Ahhhhh. A potential family annihilator unhappy in his marriage that seems 100% guilty just based on the fact he is the biggest threat to the attacker, but is not killed. They also pointed to FDA warnings that drugs Kimberly took Topamax and Nortriptyline could lead to suicide. He was in pants, tshirt AND long sleeve flannel shirt. Have the Vaughns considered that the reason their in laws didn't want to visit them is because they are jerks? its sad to me that before her death Kim was telling other people about her husbands good traits and she was looking into marriage counseling. He didnt like his life and this was his choice on how to remedy that. But at one point in the tape, a weary and disheveled Vaughn is seen saying: 'I couldnt have done this; she couldnt have done this.'. blood stains occur not only during the bullet impact or exit (back spatter or forward spatter) but also following blood seepage or dripping from the wounds. The psychiatrist said he was using the present tense when he talked about his wife and children. A few years before, Chris Vaughn had started Stone Bridge Security, a licensed private detective agency in Bellevue, WA. To keep creating CAUTION, CRIME SCENE PHOTOS! Vaughn was charged with their murders. Posted on December 5, 2021. Courtesy Melville Vaughan When the FBI took up the case, in 1923, agents badly bungled the probe. His interview began about five hours after the killings, soon after he was released from a hospital following treatment for minor gunshot wounds and taken to the state police station in Lockport. I just started listening to the podcast, "Murder in Illinois Who Killed the Vaughn Family?". 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He said Thursday he wants to find out when Vaughns memory returned. Kimberly Ellen Vaughn, 34, and her three children, Abigayle Elizabeth Vaughn, 12; Cassandra Ellen Vaughn, 11; and Blake Philip Vaughn, 8; all of Oswego, were found shot to death in an SUV in far southwest suburban Channahon Township. . The best defense evidence was developed when we went to inspect the family vehicle stored in the old Joliet Penitentiary. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. November 27, 2012 / 10:33 AM / CBS Chicago. Chris revolver was lying on the floorboard near her feet. Most who knew the family described Chris as quiet and mild mannered, an introvert. The sentence a foregone conclusion under Illinois law came after Kimberly Vaughn's mother and identical twin sister read statements detailing the devastation the family has suffered, her mother in a matter-of-fact tone and her sister in tears. Clutter has previously written that a transfer blood stain on Kimberlys right thumb all comes together to prove it was the wife who unbuckled her own seatbelt, after her husband had been shot., That was my working theory at the time, Clutter said Thursday. After pulling over, the motorist phoned 911, and the man was rushed to hospital. . By He then decided to adjust a loose luggage rack on top of the SUV at which time he reportedly said he was shot. We hear about inconsistencies, such as when the murder weapon was transported to the morgue, covered with cloth, and then washed. If these were self-inflicted injuries, why shoot yourself twice? the ISP CSI asked. But despite Mills' claims, Lenard contended "the evidence will show Mr. Vaughn did not pull the trigger in the vehicle that day his family passed away.". 2007 the Vaughn family- Christopher, his wife Kimberly and their three children . said she always spoke highly of her family. "No, thank you," he told Judge Daniel Rozak in a soft voice. I can breathe again. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. While prosecutors flashed grisly photos of his wife and three young children slumped dead and bleeding in the family SUV, Christopher Vaughn sat expressionless, calmly jotting notes. Murder in Illinois has taken heavy criticism for its generally negative portrayal of Kimberly and her family. The Murdaugh family. Christopher Vaughn is an American man convicted of the murder of his wife, Kimberly, and the couple's three children in June 14, 2007. But he also has parents and his wife, Kimberly Vaughn, had parents she left behind who haven't yet spoken to Lauren regarding the case. But he always seemed unemotional. Another incriminating fact was Chris visit to a strip club near OHare Airport two nights before his family was killed. It was then re-dated to reflect that it was finalized a day after the lead detective gave his factually inaccurate grand jury testimony. 