into her. She was still seeing other guys. She even went on a cruise in December of 2008, the same year their affair started with somebody else. She was also very flirty with Sherri's brother and with Chris's own brother, which I guess that takes a whole new meaning into keeping it in the family. But like, she was still out there dating. She saw this as casual at most. Now, it's unclear if Chris knew about all of that, but in any event, he was spiraling. He started talking openly too about how he just was not attracted to Sherri anymore. And he also was such a prick that he would take these very unflattering photos of her while she was sleeping and would start writing these nasty comments about her body.

• 38:30Annie Elise?

  Just a complete asshole. Meanwhile, he and Tara were doing the opposite. They were making videos together, sexual videos together, naked videos together. They were talking about marriage. They were talking about how much they loved each other, even though Tara was still dating other people. In a true like cringe, ick, disgusting moment, Chris even filmed himself in one of these home movies where he was literally jerking off in the shower while he was saying how much he loved Tara more than he ever loved Sherri. Which, I mean, like, not to give you a disgusting graphic visual, but can you just imagine that for a moment? Like, a video this guy's taking of himself, holding his phone. Like, if you're watching the video version of this, you, I'm not showing you the video,

• 39:12Annie Elise?

  but I'm reenacting, holding his phone, just like jerking off in the shower, being like, "I love you so much more than I ever loved her." Like, it's so pathetic. It's so freaking disturbing. It, it just makes me laugh. It's so embarrassing. But whatever, he apparently like was into this. Which, to each their own, okay? I'm not trying to shame him, but if this guy ever sent me that kind of video while comparing me to his wife and doing that and just like so cringey, I'd be blocking his number immediately. It's so embarrassing. It was gross. It was manipulative. And desperado, if I'm just being honest. And to make matters even worse, Chris's own parents, his pastor parents, they knew about

• 39:54Annie Elise?

  this affair and they were weirdly supportive of it. These same people who had once slut shamed Sheri for getting pregnant before marriage, were now suddenly fine with Chris cheating on his wife with a stripper, or a cocktail waitress, I should say, at a strip club. Just the hypocrisy of it all is wild. Sheri meanwhile, was still fighting for the marriage. She went to counseling, she tried to reconnect, she tried everything and anything to keep her family together. But Chris was just stringing her along. Every time they left a counseling session, he would go right back into belittling her. All the while, he was texting Tara behind her back. And Sheri could feel that something was off. Eventually, she found enough clues too, to confirm it.

• 40:39Annie Elise?

  She knew Chris was cheating. However, she didn't know who the other woman was. But she did show a friend of hers, a photo of Tara, kind of asking like, do you think that this could be the one? She was just so uncertain. Sheri also confided in friends that Chris had assaulted her, twice. She started dropping these terrifying hints too, saying things like, if anything ever happens to me or the kids, it was Chris. How many times have we heard something like that before? And here's the part that really stings. It all escalated so fast. Chris met up with Tara in late November, and by Christmas Day, he told Sheri that he wanted a divorce. He said that she and the kids were holding him back from what he called, quote, "God's plan."

• 41:24Annie Elise?

  He told his friends, he had already emotionally checked out, long before Tara came into the picture too, just that he was over Sheri, over the kids, over this suburban dad life. He wanted freedom, he wanted money, and he wanted no one to answer to. So basically, his dream was to be a deadbeat dad and go on vacation and get a tan. I don't know. But Sheri was not going to roll over and take this lightly. She had given up everything, her military career, her independence, all to build a life with Chris. So she told him that- She was not gonna make this easy. But then, fast forward a few months, and it was May 2009. And Sherry and the boys were gone. And now, remember, the police, they had Chris's phone right there in their hands.

• 42:08Annie Elise?

  And they now knew everything. And they were not done with him yet.

• 42:19Annie Elise?

  Okay, can we just talk about holiday gifting for a second? There's nothing like having those pieces in your closet that you absolutely love, that you know you can count on for any occasion. For me, it's like this nice little silk two-piece jumpsuit. It's like a pant and a nice little like top blouse, because I'm not really a dress person. And I feel like the best part is like, maybe give somebody else that feeling. Having that staple to go to in their closet that is high quality, that looks great, that they can wear for any occasion. So this holiday season, I've not only found those pieces for myself in the past at Quince, but I am paying it forward and I am gifting the gift of Quince this season. Everything there is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands,

• 43:01Annie Elise?

  because they work directly with ethical factories and they cut out the middleman. So you're giving luxury quality, but without that luxury price tag. I've told you before too, if like you wanna maybe not branch out and do clothes, because that's a little bit personal of a gift, their cashmere throw blanket, I'm telling you, you will be the favorite daughter-in-law, favorite son-in-law, favorite friend. It is the best gift you could give. Cashmere throw blanket, mark my words. So go ahead, go check it all out at quince.com. Give the gift of quality this holiday season. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers or go to quince.com. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK too.

