To this day he maintains no memory of what occurred on the day of the murders. 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. Funding his defense reverted back to Will County. The children were shot once in the head and once in the chest. He also said Kimblery was taking medication for migraine headaches and an antidepressant that may have made her suicidal. Then the doctor was asked what the significance would be taking both medications Nortriptyline and Topamax together. He claimed to have forgotten how he had been injured. In this case, the seatbelt latch was soaked with Chriss blood. Yes, most dont ovulate while breast feeding, but again, two adults making choices. Prosecutors say Vaughn of Oswego killed his wife and three children in . 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. After pulling over, the motorist phoned 911, and the man was rushed to hospital. Nothing could be done. The ISP crime scene investigator listed Kimberly as Suspect #1 and Christopher Suspect #2. In 2004, Chris purchased a 9mm Taurus and joined the Washington Association of Legal Investigators (WALI). She had sex with her bf, why dont they have equal responsibility in the pregnancy? Prosecutors said Vaughn shoved his Taurus handgun under Kimberlys chin from outside the SUV and shot her, then reached over her to shoot his children. Vaughn, Kimberly Ellen (nee Phillips), Oswego, IL, June 14, 2007 age 34. There were chat messages recovered from his computer to a guy in Canada revealing he was contemplating strapping on a back pack and leaving civilization and his family to disappear into Alaskas Yukon. 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. Because this podcast made me want to scream. (CBS), Christopher Vaughn, He, along with Edward Deli, were convicted of killing two people and critically injuring a third in . Chris parents, Gail and Pierre, and private investigator Bill Clutter, all claim Chris is innocent and Clutter claims he has evidence to prove it. Its unlikely that Vaughns recollection of the murders from 2007 was useful. A jury took less than an hour in September 2012 to convict Christopher Vaughn at the end of a five-week trial that featured more than 80 witnesses. Elizabeth, another sister, and Jennifer, Kimberlys twin, were both there. For some inexplicable reason, this report, received before the probable cause hearing, was marked draft. 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. Play outside, Jesus, big whoop. The gun had not been jammed under her chin, as investigators initially suspected. Doesnt make him some kind of hero. . TOPAMAX may cause depression or mood problems, tiredness, and sleepiness. 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. Plans changed when Chris landed a job with Chicago-based Navigant. 2020 UNSOLVED MAGAZINE All Rights Reserved. Your son murdered them and you are talking smack about their daughter, no way I would have allowed them to be there. Only a driver trying to surprise passengers would have to pull over, how could she fire multiple shots into three kids without him trying to stop her? I've got nothing to go back to.'. TELL DR. PHIL YOUR STORY: Are you involved in a story making headlines? So why was Christopher Vaughn arrested? At first blush, it looked like Chris was guilty. However, a state police ballistic expert from ISP crime lab who was present when he made this remark disputed this chauvinistic assumption saying that her own hand was able to test fire the weapon with no difficulty. (CBS), Christopher Vaughn, His children, 12-year-old Abigayle . That made it a little more personal for me, but I would have been thoroughly grossed out regardless. There was no sexual contact, not even a lap dance. Not buying it. As investigators unravel the truth, they find that not everyone in this family was a happy camper. CAUTION, CRIME SCENE PHOTOS! He turned his pistol, the same one he had used the night before to practice shooting at a gun range, and shot Blake, 8, Cassandra, 11, and Abigayle, 12, all in the head and the chest. This could be due to my lack of search skills. We asked the doctor who prescribed the Topamax about his patients email to her husband. He traveled all over the U.S and Mexico downloading computer hard drives and mobile devices for some of the largest law firms, Navigant clients. He had re-secured the strap on the topper, got back into the vehicle, noticed that his leg was bleeding, but had no memory of being shot. On Saturday, Vaughn was arrested in St. Charles and Like other Chicagoans, we have ideas about what the next mayor should do. 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. The bleeding man told the truck driver that he believed his wife had shot him. . (Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune). Our crime scene expert Tom Bevel used a dowel rod to determine the bullet trajectory. He turns 47 on Sept. 26. Public Welcome. ', 'They're gone,' Vaughn answers, his head bowed. According to the prosecution, he reportedly killed his family in order to survive in the Canadian forest. . Back spatter is defined as a fine mist of blood that travels away from the entrance wound and creates a conical shaped pattern of blood stains usually measuring less than a millimeter in diameter. Plus, hear from the former Assistant States Attorney who believes Chris is right where he belongs. Heres some of whats on our to-do list. I tried to explain it awaymaybe they are really young?maybe they couldn't figure out a better way to begin the podcast?Maybe I have to fold all this laundry and I have nothing else to listen to , so I am just going to let it go? The fact it was either him or his wife that was the shooter. 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. The gun was thrust into his jacket above the right pocket for the second shot. However, the case AGAINST the guy seems pretty damn strong. 