July 8, 2021 • 41 mins
In the quiet pre-dawn hours of June 14th, 2007 the Vaughn family- Christopher, his wife Kimberly and their three children- set out for an impromptu trip to a waterpark. The family would never arrive.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Murder in Illinois, a production of iHeartRadio. If you spend
enough time investigating true crime stories, you wind up with
some pretty disturbing content, and that's how this case landed
on my radar. Back in twenty eighteen, I was wrapping
up my first podcast, Happy Face. Maybe at some point
(00:23):
i'd entered the keywords kill her dad or father who
kills but the ten year anniversary of the Vaughan family
murders wound up in my feed. I'd never heard of
the two thousand and seven killings, although regionally around Illinois
they received a ton of press. But it was the
father's mugshot that caught my attention and its expression that
(00:45):
actually made me click that link. Suddenly I found myself
staring into the eyes of Christopher Vaughan. I scanned some
articles and viewed a few news pieces about the gruesome murders.
Three kids and their mother all dead. Then I went
back to the top, reabsorbing the timeline and the details.
(01:05):
Some like infidelity in strip clubs, were tabloid headlines, some
disturbing and all heartbreaking. But I kept getting drawn back
to the look on this guy, Christopher Baughd's face. There
was this unnervingly odd, almost eerie look in his eyes,
eyes that belonged to a man the will County States
(01:25):
Attorney described.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
As the heartless, soulless psychopath.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
I remember thinking, for a guy convicted of killing his
entire family, ban looked a hell of a lot more
bewildered than evil. Putting on my glasses, I leaned in
closer and expanded the screen until it was filled entirely
with just Baughn's eyes, and thought, what could possibly drive
a parent to kill their kids in such a twisted,
(01:52):
cruel and confrontational way? And why did the eyes staring
back at me look so confused, almost lost? They had
this pained intensity, heightened by the slight furrow of the
sparse brows that topped them, and punctuated by the dark
circles beneath them. Those eyes didn't look like they belonged
to a guy who shot his entire family at close range.
(02:14):
They looked haunted. Then, almost as an involuntary reflex, I typed,
could Christopher Vaughn be innocent? Into Google? The results that
popped up would put me on a troubling, nearly two
year path filled with staggering twists, turns, and bombshells. I'm
(02:35):
Lauren Brett Pacheco, and this is murder in Illinois.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Cageaty change feel the ground, ho.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
HO change.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Out.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Christopher Vaughan is a former private investigator who specialized in
computer forensics. He is today sitting in the Illinois Department
of Corrections in Pinkneyville, Illinois, convicted of the murder of
his family that consisted of his wife, Kimberly, and three children.
(03:56):
The deeper I got into was case I realized that
he's actually innocent.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
That's Bill the man. My internet search into Vaughn's possible
innocence led me to.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
My name is Bill Clutter. I work as a private investigator.
I've been doing this for over thirty years now and
have developed a specialty of criminal defense investigation.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Clutter was a detective for Vaughn's initial defense team, but
initially didn't believe he was innocent.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
I was influenced by the media as much of the
public was, and just assume he's got these superficial injuries.
He's the sole survivor, and so initially I assumed this
was going to be a mitigation case where we would
focus on telling a story that would persuade A Jerry
to spare his life.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
There are a number of developments that take us from
there to why Bill Clutter is still involved with the
case fourteen years later, nine years after Vaughn was convicted.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Over the years, have worked on a number of people
who've been wrongfully convicted, and it led me to create
what's now the Illinois Innocence Project. And that was almost
twenty years ago. I started investigating innocence after I moved
to Louisville, Kentucky, after Illinois abolished the death Belloty.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Clutters days pretty busy trying to get people out of prison,
which is why it took me a while to track
him down.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
When we finally connected by a phone. I had just
pulled into Columbus, Ohios late in the evenings, sometime after seven,
and I was park literally outside of a restaurant to
have dinner in Dublin, Ohio. That was December of twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
We've been talking ever since. I'd get to know Bill
Clutter is an affable, principled guy with an almost boyish
enthusiasm about social issues balanced by pragmatics, somewhat pessimistic takes
on the judicial system, and politics. He ran for the
Illinois Senate twice.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
In nineteen ninety I almost became the first Democrat in
eighty six years to win that seat.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Once COVID lockdown hit, I started communicating more with Bill
than just about anybody living outside my house, mostly about
his frustrations involving his long history challenging Christopher Vaughan's conviction.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
You know, I've been trying to pitch the Vaughn case
and line up pro bono representation for him. I could
show you stacks of letters that I've sent out to
the president of the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers,
who I knew and I've got no response, and to others,
and trying to get him support.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Not exactly an easy undertaking, since Clutter is one of
the few people who believe Chris Vaughn is innocent outside
of Chris's parents and siblings.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
I've never given up on Christoph Vaughan. In the eyes
of the law, he is a convicted killer. And so
you're starting at that point, and it's difficult to change
people's minds once they hear that. Hopefully, the more we
peel away at this case and expose the wrongful nature
(07:06):
of the conviction, those minds will change, but.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Many minds have already been influenced by the reality. Vaughn
was the sole survivor of a horrific crime for which
he was convicted, and it was salaciously covered, especially by
local news.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
This all played out in the media, and they really
had a field day.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Vaughn is accused of killing his wife and three children.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
There was just a drone of negative media about him
and his case.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
Prosecutors said that Vaughn's motive was his wife's one million
dollar life insurance policy.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
So understandably to many living around Illinois, Vaughn is considered
an especially evil man. Prosecutors in the Christopher Vaughan murder
trial argue he murdered his family because they were obstacles
in his life. Jojosey was one of the local reporters
who covered the story well.
Speaker 6 (07:55):
At the time the Vaughn family murders. I was working
at the Juliet Herald News newspaper and Juliet Ellino and
I got one of the editors to sometimes calling me
on mysell and demanding to know where I am. He's like,
we got this huge story. There's a big murder in Shanahan.
A whole family has been murdered. Chrusoper Vaughn case was.
It was a very big case locally. I mean, you
(08:16):
had the Chicago media down here, it was. It had
a great impact. I mean, three children and their mother
on their way to a water park and then executed.
That's going to be a big story.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Joe's a prolific journalist and the author of fatal Now's
The Tragic Wives of Sergeant Drew Peterson, which was later
made into a movie called Untouchable starring Rob Lowe as
the wife killing cop. It unfolded the same year as
the Vaughn tragedy, along with another high profile case.
Speaker 6 (08:45):
Two thousand and seven was an unusual year around here.
They had the disappearance of Lisa Static mother and wife
and playfield and she was going through a divorce but
living in the same house as or a strange husband,
and she vanished. That was a huge story in the
Chicago area. Soon after that you had the Lawns Christopher
Vaughn and his family, mother and three children shot to death.
(09:07):
Then months after that you had Drew Peterson, which pulled
all the attention off of both of those cases. Really,
I mean Drew Peterson, Stacy Peterson, Kathleen Savio. That story
pulled the limelight away from all of them.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Drew Peterson's high profile trial grabbed national headlines, and his
trial also happened at the same time in the same
building as Christopher Vaughns.
Speaker 6 (09:30):
I ended up covering most of the trial after Drew
Peterson's was over. It's a very photogenic family, very attractive family,
adorable children, and they were terribly brutally murdered. I don't
think I saw the crime scene photos until the trial,
but which they were heartbreaking. But you don't really need
to see the crime scene photos to have your heart broken.
(09:54):
Anytime there's a case involving murdered children and murdered mother,
it's heartbreaking. It's terrible. There's nothing worse that I can
really think of.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
And Dan Illinois, Christopher Vaughn is thought of as the
guy who killed his wife and three children to escape
his marriage. Was there ever any sympathy for Christopher.
