Bakersfield, California. He had been beaten to death with a tire iron, and his wallet had been stolen. Stidham was the father of Coleman's girlfriend, 17-year-old Shirley Stidham. Authorities suspected Coleman was involved in the murder because Will Stidham had supposedly told Coleman not to date his daughter. Coleman's fingerprints were also found on the pickup truck Will's body had been found in. One of Coleman's brothers, Abraham Coleman, had allegedly bragged to a woman about being involved in the killing. However, he later denied this and said he had nothing to do with it. He passed a lie detector test, and Shirley Stidham provided Charles Coleman with an alibi, claiming he had been with her when her father had been murdered. However, according to media accounts, several months after the murder, Shirley Stidham had told police that her father had slapped her in front of Coleman. Coleman had then promised her that if she gave him a little more time, her father would not be around any longer. Coleman was prosecuted for the murder but was acquitted in July 1976. Attorneys who prosecuted him claim his charisma and charm helped him gain an acquittal, but they remained convinced he was guilty of the murder. In January 1979, while serving time in prison in California for a parole violation, Coleman was released and given a thirty-day travel permit to explore job possibilities in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, his native home county. Coleman returned to his home state but remained there longer than the thirty days he had been given. On February 9, 1979, Coleman broke into the home of Dale and Delthea Warren in Muskogee County. While burglarizing the home, he was interrupted by 68-year-old John Seward and his wife, 62-year-old Roxie Seward. John Seward was the brother of Delthea Warren. Armed with a .28 gauge shotgun, Coleman took the Seward's hostage and led them into the home's basement at gunpoint. He then fatally shot each of the victims with the shotgun, killing John via a single gunshot wound to the back of the head and killing Roxie via four gunshot wounds inflicted from only a few inches away. Coleman then fled the home. The bodies of the Seward's were found later that day at around 4:15 p.m. in the basement of the Warren's home. Several items from the house were also determined to be missing, including watches, wallets, and packets