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

[chicagofa13]

It is odd. Maybe his family is bankrolling some high-priced lawyer to tie up the courts with motion after motion. Dude just needs to go to jail forever already.

 

[chicoliving]

Odd, I'm not finding him on the court schedule anymore...

http://www.willcountycircuitcourt.com/

 

[Native New Yorker]

http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/articles/2009/01/12/stcharles/news/0111stc-pokin00.txt

This is a good updatefrom the end of the article):
"The next court date is Feb. 5.

FUNDRAISER SET FOR FEB. 21

The second annual trivia night fundraiser in honor of Kimberly Vaughn, who was shot and killed in 2007, is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, at the parish center of St. Peter Catholic Church, 324 S. Third St., St. Charles.

The money raised will fund a $1,000 Kimberly Vaughn college scholarship to be awarded to a deserving senior at St. Charles West High School. Kimberly was a 1991 graduate of the school."

 

[chicoliving]

JOLIET-- An expert hired by the defense has examined evidence that could be used during Christopher Vaughn's murder trial, a prosecutor said.

But nothing more was said about that evidence when Vaughn was in Will County Judge Dan Rozak's courtroom. Will County Assistant State's Attorney Lea Norbut did not name the expert, and neither did Gerald Kielian, Vaughn's lawyer.

~snip~

During the brief case management conference, Norbut asked the judge to schedule Vaughn's next court appearance on March 16. At that time, Kielian will file some motions in the case, she said. Norbut did not elaborate, and Rozak agreed to her request.

http://www.wbbm780.com/Accused-Family-Killer-Vaughn-In-Court/3805882

Still can't find it on the public court schedule :waitasec:
but was able to find it on the attorney's schedule.

KIELIAN GERALD 2 5 9 930 406 VAUGHN CHRISTOPHER D 07CF001308

I guess we need to get tricky to keep updated. Surely the new court date will be posted soon.

 

[southcitymom]

Thanks for the updates....maybe one day, a trial will actually occur. This is the craziest case.

 

[chicoliving]

Odd, I'm not finding him on the court schedule anymore...

http://www.willcountycircuitcourt.com/

He's back on the public schedule! :dance:

 

[chicoliving]

Defense attorney Gerald Kielian introduced 10 motions in the Christopher Vaughn murder trial on Monday.

The motions mostly concerned evidence protection and jury proceedings for the death penalty case. One motion asked the court to declare certain sections of the state's death penalty statute unconstitutional for allowing the death sentence to be imposed without requiring the state to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt that death is the appropriate sentence."

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/...n-motions-murder-case-Oswego-JO031608.article

May 7 is the next court date.

 

[Native New Yorker]

Chico- I really appreciate you keeping us up to date on this case! I cannot believe that this summer will mark TWO years since those awful murders happened. What is wrong with Will County? (Seems like cases in the South move along a lot quicker....the Hilton case in Florida is heading into its second trial, and he was arrested in 2008....)
Anyway, thanks!!!!

 

[southcitymom]

Chico- I really appreciate you keeping us up to date on this case! I cannot believe that this summer will mark TWO years since those awful murders happened. What is wrong with Will County? (Seems like cases in the South move along a lot quicker....the Hilton case in Florida is heading into its second trial, and he was arrested in 2008....)
Anyway, thanks!!!!

It really has crawled along. Thanks, chico!

 

[JoeFromLB]

Defense attorney Gerald Kielian introduced 10 motions in the Christopher Vaughn murder trial on Monday.

The motions mostly concerned evidence protection and jury proceedings for the death penalty case. One motion asked the court to declare certain sections of the state's death penalty statute unconstitutional for allowing the death sentence to be imposed without requiring the state to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt that death is the appropriate sentence."

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/...n-motions-murder-case-Oswego-JO031608.article

May 7 is the next court date.

Thanks for updating this case. I've been looking all over to try to find out why this trial is taking so long to start. A Google search was very frustrating, and it's clear that Websleuths is the place to look! Great site!

 

[chicoliving]

YW! It does seem to be taking forever. I imagine the forensics will be something to see. I think this would be a fantastic CSI type show just in the special effects of the forensics. I can see the laser beams showing where each shot came from etc. There must be a ton of evidence just in the lab forensics.

 

[Bobbisangel]

Just another defense attorney postponing the trial as soon as possible. I suppose the killer would rather sit in jail then prison!

 

[TallCoolOne]

YW! It does seem to be taking forever. I imagine the forensics will be something to see. I think this would be a fantastic CSI type show just in the special effects of the forensics. I can see the laser beams showing where each shot came from etc. There must be a ton of evidence just in the lab forensics.