Speaker 6 (10:15):
Vaughn, Not that I can recall. I mean, I don't
think anybody really bought into his version of events.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Yep, there are many more complicated pieces to the story.
We'll be covering them all but we have to start
with the murders Christopher Vaughan was convicted of committing. While
the details are disturbing and brutal, they are also critical
to understanding the case and whether the man now serving
life actually took four lives. The murders occurred on June fourteenth,
(10:49):
two thousand and seven. In the quiet pre dawn hours
of that Thursday morning. The Vaughn family, Christopher, his wife Kimberly,
and their three children, loaded up their red Ford Xpedition suv,
setting out before five a m. From their home in
Oswego for an impromptu family trip to a water park
three hours away in Springfield, Illinois. They would never arrive.
(11:15):
At approximately five fifteen a m. A passing motorist stop
to render assistance to Christopher Vaughan, who was found limping
along the frontage road of Interstate fifty five south of Joliet, Illinois.
Vaughan had two gunshot wounds. One bullet had pierced his
left wrist, the other went entirely through his left leg.
When the man asked if Vaughan had been in a
(11:36):
motorcycle accident or if he'd been stabbed, he replied, no,
I think my wife shot me. The rest of his
family wouldn't fare as well. At five twenty four a
m first responders would encounter a trail of blood reaching
roughly one hundred and forty feet, which led to the
family's red Ford expedition nestled in a secluded area of
(11:57):
the frontage road of Interstate fifty five. Upon their arrival,
all the doors to the suv were closed. Inside were
the remaining members of Christopher Vaughan's family dead. His three
children were in the back seat. Abigail, aged twelve, behind
the driver's seat, shot once in the head and once
in the chest, had been clutching a Harry Potter book
(12:20):
and a stuffed animal. Her younger sister, Cassandra eleven, in
the center seat, and their little brother, Blake, age eight,
seated behind the passenger seat, had also been shot twice.
Evidence would later show the young boy was holding his
arms out in a defensive position and likely saw what
was coming. The body of their mother, Kimberly Vaughan, was
(12:41):
slumped in the passenger seat, a single gunshot wound under
her chin. On the floor board. At her feet were
her purse and a nine millimeter Torus handgun. The murder
scene was so traumatizing that a police chaplain was brought
out to provide counseling to responders. Christopher Vaughan, the old
surviving member of the family, was loaded into an ambulance
(13:03):
bound for the hospital. On the way there, Chris Vaughn
appeared to believe his family was still alive. Upon arriving
at the hospital, he told a nurse, you should call
my wife. She gets mad when I don't call her.
That disconnect would continue. After being released from the hospital,
(13:23):
Christopher Vaughan was taken to the District five police headquarters,
where he was interviewed by detectives. Vaughn had apparent gaps
in his recollection of the morning events. He said his
wife wanted him to pull off the highway because she
was feeling nauseous, a side effect of anxiety induced migraines,
or possibly the prescription medication she was taking for the condition.
(13:45):
Vaughn remembered pulling off, parking in front of a cell
phone tower along a frontage road to provide privacy for
his wife, and then getting out of the car to
check the back tires. He recalled resecuring the strap on
the luggage rack and observed a deer in the adjoining cornfield.
It was only after getting back into the vehicle Vaughn
(14:05):
noticed his leg was bleeding, but had no memory of
being shot. Over the next twenty hours, police would interrogate Vaughn,
still clad in a hospital gown, and Vaughn's reaction during
the questioning raised scrutiny, especially those captured by hidden video
cameras when the officers left the room. At one point,
when alone, confronted by a photo of his eight year
(14:28):
old son, Blake, Vaughn crumpled it and threw it into
the corner of the room. Less than a week later,
Christopher Vaughan would be arrested at the funeral of his
wife and children. Five years later. During Vaughn's five week trial,
incriminating revelation after revelation would drop, none of them flattering
for the accused killer.
Speaker 7 (14:48):
This morning, Assistant State's Attorney Mike Fitzgerald meticulously reviewed the
evidence from the five week long trial, testimony from dozens
of witnesses. Fitzgerald claimed Vaughn's guilt is painfully obvious.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
The jury would take fifty minutes to find von guilty
on all four counts of first degree murder. Christopher Vaughan
has never confessed and for fourteen years has maintained no
memory of what actually happened to his family in their
suv that day, no recollection of the four murders for
which he is now serving a life sentence. Here's Bill
(15:25):
Clutter again.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Generally, my rule of thumb as your client is your
best source of information, and the biggest obstacle was Chris's
inability to remember the events of what happened that morning.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
The lone survivor, the only person who would have been
an eye witness to what happened that day, couldn't provide
you with that information.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
That was the frustrating part of the case.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Yes, Vaughan's defense would attribute his recollection gap to something
called dissociative amnesia, a disorder that involves the inability to
recall important personal information that is usually caused by trauma
or stress.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
He really had no memory, and this is the thing.
The probable cost to arrest him cited the fact that
he had basically these gaps in his story, and it
became clear that he couldn't remember what actually happened.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
But many people in Illinois can't forget it.
Speaker 8 (16:25):
It was a strange case. I'll say that it was
one of the saddest ones I've covered. It'll never leave me.
Speaker 9 (16:31):
And I've covered serial killer cases, death penalty sentencing hearings
and all the bets and terrible things, and this one
will be with.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Me for.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
That's journalist Erica Worst, a seasoned local reporter who feels
deeply rooted to the Bond case just to hear.
Speaker 10 (16:50):
The word actually go, I know that that's my community
and that's where I grow up. We never I mean
to have three children and a mother killed and a father,
you know, being convicted of that crime. I mean, you
would not find that.
Speaker 8 (17:07):
Around here, would not.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
At the time of the murders, Worst was a reporter
at the Chicago Sun Times, a newspaper that had already
done a profile on the exceptionally photogenic family before the
tragedy for a real estate article.
Speaker 10 (17:23):
It was weird because when the story happened, we were
looking through our types of for a a picture we
might have had of them, and then we're like, holy shit,
they were in our own paper not that long ago.
So that was that was a photo they used often,
the family's photo when they moved into their house, and
as we go.
Speaker 8 (17:43):
We had a weekend.
Speaker 10 (17:45):
Feature in the paper that was a design feature, talked
about homes, et cetera. And their home was featured, and
they're ganding in front of a bay window, and it's
all of them and it's just talking about how they
moved here in their house and this and that.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Google Christopher Vaughan's family, and two of those photos are
in the top results, One of Chris and Kim seated
in front of their three standing children, Another of the
family of five seated together on a brown sectional couch.
All are casually clad in jeans, the three kids peering
out beneath silky bangs. Abigail's coloring leaning more towards the
(18:24):
strawberry blonde of her mother, Cassandra, and Blake a bit
more brunette like their dad. Chris looks significantly heavier than
he'd later appear in mugshots. Kimberly is beaming beautifully in
both photos. The only member of the family smiling broadly
enough to reveal teeth the home was Christine.
Speaker 10 (18:43):
They had just moved in. They're all standing there, and
they couldn't have been much younger than they were the
age they were killed, because they hadn't lived in Las
Lego too long. You just think, Okay, I got a
flippath this picture without evening it, not even read the article.
(19:03):
It was just a picture and the paper that I
looked at every single day to look at the picture
and think, oh my god. Four of those five people
are dead. Now, those kids are dead forever and ever
and ever and ever and ever. And that's what's haunting,
(19:24):
because they'll never get any older than they were in
that picture.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
The tragedy that photo now represents is in stark contrast
to the stunning good looks of the Telegenic family.
Speaker 10 (19:35):
I mean, they were a picture perfect. That's the kind
of couple that I would look at and be like,
see I look there, like, you know, three cute little
kids and take nice house and cam seems so heavy,
and that that's what I would point to and say.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
That's what I want.
