Woman Accused of Murdering Martial Arts Instructor

Wednesday, 17 September 2008 17:43

In 2001, a martial arts instructor named D.M. Ford, Sr. was shot execution style in a wooded field near Zanesville, Ohio. Almost immediately, the Muskingum County Sheriff's Department focused on Stacey Coffey, one of Ford's many lovers. Despite an overwhelming lack of evidence, the Sheriff's Department maintained Coffey was their number one suspect for several years; no criminal charges were ever filed. The family of Ford filed a civil wrongful death suit against Stacey Coffey in Federal Court, seeking damages in the millions. Coffey informed the Court she was financially unable to hire counsel to defend her. Believing in Stacey's innocense, attorneys Adam Lee Nemann and Jami Oliver, on behalf of the Central Ohio Association for Justice, volunteered to represent her free of charge. In February of 2008, a jury was empaneled for trial before the Honorable Judge Gregory L. Frost. After testimony from numerous law enforcement witnesses, as well as testimony from other potential suspects in the homicide, a jury returned with a verdict in favor of Stacey Coffey. The jury decided that by a preponderance of the evidence, a lesser burden of proof for the family than in a criminal case brought by the state (beyond a reasonable doubt), Coffey was simply not the killer portrayed by the law enforcement and the media all these years. Although relieved at the jury's verdict in her favor, Stacey Coffey was forced to move across the county in an attempt to piece her life back together. The years of suspicion, threats, and misguided accusations have taken an unfortunate toll on all involved in the case.