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And don't forget Coelho's friend John Mack - once a top aide to then-Speaker Jim Wright.
In 1973, Mack had been the manager of a discount store in Virginia. A college student named Pamela Small came into buy window blinds for her first apartment. Mack lured her into a storeroom and smashed her skull with a hammer five times. He then used a steak knife to stab her in the chest and shoulder and to slit her throat. He put her body in her car and went to see a movie.
But Small survived and went to the police. Mack first denied his guilt, then admitted to having "blown his cool." Luckily for Mack, his brother was married to Jim Wright's daughter. Wright wrote letters for Mack and promised to give him a job (even though he had neither Hill experience nor a college education). Mack served two years in jail and then went on to work his way up the Hill.
In 1989, though, Small came forward and the Post broke the story of his past "mistake" (as he put it). Coelho already knew of Mack's background. His reaction when the story broke? "John Mack owed his debt to society, not to this young woman." Besides, he added, Mack "worked to pass very caring bills."