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COLUMBIA, IL (KTVI - FOX2now.com) -
A week after a Columbia, Illinois mother and her two young sons were found murdered, there are still no arrests in the case. But Tuesday night, the Deputy Commander of the Major Case Squad, Major Jeff Connor, said investigators were making progress and he is confident that the case will be solved.Tuesday night, at least eight Major Case Squad investigators were around the home of Chris Coleman's parents in Chester, Illinois. We counted four Major Case Squad units with two investigators in each one.
They were on every street leading from the Coleman home on Dixie Drive. People were on the front porch of the house relaxing. When we knocked on the door, a man who answered told us the family had no comment.
As investigators continue to search for a killer in Columbia Illinois, a man who's known the family of Chris Coleman for years has a message about the father and husband of the victims. One of Jim Doiron's son's closest friends is Chris Coleman. Doiron says the pictures of Chris Coleman walking through lines of cameras have been tough to watch. His wish is that people not rush to judgment.
"I think the thing to remember is that you're innocent until proven guilty."
That's the reminder being offered by a family friend of the man who's family was murdered in Columbia, Illinois a week ago. Sheri Coleman, and her sons Gavin and Garett were found dead in their Columbia Lakes home last Tuesday. The Major Case Squad was activated, and has been working the case since. Monday, attention was focused on the Columbia police department, when the father and husband of the victims, Christopher Coleman, appeared in public for the first time. He came to the police station, cooperating with a court order to provide fingerprints to investigators.
At the time, Major Jeff Connor of the major case squad was asked if Coleman was a suspect in the killings.
"We're not prepared to say anybody is keyed in on a suspect," he responded. "We're still in the investigative stage of this and still trying to figure out who killed these three people."
Tuesday, Jim Doiron said the media attention paid to Chris Coleman at the police station, and later at his home where he went to gather clothing, was a little too much. His son, a close friend of Coleman, was there to help.
"It wasn't like he could just drive up here and pull into the house and pick up some stuff that he was needing. It was quite an ordeal."
Doiron's son is associate pastor at the church where Chris Coleman's father is pastor, in Chester, Illinois. He even lived with the Colemans for a time.
Since moving to Columbia, Jim Doiron has spent time at Chris Coleman's home, getting to know Sheri as she mediated a Bible study class.
"She was a really really good person. She was really interested in the things of God and really interested in other people."
Sheri's remains, along with the two boys, were on their way back to Chester Tuesday after a memorial service put together by her family in Chicago.
Court papers show a dispute between her family and Chris Coleman over whether to allow the remains to be taken to Chicago. Coleman is said to have agreed to the service, then changed his mind. The bodies were eventually allowed to go.
The documents also revealed a second quarrel between the families, stating Chris Coleman never called Sheri's mother the day of the murder to tell her her daughter was dead. She was notified by local police in the Chicago area.
In Columbia, a week after the murders, people are anxious for resolution. No one more so than Jim Doiron, who says this has been tough on everyone.
"It's a tremendous evil. It's just a tremendous evil when a woman and two children die. If they die in a car wreck it's a tragedy but it's just so much more evil when it's murder. It's a tremendous evil."
They were on every street leading from the Coleman home on Dixie Drive. People were on the front porch of the house relaxing. When we knocked on the door, a man who answered told us the family had no comment.
As investigators continue to search for a killer in Columbia Illinois, a man who's known the family of Chris Coleman for years has a message about the father and husband of the victims. One of Jim Doiron's son's closest friends is Chris Coleman. Doiron says the pictures of Chris Coleman walking through lines of cameras have been tough to watch. His wish is that people not rush to judgment.
"I think the thing to remember is that you're innocent until proven guilty."
That's the reminder being offered by a family friend of the man who's family was murdered in Columbia, Illinois a week ago. Sheri Coleman, and her sons Gavin and Garett were found dead in their Columbia Lakes home last Tuesday. The Major Case Squad was activated, and has been working the case since. Monday, attention was focused on the Columbia police department, when the father and husband of the victims, Christopher Coleman, appeared in public for the first time. He came to the police station, cooperating with a court order to provide fingerprints to investigators.
At the time, Major Jeff Connor of the major case squad was asked if Coleman was a suspect in the killings.
"We're not prepared to say anybody is keyed in on a suspect," he responded. "We're still in the investigative stage of this and still trying to figure out who killed these three people."
Tuesday, Jim Doiron said the media attention paid to Chris Coleman at the police station, and later at his home where he went to gather clothing, was a little too much. His son, a close friend of Coleman, was there to help.
"It wasn't like he could just drive up here and pull into the house and pick up some stuff that he was needing. It was quite an ordeal."
Doiron's son is associate pastor at the church where Chris Coleman's father is pastor, in Chester, Illinois. He even lived with the Colemans for a time.
Since moving to Columbia, Jim Doiron has spent time at Chris Coleman's home, getting to know Sheri as she mediated a Bible study class.
"She was a really really good person. She was really interested in the things of God and really interested in other people."
Sheri's remains, along with the two boys, were on their way back to Chester Tuesday after a memorial service put together by her family in Chicago.
Court papers show a dispute between her family and Chris Coleman over whether to allow the remains to be taken to Chicago. Coleman is said to have agreed to the service, then changed his mind. The bodies were eventually allowed to go.
The documents also revealed a second quarrel between the families, stating Chris Coleman never called Sheri's mother the day of the murder to tell her her daughter was dead. She was notified by local police in the Chicago area.
In Columbia, a week after the murders, people are anxious for resolution. No one more so than Jim Doiron, who says this has been tough on everyone.
"It's a tremendous evil. It's just a tremendous evil when a woman and two children die. If they die in a car wreck it's a tragedy but it's just so much more evil when it's murder. It's a tremendous evil."
