'Til Murder Do Us Part: 15 Couples Who Killed
One killer is horrible, but two--words cannot even begin to describe the horror that two killers can bring. In fact, there's only one thing worse: two killers in love!
This book profiles 15 couples you'd never want to go on a double date with!
This book profiles 15 couples you'd never want to go on a double date with!
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'Til Murder Do Us Part 1 PDF and ePub |
Excerpt
Introduction
There are some people who just don’t seem complete until they meet their “soul mate.” This belief takes a frightening twist in the case of deadly couples; many harmless individuals turn into bloodthirsty monsters when they link up with a lover. Two seemingly ordinary people turn into a vicious team that is a threat to all around them.
Such a romance can lead to a murder spree, serial killing, or in the worst possible cases, the destruction of one’s own family. There have been many cases of somebody murdering or helping to murder a lover’s parents, grandchildren, and even their own children.
Yet such deadly love rarely lasts; when killer couples are caught and facing prison or execution, they quickly turn on each other. Couples that kill together often end up testifying against each other on the witness stand. Passion can lead to violence, but it is often overcome by the cold blooded instinct for survival when the atrocities end.
Alton Coleman and Debra Denise Brown: The Killer Couple and the Summer of Death
Alton Coleman and Debra Denise Brown had a short but memorable crime spree that turned 1984 into the year of the “summer of death” in the American Midwest. Like Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, they terrorized an entire region of the country by targeting average people at random.
The two managed to kill eight people in four states during their rampage. Like Starkweather and Fugate, they committed violent and senseless crimes seemingly at random. They were also able to roam about at will, evading authorities as they went. It took the police forces of several states, one Canadian province, and the FBI working together to finally bring the two to justice.
From Drop Out to Spree Killer
Like Charles Starkweather, Alton Coleman was a loser, a middle school dropout who lived with his grandmother in Waukegan, Ill. Coleman’s mother had been a prostitute, and she often had sex with customers in the presence of her son. Coleman had already been charged with sex crimes, including the rape of a 14-year-old girl, before he went on the rampage.
Denise Brown was one of 11 children from a poor family. She had a low IQ, and some observers described Denise as possibly mentally disabled. Brown also had a dependent personality, so she was easily manipulated by a psychopath like Coleman. Like Caril Anne Fugate, Brown had no history of violence or criminal activity before running off with a spree killer.
Denise Brown met Coleman in 1983 and moved in with him, despite the fact that she was engaged to another man at the time. Once he had a partner-in-crime, Alton Coleman graduated from sexual predator to full-blown serial killer.
The “Summer of Death” Begins
The so-called “summer of death” began on May 29, 1984, when Alton Coleman kidnapped Juanita Wheat. Coleman raped and murdered Wheat, then dumped her body in an abandoned building near his grandmother’s home. He then stole a car from his friend, Robert Carpenter, and embarked on a deadly road trip with Denise Brown.
The two next turned up in the decaying steel town of Gary, Ind. in June. There, they kidnapped two young sisters, Annie and Tamika Turks. Both Brown and Coleman sexually assaulted the girls. Nine-year-old Annie survived, but seven-year-old Tamika was strangled.
The duo then moved onto Toledo, Ohio, where they targeted the family of Virginia Temple. When Temple stopped calling her family members, they got worried and checked her house. The bodies of Temple and her daughter, Rachelle, were found in the crawl space of her home. They had been raped and strangled.
By the time Temple’s body had been found, Coleman and Brown had moved onto Dayton, Ohio. There, they convinced the Rev. Millard Gay to drive them to Cincinnati. From Cincinnati, the two bicycled to Norwood, Ohio, where they murdered Marlene Walters and stole her car. They also savagely beat Walters’s husband, Harry, and left him for dead in his own basement. Forensic evidence indicated that Harry had been beaten with a soda bottle and Marlene with a magazine rack.
Serial Killers on the Run and the Rampage
By the time Coleman and Brown terrorized the Walters, they were celebrities. The two were on the FBI’s most wanted list, and police throughout North America were on the lookout for them. Police were able to identify the two because they had found Brown’s fingerprints at the crime scenes.
Coleman and Brown returned to Rev. Gay’s house in Dayton after the Walter murders and threatened him with guns. Incredibly, they left the Reverend and his wife alive. Instead, they murdered a 77-year-old man and stole his car.