Yeah, I'll bet you're right. I'm always amazed at the things they are capable of finding now days.

Let's get this show on the road!

 

[southcitymom]

Yeah, I'll bet you're right. I'm always amazed at the things they are capable of finding now days.

Let's get this show on the road!

Waiting along with the rest of y'all for just a few answers to why this happened....though I doubt any answers we get will be very satisfying.....

 

[chicoliving]

Defense lawyers filed a request in court Tuesday seeking to prevent some information from being used as evidence in Christopher Vaughn's murder trial.

But John Rodgers did not elaborate, simply calling it a motion to suppress. State prosecutors successfully sealed Vaughn's court file, so it isn't available for public scrutiny.

~snip~

The judge also told the group of lawyers that he wanted to have a private discussion about the case with them. He told them to come to his chambers later in the morning. At that point, he would give some evidence to the defense, Rozak said, adding that it was the Vaughn children's dental records.

Vaughn will return to court at 10 a.m. July 17.

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/...aughn-evidence-motion-suppress-jo0609.article

 

[Reannan]

I still want to know what the connection to "Druids" was all about??? I think this is going to be a very strange case in lots of ways.

 

[TallCoolOne]

Defense lawyers filed a request in court Tuesday seeking to prevent some information from being used as evidence in Christopher Vaughn's murder trial.

But John Rodgers did not elaborate, simply calling it a motion to suppress. State prosecutors successfully sealed Vaughn's court file, so it isn't available for public scrutiny.

~snip~

The judge also told the group of lawyers that he wanted to have a private discussion about the case with them. He told them to come to his chambers later in the morning. At that point, he would give some evidence to the defense, Rozak said, adding that it was the Vaughn children's dental records.

Vaughn will return to court at 10 a.m. July 17.

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/...aughn-evidence-motion-suppress-jo0609.article

Thank you once again chicoliving for the update.

Well, at least there is some activity behind the scenes, albeit slow, but we are accustomed to that.

I think this trial will be most interesting and that there will be some things that leave us slackjawed. Just my opinion and all that good stuff........

 

[Native New Yorker]

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/1752616,4_1_JO04_VAUGHN_S1-090904.article

quote


JOLIET -- Did a towel that was crumpled across Kimberly Vaughn's lap after she was killed contain crucial evidence?
Authorities will never know for sure. The towel was inadvertently washed at the morgue.


Christopher Vaughn's lawyers used that fact Thursday as the basis for an argument to toss the murder case against him -- a motion ultimately denied by Judge Daniel Rozak.

snip

Towel could have supported either side
Both sides agree the towel had blood and other biological evidence on it. Defense Attorney John Rogers argued the evidence could have been helpful in supporting the theory that Kimberly Vaughn shot her husband and killed her children before shooting herself.The towel may have contained trace blood spatter evidence, he said, adding that the morgue employee was reckless and negligent in washing it.
Assistant State's Attorney Michael Fitzgerald said the towel could also have bolstered the state's theory, which is that Christopher Vaughn killed his wife and children, then staged the scene to look like Kimberly did it.
Vaughn could have bled on the towel as he laid it on his wife's lap, Fitzgerald said.
Authorities did not wash the towel in order to destroy evidence, he said, as it was washed before Vaughn was arrested and there was no order to preserve it as evidence.
While that potentially useful piece of evidence has been lost, there is a vehicle full of evidence still preserved, Fitzgerald said.
Rozak agreed, and denied the defense's motion to dismiss the case.


quote

 

[TallCoolOne]

Wow. This is Will County, isn't it? As in the same county that drEWWWWW Peterson's first wife Kathleen's first autopsy was found accidental death? They sure have a knack for screwing up murder cases, don't they? This is beyond unreal. Makes me think that the requirement for employment in law enforcement is that there is no pulse, but the body is still warm. I'm going to go to another thread before I get myself in trouble.

 

[Reannan]

"Lawyers for the prosecution and defense agreed Tuesday to have some tests done on a jacket worn by Christopher Vaughn the day his family was murdered. ...... During other court appearances in the case, state prosecutors and the defense have discussed testing the jacket Vaughn wore on the morning of the murders. Some of the state's tests might have destroyed part of the fabric, so Gerald Kielian, one of Vaughn's lawyers, objected to that process.

Now the state is going to do tests on the jacket that won't cause any problems, so the defense experts will be able to do their own tests afterward.

Vaughn will return to court at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 11." That is pretty much all that is worth reading in the link - we already know the rest. http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/christopher.vaughn.charges.2.1372846.html