Four Perry County Jurors Interviewed for CBS Special on Coleman Case
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[By John H. Croessman
Managing Editor
Du Quoin
Kim Ferrari of Du Quoin was one of the 12 Perry County residents who sat on the jury for two weeks last May that convicted Christopher Coleman of murdering his wife and two sons in their Columbia, Ill. home in May 2009.
The hour and 15 minute shuttle ride every day was "tedious" and the endless hours of hearing testimony and deliberating "painful," she remembers.
This Saturday, May 5 at 9 p.m. CDT the local CBS affiliate KFVS-TV Channel 12 will air a special documentary called "The Writing on the Wall: The Christopher Coleman Case."
Kim and three other jurors from Perry County who convicted Coleman were interviewed for three hours in January for this "48 Hours/Mystery" special. Segments of those interviews will be shown on air.
"They (CBS) took four of us to St. Louis for the interviews," Kim said. She has not seen te show.
She says memories of the long shuttle rides, being sequestered with jurors, the testimony and verdict that collectively took two and a half weeks to get through will remain with her always.
Her life was completely put on hold during the ordeal.
Coleman was convicted of strangling his wife and two sons as part of a plan to start a new life with his mistress without sacrificing his job as bodyguard to televangelist Joyce Meyer.
Ferrari and the other jurors delivered their verdict at 7:35 p.m. May 5.
The decision came from a jury of 10 women and two men who had stretched their deliberations into about 15 hours over two days.
The trial featured a lurid combination of sex, religion and violence woven together into a circumstantial case in which Coleman was not identified as the killer by physical evidence or any witness.
Prosecutors alleged that Coleman wanted to leave his wife, Sheri, 31, to marry her onetime best friend, Tara Lintz, of Largo, Fla., with whom he had an affair. But exposing his adultery, officials said, would have jeopardized his $100,000-a-year job as bodyguard for Meyer, whose ministry is based in Fenton.
Police found spray-painted threats on the wall of the Coleman home when they discovered the bodies. Thus, the 48 Hours/Mystery episode title "The Handwriting on the Wall."
Police later found that the paint used by the killer was the same brand and color as a can Coleman bought months before.
Christopher Coleman grew up in Chester.
Missing Persons Report in Pinckneyville
Pinckneyville
The family of a 23-year-old Pinckneyville man has filed a missing persons report with the City of Pinckneyville Police Department.
Family members told Chief of Police John Griffin they haven't seen Josh Suhr since Friday, April 20.
Some sort of a family dispute is said to have prompted Josh's disappearance.
The issue apparently hasn't resolved itself in that no one has heard from Josh at all, and trying to track cell phone calls has come up empty.
Chief Griffin described Josh as being dark-haired, about six feet tall and 170 pounds with a front crown on one tooth, a nickel-sized scar from an insect bite and a half-dozen other scars on his inside wrist.
He may have a star tattoo on his chest.
Both ears are pierced.
He is thought to have been wearing blue jeans and perhaps black and green tennis shoes when he was last seen on that Friday.
The Pinckneyville Police Department is making a sincere effort to try and locate Josh for his family and is now enlisting the public's help after the missing persons report was filed in their office Monday morning.
If you have any information about Josh or his whereabouts, please contact the Pinckneyville Police Department at 357-5431 or any other law enforcement agency.
Cutline: Perry County Health Department director Jodi Schoen (right) and recently appointed environmental health director Krista Mulholland (left).
Your Health Matters: Perry County Health Department Fills
Environmental Health Vacancy; Launches Free Quit Smoking
By John H. Croessman
Managing Editor
Perry County
The Perry County Health Department's recent appointment of Krista Mulholland as environmental health director mirrors an extraordinary professionalism and a list of initiatives that includes a no-cost quit smoking program and new women's health initiatives.
For PCHD director Jodi Schoen and her staff of 15 it all gets down to one thing: Your health matters.
Steeleville native Krista Mulholland is a licensed environmental health practionioner, a licensed septic specialist and has her food certification.
She becomes Perry County's lead food safety resource person, responsible for education, safety, inspection, private septic systems, potable water safety, West Nile virus issues, tanning statute enforcement and planning.
She is also responsible for education and enforcement of Illinois' new "Cottage Food Act" which covers things like farmers' markets in the state. She fills the position once held by Ron Brown.
Krista and her husband have two children.
The staff also includes registered nurse Ellice Wickwire of Pinckneyville--who began her healthcare career as a CNA in 1977.
On top of her other responsibilities, Ellice is now shouldering the local share of the state's new Illinois Tobacco-Free program. The Illinois Department of Public Health is providing all of the supplies--nicotine patches, nicotine gum, etc. to clients at no cost. Even a $10 co-pay fee has been eliminated. There is no charge for anything.
You have to be referred to the program by a doctor and the program is neither income nor insurance sensitive.
"There are a lot of reasons people smoke," says Ellice--"peer pressure, stress and other things." She adds, "It usually takes three weeks to start any habit and three weeks to end it."
But, even longtime smokers CAN quit, and with another $1 cigarette tax proposed on top of existing taxes to pay for growing medicaid costs, now is a good time to contact Ellice about quitting.
Clients need to have already made a commitment to quit smoking and Elice will dispense supplies as needed after consulting with clients on their progress once every two weeks. That way, supplies are not dispensed that are not being used.
Clients can also access support through the Illinois toll free "Quit Line" at 1-866-784-8937.
The department also introduces Marcus Miller, whose work involves emergency preparedness within the agency.
Women and infants' health is a major focus at PCHD.
The Perry County Health Department is now renting medical grade breast pumps for breastfeeding mothers, according to Dawn Galbraith and Kacey Ingram.
There are also six certified lactation counselors to assist with breastfeeding needs.
The rental cost for the first month is $35 and $30 for each additional month, considerably less than what other agencies charge. By comparison, the cost of purchasing formula for a year is about $2,076.
Breastfeeding provides everything your baby needs for the first six months of life. It is proven that breastfeeding helps you bond with your baby, releases hormones to help you relax, may help you lose weight faster, helps shrink your uterus to pre-gregnancy size and decreases your chances of breast cancer, osteoporsis, anemia and more. Breast milk has never been "recalled." It is easier for babies to digest, has all the nutrients your baby needs for orper growth and development, may decrease colds and ear infections and may reduce the risk of obesity and diabetes.
The Perry County Health Department Board of Directors oversees the program and includes: Brice Harsy, president; Sue Dixon, secretary and members Dr. Beth Bigham, Linda Quillman, Sherry Wertz, Dr. Bill Roe and Dr. Craig Furry.
The department has an operating budget approaching $1 million a year with a relatively small local levy and receipts that approximate a projected $802,000 a year.
Jodi says that as in all service agencies, funding has become arduous--at best-- but her office and staff keep finding ways to traverse the fiscal unknowns, largely generating the revenue necessary to sustain the program without a great reliance on taxpayers.