Posted on December 5, 2021. But in Vaughns case, he said the evidence was overwhelming.. Christopher only sustained minor wounds to his wrist and leg, compared to the other four who all suffered fatal bullet wounds. The bleeding man told the truck driver that he believed his wife had shot him. Murder in Illinois: With Lauren Bright Pacheco. Courtesy Melville Vaughan When the FBI took up the case, in 1923, agents badly bungled the probe. At Vaughns 2012 trial, jurors heard that Vaughn had been discovered limping and bloody along the frontage road by a man on his way to work. In addition to Jandura, two other firefighters, two Channahon police officers and Kimberly's mother, Susan Phillips, testified. Pacheco, a former Dr. Oz producer, has said Kimberlys family declined her requests for comment. Play outside, Jesus, big whoop. He said her big change in personality was of concern to him. A documentary murder mystery about the filmmaker's family, set in lower Alabama. Richard Kling, another veteran Chicago defense attorney, confirmed he is part of the effort. Transfer stains occur when an object, like a thumb, comes into contact with a bloody object. Emma Reynolds other than pointing to drugs there is Nothing to lead any reasonable person to believe Kim shot anyone. Also this past weekend on 07/25/21, the afternoon radio host (WGN Radio) was discussing the horrific "crime of the century" when Richard Speck brutally murdered 8 nurses in Chicago (07/14/1966). He wore the same outfit to shoot at the range the night before, that gave him the gunshot residue, she was not a good shot, could not handle the recoil, yet she turns half way and fires off great shots? 'I'm really confused,' Vaughn says early in the interview with detectives. On the way, Kimberly started to feel sick, so he got off I-55 around Channahon and took the quiet frontage road. Vaughn, Kimberly Ellen (nee Phillips), Oswego, IL, June 14, 2007 age 34. You have entered an incorrect email address! The rod pointed in the direction of the passenger seat. That's the way Christopher Vaughn is.". She told police he only wanted to talk. Were ready for anything that occurs, Glasgow said. 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Your son murdered them and you are talking smack about their daughter, no way I would have allowed them to be there. 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. I just started listening to the podcast, "Murder in Illinois Who Killed the Vaughn Family?". 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. He allegedly murdered his family so he could move to a . 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. On Tuesdays episode of Dr. Phil, "Murder in the Suburbs: Inside the SUV," see a reenactment of the crime scene based on Vaughns claims in a letter he wrote that he says show he didnt murder his family. At some of the scenes where the Rhoden family was killed, investigators did find . It was clear that there were key events that he was unable to remember. They also pointed to FDA warnings that drugs Kimberly took Topamax and Nortriptyline could lead to suicide. (CBS), Christopher Vaughn, In some cases the memory may be restored days later, or not at all, according to the DSM-IV. They lived briefly in an Aurora apartment . Hargon received life in prison in the third slaying. The bullet passed within a fraction of an inch over his penis and scrotum, entered the top of his left leg and exited through the side seam of his jeans. And Vaughn certainly did not betray his feelings or emotions as prosecutors repeatedly projected ghastly images of Vaughn's wife, Kimberly, 34, and children Blake, 8, Cassandra, 11, and Abigayle, 12 on a large, flat-screen television. It was a sickening feeling, as the architect of our defense experts and strategy, watching the case swirling around the toilet bowl. Her eyes later flashed in anger and she seemed to look at Christopher Vaughn as she spoke of "the betrayal by a man we welcomed into our lives and loved as family.". Theyre real people.' Evidence will show that Vaughn planned to take off and live in the Yukon wilderness, Mills said, and that before going "he wanted to be without any obligations.". Prosecutors said blood evidence suggested Vaughn was moving over Kimberlys body after her death, and none of it pointed to a struggle. Shelli Wiley was killed on a cold October morning in 1985 in Laramie, Wyo., just before the sun rose. On the case for four years, Chriss defense team, now preparing for trial, was yanked from the game. 15:45 GMT 29 Aug 2012. Christopher Vaughn, of Oswego, Illinois, is seen in his police interview declining to even say the names of his murdered three children and wife. 2007-02-15 Stephen Willott, was e-mail friend who planned to live in Canadian wilderness with Chris Vaughn 08/31/12 "Friend: Christopher Vaughn wanted simple life away from government, people" The Oswego man, now 38, murdered his family in 2007 after pulling their SUV off Interstate 55 onto an isolated frontage road near Channahon on the way to what he said was a surprise trip to a . In 2007, Chris Vaughn was convicted of murdering his wife and 3 kids on the way to a waterpark in illinois. Vaughn told investigators the family had been on its way to a water park in Springfield. For the first few months, I had assumed this would be a sentencing case. Hargon, 45 . Very little back spatter would occur with the bullet entering the soft underside of the chin. Ugh, just had to turn it off mid way through episode 2. On Saturday, Vaughn was arrested in St. Charles and Though he had been an early member of Vaughns defense team when Vaughn initially faced the death penalty, Clutter said he was discharged when the death penalty was abolished and has mostly worked pro bono on the case. Because he drove her to visit friends?! A Drug Hit. . Neighbors and the press began to speculate as to what happened, with many pointing the finger at Christopher Vaughn. @iheartradio needs to pull this disgrace of a podcast and issue an apology to the Phillips. Friday Raffle $66,230 and Fish Fry Special, NL VFW Top List Karaoke With Cheryl in the Bar Friday. Why not ask to