May 27, 2025
Crime & Courts | Northwest Herald
Crime & Courts

St. Charles father in murder-suicide had previously talked about killing twin girls

By BRENDA SCHORY
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A makeshift memorial is set up in honor of Brittany and Tiffany Coffland outside the condominium complex, where they were found shot to death March 10 in St. Charles. Their father, Randall, was also found dead and their mother is hospitalized in stable condition. (Sandy Bressner)

ST. CHARLES – Randall Coffland had talked to his wife about killing his daughters in the past, and about killing himself the same day he took his own life and those of the girls, according to police reports released through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Coffland carried through on his March 10 threat, first shooting his twin daughters, Brittany and Tiffany Coffland, both 16, in the head; then shooting his wife in the legs; and finally shooting himself in the head, at 450 S. First St., apt. 406, reports stated.

Coffland and his wife were living apart in St. Charles, reports stated.

Coffland visited his wife, Anjum Coffland, at her place March 9, and relayed that he wanted them to get back together, but she didn’t. Instead, she told him she wanted a divorce, according to reports.

On March 10, he called his wife and said he was going to kill himself, and asked that she come to his place, reports stated. Randall Coffland had made comments about killing the girls in the past, according to reports, but his wife had never taken them seriously.

She came into the kitchen and found Randall Coffland pointing a gun at her. He said the girls were already dead. He told her he wanted her to survive, so she could live with the situation the rest of her life, and he shot her, reports stated.

Anjum Coffland ran into a bedroom and locked the door, according to reports.

The girls were found in separate rooms covered with blankets, reports stated.

Randall Coffland was found facedown in water in a bathtub with a cellphone on the edge of the tub dialed to 911, reports stated.

The funeral visitation for the girls was held Friday.

Anjum Coffland's financial assistance has been set up by her neighbor on a YouCaring site for medical and funeral expenses at www.youcaring.com/anjumcoffland-775004, and now it has been turned over to the family, Deputy Police Chief David Kintz said in an email.

A GoFundMe account was created by a friend, Kathleen Panek-Rickerson, and her daughter at www.gofundme.com/help-st-charles-mother. That account also has been confirmed and turned over to the family, Kintz said.

Another fundraiser has been organized for March 23 at Colonial Cafe, 552 S. Randall Road, St. Charles, where the restaurant will donate up to 20 percent of net sales to assist Anjum Coffland.