Matthew Taylor Coleman, 40, was accused of killing his children. (Representative image)
Los Angeles:
An American father accused of killing his two children with a spearfishing gun claims he was “enlightened” by QAnon and other conspiracy theories and saved the world from “monsters” that had “snake DNA,” according to a federal complaint.
Matthew Taylor Coleman, 40, told California authorities he knew he was doing wrong but “it was the only way to save the world,” according to the complaint prepared by federal agents.
Coleman was charged Wednesday with taking his children, aged two years and 10 months, to Mexico and murdering them there before returning to the United States, where he was arrested.
The children’s mother first raised the alarm on Aug. 7 when Coleman took them from the house they shared. He’d said he’d go camping with them, but refused to tell her where and didn’t answer calls or texts. He also didn’t have a car seat with him.
A day later, police tracked him down using the Find My iPhone app, which revealed his last known location was in Rosarito, Mexico.
When he returned to the United States the next day, he was detained at the border by the FBI.
Coleman confessed to shooting both of his children with the spearfishing rifle and leaving their bodies in Mexico, where they were found by Mexican authorities.
He “stated that he believed his children would grow into monsters, so he had to kill them,” the indictment said.
He told agents he had been “enlightened by conspiracy theories from QAnon and Illuminati and received visions and signs that revealed that his wife … possessed snake DNA and passed it on to his children,” it continued.
He told federal police he believed he was “saving the world from monsters,” the indictment said.
Coleman was charged with the foreign murder of American citizens.