The two savage serial killers were finally arrested without incident on July 20, 1984 in Evanston, Ill. A motorist recognized them while they were sitting in the stolen car, which was stopped at a railroad crossing. The driver called the police, who found Coleman and Brown sitting on empty bleachers at a local park. The two surrendered quietly to the cops. Ironically enough, the violent serial killers put up no fight when they were taken into custody.
One Dies on Death Row the other gets a Reprieve
Alton Coleman was tried for two aggravated murders in Ohio in 1985. He was sentenced to death, but managed to delay execution for 17 years by appeals. Coleman was finally executed in 2002 after both the Ohio Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his appeals.
Debra Denise Brown was also convicted of murder and sentenced to death. She survived because the Governor of Ohio said her low IQ was a mitigating circumstance. Brown is still in prison in Indiana, serving a life sentence, and she reportedly shows no remorse for her crimes. Some media reports indicate that she may face execution at some point in the future because her death penalty in Indiana is still under appeal.
Alton Coleman and Debra Denise Brown’s case is a frightening one because no real motive for their crime spree has ever been revealed. Some observers think the two, who were African Americans, were motivated by hatred of their own race because most of their victims were black. A more frightening possibility is that the two simply enjoyed the thrills they got from rape and murder.
Nor is it clear who was the mastermind behind the mayhem. Alton Coleman was certainly a criminal, but he didn’t murder before he met Debra, and Debra was apparently a law-abiding citizen before linking up with Alton. Perhaps the two needed each other to motivate their violence. Alton Coleman and Debra Denise Brown were the ultimate killer couple; individually, they were harmless, but together, they were deadly.
Bibliography
Blanco, Juan Igancio. "Debra Denise Brown." n.d. murderpedia.org. Online Encyclopedia Entry and Articles. 18 April 2013.
Clark County Prosecutor's Office. "Brown, Debra Denise #45." 1 July 2006. clarkprosecutor.org. Online Database Entry. 18 April 2013.
Wikipedia. "Alton Coleman." n.d. en.wikipedia.org. Online Encyclopedia Article. 18 April 2013.
Wilkinson, Howard. "Alton Coleman finally faces justice." 24 April 2002. enquirer.com. Cincinnati Enquirer Newspaper Article. 18 April 2013.
There are some people who just don’t seem complete until they meet their “soul mate.” This belief takes a frightening twist in the case of deadly couples; many harmless individuals turn into bloodthirsty monsters when they link up with a lover. Two seemingly ordinary people turn into a vicious team that is a threat to all around them.
Such a romance can lead to a murder spree, serial killing, or in the worst possible cases, the destruction of one’s own family. There have been many cases of somebody murdering or helping to murder a lover’s parents, grandchildren, and even their own children.
Yet such deadly love rarely lasts; when killer couples are caught and facing prison or execution, they quickly turn on each other. Couples that kill together often end up testifying against each other on the witness stand. Passion can lead to violence, but it is often overcome by the cold blooded instinct for survival when the atrocities end.
Alton Coleman and Debra Denise Brown: The Killer Couple and the Summer of Death
Alton Coleman and Debra Denise Brown had a short but memorable crime spree that turned 1984 into the year of the “summer of death” in the American Midwest. Like Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, they terrorized an entire region of the country by targeting average people at random.
The two managed to kill eight people in four states during their rampage. Like Starkweather and Fugate, they committed violent and senseless crimes seemingly at random. They were also able to roam about at will, evading authorities as they went. It took the police forces of several states, one Canadian province, and the FBI working together to finally bring the two to justice.
From Drop Out to Spree Killer
Like Charles Starkweather, Alton Coleman was a loser, a middle school dropout who lived with his grandmother in Waukegan, Ill. Coleman’s mother had been a prostitute, and she often had sex with customers in the presence of her son. Coleman had already been charged with sex crimes, including the rape of a 14-year-old girl, before he went on the rampage.
Denise Brown was one of 11 children from a poor family. She had a low IQ, and some observers described Denise as possibly mentally disabled. Brown also had a dependent personality, so she was easily manipulated by a psychopath like Coleman. Like Caril Anne Fugate, Brown had no history of violence or criminal activity before running off with a spree killer.