• 43:45Annie Elise?

  And when Quince asks you where you heard about them, let them know that it was Serial Sli that sent you. It is the best way to support the show. This episode is sponsored by Chime. Get more of your money with Chime. With the Chime card, you get 5% cash back in a category of your choice with qualifying direct deposits. From gas to travel to dining. Choose the category that fits where you're spending most that month, then try switching it up next month. If you're spending $1,000 a month on groceries, you could get up to 600 a year back. Plus, you get travel perks like airport lounge access and 24/7 travel concierge included with your Chime card. There are no annual fees, no interest, and no credit check to apply.

• 44:27Annie Elise?

  Join the millions who already are banking fee-free with America's number one choice for banking. Head to chime.com/serialistically. That is chime.com/serialistically. Sign up now, it only takes a few minutes. Chime is a fintech, not bank. Banking services and Chime card provided by Chime's bank partners. Qualifying direct deposits required. Terms and limits apply. Go to chime.com/disclosures for details.

• 44:57Annie Elise?

  So let's get back into Chris's interrogation, because things started to get very interesting.

• 45:03Speaker 07

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

• 45:05Speaker 08

  Yes, I'm writing.

• 45:06Speaker 07

  And would you describe what you're talking about?

• 45:08Speaker 08

  I saw it was written, writing.

• 45:11Speaker 07

  What would the source have been of the substance?

• 45:15Speaker 08

  I don't know.

• 45:17Speaker 07

  You just think it's paint? Did you think it was...

• 45:19Speaker 08

  I assume it's probably paint.

• 45:20Speaker 07

  Alright. Could you see what it said, or what it's... I mean, this is...

• 45:26Speaker 08

  I didn't read it.

• 45:27Speaker 07

  Alright, we've got...

• 45:28Speaker 08

  It was just such a... I don't know.

• 45:32Speaker 07

  Do you have any paint at your house?

• 45:34Speaker 08

  I don't think so.

• 45:35Speaker 07

  No, don't?

• 45:36Speaker 08

  I don't think so.

• 45:37Speaker 07

  Okay. Any spray paint?

• 45:41Speaker 08

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

• 45:47Speaker 07

  This last December?

• 45:48Speaker 08

  Yeah. And I went to Joyce with it, told her about it, or Danny, I can't remember which one. And now...

• 45:56Speaker 08

  They knew about it. They suggested that we meet with somebody and see if we could work out whatever it was. Really, all it was was just communication. I communicated very well.

• 46:06Annie Elise?

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

• 46:41Speaker 06

  Any, uh, anything as far as that sticks out in your mind from this morning when you left? Did you notice anything?

• 46:52Speaker 08

  The only thing I told somebody was, the only thing I can remember is having to slow down for a car backing out of the driveway. That's it.

• 47:00Speaker 06

  From the, what straights were they backing up?

• 47:02Speaker 08

  I don't know. Yeah, it's the same thing. It was like three or four up. I don't know. On the left inside. That's all that I remember.

• 47:08Speaker 06

  You noticed anything about the car?

• 47:11Speaker 08

  It was just the darker colors. I think I'm sorry, I shouldn't have observed it.

• 47:15Speaker 06

  I mean, anything that, uh, anything that sticks out? Were you able to tell them what kind of car it was? I mean, did you recognize it in the neighborhood at all?

• 47:24Speaker 08

  No. No, it was just backing out of the driveway. I didn't even.

• 47:27Annie Elise?

  At one point during the interrogation, Chris asked for a blanket or a sweatshirt, saying that he was cold. And this struck the officers as very odd, because the room was hot. It was stuffy. Which, to be fair, people do run differently. Some of us blast AC all year round, others throw a hoodie on when it's 80 degrees out. So, whatever, I get it. It's not the biggest red flag in the grand scheme of things. But still, I mean, given everything else, it did add to some of the weird vibes that were already going down. And the detectives also noticed that Chris sort of held up this blanket in a way that covered the scratches on his arms, almost like he was hoping that if the police weren't weren't looking at them and seeing them that they might forget that they existed entirely.

• 48:10Annie Elise?

