BIG OOPS! News story moves "murder house" to Columbia from Illinois

COLUMBIA, 11/23/11 (Beat Byte) -- "According to Susan Walla, the subdivision trustee of Columbia Lakes, the Columbia, Missouri house where Chris Coleman murdered his family has been sold," claims a November 17 syndicated news story with a Columbia, Mo dateline; details about the tragic killings; and a home address: 2854 Robert Drive. "The buyer is expected to close on the house next Monday."

But this journalist never read about the murders, never saw the news picture of the beautiful wife and two children, and never heard of Chris Coleman (above, with family), the young father now serving a life sentence for strangling his wife and two children to death in 2009. Robert Drive didn't sound familiar, and the agent who sold the home didn't ring any bells, either.

How on Earth could I have missed all that? Had I been living in some alternative reality all this time? Or did the Trib and Missourian fall down on the job and fail to report any of it?

A reporter did goof, but not here. An error mistakenly transported the story from Columbia, Illinois to Columbia, Missouri. I understand readers have advised the publication.