Per the official ruling from the medical examiner, there was nothing suspicious about Gary Coleman’s death.
The death of the late actor at age 42, following a fall in his Santaquin, Utah, home in 2010, was ruled accidental and the investigation was closed.
That provided some “vindication” for Shannon Price, the actor’s ex-wife, who was still living with Coleman at the time of his death, Price’s family told the Deseret News in 2010.
But questions among Coleman’s friends, and in the public, have persisted, including a Peacock original documentary called "Gary," released in 2024, which addressed the circumstances and speculation surrounding Coleman’s death.
Now, Price has voluntarily taken a polygraph test for the new A&E series “Lie Detector: Truth or Deception,” which premieres July 10.
“I’m hoping, I’m really hoping, for a good outcome,” Price says in the premiere episode, per People. “Not everyone is perfect at taking a polygraph test, but I have a glimmer of hope that this will work out in my favor, and people will be like, OK, you know what? She’s just a normal girl that had an unfortunate situation happen.”
But based on the results of her test, Price likely isn’t to receive the public understanding she seeks.
Gary Coleman’s ex-wife Shannon Price takes lie detector test
Price’s polygraph test, conducted by former FBI agent and longtime polygraph examiner George Olivo, posed three questions, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Question 1: Did you ever strike Gary during your relationship?
Price responded “no” to this question, which yielded inconclusive results.
“I’m not going to say that you passed that test, because you didn’t,” Olivo told Price, according to People.
“I would never hurt him in that manner or that sense, because his life was so fragile,” Price replied, citing the congenital kidney defect that plagued Coleman his whole life. “Daily life was a struggle for him, and I would never want to hurt him.”
The pair met while Coleman, who rose to fame in the 1970s and ‘80s for his role in the sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes,” was filming the movie “Church Ball” in Utah. They married in 2007 but divorced the following year, though they continued to share a home in Santaquin.
The Deseret News has previously reported on domestic disputes that occurred between Coleman and Price throughout their relationship.
In the documentary “Gary,” Price said that she “slapped” Gary “a couple of times” during their relationship.
“It was only a couple of times as far as anything physical,” Price said. “I mean, I slapped him a couple of times. I mean, nothing major, nothing like ’red flag.’ Like, people smack each other. They hit each other. People do it. … If you deny it, you’re crazy.”
Brandi Buys, a friend of Coleman’s in Santaquin, called the relationship between the actor and Price “toxic.”
“They both laid their hands on each other,” she said in the documentary. “Neither one of them was the innocent party.”
Question 2: Did you intentionally decide to withhold help to Gary when he fell?
Price responded “no” to this question, which also yielded an inconclusive result.
“Here’s the way I look at it, this question having to do with you doing everything that you could possibly do for Gary when he fell, when you called 911, is an issue that you’ve had in your mind for 14 years, and it’s still not resolved in your mind,” Olivo said, per People.
Part of Price’s call with the 911 operator following Coleman’s fall is shared in “Gary.”
In the documentary, Price recalls how Coleman had come home from dialysis on May 26, 2010, and she could tell he wasn’t feeling well. Price says she was upstairs in bed dealing with her own health issues, and asked if Coleman would go downstairs and make her some food. She then heard a noise she thought sounded like pans hitting the floor.
Price says she went downstairs and saw Coleman on the floor and noted that there was “blood everywhere.”
“I just can’t be here with the blood,” she said during the call. “I’m sorry I can’t do it, I just can’t.”
At another point she says, “I’m gagging. I got blood on myself, I can’t deal. I don’t want to be traumatized right now.”
“She was more worried about herself than the person she was calling 911 for,” Coleman’s friend Anna Gray says with emotion in “Gary.” “I think her actions speak volumes.”
While hearing the results of her lie detector test, Price notes that she “could have helped him a little bit more” when it came to rendering aid, per People,
Question 3: Did you physically cause Gary’s fall? Did you physically cause Gary to fall that day?
Price responded “no” to this question, leading to a finding of “deception indicated.”
“You failed the exam regarding Gary’s fall,” Olivo tells Price, according to People. “There’s two things I know for sure, Shannon. One, you were not completely honest with me yesterday during this polygraph section. And two, the other thing I know that’s 100% certain, is that there is more to this story that hasn’t been told. The body never lies. The body always tells the truth. And your body on that lie detector test spoke loud and clear, there’s something that caused you to fail this test.”
Price has always maintained her innocence.
“How can people be so evil and think that I did this? Why? Because I’m the ex-wife? I’m the evil person, right?” Price says in “Gary,” per Deseret News. “I didn’t do anything. I didn’t touch him. I didn’t hurt him. I wasn’t near him. Nothing happened.”
On May 28, 2010 — two days after Coleman’s fall, which led to an intracranial hemorrhage diagnosis — the actor was taken off of life support at Utah Valley Hospital.
“I know where I’m at. I’m at peace,” she told “Lie Detector: Truth or Deception” host Tony Harris, per People. “There is a reason I am not in prison. There is a legit reason for that. It’s because they did a thorough investigation.”
How Shannon Price reacted to the lie detector test
Price has since released a statement about her experience on the new show, stating that the network “cared more about ratings than finding the truth.”
“We were extremely disappointed with the overall experience of both the polygraph testing and dealing with A&E,” Price said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. “Many promises were made and not kept. The testing situation was unfair and very uncomfortable, and the testing was performed non-verbally — which I should have refused. From the beginning it was apparent they cared more about ratings than finding the truth."
Olivo, who administered the exam, believes the results of the test indicate that the full picture of Coleman’s death has not been painted.
“I don’t know what happened in that house. All I know is that she knows why she failed, and there’s more to the story than she’s telling,” Olivo told Fox News Digital.
The premiere episode of “Lie Detector: Truth or Deception,” airs 10 p.m. MDT on A&E.