Speaker 10 (19:54):
And you know, never know what's going on behind closed doors, much.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Of which would come out in court in front of
both Chris and Kimberly's grieving torn Aparte families, the Vaughn's
and the Phillips worst kept meticulous notes throughout the Vaughn
trial and finds them difficult to revisit.
Speaker 8 (20:16):
It's hard when it's a family family thing. Usually one guy.
Again it's another guy.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
And a different family, and in this case, it's like
total devastation, the whole family that was sad. Here's these
families that used to be one family and now are
sitting on different sides of the courtroom, and they believe
one thing, and they believe one thing, and it's never
going to be resolved, so there's no justice.
Speaker 8 (20:40):
No one's gonna get what they want, which is they
loved ones.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Maath covering the five week trial gave worst ample time
to scrutinize Christopher Vaughn and his behavior.
Speaker 10 (21:01):
I was there and watched every ninety witnesses and every
piece of evidence, be withdrawald and every autopsy photo.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
When you saw Vaughn in person as opposed to seeing
the mugshot, can you just take me to your thoughts
of how he presented in the courtroom.
Speaker 10 (21:22):
Well, I mean he's a handsome man. He was well dressed.
You don't look at Chris and be like you slaughtered
your family. It's just not the vibe he gives off.
Speaker 8 (21:32):
It's like he can't be the epitome of evil.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
But then you think back to the autopsy photos and
you're like, no, that's pretty damn evil.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Hello, Hey Gail, it's Lauren.
Speaker 11 (21:51):
Hi here Lauren.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
How are you.
Speaker 11 (21:54):
I am doing very well.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
That's Chris Bahnd's mother, Gail. We'd connect by email then phone.
Her voice reminds me of Yankee candles, warm and comforting
throughout our calls. I was struck by the consistently positive
energy she radiates every time she picks up the phone.
For over a year, we've talked about just about everything,
including fishing.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
We've got some.
Speaker 12 (22:18):
Pretty good size ones around here, and when I finally.
Speaker 8 (22:20):
Get one, I usually fish only.
Speaker 6 (22:22):
For the little fun fish.
Speaker 12 (22:24):
So when I get something that thens my rod backwards,
it's like, no, I don't want this. And here's usually
with me, So I say, if you don't want this fish,
I'm just dropping the rod and he'll scramble.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
The eye into the boat.
Speaker 13 (22:36):
He said, give it, give it, give it.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Well, then it's a good thing that you fish together then,
or you'd be losing a lot of rods. Yes, But
when the topic turns to Chris, the eldest of her
three sons, you hear a sudden shift, almost like a
WinCE from an old injury, followed by frustration, Well, my
son is innocent.
Speaker 11 (22:58):
He did not kill his three children nor his wife.
My son did not do this, and he's sitting there
in prison in the middle of Illinois. Nobody can hold him.
When this happened, there was nobody to talk to him
after he lost these his family. We had counselors, we
(23:22):
had each other.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Chris had no one for fourteen years. Gail's been trying
to get her son out of prison with little support,
something she's grown used to.
Speaker 14 (23:32):
A couple days after this this awful tragedy, mister Glasgow
appeared on TV with all the higher up people that
were investigating.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
She's referencing James Glasgow, the Will County State's attorney who
prosecuted her son.
Speaker 13 (23:51):
And he pretty much pointed out that Kimberly was an
angel and he would deal with the person that did this,
and he was pretty sure he knew who it was.
Speaker 11 (24:02):
And it never deviated from his point of view there.
He was always trying to fit the evidence into the
crime instead of following the evidence. The jurors some of
them actually fell asleep during the trial. I mean, how
can somebody put somebody into prison that doesn't listen.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
To all of the facts. Gaale moderates a Facebook group
Christopher Vaughan is Innocent, the last word in all caps.
It had sixteen members when I looked it up. In
addition to Bill Clutter, many of them are Vaughn relatives.
Speaker 11 (24:42):
This is hard to put together all of the things
that went wrong and what we should have said throughout
the whole trial. We kept our emotions in because that's
what our lawyers told us to do.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
That Facebook group's banner image is a photo of Vaughn
in prison Issu Blue, standing between Gale and her husband Pierre,
who also goes by the nickname Pete. The three are
arm in arms, smiling at the camera, in front of
the photo backdrop of a slightly tropical sunsetting sky. Above
them is a string of glittery paper hearts that looks
like it would be more at home in an elementary
(25:17):
school than a prison. Chris sports symmetrical features, a shaved
head and a slim trim goatee. He's a pretty balanced
mixture of his parents, with a scale tilted maybe the
slightest bit towards his mother. Chris shares her defined jaw
and like hers. His eyes are lighter than Pierre's dark
brown ones, but almost identical in shape to his dad's.
(25:38):
Both parents are wearing similar plaid flannel shirts, have salt
and pepper shades of hair, and the same expression, a
combination of happiness, vulnerability, and weariness. They're visiting a son
sentenced to life for killing their three grandchildren and daughter
in law. The look in all their eyes is at
odds with the smiles beneath them. Pierre, Yes, Hey, it's Lauren.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
Hi, Lauren, how are you.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
I'm fine. Gail told me to call this number. Pierre
Bond shares his wife Gail's belief in Chris's innocence, but
it's tampered with a bit more anger in cynicism.
Speaker 15 (26:15):
He was convicted before he even started. My son was
presumed guilty immediately. They took him after he was treated
for being shot. They took him immediately from the hospital
to the police station, and the police were relentless and
(26:39):
pursuing him and persuading him and lying to him to
get him to confess. And he never did do that,
and that was never brought up in the trial. My
son who was shot, his family was killed, and he
lost everything and nobody stopped to think about, you know,
(27:03):
wait a minute, what if he did not do this?
Speaker 1 (27:06):
So you don't feel that Chris got a proper defense.
Speaker 5 (27:10):
Absolutely not, absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
When I first started speaking with Chris Vaughn's parents, Pierre
was transitioning towards retirement and the couple was in the
process of moving to the last home they planned to
live in, one that includes a room for Chris.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
My son did not do this.
Speaker 11 (27:28):
He needs to come home.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
It's not surprising that parents would believe in the innocence
of their own child. Gale and Pierre's printal allegiance and
optimism aside, the process of revisiting the conviction of Christopher
Vaughan is daunting. According to Bill Clutter, these.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Cases are an uphill climb, even when you have newly
discovered evidence that just blows the doors off the conviction.
These are hard cases, and you're always going to get
pushed back on some level, and especially at the lower court,
the court where the case original, you're always going to
push back when you go back there.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
I did reach out to the office of James W. Glasgow,
the will County States attorney who mounted the case against Vaughn.
Glasgow's website sports his polished mustachioed photo which calls to
mind a more Hollywood version of Mike Ditka, and a
lengthy list of his accomplishments during an unprecedented seven terms
(28:27):
as Will County State's attorney. Prominently featured is that Glasgow
quote successfully prosecuted Christopher Vaughan and secured a life sentence
for the murder of his wife and three children unquote.
Vaughan is second in billing to another career highlight convicting
wife killing cop Drew Peterson, listed as quote a landmark
(28:49):
case that attracted international attention unquote. While Glasgow's office politely
declined our request for a formal interview, they did share
the close using arguments for the people of Illinois versus
Christopher Vaughan and the impressive PowerPoint presentation that accompanied it.
It's quite thorough and was obviously successful in terms of
(29:11):
swaying the jury to convict, but Bill Clutter contends it
was built on a problematic foundation.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
There was this snap judgment that he did it. This
happened early in the morning on June fourteenth, two thousand
and seven. There was a three day period where he
was interrogated by police. It was shortly after that, as
he was preparing to attend the funeral of his family
(29:39):
in Saint Louis, that handcuffs were placed on him and
he was whisked away, taken to Joliet. And he hasn't
seen the light of day since. There was a rush
to judgment, and we didn't realize the extent of the
tunnel vision until we started taking depositions. You know, none
(30:00):
of their theories of how this happened fit the crime
scene evidence.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Clutter's convinced he can mount a post conviction case that
can clear Christopher Vaughan.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
If you just analyze the evidence in the case without
these blinders of emotion and prejudice, it's a pretty clear
case of actual innocence.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Attorney Keith Altman agrees like Clutter, he was involved in
Vaughn's initial defense team, but as an expert, will dive
more deeply into that in future episodes.