  Or maybe it was a subconscious thing where he was feeling guilty and felt like he needed to cover up or hide himself because of shame. I don't really know. And I don't even know if that could be true because the truth of the matter is Chris was shameless. At one point, the officer stepped out of the room for a minute and what does he do? He leans over and he starts reading through their notes, going through their notepad, everything that they had, like trying to see what they were writing, what they had sussed out on him. It was almost like he couldn't resist looking and finding out what they thought of him, whether or not they were buying his story. Then finally, the detectives came back in and that's when this exchange happened.

• 48:49Speaker 07

  We've got, um, when, when you left the house this morning,

• 48:56Speaker 07

  was your wife alive?

• 48:58Speaker 08

  Oh, yeah.

• 48:59Speaker 07

  That's right.

• 49:03Speaker 07

  What would you say if I told you I, that I don't think she was?

• 49:08Speaker 08

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

• 49:14Annie Elise?

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

• 50:00Annie Elise?

  And there was also this other part of it. He did get emotional at times and I will say in some of those moments, it actually felt real.

• 50:15Speaker 07

  Well, we're gonna do, you know, Chris, we're gonna, we're gonna get past that, okay? We're gonna, we're gonna work this out and get through it, alright?

• 50:24Speaker 07

  But what we need, the best thing you can do for us is help us. You are, you do a great job, man. But the best thing we can do is work together and try to figure all this out, okay?

• 50:35Annie Elise?

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

• 50:44Speaker 08

  She was laying right beside me.

• 50:46Speaker 07

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

• 51:05Speaker 08

  I don't know. I guess the timeframe when I was gone.

• 51:10Speaker 07

  No, you got it wrong. Chris, we, we need to get this resolved, okay? That you can't argue with physical evidence.

• 51:18Speaker 08

  I'm not trying to argue with it, I know.

• 51:20Speaker 07

  What, what I'm telling you is, there is no other explanation, there's no other reason that the information we have would support what you're telling us. That it can't, it can't. You've told us the story, and we've gone over it numerous times. You know what? We walked out, "Justin, maybe, maybe we missed this. Let's go in and talk to him about this, and just make sure that we're not missing something. Let's give him every opportunity to tell us exactly what happened, and, and maybe we're missing something." So that's why we go out and we come back in, and we go out and we come back in. I did have to use the restroom, that was legitimate, but we go out and we come back in. And we felt very comfortable that we've given you every opportunity to tell us

• 52:06Speaker 07

  something that was gonna contradict the information that we had.

• 52:10Speaker 07

  We, we've got this information, you're saying it, and, and we're giving you an opportunity to, to give us something contrary to what you told us before, so that, okay, yeah, alright, that would make sense. That hasn't happened.

• 52:24Annie Elise?

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

• 52:47Speaker 07

  Listen, man, she wasn't alive when you left. She was alive. She was. She was laying right beside me. We can go back and forth with this all day long, but the physical evidence doesn't lie, man. She was, she was not alive when you left this morning. The children were alive when you left this morning. Yes, they were. No, come on, Chris. We gotta, we gotta get over this. Now, there's reasons, there's reasons, and that's what we're, that's the point we're at. I wanna hear the reasons. Now's when we need to find out what happened, man. It's so important. You're at a great point to be able to help us to try to figure this out. We already have, we already know what happened. We need to know why it happened. I don't know what to tell you. Listen, no, you do, you do know what to tell us. Oh, I don't.

• 53:32Speaker 07

  Come on, Chris. She was, she was not alive when you left. The children were not alive when you left. You know that's true, and I know that's true. We need to clear this up now. We need to clear it up now. Did something happen? What happened? Nothing happened. What was going on in your life, Chris? Because I can't buy what you're saying. The physical evidence does not lie, Chris. It does not. She was not alive when you left, period. Physical evidence does not lie, man. What do you want me to tell you? I don't, I'm telling you the truth. How, how did, how did, how did we get to this point? That's what I need to know. I need to know how and why we got to the point we're at right now. We both know you're not telling me the truth. We both know that.

• 54:13Speaker 07

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

• 54:56Speaker 07

  The more we go back like this, the more it makes me think that there may be, even isn't a good explanation for it. I mean, I mean, we need to know what happened. We can't keep going on this. It didn't, you know, I, she was alive when I left. We know that's not true, and there's nothing we can do about changing that. If we know she wasn't alive when, when, when you left this morning, there's gotta be an explanation. Now is the time to tell us. Now is the time to get this out of me. I don't know what else to tell you. Yes, you do. Yes, you do. You have to tell me the truth, Chris. I'm telling you the truth. You, you, were you involved in her death? No. Okay. Was someone you know involved in her death? I don't know.

