ABIGAYLE, CASSANDRA, BLAKE VAUGHN - 12, 11, and 8 - (2007) / Accused: Christopher Vaughn, father Chicago IL

A Will County judge has OK’d more testing of evidence in the case against an Oswego man accused of killing his family in 2007.
Both sides in the Christopher D. Vaughn murder case want to test the coat the Oswego man was wearing when his wife and three children were found shot to death inside the family’s SUV in Will County in 2007.




Christopher Vaughn



Will County prosecutors have had the coat tested in the past, and they have one more test they want performed, Assistant State’s Attorney Mike Fitzgerald said Monday.
“We’re asking that there be additional DNA testing on one area on the front of the jacket,” he said.
After that, the coat will be sent to a ballistics expert in Arizona by defense attorney Gerald Kielian. Tests the defense has requested will be performed on Feb. 14.
Judge Dan Rozak approved the testing requests Monday.
Vaughn, 36, is accused of killing his wife and three children on June 14, 2007. State Police found their bodies early that morning inside the family’s vehicle, which was parked on an Interstate 55 frontage road. Kimberly Vaughn, 34, and the couple’s children, Abigayle, 12, Cassandra, 11, and Blake, 8, had been shot to death as they sat in the car.

Christopher Vaughn Arrested for Murder of His Family

Christopher Vaughn, 32, was arrested at a funeral home in St. Charles, Missouri for the murder of his wife and children just before he was to attend their memorial services.

He was initially not a suspect in the case.

On June 15^th, after initial questioning Christopher Vaughn was released, as reported by CBS News and the Associated Press

The Chicago Sun-Times was reporting that Vaughn told police that his wife Kimberly had been the one to fire the shots. Vaughn was questioned for hours, and had received treatment at a hospital for the gunshot wound in his leg.

The murders occurred in the family's SUV. Kimberly, Vaughn's wife, was shot once. Each of the children were shot twice, including 12 year old Abigayle, 11 year old Cassandra, and eight year old Blake. Vaughn himself had a gunshot wound in his thigh. He flagged down a passing motorist on a service road afterward, about forty miles southwest of Chicago in Channahon.

Christopher Vaughn works as a computer forensic advisor. He is being charged with eight counts of murder, two charges per victim. One set of charges alleges he shot with intent to kill and the other alleges he shot knowing that it was likely to cause death or great bodily harm. It has yet to be disclosed what evidence was found in order to bring Vaughn from not a suspect to the arrest. The arrest warrant was granted by a judge on Friday. Authorites say that the charges were brought forth from an investigation of phone records, interviews, computer files and forensic evidence.

The mourners at the service were alerted to the arrest of Vaughn nearing its close, at New Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Charles, Missouri.

The family had lived in St. Charles, Missouri, but had moved from Washington state to the Chicago area.

Prosecutor James Glasgow has 120 days to seek the death penalty and said, "We are hopeful that with the issuance of these charges that Kimberly Vaughn and her three beautiful children can truly rest in peace...everyone who came in contact with this case was moved by what they saw."

The bodies were not present at the memorial service. Due to an attempt
to avoid media attention, the bodies of Kimberly Vaughn and the children
were buried privately in a nearby cemetery.

Glasgow hopes that
Vaughn will soon be extradited from Missouri back to Illinois. He also
said that Vaughn indicated that he planned to fight the extradition.
Vaughn is currently being held without bail at St. Charles County Detention Center, per authorities.

Sources:

Man Charged With Murder After Family Found Dead in SUV

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Prosecutors Want to Use Email, Chat Evidence Against Christopher Vaughn

Tuesday, 12 Apr 2011, 3:25 PM CDT

Sun-Times Media Wire


Joliet, Ill. - Will County prosecutors want to admit e-mail and Internet chat evidence into the murder case against Christopher Vaughn. Vaughn is accused of murdering his wife, Kimberly, 34; and children Abigayle, 12; Cassandra, 11; and Blake, 8. Vaugh’s defense is that his wife was depressed and suicidal and she shot him in the leg while the family’s SUV was parked along a frontage road in Channahon Township in June 2007. Then she turned the gun on her children and herself while her husband was out of the vehicle, he told authorities.

Asst. State’s Atty. John Connor filed a motion late last year asking that the e-mails between Kimberly and her husband, sister, co-worker and fellow students at the online University of Phoenix will show she was not depressed or suicidal. The “state-of-mind” evidence will help prove Christopher Vaughn was the killer, Connor said. He was ready to argue the motion in court Tuesday, but defense attorney Gerald Kielian was not ready. Instead, the sides agreed to come back for a status hearing on May 10 when a new hearing date will be set for the motion. Also to be determined at a later date is where money will come from to pay Vaughn’s defense attorneys. They were being paid from the state’s capital defense fund when Vaughn was facing the death penalty. But the death penalty was abolished last month and the fund is going to be terminated. Vaughn’s case was decertified as a death penalty case by the state’s attorney’s office as soon as Gov. Pat Quinn signed the bill into law. At the time of the murders, the family lived inOswego, and Vaughn worked as a private investigator. The family was en route to a Springfield water park when the shootings happened.

No death penalty; Christopher Vaughn still awaits trial

Friday, March 18, 2011 4:47 pm



SUBMITTED PHOTO
Kimberly Vaughn graduated from the University of Phoenix on June 9, 2007, with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice.

