In 1985 Coleen Batten killed her second husband, James Roger Batten, 46, with a shotgun blast to the chest at their home in Placerville, California. The body showed signs that he had been beaten. She was tried for murder but acquitted. She testified that the dead man had “threatened “to kill her and laughed about raping Harris’ daughter from a previous marriage.” The jury’s verdict was based on their opinion there was insufficient evidence she intended to murder her husband.
On January 6, 2013, Robert Harris, 72, a retired law
enforcement officer well-liked and respected was found dead from a gunshot
wound at the home he shared with wife Coleen Harris (formerly Batten), 70 years
old. She was arrested Sunday, January 6, and held without bail. They are
believed to have divorced in 2004 but later reconciled.
According to a Mountain Democrat article from 1985, Harris,
known then as Colleen Batten, testified at trial that Batten “threatened to
kill her and laughed about raping Harris’ daughter from a previous marriage.”
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Sources: [“Placerville woman charged with murder for 3rd
husband’s death,” News 10 abc, Jan. 9, 2013]
[Rachel Quigley, “Woman, 70, ‘shoots dead her husband - 30
years after killing previous husband in the same house with the same shotgun,’”
Mail Online (London, England),
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As of February 20, 2013, 145 cases of Black Widow Serial Killers have been collected.
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As of February 20, 2013, 145 cases of Black Widow Serial Killers have been collected.
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Book: Lloyd Billingsley, Shotgun Weddings: The Saga of
Grandma Cokey, California’s Serial Husband Killer, Centershot Books, 2015.
Publisher copy: Double-Barreled Death in the Sierra
Foothills –
“I think I shot my husband,” said the voice on the 911 call.
“Is he dead?”
The date was July 27, 1985. The caller was Colleen Batten of Placerville, California. Colleen had shot her husband Jim Batten. She shot him twice with a shotgun, and he was dead.
Colleen Batten claims her husband was a violent predator, and that she has no memory of shooting him. A jury believes her, and Colleen Batten walks free.
Colleen marries Bob Harris of the U.S. Forest Service. They live happily for more than 20 years, but when things start to go south, Bob becomes wary.
On January 6, 2013, a 911 call reports a homicide at the residence of Bob and Colleen Harris.
“He looks so beautiful,” Colleen tells police. In the bedroom officers find Bob Harris dead from a shotgun blast to the head.
Colleen taps the same lawyer from 1985 and stands trial for murder in the same courthouse. Again she claims to have no memory of shooting her husband, but this time will the jury believe her? Will she again walk free?
Author Lloyd Billingsley attended the trial and probed every corner of the cases. Shotgun Weddings tells the whole story.
The date was July 27, 1985. The caller was Colleen Batten of Placerville, California. Colleen had shot her husband Jim Batten. She shot him twice with a shotgun, and he was dead.
Colleen Batten claims her husband was a violent predator, and that she has no memory of shooting him. A jury believes her, and Colleen Batten walks free.
Colleen marries Bob Harris of the U.S. Forest Service. They live happily for more than 20 years, but when things start to go south, Bob becomes wary.
On January 6, 2013, a 911 call reports a homicide at the residence of Bob and Colleen Harris.
“He looks so beautiful,” Colleen tells police. In the bedroom officers find Bob Harris dead from a shotgun blast to the head.
Colleen taps the same lawyer from 1985 and stands trial for murder in the same courthouse. Again she claims to have no memory of shooting her husband, but this time will the jury believe her? Will she again walk free?
Author Lloyd Billingsley attended the trial and probed every corner of the cases. Shotgun Weddings tells the whole story.
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For links to other cases of woman who murdered 2 or more husbands (or paramours), see Black Widow Serial Killers.
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[2362-1/3/2021]
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