Third suspect convicted in Lincoln County murder case

LINCOLN COUNTY, Okla. – The third suspect in the 2018 murder of 65-year-old Donald Coleman was convicted yesterday of Murder in the Second Degree.

On Sept. 1, 2018, the body of Donald Coleman was found on the front porch of his home north of Stroud. Coleman had been beaten and shot. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office requested the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation investigate Coleman’s death.

During the course of the investigation, agents discovered that Jerry Richards, 34, Deirdre Allen, 31, and Waylon Whitlow, 44, went to Coleman’s house the evening of Aug. 31, 2018. A violent altercation began when the three entered Coleman’s house and the victim was beaten with a hammer and an ax. A rifle was taken from Coleman during the altercation. Coleman walked outside onto his porch. At that point, Richards shot him with the rifle they had taken from him.
Richards, Allen and Whitlow were each originally charged with one count of Murder in the First Degree. On June 4, 2019, Allen and Whitlow both plead guilty to manslaughter and received sentences of 15 years each. On Thursday, a Lincoln County jury convicted Richards of Murder in the Second Degree and recommended a sentence of 37 years.

Richards will be formally sentence on Nov. 20, 2019. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Stroud Police Department, Sac & Fox Police Department and Henryetta Police Department assisted with this investigation.