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. 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. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. . Husband and father Chris Vaughn was found limping away from his SUV along a highway with two non-fatal gunshot wounds during the early morning of June 14, 2007. "You couldn't believe it.". first-degree murder in the I felt like I needed some balance or to just clean my palate. Clutter also previously suggested that Vaughn had dissociative amnesia. He told a nurse, You should call my wife. Nearly nine years after a judge handed four life terms to an Oswego man for the murders of his wife and three children, an effort is underway to free the person convicted of one of suburban Chicagos most troubling crimes, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. I have read some of the flood of news articles following the Chris Vaughn trial. I cannot believe his mom blames the other grandmother for subsequent pregnancies. The prosecution argued to the jury that nowhere in these emails was any hint of suicidal ideation. He noted that hes previously dismissed murder cases when he found he could no longer prove them. The ISP CSI described how the phenomenon of tunnel vision infected the Vaughn case. After listening to family members semi deify him, I wanted to read the facts against the man. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. On November 9, 1971, 46-year-old accountant John List killed his entire family in their Westfield, NJ, mansion. Yeah, in the middle of episode 3 and boy, so far the narrative is the wife and mother in law were bitches and thats it. By analyzing the blood evidence on the wifes right thumb, it all comes together to prove it was the wife who unbuckled her own seatbelt, after her husband had been shot. deaths. 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. (By Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune), Investigators collect evidence from the Vaughn Kimberly planned to get her degree in criminal justice and join him as a PI. I am new to Reddit. 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 bag was still sitting on the table untouched about an hour later. They noted that he had to have been seated inside the vehicle when his wife was shot and killed, yet he failed to remember his wife and kids being killed. Because he drove her to visit friends?! he did it and heres what proved it: he had an article about hw to make a murder look like suicide, claimed he didnt read it but somehow followed some of the suggestions listed in the article. Then, see some truly haunting murder scenes from the streets of old New York. On Tuesday, Kimberly's identical twin sister, Jennifer Ledbetter, explained that she feared her looks and personality traits were a painful reminder for the rest of her family of Kimberly's absence and violent death. It seems like the family was dead set on focusing on the negative with Kim and her family. They said, he had to make it look like he didnt do this, so he then got back into the SUV and shot himself in the left wrist and thigh before dropping the gun between Kimberlys feet, unbuckling her seat belt and walking away. His case seems to be that the ballistics did not 100% line up with the state's theory. I left a scathing review and I never do that. Crucially, prosecutors also argued that two bullet holes in a jacket he wore had been created when someone wrapped the gun in the jacket to either silence or conceal the weapon, or to cushion a blow. NL VFW Friday Fish Fry. So the mind blocks it out. Abigayle "Abbi" Vaughn, 12, an accomplished student and athlete who had just begun wearing eye makeup, was slain while clutching a Harry Potter book and a stuffed animal. During his second inspection of the vehicle, Haag attached a laser to the end of the dowel rod and was able, with the tip of his finger, to demonstrate that the shot that struck Cassandra had been fired from the passenger seat, Kimberly was seated. Family life: Christopher Vaughn, 37, with his wife Kimberly and children (left to right) Cassandra, 11, Blake, eight, and Abigayle, 12. The best defense evidence was developed when we went to inspect the family vehicle stored in the old Joliet Penitentiary. It was his blood that bled onto her buckled seat belt. 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. Ahhhhh. The CSI said he was persuaded by the physical evidence that this was a murder-suicide committed by the wife. I told him that you had noticed and I had noticed a big personality change and anxiety change and that I was lethargic (tired all the time)., According to the new medication guide published in May 2009, the FDA required the manufacturer to insert into the product labeling new warnings informing patients and physicians: Effects on Thinking . ), and the state had ballistic evidence that appears convincing. UPDATED: 8/20/2011 - 4:46 p.m. CHICAGO (CBS) -- Jurors in Christopher Vaughn's family murder trial were shown graphic photos of the defendant's dead wife and three children, and prosecutors . 'Whatever they did, they deserve back,' said Vaughn. . Susan Phillips, right, mother of Kimberly Vaughn, and Kimberly's twin sister, Jennifer Ledbetter, spoke at Christopher Vaughn's sentencing Tuesday at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet. Murderpedia has thousands of hours of work behind it. 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. We proved beyond a reasonable doubt that [Vaughn] shot his children in the head and chest at point-blank range after putting a gun under the chin of his wife and pulling the trigger, Will County States Attorney James Glasgow told the Sun-Times. The family all dressed in water park attire because thats where they believed they were going. On the way, Kimberly started to feel sick, so he got off I-55 around Channahon and took the quiet frontage road. 