GUILTY IL - Kimberly Vaughn, 34, & 3 children slain, Channahon Twp, 14 June 2007

[Annie]

Articles today say the husband/father is not a suspect. The story just doesn't make sense. One article said he is a computer forensics expert. I don't know exactly what that is. If she had lost her job, maybe there was life insurance. I just don't buy his story at this time. You would think, according to the family and neighbors, that they were not having any problems. But then that was the first report we heard on both Scott & Laci Peterson and Matthew & Mary Winkler. I think it is very rare for a mother to shoot her children multiple times. If he did it, I hope they can prove it and don't just dismiss him as a suspect so readily.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/15/illinois.bodiesfound.ap/index.html

 

[SeriouslySearching]

This is a sad and tragic case. My heart goes out to the grandparents and families.

Being that he was an investigator, I would assume the gun belonged to him...altho with her degree in Criminal Justice...she also might own a gun. It is becoming more common for people traveling at night to carry a concealed weapon for protection and in some states...the laws permit this.

Another thing I heard mentioned was financial trouble. She had recently appeared on TV in their new home and if they were going to possibly lose their home over financial difficulties...perhaps she was worried about being publically humilated. Some overachievers cannot fathom their failures to be out in the open for the world to see and could give either one motive for this senseless killing.

No matter how this plays out, there are 3 innocent children dead and grieving grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other family members trying to comprehend it all. Domestic crimes are all too commonplace and the children get caught in the crossfire too many times. I wish people knew more of how to read the warning signs, catch the red flags, and intervene before these tragedies unfold. It is just so sad.

 

[Peter Hamilton]

Well, Diana Downs shot her children multiple times, 2 were killed,and the other paralyzed--so a mother is certainly capable of that sort of crime but in this case the husband was around and he only had a leg wound? very suspicious--give him a lie-detector test

 

[Garnan]

I would expect a mom who is planning on killing her children and then committing suicide to NOT do it in the car. Comfort would be of utmost importance. She would do it at home, and tuck them into their beds after. She wouldn't use a gun, not on them anyway. I just don't see this as the true scenario, something is very "off" here imo. I hope the husband didn't do it, but if he didn't, who is he protecting? I'm not buying murder/suicide.

 

[SailorMoon]

Didn't he say at first that it was drive by/random shooting, then changed his story?? And from the pic of where she was sitting, I don't think she could shoot all 3 of her kids, and then just sit there. And the police says he's free to go?????!! Something isn't adding up here. And my finger points to him. He didn't just pull off to the side of the road or pull into a road, they were in a remote area. They should be able to tell very easily with forensics.

And how far away from where Lisa Steibic went missing? Not too far isn't it?? Maybe he's followed that and knew what to do and what not to do.

Regardless, what a tragedy. For those 3 kids. I don't think mom shot them at all. But I may very well be wrong.

 

[Peter Hamilton]

That's something I thought of as well.

Yes - the angle of the wound to his leg AND her headshot and gunpowder residue on her hand will be telling.

Also, where the gun came from if they weren't people who kept guns around regularly.

I do believe the husband at this stage of the game, but reserve the right to change my mind as more is discovered!

ETA: in many other cases where a family winds up slaughtered and an adult comes away wounded (Routier, that man in Boston that shot his pregnant wife, etc...)

-- the Boston Case was Charles Stuart,killed his wife so he could open a restaraunt--he then killed himself later

 

[TGIRecovered]

Jaded, did you read the link in misterallgood's post #33, it is in blue letters.

"hearing shots 3 hours before a 911 call was made" click on those words in his post to reach the link.

I have been scratching my head, and trying to give the husband a chance, because no one likes to believe that he might be guilty ASAP. BUT BUT IF IF he pre planned this, he took a lot of trouble to get the family OUT OF THE HOUSE to do this. Planning the trip, the luggage, the visit to grandmas planned. BUT BUT he missed the basics of Crime 101, and the forensics of it all, angle of the SHOT IN HIS LEG, did the wife have gunshot powder residue on her.
HE IS BEING totally cooperative with LE, link says.

WHAT WE NEED IS THE MOTIVE. A girlfriend in the wings perhaps ?? OR ?? It could not be THAT simple could it?


.

He probably wants to be able to sell the house .Hard to get a good price these days on a home where an entire family was slaughtered.

Susan

 

[SewingDeb]

Annie,

I believe he owned his own company: Stonebridge Investigations. They have a website.

 

[Dena]

Wonder if there is a considerable life insurance policy. How much do clubhouse attendants make annually? Does not sound like a life-altering change to lose a job like that especially if she just got a degree in criminal justice, she would have probably been ready to move on anyway.

I know he's innocent until proven guilty. It IS plausible that things could have happened exactly the way he says but it just sounds like we've been down this dark deserted road before.

Plus she only worked part time, that was something that stuck out to me. Any loss of income for a family is a big deal, so I hate to presume the loss of her part time job is not a big deal. However, is it life altering enough to kill your family?

 

[Garnan]

Maybe they let him go so that he could hang himself. If the hubby did it, or if he's protecting the perp for some reason, he'll flub up soon enough. But he has to be free to do that. If there is another woman, he won't be able to stay away from her for long. You don't kill babies and your wife to be with another woman, and then patiently bide your time until "the coast is clear", he's going to need to see her right away. That is, if there is a she to see.

