Word: coleman
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...door to her killer. Brad said his shy, reclusive wife, who had been jittery since receiving a series of obscene phone calls the year before, would have opened the door to only three men in town. Police questioned all three and quickly decided on their man: Roger Keith Coleman, then 22, a coal miner married to Wanda's younger sister. Coleman had the misfortune of having a record and lacking a convincing alibi. He had served time from 1977 to 1979 for attempted rape, which helped persuade police that they had found Wanda's killer. A month later, they arrested...
...decade since then, Coleman has steadfastly maintained his innocence. He has also nearly exhausted his avenues of appeal. Barring a last-minute federal court intervention or a grant of clemency by Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder, Coleman, now 33, will be executed on May 20 by a high-voltage wave of electricity that will wipe out his nervous system, followed by a low-voltage shock designed to finish the job. It is a prospect that Coleman says leaves him "anxious, of course...
...current pro bono attorneys at the high-priced, high-powered Washington firm of Arnold & Porter have waged a canny campaign to draw media attention to Coleman's case. Their efforts, launched in 1984 and now spearheaded by a 28- year-old associate named Kathleen Behan, were given a boost when independent investigator Jim McCloskey turned his attention to Coleman in 1988. McCloskey is renowned for tracking down lost or overlooked evidence that has often led to the freeing of convicted murderers...
...essence, Coleman's supporters have sought to stage a new trial through the press, the tactic is understandable: the courts have so far failed Coleman miserably. It is quite possible he will die, the victim of a justice system so bent on streamlining procedures and clearing dockets that the question of whether or not he actually murdered Wanda McCoy has become a subsidiary consideration...
Fitch later had public run-ins on the bench with Derrick Coleman, Chris Morris and Drazen Petrovic in the closing weeks of the season and during the playoffs...