Naman Shrestha
In the episode titled ‘Halt and Catch Fire’ of Investigation Discovery’s ‘The Tech Bro Murders,’ the primary focus is on the untimely and unexpected murder of a 41-year-old entrepreneur named David Coffin in late 1996. As the detectives investigated the case, they uncovered a secret affair and jealousy that drove the perpetrator to commit the horrific crime. Despite the lack of physical evidence, the authorities managed to build a strong enough case against the killer and bring them to justice.
A Fire at David Coffin’s Atlanta Home Led to the Discovery of His Remains
The beloved son of Mrs. Barbara Van Gorder and Mr. David L. Coffin, David Linwood Coffin Jr., entered this world on April 24, 1955, in Hartford, Connecticut. The Coffins shared a tight-knit bond and stood by each other no matter what. However, the parents split up over time, resulting in David, Robert, and their sister, Deborah, becoming part of a blended family. The addition of stepsister Caroline d’Otreppe and stepbrothers Henry Bissell, John Bissell, and Charles S. Bissell Ill completed the family. They all likely embraced each other as their own. David obtained his early education from Kimball Union Academy, a private school in Meriden, New Hampshire. He then enrolled in the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado.
David was a bright individual who showcased his academic brilliance by earning not only a Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Arts degree in business but also a Master of Business Administration degree with a focus on Marketing and Finance. In 1982, he began working at The Dexter Corporation, a Windsor Locks, Connecticut-based company reportedly driven by his family. For the next few years, he executed his responsibilities to the best of his abilities. However, he gradually realized his true calling lay elsewhere. Therefore, David departed from the company in 1985 to establish a name for himself in other fields, mostly the real estate industry. Over the years, David built a great life for himself through hard work and determination. The successful entrepreneur and businessman lived by himself in Buckhead, where he relocated sometime in the 1990s.
As he possessed a family trust valued at around $20 million, the multimillionaire never really faced a shortage of funds and was focused on further expanding his empire to new heights. In his downtime, he enjoyed skiing and playing various other sports. He was a well-liked member of the community with many friends who admired him for his free-spirited and warm-hearted personality. On the fateful day of December 10, 1996, the authorities arrived at his house in Atlanta, Georgia, as it was on fire. Inside the property, they found the 41-year-old businessman dead in the kitchen with a gunshot wound to the head. While inspecting the crime scene, the detectives located a handgun, possibly the murder weapon, near the remains. An autopsy revealed that the cause of his death was the gunshot wound to his head.
The Killer Also Allegedly Robbed His House a Few Days Before the Murder
During the investigation of David Coffin’s death, the authorities were also called over to another house just about a mile away regarding a minor house fire. The house belonged to Scott Davis, who noticed the back of his house on fire and headed outside with a shotgun. He told the authorities that he was shot at and saw an intruder jump over the fence. He claimed that he shot at the fleeing man five times with his shotgun. According to Scott, an individual had broken into his house and ambushed him after he returned home from the gym earlier that same day. He told the investigators that he was threatened at gunpoint to stay away from Megan Lee, Scott’s estranged wife. It turned out that Megan was also romantically involved with David, leading the authorities to believe that his murder could be connected to Scott.
After delving deeply into the lives of David, Scott, and Megan, the detectives discovered that Scott had instructed Megan not to get close to David. However, once Megan and David began their affair, Scott reportedly wrote multiple letters to his estranged wife, asking her to give him another chance. When the investigators talked to Megan, she told them that on December 6, 1996, David’s house was robbed after he returned home from her condo, with the thief stealing items like watches, a 9mm handgun, a 1988 Porsche, and pieces of computer equipment. Incidentally, the same kind of gun was found near David’s remains, while his car was found burned. Due to mounting suspicions about Scott, they questioned him. During the interview, he told the story of the intruder again. However, he also told the detectives that he and Megan were going through a rough patch at the time.
When he mentioned that David was shot, a piece of information that had not been released to the public yet, they asked him how he knew that. The suspect claimed that he had received the information from Megan or a friend. While conducting a search of his house, they recovered five shotgun shells, but not a single shell casing that indicated that he had also been shot at. With enough circumstantial evidence against him, the police arrested Scott Davis in December 1996 and charged him with murder, arson, car theft, and burglarizing David Coffin’s home multiple times. They theorized that the former killed him in his mansion because of his involvement with Megan and set the house on fire to get rid of the evidence. However, due to insufficient evidence, the charges against him were dropped in 1998.
The Killer Was Re-Arrested Based on the Same Evidence
In the following years, Scott Davis relocated to California, where he became involved in politics and was a candidate in the state’s 2003 recall election. However, when a new set of detectives began reinvestigating David’s case in 2004, he came under scrutiny once again and was considered a prime suspect. Thus, he dropped out of the elections. The authorities discovered that before David’s murder and burglary, Scott had hired a private investigator to follow Megan and find out David’s address.
Although the investigators found no new physical evidence against the suspect, they managed to obtain an arrest warrant against him by analyzing the existing evidence in a more thorough manner. Around 10:10 am on November 18, 2005, Scott Davis was once again taken into custody without incident at his residence on the 500 block of Hawthorne Avenue in Palo Alto, California, before being transferred to Atlanta, Georgia. However, his $1 million bond was paid by his family, allowing him to remain a free man until his trial commenced.
Scott Davis is Currently Incarcerated at a Georgia Prison Facility
In 2006, Scott Davis stood trial for the murder of David Coffin. During the trial, Megan was a key witness for the prosecution, testifying against the defendant. She claimed that he used to call her dozens of times throughout the day and pleaded with her to come back to him. On the other hand, the defense attorney argued that there was no physical evidence that connected Scott to the crime. His father, Dr. Dave Davis, testified that he was with him on the night David was burglarized, a claim that he had not made during the entire investigation.
Finally, after hearing both sides of the arguments, the jury deliberated before reaching a final verdict. In December 2006, they returned with a guilty verdict and convicted Scott Davis of the murder of David Coffin. Consequently, he was sentenced to life in prison for his gruesome crime. In the following years, he attempted to have his conviction and sentencing overturned by filing appeals, but to no avail. As of today, he is serving his sentence at Phillips State Prison in Buford, Georgia.
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