Ned Coleman

**Edward "Ned" Coleman** is a fraudster and murderer.

## Background

Coleman founded his own Rayne City-based financial consulting firm, Coleman Ltd, and eventually entered into a factoring agreement with a Schwarz Bank subsidiary named Forrester Funding Group. Under the contract, Coleman would have had to sell his receivables to Forrester in exchange for financing. Coleman, instead, began repaying Forrester with their own money, by sending them fake invoices and paying the respective amount through checks signed by Coleman himself, which went unnoticed for a while. At some point, while Coleman was still running his scheme, he came to know fellow businessman Russell Strickland, who offered to create with him a shell company that would have "bought" from Coleman and then sent the money to Forrester, avoiding the risk of Coleman's fake invoices and checks to be discovered, all in exchange for a part of the fraud proceeds. What Coleman didn't know, was that Strickland had intentions to con him as well: as soon as the company, C & S, was established, and as soon as Coleman transferred him money to pay Forrester, Strickland began stockpiling them into several bank accounts.

## Murder of Russ Strickland

Under the agreement with Forrester, it was Coleman who had to take on the risks arising from the insolvency of his debtors, so, when checks from C & S never showed up, Forrester turned to Coleman. The latter tried to contact Strickland, but to no avail, since he had, in the meanwhile, gone abroad. When Coleman finally managed to reach him, Strickland agreed to meet. Coleman picked Strickland up at the airport, and they started arguing, to the point that Coleman drove to a nearby park, shot Strickland twice in the head, then stripped him, and dragged his naked body inside the vegetation.

## Arrest and Trial

Police detectives managed to identify Strickland's body thanks to several pieces of evidence found nearby, including his boarding pass. They also discovered, from his pager, that Strickland was supposed to meet with Ned Coleman the night of the murder. The latter at first claimed to have never caught up with Russ that night, but later recanted, after he was confronted with a footage showing he and Strickland together, outside the airport. By that time, Coleman began pointing his finger towards one of his partners in Coleman Ltd: Luke Post. Post had indeed threatened Strickland with death after discovering his con, but had an alibi for the night in question. Coleman said he left Strickland near the murder scene, where the latter got in a car with an unidentified friend of Post. Authorities did not believe Coleman's story, however, and he was arrested and charged with Strickland murder.

The prosecution argued Coleman had killed Strickland for conning him, adding to the evidence a note written by Coleman himself, reading: *"kill Russ Strickland"*, underlined twice. On the other hand, the defense argued Coleman was the victim of a frame-up, and that there was a reasonable doubt about whether it was Coleman or a hitman working for Post who pulled the trigger. Eventually, Coleman was found guilty and condemned to life imprisonment. A federal trial for his conning of Forrester is currently pending.

## Modus Operandi

Coleman shot Strickland twice in the back of the head, employing a .22 caliber pistol. He then stripped the body, and dragged it to a secluded spot in order to avoid immediate identification.

## Known Victims

* 1997, Horgan Park, Rayne City: Russell Strickland (shot twice in the back of the head)

## Real-Life Comparision

* The Billionaire Boys Club case: TBA
* Chico Forti: TBA