August 26, 2021 • 47 mins
Fourteen years after Christopher Vaughn was sentenced to four consecutive life terms for the murders of his wife and three children we revisit the evidence that led to his conviction. In this episode we’ll break down the circumstantial and forensic evidence that possibly led to a conviction based on what could be emotional and confirmation bias.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Murder in Illinois is a production of iHeartRadio. On September
twenty first, twenty twelve, a Will County jury consisting of
eight men and four women deliberated for less than fifty
minutes before convicting Christopher Vaughan of killing his wife and
(00:20):
three children in the family's suv in two thousand and
seven in a bid to start a new life in
the Canadian wilderness. Over the course of five weeks, jury
foreman Dan Lachet and his fellow jurors heard from nearly
ninety witnesses and saw more than seven hundred exhibits. Afterwards,
Lachet expressed his interest in writing a book on the
(00:41):
case and told press there was no doubt in the
juror's minds of Vaughn's guilt, and they never even considered
the defense argument that Vaughn's wife committed the murders. He
also referenced Vaughn's flat demeanor, saying, quote, if you watched
him throughout the trial like we did, I think you'd
come to the same conclusion as we did. In this episode,
(01:03):
we'll break down the circumstantial and forensic evidence that possibly
led to a conviction based on what could be emotional
and confirmation bias. I'm Lauren brad Pacheco, and this is
murder in Illinois. Let's start with two words. You've almost
(01:48):
heard more in this podcast than Christopher or Vaughn. Tunnel vision.
In legal terms, it's defined as a tendency fueled by
bias and pressure that leads actors in the criminal justices
to single mindedly focus on a suspect and build a
case for conviction while ignoring evidence that points away from guilt.
(02:08):
Bill Clutter believes it was in play throughout the case
against Vaughn.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
This really is a text book case of tunnel vision
and confirmatory bias. Because each fact that they would discover
and learn about Chris his secret life of going to
script clubs, Aha, you know, just reinforces you did it
because he already started with that assumption.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Clutter characterizes the combination of tunnel vision and confirmation bias
as something Vaughn referenced in their first jail house meeting,
a perfect storm.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Every time they would find a new bad fact for
Chris that you're spending thousands of dollars on script clubs.
You went to the gun range the day before. You've
got this fantasy of hiking into the Yukon and never
coming back and leaving your family. I mean, these are
all bad facts in terms of painting character. So it
(03:07):
was almost a piling on effect that every time they
would discover some fact like that, it just reinforced their
belief that he did it without really conducting the type
of objective investigation that the crime scene investigator Bob Deal
was urging them to do. Followed the evidence, followed the
CSI rather than your gut instincts.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
You've also heard Bob Deel's name a bunch. The former
Illinois State Police crime investigator played a role in both
high profile cases that unfolded in the Will County Courthouse
in twenty twelve. So even as he was trying to
raise flags in the handling of Vaughn's case, Deal was
being maligned for his handling of the Drew Peterson case. Deal,
(03:53):
along with others, had initially ruled out foul play in
the bathtub drowning of Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio. In
pursuing their case against Peterson. Prosecutors laid blame for that
ruling on the former Illinois State Police crime investigator, which
also made it easy to discredit Deal's thoughts on the
Bond case unfolding across the hall. Here's clutter.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Let me say something about Bob Deal and his defense,
because this also runs along that same argument, because when
Chris is being tried, it's simultaneous to the Drew Peterson case.
And Bob Deal wasn't the only one that assumed that
Peterson's wife drowned in this bathtub. It was also the
(04:39):
medical examiner that determines cause of death. So it's not
like they can point to one case where he got
it wrong and therefore disregard everything you say about this
other case.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
In his initial crime scene report, Bob Deal listed Kimberly
Vaughan as suspect number one and Chris Vaughn as suspect
number two. In his deposition, Deal contends his removal from
the Vaughn investigation was because his processing of the crime
scene did not dismiss the possibility that Kim Vaughn may
have in fact killed her children, shot Chris, and then
committed suicide. Because Deal's opinion was at odds with the
(05:17):
Illinois State Police and the Will County State's Attorney, Deale
believes he was removed from anything to do with the case.
In fact, he was asked to never process another crime
scene in will County. Deal felt investigators retrofitted the evidence
to fit their theory that Vaughan was standing outside the
passenger door when he shot his wife and kids, a
(05:38):
theory that Sergeant Gary Lawson came up with the day
of the tragedy. In his deposition, Deal says he told
Sergeant Lawson that based on the crime scene evidence, that
was quote friggin' impossible. Back to Bill Clutter, how did
the jury react to Deal's allegation of tunnel vision an
(06:00):
immediate bias against Vaughn, Well.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
They didn't get to hear that evidence. The judge wouldn't
allow a Deal to testify to the judge denied it.
The judge wouldn't allow him to testify about the call
he received from Ken Kopis, who was the commander of
the investigation unit of the only state police, that they
(06:24):
felt that the husband did it, and wouldn't allow Deal
to testify about his participation in the major case review
that included the entire investigative team, including the state's attorney
James Glascow, where Glascow offered his opinion that Kim was
an angel. There's no way she could have done this,
(06:46):
and Deal told him that the crime scene evidence can't
eliminate her as having done this. In fact, much of
the forensic evidence supports that she did, and they weren't
willing to listen to the objective, basically, the science based evidence.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
It struck me when I was rereading Deal's deposition that
he claims that Sergeant Gary Lawson came up with the
theory of Vaughn standing outside the passenger window with the gun,
killing Kim and then the kids the same day as
(07:28):
the murders.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
That's right, and Deal had him demonstrate his theory with
an unloaded gun, and then he went about demonstrating to
Lawson why the bullet trajectory evidence didn't support that theory.
And you know that's significant.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Looking back now. Was there an unwillingness to examine the
evidence objectively? And how does the prosecution's case against Christopher
Vaughn hold up. Let's start with Vaughn's time and money
spent its strip clubs, the first of multiple damning revelations
that would make headlines after the murders. Here again is
(08:07):
Bill Clutter.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
It's a tactic of the prosecutor. The goal is to
get the jury to hate the defendant, and there's a
lot of ways they do this. In this case, they
did it over the fact that he had visited Scores
strip club on two occasions dropped I think almost five
thousand dollars over the course of two nights. That was
(08:29):
a character assassination. And you know, there's millions of people
go to strip clubs. They don't go home and kill
their wife and kids.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
During the trial, the prosecution leaned heavily on morality, portraying
Vaughn's visits to strip clubs in the weeks before the
murders as incriminating. Was the money spent on strippers anything
more than circumstantial? And was it utilized as character assassination
to sway a jury without hard evidence. Being unfamiliar with
(08:57):
the field, I turned to an expert on the sub Chase, Kelly.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
I have been stripping for thirteen years and working.
Speaker 4 (09:07):
In strip clubs since two thousand and one.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
I am pretty well versed in.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
The strip club world.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
I also coach entertainos for a living, so I pretty
much have spoken to somebody in every club in the
country and some internationally as well.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
So from your experience in terms of working with your clients,
your regulars, what percentage of men and I know this
isn't a scientific answer, but in your opinion, what percentage
of guys who come in are married?
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Let's say it's probably around sixty five to seventy five percent.
This is a married man sport.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
While she's not involved in the Bond case, Chase is
an authority on the types of clubs he visited. Because
Vaughn had gone to strip clubs and he'd spent five grand,
they made this sleep that he wasn't a family man.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
That somebody would suggest that because somebody is going to
a strip club that they don't love their family. That's
crazy to me, crazy, and I have been working in
these clubs for twenty years.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
The prosecution and press focused on the thousands of dollars
and time Bond spent at clubs as indicative of his
level of betrayal. To quote the prosecution, he's not serious
about working on his marriage. If he was, he would
be in bed next to Kimberly. Here are Chase Kelly's thoughts.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
I think if a man wanted to cheat, he would
do it for free or cheaper. If a man wants
to sleep with somebody else, he's going to go and
do that. If you want to preserve your marriage, you
don't want to cheat.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
You go to a strip club.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
There's no cheating because there's no release, there's no physical
contact on that level. It's somebody to listen to you,
talk to you, somebody who make you laugh, a break
from your life. You know how many great husbands and
amazing fathers I've met that has spent five thousand dollars
on me with not a question.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
To be asked about a five thousand.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
Dollars is a normal amount of spending a club. Some
people might say, oh my gosh, that's crazy. That's a
crazy amount of money. But somebody spends five thousand dollars
in my club every night.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
How does that bill get wrung up?
