Heather Coffin; Sixteen Years Ago

Defendant waives hearing in 16-year-old Philadelphia murder case

Wednesday, July 16, 2003

(CNN) -- A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-area man charged with raping and murdering a 10-year-old girl in her bedroom 16 years ago waived a preliminary court hearing Wednesday, allowing the case to go directly to trial.

Raymond Sheehan, 38, was arrested July 8 after DNA tests on blood and hair samples he gave investigators indicated his blood was a genetic match with sperm found on the victim's body.

His arraignment is now scheduled for July 23.

Although the district attorney has not decided whether to pursue the death penalty in the case, it is possible that Sheehan may attempt to plea bargain for life imprisonment, a source close to the case said.

Sources have told CNN that on the day he was arrested, Sheehan signed a full confession admitting that he raped and strangled fifth-grader Heather Coffin in her bedroom in 1987.

In the statement, Sheehan wrote that he went into the Coffin home intending to burglarize it, the source said. He wrote that he came across Heather and "just snapped," strangling her, the source said. The statement includes an apology to the Coffin family.

The victim's parents, Brenda and Randall Coffin, and her sisters, Daniella and Kim, were planning to attend Wednesday's hearing.

Sheehan pleads guilty to murder

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

Raymond Sheehan said he wished he could take back the morning of Feb. 16, 1987.
That day, Sheehan walked into a Horrocks Street home and raped and strangled 10-year-old Heather Coffin.

Sheehan, 38, got away with the crime until July 8 of this year. Almost immediately after his arrest, he confessed in a seven-page statement to homicide detectives.
Last week, Sheehan pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, which carries an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole. In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty.

“All's I can do is apologize wholeheartedly,” Sheehan said at his July 23 court hearing, adding that he'll try to atone for his crime.

Coffin's family was not in a forgiving mood.
“Let him rot,” said Randall Coffin, Heather's dad.
The Coffins supported the death penalty immediately after Sheehan was arrested, but accepted the plea because the suspect would never be released from prison.
Besides, no punishment would erase the painful memories of that February morning.
“It's not going to bring my sister back,” Kim Coffin said.

Sheehan, a 10th-grade dropout, worked for Randall Coffin's contracting business but lost his job because of a poor attitude.

According to Sheehan's confession, he entered the Coffin house in Frankford through an unlocked door shortly after midnight “in a drug-induced cloud” because he believed Randall Coffin owed him money.

Sheehan walked upstairs, entered Heather's room and banged into a lamp.
“Poor Heather woke up,” he said in his confession.

Heather, a fifth-grader at St. Martin of Tours, recognized Sheehan, and he choked her to put her back to sleep. But the girl kept waking up. That's when Sheehan raped and strangled her one final time.

Randall Coffin denied he owed Sheehan money when he fired him, and the Coffin family remains angry that he would kill Heather during the attempted burglary.
“It's not the right way to get even,” said Shawn Watson, Heather's cousin.

The rapist and murderer left a pubic hair and sperm on his victim, but DNA technology was not sophisticated enough at the time to tie Sheehan to the crime.

The technology advanced over the years, with police saying the odds that someone other than Sheehan committed the crime were 1 in 740 million.

Sheehan, of the 3400 block of Shelmire Ave. in Mayfair, waived his preliminary hearing on July 16, and the next court date was set for a week later — an indication that he was likely to plea.

At the July 23 court hearing, about 30 Coffin family members and friends were in attendance. A framed picture of Heather in her St. Martin's uniform sat on the desk of Assistant District Attorney Ed Cameron.

No family or friends were there in support of Sheehan.

Besides the murder plea, Sheehan pleaded guilty to rape. Common Pleas Court Judge Benjamin Lerner, who labeled the crime an “unspeakable evil,” tacked on 10 to 20 years for rape to the life sentence for murder.

Watson, who was 14 at the time of the murder, said Sheehan robbed his family of innocence. He said the suspect's capture and guilty plea have lifted a burden from the family after more than 16 years, adding that the convict has a long life ahead of him in prison.

Carolyn Watson, Shawn's mom and Heather's aunt, described the victim as “the most loving child.”

Donald Coffin, Randall's brother, said the family was grateful that Sheehan waived his rights so they'd be spared the agony of a trial.

John Lamelza, Heather's grandfather, said even sunny days have not been bright ones for him since the murder. He had trouble laughing for a long time after the crime.

“Our whole life has been shattered,” he said.
Janet Lamelza, Heather's grandmother, said Sheehan deserves any punishment he receives.

“Nothing's bad enough for what he did,” she said.
Sheehan was represented by public defender Dan Stevenson. As soon as the two met, Stevenson said Sheehan told him that he was “ashamed” of his actions.
Before last week's court session, Sheehan met with Detectives Chuck Boyle and Jeffrey Piree — who helped solve the case — to thank them for arresting him so he could be set free from the “prison of my own mind.”

Heather Coffin would have been 27 on July 19. She left behind two younger sisters and an infant brother. Randall and Brenda Coffin had another daughter after Heather's death.

Randall Coffin Jr., now 17, was 10 months old at the time of the murder. He grieves for a sister he never got to know and believes she's in a better place than her murderer will ever enjoy.

“I hope that dude rots in hell,” he said. ••

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