'Mandalorian' star Pedro Pascal, creators on new Grogu revelations and 'Last of Us' comparisons, Saved by the bell: Contestant ordered to keep mask on, in historic 'Masked Singer' first, Chris Pine admits 'it does look' like Harry Styles spit on him but this is what actually happened, Rebel Wilson 'collapsed' after Ramona Agruma proposal: 'I was so overwhelmed', Amy Grant recalls being 'so scared' to return to touring following serious bike accident. 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.". He replied, Well, it would increase the risk of suicidal thoughts.. Now, its clearly wrong.. I couldnt buckle the belt. .. It was only after police showed him the photos of his dead family that he began to refer to them in the past tense. The psychiatrist said this nuance of detail would be difficult to fake. She told police he only wanted to talk. Emma Reynolds There is a transfer stain of blood on the inside of Kimberlys right thumb. Her father is expected to take the witness stand Tuesday. On Saturday, Vaughn was arrested in St. Charles and Who would more likely use his jacket to conceal a gun? She was stabbed. But not all entrance wounds produce back spatter. other than pointing to drugs there is Nothing to lead any reasonable person to believe Kim shot anyone. Analysis of the bloodstain patterns on her left hand provides more compelling evidence that her death was indeed, a suicide. 'An eye for an eye.'. I have read some of the flood of news articles following the Chris Vaughn trial. Compared with what I knew about Kimberly, yes, that would be a big change. We hear about inconsistencies, such as when the murder weapon was transported to the morgue, covered with cloth, and then washed. 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: kevin.vaughan@9news.com or 303 . When investigators arrived at the scene, they noticed blood stains on the strap of the seatbelt. 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. She was athletic and played volleyball. His jacket had holes in it that suggested it was bunched around the gun when fired. 10. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. In 2007, Chris Vaughn was convicted of murdering his wife and 3 kids on the way to a waterpark in illinois. 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. Jurors found Vaughn guilty of the June 14, 2007, murders of his wife Kimberly, 34, and their children: 12-year-old Abigayle, 11-year-old Cassandra, and 8-year-old Blake. In 2007, Chris Vaughn was arrested during a funeral for his wife and three children. seen Friday leaving a funeral home after the visitation in St. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun? "Our hearts ache with the knowledge that they were priceless to everyone but the one man who should have loved them more than his own life," she said of her four slain family members. However, a DNA report from the ISP crime lab contradicted this theory. He said her big change in personality was of concern to him. They also pointed to FDA warnings that drugs Kimberly took Topamax and Nortriptyline could lead to suicide. Season 1 explored a different case. .I froze and I looked down and my leg was bleeding. To have that memory in his mind of what happened next would be too painful to bear. Forensic evidence emerges throughout the podcast series. 'Today I lost everything,' Vaughn says on the video, later referring to how tired he is. Kimberly, and three kids, Abigayle, Cassandra and Blake. He spends much of the gruelling 12-hour interview with his face in his hands or down on the table. With Travis Wilkerson, Ed Vaughn. 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 Thursday he wants to find out when Vaughns memory returned. 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. Key experts were never called to testify. The first entrance hole was the front right pocket; the second an exit hole near the back bottom left side of the jacket. To this day he maintains no memory of what occurred that tragic day 20 years ago. The lawyer W.W. Vaughan, with his wife and several of their children. That's the way Christopher Vaughn is.". It was a lonely life for Kimberly. Madison digs deep into his mother's past, examining every member of his family as the possible culprit. Ok. Camren Wynter hit a three-pointer with 0.7 seconds left to give Penn State a 68-65 victory against Northwestern. Effort underway to free Christopher Vaughn 9 years after conviction for murdering wife, kids, Gunfire kills mom, 3 kids - Wounded dad says wife pulled the trigger, police say he is not a suspect at this time after bodies found in SUV, Article on staging crime found in accused killer Chris Vaughns home, Dream roadtrip ended in nightmare for Christopher Vaughns family, Joliet farmers wrangle cows thrown from semitrailer after crash on Interstate 80, 1 killed, 3 wounded in shootings Tuesday in Chicago, Cook County judge refused to speak with police investigating another judge, CPD shifting cops to more violent beats as summer approaches, Woman claims self-defense in murder of rapper Johnny May Cash, says he beat her, Lightfoot is out, Vallas and Johnson are in the April runoff, Chicago police officer dies after exchanging gunfire at close range with suspect in Gage Park, Analysis: How Lightfoot went from political rock star to rock bottom, Patrick Kane leaves Chicago with clear legacy: Blackhawks greatest player of all time, Mayor Lori Lightfoot was in a fight she couldnt have won, Northwestern falls to Penn State in OT for third consecutive loss, Bulls nearly blow 21-point lead but survive against Pistons, Defensive whiz Richard Zoller, high-flying Angelo Ciaravino help Mount Carmel take down Hyde Park. 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