Christopher Vaughn Trial

Testimony wraps up for the day in Christopher Vaughn murder trial

By ERIKA WURST AND JON SEIDEL Sun-Times Media September 13, 2012 10:58AM

Jurors could begin deliberations late next week in the Christopher Vaughn murder trial, with the defense’s case wrapping up as early as Tuesday.

Testimony ended before noon Thursday as the Oswego man’s attorneys continued their defense and made their second motion for a mistrial in the nearly four-week trial.

Vaughn’s attorneys objected to questions prosecutors asked Illinois State Police Sgt. Gary Lawson about limitations Vaughn allegedly placed on his interviews with investigators after his family was killed in June 2007. They said the question was leading, and beyond the scope of their initial questioning of Lawson.

Read more:

http://heraldnews.suntimes.com/news/15123596-418/judge-rejects-another-request-for-mistrial-in-christopher-vaughn-case.html

Vaughn murder trial deliberations expected in 1 week

By Steve Schmadeke
Tribune reporter

3:09 p.m. CDT, September 13, 2012
Closing arguments in the Christopher Vaughn quadruple-murder trial are expected to happen one week from today, attorneys said in court this morning.

Vaughn’s defense attorney George Lenard said he expects to finish his case on Tuesday. Prosecutors would then put on their rebuttal witnesses later Tuesday and then Wednesday, and closing arguments would start next Thursday morning.

“We are very close to the end,” Judge Daniel Rozak told jurors before dismissing them for the day late this morning.

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-christopher-vaughn-quadruple-murder-trial-closing-arguments-expected-in-1-week-20120913,0,4454265.story

Christopher Vaughn's sister -in-law takes the stand

Wife of defendant's brother testifies to Kimberly Vaughn's panic attack before slayings; closing arguments expected next week

~Snipped~

Vaughn's attorneys say his wife was unstable from a shifting blend of medications, including some linked to an increase in violent or suicidal behavior.

Prosecutors say he gunned down his family as part of a planned "exit scenario" that would let him escape his life in suburban Oswego for the Canadian wilderness.

Most of the testimony during a short day of trial Thursday came from Rachel Vaughn, who is married to Christopher Vaughn's brother. The Colorado woman testified that she called Kimberly Vaughn a few weeks before the slayings to share the news that she'd learned her unborn baby was a girl.

Kimberly Vaughn reacted enthusiastically, Rachel Vaughn testified, but during the hourlong phone conversation also told her about a panic attack she had suffered at the end of April while at a Jeep off-roading event in Missouri.

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-christopher-vaughn-trial-0914-20120914,0,2681085.story

Christopher Vaughn Trial: Day 19

BY ERIKA WURST Sun-Times Media ewurst@stmedianetwork.com September 14, 2012 7:08PM

◆ A doctor who was treating Kimberly Vaughn for high blood pressure told jurors on Friday that while she reported an increase in anxiety the month before her death, she never mentioned feeling depressed or suicidal.

◆ A doctor who prescribed medications to Kimberly Vaughn for her migraine headaches told jurors that the increase of suicidal thoughts or depression as a side effect of the medications is only seen in children and teens taking them, or in those with a history of mental illness. “Up until the time that I last saw her in April (2007), there was no indication of her being depressed,” he said. “She came across as a very cheerful nice young lady, always pleasant to talk to.”

◆ Will County jurors got a look inside the Vaughn family’s upscale Oswego home on Friday morning as defense attorneys introduced a video of state police executing a search warrant on the house in July 2007. Christopher Vaughn looked on attentively as the video played. Though usually preoccupied during witness testimony, Vaughn’s eyes were fixed on the screen as he watched officers rummage through the kitchen and closets of the two-story house he used to call home.

◆ NEXT WEEK: There will be no testimony on Monday. Defense attorneys expect to wrap up their case on Tuesday morning with a blood expert. The state will call rebuttal witnesses on Wednesday, and closing arguments should begin on Thursday.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/15152716-418/christopher-vaughn-trial-day-19.html

Christopher Vaughn’s defense centers on role of wife’s medications

By JON SEIDEL AND ERIKA WURST Sun-Times Media September 14, 2012 7:28PM

~Snipped~

But now that prosecutors have rested, Vaughn’s attorneys have begun the difficult task of trying to discredit the case prosecutors built on about 80 witnesses. They’ve said it was Vaughn’s wife, Kimberly, who shot him and the children before killing herself.

A key pillar of the defense is the pair of drugs found in Kimberly’s system when she died — an anti-seizure medication called Topamax and an antidepressant drug known as Nortriptyline. Vaughn defense attorney George Lenard said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned both can lead to an increased risk of suicide.