Speaker 5 (30:38):
I believe that Chris did not get the defense that
his case demanded once the death penalty was taken off
the table in the state stoped funding his defense.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Altman is referencing that Democratic Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation
on March ninth, twenty eleven, to abolish the death penalty
in Illinois. It went into effect on July first, twenty eleven,
and with it went the funding for the impressive team
who'd been mounting their defense of Vaughn for the past
(31:12):
four years. And this happened a little more than a
year before his trial.
Speaker 5 (31:17):
When Chris was under the threat of the death penalty,
the state of Illinois ensured that he received the best
possible success. Between the attorneys who were involved, who were superb.
I was able to bring one of the top experts
in the world on psychiatric adverse events of drugs and
(31:39):
work in support of him, David Healy. The ballistics that
they had were world class. As soon as the death
penalty was taken off the table, the public defender abandoned
all the work that we had done, never called any
of us, never did anything with any of us, and
(32:00):
never really gave Chris his proper dude. And so it
just bothers me to the day.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Altman's online profile is accompanied by burly, pleasantly smiling photo,
but his record's a little more pitfull than Teddy Bear.
He led a series of potentially precedent setting lawsuits against
some of the world's most powerful social media companies, an
effort to hold them accountable for allowing terrorists to radicalize
people through social media channels. He maintains that same fierceness
(32:33):
in his belief of Chris Vaughn's innocence.
Speaker 5 (32:35):
Chris's case haunts me because, between me and the other experts,
I believe you had a very strong presentation of evidence
vindicating Chris, and unfortunately the circumstances of the death felt
to be taken off the table meant he did not
have access to those resources. And you know, I believe
(32:56):
that the truth should come out, and I don't think
he taught the justice that he deserved.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
In twenty eleven, Christopher Vaughan was left with a public
defender who had just over a year to get up
to speed for the trial. Here's Bill Clutter again.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
That's the thing that bothers me most of all is
that you had these reforms that were put in place
to guard against an innocent person facing the death penalty
from being convicted. But then you become vulnerable once a
decision is made not to seek the death penalty, you're
stripped of all those resources intended to prevent a miscarriage
(33:50):
of justice.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
And he's used up all his appeals.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
He had his direct appeal and there was no appeal
to that. Right now, the only way for him to
be free is to prove actual innocence. And that's a
hard road. That's a very hard road.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
It's a road that journalist Erica Worst isn't entirely convinced
we should be setting out on at all.
Speaker 8 (34:15):
Christopher had a plan. I feel like he executed that plan,
and I feel like it didn't go the way he
wanted to.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
What do you think was his plan then? In other words,
what did he hope would happen that it would be
viewed as murder suicide?
Speaker 4 (34:37):
Yeah, he wanted it to be viewed as murder suicide
one hundred percent. And then you know what, oh four
weeks later less than that, I don't know. He's getting
her life insurance money.
Speaker 8 (34:48):
He basically he has said, this isn't the life I
want to live. This isn't the life I want to live,
This isn't the life for me.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
Worst also takes issue with any scenario that places Chris
as a possible victim.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
How does he get out of that car and go
running for help leaving him in there with a gun
and the three kids.
Speaker 8 (35:09):
No one would do that.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
He says that he has no recollection whatsoever of that.
If that is true, you know.
Speaker 16 (35:18):
He's in a duel kind of prison, right he doesn't
know what happened, whether or not he was holding the
gun or not. If he really doesn't remember, if he
had some kind of a break.
Speaker 8 (35:29):
Then why the first thing he says when he stumbles
upon guy on the street, you.
Speaker 4 (35:36):
Know, after he had been shot, Why does he say,
my wife shot me like immediate? That's an immediate you're
giving a statement immediately after occurred.
Speaker 8 (35:48):
If he's saying he got out of the car and
he didn't see anyone else.
Speaker 4 (35:51):
Get shot, why is he in such a disassociated state
just from being shot in the wrist and the legs?
Speaker 8 (35:58):
Superficially I caused the break in him. My husband is
not an aggressive person or anything of that nature.
Speaker 4 (36:07):
But you better believe he'd go to bat for us
if something like that had happened, and not just get
out of the car and walk away.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
In other words, how do you walk away if your
kids have been shot or haven't been shot? How do
you leave it?
Speaker 9 (36:24):
You don't?
Speaker 8 (36:25):
I mean There's so many.
Speaker 4 (36:28):
Unknowns which will probably remain unknown, but the state put together.
Speaker 8 (36:38):
Enough of a case to get that verdict they wanted.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
A verdict worst agreed with then and now I believe.
Speaker 10 (36:51):
Where ninety eight point nine percent shorty that christ were
gone so early and this was.
Speaker 8 (37:05):
Open and shut.
Speaker 10 (37:06):
And I know you guys are looking into Chris's innocence,
and I think everyone deserves that chance. I'm just going
to be really interested to see what you guys are
finding that I may have missed during every single day
(37:27):
of that trial.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
There is much more to this tragedy than the brutal
horror that unfolded in that red SUV in two thousand
and seven, including dysfunctional family dynamics, a troubled marriage, deception
and betrayal. As we set out on this path, it's
with the acknowledgment that on many levels, at many times,
it may be polarizing. This was an absolutely horrific event,
(37:58):
and we intend to cover it with in tech and sensitivity,
but we also understand revisiting it at all is painful
for many of the parties involved, especially for those close
to Kimberley Vaughan. While to date her family has not
responded to our multiple requests for an interview. We hope
they will reconsider It is not our intention to disparage
(38:18):
anyone living or dead. It's to re examine a case
that's been tightly closed, to shed light on whether Christopher
Vaughan was justly charged, tried, and convicted, and explore whether
pertinent facts and later developments that could have been utilized
in his defense were overlooked or ignored. What happened in
(38:39):
the Vaughan family's suv was unfathomable. Three innocent children died
facing a gun that was held by one of the
last people they ever thought would harm them. But the
only thing that could make this tragedy any more disturbing
is the possibility that the man serving life sentences for
having taken those lives didn't actually commit the murders. That
(39:00):
is the possibility we'll explore, and in the process uncover
answers to questions deemed mysteries for fourteen years. This season
of Murder in Illinois came do say good.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Things well, I think cann.
Speaker 1 (39:30):
On our next episode, we'll explore the upbringing and marriage
of the man who had become one of Illinois's most
vilified fathers and the intricate dynamics that led to a
horrific tragedy.
Speaker 11 (39:43):
He was just instantly smitten with her.
Speaker 8 (39:45):
I mean it was just a clique.
Speaker 15 (39:48):
They really had nothing in common.
Speaker 1 (39:51):
Did you ever think in a million years that Chris
would come home from college and tell you guys he
was getting married.
Speaker 5 (39:58):
No, when they got to the point of the pastor
said if anybody has objections, please say so now, and
then lightning struck.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
That was a little awkward.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Belloy you cry, Gage.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
Beard Brown, Hard Murder and Illinois. Product of My Heart Radio.
(41:01):
Executive producers are Lauren Bright Pacheco and Taylor Chackoine. Written
by Lauren Bright Pacheco and Matthew Riddle, Story editing by
Matthew Riddle, editing and sound design by Evan Tyre and
Taylor Chakoye. Featuring music by Cicada Rhythm with new compositions
engineered and mixed by Evan Tyre and Taylor Chakoine. Archive
(41:23):
news reports provided by w g N. For more podcasts
from iHeartRadio, check out the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get the stories that matter to you.
