If he isnt guilty why wasnt he looking for who did it? He genuinely appeared unaware that his family had been killed. deaths. I may need to up my standards. Was disappointed to hear the spin as well. It was clear that there were key events that he was unable to remember. 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? in the shooting deaths of his wife, Meanwhile, the man whose office oversaw the prosecution said Vaughn would go free when hell freezes over.. She was right handed. Accused Family Killer Christopher Vaughn Read Articles About Staging Crime Scenes: Prosecutors Updated: Monday, 27 Jun 2011, The documents show the Vaughn family s trip to Knight s Water Park in Springfield also was planned the night before the murders, reached after Vaughn s wife accused him of spending too little time with their kids. and her employer said she took the job to be close to her kids, took them swimming the night before, not at all the depiction of the bad mom The in-laws were trying to portray. His family sounds narcissistic AF. Pacheco, a former Dr. Oz producer, has said Kimberlys family declined her requests for comment. They both would have turned 40 next month. On Monday, Vaughn was wearing a tan jacket and white collared shirt. His wife passed a certification course and practiced shooting at a Seattle range. According to a study that used high speed photography to document veterinarians shooting cattle at close range, there were several occasions when no back spatter was observed. I really couldnt believe what I was hearing. We hear about inconsistencies, such as when the murder weapon was transported to the morgue, covered with cloth, and then washed. I couldnt buckle the belt. Christopher Vaughn, of Oswego, Illinois, is seen in his police interview declining to even say the names of his murdered three children and wife. 'You've been here all day. 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. Cassandra was shot in the middle of her forehead and in her chest. The ISP crime scene investigator listed Kimberly as Suspect #1 and Christopher Suspect #2. When contacted by the Sun-Times on Thursday, he noted that Vaughn has had 10 years to come up with this statement, which Regis called contrary to the evidence., Glasgow also said the new theory contradicts the scene, insisting the angles are all wrong and it means Vaughns car door, where a bullet was found, would have been open. The rod pointed in the direction of the passenger seat. This could be due to my lack of search skills. 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? ', 'They're gone,' Vaughn answers, his head bowed. whose wife and three children were found fatally shot in the 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. The next night, Archie and his buddies went out in search of victim number one. Vaughn's family murder occurred on June 14th, 2007. (The McDonald case is probably also fresh in my mind because I recently listened to three part series on the case from The Prosecutors.). Try to get any leverage doing that, every mom knows you have to square up to do anything difficut from the passenger seat, they were mortgaged to the eyeballs, he was going to strip joints spending thousands, he was telling people he didnt have a wife or family, he was planning on going to live in the woods somewhere and was looking for a female companion to go with him, why would she have to have him pull over to shoot? 'Today I lost everything,' Vaughn says on the video, later referring to how tired he is. He noted that hes previously dismissed murder cases when he found he could no longer prove them. 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. If these were self-inflicted injuries, why shoot yourself twice? the ISP CSI asked. Cassandra "Sandi", 11, an animal lover who was trying to persuade her mom to let her start a dog-walking business, was killed next. SHARE Judge overturns Utah death row inmate Von Lester Taylor's double murder conviction. Vaughn's family did . 07-CF-1308 Prepared by Bill Clutter, Private Investigator GSR AND BLOOD ON BOTH HANDS CONSISTENT WITH SUICIDE At 9:00 a.m. 6/14/07 CSI Robert Deel administers Gunshot Residue Analysis on the And after Vaughn was taken to the hospital with minor gunshot wounds to his wrist and leg, Mills said, Vaughn expressed more concern for his special jacket and the possibility that emergency workers "were ruining his cowboy boots" than for his dead wife and children. 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. She was stabbed. 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. Thank you very much in advance. When they latched the seat belt, the large bloodstain was located right at the point where the latch came together. charged with eight counts of February 15, 2007 (Thursday) . Sit down dining, or available carryout, Year around. The States Case When he got back inside the car, he saw that his leg was bleeding, so he got out again and proceeded to walk up the road to get help. whose wife and three children were found fatally shot in the "You could lock him up for 500 lifetimes and it would not compensate the victims in this case or the family members.". 'I just don't know I think I panicked or something.'. CAUTION, CRIME SCENE PHOTOS! . Vaughn happened to use the same gun to practice shooting at a range the night before the killings, Mills mentioned. The night before the killings, Vaughn also visited a shooting range, according to trial testimony. I think that is what drove me to seek out some discussion and resulted in my post. I recommended that we appoint an expert in psychiatry to evaluate the statements Chris made to police. He recommended we retain ballistics expert Lucien Haag. Vaughn's wife and children were never mentioned in the writings, but there was a reference to one of the exotic dancers. Kims sister paints a picture of a person who wanted to be a good mom, good wife, a good person. 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. His jacket had holes in it that suggested it was bunched around the gun when fired. Plus, hear from the former Assistant States Attorney who believes Chris is right where he belongs. Prosecutors say Vaughn of Oswego killed his wife and three children in . Because this podcast made me want to scream. Spatter on left hand, thats blowback from the angle, IMO. Judge Clifton Newman agreed on . The best defense evidence was developed when we went to inspect the family vehicle stored in the old Joliet Penitentiary. The family all dressed in water park attire because thats where they believed they were going. to keep expanding and making Murderpedia a better site, but we really If they wanted to appear more balanced, they could have edited out parts that favor Chris and put down the wife's family but they didn't. 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. Its unlikely that Vaughns recollection of the murders from 2007 was useful. However, the case AGAINST the guy seems pretty damn strong. I was appointed as the fact investigator in 2007 after prosecutors declared their intent to seek the death penalty. 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. In some cases the memory may be restored days later, or not at all, according to the DSM-IV. 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. Initially, it was believed that he had unbuckled his wifes seat belt after he shot her. Chris handgun was found on the floor near his wifes feet. 'They're gone. 'Theyre dead. the Murderpedia project stay alive. Mar 12, 2020, 9:30am PST. There was no bruising around the margins of the skin. 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. Whats become of Christopher Vaughn? Vaughn's initial statement revealed an outlandish story he would cling to during the course of his defense. On the second day, when police pressed him to try to remember what happened by telling him do it for your children, he had a fragmentary memory. Will County States Attorney James Glasgow. 'Abigayle, Blake,' the detective adds. (CBS), Christopher Vaughn, 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.". Police had given him every opportunity to blame his wife, but he responded, There was no way she could have hurt the kids. His case seems to be that the ballistics did not 100% line up with the state's theory. He chatted that he was testing out the fantasy of going off the grid for good. It was like my mind shut off . They told him that after 911 cell phone towers were equipped with security cameras. He spent over $4,000 on one stripper during two visits a week apart. He didnt like his life and this was his choice on how to remedy that. When he was questioned by detectives in the following days, Vaughn told them conflicting versions of how the shooting happened, Mills said, and video of the various interrogations will be shown to the jury. The two detectives leave Vaughn in the interview room for hours between discussions, alternating between courteous questioning and intense interrogation. 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. 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. At first blush, it looked like Chris was guilty. . There was a life insurance policy on his wife worth a million dollars, but if Chris was motivated by money, why would he leave a job that paid him $200,000 a year to hike into the wilderness to live off nature? Kimberly Phillips was born on December 12, 1972, to Del and Susan Phillips of Saint Charles, Missouri. He also said Kimblery was taking medication for migraine headaches and an antidepressant that may have made her suicidal. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. I am interested in reading up on the case. Blake, 8, a kind-hearted boy who loved baseball and had an outsized vocabulary, was slain last, apparently after raising his arms in self-defense. 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