Chris Regis, the former prosecutor who gave part of the closing argument at Vaughns trial, is now corporation counsel for the City of Joliet. The night before the killings, Vaughn also visited a shooting range, according to trial testimony. 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. Christopher Vaughn was convicted nine years ago for the murder of his wife and three kids, who were found shot to death inside the family's SUV, parked near Channahon in 2007. family. the Vaughn family's Oswego home. Christopher Vaughn and his family were driving from Oswego to Knights Action Park in Springfield in 2007, but they never made it. They released Blackie. I've got nothing to go back to.'. 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. Vaughn got out of the family SUV to look at the luggage rack on the roof. He said her big change in personality was of concern to him. Clutter also previously suggested that Vaughn had dissociative amnesia. On Tuesday's episode of Dr. Phil, "Murder in the Suburbs: Inside the SUV," see a reenactment of the crime scene based on Vaughn's claims in a letter he wrote that he says show he didn't murder his family. Still, even a bloodstain expert called by Vaughns lawyers agreed at trial that a defense claim that Vaughn left the SUV before Kimberly was shot didnt make sense. Here is a look at some of the evidence and motives law enforcement have explored during the course of their investigation. 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. John List. But the father does not respond. Friday Raffle $66,230 and Fish Fry Special, NL VFW Top List Karaoke With Cheryl in the Bar Friday. The parents of family annihilators have taken this tactic more times than I can count, but theyre rarely given a supportive, one-sided platform to air their grievances against their dead daughter-in-law (who is also the mother of their presumably beloved grandchildren). 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. Christopher only sustained minor wounds to his wrist and leg, compared to the other four who all suffered fatal bullet wounds. Charles, Mo. Crime Scene Reconstruction: Bullet Trajectory. She was right handed. The boy was with his mother, Meghan, and two other brothers when they were involved in a road rage. 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. Mr. Vaughn is quirky. Christopher Vaughn (second from left) sits with his family in his Oswego home before they were murdered in 2007. Kims sister paints a picture of a person who wanted to be a good mom, good wife, a good person. !Go listen to Episode 17 of Court Junkie for a more fact/evidence based account. 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 shot them all on a secluded section of the Interstate 55 frontage road just outside Channahon, Mills said. We asked the doctor who prescribed the Topamax about his patients email to her husband. With the children asleep in the back seat, Vaughn pulled the vehicle over because his wife, taking a new migraine medication, thought she was going to be sick, he told the detectives. After Earnest Lee Hargon killed his cousin and cousin's wife, he tightened a rope around the neck of the couple's 4-year-old son, tied a knot and walked away as the child died, prosecutors said . So why was Christopher Vaughn arrested? Sadly, it took place on what should have been an exciting day at a local waterpark for the family. ", After the sentencing, Kimberly's family hugged and shook hands with investigators. Kimberly Vaughn, 34, who had recently completed an online degree in criminal justice, was killed first, prosecutors said. Murderpedia has thousands of hours of work behind it. 'Today I lost everything,' Vaughn says on the video, later referring to how tired he is. Caption: WICS. Prosecutors will continue playing portions of interviews with Vaughn today. "Mr. Vaughn does not show his feelings or emotions to anyone under any circumstances," said attorney George Lenard. deaths. Her chief complaint on the day she went to see the osteopath was for the onset of high anxiety. Autopsy photos of her left thumb show patterns of passive drops of blood in the location where it would be expected, if she had pulled the trigger. "There isn't a punishment that fits this crime," State's Attorney James Glasgow said. She had unbuckled her own seatbelt to reach back to shoot her three children. (Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune). . His insurance agent told me she had suggested they take out a life insurance policy as part of sound financial planning. Not buying it. His wife Kimberly and their three children were killed, and he is an American man who was found guilty of the crime. Christopher Vaughn, of Oswego, Illinois, is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife and three children on June 14, 2007. In this case, the seatbelt latch was soaked with Chriss blood. The Will County State's Attorney's office originally sought the death penalty, which has since been abolished in Illinois. In addition to Jandura, two other firefighters, two Channahon police officers and Kimberly's mother, Susan Phillips, testified. Brad Pitt and Daughter Shiloh Share the Same Passions: They Have an Unbreakable Bond, What Caused Jackie Reeds Death? The next night, Archie and his buddies went out in search of victim number one. The States Case Doesnt make him some kind of hero. Theyre real people.' Funding his defense reverted back to Will County. 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. I fell back out the door preparing to make another attempt. The psychiatrist said he was using the present tense when he talked about his wife and children. On November 9, 1971, 46-year-old accountant John List killed his entire family in their Westfield, NJ, mansion. . Learn more about this story in the video above. I came here for this!!! She married Christopher Vaughn in 1994. He was leading a dual life. 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. His wife, Kimberly, 34, was in the front passenger seat, slumped over the center console with a single contact gunshot wound under her chin. At autopsy, the coroner was able to determine the orientation of the gun, based on the imprint of the guns site on Kimberlys chin. She had sex with her bf, why dont they have equal responsibility in the pregnancy? Another showed the three children, who were settled under blankets and on pillows for the long, early-morning ride to Springfield, dead together in the backseat of the SUV. His children, 12-year-old Abigayle . said she always spoke highly of her family. Convicted of murder after a two-day trial in May 1945, Hall was sentenced to death. 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.. The jury returned the verdicts Monday, a few hours after hearing from prosecutors and lawyers for the former cattle truck driver. The program is hosted by Lauren Bright Pacheco who examines the complicated . For some inexplicable reason, this report, received before the probable cause hearing, was marked draft. 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 . 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. The letter said Vaughn trusted investigators to get to the truth. The evidence was overwhelming and conclusive. "You couldn't believe it.". 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. Then, the surviving husband and father revealed that he had been getting threats. At one point, Sergeant Gary Lawson asks Vaughn what he thought the person who had killed his family deserved. Now, its clearly wrong.. Then the doctor was asked what the significance would be taking both medications Nortriptyline and Topamax together. TOP 10%. Then, later, he adds: 'She shot me, she shot the kids.'. At another point, Vaughn pushes away a bag of food from McDonalds that detectives have brought him. 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. The bullet deflected off the watch and went out the drivers side window evidence that was consistent with the CSIs interpretation. Prosecutors said blood evidence suggested Vaughn was moving over Kimberlys body after her death, and none of it pointed to a struggle. Was he responsible? His . 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. She was one of Susans three daughters with Del, an attorney. I am new to Reddit. Channahon Firefighter-Paramedic Ryan Jandura said he found a Harry Potter book and a stuffed animal by 12-year-old Abigayle's body. Hargon, 45 . The manual said a person would remember everything up until the trauma producing event, but would have no memory of the events that produced the trauma. Chris parents, Gail and Pierre, and private investigator Bill Clutter, all claim Chris is innocent and Clutter claims he has evidence to prove it. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. But Chris specialty was computer forensics. Gov. 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. The case is currently putting me in mind of the Jeffrey MacDonald case. His blood is on her side of the car. why cant the family feel pride in academic achievements? . 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