Speaker 4 (11:24):
That's two hours, five thousand dollars, two hours in a
private room.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Again, that money wouldn't be buying what many have assumed.
Contact is not allowed.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
The lapdance is what twenty thirty forty dollars depending on
where you are, that you're just getting the boobs in
the face right when you start spending that bigger money. Generally,
what we see is that the clients become less sexual
and more pockative, comfortable, relaxed. They can melt into the
(11:56):
chair and you can ask them questions, and that's how
you keep a guy m VIP for two hours.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
So the two women that Vaughn met in clubs, a
woman named Maya and a woman named Crystal. I've had
a lot of trouble tracking them down because of the
nature of the crime, but they testified and they both
said he was an absolute gentleman and that he just
wanted to talk.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Don't see why they would have any reason to lie
about that. It's very, very common for a guy to
go into a club and just have a laugh and
leave it behind for a minute, although many people do
use clubs as therapy because of the amount of anonymity
that they are granted.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Anonymity played into the case against Vaughn with the strippers
as well as Willett. Vaughn's wilderness pen pal Chris did
not share that he was married or had children, but
that too can be viewed through a different lens. Back
to Chase, do you think that it's odd that he
told one of the women that he wasn't married and
(13:02):
he didn't have kids. No, in what sense.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
It's a fantasy world, right, So he gets to, you know,
dissociate from his wife for a little bit and get
to be somebody else. When I go into the club,
I change my name, I change my voice, I changed
my hair, I change the way that I walk, I
change the way that I smile. It's a fantasy. Some
people need it as escapism and some people need it
(13:29):
as a space of acceptance. Right, So both are valid.
Speaker 6 (13:34):
So we create a place.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
It's harmless fun. We are performers, and honestly, I think
if more wives knew how we conducted our business, they
say thank you to us instead of quilifying us so much.
Speaker 6 (13:51):
I really do agree or not.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
This does offer a perspective the places what was circumstantial
evidence in another life. Another focus of the prosecution was
the Wilderness Forum Vaughn joined. There is a specific quote
from Henry David Throw that Vaughn posted. If you are
ready to leave father and mother and brother and sister
and wife and child and friends, if you never see
them again. If you have paid your debts and made
(14:17):
your will and settled your affairs and are a freeman,
then you are ready for a walk. This was presented
as evidence Vaughn was ready for that walk but held
back by his family. In addition to the forum posts
and emails to Steve Willett, focus was placed on a
storage locker that Vaughn had rented and filled with camping equipment.
(14:39):
The locker wasn't registered to Chris's home address, but rather
a private PO box, and the alternate contact was Larry Vaughn,
not his wife. To the prosecution, this was more evidence
of murderous intent. Here's reporter Erica Wurst's recollections.
Speaker 7 (14:57):
Fantasizing that was and I described before is maniacal. He
was of set the storage unit like not in the
fact that he didn't store any of it in his
empty basement while you're clearly hiding something. That whole thing,
I mean, if you're looking for motivation. In his emails,
(15:18):
he was sending to his little homeboy talking about wanting
to leave all of his obligations and take the walk,
and he had to tie things up at home first.
And you could look at all that both ways though,
if he wants him to have the money, or it
could just be like I'm going to tie things up
at home first. You gotta look at it all.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
But if one's decided someone is a murderer, everything they
do can seem like a sinister act. That is confirmation bias.
So let's suppose just for a minute that the storage
locker full of equipment wasn't for Chris to run off
into the wilderness. Then why did he have it? I
wanted to know what Chris's parents thought. Can you guys
(16:03):
explain to me your understanding of why Chris had that
storage facility?
Speaker 8 (16:10):
We are going to try to go to Canada, Pierre
and I and Chris and his family, and he was
starting to accumulate the stuff the family and he was
going to need, and we were starting to talk about it,
and we weren't going to do it until the following August,
(16:34):
sometime after between when the black flies start and cold
weather in.
Speaker 6 (16:40):
We hadn't really.
Speaker 9 (16:41):
Penpointed it, but he figured he'd just start getting things
together so that.
Speaker 8 (16:47):
When we said, okay, this is what we're going to do,
he would have it.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Okay, did he have that storage facility before they moved
into the house. Is it something they had when they
were in the apartment.
Speaker 9 (17:00):
I don't know when he got it, actually, but he
did tell us that he was starting to put stuff
in the storage facility units so that I would get
mixed in with the basement full of stuff.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
There's a photo of Vaughn wearing a cowboy hat standing
outside that storage facility. There's snow on the ground, and
it's not a selfie. He appears to be holding his
cell phone and or his BlackBerry in his hand.
Speaker 10 (17:25):
And we don't even know where this picture came from.
Speaker 8 (17:27):
Somebody had taken but.
Speaker 10 (17:29):
We don't know who.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
They didn't know who Larry Vaughn was either. When I
emailed Chris for clarification about the storage facility, he referenced
that picture without prompting quote. The storage facility was rented
after we moved into the house. We did have extra
storage space in the apartment, but that was moved into
the basement at the house. The plan was to sort
(17:51):
through the basement, get rid of stuff, and place the
remainder in the new facility, which was smaller. Needless to say,
it was a task that was easy to put off
to next month, so I had not gotten around to it.
Kim had been at the facility with me. There's a
picture on the website she'd taken of me in front
of the Orange Doors. Unquote, Vaughan explained the po box
(18:13):
belonged to the company he'd started in Washington Stonebridge because
he thought he could write it off as a business expense,
and that Larry was a name he made up on
the spot when the worker at the facility insisted he
provide an alternate contact, not living in the same residence.
If all that's true, the storage facility wasn't a secret stockpile,
(18:34):
but a mixture of things from previous and future camping trips.
Keep in mind, Chris definitely came from a family with
an unusual passion for extreme outdoor activities. Here's Pierre.
Speaker 11 (18:45):
That's one thing Chris wanted to do is show his kids,
you know, how well they have it by taking him
out in the wilderness and having them experience the wilderness
life versus everything served to you, my inconveniency, a lot
of modern conveniences.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
They made a big deal of the storage unit in
the trial. Did the defense ever explain it the way
you guys just explained it to me?
Speaker 11 (19:15):
No, there was all one side of the defense never
defended it at all.
Speaker 10 (19:20):
As far as I could.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Recollect, I have obtained both the pobox contract and the
receipt from the storage facility. The Oswego PO box is
in fact clearly attributed to Stonebridge and was used for
mail forwarded from Bond's Washington consulting firm. In addition, it
was specified to receive items addressed to both Christopher and
(19:44):
Kemberley vonn and the contract is dated December twenty ninth,
two thousand and five, coinciding with the family's move to Illinois.
The storage facility receipt is marked with the address of
that PEO box in our emails. Here's how Chris characterized
(20:06):
his communication with Willett and the Wilderness website quote, Hiking
and camping was a hobby I truly enjoyed. In Washington,
the kids and I spent a lot of time hiking
the nearby trails. We loved our outdoor adventures. I had
hiking trail books for western Washington. The kids and I
spent nearly as much time selecting and planning trips together
as we actually did.
Speaker 6 (20:26):
Hiking.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Camping in Washington was regulated to the backyard, but we
spent a lot of time in the tent or the
treehouse we built out back. Kim occasionally came hiking, but
never joined us camping in Illinois. The kids were more
occupied with school and their own activities, so hadn't got
back to hiking yet. Plus it was Illinois. I continued
to take time here and there to get outside, still
(20:47):
very much interested. My trips grew in scope, but I
was never serious about wilderness survival. That was online boasting
among other enthusiasts. I liked I could take a trip
to the woods and then return to my comfortable life
with modern conveniences. If Vaughn's desire was to escape those
modern conveniences and his marriage, he also seemed to be
(21:08):
making contradictory efforts to salvage it. During Vaughn's initial interrogation,
he was asked multiple questions about his relationship with Kim
Chris never spoke disparagingly about her, and in fact spoke
actively about their future plans. He also mentioned attempts to
reconcile things with his wife. You've heard this exchange during
(21:29):
the police questioning before, but it bears repeating.