'Today I lost everything,' Vaughn says on the video, later referring to how tired he is. She had unbuckled her own seatbelt to reach back to shoot her three children. The nit picking of the family is BEYOND! The night before the killings, Vaughn also visited a shooting range, according to trial testimony. Why not ask to be hypnotized so u can remember. Thankful to unload this and release some aggravation! My hand shook badly. Out of all the True Crime ive seen and read about, somehow this one has slipped me. He looked back over his shoulder at his family before being led from the courtroom after the sentencing. So why was Christopher Vaughn arrested? The podcast is currently on the second episode and has shown the case from the view of Chris Vaughn's supporters. Vaughn told him, I believe my wife just shot me. The man called 911, police were dispatched around 5:15 a.m., and they found the bodies of Vaughns family in a Ford Expedition parked in a gravel path beside a cellphone tower. Kim looked at me and said, You will not take my kids. Chris parents Gail and Pierre sit down with Dr. Phil for their first-ever live television appearance and discuss why they believe their son is innocent. So far, I have not found much Reddit discussion on it. Most of their commentary was so unnecessary. DNA testing later invalidated a misinterpretation of blood stain evidence, which the State used to establish probable cause to arrest Chris. The boy was with his mother, Meghan, and two other brothers when they were involved in a road rage. . His children, 12-year-old Abigayle . Five years later, Chris was convicted of murdering his family and is now serving four life sentences. Shortly after Chris Vaughn was discovered limping down a highway with two gunshot wounds in the early morning hours of June 14, 2007, his wife and kids were found in their SUV shot to death. In the video interview, he demonstrated raising his left arm between the gun and his head just as he noticed her pointing the gun at him. The rod pointed in the direction of the passenger seat. The three children were each shot once in the head and once in the torso. In 2004, Chris purchased a 9mm Taurus and joined the Washington Association of Legal Investigators (WALI). Crime Scene Reconstruction and Blood Stain Pattern Analysis: The Case of Christopher Vaughn By Bill Clutter Director of Investigations, "Investigating Innocence" The Scene of the Crime Around 5:20 a.m. on June 14, 2007, a man driving to work along the frontage road of Interstate 55 south of Joliet, Illinois encountered Christopher Vaughn, 32, limping But there was one email she wrote to her husband on May 24, 2007, three weeks before her death that provides the best supporting evidence that she was experiencing dangerous side effects of her medications. He spent over $4,000 on one stripper during two visits a week apart. None of the evidence they say prove his innocence has been discussed so its pretty frustrating to listen to the constant derision of a murder victim and her family. LBP should be ashamed of herself. The long-dormant Vaughn case has resurfaced through an iHeart Radio podcast, Murder in Illinois. An episode on Thursday offered a new theory of what happened in the Vaughn familys SUV while it was parked in a secluded area along a frontage road near Interstate 55 and Bluff Road. Brad Pitt and Daughter Shiloh Share the Same Passions: They Have an Unbreakable Bond, What Caused Jackie Reeds Death? Chris pleaded with police to get the video so he would know what happened to his family. This led him to question the states theory that Chris had killed his family. Yes, most dont ovulate while breast feeding, but again, two adults making choices. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. With Travis Wilkerson, Ed Vaughn. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Mr. Vaughn dresses differently than most people do," Lenard said, and that "makes him vulnerable to suspicion and accusation.". After the killings, Vaughn staggered off and flagged down a motorist who called the police. Beloved wife of Christopher Vaughn; beloved mother of Abigayle, Cassandra and Blake; beloved daughter of Del and Susan Phillips Early in June 2007, Chris Vaughn, 32, was discovered hobbling from his SUV after suffering two non-fatal gunshot wounds. Plus, hear from the former Assistant States Attorney who believes Chris is right where he belongs. I recommended that we appoint an expert in psychiatry to evaluate the statements Chris made to police. Weiss said he was haunted for a time by what he saw the day of the murders, struggling to sleep or concentrate. Why take a shot like that at a dead woman?! A documentary murder mystery about the filmmaker's family, set in lower Alabama. It would make me feel better if you'd at least eat some fries,' says Lawson. Kimberly Vaughn, 34, who had recently completed an online degree in criminal justice, was killed first, prosecutors said. That made it a little more personal for me, but I would have been