Years ago, when another suburban parent was accused of murdering her three young children, Marilyn Lemak claimed insanity. Jack Donahue, her defense attorney, said Friday it can be difficult to find doctors willing to testify about the dangers of FDA-approved drugs, like the ones he said his client took at the time and those found in Kimberly Vaughn’s body.

Read more:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/crime/15152956-418/christopher-vaughns-defense-centers-on-role-of-wifes-medications.html

Neurologist: Christopher Vaughn's wife didn't appear agitated

Defense questions doctor about two drugs that Kimberly Vaughn was taking

By Steve Schmadeke, Chicago Tribune
reporter
8:04 p.m. CDT, September 14, 2012

Christopher Vaughn's claim that his emotionally distraught wife shot and killed their children and herself while she was taking medication that increased her risk of violence ran into trouble Friday when her neurologist took the witness stand.

Dr. Pradeep Bhatia, an Aurora neurologist, was called by Vaughn's defense team but said his patient Kimberly Vaughn showed no signs of major depression or of being agitated or hostile.

"I never had any reason to believe she was depressed," he testified. "She was always smiling and cheerful."

~Snipped~

Bhatia had prescribed two drugs, nortriptyline and Topamax, to treat Kimberly Vaughn's migraines and tension headaches. Defense lawyers have noted that the FDA required a warning that Topamax increased the risk of suicides — a requirement it later rescinded.

The doctor agreed that it would have been important to know Kimberly had sent an email shortly before her death saying she had noticed a "big personality change" related to her medications. But Bhatia said he would have needed more information before deciding whether her treatment should be altered.

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-christopher-vaughn-trial-0915-20120915,0,3401983.story

Vaughn defense team expected to rest case Tuesday

By Steve Schmadeke, Chicago Tribune
reporter
10:02 p.m. CDT, September 17, 2012

Lawyers for the Oswego man charged with murdering his wife and three children inside the family's vehicle five years ago plan to call a blood-spatter expert to testify Tuesday, possibly as their final witness.

~Snipped~

key part of the state's case is bloodstain evidence that prosecution experts have testified shows Vaughn was moving around inside the family's vehicle after his wife was dead.

Vaughn's defense attorney George Lenard said he would call Tom Bevel, an expert on blood-pattern analysis and crime-scene reconstruction, to testify. Bevel is a former Oklahoma City police commander turned consultant who has testified in high-profile cases.

Lenard declined to discuss what Bevel is expected to say on the stand.

So far, Vaughn's defense team has called a ballistics expert who testified that Vaughn's version of events was possible — as was the prosecution's — and others who talked of Kimberly Vaughn's emotional state and the effects her medications for migraines and tension headaches might have had on her.

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-christopher-vaughn-trial-0918-20120918,0,5564677.story

Christopher Vaughn Trial: Day 20

BY ERIKA WURST AND JON SEIDEL Sun-Times Media September 18, 2012 4:10PM

◆ Christopher Vaughn decided not to testify in his own defense on Tuesday, the last day of testimony in the five-week long murder trial of the Oswego man, who has been charged with fatally shooting his wife and three young children.

◆ Defense attorneys for Vaughn rested their case after calling their final witnesses, including blood stain analyst and crime scene reconstruction expert Tom Bevel. Bevel testified that Christopher Vaughn or his wife, Kimberly, would have been able to shoot their children from where they were in the SUV. Bevel did admit that blood evidence introduced in the case did not “jive” with Christopher Vaughn’s version of how the shootings took place.

◆ The state’s only rebuttal witness, neuro psychiatrist Michael Schrift, testified that neither of the drugs Kimberly Vaughn was prescribed for her migraine headaches would have increased her risk of suicide, as suggested by her husband’s defense team.

◆ Closing arguments will start at 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning. Jurors will take Wednesday off as attorneys wrap things up behind the scenes.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/15231830-418/christopher-vaughn-trial-day-20.html

Testimony concludes in Christopher Vaughn trial

By Steve Schmadeke, Chicago Tribune
reporter
September 19, 2012

~Snipped~

During the past week, Vaughn's defense attorneys have tried to convince jurors that Kimberly Vaughn killed the children and then herself. But none of the experts they called unequivocally backed that claim, testifying only that it was possible but also just as likely that Christopher Vaughn had killed his family.

The final defense witness was Tom Bevel, a blood-spatter expert who testified that bloodstains on Kimberly Vaughn's left hand are consistent with "blowback" spatter from possibly shooting herself.

She was shot once under the chin, with the muzzle of the gun either pressed against her skin or very close, according to trial testimony. Her husband's 9 mm handgun was found between her feet with the hammer cocked.

Bevel testified that though he knew Kimberly Vaughn was right-handed, he had seen cases where people commit suicide with their weak hand.

