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

[Camper]

Camper,

I believe the second SUV (the one he was found in) that is mentioned in your first link belonged to the passerby that found Chris Vaughn. I could be wrong, but I think I heard this mentioned elsewhere.

I'll say this - whichever parent did this was hiding some deep stuff....and I'm hard-pressed to believe that the one who didn't do it hadn't noticed something amiss! This whole thing is nuts.

--->>>Well, I don't think we have all the straight scoop yet about what happened. From my post #117 just above.


http://www.editorandpublisher.com/ea...599167&imw= Y

Published: June 15, 2007 1:22 PM ET* Yesterday info.

Dad Christopher Vaughn, 32, was found nearby in a another SUV, with a gunshot
wound in his thigh.

News accounts said he told investigators the family had stopped their vehicles along
the road to secure some luggage

So perhaps what we have in these links are some creative reporting by a newsperson, short a few marbles.

.

 

[fran]

I haven't read anywhere that they've released the type of gun utilized but many people think 6 is a maximum number. That's if a revolver is used.

However, I think it's more likely that a semi-auto was used; if that's the case, a common magazine for civilians will hold 10 rounds. (LE has mags that hold more.)

It had to have been a semi-auto to get off that many rounds. IF each of the three kids was shot multiple times and one was aimed at the husband and then she shot herself, well, that's too many to just be a regular handgun, as you said.

I haven't heard anywhere else that he was shot more than ONCE. IF he's telling his family that, IMHO, he's lying. For sympathy?

Sorry, after reading about her and how she treated her children, there's no way she did this. I do NOT believe his story.

I'll wait for the facts to come out. His story doesn't add up, imo. You don't wait hours upon hours after an incident such as this to report it. I still think he was using the time to stage the crime.

We'll see.
fran

 

[SadieMae]

I am not buying this guys story for a second..But I do have to say that one time when we were still living in Fort Hood Texas that a lady who lived on base right down the street from us bit off her sons penis. She found out her husband was cheating on her was her excuse.

My God, I remember that. I think she was just recently sentenced.

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

It had to have been a semi-auto to get off that many rounds. IF each of the three kids was shot multiple times and one was aimed at the husband and then she shot herself, well, that's too many to just be a regular handgun, as you said.

I haven't heard anywhere else that he was shot more than ONCE. IF he's telling his family that, IMHO, he's lying. For sympathy?

Sorry, after reading about her and how she treated her children, there's no way she did this. I do NOT believe his story.

I'll wait for the facts to come out. His story doesn't add up, imo. You don't wait hours upon hours after an incident such as this to report it. I still think he was using the time to stage the crime.

We'll see.
fran

Fran,
I agree. Although we know very little, it's not looking so good for him, IMO!

 

[t93]

I know someone going to Knights Action Park tomorrow, as a matter of fact. I personally have never been there, but it is a very small looking attraction, and there are lots of other choices within driving distance. That is suspicious thing number one. Also, I think there would have been a sign of struggle with the older children. If the mom shot the dad and he ran, the gunshot would have woken the children instantly (assuming they were sleeping) and mom's focus would have naturally been on Dad running for at least a moment or two. The children would had some idea of what was going on, and at least panicked. If Dad did it, it would have been boom boom, boom-no time for anyone to have really reacted. I am keeping an open mind, but there are more unanswered questions than I am comfortable with.

 

[Camper]

I am having an interesting thought.

Could the person who MADE the call for Vaughn have been the shooter?

WE don't know where the two encountered each other, whether Vaughn walked to the main road, OR OR IF the other car was already there by the CELL tower.

The Cell tower seems to be a very identifiable location for folks that know the area, am I right, posters from Illinois?

Our minds will probably be overwhelmed when WE learn the MOTIVE for this. Probably not possible with all of the horrid crimes humans seem to be so capable of.

IF IF my thought is correct, then at least the Vaughn family that was murdered would not have had their last thought that their own father was killing them.

.

