MCS Report #215
Classification: Homicide
Date of Activation: 10/22/1992
Requesting Agency: Franklin County Sheriff’s Department
Commander and Department: Sgt. Charles Metzner, St. Louis Metropolitan PD
Deputy Report Officer and Department: Sgt. Gene Noblin, Fenton PD
Victim: Danny Harold Coleman
Suspects: Karen Coleman, James K. Kornhardt, and Steven A. Mueller
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department requested the assistance of the Major Case Squad in investigating the death of Danny Coleman (age 38). At approximately 9:40pm, deputies responded to a dirt road just north of the North Service Road near the I-44 Stanton, MO exit, for a report of a vehicle fire with a body in the vehicle. The Sullivan, MO Volunteer Fire Department had extinguished the vehicle fire and located a body at which time they contacted the Sheriff’s Department. Danny Coleman’s body was located inside his burnt 1990 Ford pickup truck. During the investigation, it was determined Danny had died from blunt force trauma to his head prior to the vehicle fire.
With the assistance of this investigation, the following individuals were charged 16 years later, in 2008, by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in connection with Danny Coleman’s death:
Danny Coleman’s wife, Karen Coleman - Conspiracy to Commit Murder-for-Hire and Murder-for-Hire
James Kornhardt - Conspiracy to Commit Murder-for-Hire and Murder-for-Hire, and Obstructing Justice
Steven Mueller - Conspiracy to Commit Murder-for-Hire and Murder-for-Hire
