A jilted husband allegedly confessed to killing his wife while accusing her of cheating on him — then hunting down another man to murder because he “knew he was going to jail,” according to a criminal complaint.
Father of two Joshua Coleman, 30, confessed to shooting his 22-year-old wife, Mandy Coleman, in the head inside their home in Ridgeway, Virginia, during a fight last Tuesday, according to a criminal complaint obtained by WDBJ.
He then hunted down 68-year-old William Morey because he “knew he was going to jail” anyway, according to the complaint, which did not elaborate on why he wanted to kill Morey.
Coleman initially could not locate Morey — until he went back to his own home, where he found the other man outside while heading to check up on Mandy, the report said.
Coleman then shot him dead, too, according to the affidavit — with the dead man’s bullet-ridden body in the street leading cops to the slain wife inside the house.
Coleman was quickly “identified as the suspect in connection with the murders,” Henry County Sheriff’s Office said — and “deputies also became concerned for the welfare” of the Colemans’ “two small children.”
“An immediate, coordinated effort was launched to locate the children and the suspect,” the sheriff’s office said.
Coleman was finally busted during a trafic stop and “found to be armed with a handgun and an AR-15 rifle,” deputies said.
“The two children were found inside the vehicle, safe and unharmed.
Coleman then confessed to shooting his wife in the head during an argument in which he accused her of cheating on him, the court docs said. It was unclear why he targeted Morey, whose relationship to the Colemans was not immediately clear.
Coleman is charged with two counts of first-degree murder as well as child abuse. He is being held in the Henry County Adult Detention Center without bond.
“This is a heartbreaking and tragic situation that has deeply affected two families and our entire community,” Sheriff Wayne Davis said. “Our hearts go out to the loved ones of the victims during this incredibly difficult time.”
Ridgeway is a small town of only about 750 residents in rural southwestern Virginia, just north of the North Carolina border.