Speaker 5 (21:33):
Let's take there on a honeymoon this weekend. We're going
to go back to Herman where we had our first honeymoon.
Two things all over again.
Speaker 12 (21:44):
Who's going to launch kids.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
My mom and her sister heaven out on Friday, So yeah,
they're coming to the house to watch the kids for
the weekend. Believe Kim and I, it was a surprise.
I didn't want her to have to worry about any
details or anything like that. So I set up and
(22:09):
I told her parents. I told my parents to kind
of coordinate the details.
Speaker 13 (22:13):
But uh, I was gonna take her cause.
Speaker 12 (22:16):
So your mom and your sister, No, my mom and
my aunt her sister. Yeah, we're gonna come up Friday.
When were they supposed to show up around dune or
so maybe something? And and Kim had no idea they
were coming.
Speaker 5 (22:32):
I was gonna tell her later today.
Speaker 12 (22:36):
What if she would have said, I going ain't gonna happen.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
I don't know why she would have said that, Like
this is it was gonna be good.
Speaker 12 (22:49):
Do you think one the weekend of sex with your
wife is gonna make her forget that you've been having
sex with all these other women?
Speaker 5 (23:00):
You think it wasn't all these other world cup it's
just one time of Mexico and it was a start.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Well, we do know Vaughn did make those herman reservation
and plans. Kim apparently had found out about something because
she had put in for time off from her pool job.
That was used against Vaughn, but others knew and could
have tipped her off as to the surprise. The marriage
and the last minute nature of the water park trip
also came up in Vaughn's initial questioning over the.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
Last couple of months, I've been trying to work to
make things better than that was what the honeymoon was
all about. And you know, I'd looked into Emmy. She'd
mentioned spend more time with kids. Were off for summer break,
and I thought, well, we're gone on Friday, We're not
going to be back until Sunday, and the next weekend
(23:49):
her parents are coming up, and then a couple of
weeks after that, the kids are going to be in
Saint Louis for.
Speaker 12 (23:54):
A couple of weeks.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
So we didn't we don't have any like the five
less family time. So I said, fine, you know, let's let's.
Speaker 12 (24:00):
Go to a water park.
Speaker 5 (24:02):
And you know, one of the things that had come
up is one of the water parks that we passed
in Springfield when we met her parents there, and you know,
and I said, Dad, and She's like.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Fine, you know, want's do that, but we're last minute
trips unusual for Vaughn and his family. I asked a
former neighbor from Illinois named Barbara. Did the family do
strange things like take last minute trips when you knew
them in the apartment.
Speaker 6 (24:37):
Yeah, they took trips quite a bit because they had
this it was like a luggage wreck on the top
of their car, and they would take it off and
put it back on. Yeah, they would go to water
parks and on different trips.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Yeah, it was kind of flagged as you know, this
last minute trip. But then speaking to to other family members,
they did quirky trips all the time. Last minute.
Speaker 6 (25:06):
Yeah they were. That's not the first trip that I've
seen them go on. They've gone on quite a few
because I remember because of the longa trip. So no,
that wouldn't have been like, you know, just one trip
that they chose that was last minute. They went often
to you know, different places.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
In addition to being an aunt of Alexa, the friend
of Abigail we met in a previous episode, Barbara was
close to Kim and offers insight into her personality and mothering.
Speaker 6 (25:39):
I felt she was pretty adjusted and then I ended
up finding out she was in school online getting her
criminal justice degree, and she had a lot, a lot
of irons in the fire with her kids, which she
always put her kids first everything. She would be in
the classroom, going to drop them off, going to pick
(26:01):
them up, just always there for them. Whatever activities they
were involved in, she was there.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
So she seemed like super mom.
Speaker 6 (26:10):
Yes, I called her the mother of all mothers. And
the reason why I called her that is because Kim
never raised her voice. She was always so calm, and
I started asking her questions like you don't ever get
angry and raise your voice, because I've never seen a
raise your voice at her kids. And it just shocked
(26:32):
me because at some point some mom says, don't do
that or what are you doing? But Kim was always
just calm with her voice, and she always told her
kids use your words all the time. I heard that
from her. Her husband was out of town a lot.
I met him once, but I spent, you know, some
(26:56):
time with Kim and the kids.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
I know that you only met him once, But do
you remember any impressions of Chris.
Speaker 6 (27:03):
Yes, Chris was a really nice guy. He was very kind,
But I don't know why the hairs on my neck
stood up when I met him. I can't even explain it.
I can't. He was a nice guy. He wasn't rude
or mean or anything like that. But I don't know
(27:24):
what I was sensing. And I just said hello and
I left.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
And this is how many people who knew Kim felt
that Chris was quiet, sort of offbeat, and that Kim
was just a vibrant, wonderful mother. All these years later,
Barbara remains upset and confused as to what actually happened
that day.
Speaker 6 (27:45):
It was unbelievable. I cried so hard. I given one.
I think about it now, it makes me sad. Oh,
they were such good kids. Kim was such a good mother,
you know, lady was the mother of all mothers. She
was so good to her kids. What in the world happened?
(28:09):
What happened? And I'm like, whatever they were saying on
the news was not making sense. When the stories came
out that Chris said that she shot the kids and
then shot him, and I'm like, no, no, no, no, Kim,
(28:30):
the Kim I know would never do that. Kim, the
Kim I know would have put her body on her
kids and covered her kids up. So in my.
Speaker 14 (28:41):
Mind, I thought he would have had to shoot her first,
because she would have She would have protected her kids
like she was a mama bear. She was the mother
of all mothers. Kim would have laid her body over
those kids, I'm telling you right now, Oh God, she
(29:03):
would have covered them, canceled. She would have thought with
all she had.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
We'll revisit this later, But there was absolutely no sign
of struggle. Kim did not have defensive wounds, bruises, pulled hair,
nothing that suggests she was held in place while a
shot was placed with precision, just slightly away from the
soft area under her chin. And when her nails were scraped,
they did not contain Christopher Vaughn's DNA. You mentioned that
(29:32):
she had migraines. Can you just elaborate a little bit
upon that. How did you know and how much did
they impact her?
Speaker 6 (29:43):
All I know is that she suffered from them quite
a bit. She would have headaches, and she talked about
him sometime. She was involved with so much. But I
know that she had them, and that she still was
in school when the kids were gone online. She still
(30:06):
worked in their classroom quite a bit.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Did she ever talk to you about the medication she
was taking for her migraines and her anxiety.
Speaker 6 (30:15):
No, we never talked about that.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
But Kim did discuss issues associated with those medications with others.
Here's Bill Clutter in.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
Her own words on May twenty fourth of two thousand
and seven, and this is three weeks before this tragedy happened.
There was an email she had written to Chris after
she had visited an osteopath, and she reported to the
osteopath that she was taking these migraine prescriptions and that
(30:51):
she was feeling anxiety. A high anxiety was the notation
in the medical records, and in her own words she says,
I told him that you had noticed and I had
noticed a big personality change and an anxiety change, and
that I was feeling lethargic, tired all the time. And
(31:12):
of course, when you look at the medication guide that
came out a year later, when the FDA was wanting
to place a black box warning on Topomax warning suicidal
behavior and ideation anti epileptic drugs, including Topomax, increase the
(31:32):
risk of suicidal thoughts or behavior and patients taking these
drugs for any indications. And it goes on to say,
patients treated with anti epileptic drugs for any indication should
be monitored for the emergence of worsening of depression, suicidal
thoughts or behavior, and or any unusual changes in mood
(31:58):
or behavior. It described feeling agitated or restless, panic attacks,
trouble sleeping, new or worse, irritability, acting aggressive, being angry
or violent, acting on dangerous impulses, an extreme increase in anxiety,
and talking mania.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
So her change in personality and her anxiety would have
gone hand in hand with an adverse reaction.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Two days after the tragedy, police spoke with a sixth
grade locker buddy of Abigail Vaughan about an interaction he
had with his visibly upset friend on June seventh, a
week before the murders. His name is Jacob. He's now
in his twenties. Tell me about the conversation you two
had on the last day of school in two thousand
(32:46):
and seven and why that stuck out to you.