Murder in Illinois, a production of iHeartRadio. If you spend
enough time investigating true crime stories, you wind up with
some pretty disturbing content, and that's how this case landed
on my radar. Back in twenty eighteen, I was wrapping
up my first podcast, Happy Face. Maybe at some point
(00:23):
i'd entered the keywords kill her dad or father who
kills but the ten year anniversary of the Vaughan family
murders wound up in my feed. I'd never heard of
the two thousand and seven killings, although regionally around Illinois
they received a ton of press. But it was the
father's mugshot that caught my attention and its expression that
(00:45):
actually made me click that link. Suddenly I found myself
staring into the eyes of Christopher Vaughan. I scanned some
articles and viewed a few news pieces about the gruesome murders.
Three kids and their mother all dead. Then I went
back to the top, reabsorbing the timeline and the details.
(01:05):
Some like infidelity in strip clubs, were tabloid headlines, some
disturbing and all heartbreaking. But I kept getting drawn back
to the look on this guy, Christopher Baughd's face. There
was this unnervingly odd, almost eerie look in his eyes,
eyes that belonged to a man the will County States
(01:25):
Attorney described.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
As the heartless, soulless psychopath.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
I remember thinking, for a guy convicted of killing his
entire family, ban looked a hell of a lot more
bewildered than evil. Putting on my glasses, I leaned in
closer and expanded the screen until it was filled entirely
with just Baughn's eyes, and thought, what could possibly drive
a parent to kill their kids in such a twisted,
(01:52):
cruel and confrontational way? And why did the eyes staring
back at me look so confused, almost lost? They had
this pained intensity, heightened by the slight furrow of the
sparse brows that topped them, and punctuated by the dark
circles beneath them. Those eyes didn't look like they belonged
to a guy who shot his entire family at close range.
(02:14):
They looked haunted. Then, almost as an involuntary reflex, I typed,
could Christopher Vaughn be innocent? Into Google? The results that
popped up would put me on a troubling, nearly two
year path filled with staggering twists, turns, and bombshells. I'm
(02:35):
Lauren Brett Pacheco, and this is murder in Illinois.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Cageaty change feel the ground, ho.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
HO change.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Out.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Christopher Vaughan is a former private investigator who specialized in
computer forensics. He is today sitting in the Illinois Department
of Corrections in Pinkneyville, Illinois, convicted of the murder of
his family that consisted of his wife, Kimberly, and three children.
(03:56):
The deeper I got into was case I realized that
he's actually innocent.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
That's Bill the man. My internet search into Vaughn's possible
innocence led me to.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
My name is Bill Clutter. I work as a private investigator.
I've been doing this for over thirty years now and
have developed a specialty of criminal defense investigation.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Clutter was a detective for Vaughn's initial defense team, but
initially didn't believe he was innocent.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
I was influenced by the media as much of the
public was, and just assume he's got these superficial injuries.
He's the sole survivor, and so initially I assumed this
was going to be a mitigation case where we would
focus on telling a story that would persuade A Jerry
to spare his life.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
There are a number of developments that take us from
there to why Bill Clutter is still involved with the
case fourteen years later, nine years after Vaughn was convicted.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Over the years, have worked on a number of people
who've been wrongfully convicted, and it led me to create
what's now the Illinois Innocence Project. And that was almost
twenty years ago. I started investigating innocence after I moved
to Louisville, Kentucky, after Illinois abolished the death Belloty.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Clutters days pretty busy trying to get people out of prison,
which is why it took me a while to track
him down.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
When we finally connected by a phone. I had just
pulled into Columbus, Ohios late in the evenings, sometime after seven,
and I was park literally outside of a restaurant to
have dinner in Dublin, Ohio. That was December of twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
We've been talking ever since. I'd get to know Bill
Clutter is an affable, principled guy with an almost boyish
enthusiasm about social issues balanced by pragmatics, somewhat pessimistic takes
on the judicial system, and politics. He ran for the
Illinois Senate twice.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
In nineteen ninety I almost became the first Democrat in
eighty six years to win that seat.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Once COVID lockdown hit, I started communicating more with Bill
than just about anybody living outside my house, mostly about
his frustrations involving his long history challenging Christopher Vaughan's conviction.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
You know, I've been trying to pitch the Vaughn case
and line up pro bono representation for him. I could
show you stacks of letters that I've sent out to
the president of the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers,
who I knew and I've got no response, and to others,
and trying to get him support.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Not exactly an easy undertaking, since Clutter is one of
the few people who believe Chris Vaughn is innocent outside
of Chris's parents and siblings.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
I've never given up on Christoph Vaughan. In the eyes
of the law, he is a convicted killer. And so
you're starting at that point, and it's difficult to change
people's minds once they hear that. Hopefully, the more we
peel away at this case and expose the wrongful nature
(07:06):
of the conviction, those minds will change, but.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Many minds have already been influenced by the reality. Vaughn
was the sole survivor of a horrific crime for which
he was convicted, and it was salaciously covered, especially by
local news.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
This all played out in the media, and they really
had a field day.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Vaughn is accused of killing his wife and three children.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
There was just a drone of negative media about him
and his case.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
Prosecutors said that Vaughn's motive was his wife's one million
dollar life insurance policy.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
So understandably to many living around Illinois, Vaughn is considered
an especially evil man. Prosecutors in the Christopher Vaughan murder
trial argue he murdered his family because they were obstacles
in his life. Jojosey was one of the local reporters
who covered the story well.
Speaker 6 (07:55):
At the time the Vaughn family murders. I was working
at the Juliet Herald News newspaper and Juliet Ellino and
I got one of the editors to sometimes calling me
on mysell and demanding to know where I am. He's like,
we got this huge story. There's a big murder in Shanahan.
A whole family has been murdered. Chrusoper Vaughn case was.
It was a very big case locally. I mean, you
(08:16):
had the Chicago media down here, it was. It had
a great impact. I mean, three children and their mother
on their way to a water park and then executed.
That's going to be a big story.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Joe's a prolific journalist and the author of fatal Now's
The Tragic Wives of Sergeant Drew Peterson, which was later
made into a movie called Untouchable starring Rob Lowe as
the wife killing cop. It unfolded the same year as
the Vaughn tragedy, along with another high profile case.
Speaker 6 (08:45):
Two thousand and seven was an unusual year around here.
They had the disappearance of Lisa Static mother and wife
and playfield and she was going through a divorce but
living in the same house as or a strange husband,
and she vanished. That was a huge story in the
Chicago area. Soon after that you had the Lawns Christopher
Vaughn and his family, mother and three children shot to death.
(09:07):
Then months after that you had Drew Peterson, which pulled
all the attention off of both of those cases. Really,
I mean Drew Peterson, Stacy Peterson, Kathleen Savio. That story
pulled the limelight away from all of them.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Drew Peterson's high profile trial grabbed national headlines, and his
trial also happened at the same time in the same
building as Christopher Vaughns.
Speaker 6 (09:30):
I ended up covering most of the trial after Drew
Peterson's was over. It's a very photogenic family, very attractive family,
adorable children, and they were terribly brutally murdered. I don't
think I saw the crime scene photos until the trial,
but which they were heartbreaking. But you don't really need
to see the crime scene photos to have your heart broken.
(09:54):
Anytime there's a case involving murdered children and murdered mother,
it's heartbreaking. It's terrible. There's nothing worse that I can
really think of.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
And Dan Illinois, Christopher Vaughn is thought of as the
guy who killed his wife and three children to escape
his marriage. Was there ever any sympathy for Christopher.
Speaker 6 (10:15):
Vaughn, Not that I can recall. I mean, I don't
think anybody really bought into his version of events.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Yep, there are many more complicated pieces to the story.
