The pair pretended to be interested in the camper that Harry had for sale. When Harry went upstairs to find the title for the camper, Coleman beat Marlene to death with a candlestick, hitting her more than two dozen times, and crushing her skull. When Harry returned, Coleman knocked him out and beat him with the candlestick, driving a piece of his skull into his brain, before stabbing him. The pair then bound their hands and feet, and fled in their Plymouth Reliant.