• 55:39Speaker 07

  Did you know, uh, did you, did you talk to anybody about arranging her death? No, absolutely not.

• 55:46Annie Elise?

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

• 56:31Annie Elise?

  And somehow, she managed to make him look even more guilty than he already did.

• 56:36Speaker 09

  How long have you been in a relationship with Chris?

• 56:40Speaker 10

  Since late November, early December.

• 56:42Speaker 09

  Where did all the guys went together?

• 56:43Speaker 10

  Uh, Phoenix. And Hawaii, Maui.

• 56:47Speaker 09

  What would he tell his wife when he was gone?

• 56:49Speaker 10

  He would have just told that he was working.

• 56:51Speaker 09

  So Sherry was not aware of the affair that you and him were having?

• 56:54Speaker 10

  No, I know she suspected, but you know, he always would take pictures when he was going to sleep to prove that, you know, he wasn't sleeping with her or anything.

• 57:00Speaker 09

  See now, to us, he tried to paint that it was a rosy, perfect marriage.

• 57:03Speaker 10

  No, they never kissed, never hugged.

• 57:06Speaker 09

  Shortly after all this happened, after he came home and discovered all this?

• 57:09Speaker 10

  He texted me.

• 57:10Speaker 09

  What was the message from there?

• 57:12Speaker 10

  From then? Um, call you when I can.

• 57:18Speaker 10

  I'm all right.

• 57:19Annie Elise?

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

• 57:37Speaker 10

  It's Tara. Hey, um, no, I'm in the middle of a really high-profile murder investigation. Um, I've got a murder investigation. I'm right in the middle of it. Um, I have four detectives here sitting at my house. They have no problem giving you proof or anything like that. I thought I was coming into work today.

• 57:57Annie Elise?

  Tara told the police that Chris had planned to serve Sherry with divorce papers in early May 2009. Then, once that was out of the way, he wanted to take Tara on a cruise through the Caribbean in June and then marry her in January of 2010. Very specific, right? Almost like it was all fully planned out. And this wasn't just pillow talk. They had even looked at engagement rings. They had set up wedding registries. Like I said, they were even tossing around baby names, which he had in his phone. They also exchanged promise rings. Promise rings, which, what are we really doing here? You're grown adults. Why are you exchanging promise rings? It just didn't really make sense. One of you is married, you're already sleeping together. Why do you need a promise ring?

• 58:42Annie Elise?

  What promise are you making? It makes no sense. And here's where it gets even darker. After all of that talk about divorce in early May, Chris didn't file. Supposedly, he had messed up the paperwork, which, okay, it's like, okay, if you messed up the paperwork, then fix it and file again. You were obviously so dead set on this, right? And that's how legal documents work. You mess up, maybe on accident, and you fix it and you file. So instead of his marriage ending because of divorce, his marriage ended on May 5th, when Sheri and the boys were found murdered. Now, here's one more thing that I have to mention about this affair too, before we move on, because it is absolutely infuriating. The very day that Sheri, Gavin, and Garrett were killed,

• 59:26Annie Elise?

  Chris's dad, Ron, was text messaging with Tara, the mistress. Which, yes, you heard that right. His son's wife and his grandchildren had just been brutally murdered. Yet, this man was texting his son's mistress, offering her support. How messed up is that? It's like, you need to recalibrate everything in life, if that is the decision that you're making. And we already know that Chris's parents didn't like Sheri. But this? I mean, this was a whole new level. I get that sometimes people just don't vibe with one another, but Sheri was the mother of their grandkids. She was family. And after she was killed, murdered, Ron and Connie were still fully Team Tara.

• 1:00:10Annie Elise?

  No grief, no decency, just reaching out to the other woman like she was the one who had lost something in all of this. And Sheri never did anything to hurt them, yet still, they just trashed her memory. They erased her, they erased her kids. It was cold, it was cruel, and honestly, it was psychotic, if we're just gonna call it like it is. And let's not pretend that Tara was any better. Because remember, before she started hooking up with Chris, she was supposedly Sheri's best friend. They had known each other since high school. But during her interrogation, her tone, her attitude, the way that she talked about Sheri, it was clear, she did not care that her so-called friend was dead.

• 1:00:55Annie Elise?