Christopher Vaughn's life no longer hangs in the balance. The death penalty, as of this month, is over in Illinois.

Still, there is no date for his murder trial in Joliet, Ill.

Still, there is no closure for the family of Kimberly Vaughn.

Christopher Vaughn, 36, is accused of pulling off Interstate 55 in the early hours of June 14, 2007, and shooting to death his wife Kimberly and the couple's three children. Abigayle was 12; Cassandra 11; and Blake 8.

"It will be four years in June," says Susan Phillips, Kimberly's mother. "We are still at day one. You don't really begin the grieving process until the trial is over.

"Once you have a verdict you do pick up the pieces and move on," she says. "Until then, the pieces are just lying there."

Susan and Del Phillips — Kimberly's parents — live in St. Charles.

Pierre and Gail Vaughn — Christopher's parents — live in Dardenne Prairie.

Gail Vaughn declined to talk to me about the past four years.

Susan and Del Phillips are ambivalent about the abolishment of the Illinois death penalty. Susan wondered if the case will now move more quickly through the system.

"Possibly," said Charles Pelkie, spokesman for the Will County State's Attorney's Office.

Susan will drive to Will County for the next hearing, April 12. Usually they last five minutes, Susan says, and seem to accomplish little.

At home, they still have Smokey, a 15-year-old miniature schnauzer who belonged to Kimberly and her family.

The pine tree they planted in the backyard in memory of Kimberly and her three children is now 7 feet tall.

This month they received a card in the mail from two of Cassandra's grade school friends, now high school freshmen, who remembered Cassandra's March 12 birthday.

Since the deaths, Susan has trouble sleeping. "When I'm supposed to be sleeping, my subconscious mind is going a mile a minute."

She is sustained by her faith and her church, New Hope Presbyterian in St. Peters, where Abigayle was the first baby baptized.

Susan sings in the choir. She knits prayer shawls. She attends Bible study. She continues to hurt.

She had taught German at Pattonville High School until retiring two years ago. There were days, after the deaths, when she couldn't make it to school.

For many years at the end of her school day the classroom phone would ring at exactly 2:14 p.m. It was Kimberly, calling from Seattle or, later, Illinois, to chat about the day's adventures, the kids' accomplishments.

"And then the phone did not ring at 2:14 p.m. anymore," Susan says.

The Will County victim's advocate has already warned that there will be times at trial when Susan will need to leave the court room to avoid seeing crime-scene photos or hearing details from the coroner.

"Families want to know things," Susan says, "but there are things that if you know you will never be able to put back in the box."

Susan, 66, has tried to move beyond anger.

"I am not letting it take any more from me than it has already taken," she says.

The Associated Press reported in February that a coat Vaughn wore the day of the shootings has been returned from a testing labin Arizona. Presumably, both sides are interested in the blood-spray pattern on it.

Police say Vaughn shot Kimberly once in the head and shot each of the children twice, and then shot himself in the left thigh and left wrist. Neither of his injuries was serious.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Vaughn told police he had pulled off the highway because Kimberly felt sick. He told police he got out of the family's SUV to adjust the luggage rack and, while getting back in, noticed his leg was bleeding, so he went for help. He said he remembered little after that.

According to published reports, Vaughn told police that Kimberly shot the children, then shot him and killed herself.

The Will County state's attorney drew a different conclusion. He believes Vaughn used his own 9 mm handgun to slay his family.

Vaughn's defense was funded through the Capital Litigation Trust Fund, a pool of money available to prosecutors and defense attorneys in capital cases in Illinois. Vaughn has been represented by two top lawyers — Gerald Kielian of Joliet and John Rogers, who is with Scott Rosenblum's firm in St. Louis.

It remains to be seen if they will continue to represent Vaughn.

Kimberly is a 1991 graduate of St. Charles West High School, where she played volleyball and soccer. Christopher is a graduate of Francis Howell High School, where he played soccer.

The couple lived in St. Peters seven years. They moved to Washington state in 2001 and to Illinois in 2005.

There are moments, Susan says, that lift her spirits. Moments that seem to verge on divine.

Two years ago Susan was cleaning out her sewing kit when she unearthed a handwritten card she had received from Kimberly.

There was no special occasion. Kimberly, her gregarious and generous daughter, simply had taken a moment to let her mother knowshe was an inspiration.

"It was a very joyful thing to find," Susan says.

Christopher Vaughn's Lawyers Quit Case After Money Well Runs Dry
Deprived of cash from the state's capital litigation fund, the lawyers for an Oswego man charged with gunning down his wife and young children dump the case.

May 10, 2011
When Christopher Vaughn faced the death penalty, his attorneys had access to millions of dollars in state money to fund his defense and buy their time.

But after Governor Quinn banned capital punishment in March, that money went away, and on Tuesday, so did Vaughn's lawyers.

"We have absolutely no source of funding for Mr. Vaughn,"Joliet attorney Gerald Kielian told Judge Daniel Rozak as he entered his motion to withdraw from the case.

Vaughn, 36, faces charges he murdered his wife, Kimberly, 34, and three children — Blake, 8, Cassandra, 11, and Abigayle, 12. Vaughn was also represented by St. Louis attorney John Rogers. Rogers failed to attend Tuesday's hearing, sending instead Gibert Sison, an associate from his firm.

"Talking to Mr. Rogers, it's going to take four to five months of intense preparation" before going to trial, Sison told the judge. And Rogers apparently did not feel he has made enough money to do that kind of work.