Speaker 10 (32:50):
It stuck out to me because she was really upset.
She said that her mom was acting crazy, and that
was basically the gist of that. It was one of
the first things that popped up in my head when
I first heard about the murders.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
What he told police, according to their report two days
after the tragedy, was that Abigail Vaughn said her mother
was quote hearing thoughts in her head unquote end quote.
Psycho Bill Clutter also spoke with him in two thousand
and nine.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Well, I spoke to both of Jacob's parents before talking
to him because he was a minor, and they explained
that Jacob had related this to them, and they felt
it was important for the state police to know this,
and that resulted in Jacob's.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Interview because they believed that his story about the mother's
mental state might bear significance on the murders. Right, according
to your notes, what did Abby tell Jacob.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
That her mother was hearing thoughts in her head. She
would be talking to herself and nobody was there. And
then she mentioned that her mother was sleep talking. And
all of this paints a picture of some sort of
mental instability that's happening with Kimberly Vaughn.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
During the trial, forensic pathologist doctor Larry Bloom testified that
at the time of her death, Kimberly Vaughn was taking
two medications known to cause increased risk of suicidal thoughts
and side effects including confusion or agitation. If Kim was
in fact struggling with difficulties with the medication she was taking,
(34:55):
or exhibiting anomalies in her behavior behind the scenes that
strained their relationship to some degree, Chris's behavior after the
tragedy in many ways could have been seen as a
normal response. According to neuroscientists and professor of human behavior
doctor James Fallen Right.
Speaker 13 (35:14):
It's like I was my fault because I didn't understand
him enough or her enough, and so they'll start blaming themselves.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Let's also address Bond's personality. He came across to some
acquaintances in the initial questioning the press and the courtroom
as odd. He's unusually intelligent, as his former salary and
profession would imply, but given his interest in druidism, writing
poems in Celtic, and role playing on wilderness sites, he's
(35:43):
also quirky. Did that add to his perception of guilt.
Here's doctor Fallon's take.
Speaker 13 (35:49):
This reminds me a bit of somebody who is an
introvert and maybe not open. You know. It brings you
back to Ta kill a Mockingbird with bou Radley, who
was a little excent. I don't know if Christopher phones
eccentric at all, but it's just been reading it. I said,
here's an easy mark, introvert who just wants to go
off the grid, like I think anybody would want to
(36:11):
do it, considering everything, and they put in their things
about it. But when I went to a strip club
and he had an affair, if this is the sort
of evidence you need, I wonder how many das are
going to pass that test, or sheriffs or anybody. And
so it seemed completely made out of less than whole club.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
When Vaughn was convicted, here's how the will County State's attorney,
James Glasgow referred to him.
Speaker 13 (36:38):
He's a heartless, soulless psychopath without any compassion, without any
empathy for other human beings.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
Doctor Fallon is an expert on these terms which require evaluation.
Speaker 13 (36:51):
I didn't see any good psychiatric analyzes in these reports.
How did he know this or how he because he
doesn't seem like it right at all. For some reason,
it was demonizing it. Were there people involved in the
case for who were doing things for political reasons? I
mean because it's when you read this whole thing says
somebody's getting bamboozle.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
Now, let's address emotional bias in keeping with such a brutal,
unfathomable tragedy. And the crime scene photos shown as evidence
during the trial. You've heard the impact they had on many,
including Jojosey and Erica Wurst, reporters who covered the trial.
Speaker 6 (37:27):
I don't think I saw the crime scene photos until
the trial. They were heartbreaking. They were horrible. They were horrible.
Speaker 15 (37:35):
You have little babies with bullet wounds that were zooming
up on and seeing and Kim with her hand like
flouched down by the center council kind of and she's
got her wedding ring on. That's one that's like seared
into my head just because it's so sad.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
Bill Clutter points out something that may seem obvious but
needs to be taken into account.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
There are evidence in the sense that it describes the
crime scene, but it's not evidence that resolves the issue
of who did it. And unfortunately, in this case, the
prosecution had a big screen to display the crime scene photos,
and more than anything else, it was the emotional impact
(38:20):
of those photos. I think that really swayed the jury.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Was Chris vond convicted on character assassination and circumstantial evidence.
Let's take a step back from emotion, a step back
from Chris or Kim, and let's look solely at evidence.
The crime scene evidence remains problematic for both the prosecution
and the defense because it doesn't align with either of
(38:45):
their versions. Let's start with the blood evidence.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
There's no physical evidence that supports the state's theory that
Chris reached around his wife after shooting her to shoot
the kids. There was no transfer of her blood on
the front of his body. He would have had to
lean over her body to make those shots. I mean,
she's bleeding profusely and her blood is falling and it's
(39:11):
pooling on the center council and then it's splashing up
onto the back of his driver's seat. Well, there's no evidence,
you know, for him to have done with the state alleges,
he would have had to have reached around her through
that zone of blood spatter. But there was no blood
of Kims that was on his right arm or right
(39:35):
sleeve or left sleeve. And Vaughn was right handed and
Vonn was right hand.
Speaker 1 (39:41):
Okay, Now, is it important that According to Bob Deal,
there was blood on Kimberly's arm that was never tested.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
Well, it's important, particularly the blood on her left and
right hands.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
Clutter contends that if Kim held the gun under her
chin and used her left thumb to pull the trigger
her right hand to steady the weapon, that this pattern
of blood could be consistent with suicide.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
If she was holding the gun as soon as the
bullet was fired, her blood would have been dripping down.
There's patterns of passive drops of blood on her left hand,
but that was never tested. But if that was her blood,
that would be strong evidence that she held the gun
(40:27):
and was bleeding onto the hands after the gun was fired.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
We've already really addressed the terry cloth. What would that
have possibly shown had that not been disposed.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
Of passive bloods gains? If those had been Kim's blood,
you know, that's again consistent with her having self inflicted
and bleeding onto the terry cloth as she was slumping
to the left. And so if we were able to
identify that pattern of passive drops of blood were her blood,
(41:04):
that would be very strong evidence that she self inflicted
that wound. The wound under Kim's chin that's completely consistent
with a self inflicted gunshot wound. The muzzle of the
gun wasn't firmly against the chin. It was raised up
to the chin, and there was enough of a gap
(41:27):
that allowed the gas that was ejected from the barrel
of the gun to darken and blacken her chin. And
that's completely contrary to the initial belief of the state's
attorney that the gun had been jammed under her chin.
For Christopher Vaughan to have staged this to make it
(41:47):
look like Kim self inflicted her own wound, he would
have one had to have enlisted her cooperation to stand
still while he placed the muzzle of the gun under
her chin. There was no evidence that he had held
her hair and she was trying to pull away. None
of that type of evidence that would suggest that there
(42:07):
was a violent, forceful struggle to put the barrel of
the gun under her chin.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
There's also physical size to take into account of both
the bond and the large suv.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
It was Sergeant Lawson's opinion that he had reached through
the passenger window. He had to assumed that it was opened,
because when they arrived at the scene it was rolled up,
but Lawson's theory was that Chris had reached in through
the window and killed Kim and killed the kids. Well,
(42:39):
he would have to have awfully long arms to have
reached all the way to the left side of the
passenger seat to make those shots that killed the children.
