The Joyce Coleman Murder

Death remains a mystery
by Robin Cutler

20 years later, woman's murder file is still open

WASHINGTON TWP. - It was nearly 25 years ago that Joyce and Wayne Coleman decided to trade the hectic pace of city life for a peaceful country existence in this community. Back then. people went to bed here without locking their doors. Neighbors chit-chatted over back yard fences. Horses roamed freely. Cornfields were everywhere. Crime. at least violent crime. didn't happen in their neighborhood. Or so everyone thought, until police made a grizzly discovery at 245 Bartley Road on the night of Feb. 27, 1970 :

Joyce Coleman had been bludgeoned to death. The 28-year-old pregnant mother, carrying the little boy she expected to deliver in three months, was brutally murdered while waiting for her husband to come home from work. Her killer was never found. Today, 20 years later, authorities are interviewing the same people they talked to years ago in hopes of finding clues that will lead them to Coleman's attacker. "Some people might remember something that they didn't want to come forth with then. or were reluctant to give at the time," said George Kluetz. Washington Township police chief.

The Morris County Sheriff's Office said it has received numerous anonymous phone tips since the case was reopened and featured in this month's Crime Stoppers program. And the county prosecutor's office has continued to track down various leads as they've trickled in over the years. "During the past several months, we have redirected our efforts in this investigation with the hopes of uncovering leads," said Charles Coe, chief of investigations for the Morris County Prosecutor's Office. In August. authorities called in retired county investigator Thomas Sacco, who spent several days helping them review the details of the murder. "The person was clever and covered his tracks," said Sacco, calling the Coleman murder one, of the most frustrating in his law enforcement career.

"Lots of people were checked, searches were made of the area, hundreds of people were interviewed, and trash cans were searched two miles in each direction," Sacco said. Police even set up roadblocks and asked motorists if they had seen anything unusual in the area of the Coleman's Bartley Road home, but they couldn't come up with a suspect.

The scene had the appearance of 'a burglary gone sour. Wayne Coleman told police things were missing from his house - $200 in pennies, a hair dryer, a Polaroid camera, a movie projector, a few pieces of jewelry and some guns. In the early morning hours of Feb. 28, after returning home from the 4 p.m. to midnight shift he worked at a Newark trucking company, Wayne Coleman gave police the following account: He said he decided to call his wife before quitting time to let her know he was on his way home. But he couldn't get through because the line was busy. At about 12:30 a.m. , he left work and headed home, arriving about an hour later. He entered the house through a garage door and heard his 14-month-old son crying. Then, he found his wife's bludgeoned body on the recreation room floor.

He told police he ran to the neighbors' house for help and pounded on the door. But he couldn't wake them and returned to his ranch house and called police. According to authorities, neighbors heard nothing that night. There were no signs of a forced entry, items of little monetary value were reported missing and the intruder used tools in the couple's home to commit the murder. The killer had taken a hunting knife from a gun rack, stabbed Coleman in the upper body, then washed it off in the kitchen sink and put it in a cutlery drawer. The fireplace poker used in the beating was found beside her. An autopsy showed that Joyce Coleman died between 11:30 PM. and 1 AM . from multiple face, head and neck injuries.

John Douglas, who heads the Federal Bureau of Investigation's criminal investigative analysis and profiling unit, said the manner in which Coleman died suggests her killer was angry and familiar with the household. "It sounds like overkill. The subject was doing far more than necessary to kill the victim," Douglas said": His office has not been asked to look into the Coleman case. Residents still talk about the murder and wonder if her killer ever will be found.

Financial problems

Gloria Smith, who lived next door to the couple, described the Colemans as a couple that were somewhat mismatched. Wayne Coleman was work-oriented, "very overbearing," not too friendly, and had a bit of a temper, Smith said. "I never saw him angry with the family. He would be upset with the animals if they didn't do exactly what he wanted. He would lash out by yelling at them and hitting them, mostly the horses. He hit them with his fist," she recalled.

Smith said Joyce Coleman was the opposite, "very upbeat, full of fun, full of life. She enjoyed her horses, enjoyed her home, and seemed to be looking forward to having (another) baby." One afternoon, Joyce Coleman told Smith that the couple had decided to put their $45,000 ranch house up for sale because they were having financial problems', "She said they were short on paying the bills. She didn't pay a premium on the insurance policy because she wanted to pay other bills. And I believe Wayne didn't know that," Smith said.

Authorities could not say whether Wayne Coleman ever collected on his wife's policy. Six months after his wife's death, he remarried and moved out of state. Coleman's family still is reluctant to discuss the murder. "It's very, very upsetting. It's not easily talked about. . ." said James Minchin, Coleman's only brother, who lives in Morris Township with his wife, Jean. Minchin's voice trailed off, leaving him unable to speak. His wife took the telephone and explained that Coleman's death was very difficult for Minchin and his parents. She said he never talked about his sister, or her violent death, And when Jean Minchin joined the family, her husband handed her a newspaper clipping of the murder and told her to read it.

Another tragedy

Not only did the Minchins lose their daughter, but they lost their 3-year-old grandson, Wayne Coleman Jr. The toddler died of cyanide poisoning in 1972 at his home in Virginia , just two years after his mother's death. An insurance company brought the poisoning to the attention of authorities after the boy's father requested payment on a $25,000 policy taken out on the child 14 months earlier.

Officials concluded the death was accidental based on an autopsy and statements from his father that the poison was used to kill rodents. They determined the boy accidentally ingested the cyanide. At that time, Wayne Coleman Sr. had married his third wife and divorced her. His whereabouts since are known only to authorities. "We keep praying something will happen, that whoever did it will finally be brought to justice. They took two lives at one time," Smith said. The Morris County Sheriff's Office Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of Coleman's murderer. Anyone with information can call (201) COP-CALL.