Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
David Bieber
David Bieber (born 3 February 1966) also known under the alias Nathan Wayne Coleman is a convicted American murderer. A fugitive from the United States, he murdered Pc Ian Broadhurst and attempted to murder Pcs Neil Roper and James Banks on 26 December 2003 in Leeds, England, sparking a nationwide search before he was captured. He was given a life sentence and is unlikely to be released.
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The Florida shootings
Bieber is originally from Fort Myers, Florida, the son of a high school principal. After leaving school, he was briefly a US Marine before being discharged for going AWOL.
Bieber became a drug dealer and bodybuilder. On 9 February 1995 a fellow bodybuilder Markus Mueller was shot in Fort Myers. Police arrested Bieber, thinking he had hired a hitman, but later released him due to lack of evidence. In November 1995, Bieber's former girlfriend Michelle Marsh was attacked by the same gunman who had attacked Mueller. All four shots however missed. Bieber fled the state, assuming the identity of Nathan Wayne Coleman through a stolen passport, before escaping the country in 1996.
The Leeds police shootings
Bieber entered the United Kingdom on September 26 1996 through the port of Ramsgate, using the` stolen passport. He was given six month visa, but that was extended until his marriage to Denise Horsley in Kendal, Cumbria in March 1997.
In 1998, Bieber arrived in Yorkshire, where he worked as a nightclub doorman. He acquired an arsenal of illegal firearms. In 2001, his wife petitioned for divorce and a degree absolute was granted in 5 May 2002.
On 26 December 2003 in Leeds, traffic policemen Ian Broadhurst and Neil Roper saw his car parked suspiciously outside a betting shop. They identified the registration plates as being false, asked him to accompany them to the police car, where Bieber sat in the back seat. The officers were uneasy and so called for backup which they received from colleague Pc James Banks.
Roper then went to handcuff Bieber. Bieber, facing the imprisonment for various offences, and possible extradition to Florida (though he could not face the death penalty) drew a 9mm handgun and fired four shots at the unarmed police officers, who tried to flee. Roper was hit twice in the shoulder and abdomen but managed to get away. Broadhurst was shot once in the back and became immobilised. Banks escaped injury after a bullet hit his radio. Bieber then went over to where Broadhurst was lying ad shot him in the head at point blank range whilst Broadhurst pleaded for his life.
Nationwide search
The shootings sparked a nationwide hunt for the killer. On 27 December Bieber took a taxi journey in Bradford, and on 28 December armed police raided Bieber's flat. Bieber was named as chief suspect on 29 December.
Bieber was arrested by armed police at 2:25am on the 31 December 2003 in a hotel room near Gateshead. He had a pistol ready to fire under his bed. He had died his hair ginger in an attempt to avoid detection. He was charged with murder and two accounts of attempted murder on 1 January 2004.
Trial
The trial was held at Newcastle Crown Court and ended on 2 December 2004. Bieber denied murder, two accounts of attempted murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and possession of 200 9mm bullet pistol cartridges. However, Bieber admitted the possession of 298 9mm bullet cartridges without a firearms certificate .
The prosecution presented evidence from eye-witnesses, identification of Bieber's voice and DNA evidence.
Bieber's defence was that it was his friend who looked like him, also from Florida that committed the offences and had asked him to look after the murder weapon. Bieber said he could not name this friend for fear of reprisals.
Bieber was found guilty of the murders and various miscellaneous firearms offences by a unanimous jury.
The Judge, Mr Justice Moses, told Bieber he had shown "no remorse or understanding of the brutality" of his crime, and the aggravating feature in the case was that Bieber did not need to shoot Broadhurst through the head, noting;
- "You had already disabled him and he was defenceless. You could have escaped then but you chose to wait and fire a second shot at point blank range. To shoot and kill an officer in such circumstances, doing no more than trying to serve us all, is an attack on all of us
- "It must be acknowledged that he might have died as a result of your first shot, but you made certain of his death."
Bieber was given 3 life_sentences. Moses recommended that Bieber should never be released, a ruling which would make Bieber only the 25th prisoner in Britain ever to receive a whole life tariff. It was the first whole life tariff to be set by a judge, previous tariffs being set by the Home Secretary before that was declared illegal.
Should he be released, the State of Florida has said it would seek his extradition, though he could not face the death penalty due to extradition treaties.
External links
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