thoroughly grossed out regardless. At the National Innocence Conference in Cincinnati in April 2011, I ran into an old friendRob Warden, Executive Director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University Law School. A prosecutor said that, if Vaughn had been wearing the jacket when the holes were made near the right front pocket and in the back, he might not be here today.. I got back in to check the kids. TOP 10%. After getting back inside the car, he said, I looked over and thought I saw a gun, but I knew that was impossible why does Kim have a gun? Kim fired at me. He spends much of the gruelling 12-hour interview with his face in his hands or down on the table. She had no idea. His blood is on her side of the car. The screening of his police interview video has been the most dramatic part of the second week of testimony at Vaughn's trial in Joliet, according to the Chicago Tribune. There is a transfer stain of blood on the inside of Kimberlys right thumb. In the days following the murders, investigators searched the Oswego home of the Vaughn family, confiscating computers and other evidence. He allegedly killed his family so he could live by himself in the Canadian wilderness. why cant the family feel pride in academic achievements? See for yourself in the gallery of colorized vintage crime scene photos -- whether New York or elsewhere, whether gangland or other -- above. It was like my mind shut off . Thank you very much in advance. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. He said, Every time I would come up with something that the evidence would suggest or support or you would be able to at least follow the evidence to come to a logical conclusion, basically I was just given some other crazy way that this could have occurred or they would change their theory of what happened to try to match the evidence rather than letting the evidence dictate to you the events that occurred. the Vaughn family's Oswego home. The jury had been considering the case for barely about an hour when they found him guilty. And on Tuesday, "Murder in the Suburbs: Inside the SUV," Clutter does a reenactment of the crime scene based on Vaughn's claims in a letter Vaughn wrote that he says show Vaughn didn't murder his family. Raw and intimate, HBO's new four-part docuseries Murder on Middle Beach follows new filmmaker Madison Hamburg as he attempts to solve the murder of his mother Barbara, who was attacked in her own front yard in Connecticut in 2010. whose wife and three children were found fatally shot in the She was athletic and played volleyball. The Oswego family was reportedly taking a day trip to a water park in Springfield when Christopher Vaughn left Interstate 55 and drove onto a frontage road when his wife became ill. Wont listen to any other podcasts by this host. Murder in Illinois is a true crime podcast that examines the 2007 case of Chris Vaughn who was arrested and convicted of the murders of his wife and three children. During a case review with investigators and the crime lab, the States Attorney stated that a womans hand would be unable to squeeze the trigger of the 9mm Taurus. Christopher sustained minor injuries to his wrist and leg while the other four sustained fatal gunshot . Approved by the FDA to treat epilepsy and seizures, Topamax has an off label use for the treatment of migraine headaches. Police then used trickery to illicit a confession. They are lucky they were allowed to be at the funeral. Whats become of Christopher Vaughn? FORENSIC EVIDENCE OF MURDER-SUICIDE People v. Christopher Vaughn, Will County, IL No. Madison digs deep into his mother's past, examining every member of his family as the possible culprit. charged with eight counts of I came here for this!!! The tragic incident took place on what should have been an exciting day at a local waterpark for the . It was only after I read the transcripts and watched the 20 hours of video interrogation by police that I realized Chris might be innocent. Plans changed when Chris landed a job with Chicago-based Navigant. At first blush, it looked like Chris was guilty. ", Steve Schmadeke and Chicago Tribune reporter. Sit down dining, or available carryout, Year around. During my investigation, I found a June 2003 American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology article entitled Back-Spatter Patterns: Hands Hold the Clues for the Forensic Reconstruction of the Sequence of Events that showed an illustration of the same orientation of a self-inflicted gunshot wound: Blood spatter is mostly expected on the back of the thumb that is used for pulling the trigger . Christopher Vaughn, of Oswego, Illinois, is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife and three children on June 14, 2007. Police investigators used