We'll be covering them all but we have to start
with the murders Christopher Vaughan was convicted of committing. While
the details are disturbing and brutal, they are also critical
to understanding the case and whether the man now serving
life actually took four lives. The murders occurred on June fourteenth,
(10:49):
two thousand and seven. In the quiet pre dawn hours
of that Thursday morning. The Vaughn family, Christopher, his wife Kimberly,
and their three children, loaded up their red Ford Xpedition suv,
setting out before five a m. From their home in
Oswego for an impromptu family trip to a water park
three hours away in Springfield, Illinois. They would never arrive.
(11:15):
At approximately five fifteen a m. A passing motorist stop
to render assistance to Christopher Vaughan, who was found limping
along the frontage road of Interstate fifty five south of Joliet, Illinois.
Vaughan had two gunshot wounds. One bullet had pierced his
left wrist, the other went entirely through his left leg.
When the man asked if Vaughan had been in a
(11:36):
motorcycle accident or if he'd been stabbed, he replied, no,
I think my wife shot me. The rest of his
family wouldn't fare as well. At five twenty four a
m first responders would encounter a trail of blood reaching
roughly one hundred and forty feet, which led to the
family's red Ford expedition nestled in a secluded area of
(11:57):
the frontage road of Interstate fifty five. Upon their arrival,
all the doors to the suv were closed. Inside were
the remaining members of Christopher Vaughan's family dead. His three
children were in the back seat. Abigail, aged twelve, behind
the driver's seat, shot once in the head and once
in the chest, had been clutching a Harry Potter book
(12:20):
and a stuffed animal. Her younger sister, Cassandra eleven, in
the center seat, and their little brother, Blake, age eight,
seated behind the passenger seat, had also been shot twice.
Evidence would later show the young boy was holding his
arms out in a defensive position and likely saw what
was coming. The body of their mother, Kimberly Vaughan, was
(12:41):
slumped in the passenger seat, a single gunshot wound under
her chin. On the floor board. At her feet were
her purse and a nine millimeter Torus handgun. The murder
scene was so traumatizing that a police chaplain was brought
out to provide counseling to responders. Christopher Vaughan, the old
surviving member of the family, was loaded into an ambulance
(13:03):
bound for the hospital. On the way there, Chris Vaughn
appeared to believe his family was still alive. Upon arriving
at the hospital, he told a nurse, you should call
my wife. She gets mad when I don't call her.
That disconnect would continue. After being released from the hospital,
(13:23):
Christopher Vaughan was taken to the District five police headquarters,
where he was interviewed by detectives. Vaughn had apparent gaps
in his recollection of the morning events. He said his
wife wanted him to pull off the highway because she
was feeling nauseous, a side effect of anxiety induced migraines,
or possibly the prescription medication she was taking for the condition.
(13:45):
Vaughn remembered pulling off, parking in front of a cell
phone tower along a frontage road to provide privacy for
his wife, and then getting out of the car to
check the back tires. He recalled resecuring the strap on
the luggage rack and observed a deer in the adjoining cornfield.
It was only after getting back into the vehicle Vaughn
(14:05):
noticed his leg was bleeding, but had no memory of
being shot. Over the next twenty hours, police would interrogate Vaughn,
still clad in a hospital gown, and Vaughn's reaction during
the questioning raised scrutiny, especially those captured by hidden video
cameras when the officers left the room. At one point,
when alone, confronted by a photo of his eight year
(14:28):
old son, Blake, Vaughn crumpled it and threw it into
the corner of the room. Less than a week later,
Christopher Vaughan would be arrested at the funeral of his
wife and children. Five years later. During Vaughn's five week trial,
incriminating revelation after revelation would drop, none of them flattering
for the accused killer.
Speaker 7 (14:48):
This morning, Assistant State's Attorney Mike Fitzgerald meticulously reviewed the
evidence from the five week long trial, testimony from dozens
of witnesses. Fitzgerald claimed Vaughn's guilt is painfully obvious.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
The jury would take fifty minutes to find von guilty
on all four counts of first degree murder. Christopher Vaughan
has never confessed and for fourteen years has maintained no
memory of what actually happened to his family in their
suv that day, no recollection of the four murders for
which he is now serving a life sentence. Here's Bill
(15:25):
Clutter again.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Generally, my rule of thumb as your client is your
best source of information, and the biggest obstacle was Chris's
inability to remember the events of what happened that morning.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
The lone survivor, the only person who would have been
an eye witness to what happened that day, couldn't provide
you with that information.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
That was the frustrating part of the case.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Yes, Vaughan's defense would attribute his recollection gap to something
called dissociative amnesia, a disorder that involves the inability to
recall important personal information that is usually caused by trauma
or stress.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
He really had no memory, and this is the thing.
The probable cost to arrest him cited the fact that
he had basically these gaps in his story, and it
became clear that he couldn't remember what actually happened.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
But many people in Illinois can't forget it.
Speaker 8 (16:25):
It was a strange case. I'll say that it was
one of the saddest ones I've covered. It'll never leave me.
Speaker 9 (16:31):
And I've covered serial killer cases, death penalty sentencing hearings
and all the bets and terrible things, and this one
will be with.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Me for.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
That's journalist Erica Worst, a seasoned local reporter who feels
deeply rooted to the Bond case just to hear.
Speaker 10 (16:50):
The word actually go, I know that that's my community
and that's where I grow up. We never I mean
to have three children and a mother killed and a father,
you know, being convicted of that crime. I mean, you
would not find that.
Speaker 8 (17:07):
Around here, would not.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
At the time of the murders, Worst was a reporter
at the Chicago Sun Times, a newspaper that had already
done a profile on the exceptionally photogenic family before the
tragedy for a real estate article.
Speaker 10 (17:23):
It was weird because when the story happened, we were
looking through our types of for a a picture we
might have had of them, and then we're like, holy shit,
they were in our own paper not that long ago.
So that was that was a photo they used often,
the family's photo when they moved into their house, and
as we go.
Speaker 8 (17:43):
We had a weekend.
Speaker 10 (17:45):
Feature in the paper that was a design feature, talked
about homes, et cetera. And their home was featured, and
they're ganding in front of a bay window, and it's
all of them and it's just talking about how they
moved here in their house and this and that.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Google Christopher Vaughan's family, and two of those photos are
in the top results, One of Chris and Kim seated
in front of their three standing children, Another of the
family of five seated together on a brown sectional couch.
All are casually clad in jeans, the three kids peering
out beneath silky bangs. Abigail's coloring leaning more towards the
(18:24):
strawberry blonde of her mother, Cassandra, and Blake a bit
more brunette like their dad. Chris looks significantly heavier than
he'd later appear in mugshots. Kimberly is beaming beautifully in
both photos. The only member of the family smiling broadly
enough to reveal teeth the home was Christine.
Speaker 10 (18:43):
They had just moved in. They're all standing there, and
they couldn't have been much younger than they were the
age they were killed, because they hadn't lived in Las
Lego too long. You just think, Okay, I got a
flippath this picture without evening it, not even read the article.
(19:03):
It was just a picture and the paper that I
looked at every single day to look at the picture
and think, oh my god. Four of those five people
are dead. Now, those kids are dead forever and ever
and ever and ever and ever. And that's what's haunting,
(19:24):
because they'll never get any older than they were in
that picture.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
The tragedy that photo now represents is in stark contrast
to the stunning good looks of the Telegenic family.
Speaker 10 (19:35):
I mean, they were a picture perfect. That's the kind
of couple that I would look at and be like,
see I look there, like, you know, three cute little
kids and take nice house and cam seems so heavy,
and that that's what I would point to and say.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
That's what I want.
Speaker 10 (19:54):
And you know, never know what's going on behind closed doors, much.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Of which would come out in court in front of
both Chris and Kimberly's grieving torn Aparte families, the Vaughn's
and the Phillips worst kept meticulous notes throughout the Vaughn
trial and finds them difficult to revisit.
