Roger Keith Coleman

Roger Keith Coleman (November 1, 1958 – May 20, 1992) was a convicted murderer and rapist from Grundy, Virginia, US, who was executed for the rape and murder in March 1981 of his sister-in-law, Wanda McCoy.

That day, he had been laid off from work.

Coleman's case drew national and worldwide attention before and after his execution because of his repeated claims of innocence.

Appeals were supported by the anti-death penalty movement.

After his death, his was the second case nationally in which DNA evidence was analyzed of an executed man.

On April 7, 1977, Coleman knocked on the door to Brenda Rife's home in Grundy and asked for a glass of water.

After she allowed him in, Coleman pulled a gun on her, and forced her to tie up her six-year-old daughter.

He then walked Rife upstairs to her bedroom at gunpoint, where he told her to undress.

When she refused, Coleman ripped open her bathrobe, threw her on the bed, and got on top of her.

Rife scratched him on the neck and managed to escape.

She then got her daughter and fled the house.

Coleman chased them and tried to force them back inside.

As the two struggled, Rife managed to grab Coleman's gun, throw it under the porch, and scream for help.

As neighbors responded, Coleman fled.

He was later convicted of attempted rape and sentenced to three years in prison.

In January 1981, Coleman allegedly exposed himself and masturbated in front of two women, Patricia Hatfield and Jean Gilbert, at a public library.

The two women did not know Coleman, but Hatfield encouraged Gilbert, an artist, to draw his face.

After showing a police officer the sketch, he suggested that the perpetrator might've been Coleman and encouraged her to check a high school yearbook to see if the faces match.

Although Hatfield said the pictures appeared to be a clear match, the police ignored the incident.

Wanda McCoy, 19, was attacked in her home in Grundy on March 10, 1981.

She was raped, stabbed to death, and nearly beheaded from severe neck wounds.

As there wasn't any sign of a struggle, police believed that she had allowed her attacker into the house.

Her sister's husband, Roger Coleman, had access to the house and was quickly considered a suspect due to his prior conviction.

Coleman had reported to work that night but left after his shift was dismissed.

Physical evidence at the McCoy house included a fingerprint on the front screen door, a pry mark on the front door molding, and bloodstains inside the house.

The victim had broken fingernails; cuts on her hands; and a dark, dusty substance on her body.

Flecks of blood found on Coleman's pants were determined to be the same blood type as the victim's. At the time, DNA testing was not available.

At a jury trial in 1982, Coleman was convicted of the rape and capital murder of McCoy.

The prosecution for the case, led by Commonwealth Attorney Michael McGlothlin, asserted:

Coleman's defense maintained:

Coleman's initial appeal in 1983 to the Virginia Supreme Court was denied, and the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari.

Coleman filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Circuit Court for Buchanan County, Virginia, raising several federal constitutional claims for the first time.

A two-day evidentiary hearing was held, and the court denied all of Coleman's claims.

On September 4, 1986, the court entered its final judgment.

Coleman appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court, but the appeal was dismissed on the motion of the Commonwealth since his notice of appeal had not been filed in time.

The Virginia Supreme Court requires for a notice of appeal to be filed within 30 days of entry of the final judgment.

Coleman's notice of appeal was filed on October 7, which was 33 days after the circuit court had entered its judgment.

Coleman petitioned in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia for a writ of habeas corpus.

However, federal courts may generally not review a state court's denial of a federal constitutional claim if the denial is based on a state procedural default that is both independent of the federal claim and sufficient to support the prisoner's continued custody.

In January 2006, Virginia Governor Mark Warner announced that testing of DNA evidence had conclusively proven that Coleman was guilty of the crime.