Execution Set for Shane Coffman's Killer

By Gan Matthews, NEWS 9

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- Donald Gilson, convicted killer of 8-year-old Shane Coffman, is scheduled to be executed Thursday at 6 p.m.

Governor Brad Henry denied the 48-year-old who was convicted over 10 years ago for murdering Shane.

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The child's mother, Bertha Coffman, also pleaded guilty to his murder.

According to the medical examiner, Shane was beaten to death, and his body was discovered by investigators hidden in a freezer.

Long before Shane's death, Cleveland County detective Jo Anne Sellars removed all the Coffman children from their mother and put them into protective custody.

"I just remember all the children were filthy," Sellars said. "They were not wearing clothes that were suitable for their size. I remember especially the oldest boy. I don't remember his name, but he was wearing girl's plastic, clear plastic shoes that were way too small for him. His feet were kind of pouring out over it."

A Cleveland County judge later ordered the children returned to Bertha Coffman, but a year later, after Shane's body was discovered other Cleveland County authorities were equally shocked by the children's condition.

An investigator for the District Attorney remembers that seeing the children reminded him of photographs he had seen of Holocaust survivors from the Nazi concentration camps.

Tim Kuykendall, the District Attorney who filed the murder charge against Donald Gilson, said it's a case he'll never forget.

"While I'm not glad that Mr. Gilson's being put to death, I'm glad this case has been resolved," Kuykendall said. "I think justice has been served and maybe Shane's siblings can put part of this case behind them now."

Sellars currently works for the state Fire Marshall. After more than a decade, the Coffman case continues to bother her. She can't forget her encounter with one of the children at the hospital.

"I said, ‘Isaac, while all this was going on, didn't you have my card? Couldn't you have called me?'" Sellars said. "He said, ‘I had my card, and I wanted to call you, but I was afraid that the same thing would happen to me too that happened to Shane.'"

Sellars is glad neither Bertha Coffman nor Donald Gilson will ever be around the children again.

Bertha Coffman is currently serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.