Santa Barbara man charged with killing his children in 2021 over conspiracy theories deemed incompetent to stand trial

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Matthew Taylor Coleman, a Santa Barbara surf school owner charged with killing his two young children with a spearfishing gun in Baja, Mexico, was deemed incompetent to stand trial by a federal judge in San Diego on Thursday.

According to the San Diego Tribune, U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo sealed the order, regarding Coleman.

However, the federal case docket entry in the case, indicated the judge ordered Coleman to be committed for treatment, pausing his case.

The federal judge set a status hearing for Dec. 1st and set a competency hearing for March of 2024.

In August of 2021, Your News Channel reported that Coleman, 42, was arrested with federal charges of murdering U.S. nationals on foreign soil, which were his 2-year-old son, Kaleo, and 10-month-old daughter, Roxy.

According to San Diego Tribune, statements outlined in court records say he admitted to the killings in detailed confessions during several interviews with law enforcement.

Investigators at the time said they both died from stab wounds. The 10-month-old was stabbed 12 times and her brother was stabbed 17 times.

Mexican officials were able to locate camera footage of a hotel where the kids stayed with Coleman. The footage was taken from the night before their bodies were located.

The children’s bodies were discovered in a ditch off a Rosarito highway by local ranch farmers, who reported the crime scene to local authorities.

Security footage showed Coleman leave the hotel with his children early in the morning. He returned several hours alone before leaving the hotel entirely.

According to court records, Coleman’s wife told investigators that the couple had delved into QAnon conspiracy together, coming to believe in the existence of a secret society of elites bent on evil. Coleman eventually became paranoid by a mix of conspiracy theories, even believing that his wife was compromised and had passed serpent blood from “lizard people” onto their children.

The couple exchanged text messages early in the morning on Aug. 9. She asked Coleman to take care of their children, but by then, the children were already dead.

San Diego Tribune says, in February, prosecutors filed a notice with the judge that they would not be seeking the death penalty against Coleman.

Coleman, who attended Point Loma Nazarene University as an undergrad, was arrested as he tried to drive back into the U.S. through the San Ysidro Port of Entry.