David Bieber

Later in 2007, it was reported that Bieber was involved in an escape plot with two other prisoners, which was foiled. On July 23, 2008, Bieber was told by the High Court that he would not have to serve a whole life term, as originally recommended by the trial judge, but would still have to serve a minimum of 37 years before being considered for parole, meaning he is set to remain in prison until at least 2041, when he will be 75 years old.

On 24 October 2006, the Appeal Court rejected a bid from Bieber for his convictions to be overturned, but ruled he could appeal against the trial judge's recommendation that he should never be released. In February 2007, it was announced that Bieber's sentence appeal would be delayed due to a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) review on whether lifelong imprisonment is a violation of human rights. In January 2012, the ECHR, by a 4-3 majority, held there was no such violation.

The trial was held at Newcastle Crown Court and ended on 2 December 2004. Bieber denied murder, two counts of attempted murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and possession of two hundred 9 mm pistol rounds found in a storage shed. Bieber admitted possession of 298 9mm rounds, found when arrested, without a firearms certificate.

On December 26, 2003, on the border between the Gipton and Oakwood areas of Leeds, unarmed traffic policemen Ian Broadhurst and Neil Roper saw Bieber's stolen BMW car parked at the junction of Grange Park Avenue and Dib Lane, where Bieber had just been into the adjacent post office.

Following the shootings West Yorkshire Police launched a nationwide search for Bieber led by Detective Chief Supt Chris Gregg. On December 27, 2003 Bieber took a taxi journey in Bradford, and on December 28, armed police raided Bieber's apartment in Leeds.

In 1998, Bieber arrived in Yorkshire, where he worked as a nightclub doorman. He also acquired an arsenal of illegal firearms. In 2001 his wife petitioned for divorce and a decree absolute was granted on May 5, 2002.

Bieber entered the United Kingdom on September 26, 1996 through the port of Ramsgate, Kent using the false passport. He was given a six-month visa, but it was extended until his marriage to Denise Horsley in Kendal, Cumbria in March 1997.

Bieber became a drug dealer and bodybuilder. On February 9, 1995 a fellow bodybuilder, Markus Mueller, was shot in Fort Myers. Police arrested Bieber, thinking he had hired a hitman, but later released him due to lack of evidence. In November 1995, Bieber's former girlfriend Michelle Marsh was attacked by the same gunman who had attacked Mueller. All four shots missed.

Roper then moved to handcuff Bieber, who, facing imprisonment for various offences in the UK and possible extradition to Florida, drew a 9 mm handgun and fired an initial four shots at the unarmed officers, who tried to flee. Roper was hit twice in the shoulder and abdomen, but managed to get away. Broadhurst was shot once in the back and immobilized. Banks escaped injury after a bullet hit his radio. Bieber walked over to where Broadhurst was lying, and fired a fifth shot into his head at point blank range. It was the first fatal shooting of an English police officer for over eight years – preceded by that of PC Philip Walter of the Metropolitan Police, who was shot dead on 18 April 1995.

Should he be released, the State of Florida, where he faces charges relating to the murder of Markus Mueller and the attempted murder of former girlfriend Michelle Marsh in 1995, has said it would seek his extradition, though he would not be subject to the death penalty due to extradition treaties.

Bieber fled the state, assuming the identity of Nathan Wayne Coleman through stealing the identity of a child who had died in 1975, and escaped the country in 1996.

David Francis Bieber (born 3 February 1966) also known under the alias Nathan Wayne Coleman is an American convicted murderer. A fugitive from the United States, he murdered PC Ian Broadhurst and attempted to murder PCs Neil Roper and James Banks on 26 December 2003 in Leeds, England, sparking a nationwide search before he was captured. He was given a whole life sentence after being found guilty of murder in December 2004 and the trial judge recommended that he should never be released, however, in 2008 this sentence was reduced to a minimum term of 37 years by the court of appeal, after which he could apply for parole.

Bieber was given three life sentences. The judge recommended that Bieber should never be released, making him only the 25th person in British legal history to be recommended for lifelong imprisonment. It was the first time such a recommendation had been made since the Home Secretary lost his power to set minimum terms.