50-year Sentence for Murder Case Solved by Hit on Federal Database Nearly a Decade Later

A Chicago man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for a 1995 murder, after evidence showed the gun used in the crime was traced to him by a federal computer database almost 10 years later.

Cook County Judge Dennis Porter sentenced Samuel Coggs, last week for the murder of
Keith Bluemenberg after convicting him in August.  According to prosecutors, on
Sept. 30, 1995 there was a war between the Gangster Disciples and the Blackstones.  Coggs,
a member of the Gangster Disciples, drove down 92nd and Blackstone and started shooting.  Bluemenberg, who was not a gang member, was shot once in the head and killed; another
man was wounded.

Approximately 8 years later, a U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives database, called the Integrated Ballistics Information System, recovered the gun used in the murder in 2003 after a traffic stop in Chicago.  After months of investigation by the Chicago bureau of ATF, the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office, Coggs was linked to the gun and he was charged with murder in 2005.

“With this use of manpower and technology on both the federal and local level, we were able
to provide a sense of justice for the victim and his family, years after the crime was committed,” said State’s Attorney Richard A. Devine. “This is yet another example of how teamwork and dedication of law enforcement agencies can result in the successful arrest and prosecution of individuals who plague our communities with violence.”

This 1995 case was the oldest unsolved murder in Illinois solved by IBIS.  For more information on IBIS, contact ATF Special Agent Thomas Ahern at 312-846-7228.

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