  So at this point, neither Chris nor Tara was doing a great job pretending to be innocent. It was all unraveling. Now, you also might be thinking, okay, well, wait a second. What about that stalker? What about that weird Gmail account that was sending all those threatening messages, saying that they were gonna hurt Chris, hurt the family, all of these things? Why weren't the police looking into that at all? Well, they did.

• 1:01:23Annie Elise?

  It's officially holiday season, which also means it's hosting season, right? So it's time where you look around, you notice things if you're like me, where like, "Oh, that little area could use a little bit of a refresh," or, "Ooh, I think I need a little bit more decorating over in this corner." And for all things hosting, Wayfair delivers high-quality, customer-trusted products for your home so that you can host and celebrate without having any of the stress. Wayfair helps you create a home that stands up to real life with thousands of products across every style and budget, plus trusted reviews that make shopping just way easier. Think colorful serving bowls, flameless votive candles, a holiday embroidered cotton napkin

• 1:02:04Annie Elise?

  set, just the little touches that make everything feel a bit more elevated and cozy. For me, it's my turn to host this year, so I already knew, looking around, I'm like, "Okay, my dishes are not going to cut it, my napkins aren't going to cut it." So I was able to get actual holiday dishes at a great value, cute embroidered napkins, I got an amazing new like wood cutting board that you can leave out on the counter that's decorative too, so many amazing things, and the reviews really sold it for me. So when you're refreshing your home this holiday season, Wayfair delivers exactly what you need. Head to wayfair.com to shop all things home. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R.com. Wayfair, every style, every home.

• 1:02:54Annie Elise?

  When the police dug into those threatening emails, it did not take long to crack that case fully open. Because as it turns out, big surprise to absolutely no one, they all came from Chris's laptop. And the investigators even gave him an out. They asked, you know, "Could anyone else have used it? Could they have borrowed your computer? Did they have access to it?" But Chris didn't even take this out. He just said, "Nope, he's the only one who ever touched it," which you, once again, are a moron, but we love to see it. We love to see it. Now even worse in all of this is the emails all- Had the same word misspelled. The word was opportunity. And guess what?

• 1:03:35Annie Elise?

  That exact same misspelling showed up in those spray painted messages that were on the walls within the house. Also in regular emails that Chris had sent too. So unless this killer was also a horrible speller and had the exact same matching typos and didn't know how to spell the word opportunity, it was pretty clear who wrote all of these things. Chris had sent those threats to himself, trying to throw the police off, trying to make it look like there was some sort of dangerous stalker out there who was after Joyce Meyer, but gonna go through him to get to her. But there was no stalker. There was no outside threat. It was just Chris.

• 1:04:14Annie Elise?

  Just Chris trying to play criminal mastermind and failing pretty epically and spectacularly. And it didn't stop there. The police tracked down the exact can of red spray paint that was used at the crime scene. And sure enough, Chris is the one who purchased it. Now, in most true crime cases, you're lucky if you get one smoking gun, but Chris, Chris gave them the whole freaking firing range. He is just a moron and thought he was being so strategic, creating an alibi, creating a third party culprit, doing all this stuff, but yet quite literally handing them the proof on a silver platter via his phone to unravel all of that. It's like get a grip guy.

• 1:04:59Annie Elise?

  So with the fake threats, the timeline lies, the affair, the text messages, the DNA, the receipts, the spray paint, I mean, everything. It didn't take long. Chris Coleman was arrested and he was charged with three counts of first degree murder.

• 1:05:17Speaker 11

  Thank you coming tonight. As stated, we have some breaking news. We have made him arrest in the homicide of Sherry Gavin, Derek Coleman. We have a Christian record of his custody. He was charged, likely serious, eight three counts of first degree murder. The death of his wife and his child, children. I'd just first like to say that thanks go out to these men and women. This is just a small piece of this investigation. This breaking news, we got some information tonight that's here to warn them. We started making phone calls and we had ten officers here with them.

• 1:05:54Speaker 11

  The special identification for this investigation. We've done all the fruit and sauce, but it's cooking as well. And also as fishing. She may have anybody, but you're still very comfortable with these charges. They're just going to make it out to you. That's what I'm saying. He's not handed for processing and he will be then transferred to the Montana county jail later on this.

• 1:06:14Speaker 12

  Where's he currently?

• 1:06:16Speaker 11

  He's, uh, he should, he may be here right now, not really for sure. He's in transit.

• 1:06:19Speaker 12

  He's self in.

• 1:06:20Speaker 11

  I'm sorry?

• 1:06:21Speaker 12

  He's self in.

• 1:06:22Speaker 11

  Uh, no, we went to his parents' home and placed them in custody there.

