SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA: Matthew Taylor Coleman, a California surf instructor who is accused of killing his two young children with a spearfishing gun in Mexico, has been deemed incompetent to stand trial.
US District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo in her ruling has found Matthew Coleman incompetent to stand trial.
The QAnon father-of-four is accused of killing two of his children because they had ‘serpent DNA.’
On Wednesday, October 9, US District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo issued her ruling, which stated, "finding the defendant not competent to stand trial and committing defendant for treatment,” as per People.
This also means that all criminal proceedings against the father cease.
Matthew Coleman was allegedly motivated by QAnon conspiracy theories
Coleman had previously confessed to the murder, and said he was “enlightened by the conspiracies of the QAnon.”
As per prosecutors, Coleman drove from his home in Santa Barbara, California to a ranch in Mexico in August 2021, where after two days, he killed his young children, his son, 2, and his daughter, 10, by stabbing them both with the speargun.
Coleman then went back to his motel. The children’s lifeless bodies were found by a local ranch worker, who reported to the authorities.
He was reportedly arrested when he attempted to cross the border back into the US.
In an interview with the FBI, the accused said that it was “the only course of action to save the world.”
What did Matthew Coleman's wife say to the officials?
Coleman's wife told police that her husband had taken the children and left them in the family's van and that she wasn't sure where they were going.
Nonetheless, she was confident her children weren't in any danger and that there was no argument between them before he left, the affidavit stated.
The criminal complaint dating August 11 identifies the victims only as KC and RC, but authorities note that they were his children.
The defendant left home with the children without explanation and warning on August 7, which alarmed his wife, who has been named AC, as per the document.
The family was supposed to go on a camping trip, “instead, AC, said that instead, M COLEMAN had left the residence in the family’s Mercedes Sprinter van with RC and КC," as per Law & Crime.
"AC reported that M.COLEMAN did not tell her where he was going and was not answering her text messages. In addition, AC was concerned because M. COLEMAN did not have a car seat,” documents said.
It further read, “AC asked the officer to contact M. COLEMAN via telephone. AC further stated she did not believe that M. COLEMAN would harm her children, nor did she believe her children were in any danger."
"AC told the officer that she was not in any danger and believed M. COLEMAN would eventually return to their residence. The officer attempted to contact M. Coleman via telephone but received no response. The officer offered to meet AC in person, but she declined and requested no further assistance,” it read.
Bencivengo set a status hearing for December 1 and a competency hearing for March 8, 2024.
