Gary Coleman’s ex-wife ‘fails’ lie detector test when questioned over actor’s fatal fall

Shannon Price appears in new docuseries ‘Lie Detector: Truth or Deception’

Gary Coleman’s ex-wife, Shannon Price, was told she failed to honestly answer questions related to the actor’s death after being interviewed while hooked up to a polygraph test.

Coleman, who starred in the sitcom Diff’rent Strokes, died in 2010 at the age of 42 after falling down the stairs at his home in Utah. A 2024 documentary suggested his death was “suspicious.”

In the first episode of the new A&E docuseries Lie Detector: Truth or Deception, Price is asked about her involvement in his death by George Olivo, a former FBI agent and veteran polygraph examiner.

Olivio asked Price whether she ever struck Coleman, and whether she intentionally withheld help from him after he fell. She answered “No” to both questions, and the polygraph results were inconclusive.

However, when Olivio asked whether Price physically caused Gary to fall, or to fall that day, she again answered “No” but Olivio informed her the polygraph result came back as “failed, with deception indicated.”

Shannon Price 'failed' a polygraph test when questioned about the death of her ex-husband, actor Gary Coleman (Getty)

Speaking to TVInsider, Olivio said that Price did not appear to be shocked by the result.

“At the end of the episode, I’m paraphrasing what she said, but she was not surprised,” said the former FBI agent. “I think she was disappointed but not surprised.

“I asked her at the end of the examination, like I do everyone, if she felt I treated her fairly. She said, ‘Yeah, you treated me fairly.’ I said, ‘Well, if I treated you fairly through everything and the process was legitimate, you’re not surprised you failed, there you go.’”

Olivio went on to clarify that the results don’t prove anything conclusively, but that he believes Price is withholding information.

“I just know very confidently, a hundred percent in my mind, that there is more to that story than Shannon has told,” said Olivio. “Does that mean Shannon is a cold-blooded murderer? I’m not saying that at all. I don’t know what happened in that house.

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“I do know she is not telling the whole story. One thing I’m very confident about, and I said to her face, ‘There is more to the story, and I’m confident that you know you failed the test.’ To sit there and say, ‘I don’t know why I failed. I was just nervous’ is not the case.”

The 2024 Peacock documentary Gary included Price’s 911 call and speculation about his death. Price told the camera: “People think that I did this. Because I’m the ex-wife, I’m the evil person, right?”

Lie Detector: Truth or Deception premieres on July 10.