And you know, he's only five to nine. He's just physically,
as Bob Diale said it, that's an impossibility.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
Well, Vaughn's blood was found on his wife's retractor belt
and droplets by her feet. There is no evidence that
shows Vaughn ever stood outside that passenger door or evidence
he walked back around the vehicle to the driver side,
where a bullet was lodged with his DNA.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
The shot that penetrated his left leg. The barrel of
the gun had been thrust into the jacket, and according
to the ballistics, the shot was within less than six
inches from the leg when it was fired, so the
trajectory from the jacket pocket to the left leg would
(43:36):
pass just millimeters above the growing area When it penetrated
the top of the left leg right at the hip.
It just narrowly missed the femeral ar of the leg,
which could have been potentially fatal had that bullet been
lower and he had been shot in the growing, I
don't think he would have been charged, yeah, or alive
(43:58):
or alive.
Speaker 1 (44:00):
Clutter remains bothered by the criminal mastermind charge.
Speaker 2 (44:04):
Where's the evidence of that? We have to have evidence,
you know, they have to have some evidence that he
staged this crime scene, and there is not there just
simply isn't. There's strong reasonable doubt that he did this.
The forensic evidence suggests that this was a murder suicide.
The state concedes it appears to be a murder suicide.
(44:27):
But the caveat is they argue that he staged the
crime scene to make it look like it was. You
have to prove that. That's the concept of proof beyond
a reasonable doubt, and they didn't meet that test. Twelve
jurors were influenced by the emotional appeal of the crime
(44:49):
scene photos, the dead children, the strip clubs, the character assassination,
and that's why he's in prison today.
Speaker 1 (45:00):
But there are three major questions that have yet to
be answered on the next murder in Illinois. How did
(45:24):
Christopher Vaughan's blood get on the retracted safety belt, droplets
of his blood on the passenger side, and Kim's blood
on the back of his jacket.
Speaker 9 (45:33):
It is a manager revelation.
Speaker 1 (45:36):
Possible insight into these three unsolved mysteries in this case
come from an unexpected source.
Speaker 6 (45:43):
Oh my God.
Speaker 1 (45:46):
Murder in Illinois is a production of iHeartRadio. Executive producers
are Lauren bred Pacheco and Taylor Chicogyne. Written by Lauren
Brd Pacheco and Matthew Riddle, story editing by Matthew Riddle,
editing and sound designed by Evan Tire and Taylor Chaqoin.
Featuring music by Cicada Rhythm with new compositions engineered and
mixed by Evan Tyre and Taylor Chackoin.
Speaker 12 (46:25):
No Wow, Babe, Ye.
Speaker 15 (46:31):
Wall Wild.
Speaker 3 (46:34):
They By.
Speaker 1 (46:57):
For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, check out the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get the stories
that matter to you.
Murder in Illinois is a production of iHeartRadio. On September
twenty first, twenty twelve, a Will County jury consisting of
eight men and four women deliberated for less than fifty
minutes before convicting Christopher Vaughan of killing his wife and
(00:20):
three children in the family's suv in two thousand and
seven in a bid to start a new life in
the Canadian wilderness. Over the course of five weeks, jury
foreman Dan Lachet and his fellow jurors heard from nearly
ninety witnesses and saw more than seven hundred exhibits. Afterwards,
Lachet expressed his interest in writing a book on the
(00:41):
case and told press there was no doubt in the
juror's minds of Vaughn's guilt, and they never even considered
the defense argument that Vaughn's wife committed the murders. He
also referenced Vaughn's flat demeanor, saying, quote, if you watched
him throughout the trial like we did, I think you'd
come to the same conclusion as we did. In this episode,
(01:03):
we'll break down the circumstantial and forensic evidence that possibly
led to a conviction based on what could be emotional
and confirmation bias. I'm Lauren brad Pacheco, and this is
murder in Illinois. Let's start with two words. You've almost
(01:48):
heard more in this podcast than Christopher or Vaughn. Tunnel vision.
In legal terms, it's defined as a tendency fueled by
bias and pressure that leads actors in the criminal justices
to single mindedly focus on a suspect and build a
case for conviction while ignoring evidence that points away from guilt.
(02:08):
Bill Clutter believes it was in play throughout the case
against Vaughn.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
This really is a text book case of tunnel vision
and confirmatory bias. Because each fact that they would discover
and learn about Chris his secret life of going to
script clubs, Aha, you know, just reinforces you did it
because he already started with that assumption.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Clutter characterizes the combination of tunnel vision and confirmation bias
as something Vaughn referenced in their first jail house meeting,
a perfect storm.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Every time they would find a new bad fact for
Chris that you're spending thousands of dollars on script clubs.
You went to the gun range the day before. You've
got this fantasy of hiking into the Yukon and never
coming back and leaving your family. I mean, these are
all bad facts in terms of painting character. So it
(03:07):
was almost a piling on effect that every time they
would discover some fact like that, it just reinforced their
belief that he did it without really conducting the type
of objective investigation that the crime scene investigator Bob Deal
was urging them to do. Followed the evidence, followed the
CSI rather than your gut instincts.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
You've also heard Bob Deel's name a bunch. The former
Illinois State Police crime investigator played a role in both
high profile cases that unfolded in the Will County Courthouse
in twenty twelve. So even as he was trying to
raise flags in the handling of Vaughn's case, Deal was
being maligned for his handling of the Drew Peterson case. Deal,
(03:53):
along with others, had initially ruled out foul play in
the bathtub drowning of Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio. In
pursuing their case against Peterson. Prosecutors laid blame for that
ruling on the former Illinois State Police crime investigator, which
also made it easy to discredit Deal's thoughts on the
Bond case unfolding across the hall. Here's clutter.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Let me say something about Bob Deal and his defense,
because this also runs along that same argument, because when
Chris is being tried, it's simultaneous to the Drew Peterson case.
And Bob Deal wasn't the only one that assumed that
Peterson's wife drowned in this bathtub. It was also the
(04:39):
medical examiner that determines cause of death. So it's not
like they can point to one case where he got
it wrong and therefore disregard everything you say about this
other case.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
In his initial crime scene report, Bob Deal listed Kimberly
Vaughan as suspect number one and Chris Vaughn as suspect
number two. In his deposition, Deal contends his removal from
the Vaughn investigation was because his processing of the crime
scene did not dismiss the possibility that Kim Vaughn may
have in fact killed her children, shot Chris, and then
committed suicide. Because Deal's opinion was at odds with the
(05:17):
Illinois State Police and the Will County State's Attorney, Deale
believes he was removed from anything to do with the case.
In fact, he was asked to never process another crime
scene in will County. Deal felt investigators retrofitted the evidence
to fit their theory that Vaughan was standing outside the
passenger door when he shot his wife and kids, a
(05:38):
theory that Sergeant Gary Lawson came up with the day
of the tragedy. In his deposition, Deal says he told
Sergeant Lawson that based on the crime scene evidence, that
was quote friggin' impossible. Back to Bill Clutter, how did
the jury react to Deal's allegation of tunnel vision an
(06:00):
immediate bias against Vaughn, Well.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
They didn't get to hear that evidence. The judge wouldn't
allow a Deal to testify to the judge denied it.
The judge wouldn't allow him to testify about the call
he received from Ken Kopis, who was the commander of
the investigation unit of the only state police, that they
(06:24):
felt that the husband did it, and wouldn't allow Deal
to testify about his participation in the major case review
that included the entire investigative team, including the state's attorney
James Glascow, where Glascow offered his opinion that Kim was
an angel. There's no way she could have done this,
(06:46):
and Deal told him that the crime scene evidence can't
eliminate her as having done this. In fact, much of
the forensic evidence supports that she did, and they weren't
willing to listen to the objective, basically, the science based evidence.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
It struck me when I was rereading Deal's deposition that
he claims that Sergeant Gary Lawson came up with the
theory of Vaughn standing outside the passenger window with the gun,
killing Kim and then the kids the same day as
(07:28):
the murders.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
That's right, and Deal had him demonstrate his theory with
an unloaded gun, and then he went about demonstrating to
Lawson why the bullet trajectory evidence didn't support that theory.