Rozak appointed the public defender's office to the case. George Lenard, a Joliet attorney with a private practice who also works as a part-time public defender, landed the lead role in Vaughn's defense.

Among the more notable clients Lenard has represented are Craig Stebic and Drew Peterson. Stebic's wife, Lisa Stebic, vanished in April 2007. Stebic has not been charged with harming his missing wife.

Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, went missing six months after Lisa Stebic. The state police believe Stacy Peterson may have been slain and named Drew Peterson the sole suspect in their investigation but have yet to charge him in connection with her disappearance.

The state police did arrest Peterson two years ago on charges he murdered his third wife, Kathleen Savio, who was found drowned in a dry bathtub in March 2004. Peterson has yet to go to trial. He has been held at the county jail on a $20 million bond since his arrest in May 2009.

Lenard quit the Peterson case after a dispute with attorney Joel Brodsky, whose involvement drove two other lawyers away from the Peterson camp as well.

Lenard's latest client, Vaughn, has been locked up in the same jail for nearly twice as long.

Vaughn and his family were heading from their Oswego home to a Springfield water park in June 2007 when he allegedly shot his wife and children to death as they sat in a sport utility vehicle on the frontage road outside Channahon, then put a bullet in his own leg.

Vaughn reportedly claimed that his wife was the one with the gun and that she shot him in the leg, then killed the children and herself.

As he has been in jail for four years, Vaughn, a former private investigator, is indigent, Kielian pointed out during Tuesday's hearing. Vaughn acknowledged that was the case.

But broke or not, Kielian said he and Rogers tried to stick by their client after they lost access to the capital litigation fund, but only so long as Will County was paying the bills.

Kielian said Chief Judge Gerald Kinney discussed this option with Will County Board President Jim Moustis but Moustis apparently was not interested in picking up the private attorneys' tab.

Lenard will act as Vaughn's lead counsel and be joined by two full-time public defenders who have yet to be appointed. Vaughn is due back in court June 23 for a status hearing.

http://shorewood-il.patch.com/articles/christopher-vaughns-lawyers-quit-case-after-money-well-runs-dry

Accused Family Killer Christopher Vaughn Read Articles About Staging Crime Scenes: Prosecutors



Updated: Monday, 27 Jun 2011, 7:22 PM CDT

Channahon, Ill. - A magazine article about staging crime scenes and “making the death appear to be a suicide” was taken by police from the home of Christopher Vaughn after the June 2007 shooting deaths of his wife and three children, newly released court records show.
Vaughn, 36, also spent a half-hour at a Plainfield shooting range the night before the murders, the documents say, firing at targets with a gun later seized by police from between his dead wife’s feet.
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. Meanwhile, an exotic dancer told police Vaughn had written her a poem about “ancient souls” and bad timing, and Vaughn might have explored the possibility of faking his death.
Finally, it appears the Oswego man wrote an ominous blog entry just weeks before the shooting about “wrapping up a few last things” before disappearing into the remote wilderness.
The clues and insights into the Vaughn murders became public after Will County Judge Daniel Rozak ordered the case file unsealed Thursday. The records inside show his three children -- Abigayle, 12, Cassandra, 11, and Blake, 8 -- were each shot twice.
Kimberly Vaughn was shot once under her chin, the records say.
A filing from February 2011 says Christopher Vaughn, who had been shot twice, waved down a passing motorist and said he thought his wife shot him. On Monday, Vaughn was charged with all four murders, but his defense team argues his wife turned the gun on him and the children before killing herself.
It all happened after Vaughn pulled the family’s SUV over on Interstate 55 near Channahon on the way to the Springfield water park on June 14, 2007.
While prosecutors haven’t set forth a motive, Vaughn’s wife had a $1 million life insurance policy that listed him as a beneficiary. Vaughn also confessed to an affair in December 2006 after a trip to Mexico. Court records show the couple had been fighting, and he would sometimes sleep at the office.
Prosecutors have said Vaughn was frustrated with his life and wanted to live in the Canadian wilderness. The records show someone using his e-mail address set up a blog site for a user named “dewoodsman,” and at least one man knew Vaughn as “Flint.”
Some “dewoodsman” posts can still be found online. Though Vaughn isn’t identified as their author, they appear under his user name and are signed with his e-mail address. One, signed “Flint,” was posted one month before Vaughn’s wife and children were killed.
“I am working on wrapping up a few last things and then I am headed out for the long walk,” it reads. “I’ve been taking continually longer and more remote trips figuring that when the time comes I’ll be ready.”
Will county prosecutors and Vaughn’s public defenders declined to comment Monday on the “dewoodsman” entries found online.
Court records show Vaughn’s former private attorneys, who left the case earlier this year, asked a judge not to admit several pieces of evidence.
Among them was the article found in a magazine for private investigators about the effect of television on criminal suspects who stage crime scenes based on Hollywood portrayals. A portion of the article talked about making deaths appear like suicides. The cases referenced involved rape-murders made to look like hangings.
Vaughn, a private investigator, told police “clearly and unequivocally” he never read it.
He did not deny, however, that he spent a half hour at Mega Sports Shooting Equipment and Range in Plainfield the night before his family was killed. His attorneys said his visit was irrelevant.
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/christopher-vaughn-abigayle-cassandra-blake-kimberly-murdered-water-park-20110627

VAUGHN CHRISTOPHER 8 30 11 406 930 07CF001308 0 MURDER/INTENT TO 3 Pretrial
http://www.willcountycircuitcourt.com/

10/20/2011 9:30 am 406 Hearing

http://66.158.72.242/pa/cms/Schedule.php

Christopher Vaughn Still Waiting For Murder Trial
Brian Kelly
November 9, 2011 11:23 AM

JOLIET, Il. (KMOX)-The former St. Charles, Mo. man charged with killing his wife and three children outside Chicago in June of 2007, will have to wait a little longer before going to trial.