• 1:06:27Speaker 12

  What changed this week, last meeting this week?

• 1:06:29Speaker 11

  I've been talking about how we were waiting on some forensic evidence, forensic testimony, different things, and it just all started coming together. And, uh, for several days now, we've been close. And just tonight, there was, uh, some more evidence that came forward, which we were able to solidify, just a more solid case. Prosecutor felt, as we did, that at this point, there was enough time to charge him and describe. And it's brought the judge late this evening. The judge, after reviewing the evidence that we presented to them, retrieved and issued this warrant for the county court. Any types of charges?

• 1:07:06Speaker 08

  I know you folks can't speak to the prosecutors, but have they indicated what kind of punishment they would seek?

• 1:07:11Speaker 11

  This is very critical. Uh, we have not talked about anything. Thank you. Sir, do you think that that penalty is appropriate? Well, um, that's going to be out for the prosecutor to tie. Uh, there was some information that said it'd be considered. And, uh, you know, for me to stand up there and say what looks right or wrong, that would be inappropriate. Did, uh, Mr. Coleman offer any resistance when he was arrested this evening? None to my knowledge.

• 1:07:37Speaker 12

  Where was he arrested?

• 1:07:39Speaker 11

  At his parents' house in Chesterfield. Is he here now, do you know for sure? Um, I don't know if he's still like with him yet.

• 1:07:46Speaker 12

  What time was the exact time for him to be arrested? Was it midnight?

• 1:07:50Speaker 11

  Uh, just, uh, around the same time the war could have issued.

• 1:07:54Speaker 12

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

• 1:07:58Speaker 11

  Well, I'll tell you, we, we are always looking for additional information that we need to follow up on. Um, I would not say there, we are not looking at anybody else, you know, having involvement with that. I mean, our case remained open. If additional information pops out that, that we need to, to go out and investigate, or as I said, do that.

• 1:08:17Annie Elise?

  Then Sheri's family filed a wrongful death suit against him as well.

• 1:08:25Speaker 13

  There's no words.

• 1:08:27Speaker 13

  There's no words. The only thing that I have to say at this point is,

• 1:08:35Speaker 13

  what Mr. Romanucci said regarding the suit, okay? Me and my family, our goal is to keep my daughter's memory alive, my grandchildren's memories alive, and continue doing things that my daughter has been doing down the road. And if we can save one person from being abused or done what was done to my daughter, that would just make us feel wonderful.

• 1:09:10Annie Elise?

  Now, I will just note this. Sheri's parents actually named Joyce Meyer in their civil suit too. However, a judge dismissed that, basically saying that there was no way that Joyce could have known what her employee, who she may not have even known that well, just gave him the job because she was doing her friends a solid. She couldn't have known what he was planning. And I think that's fair. And I couldn't find out much about what happened in the civil case against Chris. But honestly, the criminal trial, that was the one that really mattered in the grand scheme of things, right? And before we get into the verdict, there's probably one final big question that you have on your mind. And it was the same one that I kept asking while I was researching this case. Why would Chris kill his entire family, including his sons?

• 1:09:54Annie Elise?

  We always say, just get a divorce, right? But even in the cases where they don't get a divorce, usually they just kill the wife and they try to get away with it so that they can then have custody, they can move on with their life, they get the life insurance, and they can start anew with their mistress. So why would he have killed his wife and his sons? And why not just get a divorce? I mean, divorce isn't that bad, not worse than murder bad. But with Chris, it wasn't just the divorce. He was also worried about keeping his job. Joyce Meyer, his boss, was this high-profile Christian leader, and her ministry had very strict rules. No cheating, no adultery. No "moral failure" was allowed.

• 1:10:37Annie Elise?

  So if Chris filed for divorce and it came out that he had been having an affair during all of that, he would lose that very cushy, very sweet, six-figure job as a bodyguard. And that wasn't just speculation. During the trial, Joyce took the stand and she straight up said, "Yeah, if I found out that he was cheating, I would have fired his ass." So what did Chris do? Well, instead of filing for divorce like a normal human being might have done, he decided that the only way to avoid getting caught was to kill Sheri. And as for the boys, he wanted a clean slate. A fresh start. No more wife, no more kids, just a single guy living this fantasy life with Tara with zero responsibility. So, in order to get that clean slate, he murdered them as well.

• 1:11:22Annie Elise?