 

[Dena]

Articles today say the husband/father is not a suspect. The story just doesn't make sense. One article said he is a computer forensics expert. I don't know exactly what that is.

A computer forensics expert is someone who can look at a computer as sort of a crime scene, and dig up clues. They have tools to look deep into the computer, check out things that may have been deleted. (nothing is REALLY deleted)
Their services are often used in crimes where a suspect has a computer, to dig up e-mails and documents.

 

[Masterj]

I would expect a mom who is planning on killing her children and then committing suicide to NOT do it in the car. Comfort would be of utmost importance. She would do it at home, and tuck them into their beds after. She wouldn't use a gun, not on them anyway. I just don't see this as the true scenario, something is very "off" here imo. I hope the husband didn't do it, but if he didn't, who is he protecting? I'm not buying murder/suicide.

No offense Garnan, but I think if someone is planning to to commit suicide, comfort is the last thing on their mind.

 

[southcitymom]

Didn't he say at first that it was drive by/random shooting, then changed his story?? And from the pic of where she was sitting, I don't think she could shoot all 3 of her kids, and then just sit there. And the police says he's free to go?????!! Something isn't adding up here. And my finger points to him. He didn't just pull off to the side of the road or pull into a road, they were in a remote area. They should be able to tell very easily with forensics.

And how far away from where Lisa Steibic went missing? Not too far isn't it?? Maybe he's followed that and knew what to do and what not to do.

Regardless, what a tragedy. For those 3 kids. I don't think mom shot them at all. But I may very well be wrong.

No - his story has been the same from the get-go.

When this story first broke, I really thought "of course the surviving husband did it," but at this point in the game, I believe what he is saying. If he's an investigator, he would know that police forensics could tell if the evidence backs him up. If he's planning this type of crim,e it makes much more sense to say a stranger did it.

I - of course - reserve the right to change my opinion. I don't watch the news so don't know what is being said on TV.

 

[southcitymom]

I would expect a mom who is planning on killing her children and then committing suicide to NOT do it in the car. Comfort would be of utmost importance. She would do it at home, and tuck them into their beds after. She wouldn't use a gun, not on them anyway. I just don't see this as the true scenario, something is very "off" here imo. I hope the husband didn't do it, but if he didn't, who is he protecting? I'm not buying murder/suicide.

Well - she may have wanted to do it in the car because it would be easy - shooting fish in a barrel, so to speak - three kids in the back of a locked car...if she did it, she was prepared to get them all dead, it seems.

I doubt comfort had much to do with it at all.

 

[southcitymom]

Well, we will have to wait and see what the investigation uncovers..

But let me ask this then. If as you say it would not cross you're mind that your spouse, who is willing to kill you, would not kill your kids - why are you not shot at more, why are you alive?

I'm confused (a regular state of existence for me, I'm afraid!) by the question....

 

[southcitymom]

Yes this makes sense but you do not get off the exit (that by the way is good half mile long) and then take the frontage road about a 1/2 to a mile and then pull over in the area of a cell tower in pitch darkness literally pitch dark there are no lights there except on the main road which is Bluff Road. One frontaqge road is easily accesible the other wher they were found is tricky to get to and you would have to know where you were going. This is not a very busy area so it makes no sense whatsover to end up where they were to fix luggage. As teenagers we used this area to park and makeout if that helps describe this area.

That is interesting....I do not know - unless they got lost or turned around in the darkness while trying to find a safe place to fix the luggage.

 

[southcitymom]

..... The story just doesn't make sense. .....

You are absolutely right, but I'll bet my bottom dollar there's a lot we don't know!! Obviously. You don't take out your family like this without a "reason."

 

[Rino]

I'm confused (a regular state of existence for me, I'm afraid!) by the question....

I live in that state, too

I just wonder if she wanted him dead (shooting him and then the kids) Why did she not shoot him in the back as he ran, or take other shots at him? He does not tell the police that as he fled she fired more shots at him. To me it just does not pass the smell test.

 

[southcitymom]

I live in that state, too

I just wonder if she wanted him dead (shooting him and then the kids) Why did she not shoot him in the back as he ran, or take other shots at him? He does not tell the police that as he fled she fired more shots at him. To me it just does not pass the smell test.

Okay - I;m glad to have a friend in that state!

Who knows what happens when people go on a gun-slinging murderous spree? She could have shot him first to get rid of the strongest element, saw a bunch of blood and him hobbling away, figured - he'll bleed to death - and went about with the rest of her business....

The fact that she didn't hunt him down to make sure he was dead doesn't necessarily "smell" to me.

Or, how about this, if she's super hateful and sick....she wounds him and then kills the rest of them knowing that will hurt him more than anything if he lives...

I actually doubt she was trying to leave him alive - just throwing out random ideas. I think that if it went down the way he says it did - she was ready and willing to end their family for good.

 

[hollyjokers]

I just read on cbs chicago that his parents drove up from St. Louis to be with him & he has not made contact with them.
http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_166072955.html