A QAnon-obsessed dad who allegedly shot dead his two young children with a spear gun at a Christian resort in Mexico pleaded not guilty to the gruesome murders in a California court.
The plea comes after Matthew Taylor Coleman, 40, admitted to the FBI that he killed his two young kids just days after the 'heinous, cruel and depraved' act, according to court documents.
Coleman had told the agents that 'he received visions and signs that his wife possessed serpent DNA and had passed it onto his children'.
He will remain in an undisclosed federal prison - after prosecutors at the US District Court in San Diego argued Coleman is a flight risk and a danger to others or himself - until his next hearing, which is scheduled for November 5.
Santa Barbara District Attorney Joyce E Dudley said his not guilty plea last Wednesday was expected, even with the FBI's testimony. She told the Santa Barbara News-Press that 'a confession isn't the same as an admission of guilt'.
QA-non-obsessed father-of-two Matthew Taylor Coleman (pictured in court sketch), 40, pleaded not guilty to fatally shooting his young children with a spear gun on Wednesday in a San Diego US District Court
Last month Coleman was charged with two counts of foreign first-degree murder of United States nationals after allegedly shooting his two-year-old son Kaleo and 10-month-old daughter Roxy to death with a spear gun. The charge makes him eligible for the death penalty
Last month, Coleman was indicted and charged with two counts of foreign first-degree murder of United States nationals after he took his two-year-old son Kaleo and 10-month-old daughter Roxy to a Christian ranch in Mexico to murder them.
He told federal agents he used a spear fishing gun to shoot Kaleo and Roxy in the heart before dumping them in a field outside Rosarito.
Deputy Federal Public Defender Elena Sadowsky (pictured) was assigned to Coleman's case on Thursday
According to court documents, when they did not die right away, Coleman stabbed his son 17 more time and his daughter 12 more times, cutting his own hand in the process.
The charges make him eligible for the death penalty. If the Attorney General decides against the death penalty, Coleman's maximum sentence would be life in prison with a fine of up to $250,000.
Coleman was represented by a public defender.
While Coleman's wife Abby had no clue her husband was a QAnon follower, one of his childhood friends said that the alleged killer 'was constantly checking those sites on his phone'.
The friend, who spoke anonymously to People, was referring to conspiracy theory websites and message boards.
'He spent hours each day just glued to his phone looking at that stuff,' he added.
Although the friend didn't know the exact websites Coleman frequently looked at, he said he would bring up QAnon theories throughout their conversations and say: 'Listen to this one'.
'He's show me other posts of other people who believed the strangest things,' the anonymous source told People.
Coleman admitted to FBI that he murdered his son Kaleo (left), two, and daughter Roxy (right), 10 months, back in August. Court documents noted that Coleman was 'enlightened' by 'QAnon and Illuminata' conspiracy theories and thought he 'was saving the world from monsters'
Meanwhile, a longtime family friend of the Colemans is finding it harder to believe the seemingly perfect father was behind the crime.
The insider, speaking on behalf of Coleman's entire family, said: 'At this point, we all believe that he had a psychotic break.
Coleman was sketched in court days after the murder, on August 11, as he faced charges
'It's the only explanation that makes any sense to us. Something clicked, and he did something that was incomprehensible. Before August 7, we thought his life was damn near perfect.'
The family friend told People that Coleman 'has spoken to his family on the phone'.
'It's sinking in what happened, and he's devastated. He has begged his family for forgiveness,' they said.
The family friend also shockingly told People: 'We're standing by him as this goes ahead. The hope is that he'll get the help he clearly needs.'
'We don't know what the future holds,' they said, adding that their support does not mean they're endorsing any of Coleman's actions. 'I think there's some compassion there,' they said of Coleman's apology, 'but forgiveness is going to take some time. What he did is just so horrific'.
'It's going to take a lot of time for everyone to wrap their heads around it,' they added, noting that 'we're still grieving the senseless loss of Kaleo and Roxy'.
An anonymous family friend told People that Coleman's wife Abby, 35, 'didn't see this coming' and is haunted by questions of 'what she could have done to stop it'
Coleman lived in Santa Barbara, California with his wife and two kids. He left on August 7 and checked into the City Express Hotel in Rosarito, Mexico. Two days later he was arrested after trying to get back in the US at the San Ysidro Point of Entry for the murder of his two children
Coleman murdered his toddlers on a Christian ranch in Rosarito, Mexico (pictured) on the morning of Monday, August 9, after leaving his Santa Barbara home on Saturday and crossing the border without his wife's knowledge
On August 7 the Santa Barbara native left his California home in a Mercedes Sprinter van with his toddler son Kaleo and infant daughter Roxy.
He crossed the border into Mexico and drove to Rosarito, where he checked into a City Express Hotel without Abby's knowledge.
He told his wife that they were going on a camping trip but did not say where. He did not take a car seat and instead left with his 10-month-old daughter in a box.
Coleman didn't answer any of his wife's calls or texts the next day - a Saturday. Family members reported that they also could not reach Coleman.
CCTV footage from the hotel showed him checking out of the hotel early Monday with his children and returning later in the morning by himself.
Abby, 35, reported her husband and children missing that same day. She said she was concerned for her family's well-being and because she knew her husband didn't have a car seat, according to the documents.
When she spoke to police the day before the murder she said she did not believe Coleman would harm her children and that they would eventually return home.
Federal agents also confirmed that she and her husband did not have any sort of argument before he left.
Video footage showed Coleman (left), Kaleo (right) and Roxy (not seen in the picture) checking into the City Express Hotel in Rosarito on Saturday, August 7
CCTV footage shows Coleman leaving the hotel on Monday morning at 2.54am with his two children, Kaleo and Roxy
Coleman returned alone later Monday morning and then left the hotel for good in a Mercedes-Benz vehicle, authorities said
On August 9 Coleman was apprehended by police when trying to reenter the USA at the Ysidro Point of Entry. He then admitted to killing Kaleo and Roxy, telling federal agents that he was 'enlightened' by 'QAnon and Illuminata' conspiracy theories which claim the world is run by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles.
He also said he was 'saving the world' because his children were 'going to grow into monsters' since he believed they inherited serpent DNA from their mother.
According to court documents filed in LA, Coleman was 'receiving visions and signs that his wife possessed serpent DNA and had passed it onto his children'.
If he didn't kill them, he 'believed his children were going to grow into monsters'.
Oddly enough, the surf school owner also admitted that he knew what he did was wrong.
In the indictment obtained by DailyMail.com Coleman allegedly 'committed the offence after substantial planning and premeditation to cause the death of a person'.
After the murder Coleman put his children's slain bodies in some nearby brush, discarded their bloody clothes in a blue trash bin and threw the spear fishing gun near a creek, the affidavit said.
He was taken to Santa Ana jail the day after the murder and the Mexican authorities found the murder weapon, bloody clothes and a baby's blanket.
The investigation started after the children's mother Abby Coleman (pictured) reported her husband, son and daughter missing when Coleman didn't answer any of her phone calls or texts
The surf instructor told federal agents that he knew what he did was wrong 'but it was the only course of action that would save the world'
An affidavit was filed in LA following Coleman's arrest. In the court documents, Coleman told
