On a tragic afternoon in Muskogee, Oklahoma, the lives of Roxie Seward and her husband were violently cut short. It was February 9, 1979, when the 62-year-old female and her husband, John, stumbled upon a burglary in progress at a relative's home. The couple was in the basement of the house when they were discovered by the intruder. Roxie suffered four shotgun wounds inflicted from a very close range, while her husband was killed by a single shot to the back of his head.
Their bodies were found at approximately 4:15 p.m. that day.
The investigation into the double homicide quickly led to a suspect. Later on the same day as the murders, Charles Troy Coleman was pulled over for traffic violations. A search of the camper pickup truck he was driving revealed items that had been stolen from the home where the Sewards were killed. Among the discovered possessions were the Sewards' wallets and packages of frozen meat. This evidence directly linked Coleman to the scene of the crime.
Following his arrest, Charles Troy Coleman was charged with the murders of both Roxie and John Seward. In a turn of events that further demonstrated his disregard for the law, Coleman escaped from the Muskogee County jail on April 23, 1979, while awaiting trial. He fled the state but was eventually apprehended. Coleman was ultimately convicted for the first-degree murder of John Seward and, after a jury trial, was sentenced to death. Despite numerous appeals, his sentence was carried out, and on September 10, 1990, Charles Troy Coleman, aged 43, was executed by lethal injection. While he was implicated in both deaths, he was formally tried and sentenced only for the murder of John Seward.