A judge this week set a November 22 hearing date, to decide if hundreds of emails written by Kimberly Vaughn will be allowed at Christopher Vaughn’s trial.

Vaughn allegedly shot Kimberly and their 8, 11 and 12-year-old children on an I-55 frontage road. He told police his wife shot the children and herself, and wounded him.

Vaughn’s attorney is arguing that the emails paint Kimberly as a sympathetic figure, and Vaughn in a negative way.

The Vaughn’s lived in Oswego, Il. at the time of the killings.

http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2011/11/09/christopher-vaughn-still-waiting-for-murder-trial/

Lawyers Still Duking It Out Over Slain Vaughn Wife's Emails
A prosecutor and a defense lawyer went toe-to-toe for a third long day in an epic battle over whether a dead wife's emails can be used at Christopher Vaughn's murder trial.
By Joseph Hosey Email the author November 23, 2011

The bell rang on round 3 in what has turned out to be a prolonged struggle over emails written by the slain wife of accused killer Christopher Vaughn.

Over the course of about three hours on Tuesday, defense attorney George Lenard verbally reviewed each of the 67 emails Will County Assistant State's Attorney John Connor wants presented as evidence at Vaughn's murder trial.

Those 67 are what was left over after Connor sifted through hundreds of messages penned by Vaughn's wife, Kimberly Vaughn, up until the night before her death on the Interstate 55 Frontage Road outside Channahon in June 2007.

The family was heading from their Oswego home to a Springfield waterpark when — according to Christopher Vaughn — his distraught wife shot and killed their children Blake, 8, Cassandra, 11, and Abigayle, 12.

Christopher Vaughn also claimed Kimberly Vaughn, 34, put a bullet in his leg before he was able to flee with his life. After he escaped, he said, Kimberly Vaughn turned the gun on herself and committed suicide.

But prosecutors contend that Vaughn killed everyone and shot himself in the leg so he could blame it all on his wife, whom he told detectives was despondent after learning of an extramarital affair he indulged in while visiting Mexico.

Connor wants the jury to see Kimberly Vaughn's emails because he says they prove she was not despondent or depressed. On the contrary, he said, the emails appear to have been written by a devoted mother and wife who was enthused about completing an online course of study at the University of Phoenix.

In addition, one of Kimberly Vaughn's emails revealed that she practiced shooting on only one occasion prior to her death, and fired but two rounds during the session. She also said her aversion to firearms was an obstacle in pursuing a career as a military officer.

Christopher Vaughn, on the other hand, spent a half hour at a Plainfield shooting range brushing up on his marksmanship the night before his family was gunned down, according to court records. The gun he used at the range was reportedly found beneath his dead wife's feet.

Lenard argued that the emails, coupled with video of Christopher Vaughn's interrogation by the Illinois State Police, portray Kimberly Vaughn as a sympathetic figure and put his client in a less favorable light.

"This is highly prejudicial to Mr. Vaughn," Lenard told Will County Judge Daniel Rozak, who has yet to rule on the email issue.

http://oswego.patch.com/articles/lawyers-still-duking-it-out-over-slain-vaughn-wife-s-emails-b512f0bb

My feeling is that the e-mails SHOULD be included in the trial. They hold valuable evidentiary material as to the state of mind of the victim and her perceptions of the accused.

No doubt the defense feels they are prejudicial as to the fact that they have no indicators of suicide and may include accounts of previous violence and threats of same from the accused.

I agree. I think they should be allowed and don't understand why one court may allow something like that and another court may not.

Christopher Vaughn Case Continues Through New Year
The Will County judge presiding over Christopher Vaughn's murder case put off making a key decision until January.

Christopher Vaughn will be ringing in another New Year in the Will County jail as he waits for his murder case to crawl through the system.

Vaughn — charged with killing his wife and three young children in June 2007 — was scheduled to find out if emails penned by his slain wife could be used as evidence against him, but Judge Daniel Rozak had not finished reviewing the mountain of messages.

"I promising you, I'm working diligently on it," Rozak told defense attorney George Lenard and prosecutor Mike Fitzgerald during a brief Thursday morning hearing.

Rozak scheduled a Jan. 12 return date to hand down his decision on whether any of the dozens of emails prosecutors want to use can be seen by a jury.

The emails prove Vaughn's wife, Kimberly Vaughn, was in a healthy state of mind and not homicidal and suicidal as her husband told investigators after her death, Assistant State's Attorney John Connor explained at an earlier hearing.

Christopher Vaughn claimed his distraught wife opened fire on his children — Blake, 8, Cassandra, 11, and Abigayle, 12 — killing them all as they sat in the family's minivan.

Christopher Vaughn also told detectives that Kimberly Vaughn shot him in the leg before he fled the van. She then turned the gun on herself and committed suicide, according to Christopher Vaughn's story.

But prosecutors maintain Christopher Vaughn murdered his entire family and then shot himself in the leg to bolster the cover story that his wife did the killings.

