The department even took the unusual step of naming the two prime suspects - Hughes and Perry Stanger - both deceased since 1989. According to police, that label means the “suspect cannot be prosecuted” because they have died and because of a statute of limitations. The Salt Lake City Police Department reviewed the case in 2014 and quietly labeled the case “exceptionally cleared” in an internal city budget document. One of the enduring mysteries of the Coleman case, however, is whether it could have been solved back in 1978? Some say the murders shut down a movement in the city, leaving many fearful and afraid to speak out.Īll cold cases leave questions that haunt victims’ families and friends. The gay community, as LGBTQ residents referred to themselves back then, was still reeling from the unsolved murder of local gay rights activist Anthony Adams. He was never charged and the case went cold. Hughes had threatened to shoot Coleman and claim he was killed during a burglary.ĭespite a stack of incriminating evidence against him, Hughes was only interviewed by the police one time. “Because he was ignorant,” Hughes replied. “Why did you threaten to kill him?” a detective asked. Hughes was one of the few people to see Coleman regularly Coleman had moved in with the young man and woman who lived next door to Hughes.Īnd after the young woman complained to Hughes that Coleman had offended her, the older man’s affection for her had led him to threaten Coleman - something he freely admitted to. Later, police would hedge on if it was certainly the same gun, but a ballistics expert thought the bullets had come from the weapon. When asked how his gun could have killed Coleman, all Hughes could only say, “Oh gee, I had no explanation for it.”
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