From the outside, they seemed like the perfect family.
The Colemans lived in Santa Barbara, where father Matthew was a handsome, athletic surfing instructor and Abby was a stay–at–home mom who was active in their church.
They had two beautiful children – two–year–old son Kaleo and ten–month–old daughter Roxy.
But everything began to unravel in 2020.
As the Covid pandemic shut people indoors and online, a warped conspiracy theory soon took hold inside the Coleman household.
Matthew came to believe that he was secretly battling an underworld of pedophiles and satanic forces operating in America. He would share conspiracy theories with Abby, who would listen, but often expressed doubts that they were true.
Matthew spiraled deeper and darker, ultimately becoming consumed by a deranged delusion that his own children were infected with ‘serpent DNA’ – a belief that led him to murder them.
The unthinkably tragic killings in August 2021 shocked the nation, after which Abby disappeared from public view, quietly moving to Texas to be closer to her family.
Matthew Taylor Coleman allegedly killed his two–year–old son Kaleo and ten–month–old daughter Roxy in August 2021 after believing they had inherited serpent DNA from their mother
Kaleo and Roxy Coleman were stabbed multiple times before their bodies were dumped in Mexico
‘The grieving process has been the most difficult thing you can imagine,’ says a relative.
Abby has reverted to her maiden name and does not often talk about the idyllic family life she once had.
But there are signs that the grieving mother thinks about Kaleo and Roxy every day.
She still has photo albums full of pictures of her slain children and their image adorns her phone lock screen.
‘She is holding on to the memories, and that brings her peace,’ the family member said.
‘She misses her children every day… but she also misses her husband.’
The Daily Mail has learned Abby has kept her wedding ring and still wears it on rare occasions.
‘They had a good marriage. She was living her dream life of being a wife and mom,’ the relative said.
‘And she had it ripped away in one day.’
While Abby was in contact with her husband immediately after the crime, she has not reached out in years, the relative says.
The Colemans were packing for a family camping trip on August 9, 2021, when Matthew, without warning, allegedly loaded his two children into his sprinter van in the driveway and drove away.
Abby has returned to her home state of Texas, where she lives near family members
Coleman allegedly used a spearfishing gun (like this one) to kill his children
Authorities allege that Coleman drove the children over the border into Mexico and checked into a resort hotel, where he spent two days holed up in his room and ignored Abby’s frantic calls.
He then drove the children to a remote ranch, where he allegedly stabbed them multiple times with a spearfishing gun.
Abby was devastated by her children’s suffering – and she’s trying to navigate her feelings for her husband, who she believes had a psychotic break.
The family member said: ‘It makes her very sad. Remembering the good times is therapeutic. I think she’s cried every day at some point.’
Matthew embraced QAnon conspiracy theories, a far–right movement that claims a secret elite controls global events and commits hidden crimes, while a mysterious insider known as ‘Q’ reveals the truth.
While her family insists that Abby did not believe all the conspiracies, they acknowledge that she was her husband’s biggest cheerleader.
‘We are doing this together babe. Everything you’ve believed and known to be true is happening right now,’ Abby texted her husband a week before the killings, according to court documents.
‘Let’s take back our city… You were created to change the course of world history.’
But Abby never thought her children were in danger – or that her husband believed these so–called evil forces had infiltrated their family.
Coleman was a popular surf instructor in Santa Barbara before taking a dark turn (with son Kaleo)
Some followers blend QAnon with older conspiracy theories – including claims that elites are literal ‘reptilians,’ serpents or demons.
Matthew told investigators he believed his children had inherited serpent DNA from their mother.
He described experiencing ‘visions’ that convinced him the only way to save the world was to kill them.
He has been held at an undisclosed federal prison in southern California since the grisly murders and remains declared incompetent to stand trial.
Court records obtained by the Daily Mail paint a disturbing picture of Coleman’s mental deterioration – describing a permanent, zombie–like state with occasional violent outbursts in which he harms himself.
Coleman refuses to speak with his own attorneys and does not communicate with anyone behind bars, except to answer basic questions about his immediate needs.
Records show he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and ‘other psychotic disorders,’ and that he spends most of his days staring at his cell wall.
In December 2021 – months after the murders – Coleman begged for forgiveness and appeared to show signs that he had begun to grasp the gravity of what he had done.
But by 2022, his behavior had grown increasingly erratic and deranged.
According to court testimony, Coleman ‘stripped naked in his cell and began praying to something in the sky.’
He also was observed ‘standing on the sink and diving [feet first] into the toilet,’ and ‘karate–chopping the air when there was nothing there.’
Abby still has photo albums full of pictures of her slain children and their image adorns her phone lock screen
From there, the self–harm escalated.
He has repeatedly slammed his head into a toilet, cut his arms and legs, and punched himself in the face over and over. He has received medical treatment multiple times, court records show.
Coleman is on suicide watch, meaning his cell has been stripped bare, with even basics like pillow covers and shoelaces removed.
His behavior has become so alarming that in 2025, a judge ordered authorities to forcefully medicate Coleman in an attempt to restore him to sanity.
Until he is deemed competent to stand trial, he will remain under psychiatric observation.
‘He is just floundering right now in prison, which isn’t helping anybody,’ federal Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo said in her October 25 ruling to forcefully medicate Coleman.
‘Witnesses are getting cold. The situation is getting cold.’
Coleman is being treated with a cocktail of ketamine, antipsychotics, and sedatives, but his condition hasn’t improved enough for him to face trial.
Those close to Coleman – a former surf instructor – believe that he had a psychotic break in the summer of 2021.
He suddenly changed from a devoted churchgoing family man to someone who rambled about Satanic rings and how President Donald Trump was fighting a hidden cabal of pedophiles.
Parents withdrew their children from the surfing school that Coleman owned, concerned about his disturbing behavior.
Coleman has been held for more than 3 years and is still considered incompetent to stand trial
Coleman became obsessed with the idea a secret cabal of pedophiles had infiltrated his city
A search of his phone showed that he had accessed dozens of message boards and forums that perpetuated QAnon beliefs of evil influences in powerful places.
In the complaint, special agent Jennifer Bannon wrote that Coleman said he was ‘enlightened by QAnon and Illuminati conspiracy theories’ and that he spent hours ‘researching’ them every day.
He told investigators he believed he was receiving visions and signs indicating that his wife carried ‘serpent DNA’ – even questioning whether she was a shapeshifter – and that this corruption had been passed to their children, whom he claimed would spread it unless he intervened.
Coleman was indicted on murder charges and is eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges; the public defender’s office has not returned the Daily Mail’s calls for comment.
According to a family member, Abby supports the government’s bid to medicate her husband in the hopes that they will learn more about why he killed his children.
‘She loves the Matthew she knew,’ the relative says, ‘but she doesn’t know this man anymore.’