be hypnotized so u can remember. Interviewed by detectives, the only memory Chris had was that Kimberly wanted him to pull off the highway because she was feeling nauseous, a symptom of her stress-induced migraine headaches. My hand shook badly. . whose wife and three children were found fatally shot in the Thankful to unload this and release some aggravation! In this video, I visit the location where they we. In 2007, Chris Vaughn was arrested during a funeral for his wife and three children. . The back side of Chriss jacket had a transfer stain in a straight line just under the right shoulder blade extending down to the waist of the jacket. Be forewarned that some of the. Given the fact that the wifes chin wound was directly above this, it was assumed that she had been the source of this blood. I was wondering if it is making anyone who followed the trial and was firmly in the "Chris Vaughn is guilty as sin" camp think twice about their conclusion? Just because you feel inferior academically doesnt mean someone is else is forcing that superiority on you. Christopher Vaughn, whose wife and three children were found fatally shot in the family's sports utility vehicle June 14, in Channahon, Ill., is seen Friday leaving a funeral home after the visitation in St. Charles, Mo. Thank you very much in advance. 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.. Kimberly Phillips was born on December 12, 1972, to Del and Susan Phillips of Saint Charles, Missouri. I havent formed an opinion yet, but was looking to see what you guys think. Traces of his flesh and blood, and denim and polyester fibers consistent with the jacket and jeans were found on the bullet. She was one of Susans three daughters with Del, an attorney. Sept. 5, 2021. Even more compelling evidence supporting a murder-suicide came over a year after Chris was arrested when the Food and Drug Administration recommended a black box warning for a risk of suicidal behavior for the medicine Kimberly was taking to treat her stress-induced migraine headaches. Prosecutors have charged Christopher Vaughn with shooting and killing his wife and their three young children on June 14, 2007, the day he was supposed to be driving them to an Illinois water. He said that when he was told at the hospital he had been shot, he was incredulous because there was no one else around and his wife didn't own a gun. "All this tragedy, because one person just could not walk away. But that's just the kind of guy Vaughn is, the Oswego man's lawyer said Monday on the first day of his murder trial. ), and the state had ballistic evidence that appears convincing. Its worth mentioning that when Christopher was interviewed by police they suggested that he had been stressed out, which caused him to shoot and kill his family. Vaughn's restraints made a clanking sound as he appeared to wipe his eye during the testimony, his only outward sign of emotion during the hearing. "There can't be a more fitting end for him than that. He spends much of the gruelling 12-hour interview with his face in his hands or down on the table. She had no idea. The Hargon family were no strangers to tragedy; Michael's family father, Haywood Hargin, had been murdered in a robbery in 1994 at the family's grocery store. He would be tried and convicted of their murders. He recommended we retain ballistics expert Lucien Haag. We have many Key experts were never called to testify. Patrick Quinn signed the bill abolishing the death penalty in Illinois on March 9, 2011. There is a transfer stain of blood on the inside of Kimberlys right thumb. whose wife and three children were found fatally shot in the "I don't think he felt what we feel when he held our (grand)children," said Phillips, who said he had hoped to hear some explanation or apology from Vaughn on Tuesday. Prosecutors have said Christopher Vaughn dreamed of leaving his dull suburban life and decided to kill his family and embark on a survivalist sojourn in the Yukon. Joliet Drug Dealer Arrested On Briggs Street: Police, Walgreens Pharmacist Attacked After Man Visits Wrong Store: JPD. He said Kimberlys arm blocked it. "No, thank you," he told Judge Daniel Rozak in a soft voice. No longer alive, Chris.'. The 51/2 week trial included testimony from two former strippers whom Vaughn plied with cash and an FBI expert who translated 140 pages of runic writings that Vaughn, who had an interest in druidism, had scribbled in a notebook while in jail awaiting trial. The Colorado father and oil worker was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife Shanann, their unborn child, and their two children, Celeste and Bella, ages 4 and 3. Charles, Mo. 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. In this case, the seatbelt latch was soaked with Chriss blood. 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. The Illinois State Police declined this month to refer questions to the FBI about the case of Christopher Vaughn, the Oswego man convicted of the murders of his wife and three children who has become the subject of a high-profile exoneration effort. in the shooting deaths of his wife, And if he married her, that was his choice. After this, the CSI was excluded from the investigation and the Will County States Attorney wrote a letter to his supervisor asking that the CSI no longer be assigned to Will County cases. Reviewing his statements, it was apparent that he had no memory of what happened to his family. When investigators arrived at the scene, they noticed blood stains on the strap of the seatbelt. RELATED: Jurors hear about Lakewood murder linked by DNA to 1984 killing of Bennett family Contact 9NEWS reporter Kevin Vaughan with tips about this or any story: [email protected] or 303 . Why is her dad responsible for the teen pregnancy?! The best defense evidence was developed when we went to inspect the family vehicle stored in the old Joliet Penitentiary. (CBS), Neighbors and friends created a memorial outside Clutter, founder of Investigating Innocence, said a crime-scene reconstruction has shown Vaughn couldnt have unbuckled his wifes seat belt. 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