Christine Coffman

Case record: Christine Coffman

Overview

Christine Coffman was a 45-year-old woman from Milwaukie. She pleaded guilty to the murder of her 4-year-old step-grandson, Matal Sanchez, and was sentenced to life in prison on March 12, 2007.

The offence

Christine Coffman killed Matal Sanchez, a 4-year-old boy.

Coffman confessed to killing the boy three days after his death. She said she first tried to strangle him, then she struck him in the head with a rock. After Coffman led authorities to a densely forest plot of land near Estacada, the boy’s lifeless body confirmed her story.

An autopsy indicated the boy died of one or more blows to the head. No other details about the death were released in the material describing the indictment.

Investigation

After Matal’s disappearance in June 2005, there was extensive media attention and an extensive search. The search involved local police, FBI agents, detectives from the Oregon State Police, the Clackamas County Interagency Crime Team, search and rescue teams, and a helicopter from the Oregon Army National Guard.

Police focused on Coffman, and she acknowledged killing the boy by hitting him in the head with a rock. Coffman offered no motive at the time.

Coffman initially told police she was away picking blackberries, donating blood, and running errands. Blackberries were not ripe on the route she described.

Investigators learned that she had purchased raspberries from a store. A forensic scientist said red stains on her shirt appeared to be berries smeared over blood.

Arrest and custody

Matal’s body was found in a wooded area about 25 miles south of his home on Saturday. Coffman was arrested and was being held at the Clackamas County Jail without bail. Police impounded her car two days earlier.

Coffman was on suicide watch since her arrest.

Christine Coffman led police to the body of Matal Sanchez off a heavily wooded stretch of road about 25 miles from the boy’s suburban home in Milwaukie.

When Coffman arrived at the house three hours after the child was reported missing, her T-shirt was stained with a red-colored substance. Neighbors and family members searched for the boy before Coffman led police to the body.

Plea and competency

Christine Coffman pleaded guilty to murder.

A psychologist testified that Coffman was mentally competent to enter a guilty plea. Greg Horner, deputy district attorney, said this.

Trial and proceedings

Coffman had been expected to use an insanity defense at a trial scheduled for next month, but she pleaded guilty.

Outside the courtroom on March 12, 2007, prosecutors said they believed the motive in the killing was revenge.

In a hearing that lasted only six minutes, Clackamas Circuit Judge Robert Herndon sentenced Christine Coffman to life in prison for the murder of Matal Sanchez.

Sentencing

On March 12, 2007, Judge Robert Herndon sentenced Christine Coffman to life in prison.

Gregor Horner, chief deputy district attorney, said his office consulted with Matal’s family members before reaching the plea deal with Coffman. Horner said the resolution had the unanimous support of the boy’s family, including his mother and stepfather.

After the hearing, Horner explained Coffman’s motive. He said Coffman and her husband, Duffy Coffman, were having marriage problems and were on the verge of divorcing. Horner said Christine Coffman killed Matal to hurt her husband since he was close with the boy.

“It's been very clear what her motive was,” Greg Horner said. “She was interested in getting back at him and causing pain to her husband.”

During the sentencing proceeding, prosecutors read a brief statement written by Matal’s grandmother, Brenda Kayser. Brenda Kayser told the court the boy was “her world.”

“And although my world has crumbled all around me, I will always love my little angel,” she told the court.
“He will never be forgotten. His love keeps me alive.”
“I will never get to do all the things a grandma and grandson get to do. I will never get to hear him say, 'I love your heart, Grandma,' as he always told me.”

Christine Coffman said nothing during the proceeding. She was shackled and was wearing the black-and-white striped jailhouse uniform reserved for the most violent offenders.

Judge Robert Herndon said the family’s suffering is “inconceivable.”

“At this point in my legal career, I have lost track of how many of these cases I have been involved with,” he said.
“I will go to my own grave probably always thinking of your grandson. “
“I am glad you have accepted responsibility for what you did,” he said.

The material also included a separate letter written by Brenda Kayser and read by prosecutors during the court hearing. In that letter, Kayser said:

“You had no right taking my angel from my life so today I come here in honor of Matal to see justice being done for the crime that Chris committed on my grandson that took his sweet, loving young life from us all... ”

Appeals

No appeal information was provided in the material.

Outcome

Christine Coffman pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison on March 12, 2007.

Aftermath and related people

Matal’s parents were Laura and Daniel Acevedo. Daniel Acevedo was Coffman’s son.

The material stated that it was unclear when Coffman became a part of Matal’s life.

Laura Acevedo told a police dispatcher after she first realized her son was missing in 2005:

“I just got out of the bathroom, and the house was empty, and I noticed that (Coffman's) car was gone, so I knew she went to go run some errands,” Laura Acevedo told a police dispatcher after she first realized her son was missing in 2005.
“I thought maybe she took him with her, but both the car seats are here. I know she wouldn't take him without the car seat.”

A Seattle-area woman named Susi Strom took care of the boy for weeks at a time when he was about 4 to 8 months old. Strom said she filed two reports alleging the boy was poorly cared for with Oregon’s child protective authorities in 2001. The material also stated it was unclear when Coffman became a part of Matal’s life.

Attorney Jenny Cooke said Coffman was suffering emotionally and addressed Coffman’s suicide watch:

“My client has been on suicide watch — I think that says everything you need to know about her mental state,” she told reporters outside the courtroom.

Police Officer Kevin Krebs said that there was no indication the death was an accident:

“There is no indication that this was an accident,” Krebs said, but he declined to give any details on how the boy died.

Clackamas County chief deputy district attorney Greg Horner declined to give any other information after an earlier hearing connected to the indictment.

Timeline

• June 2005 — Matal Sanchez was killed; Coffman confessed to the boy’s murder three days after his death.
• June 29, 2005 — The Milwaukie boy vanished, triggering a frantic, multi-day search.
• 2005 (day of arrest described as Saturday; child missing reported Wednesday) — Coffman led police to the boy’s body; she was arrested and held without bail at the Clackamas County Jail and was on suicide watch.
• July 13, 2005 — Christine Coffman was indicted on a charge of aggravated murder by a Clackamas County grand jury.
• March 5, 2007 — Coffman pleaded guilty to murder.
• March 12, 2007 — Judge Robert Herndon sentenced Christine Coffman to life in prison after a hearing lasting six minutes.