Denise Brown met Coleman in 1983 and moved in with him, despite the fact that she was engaged to another man at the time. Once he had a partner-in-crime, Alton Coleman graduated from sexual predator to full-blown serial killer.
The “Summer of Death” Begins
The so-called “summer of death” began on May 29, 1984, when Alton Coleman kidnapped Juanita Wheat. Coleman raped and murdered Wheat, then dumped her body in an abandoned building near his grandmother’s home. He then stole a car from his friend, Robert Carpenter, and embarked on a deadly road trip with Denise Brown.
The two next turned up in the decaying steel town of Gary, Ind. in June. There, they kidnapped two young sisters, Annie and Tamika Turks. Both Brown and Coleman sexually assaulted the girls. Nine-year-old Annie survived, but seven-year-old Tamika was strangled.
The duo then moved onto Toledo, Ohio, where they targeted the family of Virginia Temple. When Temple stopped calling her family members, they got worried and checked her house. The bodies of Temple and her daughter, Rachelle, were found in the crawl space of her home. They had been raped and strangled.
By the time Temple’s body had been found, Coleman and Brown had moved onto Dayton, Ohio. There, they convinced the Rev. Millard Gay to drive them to Cincinnati. From Cincinnati, the two bicycled to Norwood, Ohio, where they murdered Marlene Walters and stole her car. They also savagely beat Walters’s husband, Harry, and left him for dead in his own basement. Forensic evidence indicated that Harry had been beaten with a soda bottle and Marlene with a magazine rack.
Serial Killers on the Run and the Rampage
By the time Coleman and Brown terrorized the Walters, they were celebrities. The two were on the FBI’s most wanted list, and police throughout North America were on the lookout for them. Police were able to identify the two because they had found Brown’s fingerprints at the crime scenes.
Coleman and Brown returned to Rev. Gay’s house in Dayton after the Walter murders and threatened him with guns. Incredibly, they left the Reverend and his wife alive. Instead, they murdered a 77-year-old man and stole his car.
The two savage serial killers were finally arrested without incident on July 20, 1984 in Evanston, Ill. A motorist recognized them while they were sitting in the stolen car, which was stopped at a railroad crossing. The driver called the police, who found Coleman and Brown sitting on empty bleachers at a local park. The two surrendered quietly to the cops. Ironically enough, the violent serial killers put up no fight when they were taken into custody.
One Dies on Death Row the other gets a Reprieve
Alton Coleman was tried for two aggravated murders in Ohio in 1985. He was sentenced to death, but managed to delay execution for 17 years by appeals. Coleman was finally executed in 2002 after both the Ohio Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his appeals.
Debra Denise Brown was also convicted of murder and sentenced to death. She survived because the Governor of Ohio said her low IQ was a mitigating circumstance. Brown is still in prison in Indiana, serving a life sentence, and she reportedly shows no remorse for her crimes. Some media reports indicate that she may face execution at some point in the future because her death penalty in Indiana is still under appeal.
Alton Coleman and Debra Denise Brown’s case is a frightening one because no real motive for their crime spree has ever been revealed. Some observers think the two, who were African Americans, were motivated by hatred of their own race because most of their victims were black. A more frightening possibility is that the two simply enjoyed the thrills they got from rape and murder.
Nor is it clear who was the mastermind behind the mayhem. Alton Coleman was certainly a criminal, but he didn’t murder before he met Debra, and Debra was apparently a law-abiding citizen before linking up with Alton. Perhaps the two needed each other to motivate their violence. Alton Coleman and Debra Denise Brown were the ultimate killer couple; individually, they were harmless, but together, they were deadly.
Bibliography
Blanco, Juan Igancio. "Debra Denise Brown." n.d. murderpedia.org. Online Encyclopedia Entry and Articles. 18 April 2013.
Clark County Prosecutor's Office. "Brown, Debra Denise #45." 1 July 2006. clarkprosecutor.org. Online Database Entry. 18 April 2013.
Wikipedia. "Alton Coleman." n.d. en.wikipedia.org. Online Encyclopedia Article. 18 April 2013.
Wilkinson, Howard. "Alton Coleman finally faces justice." 24 April 2002. enquirer.com. Cincinnati Enquirer Newspaper Article. 18 April 2013.