And you know that's significant.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Looking back now. Was there an unwillingness to examine the
evidence objectively? And how does the prosecution's case against Christopher
Vaughn hold up. Let's start with Vaughn's time and money
spent its strip clubs, the first of multiple damning revelations
that would make headlines after the murders. Here again is
(08:07):
Bill Clutter.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
It's a tactic of the prosecutor. The goal is to
get the jury to hate the defendant, and there's a
lot of ways they do this. In this case, they
did it over the fact that he had visited Scores
strip club on two occasions dropped I think almost five
thousand dollars over the course of two nights. That was
(08:29):
a character assassination. And you know, there's millions of people
go to strip clubs. They don't go home and kill
their wife and kids.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
During the trial, the prosecution leaned heavily on morality, portraying
Vaughn's visits to strip clubs in the weeks before the
murders as incriminating. Was the money spent on strippers anything
more than circumstantial? And was it utilized as character assassination
to sway a jury without hard evidence. Being unfamiliar with
(08:57):
the field, I turned to an expert on the sub Chase, Kelly.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
I have been stripping for thirteen years and working.
Speaker 4 (09:07):
In strip clubs since two thousand and one.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
I am pretty well versed in.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
The strip club world.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
I also coach entertainos for a living, so I pretty
much have spoken to somebody in every club in the
country and some internationally as well.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
So from your experience in terms of working with your clients,
your regulars, what percentage of men and I know this
isn't a scientific answer, but in your opinion, what percentage
of guys who come in are married?
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Let's say it's probably around sixty five to seventy five percent.
This is a married man sport.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
While she's not involved in the Bond case, Chase is
an authority on the types of clubs he visited. Because
Vaughn had gone to strip clubs and he'd spent five grand,
they made this sleep that he wasn't a family man.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
That somebody would suggest that because somebody is going to
a strip club that they don't love their family. That's
crazy to me, crazy, and I have been working in
these clubs for twenty years.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
The prosecution and press focused on the thousands of dollars
and time Bond spent at clubs as indicative of his
level of betrayal. To quote the prosecution, he's not serious
about working on his marriage. If he was, he would
be in bed next to Kimberly. Here are Chase Kelly's thoughts.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
I think if a man wanted to cheat, he would
do it for free or cheaper. If a man wants
to sleep with somebody else, he's going to go and
do that. If you want to preserve your marriage, you
don't want to cheat.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
You go to a strip club.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
There's no cheating because there's no release, there's no physical
contact on that level. It's somebody to listen to you,
talk to you, somebody who make you laugh, a break
from your life. You know how many great husbands and
amazing fathers I've met that has spent five thousand dollars
on me with not a question.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
To be asked about a five thousand.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
Dollars is a normal amount of spending a club. Some
people might say, oh my gosh, that's crazy. That's a
crazy amount of money. But somebody spends five thousand dollars
in my club every night.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
How does that bill get wrung up?
Speaker 4 (11:24):
That's two hours, five thousand dollars, two hours in a
private room.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Again, that money wouldn't be buying what many have assumed.
Contact is not allowed.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
The lapdance is what twenty thirty forty dollars depending on
where you are, that you're just getting the boobs in
the face right when you start spending that bigger money. Generally,
what we see is that the clients become less sexual
and more pockative, comfortable, relaxed. They can melt into the
(11:56):
chair and you can ask them questions, and that's how
you keep a guy m VIP for two hours.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
So the two women that Vaughn met in clubs, a
woman named Maya and a woman named Crystal. I've had
a lot of trouble tracking them down because of the
nature of the crime, but they testified and they both
said he was an absolute gentleman and that he just
wanted to talk.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Don't see why they would have any reason to lie
about that. It's very, very common for a guy to
go into a club and just have a laugh and
leave it behind for a minute, although many people do
use clubs as therapy because of the amount of anonymity
that they are granted.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Anonymity played into the case against Vaughn with the strippers
as well as Willett. Vaughn's wilderness pen pal Chris did
not share that he was married or had children, but
that too can be viewed through a different lens. Back
to Chase, do you think that it's odd that he
told one of the women that he wasn't married and
(13:02):
he didn't have kids. No, in what sense.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
It's a fantasy world, right, So he gets to, you know,
dissociate from his wife for a little bit and get
to be somebody else. When I go into the club,
I change my name, I change my voice, I changed
my hair, I change the way that I walk, I
change the way that I smile. It's a fantasy. Some
people need it as escapism and some people need it
(13:29):
as a space of acceptance. Right, So both are valid.
Speaker 6 (13:34):
So we create a place.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
It's harmless fun. We are performers, and honestly, I think
if more wives knew how we conducted our business, they
say thank you to us instead of quilifying us so much.
Speaker 6 (13:51):
I really do agree or not.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
This does offer a perspective the places what was circumstantial
evidence in another life. Another focus of the prosecution was
the Wilderness Forum Vaughn joined. There is a specific quote
from Henry David Throw that Vaughn posted. If you are
ready to leave father and mother and brother and sister
and wife and child and friends, if you never see
them again. If you have paid your debts and made
(14:17):
your will and settled your affairs and are a freeman,
then you are ready for a walk. This was presented
as evidence Vaughn was ready for that walk but held
back by his family. In addition to the forum posts
and emails to Steve Willett, focus was placed on a
storage locker that Vaughn had rented and filled with camping equipment.
(14:39):
The locker wasn't registered to Chris's home address, but rather
a private PO box, and the alternate contact was Larry Vaughn,
not his wife. To the prosecution, this was more evidence
of murderous intent. Here's reporter Erica Wurst's recollections.
Speaker 7 (14:57):
Fantasizing that was and I described before is maniacal. He
was of set the storage unit like not in the
fact that he didn't store any of it in his
empty basement while you're clearly hiding something. That whole thing,
I mean, if you're looking for motivation. In his emails,
(15:18):
he was sending to his little homeboy talking about wanting
to leave all of his obligations and take the walk,
and he had to tie things up at home first.
And you could look at all that both ways though,
if he wants him to have the money, or it
could just be like I'm going to tie things up
at home first. You gotta look at it all.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
But if one's decided someone is a murderer, everything they
do can seem like a sinister act. That is confirmation bias.
So let's suppose just for a minute that the storage
locker full of equipment wasn't for Chris to run off
into the wilderness. Then why did he have it? I
wanted to know what Chris's parents thought. Can you guys
(16:03):
explain to me your understanding of why Chris had that
storage facility?
Speaker 8 (16:10):
We are going to try to go to Canada, Pierre
and I and Chris and his family, and he was
starting to accumulate the stuff the family and he was
going to need, and we were starting to talk about it,
and we weren't going to do it until the following August,
(16:34):
sometime after between when the black flies start and cold
weather in.
Speaker 6 (16:40):
We hadn't really.
Speaker 9 (16:41):
Penpointed it, but he figured he'd just start getting things
together so that.
Speaker 8 (16:47):
When we said, okay, this is what we're going to do,
he would have it.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Okay, did he have that storage facility before they moved
into the house. Is it something they had when they
were in the apartment.
Speaker 9 (17:00):
I don't know when he got it, actually, but he
did tell us that he was starting to put stuff
in the storage facility units so that I would get
mixed in with the basement full of stuff.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
There's a photo of Vaughn wearing a cowboy hat standing
outside that storage facility. There's snow on the ground, and
it's not a selfie. He appears to be holding his
cell phone and or his BlackBerry in his hand.
Speaker 10 (17:25):
And we don't even know where this picture came from.
Speaker 8 (17:27):
Somebody had taken but.
Speaker 10 (17:29):
We don't know who.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
They didn't know who Larry Vaughn was either. When I
emailed Chris for clarification about the storage facility, he referenced
that picture without prompting quote. The storage facility was rented
after we moved into the house. We did have extra
storage space in the apartment, but that was moved into
the basement at the house. The plan was to sort
(17:51):
through the basement, get rid of stuff, and place the
remainder in the new facility, which was smaller. Needless to say,
it was a task that was easy to put off
to next month, so I had not gotten around to it.
Kim had been at the facility with me. There's a
picture on the website she'd taken of me in front
of the Orange Doors. Unquote, Vaughan explained the po box
(18:13):
belonged to the company he'd started in Washington Stonebridge because
he thought he could write it off as a business expense,
and that Larry was a name he made up on
the spot when the worker at the facility insisted he
provide an alternate contact, not living in the same residence.
