Dad feared children as ‘monsters,’ cites QAnon in speargun killings in Mexico, feds say
A California surf school owner took his two children to a Mexico resort city over the weekend, federal officials said.
Matthew Taylor Coleman, 40, attempted to cross the border without them on Tuesday, according to a news conference held by Mexican authorities.
Federal agents then arrested him and accused him of killing his children, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a news release on Wednesday. He had an 11-month-old daughter and 2-year-old son.
Coleman told federal agents he killed his two children because he said they were going to “grow into monsters,” according to the criminal complaint.
He also said he was “enlightened by QAnon and Illuminati conspiracy theories.” And he received visions that told him his wife had “serpent DNA” that had been passed to the children, the complaint said. He said he was “saving the world from monsters.”
Their bodies were discovered by a farmworker Monday morning in brush near a ranch — around 18 miles from the hotel where the family was staying, according to KABC-TV.
The girl suffered 12 stab wounds while the boy was found with 17 stab wounds, the news outlet said.
He said he used a “spear fishing gun” to stab the children in the chest.
Coleman checked his family into the City Express Rosarito hotel in Mexico on Saturday, SFGate said. Video footage showed him leaving the hotel with the children around 2:45 a.m. before returning alone a few hours later that Monday, KABC-TV reported.
His wife contacted Santa Barbara police on Saturday to let them know her husband and children left in their Mercedes Sprinter van, and she didn’t know where they were going. The next day, she reported him and the children missing.
She told officers the family had a planned camping trip that weekend. Instead, Coleman left their home with the kids in tow without a car seat, according to the criminal complaint. She said she didn’t think he would harm the kids.
A Santa Barbara officer helped locate the family in Rosarito, Mexico, by using “Find My iPhone” to track their location, court documents said. The tracking application showed Coleman was in Rosarito, Mexico.
Once Coleman reached the border, federal agents looked for the children in his car. The agents then took him into custody after not finding them. Border officers also said they noticed what appeared to be blood on his car registration.
Coleman was charged with foreign murder of U.S. nationals, the government said. He was scheduled for a court appearance at the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon.
The Santa Barbara native owns Lovewater Surf School with his wife.
Rosarito, Mexico, is in Baja California. It’s approximately 17 miles from the U.S. border.
This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 1:29 PM with the headline "Dad feared children as ‘monsters,’ cites QAnon in speargun killings in Mexico, feds say."
