Coleman, then 36, pleaded guilty on June 4, 2001, to several charges — including murder — in the killing of 61-year-old Betty Gault Wade.
He was accused of shooting Mrs. Wade on Aug. 30, 2000, at the conclusion of a foreclosure hearing in a local law offfice in which he lost a house he was buying. Mrs. Wade was shot in the right eye and in the back and died later that morning while in surgery at Wallace Thomson Hospital.
An autopsy showed it was the second gunshot that killed her.
In addition, Coleman was also accused of hitting Mrs. Wade’s husband, Bill, with the pistol. Mr. Wade was trying to cover his wife when he was hit in the head by Coleman.
Coleman also pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, pointing a firearm and possession of a pistol by a person charged with a violent crime.
He was sentenced to life in prison and is currently serving his sentence in the McCormick Correctional Institute.
Nine years later, Coleman is applying for post-conviction relief in the form of imediate release, a new trial, sentence reduction and monetary payment for civil rights violation.
In papers filed July 16 with the Union County Clerk of Court’s Office, Coleman claims he deserves such relief on several grounds including cruel and unusual punishment, denial of due process and ineffective assistance of counsel.
In his petition, Coleman states he previously appealed his sentence to the Court of Appeals of the State of South Carolina, Court of Common Pleas in York County and Court of Appeals in Columbia.
In all three cases, his appeal was denied.
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