An Almanac of Infamy

Alton Coleman and Debra Brown after their arrest On this day in 1984, Alton Coleman and Debra Brown were apprehended in Evanston, Illinois, after a two-month crime spree that left eight people dead and several more wounded. The couple had met in 1983 after Coleman had already established a lengthy criminal record, which included serving time for the abduction and rape of a woman in Waukegan, Illinois. Although it was well known by psychiatrists and prison officials that he was obsessed with violent sex, he was released from prison and later acquitted of subsequent rape charges in 1976 and 1980. On May 28, 1984, Coleman and Brown abducted two Gary, Indiana, girls, ages seven and nine, and proceeded to rape and beat them. One girl managed to escape, while the other was choked to death. The next day, with the FBI already in pursuit, the couple abducted and murdered 9-year-old Vernita Wheat in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Their next stop was Detroit, Michigan, where they started stealing cars an...