But under cross-examination, Bevel agreed with Will County prosecutors that blood evidence left in the vehicle "does not comport with" Christopher Vaughn's statement to police that he left the vehicle after being shot. Vaughn had superficial gunshot wounds to his wrist and leg.

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-christopher-vaughn-trial-0919-20120919,0,6285575.story

Vaughn trial set for closing arguments

Murder case expected to go to jury Thursday

September 19, 2012|By Steve Schmadeke, Chicago Tribune reporter

After five weeks hearing testimony from dozens of witnesses, viewing horrific crime scene photos and watching hours of police interrogation videos, jurors in the Christopher Vaughn murder trial will hear closing arguments Thursday.

Vaughn, 37, is charged with killing his wife and three children inside the Oswego family's Ford Expedition as they were on what Vaughn told them was an outing to a Springfield water park in 2007.

~Snipped~

Prosecutors have said the family was killed as part of an "exit scenario" by an emotionless Vaughn, who spent thousands of dollars with strippers in the days before the slayings and spoke of escaping his suburban life and family for solitude in the Canadian wilderness.

Read more:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-09-19/news/ct-met-christopher-vaughn-closings-0920-20120920_1_christopher-vaughn-arguments-murder-case

Alessandra_Deux wrote:Vaughn trial set for closing arguments

Murder case expected to go to jury Thursday

September 19, 2012|By Steve Schmadeke, Chicago Tribune reporter

After five weeks hearing testimony from dozens of witnesses, viewing horrific crime scene photos and watching hours of police interrogation videos, jurors in the Christopher Vaughn murder trial will hear closing arguments Thursday.

Vaughn, 37, is charged with killing his wife and three children inside the Oswego family's Ford Expedition as they were on what Vaughn told them was an outing to a Springfield water park in 2007.

~Snipped~

Prosecutors have said the family was killed as part of an "exit scenario" by an emotionless Vaughn, who spent thousands of dollars with strippers in the days before the slayings and spoke of escaping his suburban life and family for solitude in the Canadian wilderness.

Read more:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-09-19/news/ct-met-christopher-vaughn-closings-0920-20120920_1_christopher-vaughn-arguments-murder-case

Predictions anyone? To me this is another classic "erasure" killing perpetrated by an arrogant narcissist coward. Epic Fail, Chris. Hopefully the jury will make swift justice for the family and Mr. Vaughn can EXIT - stage left. Buh Bye...

Considering Chicago's most overlooked murder trial

September 20, 2012
By: Marcus Gilmer



Lead Story: In most cities, the case of a man charged with the horrific murders of his wife and three children would make headlines for the duration of the trial. But in Chicago, the murder trial of Christopher Vaughn has played second fiddle to a number of other stories this year: the teachers strike, Chicago's overall murder rate and the circus that was the Drew Peterson trial. In fact, while people were distracted by that surreal circus, they probably missed the equally strange twists and turns in the Vaughn case. But the Vaughn case heads to closing arguments today, and still, it barely registers for most Chicagoans.

Unlike the Peterson case, there’s nothing sensational about Vaughn's case — it’s just horrific. Vaughn is accused of killing his whole family; the defendant claims it was his depressed wife who killed the children and then herself. It’s hard to face a story like this, to sit through updates about a man who allegedly blew money on strippers and planned to escape to the Canadian wilderness once he murdered his family — it’s too real. If we don’t look closely at it, maybe we can pretend something this horrible just didn’t happen.

http://www.wbez.org/blogs/marcus-gilmer/2012-09/considering-chicagos-most-overlooked-murder-trial-102542

Weeziethm wrote:

Alessandra_Deux wrote:Vaughn trial set for closing arguments

Murder case expected to go to jury Thursday

September 19, 2012|By Steve Schmadeke, Chicago Tribune reporter

After five weeks hearing testimony from dozens of witnesses, viewing horrific crime scene photos and watching hours of police interrogation videos, jurors in the Christopher Vaughn murder trial will hear closing arguments Thursday.

Vaughn, 37, is charged with killing his wife and three children inside the Oswego family's Ford Expedition as they were on what Vaughn told them was an outing to a Springfield water park in 2007.

~Snipped~

Prosecutors have said the family was killed as part of an "exit scenario" by an emotionless Vaughn, who spent thousands of dollars with strippers in the days before the slayings and spoke of escaping his suburban life and family for solitude in the Canadian wilderness.

Read more:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-09-19/news/ct-met-christopher-vaughn-closings-0920-20120920_1_christopher-vaughn-arguments-murder-case

Predictions anyone? To me this is another classic "erasure" killing perpetrated by an arrogant narcissist coward. Epic Fail, Chris. Hopefully the jury will make swift justice for the family and Mr. Vaughn can EXIT - stage left. Buh Bye...