  Now, of course, Chris claimed his innocence the entire time. His parents, Connie and Ron, also took the stand in his defense. And huge shocker, they blamed Sheri. According to them, she was such a terrible wife that Chris had to cheat. He had no other option, which I don't think I even have anything new to say about these two at this point, except what in the actual fuck? Like, come on, you are horrible human beings. It really, what's the expression? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree? I mean, hello, look at what his parent, who his parents were. Now, Chris's defense did admit that he had bought that spray paint, the one that was used for those messages on the wall. But their theory? Their theory was, somebody else broke in. Somebody else murdered the family then.

• 1:12:06Annie Elise?

  They just happened to find that exact paint that Chris had lying around and they used that paint to stage the scene. Oh, and the timing, you know, right when Chris had originally planned to file for divorce? That was just a total coincidence, according to the defense, which, again, sure, Jan. They also tried to make a big deal about that DNA that was found underneath Sheri's fingernails, because it wasn't a full match for Chris. But the medical examiner did say that there was a high probability that it came from him or a close male relative, which, I'll just be honest, in my mind, that's as close as you're gonna get to saying like, "Yeah, it was him." So the whole court- Room was a mess. I mean, you had Connie and Ron, who were embarrassing themselves.

• 1:12:47Annie Elise?

  Tara, who made an absolute fool of herself. And Chris, with all his lies, his fake threats, his twisted logic, he did not have a leg to stand on. So the jury found him guilty on all three counts of first degree murder. And Chris Coleman was sentenced to life in prison. No parole, no second chance, just exactly what he deserved.

• 1:13:10Speaker 04

  Well, the, uh, you know, I respect the judge's decision. He's had through this entire trial, entire case for over a year and a half, like he said. And he's, he traveled down this, this road in a number of murder trials. And so, um, that's his decision and I respect it. Would you have liked to see the death penalty given in this case? Personally, I would have. And for a couple of reasons. You know, there were, there were a lot of faces in this trial. Faces of professionals, the law enforcement personnel, the prosecutors, even the defense team, you know, I mean, they were a professional group of individuals. Then you had the faces of innocent, innocents. And there were the victims

• 1:13:53Speaker 04

  in this case, Sherry, Garrett, Gavin Coleman. And then there was one other face in this trial that a lot of people saw, at least that's what I saw when I looked at Coleman. And that was the face of evil. And throughout this trial, he's had three very competent, very professional, uh, defense attorneys representing him to make sure that he was treated fairly. Um, I just wish that on May 5th of 2009, Sherry, Garrett, Gavin Coleman would have had somebody there to represent him.

• 1:14:21Annie Elise?

  Yet, none of this made a difference to Ron and Connie. Even after the guilty verdict, they kept giving interviews. They were telling anyone who would listen that Chris was the real victim here. Not Sherry, not Garrett, not Gavin, but Chris. Ron also told reporters, he just couldn't believe that his son would kill his own kids. Which, that right there was his sticking point. He said that there was no motive, no explanation, and in his mind, that was the one detail that proved that Chris had to be innocent. Because he couldn't believe that he would do it. Because for a parent to kill their own children, that takes a special kind of evil. I think we all would agree on that. And he didn't believe that Chris was capable of that evil. And here's where it goes a little off the rails.

• 1:15:05Annie Elise?

  Ron and Connie actually started pushing this bizarre little conspiracy theory that Sheri was the one who sent those threatening emails, and that she sent them from Chris's laptop. The same laptop that Chris himself admitted nobody else ever had access to. And when a reporter asked Chris's father, Ron, what he'd say if Chris ever did confess, he said, quote, "He would be forgiven by me and we would move on. That's the way it's supposed to be. I would never turn my back." Cool, so your daughter-in-law and grandchildren are dead, brutally murdered. Your son is convicted of murdering them, but your plan is just to forgive and move on? I mean, I wish that I could move on from these shitbag parents, but even after Chris quietly disappeared into prison,

• 1:15:51Annie Elise?

  Ron and Connie kept going. Still doing interviews, still defending him, still acting like they were the ones who had been wronged in all of this. It is just infuriating. Ron was even a minister at Grace Church, and he apparently gave a bunch of sermons where he said the devil himself, the literal devil, had gotten Chris convicted. It was all a part of some effort to destroy the Christian church somehow, some way. So I don't know. I'm done trying to make sense of anything that these people say. Now, as for Chris, you know how we always say it's very coincidental that people find religion when they're incarcerated? Well, Chris, he became a minister in prison. Because, of course he did. He even tried to overturn his sentence,

• 1:16:35Annie Elise?

  claiming that there wasn't enough evidence to prove that he was guilty. And I'm not sure which trial he sat through, but it definitely wasn't his own. Because had he sat through that, he would see that there was a lot of evidence to prove that he was guilty. But just like his parents, he claimed that Sheri probably got onto his laptop and that she sent those threatening emails herself. He also said that he and his dad found video footage of some mysterious stranger dropping a threatening letter into the mailbox. But every time that somebody asked- To see that footage or that letter, poof, it just conveniently didn't exist. No one ever saw the footage, no one ever saw the proof. It was all just smoke and mirrors.

