![\"Chris-and-Sheri-Coleman\"](\"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Chris-and-Sheri-Coleman.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
It was a world that Chris was addicted to \u2013 he was financially comfortable and it gave him freedom that he took advantage of.<\/p>\n
At his home in Waterloo, Illinois, stunning Sheri was the perfect wife and mother.<\/p>\n
Children Gavin and Garett were polite and well-mannered, and Chris would kick a ball with them outside before tucking them into bed with prayers.<\/p>\n
But his job enabled him to live a secret life. Since 2008, he\u2019d been having an affair with a cocktail waitress, Tara Lintz, who he\u2019d met because she was a childhood friend of Sheri.<\/p>\n
Chris would arrange to meet Tara while he was away and he seemed utterly besotted. He gave her a promise ring, sent endless texts and talked about marriage.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But divorce was unthinkable in Chris\u2019s world. His boss Joyce had made a recorded statement saying that employees would be demoted or fired if they divorced.<\/p>\n Then, out of the blue, Joyce and Chris both received an intimidating email saying Chris had to give up working for Joyce\u2019s company \u2013 which has been criticised for the lavish lifestyle of its members.<\/p>\n When more threats came, police stepped up patrols around the Colemans\u2019 home, but by 2009, letters turned up on their doorstep.<\/p>\n “Time is running out for you and your family\u2026”<\/p>\n It looked like someone was trying to get to Joyce \u2013 but no one else was receiving these threats but Chris.<\/p>\n In the meantime, Tara had given Chris an ultimatum. She wanted him to leave Sheri by May 4 so they could get married.<\/p>\n When the deadline arrived, she called Chris. He told her the divorce papers were ready and he\u2019d hand them over to his wife the very next day.<\/p>\n Early on May 5, 2009, Chris had been to the gym when he phoned his neighbour, a police detective who knew about the threats.<\/p>\n The officer even had a camera in his driveway set up to watch their home.<\/p>\n Chris said he couldn\u2019t get hold of his family and they were usually awake by now. So the detective called the station and with other officers, he went round to check.<\/p>\n When no one answered the door, they entered through a window and found red spray paint writing on the walls. “U have paid,” one read. Another said, “Punished,” followed by “I am watching.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Inside Sheri, Garett and Gavin were dead. They\u2019d been strangled in their beds with a cord that was never found.<\/p>\n Chris arrived and was held back from the scene.<\/p>\n When officers told Chris his family were dead, they noted that his tears seemed forced.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t ask how they\u2019d been killed and he tried to cover scratches on his arms.<\/p>\n Straight away, he became the prime suspect. Chris was taken in for questioning.<\/p>\n He insisted his family had been alive when he\u2019d left but reports proved that Sheri, Garett and Gavin were all dead by 5.30am \u2013 the time Chris said he left the house.<\/p>\n The police quickly found out about Tara, which gave him a motive.<\/p>\n CCTV from the neighbour\u2019s home showed that no one else had entered the house after Chris left and there was no other DNA on the bodies.<\/p>\n Credit statements revealed that Chris had bought spray paint in the same colour and make that was used at his home.<\/p>\n Worse, the threatening emails were traced back to an account Chris had set up six months before his family were killed. Had he been planning the crime all along?<\/p>\n Chris was arrested and charged with murder.<\/p>\n In April 2011, his high profile trial began. He admitted having an affair but pleaded not guilty and wore a bulletproof vest for his own protection.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>