this in their affidavit for probable cause, concluding that his statement of having looked down at his leg and then exiting the vehicle to summon help was inconsistent with the evidence of his wifes blood on the back of his jacket. On the way, Kimberly started to feel sick, so he got off I-55 around Channahon and took the quiet frontage road. It was only after police showed him the photos of his dead family that he began to refer to them in the past tense. On Thursdays episode of Murder in Illinois, a letter purportedly written by Vaughn is read, in which he admits he lied about not remembering how Kimberly shot my kids then killed herself., I pulled over and got out to give her a minute, the letter said. To this day he maintains no memory of what occurred that tragic day 20 years ago. The magazine was collected as evidence and sent to the crime lab in an attempt to prove that Chris had read the article, and became an expert on crime scene staging. After killing his family, she said, Vaughn intentionally grazed his wrist with a bullet and shot himself in the leg, Mills said then "planted the gun between" Kimberly's feet. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, (DSM-IV), I found a condition known as Dissociative Amnesia, a form of memory loss caused when a person witnesses a traumatic event. I couldnt drive the truck. The States Attorney was also convinced that the barrel of the gun had been forcefully jammed underneath Kimberly Vaughns chin, based on his interpretation of what they called a snowman like soot impression on the bottom of Kimberlys chin. Hall was sentenced to death by electrocution in May 1945 and executed on January 4, 1946. yesmagazine.org. Check local listings to see where you can watch. Chris Regis, the former prosecutor who gave part of the closing argument at Vaughns trial, is now corporation counsel for the City of Joliet. SHARE. in the shooting deaths of his wife, Theres also a low key misogynistic vibe throughout their entire monologue. Compared with what I knew about Kimberly, yes, that would be a big change. Each of the murders resulted in a life sentence for 46-year-old Vaughn. The DSM-IV gave an example that a person may suffer this condition if they are the sole survivor and witness their entire family die in an automobile crash. Transfer stains occur when an object, like a thumb, comes into contact with a bloody object. I sincerely hope Kims friends and family never listen to this. The CSI said he was persuaded by the physical evidence that this was a murder-suicide committed by the wife. If he isnt guilty why wasnt he looking for who did it? Ok. Our crime scene expert Tom Bevel used a dowel rod to determine the bullet trajectory. (CBS), Neighbors and friends created a memorial outside Press J to jump to the feed. Her father is expected to take the witness stand Tuesday. lastly, its SO weird that his parents say things like accident they left all the odd terminology regarding the murders struck me as super weird. Now, its clearly wrong.. The Will County State's Attorney's office originally sought the death penalty, which has since been abolished in Illinois. very fascinating. According to the prosecution, he reportedly killed his family in order to survive in the Canadian forest. Vaughn maintains his innocence and claims that Kimberly killed her family before committing suicide. . The ISP crime scene investigator documented in his report that the bullet that struck Cassandra, seated in the middle between her two siblings, exited through the back of her seat and lodged in the rear cargo seat. It makes me feel less alone that many of you felt the weight of listening to his family talk so positively about a man that is convicted of such a abhorrent crime. Key experts were never called to testify. Very little back spatter would occur with the bullet entering the soft underside of the chin. Given the fact that the wifes chin wound was directly above this, it was assumed that she had been the source of this blood. The trial of a father accused of killing his family yesterday reached a dramatic moment when the jury were shown a bizarre video of the man refusing to look at photos of his children after they were shot. Police detectives found at the Vaughn home a copy of PI Magazine with a cover story called Crime Scene Staging and Alterations: The CSI Effect on Criminal Investigations. Vaughn, Kimberly Ellen (nee Phillips), Oswego, IL, June 14, 2007 age 34. It was his blood that bled onto her buckled seat belt. A camera near the ceiling captures Vaughn fidgeting with the hospital gown he is wearing and sipping water from a blue paper cup as he calmly recalls awaking the children at 4am and telling them to get in the SUV for a surprise trip to a water park in Springfield. Vaughn's initial