 

[Hayley]

I know someone going to Knights Action Park tomorrow, as a matter of fact. I personally have never been there, but it is a very small looking attraction, and there are lots of other choices within driving distance. That is suspicious thing number one.

I agree. I live about 60 miles from Knights and I can't imagine someone driving that far to go there. I don't know much about the area they live in but I have to think there's something bigger and better closer to where they live.

 

[philamena]

I am not buying this guys story for a second..But I do have to say that one time when we were still living in Fort Hood Texas that a lady who lived on base right down the street from us bit off her sons penis. She found out her husband was cheating on her was her excuse.

OMG that is awful.

Does anyone know if the wife was found in the driver's seat or the front passenger's seat? I'm having a problem making out the pictures.

Interestingly enough, tonight on CBS mystery, the Camm murders were profiled. Husband was twice convicted of 3 counts of murder. He killed his wife and 2 children. Turns out the father was going to be arrested for molesting his little girl, so he and a buddy offed his family. Oh and another woman was involved. The husband was arrested only a few hours after his families memorial service. Here's a link to that case:
http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/psychology/fathers_who_kill/7.html

It was late in September 2000 when Kim Camm and her two children, Jill, 5, and Brad, 7, were shot to death in their home in New Albany, Indiana. They had just come in from a swim class, some time after 7 p.m. The two females were shot in the head, the boy in the chest. It was husband and father David Camm who found them when he returned from a basketball game with friends. He was a former Indiana State Trooper and knew how to avoid disturbing the scene. He also had friends to call.

 

[hollyjokers]

Why would you drive 6 hrs roundtrip to a waterpark spur of the moment when there were better options close by & you already have big weekend travel plans, not to mention your daughter is enrolled in a paid week-long day camp. Things that make you go....hmmmmmmmyou're a no-good lyin b@st@rd

This guy is a piece of work...not only a scott peterson copycat wife & babykiller, but then to try & make it look like the wife did it, there are just no words to adequately describe the likes of him.

 

[philamena]

Why would you drive 6 hrs roundtrip to a waterpark spur of the moment when there were better options close by & you already have big weekend travel plans, not to mention your daughter is enrolled in a paid week-long day camp. Things that make you go....hmmmmmmmyou're a no-good lyin b@st@rd

This guy is a piece of work...not only a scott peterson copycat wife & babykiller, but then to try & make it look like the wife did it, there are just no words to adequately describe the likes of him.

:clap:

 

[AutumnBorn]

Kimberly's mother is quoted as asking why anyone would want to go to "that crappy place", referring to Springfield where Christopher allegedly was taking his family to visit a water park. Well, I happened to be in the area for a funeral on Thursday. Stayed at ye old Fairfield Inn, in that "crappy" place.

While I can't say Springfield, IL is the most beautiful place on earth, Knight's Action Park is a pretty cool place and it's not in the least bit crowded. Not to mention the Lincoln sites and all the other things that draw tens of thousands of people to the area each year. (But having lived in Chicago for many years and currently living in the Pacific Northwest, I've got to wonder if there isn't some mental health issues in the family. I can't think of any reason to leave here for a place like Oswego. The mere thought makes me chuckle.)

The question I have is this, I haven't read anything about luggage being packed, a hotel room, that sort of thing. Springfield is about 3.5 hours drive, maybe four, from Oswego. Playing all day at Knights would wear anybody out. Were they planning on driving back that night? Were there swim suits in the car? Towels? Anybody know anything?

 

[AutumnBorn]

I know someone going to Knights Action Park tomorrow, as a matter of fact. I personally have never been there, but it is a very small looking attraction, and there are lots of other choices within driving distance. That is suspicious thing number one.

First, my sympathy to the person you know going to Springfield tomorrow. I just got back today and all I can say is thank God I'm home. Anyway, Knights actually isn't small. There are lots of things to do there...Put Put, a driving range, the water park, go karts, batting cages, a ferris wheel (and a few other rides, I think), and those are just the things I can think of off the top of my head not having been there for eight years or so...plus there was the Sangamon County Fair going on, too.