Speaker 8 (20:16):
It's hard when it's a family family thing. Usually one guy.
Again it's another guy.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
And a different family, and in this case, it's like
total devastation, the whole family that was sad. Here's these
families that used to be one family and now are
sitting on different sides of the courtroom, and they believe
one thing, and they believe one thing, and it's never
going to be resolved, so there's no justice.
Speaker 8 (20:40):
No one's gonna get what they want, which is they
loved ones.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Maath covering the five week trial gave worst ample time
to scrutinize Christopher Vaughn and his behavior.
Speaker 10 (21:01):
I was there and watched every ninety witnesses and every
piece of evidence, be withdrawald and every autopsy photo.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
When you saw Vaughn in person as opposed to seeing
the mugshot, can you just take me to your thoughts
of how he presented in the courtroom.
Speaker 10 (21:22):
Well, I mean he's a handsome man. He was well dressed.
You don't look at Chris and be like you slaughtered
your family. It's just not the vibe he gives off.
Speaker 8 (21:32):
It's like he can't be the epitome of evil.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
But then you think back to the autopsy photos and
you're like, no, that's pretty damn evil.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Hello, Hey Gail, it's Lauren.
Speaker 11 (21:51):
Hi here Lauren.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
How are you.
Speaker 11 (21:54):
I am doing very well.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
That's Chris Bahnd's mother, Gail. We'd connect by email then phone.
Her voice reminds me of Yankee candles, warm and comforting
throughout our calls. I was struck by the consistently positive
energy she radiates every time she picks up the phone.
For over a year, we've talked about just about everything,
including fishing.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
We've got some.
Speaker 12 (22:18):
Pretty good size ones around here, and when I finally.
Speaker 8 (22:20):
Get one, I usually fish only.
Speaker 6 (22:22):
For the little fun fish.
Speaker 12 (22:24):
So when I get something that thens my rod backwards,
it's like, no, I don't want this. And here's usually
with me, So I say, if you don't want this fish,
I'm just dropping the rod and he'll scramble.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
The eye into the boat.
Speaker 13 (22:36):
He said, give it, give it, give it.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Well, then it's a good thing that you fish together then,
or you'd be losing a lot of rods. Yes, But
when the topic turns to Chris, the eldest of her
three sons, you hear a sudden shift, almost like a
WinCE from an old injury, followed by frustration, Well, my
son is innocent.
Speaker 11 (22:58):
He did not kill his three children nor his wife.
My son did not do this, and he's sitting there
in prison in the middle of Illinois. Nobody can hold him.
When this happened, there was nobody to talk to him
after he lost these his family. We had counselors, we
(23:22):
had each other.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Chris had no one for fourteen years. Gail's been trying
to get her son out of prison with little support,
something she's grown used to.
Speaker 14 (23:32):
A couple days after this this awful tragedy, mister Glasgow
appeared on TV with all the higher up people that
were investigating.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
She's referencing James Glasgow, the Will County State's attorney who
prosecuted her son.
Speaker 13 (23:51):
And he pretty much pointed out that Kimberly was an
angel and he would deal with the person that did this,
and he was pretty sure he knew who it was.
Speaker 11 (24:02):
And it never deviated from his point of view there.
He was always trying to fit the evidence into the
crime instead of following the evidence. The jurors some of
them actually fell asleep during the trial. I mean, how
can somebody put somebody into prison that doesn't listen.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
To all of the facts. Gaale moderates a Facebook group
Christopher Vaughan is Innocent, the last word in all caps.
It had sixteen members when I looked it up. In
addition to Bill Clutter, many of them are Vaughn relatives.
Speaker 11 (24:42):
This is hard to put together all of the things
that went wrong and what we should have said throughout
the whole trial. We kept our emotions in because that's
what our lawyers told us to do.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
That Facebook group's banner image is a photo of Vaughn
in prison Issu Blue, standing between Gale and her husband Pierre,
who also goes by the nickname Pete. The three are
arm in arms, smiling at the camera, in front of
the photo backdrop of a slightly tropical sunsetting sky. Above
them is a string of glittery paper hearts that looks
like it would be more at home in an elementary
(25:17):
school than a prison. Chris sports symmetrical features, a shaved
head and a slim trim goatee. He's a pretty balanced
mixture of his parents, with a scale tilted maybe the
slightest bit towards his mother. Chris shares her defined jaw
and like hers. His eyes are lighter than Pierre's dark
brown ones, but almost identical in shape to his dad's.
(25:38):
Both parents are wearing similar plaid flannel shirts, have salt
and pepper shades of hair, and the same expression, a
combination of happiness, vulnerability, and weariness. They're visiting a son
sentenced to life for killing their three grandchildren and daughter
in law. The look in all their eyes is at
odds with the smiles beneath them. Pierre, Yes, Hey, it's Lauren.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
Hi, Lauren, how are you.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
I'm fine. Gail told me to call this number. Pierre
Bond shares his wife Gail's belief in Chris's innocence, but
it's tampered with a bit more anger in cynicism.
Speaker 15 (26:15):
He was convicted before he even started. My son was
presumed guilty immediately. They took him after he was treated
for being shot. They took him immediately from the hospital
to the police station, and the police were relentless and
(26:39):
pursuing him and persuading him and lying to him to
get him to confess. And he never did do that,
and that was never brought up in the trial. My
son who was shot, his family was killed, and he
lost everything and nobody stopped to think about, you know,
(27:03):
wait a minute, what if he did not do this?
Speaker 1 (27:06):
So you don't feel that Chris got a proper defense.
Speaker 5 (27:10):
Absolutely not, absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
When I first started speaking with Chris Vaughn's parents, Pierre
was transitioning towards retirement and the couple was in the
process of moving to the last home they planned to
live in, one that includes a room for Chris.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
My son did not do this.
Speaker 11 (27:28):
He needs to come home.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
It's not surprising that parents would believe in the innocence
of their own child. Gale and Pierre's printal allegiance and
optimism aside, the process of revisiting the conviction of Christopher
Vaughan is daunting. According to Bill Clutter, these.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Cases are an uphill climb, even when you have newly
discovered evidence that just blows the doors off the conviction.
These are hard cases, and you're always going to get
pushed back on some level, and especially at the lower court,
the court where the case original, you're always going to
push back when you go back there.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
I did reach out to the office of James W. Glasgow,
the will County States attorney who mounted the case against Vaughn.
Glasgow's website sports his polished mustachioed photo which calls to
mind a more Hollywood version of Mike Ditka, and a
lengthy list of his accomplishments during an unprecedented seven terms
(28:27):
as Will County State's attorney. Prominently featured is that Glasgow
quote successfully prosecuted Christopher Vaughan and secured a life sentence
for the murder of his wife and three children unquote.
Vaughan is second in billing to another career highlight convicting
wife killing cop Drew Peterson, listed as quote a landmark
(28:49):
case that attracted international attention unquote. While Glasgow's office politely
declined our request for a formal interview, they did share
the close using arguments for the people of Illinois versus
Christopher Vaughan and the impressive PowerPoint presentation that accompanied it.
It's quite thorough and was obviously successful in terms of
(29:11):
swaying the jury to convict, but Bill Clutter contends it
was built on a problematic foundation.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
There was this snap judgment that he did it. This
happened early in the morning on June fourteenth, two thousand
and seven. There was a three day period where he
was interrogated by police. It was shortly after that, as
he was preparing to attend the funeral of his family
(29:39):
in Saint Louis, that handcuffs were placed on him and
he was whisked away, taken to Joliet. And he hasn't
seen the light of day since. There was a rush
to judgment, and we didn't realize the extent of the
tunnel vision until we started taking depositions. You know, none
(30:00):
of their theories of how this happened fit the crime
scene evidence.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Clutter's convinced he can mount a post conviction case that
can clear Christopher Vaughan.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
If you just analyze the evidence in the case without
these blinders of emotion and prejudice, it's a pretty clear
case of actual innocence.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Attorney Keith Altman agrees like Clutter, he was involved in
Vaughn's initial defense team, but as an expert, will dive
more deeply into that in future episodes.