statement revealed an outlandish story he would cling to during the course of his defense. Kimberly, and three kids, Abigayle, Cassandra and Blake. ), and the state had ballistic evidence that appears convincing. The ISP crime scene investigator listed Kimberly as Suspect #1 and Christopher Suspect #2. But what we see on the left thumb is seepage of blood from the wound, creating large patterns of passive blood drops. seen Friday leaving a funeral home after the visitation in St. .In this bonus episode I look at a letter written by Chris Vaughn; a man convicted and sentenced to four consecutive life terms for the murders of his wife, Kimberly, and children, Abigayle, Cassandra, 00:14:34. Its drivers-side window was broken. He also objectedwhile the jury was out of the courtroomto photos taken of Kimberly and the children when they were still alive being shown on the screen. He pulled the Expedition over, got out under the guise of checking a cargo compartment on the roof of the SUV, grabbed his wife through the open passenger window, stuck a pistol under her chin and blew her brains out, Mills said. . Vaughn at first insists his wife, Kimberly, could not have been responsible, as he had initially claimed. This would have been a fatal head shot, had he not worn his heavy, silver watch band imbedded with turquoise stones, that morning. Were ready for anything that occurs, Glasgow said. Chris parents, Gail and Pierre, and private investigator Bill Clutter, all claim Chris is innocent and Clutter claims he has evidence to prove it. He is at Menard Correctional Center, one of the most violent prisons in Illinois. When they extended the passenger seatbelt there was a heavy concentration of blood that had soaked through the fabric of the belt which had been concealed within the frame of the vehicle. This analysis of the crime scene evidence not only disproves the initial police theory that it was Chris who unbuckled the seat belt, but it helps to establish evidence supporting a defense theory that this was a murder-suicide committed by the wife. She told police he only wanted to talk. His three children had each been shot twice, and his wife had a single gunshot wound under her chin. Not buying it. This could be due to my lack of search skills. Plus, hear from the former Assistant State's Attorney who believes Chris is right where he belongs. Researchers reopened the Michael Francke Murder in . The jury returned the verdicts Monday, a few hours after hearing from prosecutors and lawyers for the former cattle truck driver. A piece of his flesh was recovered around the margins of the exit hole of the back of the jacket. Friday Raffle $66,230 and Fish Fry Special, NL VFW Top List Karaoke With Cheryl in the Bar Friday. I felt like I needed some balance or to just clean my palate. I have read some of the flood of news articles following the Chris Vaughn trial. Rozak said before imposing his sentence that he was "very frustrated" by the state Legislature's restrictions, an apparent reference to Illinois' decision last year to end the death penalty. In this case, the seatbelt latch was soaked with Chriss blood. Who would more likely use his jacket to conceal a gun? This evidence suggested he was seated as his wife was bleeding and he leaned back, pressing the jacket against the leather seat, making contact with the secondary spatter stains. At autopsy, the coroner was able to determine the orientation of the gun, based on the imprint of the guns site on Kimberlys chin. I've got nothing to go back to.'. None of this makes any logical sense. No longer alive, Chris.'. This is the first time I've heard about the Vaughn family. In addition to Jandura, two other firefighters, two Channahon police officers and Kimberly's mother, Susan Phillips, testified. Christopher Vaughn was bleeding from his left thigh and hand. Prosecutors will continue playing portions of interviews with Vaughn today. He replied, Well, it would increase the risk of suicidal thoughts.. Family Annihilation: The Vaughn Family Murders. In the early morning hours of June 14, 2007, a man in Will County, Illinois, waved down a pick-up truck on a frontage road near I-55. His . I thought to drive the truck. The prosecution won a motion to introduce all of Kims emails to show to the jury that she was a happy person who was planning for the future. Elizabeth, another sister, and Jennifer, Kimberlys twin, were both there. He said he wanted the family to be taken care of financially. As investigators unravel the truth, they find that not everyone in this family was a happy camper. The blood evidence on the back of his jacket suggested he was seated in the drivers seat at the time his wife suffered the fatal contact wound under her chin.
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