US man booked for hacking his 2 children to death over 'serpent DNA' conspiracy theories

In a shocking incident, a 40-year-old American man allegedly killed his two minor children because he believed they were going to grow into "monsters" and that conspiracy theory led him to believe that his wife had passed down her "serpent DNA" to the children, federal authorities said. The accused, identified as Matthew Taylor Coleman who is a follower of QAnon and Illuminati conspiracy theories, has confessed to the killings of his 2-year-old son and 10-month-old daughter and gave the location of the murder weapon and the discarded bloody clothing, authorities said, adding that Coleman is also the founder of the Lovewater surfing school in Santa Barbara. A criminal complaint alleged, he told the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that he knew he was doing wrong, but that "it was the only course of action that would save the world," 

Apple's 'Find My iPhone' feature tracked accused 

Earlier on August 7, Coleman's wife had reported to police that her husband had left with the children saying that he was taking them for a camp, but refused to tell her where and did not answer calls or text messages. On the very next day, a missing person's report was filed, and she was asked by officers to use Apple's 'Find My iPhone' feature in order to track Coleman, the complaint said. The program showed Coleman's last known location in Rosarito, Mexico, it said. He was detained by the FBI at the border as he crossed back into the US and charged with the foreign murder of US nationals. 

Conspiracy theory-based crime is not a new thing in the US 

QAnon is a conspiracy theory popular among some people who believe Democratic politicians operate a cabal that kidnaps and tortures children in US, using their blood in satanic rituals. It wasn't the first time authorities responded to a crime based on a conspiracy theory that originated on the internet. In 2016, a man named Edgar Maddison Welch entered a pizzeria in Washington DC and fired bullets into a door, claiming he was investigating the debunked "Pizzagate" rumour. That conspiracy theory claimed that the Comet Ping Pong restaurant was the hub of a satanic child sex abuse ring associated with top Democratic politicians.

Image Credits: UNSPLASH