COLUMBIA, Ill. -- Christopher Coleman, charged with strangling his wife and two sons, arrived at the courthouse in Waterloo about 10:40 a.m. today as a crowd gathered outside chanting "murderer."

Coleman was arrested Tuesday night and charged with three counts of murder.

Investigators learned of evidence Tuesday that led to the three charges of first-degree murder being filed, said Maj. Jeff Connor, commander of the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis. Columbia Police Chief Joe Edwards said some of the evidence was new, and other breakthroughs came from forensic testing. Neither would discuss a motive.

Coleman, 32, was arrested late Tuesday at his parents' home in Chester, Ill., and was taken to the Columbia Police Department. He left, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, for the Monroe County Jail later in the evening. Coleman was to be held without bond until going before a judge today.

"It just all started coming together," Connor said of Tuesday's break in the case. "For several days now, we've been close."

Sheri Coleman, 31, and sons Garett, 11, and Gavin 9, were found dead in their bedrooms at home in Columbia on May 5. Connor confirmed Tuesday night that the three died of ligature strangulation, which means an item such as a cord was used to kill them.

Public attention had intensified since detectives said last week that they had identified the killer, and that the rest was up to Monroe County State's Attorney Kris Reitz. They did not publicly disclose their suspect, but said it was someone who acted alone and targeted the family. Reitz did not immediately pursue charges, and detectives said further forensic testing was yet to be completed.

It was not clear Tuesday night whether Reitz will seek a death sentence, which would be his prerogative under Illinois law in a case of multiple killings or the slaying of a child. Otherwise, the maximum sentence upon conviction would be life in prison without parole.

Christopher Coleman told police he was working out at a gym in St. Louis County on May 5 when his wife and children were killed in their home at 2854 Robert Avenue, sometime between 5:45 and 7 a.m.

Christopher Coleman was fingerprinted six days after the bodies were found and had been under police surveillance last week.

Coleman had complained of some kind of threats related to his work in security for the Joyce Meyer Ministries, in Jefferson County.

Roby Walker, the spokesman for Joyce Meyer Ministries, could not be reached for comment late Tuesday. Coleman resigned last week after Walker met with him in Chester to discuss what the ministry has said was "a violation of moral conduct." Meyer's organization has declined to offer further details.

It was not explained whether the ministry's action had any connection to what police sources have said was more than one romantic rendezvous Coleman had with a Florida woman, a friend of his wife's, during out-of-town ministry trips.

Neither Coleman nor his lawyers have commented on the report of an extramarital affair.

Much attention in the investigation centered on a glove with red spray paint that authorities found along Interstate 255, sources said. That would have been Coleman's route to the gym.

A similar color paint was used by the killer to scrawl a message on a wall in the Coleman home. The message said something to the effect of, "I told you this would happen," sources said.

Police had said they were checking the glove for fingerprints and DNA, as well as trying to see whether the paint matched the message at the crime scene.

Enrico J. Mirabelli, a spokesperson for Sheri Coleman's family in Chicago, said early Wednesday that the family has four words for Chris Coleman: "Let justice be done."

"There clearly is great relief that an arrest has been made," said Mirabelli, Sheri Coleman's cousin. "But we know this is just the beginning. And the family will be there until the end."

Before the announcement of an arrest Tuesday, Sheri Coleman's brother, Mario Weiss, issued a statement on behalf of himself and their parents thanking the Major Case Squad and urging state's attorney to move forward and seek the truth.

He said his sister and her sons were "my heart, my soul, my pride and joy."

Art Margulis, who along with his son William is representing Christopher Coleman, said neither he nor his son had any idea an arrest would come Tuesday.

Christopher Coleman's family had a funeral for the victims May 9 in Chester. Sheri Coleman's family had the bodies taken to a mortuary in Hillsdale, Ill., a Chicago suburb, for a separate visitation May 11. Christopher Coleman did not attend the Hillsdale visitation.

Sheri Coleman's family had taken him to court the week before, claiming he tried to renege on an agreement to hold two services. He eventually agreed to a court order to move the bodies. His in-laws said in a court filing that he did not call Sheri Coleman's family about the deaths for two days.

Christopher Coleman, a former military police officer in the Marines, met Sheri Coleman, a former Air Force MP, while in the military.

Elizabethe Holland of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.