On this day, July 20, in 1984, the serial-killing duo of Alton Coleman and Debra Brown were apprehended in Evanston, Ill. They couple were wanted in a violent spree that left eight people dead over two months.
The murders began with the slaying of a 9-year-old girl in Wisconsin on May 29, 1984. The duo also committed killings and other attacks in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky.
Coleman was added to the FBI’s Most Wanted list. The couple were apprehended after Coleman was recognized crossing a street in Evanston.
Both were convicted in Ohio cases the next year. Coleman was executed by lethal injection in 2002. Brown was originally sentenced to death, but her sentence was later commuted to life in prison.
– Emily Babay
