A man accused of stabbing his two toddlers to death, was arrested at the US-Mexico border earlier this week.
The 40-year-old man from Santa Barbara has been identified as Matthew Taylor Coleman. On Saturday, he traveled with the kids -- a boy and a girl aged between 1 and 3 years old -- to Rosarito, Mexico. He checked into a hotel room there, according to Border Report. The next day, he reportedly went to a ranch south of Rosarito. Then on Monday, a farmhand found the bodies of two children at the ranch.
According to detectives, Coleman, who is the founder of a Santa Barbara surfing school, was the one who stabbed and murdered the kids. The boy was stabbed 17 times, the Baja Attorney General’s officers said on Tuesday. The girl, on the other hand, was stabbed 12 times. A wooden stake full of blood was also found.
The farm worker said that one of his dogs led him to the “small bodies.” When he approached the bodies, he noticed that one of them was wearing diapers. He soon called the authorities. The worker, who teared up, said, “I was scared and sad because these are tiny children who don’t know any better."
On Monday, the suspect approached the San Ysidro Port of Entry where he was arrested. Authorities said that his wife had reported him and the kids missing. She reportedly got worried after her husband failed to respond to her messages, and knowing that he didn't have a car seat with him, she approached the police.
On Tuesday, an FBI spokesperson said, “A joint investigation is underway among the Santa Barbara Police Department, the FBI in Los Angeles and San Diego, US Customs and Border Protection and Mexican authorities." The spokesperson informed that the man is in federal custody, reported The San Diego Union-Tribune.
According to a criminal complaint, Coleman said that he killed the kids as he believed they "were going to grow into monsters" and that conspiracy theories made him think that his wife had passed down her "serpent DNA" to the little ones, reported NBC News.
He has been ordered to be held without bond. A judge has scheduled his arraignment for Aug. 31.