If all that's true, the storage facility wasn't a secret stockpile,
(18:34):
but a mixture of things from previous and future camping trips.
Keep in mind, Chris definitely came from a family with
an unusual passion for extreme outdoor activities. Here's Pierre.
Speaker 11 (18:45):
That's one thing Chris wanted to do is show his kids,
you know, how well they have it by taking him
out in the wilderness and having them experience the wilderness
life versus everything served to you, my inconveniency, a lot
of modern conveniences.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
They made a big deal of the storage unit in
the trial. Did the defense ever explain it the way
you guys just explained it to me?
Speaker 11 (19:15):
No, there was all one side of the defense never
defended it at all.
Speaker 10 (19:20):
As far as I could.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Recollect, I have obtained both the pobox contract and the
receipt from the storage facility. The Oswego PO box is
in fact clearly attributed to Stonebridge and was used for
mail forwarded from Bond's Washington consulting firm. In addition, it
was specified to receive items addressed to both Christopher and
(19:44):
Kemberley vonn and the contract is dated December twenty ninth,
two thousand and five, coinciding with the family's move to Illinois.
The storage facility receipt is marked with the address of
that PEO box in our emails. Here's how Chris characterized
(20:06):
his communication with Willett and the Wilderness website quote, Hiking
and camping was a hobby I truly enjoyed. In Washington,
the kids and I spent a lot of time hiking
the nearby trails. We loved our outdoor adventures. I had
hiking trail books for western Washington. The kids and I
spent nearly as much time selecting and planning trips together
as we actually did.
Speaker 6 (20:26):
Hiking.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Camping in Washington was regulated to the backyard, but we
spent a lot of time in the tent or the
treehouse we built out back. Kim occasionally came hiking, but
never joined us camping in Illinois. The kids were more
occupied with school and their own activities, so hadn't got
back to hiking yet. Plus it was Illinois. I continued
to take time here and there to get outside, still
(20:47):
very much interested. My trips grew in scope, but I
was never serious about wilderness survival. That was online boasting
among other enthusiasts. I liked I could take a trip
to the woods and then return to my comfortable life
with modern conveniences. If Vaughn's desire was to escape those
modern conveniences and his marriage, he also seemed to be
(21:08):
making contradictory efforts to salvage it. During Vaughn's initial interrogation,
he was asked multiple questions about his relationship with Kim
Chris never spoke disparagingly about her, and in fact spoke
actively about their future plans. He also mentioned attempts to
reconcile things with his wife. You've heard this exchange during
(21:29):
the police questioning before, but it bears repeating.
Speaker 5 (21:33):
Let's take there on a honeymoon this weekend. We're going
to go back to Herman where we had our first honeymoon.
Two things all over again.
Speaker 12 (21:44):
Who's going to launch kids.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
My mom and her sister heaven out on Friday, So yeah,
they're coming to the house to watch the kids for
the weekend. Believe Kim and I, it was a surprise.
I didn't want her to have to worry about any
details or anything like that. So I set up and
(22:09):
I told her parents. I told my parents to kind
of coordinate the details.
Speaker 13 (22:13):
But uh, I was gonna take her cause.
Speaker 12 (22:16):
So your mom and your sister, No, my mom and
my aunt her sister. Yeah, we're gonna come up Friday.
When were they supposed to show up around dune or
so maybe something? And and Kim had no idea they
were coming.
Speaker 5 (22:32):
I was gonna tell her later today.
Speaker 12 (22:36):
What if she would have said, I going ain't gonna happen.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
I don't know why she would have said that, Like
this is it was gonna be good.
Speaker 12 (22:49):
Do you think one the weekend of sex with your
wife is gonna make her forget that you've been having
sex with all these other women?
Speaker 5 (23:00):
You think it wasn't all these other world cup it's
just one time of Mexico and it was a start.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Well, we do know Vaughn did make those herman reservation
and plans. Kim apparently had found out about something because
she had put in for time off from her pool job.
That was used against Vaughn, but others knew and could
have tipped her off as to the surprise. The marriage
and the last minute nature of the water park trip
also came up in Vaughn's initial questioning over the.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
Last couple of months, I've been trying to work to
make things better than that was what the honeymoon was
all about. And you know, I'd looked into Emmy. She'd
mentioned spend more time with kids. Were off for summer break,
and I thought, well, we're gone on Friday, We're not
going to be back until Sunday, and the next weekend
(23:49):
her parents are coming up, and then a couple of
weeks after that, the kids are going to be in
Saint Louis for.
Speaker 12 (23:54):
A couple of weeks.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
So we didn't we don't have any like the five
less family time. So I said, fine, you know, let's let's.
Speaker 12 (24:00):
Go to a water park.
Speaker 5 (24:02):
And you know, one of the things that had come
up is one of the water parks that we passed
in Springfield when we met her parents there, and you know,
and I said, Dad, and She's like.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Fine, you know, want's do that, but we're last minute
trips unusual for Vaughn and his family. I asked a
former neighbor from Illinois named Barbara. Did the family do
strange things like take last minute trips when you knew
them in the apartment.
Speaker 6 (24:37):
Yeah, they took trips quite a bit because they had
this it was like a luggage wreck on the top
of their car, and they would take it off and
put it back on. Yeah, they would go to water
parks and on different trips.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Yeah, it was kind of flagged as you know, this
last minute trip. But then speaking to to other family members,
they did quirky trips all the time. Last minute.
Speaker 6 (25:06):
Yeah they were. That's not the first trip that I've
seen them go on. They've gone on quite a few
because I remember because of the longa trip. So no,
that wouldn't have been like, you know, just one trip
that they chose that was last minute. They went often
to you know, different places.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
In addition to being an aunt of Alexa, the friend
of Abigail we met in a previous episode, Barbara was
close to Kim and offers insight into her personality and mothering.
Speaker 6 (25:39):
I felt she was pretty adjusted and then I ended
up finding out she was in school online getting her
criminal justice degree, and she had a lot, a lot
of irons in the fire with her kids, which she
always put her kids first everything. She would be in
the classroom, going to drop them off, going to pick
(26:01):
them up, just always there for them. Whatever activities they
were involved in, she was there.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
So she seemed like super mom.
Speaker 6 (26:10):
Yes, I called her the mother of all mothers. And
the reason why I called her that is because Kim
never raised her voice. She was always so calm, and
I started asking her questions like you don't ever get
angry and raise your voice, because I've never seen a
raise your voice at her kids. And it just shocked
(26:32):
me because at some point some mom says, don't do
that or what are you doing? But Kim was always
just calm with her voice, and she always told her
kids use your words all the time. I heard that
from her. Her husband was out of town a lot.
I met him once, but I spent, you know, some
(26:56):
time with Kim and the kids.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
I know that you only met him once, But do
you remember any impressions of Chris.
Speaker 6 (27:03):
Yes, Chris was a really nice guy. He was very kind,
But I don't know why the hairs on my neck
stood up when I met him. I can't even explain it.
I can't. He was a nice guy. He wasn't rude
or mean or anything like that. But I don't know
(27:24):
what I was sensing. And I just said hello and
I left.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
And this is how many people who knew Kim felt
that Chris was quiet, sort of offbeat, and that Kim
was just a vibrant, wonderful mother. All these years later,
Barbara remains upset and confused as to what actually happened
that day.
Speaker 6 (27:45):
It was unbelievable. I cried so hard. I given one.
I think about it now, it makes me sad. Oh,
they were such good kids. Kim was such a good mother,
you know, lady was the mother of all mothers. She
was so good to her kids. What in the world happened?
(28:09):
What happened? And I'm like, whatever they were saying on
the news was not making sense. When the stories came
out that Chris said that she shot the kids and
then shot him, and I'm like, no, no, no, no, Kim,
(28:30):
the Kim I know would never do that. Kim, the
Kim I know would have put her body on her
kids and covered her kids up. So in my.
