CONSPIRACY THEORIST
WHEN: AUGUST 2021 WHERE: ROSARITO, MEXICO
“He wanted to save the world from monsters,” shared the wife of Matthew Taylor Coleman with investigators regarding her husband’s motives for killing their two young children in August 2021.
Coleman, owner of a surf school in Santa Barbara, took his two-year-old son and 10-month-old daughter on what was supposed to be a family camping trip. Instead, he drove them to the Us-mexico border in the resort city of Rosarito and fatally shot them with a spearfishing gun.
His wife, Abby, reported the children missing. Investigators traced Coleman’s location to Mexico using his mobile phone. During an interview with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Coleman admitted to the killings.
Coleman claimed to have visions that his wife had “possessed serpent DNA” and passed it on to their children. He believed he was the only one who could stop them from spreading an alien species that would wreak havoc on Earth.
It was found that he and his wife were researching Qanon conspiracy theories, which believe in secret elites maliciously controlling the world. This prompted speculations that Abby may have been aware of the crime. No charge was filed against her.
In October 2023, a federal judge in San Diego ruled that Coleman was not fit to stand trial. Instead, the judge ordered him to undergo treatment and scheduled another hearing for March 2024. Coleman pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering his children, although court records show he confessed to the killings during interviews with law enforcement. In February 2023, prosecutors informed the judge that they would not seek the death penalty against Coleman.