 

[greeneyz]

I am confused...if someone in the area in Channahon heard shots around 10 pm...and the 911 call didn't happen until almost 5:30 am that would mean he was there for almost 7 and a half hours with the bodies...I read that her sister had spoken with her on Wednesday night, I wonder what time? Channahon is about 27 miles from Oswego, so that would mean they had only been on the road for about 30 minutes when this happened. Springfield is about a 3 or so hour trip...Why would they have left so early the night BEFORE if in fact the shots were heard at 10 p.m. they would have left home around 9:30 p.m. which would make no sense!
I found a link to the waterpark they were going to, it looks like a pretty good sized and popular place from the webpage: http://www.knightsactionpark.com/

I don't really find it odd they chose to go there...maybe they had been there before and liked it or had heard about it from someone...or just wanted to take a small trip with the children before thier own "honeymoon" this weekend. I wonder if anyone knew of thier plans for Thursday? I would assume if she talked to her sister on Wednsday night she would have mentioned it?

This case is so bizzare to me, none if it seems to make any sense! I can see running if shots were fired at me and I it was totally unexpected...if he had gotten out to fix the luggage on the luggage rack and out of the blue she shot at him I would think it would be instinct to run. I am very curious to hear more on what the forensics and ME reports show. What senseless tragedy!!!!

 

[Bobbisangel]

I can't imagine why anyone would wait 7 and a half hours to notify LE. There were two cell phones in the car. If he couldn't get any reception down where the car was we know he could have gotten reception up on the road as the people who did make the call had reception. So he was somewhere around where the people passing by saw him and saw the vehicle. What was he doing 7 and a half hours later...just walking around the area! The cops know that he only had one injury and it must not have been that bad or he would have been in the hospital. He was questioned and then let go. I think he gave himself a little flesh wound to go along with his story.

I can't figure out why they would have left at night either. I guess LE will check out the luggage if there was any. The family must have thought they were going to the water park. He had to have told them something. Maybe he suggested taking the kids to the water park and spending a night as they were going away for the weekend and it would apease the children about mom and dad being gone all weekend. He must have had everything planned out. There is no way to prove if the luggage rack had loosened as he will say that he tightened it.

I think this wife was just as innocent as Laci was as far as the husband goes. I wonder if he had met someone else? We will never know what went on behind closed doors and I've come to realize that what looks like the perfect couple or perfect family usually isn't. I notice the neighbors have a lot of nice things to say about the wife and children but hardly mention anything about the husband. Maybe he wasn't as friendly with the neighbors as she was. I don't believe for a second that she murdered her children and herself. I hope it can be proven if he is the killer.

 

[greeneyz]

I can't imagine why anyone would wait 7 and a half hours to notify LE. There were two cell phones in the car. If he couldn't get any reception down where the car was we know he could have gotten reception up on the road as the people who did make the call had reception. So he was somewhere around where the people passing by saw him and saw the vehicle. What was he doing 7 and a half hours later...just walking around the area! The cops know that he only had one injury and it must not have been that bad or he would have been in the hospital. He was questioned and then let go. I think he gave himself a little flesh wound to go along with his story.

That's why I want to know if anyone talked to them the previous night...to try and discount the neighbor in Channahon stating she heard shots at 10 p.m.
As far as the phones go, I'm not so sure I would want to go inside that van to get ANYTHING considering how horrific it had to have been (This is assuming she in fact was the shooter and he was in fact innocent) From the way the crime scene was descirbed he MAY Have been in shock and wandering...who knows???

I can't wait for the evidence to all be processed! I am on the fence but of course leaning towards him being guilty.

He was treated at the hospitol and released BobbiesAngel before he went in for questioning.

 

[fran]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...103809C5AF9A59F7862572FD00106732?OpenDocument

Dead mom, kids had St. Charles roots

By Matthew Hathaway and Joel Currier
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/17/2007


Christopher Vaughn, the only survivor of a bizarre shooting that left his wife and three children dead in northern Illinois, grew up in St. Charles County and lived in the area before moving to suburban Chicago.

