Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Killer Couples: Alton Coleman & Debra Brown

Alton Coleman (November 6, 1955– April 26, 2002) was an American serial killer who, along withaccomplice Debra Brown, committed a crime spree across sixstates in the Midwest between May and July 1984 that resulted in thedeaths of eight people. Coleman, who received death sentences inthree states, was executed by the state of Ohio in 2002. Brown wasalso sentenced to death in Indiana, but the death penalty wascommuted to life imprisonment without possibility of parole inIllinois.

Criminal background

Alton Coleman

Alton Coleman was born on November 6,1955, in Waukegan, Illinois. Coleman's mother worked three jobs, andhe lived with his 73-year-old grandmother. A middle-school dropout,Coleman was well known to Illinois law enforcement, having beencharged with sex crimes six times between 1973 and 1983. Two of thosecases were dismissed, with Coleman pleading guilty to lesser chargesin two and twice being acquitted. Coleman was scheduled to go ontrial in Illinois on charges stemming from the rape of a 14-year-oldgirl when he fled and began his killing spree.

Coleman was diagnosed with mixedpersonality disorder with antisocial, narcissistic and obsessivefeatures, with additional diagnoses including epileptic spasms,psychosis and borderline personality disorder.

Debra Brown

Debra Brown, one of eleven children, isborderline intellectually disabled, suffered head trauma as a child,and was diagnosed with dependent personality disorder by apsychiatrist. She was engaged to another man when she met Coleman in1983, but left her family and moved in with him shortly afterwards.Although a willing participant in Coleman's assaults and murders,Brown had no history of violence or any criminal history prior totheir relationship.

Murders

Wisconsin and Illinois

Coleman and Brown committed their firstmurder when they killed 9-year-old Vernita Wheat from Kenosha,Wisconsin. After Coleman had befriended her mother, Juanita Wheat, heabducted Vernita and took her to Waukegan on May 29, 1984. Vernita'sbadly decomposed corpse was discovered on June 19 in an abandonedbuilding four blocks from Coleman's grandmother's apartment. It wasdetermined she had been raped, and the cause of death was ligaturestrangulation.

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

Indiana and Michigan

In June 1984, Coleman and Brown were inGary, Indiana and encountered two young girls there: 9-year-old Annieand her niece 7-year-old Tamika Turks. The couple sexually assaultedthe two children. Annie survived the violent attack, but Tamika didnot; her partially decomposed body was discovered on June 19. Thesame day, Donna Williams, a 25-year-old woman from Gary, disappeared. On July 11, Williams' decomposed body was discovered in Detroit,Michigan, about half a mile from where her car was found. She hadbeen raped and killed by ligature strangulation.