Speaker 5 (30:38):
I believe that Chris did not get the defense that
his case demanded once the death penalty was taken off
the table in the state stoped funding his defense.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Altman is referencing that Democratic Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation
on March ninth, twenty eleven, to abolish the death penalty
in Illinois. It went into effect on July first, twenty eleven,
and with it went the funding for the impressive team
who'd been mounting their defense of Vaughn for the past
(31:12):
four years. And this happened a little more than a
year before his trial.
Speaker 5 (31:17):
When Chris was under the threat of the death penalty,
the state of Illinois ensured that he received the best
possible success. Between the attorneys who were involved, who were superb.
I was able to bring one of the top experts
in the world on psychiatric adverse events of drugs and
(31:39):
work in support of him, David Healy. The ballistics that
they had were world class. As soon as the death
penalty was taken off the table, the public defender abandoned
all the work that we had done, never called any
of us, never did anything with any of us, and
(32:00):
never really gave Chris his proper dude. And so it
just bothers me to the day.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Altman's online profile is accompanied by burly, pleasantly smiling photo,
but his record's a little more pitfull than Teddy Bear.
He led a series of potentially precedent setting lawsuits against
some of the world's most powerful social media companies, an
effort to hold them accountable for allowing terrorists to radicalize
people through social media channels. He maintains that same fierceness
(32:33):
in his belief of Chris Vaughn's innocence.
Speaker 5 (32:35):
Chris's case haunts me because, between me and the other experts,
I believe you had a very strong presentation of evidence
vindicating Chris, and unfortunately the circumstances of the death felt
to be taken off the table meant he did not
have access to those resources. And you know, I believe
(32:56):
that the truth should come out, and I don't think
he taught the justice that he deserved.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
In twenty eleven, Christopher Vaughan was left with a public
defender who had just over a year to get up
to speed for the trial. Here's Bill Clutter again.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
That's the thing that bothers me most of all is
that you had these reforms that were put in place
to guard against an innocent person facing the death penalty
from being convicted. But then you become vulnerable once a
decision is made not to seek the death penalty, you're
stripped of all those resources intended to prevent a miscarriage
(33:50):
of justice.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
And he's used up all his appeals.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
He had his direct appeal and there was no appeal
to that. Right now, the only way for him to
be free is to prove actual innocence. And that's a
hard road. That's a very hard road.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
It's a road that journalist Erica Worst isn't entirely convinced
we should be setting out on at all.
Speaker 8 (34:15):
Christopher had a plan. I feel like he executed that plan,
and I feel like it didn't go the way he
wanted to.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
What do you think was his plan then? In other words,
what did he hope would happen that it would be
viewed as murder suicide?
Speaker 4 (34:37):
Yeah, he wanted it to be viewed as murder suicide
one hundred percent. And then you know what, oh four
weeks later less than that, I don't know. He's getting
her life insurance money.
Speaker 8 (34:48):
He basically he has said, this isn't the life I
want to live. This isn't the life I want to live,
This isn't the life for me.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
Worst also takes issue with any scenario that places Chris
as a possible victim.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
How does he get out of that car and go
running for help leaving him in there with a gun
and the three kids.
Speaker 8 (35:09):
No one would do that.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
He says that he has no recollection whatsoever of that.
If that is true, you know.
Speaker 16 (35:18):
He's in a duel kind of prison, right he doesn't
know what happened, whether or not he was holding the
gun or not. If he really doesn't remember, if he
had some kind of a break.
Speaker 8 (35:29):
Then why the first thing he says when he stumbles
upon guy on the street, you.
Speaker 4 (35:36):
Know, after he had been shot, Why does he say,
my wife shot me like immediate? That's an immediate you're
giving a statement immediately after occurred.
Speaker 8 (35:48):
If he's saying he got out of the car and
he didn't see anyone else.
Speaker 4 (35:51):
Get shot, why is he in such a disassociated state
just from being shot in the wrist and the legs?
Speaker 8 (35:58):
Superficially I caused the break in him. My husband is
not an aggressive person or anything of that nature.
Speaker 4 (36:07):
But you better believe he'd go to bat for us
if something like that had happened, and not just get
out of the car and walk away.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
In other words, how do you walk away if your
kids have been shot or haven't been shot? How do
you leave it?
Speaker 9 (36:24):
You don't?
Speaker 8 (36:25):
I mean There's so many.
Speaker 4 (36:28):
Unknowns which will probably remain unknown, but the state put together.
Speaker 8 (36:38):
Enough of a case to get that verdict they wanted.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
A verdict worst agreed with then and now I believe.
Speaker 10 (36:51):
Where ninety eight point nine percent shorty that christ were
gone so early and this was.
Speaker 8 (37:05):
Open and shut.
Speaker 10 (37:06):
And I know you guys are looking into Chris's innocence,
and I think everyone deserves that chance. I'm just going
to be really interested to see what you guys are
finding that I may have missed during every single day
(37:27):
of that trial.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
There is much more to this tragedy than the brutal
horror that unfolded in that red SUV in two thousand
and seven, including dysfunctional family dynamics, a troubled marriage, deception
and betrayal. As we set out on this path, it's
with the acknowledgment that on many levels, at many times,
it may be polarizing. This was an absolutely horrific event,
(37:58):
and we intend to cover it with in tech and sensitivity,
but we also understand revisiting it at all is painful
for many of the parties involved, especially for those close
to Kimberley Vaughan. While to date her family has not
responded to our multiple requests for an interview. We hope
they will reconsider It is not our intention to disparage
(38:18):
anyone living or dead. It's to re examine a case
that's been tightly closed, to shed light on whether Christopher
Vaughan was justly charged, tried, and convicted, and explore whether
pertinent facts and later developments that could have been utilized
in his defense were overlooked or ignored. What happened in
(38:39):
the Vaughan family's suv was unfathomable. Three innocent children died
facing a gun that was held by one of the
last people they ever thought would harm them. But the
only thing that could make this tragedy any more disturbing
is the possibility that the man serving life sentences for
having taken those lives didn't actually commit the murders. That
(39:00):
is the possibility we'll explore, and in the process uncover
answers to questions deemed mysteries for fourteen years. This season
of Murder in Illinois came do say good.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Things well, I think cann.
Speaker 1 (39:30):
On our next episode, we'll explore the upbringing and marriage
of the man who had become one of Illinois's most
vilified fathers and the intricate dynamics that led to a
horrific tragedy.
Speaker 11 (39:43):
He was just instantly smitten with her.
Speaker 8 (39:45):
I mean it was just a clique.
Speaker 15 (39:48):
They really had nothing in common.
Speaker 1 (39:51):
Did you ever think in a million years that Chris
would come home from college and tell you guys he
was getting married.
Speaker 5 (39:58):
No, when they got to the point of the pastor
said if anybody has objections, please say so now, and
then lightning struck.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
That was a little awkward.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Belloy you cry, Gage.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
Beard Brown, Hard Murder and Illinois. Product of My Heart Radio.
(41:01):
Executive producers are Lauren Bright Pacheco and Taylor Chackoine. Written
by Lauren Bright Pacheco and Matthew Riddle, Story editing by
Matthew Riddle, editing and sound design by Evan Tyre and
Taylor Chakoye. Featuring music by Cicada Rhythm with new compositions
engineered and mixed by Evan Tyre and Taylor Chakoine. Archive
(41:23):
news reports provided by w g N. For more podcasts
from iHeartRadio, check out the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get the stories that matter to you.
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