Voting Station

Roger Keith Coleman

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Murderer

The Resume

    (November 1, 1958-May 20, 1992)
    Resident of Grundy, Virginia
    Convicted of raping and murdering his sister-in-law, Wanda McCoy (March 10, 1981)
    Attracted attention from anti-death penalty advocates
    Virginia officials received 13,000 calls and letters asking for clemency
    Executed in the electric chair
    Posthumously conducted DNA tests proved that blood and semen found at the crime scene were Coleman’s (2006)

Why he might be annoying:

    He had been convicted of attempted rape (1977).
    Two months before the murder, he was arrested for indecent exposure.
    McCoy was attacked so savagely she was nearly beheaded.
    Virginia governor Douglas Wilder arranged a last-minute polygraph test, which Coleman failed.
    Some of his supporters accused another Grundy resident of being the real killer and stuck with their claims even after learning he was the wrong blood type.
    His last words were, ‘When my innocence is proven, I hope America will realize the injustice of the death penalty as all other civilized nations have.’
    He turned out to be a poor choice for poster boy for the anti-death penalty movement.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His appeal was rejected for being filed three days after a deadline.
    In prison he founded ‘The Choice Is Yours,’ a program in which he lectured potential young offenders about the consequences of crime.
    Death penalty supporters argue that his case demonstrates that proper safeguards are in place.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 13 Votes: 23.08% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 15 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 31 Votes: 48.39% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 26 Votes: 65.38% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 33 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 20 Votes: 55.00% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 32 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 48 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 34 Votes: 67.65% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 67 Votes: 71.64% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 53 Votes: 75.47% Annoying