Couple Crosses Six States Leaving Eight Dead in Fifty-Three Days: The Murder Spree of Alton Coleman and Debra Brown
On May 29, 1984, nine-year-old Bernita Wyatt vanished from Kenosha, Wisconsin. Within weeks, her disappearance would trigger the largest federal manhunt of the decade, spanning six states and involving 150 agents. The question investigators could not answer: how did the killers always stay one step ahead?
In this episode, we trace the fifty-three-day rampage of Alton Coleman and Debra Brown-a serial killer and his accomplice who murdered at least eight people, injured dozens, and robbed more than twenty victims while evading capture. We explore the forensic evidence that linked cases across state lines, the psychological profile that predicted their capture, and the debate over responsibility that would divide courts for years. What made the FBI break its own rules and create an eleventh spot on its most wanted list for the first time in history?
Victim: Bernita Wyatt, Annie Hilliard, Tamika Turks, Donna Williams, Virginia Temple, Rachel Temple, Marlene Walters, Eugene Scott
Date: May 29 - July 20, 1984
Location: Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio
Status: Both perpetrators arrested and convicted
- Nine-year-old Bernita Wyatt disappeared on the same day her abductor appeared in court for raping a fourteen-year-old girl
- A bracelet from one victim was found at the crime scene of another, linking murders across three different states
- Six-year-old Raymond Temple survived by hiding in a bathroom while his mother and sister were murdered in the same house
- Coleman carried a hidden knife at arrest with blood matching a fifteenth victim not in the initial count
Bernita Wyatt, Alton Coleman, Debra Brown, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, 1984, serial killers, murder, homicide, true crime, investigation, unsolved mysteries, forensic science, true crime English
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