A 55-year-old Georgia woman, Cheryl Coe, will spend the rest of her life behind bars for the 2021 murder of her husband, Luther Coe III. Reportedly, Luther had proposed changes to their open marriage arrangement while Cheryl wished to end it.
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As reported by The Newnan Times-Herald, Cheryl Coe was found guilty of one count of malice murder, one count of felony murder, and one count of aggravated assault. As a result, she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The incident occurred back on June 23, 2023. As per WSB-TV, Coweta County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a Tommy Lee Cook Road residence in Newnan, Georgia. They had received a call from Cheryl, who reported having shot her husband, Luther, mistaking him for an intruder.
Upon arrival, Cheryl told deputies that, after drinking cider, she went to bed at around 7:15 p.m. Ten minutes later, the front door was opened, and she shot at the supposed intruder. The intruder turned out to be Luther, her husband, who came back from working in his detached garage.
Cheryl then told deputies that she only found out that the intruder was Luther when he allegedly said, “Cheryl, you shot me.”
Changing Story, Open Marriage
However, investigators determined that Luther had suffered a close-contact gunshot wound. This means that Cheryl’s story didn’t align with the evidence, as the gun had been fired while holding the weapon to Luther’s body and not from a distance, as she claimed.
Then, Cheryl changed her story. She claimed that she had shot Luther in self-defense after he tried to drag her out of bed. However, she still claimed that she struck Luther by accident, saying that she was “trying to hit the wall behind the TV” to scare him off.
Luther later succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital.
Investigators then came across text messages between the couple leading up to the shooting. They had been arguing over their open marriage arrangement.
Cheryl had asked Luther for permission to see another man. Luther asked if she was seeing a second man on that day, and she texted back “lol.” The man said that her response “turned his stomach.”
As a result of the tension, Cheryl proposed to end their open marriage, given his issues. However, Luther wanted it to continue with a new set of ground rules.
Cheryl then accused Luther of exchanging correspondence with a friend of his, talking about their marriage disagreements. Luther became angry with the accusation and said he needed time to cool off. Eventually, he did, and said he was ready to talk, but that never happened as he was shot dead by Cheryl.