The Vaughns were heading from their home in Oswego to a Springfield waterpark when Kimberly Vaughn and the children were killed. They were shot to death on the Interstate 55 frontage road outside Channahon and near Shorewood.

Christopher Vaughn could have faced the death penalty if convicted of the murders but slipped that possibility when Governor Quinn banned capital punishment in March.

http://oswego.patch.com/articles/christopher-vaughn-case-continues-through-new-year

Judge Rules to Allow Jury to See Slain Wife's Email Messages in Vaughn Trial
Email messages written by the slain wife of accused killer Christopher Vaughn can be seen by a jury, a Will County judge ruled Thursday.


The attorney for accused killer Christopher Vaughn said the Oswego man wouldn't "have a chance" of beating a murder rap if a jury got a look at emails written by his slain wife.

Chance or no chance, Will County Judge Daniel Rozak cleared the way Thursday morning for a jury to see at least 50 of Kimberly Vaughn's emails, along with what the judge called "hundreds and hundreds and hundreds" of computer chats the dead woman carried on with friends and family, including the husband charged with killing her.

Prosecutors have pushed to get the messages allowed as evidence to counter Christopher Vaughn's claim to police that his wife gunned down their three children and shot him in the leg before turning the pistol on herself and committing suicide.

Christopher Vaughn reportedly explained to detectives that he had confessed to his wife about an extramarital dalliance. That led to Kimberly Vaughn becoming unhinged and eventually murdering the children, trying to kill him and finally taking her own life in June 2007, Christopher Vaughn told police.

But the emails do not show Kimberly Vaughn as either homicidal or suicidal, Assistant State's Attorney John Connor said at previous hearings. They instead portray her as a vibrant, positive person on the verge of embarking on a new career.

Police and prosecutors maintain that it was actually Christopher Vaughn, 37, who killed his wife and three children—Blake, 8, Cassandra, 11, and Abigayle, 12. Vaughn then shot his own leg to bolster his cover story, according to prosecutors.

The family was heading to a Springfield water park but stopped on the Interstate 55 frontage road outside Channahon and near Shorewood. It was there Christopher Vaughn murdered his wife and children as they sat in the family minivan, according to police and prosecutors.

Defense attorney George Lenard had previously argued that the emails cast his client in a bad light. Also, video of Christopher Vaughn's questioning by the state police is not likely to score him points with a jury, as he claimed to detectives that he had been unfaithful to his wife, Lenard pointed out.

Even more potentially damaging to Christopher Vaughn's case is that an email revealed that Kimberly Vaughn practiced shooting on only one occasion, during which she fired but two rounds. She also said her aversion to firearms was an obstacle in pursuing a career as a military officer.

Christopher Vaughn, on the other hand, spent a half hour at a Plainfield shooting range brushing up on his marksmanship the night before his family was gunned down, according to court records. The pistol he used at the range was reportedly found beneath his dead wife's feet.

In October, Lenard told Judge Rozak that letting a jury read the emails would effectively convict his client.

"If the jury gets these emails," he said, "he doesn't have a chance of winning this case."

Rozak has yet to decide whether to green-light another 16 messages. He also put off ruling on how much to redact in one particular email exchange. The redaction concerns email conversations about the criminal justice system Kimberly Vaughn engaged in with her classmates from the University of Phoenix.

"I have a lot of trouble with her talking about defense attorneys and public defenders," the judge said, noting the discussions involve civil lawsuits following acquittals in murder trials and specifically mention O.J. Simpson.

"I really don't want to give that to the jury," he said.


http://shorewood-il.patch.com/articles/slain-wife-s-messages-allowed

Christopher Vaughn Murder Trial Finally Slated to Start


A Will County judge set a trial date for the Oswego man charged with
gunning down his wife and three children as they sat in the family
minivan in the early morning darkness on the Interstate 55 frontage road.

During a Thursday morning hearing, the murder trial for Christopher Vaughn, 37, was set to start on Aug. 13.

Charles B. Pelkie, a spokesman for the Will County State's Attorney's Office, said the trial is expected to last as long as a month and a half.

By the time Vaughn's trial starts in August — if it starts in August —he will have been locked up in the Will County jail without a bond for more than five years.

Vaughn was taken into custody nine days after his family was slain in June 2007.

Vaughn, his wife Kimberly Vaughn, 34, and their children — Blake, 8, Cassandra, 11, and Abigayle, 12 — were on their way to a Springfield water park but pulled off the interstate and stopped on the frontage road outside Channahon and near Shorewood. It was there Christopher Vaughn murdered his wife and children, according to police and prosecutors.

Vaughn told detectives it was actually his wife who shot down their children, put a bullet in his leg as he fled for his life, then turned the gun on herself and committed suicide.

Christopher Vaughn reportedly explained to detectives that he had confessed to his wife about an extramarital dalliance, and that was what led to the unhinged Kimberly Vaughn's killing spree. Medication for
migraine headaches also contributed to her becoming both homicidal and suicidal, officials said Christopher Vaughn told detectives.

http://shorewood-il.patch.com/articles/christopher-vaughn-murder-trial-finally-slated-to-start

Slated is the operative word.

