On this day, July 20, 1984, Alton Coleman and Debra Brown were captured after a six-state killing spree that left eight people dead.
Coleman, a street-savvy con man, had a long criminal record before he met Brown in 1983. Their spree started the following year, on May 29, when they killed a 9-year-old girl. Three weeks later, in Gary, Ind., Coleman and Brown snatched two girls, ages 7 and 9. One girl escaped, but the other was choked to death.
With authorities on their trail, the couple moved through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Kentucky, beating or killing victims for their cars and money.
The spree ended in Evanston, Ill., when police received a call from a childhood friend of Coleman who spotted him walking down the street. Police found the couple sitting at a park. Coleman, “dog tired,” offered no resistance.
Coleman was sentenced to death in three states and executed. Brown remains in prison in Ohio.
– Scott McCabe