Weeziethm,

The amount of scientific evidence against Vaughn was insurmountable, the witnesses for the defense didn't make a dent in the prosecution's case. I think the prosecution has proven Vaugh's guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Christopher Vaughn guilty on all counts in 2007 murder of Oswego family

Updated at 06:14 PM today



September 20, 2012 (JOLIET, Ill.) (WLS) -- After about an hour of deliberations, jurors in the murder trial of Christopher Vaughn found him guilty in the 2007 shooting deaths of his wife and children.

"He's a sociopath. He's a psychopath. He's going to get life in prison," Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow said. "But he will spend the rest of his life staring at the cold walls of prison cell and he will meet his maker later for his real punishment."

"If you watched him during the trial and heard the evidence we did, I think you'd come to the same conclusion, too," said one juror.

Read more:

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8818551

•RAW VIDEO: State's Attorney Glasgow talks about verdict



http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=8818613

Christopher Vaughn guilty of killing wife, 3 children

By Jason Meisner, Steve Schmadeke and
Ryan Haggerty
Tribune reporters
8:18 p.m. CDT, September 20, 2012

(VIDEO)

A Will County jury deliberated for less than an hour this afternoon before convicting Christopher Vaughn of killing his wife and three children in the family’s SUV in 2007 in a bid to start a new life in the Canadian wilderness.

The jury of eight men and four women got the case about 3:30 p.m., after six hours of closing arguments without a break for lunch, and told the judge they had a verdict at about 4:15 p.m.

Vaughn, 37, was charged with killing his wife, Kimberly, 34, and their children, Abigayle, 12, Cassandra, 11, and Blake, 8, inside the Oswego family's Ford Expedition in 2007.

Members of Kimberly Vaughn's family cried softly as the verdict was read, but Crhistopher Vaughn showed no emotion, only rubbing his mouth with his right hand as the judge finished reading the guilty verdicts on four counts of first-degree murder.

Vaughn didn't say a word as he was shackled and led from the courtroom, as Kimberly's family embraced each other.

After the verdict authorities led the family to a different room down the hall for a moment of privacy.

The family issued a short statement thanking investigators for their hard work on the case.

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-prosecutors-vaughn-killed-family-because-only-way-out-20120920,0,6452483.story

Alessandra_Deux wrote:Christopher Vaughn guilty of killing wife, 3 children

By Jason Meisner, Steve Schmadeke and
Ryan Haggerty
Tribune reporters
8:18 p.m. CDT, September 20, 2012

(VIDEO)

A Will County jury deliberated for less than an hour this afternoon before convicting Christopher Vaughn of killing his wife and three children in the family’s SUV in 2007 in a bid to start a new life in the Canadian wilderness.

The jury of eight men and four women got the case about 3:30 p.m., after six hours of closing arguments without a break for lunch, and told the judge they had a verdict at about 4:15 p.m.

Vaughn, 37, was charged with killing his wife, Kimberly, 34, and their children, Abigayle, 12, Cassandra, 11, and Blake, 8, inside the Oswego family's Ford Expedition in 2007.

Members of Kimberly Vaughn's family cried softly as the verdict was read, but Crhistopher Vaughn showed no emotion, only rubbing his mouth with his right hand as the judge finished reading the guilty verdicts on four counts of first-degree murder.

Vaughn didn't say a word as he was shackled and led from the courtroom, as Kimberly's family embraced each other.

After the verdict authorities led the family to a different room down the hall for a moment of privacy.

The family issued a short statement thanking investigators for their hard work on the case.

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-prosecutors-vaughn-killed-family-because-only-way-out-20120920,0,6452483.story

Thanks, Alessandra, for posting this GREAT NEWS!!!

Sweet justice.

Good riddance to another eraser killer.

Snipped: He'll spend the rest of his life staring at the cold walls of his prison cell, then he'll meet his maker for his real punishment," Glasgow said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-prosecutors-vaughn-killed-family-because-only-way-out-20120920,0,2824763,full.story

Christopher Vaughn sentencing delayed as judge considers motion for new trial

BY JON SEIDEL, JANET LUNDQUIST AND DAN ROZEK Staff Reporters November 26, 2012 1:16PM

The sentencing for Christopher Vaughn, who murdered his wife and children, was delayed Monday as the judge in the case wanted time to consider a motion for a new trial made by Vaughn’s defense attorney.

Will County Judge Daniel Rozak will likely rule on the motion Tuesday morning and barring a new trial, will continue with the sentencing hearing for Vaughn.

On Monday, Vaughn’s attorney, George Lenard, made the unusual argument in his motion for a new trial that Drew Peterson’s defense lawyers were so obnoxious they biased Christopher Vaughn’s jury against him when the two men were on trial in neighboring courtrooms.

Read more:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/16615840-418/claim-drew-petersons-attorneys-so-obnoxious-they-biased-jury-in-vaughn-case.html