Marianne Gerwig



10:31 am on Friday, February 3, 2012

Why does it take 5 years to go to trial? I hope he spends the rest of his life in jail

Jane Enviere



10:46 am on Friday, February 3, 2012

It's not uncommon for cases, especially high profile ones, to take a long time to get to trial. There are so many pre-trial issues to be ironed out. Better to take the time than risk an error that leads to an appeal. I'd venture to say there's not much to worry about. I don't think this is a Casey Anthony situation.

Who is the mystery woman in Christopher Vaughn’s poem?

By JON SEIDEL Sun-Times Media jseidel@suntimes.com
August 16, 2012 9:46AM

The coded poem prosecutors say was taken from Christopher Vaughn’s jail cell in 2007 might allude to a dancer Vaughn met at a Chicago strip club years ago, but she’s not the only woman mentioned in its translation.

The excerpt from his “daily journal” obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times appears to be a list of things to do. Not only does it say “Ask maya the question” — an apparent reference to the dancer — it also says “Apologize to Christi Rathmell.”

The woman formerly known by that name still lives in Missouri, where she said she met Vaughn when they were about 14 years old. She said she’s been married for 16 years, has a “wonderful life” and asked that her married name not be used.

She said she dated Vaughn as a teenager, but they broke up at the urging of Vaughn’s mother. She didn’t want him to be in a serious relationship when he went off to college.

“I don’t feel that he owes me an apology,” Rathmell said.

She also said she hasn’t seen in Vaughn in 19 years and is in no position to judge whether he’s guilty of the crime for which he’ll go on trial Monday.

“I’ve just been praying for his whole family,” Rathmell said.

Vaughn is charged with the murder of his wife, Kimberly, and their three children — Abigayle, 12; Cassandra, 11; and Blake, 8. They were found shot to death June 14, 2007, in their SUV, which was parked on a frontage road west of Interstate 55.

The family was supposed to be traveling to a Springfield water park.

Vaughn flagged down a motorist that day. He had minor gunshot wounds on his leg and wrist and claimed his wife had shot him. He said Kimberly turned the gun on the children and shot herself after he left the car.

His attorneys have said Kimberly was angry at him that day because he had confessed he had an affair. They’ve also pointed to an anti-seizure drug she was taking when she died that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns could increase the risk of suicidal behavior.

Prosecutors, though, have suggested the Oswego man wanted to leave the Chicago area and go live in the Canadian wilderness. They’ve asked Judge Daniel Rozak for permission to show jurors the coded poem found in his jail cell Oct. 16, 2007.

They’ve pointed to a line in the poem — “ask maya the question” — that they think is a reference to the dancer he met at a strip club. They said she was an “unwitting” part of Vaughn’s plan to start a new life, and it’s an admission he planned to reach out to her.

Vaughn’s attorneys didn’t object to the use of the poem, but they said the rest of his journal is fair game except for any references to Vaughn’s religious beliefs. They’ve already been barred from the trial by the judge.

http://couriernews.suntimes.com/news/14526539-418/who-is-the-mystery-woman-in-christopher-vaughns-poem.html

Jury In Vaughn Family Murder Trial Shown Graphic Photos Of Victims

August 20, 2012 7:03 AM
UPDATED: 8/20/2011 – 4:46 p.m.

VIDEO REPORT

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 claimed Vaughn planned the murders as part of an “exit scenario” to get away from a troubled marriage and start a new life in the Canadian wilderness.

Vaughn is accused of killing his wife, Kimberly, and their three children — 12-year-old Abigayle, 11-year-old Cassandra and 8-year-old Blake — because he wanted to get away from his obligations as a husband and father.

Defense attorneys have argued Kimberly Vaughn was actually the one responsible for the shootings, claiming a mix of medications put her at risk of suicide and caused a big change in her personality.

A jury of four women and eight men was picked last week. Opening statements were presented Monday morning, and then the prosecution began calling its first witnesses.

CBS 2′s Brad Edwards reports Vaughn sat stoic in a beige blazer as prosecutors outlined a ream of reasons why he wanted his family dead – including his affinity for strippers, and a desire to start life anew in the Canadian wilderness. Prosecutors allege Vaughn claimed to have made a scouting trip to plot his new life.

Calling it an “exit scenario from a troubled marriage,” Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Deborah Mills claimed Vaughn planned the murders and practiced with the murder weapon at a gun range the night before a planned family trip to a Springfield water park.

Before dawn on June 14, 2007, Vaughn and his family loaded into their SUV to drive to Springfield, but Vaughn allegedly pulled off the Interstate in Channahon, turned onto an isolated frontage road, and shot his wife and three children.

When police arrived, Vaughn claimed his wife was responsible for the shooting, and shot him twice before he fled the SUV.

In a videotaped confession, Vaughn told police his wife was upset over his religious beliefs and his confession of adultery.

Vaughn’s defense team acknowledged the troubled marriage, but said he still loved his family and claimed Kimberly Vaughn was the one who pulled the trigger.

Defense attorney George Lenard said Kimberly Vaughn was at risk for suicide because of a combination of medications she was taking for migraines, high blood pressure and anxiety. He said there are emails showing Kimberly Vaughn told her doctor she was concerned the medications had caused a major personality change, and another email to a friend in which she calls herself “mommy monster.”

According to defense, in October 2005, Kimberly Vaughn emailed a friend, saying, “even though we are all human beings, we all have a little animal in us that can snap.”

Lenard also called Christopher Vaughn a “quirky, eccentric dreamer,” who was vulnerable to suspicion and aggressive police tactics.