• 1:17:14Annie Elise?

  So Chris's appeal was denied in 2020, yet that didn't stop him or his dad Ron from insisting that he was somehow innocent, despite the mountains of evidence. Connie ended up passing away that same summer. But Ron is still out here, still out in the streets defending his son like he's the second coming and like he could do no evil ever. Which, let me just be clear, having crappy parents does not mean that you get a free pass to murder people, certainly not. Plenty of people grow up in toxic homes and have horrible parents and they do not become killers. But watching how Ron and Connie responded to all of this, I have no problem believing

• 1:17:55Annie Elise?

  that they raised Chris with this like deep rooted sense of entitlement. Like he was always right, that he always deserved more, that he shouldn't be held accountable for literally anything. Because even after murdering three people, two of them being his own children, they still coddled him. So I mean, is it really that shocking that Chris believed that he was owed this perfect life? This sexy, exciting wife? This freedom to spend his money however the heck he wanted? No nagging, no bills, no responsibility? And then when Sheri didn't give him that, when real life didn't match his fantasy? He didn't walk away, he destroyed it. And I will just say this, if he had married Tara, I think that would have fallen apart as well because he didn't want a partner.

• 1:18:40Annie Elise?

  He wanted this prop for this life that he thought that he deserved. Now, I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, how everyone involved in this case is awful, right? And unfortunately, it didn't stop with Chris and his family. After Sheri's murder, her friends and family raised about 35 grand to build this beautiful memorial for Sheri, Gavin and Garrett. And the plan was then to use any of the leftover money to support domestic violence causes. Well, the memorial, it never happened. And almost all of that money, 35 grand, just vanished. And after an investigation into the missing funds was done, Sheri's own brother, Mario, was sued for allegedly stealing that money.

• 1:19:21Annie Elise?

  Which, let me repeat that, her own brother allegedly stole tens of thousands of dollars from his murdered sister's memorial fund. And I'm saying allegedly because there's almost no public information on how that lawsuit ended, but someone clearly pocketed the money and it is absolutely vile and disgusting. So yeah, almost every single person in this case, everyone except Sheri, Gavin and Garrett, acted like the worst version that a human being could possibly act. I mean, what is wrong with these people? And I'm sure you've got a lot of thoughts on your own, which I want to hear them. So let me know in the Q and A section on Spotify or in the comment section over on YouTube, also in the review section on Apple. What do you think was going on in Chris's head?

• 1:20:06Annie Elise?

  And why do you think his parents were so blind and so enabling to all of this? And honestly, is there anyone in this case that doesn't suck besides Sheri and the kids? It is just awful. So I'm going to leave you with this. Just get a divorce. If you are going to cheat, or you want life insurance, or you want out of your marriage, I know it sucks. I know divorce can be messy. I know that sometimes it can be expensive, but just do it. It's better than murder. It's better than leaving your children without their parent. It's better than spending the rest of your life in prison. Just get a freaking divorce. All right, guys, that's it for today's episode.

• 1:20:47Annie Elise?

  I will be back with you very soon with another deep dive of the case, plus headline highlights this Thursday, where I will be breaking down everything happening this week in the true crime world. As a reminder, we are back out on tour. I think we have a couple of tickets left for some of the shows, but it's a brand new case, like we have never explored before. It's an interactive tour. There's meet and greets. There's a lot of things that I'm not going to share here. You just have to go to see it, but I'm really excited to meet with all of you guys in person. So you can find the whole breakdown of all of the cities over on the website, annieelise.com. It also will have direct links with how to purchase tickets if you want to go, if you want to do the meet and greets, all of that stuff. So check that out. I am so excited to meet you guys. Being on tour is like one of my favorite things because I just love getting face to

• 1:21:32Annie Elise?

  face with you and talking about all of these cases and. You know, just meeting you guys in person. So check that out. All right. Other than that, I will talk with you soon. And my sign off for today's episode, say it with me, just get a divorce. All right. Bye.

• 1:21:58Speaker 14

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• 1:22:23Speaker 15

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