..................snip.......................

Police declined to say whether they think Kimberly Vaughn was murdered, the Chicago Tribune reported, raising the question of whether she wielded the handgun found in the vehicle

...............more at link...............

 

[fran]

http://dailysouthtown.com/news/430679,171NWS9.article



Investigators delve into Vaughn family

June 17, 2007
By Dan Rozek and Lisa Donovan Special to the Daily Southtown

Detectives investigating this week's shooting deaths of a mother and her three children in rural Will County want to know whether the family was experiencing financial difficulties.

There are two mortgages totaling $417,000 on the family's Oswego home, court records show.

Investigators cautioned they won't have a clearer picture of what happened until tests on forensic evidence are completed in the deaths of Kimberly Vaughn, 34, and her three children -- Abigayle 12, Cassandra, 11, and Blake, 8 -- who were found early Thursday in the family's sport utility vehicle off Interstate 55 near Channahon.

..............................more at link............................

 

[fran]

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/431677,6_1_NA17_VAUGHN_S1.article

'Does that even make sense?'
Friends, family say story surrounding gruesome shootings doesn't add up

June 17, 2007

By Rosalind Rossi and Mitch Dudek Staff Reporters
Kimberly Vaughn's mother just can't buy it.

Susan Phillips said Friday that it "made no sense" for her Oswego daughter to shoot and wound her husband, kill their three children and then kill herself inside the couple's sport-utility vehicle during an early-morning family trip to a Springfield water park.

"Does that even make sense?" Phillips said of the version of events authorities say the sole survivor - Phillips' son-in-law, Christopher Vaughn - gave police investigating the bizarre Thursday crime scene.

Friends of Abigayle Vaughn, 11, pause at a memorial set up for the girl, her siblings and her mother Friday at the Vaughn home in Oswego.
Craig Watson / Beacon News
"I don't believe it."

 

[fran]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/about/custom/chi-suvdeaths_16jun16,1,6482584.story?track=rss

Officials say killer was 1 of family
Cops examine ballistic evidence as they piece together slayings

By Hal Dardick and Jo Napolitano
Tribune staff reporters

Published June 16, 2007


Forensics, including analysis of gunpowder residue and bullet trajectories, could play a key role in determining how four members of the Vaughn family of Oswego died in their sport-utility vehicle in rural Will County, police said Friday.

Christopher Vaughn, 32, who walked away from the shootings with minor wounds, left Illinois State Police district headquarters at 1:40 a.m. Friday, saying he needed a rest after voluntarily talking with detectives for more than 12 hours, police said.

Police declined to call him a suspect in the deaths of his wife, Kimberly, 34, and their three children: Blake, 8, Cassandra, 11, and Abigayle, 12.

Officials did say no one outside the immediate family was involved. The children were shot multiple times, and sources confirmed that Kim Vaughn suffered a single gunshot wound to her head. Police also declined to say whether they believed Kim was murdered, raising the question of whether she wielded the handgun found in the vehicle.

"There is no way I would believe it was her," said Kim Vaughn's sister, Nikki Isemann. "There is no way she would have hurt her children."

She could not bear to see her children cry, and was so averse to them experiencing pain that she couldn't remove their splinters, Isemann said.

"When I talked to her, she was absolutely happy," her sister said, noting that she last spoke with Vaughn during a phone call at 8:55 p.m. Wednesday. "She was in great spirits, very excited about her future."

 

[fran]

IMHO, Christopher Vaughn may not be a suspect, per se; but they did NOT say whether or not he's a POI (person of interest).

IMHO, I believe LE needs to bring in some dogs in the vicinity of where the crime happened and look for anything relating to the case. After all, he had how many hours? to 'stage' the incident? That would include changing his clothes! Is there a stream close by where he could have washed his hands and arms and face? Have LE checked out the luggage for 'dirty clothes?'

I do NOT think LE is buying this story, just like many of us here aren't.

JMHO
fran