The prosecution’s first witnesses set the scene. A number of first responders testified about finding the Vaughn family’s bodies in the family SUV on a road off I-55 in Channahon.

Prosecutors showed graphic photos of the victims’ bodies, prompting some jurors to cup their mouths and wipe away tears. The photos showed the three Vaughn

Kimberly Vaughn was found dead in the front passenger seat with a gunshot wound to her chin.

Their son Blake’s body was in the rear passenger’s side seat, the door smeared in blood.

Their daughter Abigayle’s body was found holding a Harry Potter book and a stuffed animal.

The trial is expected to last six weeks.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/08/20/opening-statements-in-christoper-vaughn-family-murder-trial/

Witness: 'Nothing out of the ordinary' day before family's murder

Tuesday, August 21, 2012
By Michelle Gallardo

August 21, 2012 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Kimberly Vaughn's family and friends took the witness stand at the murder trial of her husband Christopher. They told the jury she was happy in the days before her death. Prosecutors believe this will show that she would not kill her children.

Christopher Vaughn is charged with murdering Kimberly and their three children.

Defense attorneys say Kimberly Vaughn fired the fatal shots before taking her life.

Day two of the Christopher Vaughn trial wrapped up early Tuesday. Attorneys for both sides left the courthouse without speaking publicly about the case.

Among those taking the stand for the prosecution today were Vaughn's father-in-law and sisters-in-law.

During questioning, assistant state's attorney Debbie Mills appeared to be trying to establish that Vaughn's wife, Kimberly, was happy and making plans for the future in the days and weeks before the shootings and would not have shot Christopher, killed her children and then herself, as defense attorneys contend.

Vaughn, is charged with killing his family inside their vehicle on Frontage Road just off of I-55 near Channahon in the early morning hours of June 14, 2007 as the family drove to a water park in Springfield. In court, Vaughn once again sat nearly expressionless during testimony.

The most emotional part of the day came when Kimberly Vaughn's sister, Nikki Isemann took the stand. "She was my best friend and baby sister," sobbed Isemann who had a hard time keeping herself composed.

Also testifying were the Vaughns' next door neighbors and friends Todd and Hillary Andrlik. The couple had dinner at the Vaughns' Oswego home the night before the shootings. "Kim appeared the way she always appeared, very friendly and talkative and inquisitive ... nothing out of the ordinary," said Todd Andrlick. However, on cross-examination, when asked about Christopher Vaughn's relationship with his children, defense attorney George Leonard asked "would you say that Chris was very protective of his children?" "Yes," answered Andrlik.

The state is expected to call several first responders from Channahon on Wednesday as well as a passing motorist who first came across Christopher Vaughn after the shooting.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8781799

Christopher Vaughn spent almost $5,000 at strip club in days before family killed

By JON SEIDEL AND ERIKA WURST Sun-Times Media
August 23, 2012 6:30AM
Updated: August 24, 2012 6:19AM

Christopher Vaughn dropped nearly $5,000 at a strip club near O’Hare Airport in the days before his family’s violent shooting deaths.

Prosecutors exposed the darker side of Vaughn’s introverted life to jurors Thursday, calling a former dancer to the witness stand who said she’d been visited by the Oswego man twice in June 2007 at Scores Chicago, a gentlemen’s club in Stone Park. Chrystal Miller said Vaughn was shy, timid and uncomfortable but made a strange comment about knowing what would happen in the future.

It came shortly before Vaughn’s 34-year-old wife Kimberly and their children — 12-year-old Abigayle, 11-year-old Cassandra and 8-year-old Blake — were found shot to death in the family SUV off a frontage road west of Interstate 55 near Channahon. The family was supposed to be driving to a Springfield water park the morning of June 14, 2007.

Vaughn is charged with all four of their murders. Prosecutors have said he was trying to escape his suburban life for one of quiet isolation in Canada. But Vaughn’s attorneys argue it was Kimberly who shot Vaughn — he was found with minor gunshot wounds in his leg and wrist — before turning the gun on her children and shooting herself.

Miller earlier this year tried to avoid testifying at Vaughn’s trial before finally relenting, and she told prosecutors her memory of the encounter has faded since she testified before a Will County grand jury five years ago. She nearly turned combative later when defense attorney George Lenard tried to dispense with the niceties — he began to ask exactly what she did at the club. And he argued with her over the definition of a lap dance.

“I was an entertainer, sir,” said Miller, who went by “Cassidy” at the club.

Wearing glasses, a blue scarf and a long dress, Miller said she “vaguely remembered” Vaughn’s visits June 5 and 11, 2007. He told her he was a private investigator, that he’d been single for five years, and that he had no children. They drank together, but she said Vaughn didn’t make her dance. Lawyers said she told the grand jury Vaughn was “such a gentleman.”

Miller repeatedly said she had a poor memory of her grand jury testimony, but she said it’d be more accurate than the answers she gave Thursday. Before the grand jury, prosecutors said, Miller testified Vaughn wore a black coat, a white undershirt and cowboy boots when he visited the club.

She said Vaughn asked at the end of one of their visits if she knew what would happen in the future. She said she didn’t.

“He said, ‘I do,’” Miller said.

Then jurors heard from Scores manager Lisa Hinds, who reviewed Vaughn’s receipts for the jury. The total for his two visits, she said, was $4,788.

At least one more dancer, mentioned in a coded jailhouse poem by Vaughn and the recipient of another he penned about “ancient souls,” is expected to testify in Vaughn’s trial.

Meanwhile, prosecutors continued to undercut Vaughn’s argument his wife was suicidal, or that she would harm her children. An Illinois State Police investigator reviewed several emails written by Vaughn’s late wife to her classmates at the University of Phoenix. Kimberly called her husband — and her sister — heroes in one of her missives.

“Because of the strength and support they give me,” Kimberly Vaughn wrote.

When a school bully broke Cassandra’s wrist, Kimberly wrote about her displeasure with the principal. She also sought out school officials when they wouldn’t let Blake check out a book above a certain reading level.

And she said she wanted to go into law enforcement, but “the gun thing” stood in her way.

Finally, prosecutors called on Mark Daniels, owner of the Mega Sports shooting range in Plainfield, to review surveillance footage of his store for the jury. Vaughn visited the shooting range June 6 and June 13, 2007 ­-- the night before the shootings, he said. And in grainy and sometimes blurry video taken those days, Vaughn can be seen using a lane at the range.

On his first visit he wore a dark-colored T-shirt and jeans. The night before the shootings he wore a jacket, even though Daniels said his customers often complain about the heat there when the weather begins to turn warm.

The first week of testimony in Vaughn’s trial will wrap up Friday. One likely witnesses is Robert Deel of the Illinois State Police, the primary crime scene investigator in the Vaughn murders and in the case of Drew Peterson, who is also on trial in Joliet for his third wife’s murder.

Judge Daniel Rozak agreed Thursday to limit Deel’s testimony. The judge barred questions about the Peterson case, a letter Deel believes the Will County state’s attorney’s office wrote complaining about him, and his opinion on whether the deaths of Kimberly and her children were a murder-suicide.

http://couriernews.suntimes.com/news/14673335-418/prosecutors-seizing-on-christopher-vaughns-behavior-after-shootings.html

Unless they have some kind of evidence that proves there is no way she shot herself, I can see a jury potentially letting him off. All they need is reasonable doubt. I haven't seen anything yet that indicates that some kind of forensic scientist reviewed the gun shot residue, the fingerprint pattern on the gun, or bullet entry to indicate she couldn't have shot herself... maybe I watch too much TV and all that isn't really possible, I don't know, but if I do then so do most other people and I wonder if any of the jurors are considering those things too?

Prosecutors play videotaped interview of Vaughn in family slaying trial

By Jason Meisner Tribune reporter
9:33 p.m. CDT, August 27, 2012

Christopher Vaughn had been in the tiny white-walled interview room for several hours when the state police detective pulled up a chair, leaned in close and announced he had "some news" about Vaughn's wife and three children.

"They're all gone, Chris," Sgt. Gary Lawson said in a matter-of-fact tone on a videotaped interview played Monday for jurors in Vaughn's quadruple murder trial. "Your wife and three kids are all dead."

Dressed in a hospital gown and slumped at a small table, Vaughn began to shake his head.

"That's not possible," he said over and over in a soft voice. "Can you just bring them in, so I can talk to them?"

The dramatic videotape highlighted the start of the second week of testimony at Vaughn's trial in Joliet. He is accused of gunning down his family in its SUV on a frontage road off Interstate 55 near Channahon in June 2007.

Vaughn's attorneys have blamed his wife, Kimberly, saying she was distraught over troubles in her marriage and killed the children, wounded Vaughn and then committed suicide.

The videotaped interview of Vaughn started about five hours after the killings, shortly after he was released from a hospital following treatment for minor gunshot wounds and taken to the state police station in Lockport. During 14 hours there, Vaughn insisted he had only a vague recollection of what happened in the SUV, prosecutors have said.

A camera mounted near the ceiling and pointed down at the table captured Vaughn fidgeting with his gown and occasionally sipping water from a blue paper cup as he calmly recalled how he had awakened the children at 4 a.m. and told them to get in the SUV for a surprise trip to a water park in Springfield.

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. He exited to check the carrier on the roof, Vaughn said, and felt pain in his leg and noticed he was bleeding on returning inside the SUV.

Vaughn said in the interview that he fell "head-first" out of the vehicle and stumbled down the road until he flagged down a passing motorist. 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.

"I'm really confused," Vaughn said early in the interview with detectives. "I just don't know … I think I panicked or something."

He told the detectives his marriage had been strained by his infidelities during a recent business trip to Mexico and that he was trying to patch things up with his wife by spending more time with the family.

After about an hour of mostly courteous questioning, Lawson and his partner exited the room, leaving Vaughn sitting quietly, rubbing his eyes but appearing unemotional.

Shortly after 1 p.m., about three hours after the interview first started, Lawson's demeanor had changed. The detective told Vaughn his family was dead and soon began to shout rapid-fire questions over Vaughn's denials.

"Did you do it when the kids were all asleep?" the detective asked at one point. "Did they even see it coming?"

Vaughn, who said he felt he was on an episode of "The Twilight Zone," continued to maintain that his family was fine.

He said he would never harm his children "because they're my kids and my future."

But Lawson did not let up. "How did they die, Chris?" he asked.

Looking weary, Vaughn leaned back and replied hoarsely, "They're not dead."

Vaughn was released without charges later that day. He was arrested about a week later when he arrived for the funerals in the St. Louis area.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-prosecutors-to-play-videotaped-interview-of-vaughn-in-family-slaying-trial-20120827,0,6711677.story