Speaker 14 (28:41):
Mind, I thought he would have had to shoot her first,
because she would have She would have protected her kids
like she was a mama bear. She was the mother
of all mothers. Kim would have laid her body over
those kids, I'm telling you right now, Oh God, she
(29:03):
would have covered them, canceled. She would have thought with
all she had.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
We'll revisit this later, But there was absolutely no sign
of struggle. Kim did not have defensive wounds, bruises, pulled hair,
nothing that suggests she was held in place while a
shot was placed with precision, just slightly away from the
soft area under her chin. And when her nails were scraped,
they did not contain Christopher Vaughn's DNA. You mentioned that
(29:32):
she had migraines. Can you just elaborate a little bit
upon that. How did you know and how much did
they impact her?
Speaker 6 (29:43):
All I know is that she suffered from them quite
a bit. She would have headaches, and she talked about
him sometime. She was involved with so much. But I
know that she had them, and that she still was
in school when the kids were gone online. She still
(30:06):
worked in their classroom quite a bit.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Did she ever talk to you about the medication she
was taking for her migraines and her anxiety.
Speaker 6 (30:15):
No, we never talked about that.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
But Kim did discuss issues associated with those medications with others.
Here's Bill Clutter in.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
Her own words on May twenty fourth of two thousand
and seven, and this is three weeks before this tragedy happened.
There was an email she had written to Chris after
she had visited an osteopath, and she reported to the
osteopath that she was taking these migraine prescriptions and that
(30:51):
she was feeling anxiety. A high anxiety was the notation
in the medical records, and in her own words she says,
I told him that you had noticed and I had
noticed a big personality change and an anxiety change, and
that I was feeling lethargic, tired all the time. And
(31:12):
of course, when you look at the medication guide that
came out a year later, when the FDA was wanting
to place a black box warning on Topomax warning suicidal
behavior and ideation anti epileptic drugs, including Topomax, increase the
(31:32):
risk of suicidal thoughts or behavior and patients taking these
drugs for any indications. And it goes on to say,
patients treated with anti epileptic drugs for any indication should
be monitored for the emergence of worsening of depression, suicidal
thoughts or behavior, and or any unusual changes in mood
(31:58):
or behavior. It described feeling agitated or restless, panic attacks,
trouble sleeping, new or worse, irritability, acting aggressive, being angry
or violent, acting on dangerous impulses, an extreme increase in anxiety,
and talking mania.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
So her change in personality and her anxiety would have
gone hand in hand with an adverse reaction.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Two days after the tragedy, police spoke with a sixth
grade locker buddy of Abigail Vaughan about an interaction he
had with his visibly upset friend on June seventh, a
week before the murders. His name is Jacob. He's now
in his twenties. Tell me about the conversation you two
had on the last day of school in two thousand
(32:46):
and seven and why that stuck out to you.
Speaker 10 (32:50):
It stuck out to me because she was really upset.
She said that her mom was acting crazy, and that
was basically the gist of that. It was one of
the first things that popped up in my head when
I first heard about the murders.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
What he told police, according to their report two days
after the tragedy, was that Abigail Vaughn said her mother
was quote hearing thoughts in her head unquote end quote.
Psycho Bill Clutter also spoke with him in two thousand
and nine.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Well, I spoke to both of Jacob's parents before talking
to him because he was a minor, and they explained
that Jacob had related this to them, and they felt
it was important for the state police to know this,
and that resulted in Jacob's.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Interview because they believed that his story about the mother's
mental state might bear significance on the murders. Right, according
to your notes, what did Abby tell Jacob.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
That her mother was hearing thoughts in her head. She
would be talking to herself and nobody was there. And
then she mentioned that her mother was sleep talking. And
all of this paints a picture of some sort of
mental instability that's happening with Kimberly Vaughn.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
During the trial, forensic pathologist doctor Larry Bloom testified that
at the time of her death, Kimberly Vaughn was taking
two medications known to cause increased risk of suicidal thoughts
and side effects including confusion or agitation. If Kim was
in fact struggling with difficulties with the medication she was taking,
(34:55):
or exhibiting anomalies in her behavior behind the scenes that
strained their relationship to some degree, Chris's behavior after the
tragedy in many ways could have been seen as a
normal response. According to neuroscientists and professor of human behavior
doctor James Fallen Right.
Speaker 13 (35:14):
It's like I was my fault because I didn't understand
him enough or her enough, and so they'll start blaming themselves.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Let's also address Bond's personality. He came across to some
acquaintances in the initial questioning the press and the courtroom
as odd. He's unusually intelligent, as his former salary and
profession would imply, but given his interest in druidism, writing
poems in Celtic, and role playing on wilderness sites, he's
(35:43):
also quirky. Did that add to his perception of guilt.
Here's doctor Fallon's take.
Speaker 13 (35:49):
This reminds me a bit of somebody who is an
introvert and maybe not open. You know. It brings you
back to Ta kill a Mockingbird with bou Radley, who
was a little excent. I don't know if Christopher phones
eccentric at all, but it's just been reading it. I said,
here's an easy mark, introvert who just wants to go
off the grid, like I think anybody would want to
(36:11):
do it, considering everything, and they put in their things
about it. But when I went to a strip club
and he had an affair, if this is the sort
of evidence you need, I wonder how many das are
going to pass that test, or sheriffs or anybody. And
so it seemed completely made out of less than whole club.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
When Vaughn was convicted, here's how the will County State's attorney,
James Glasgow referred to him.
Speaker 13 (36:38):
He's a heartless, soulless psychopath without any compassion, without any
empathy for other human beings.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
Doctor Fallon is an expert on these terms which require evaluation.
Speaker 13 (36:51):
I didn't see any good psychiatric analyzes in these reports.
How did he know this or how he because he
doesn't seem like it right at all. For some reason,
it was demonizing it. Were there people involved in the
case for who were doing things for political reasons? I
mean because it's when you read this whole thing says
somebody's getting bamboozle.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
Now, let's address emotional bias in keeping with such a brutal,
unfathomable tragedy. And the crime scene photos shown as evidence
during the trial. You've heard the impact they had on many,
including Jojosey and Erica Wurst, reporters who covered the trial.
Speaker 6 (37:27):
I don't think I saw the crime scene photos until
the trial. They were heartbreaking. They were horrible. They were horrible.
Speaker 15 (37:35):
You have little babies with bullet wounds that were zooming
up on and seeing and Kim with her hand like
flouched down by the center council kind of and she's
got her wedding ring on. That's one that's like seared
into my head just because it's so sad.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
Bill Clutter points out something that may seem obvious but
needs to be taken into account.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
There are evidence in the sense that it describes the
crime scene, but it's not evidence that resolves the issue
of who did it. And unfortunately, in this case, the
prosecution had a big screen to display the crime scene photos,
and more than anything else, it was the emotional impact
(38:20):
of those photos. I think that really swayed the jury.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Was Chris vond convicted on character assassination and circumstantial evidence.
Let's take a step back from emotion, a step back
from Chris or Kim, and let's look solely at evidence.
The crime scene evidence remains problematic for both the prosecution
and the defense because it doesn't align with either of
(38:45):
their versions. Let's start with the blood evidence.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
There's no physical evidence that supports the state's theory that
Chris reached around his wife after shooting her to shoot
the kids. There was no transfer of her blood on
the front of his body. He would have had to
lean over her body to make those shots. I mean,
she's bleeding profusely and her blood is falling and it's
(39:11):
pooling on the center council and then it's splashing up
onto the back of his driver's seat. Well, there's no evidence,
you know, for him to have done with the state alleges,
he would have had to have reached around her through
that zone of blood spatter. But there was no blood
of Kims that was on his right arm or right
(39:35):
sleeve or left sleeve. And Vaughn was right handed and
Vonn was right hand.
Speaker 1 (39:41):
Okay, Now, is it important that According to Bob Deal,
there was blood on Kimberly's arm that was never tested.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
Well, it's important, particularly the blood on her left and
right hands.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
Clutter contends that if Kim held the gun under her
chin and used her left thumb to pull the trigger
her right hand to steady the weapon, that this pattern
of blood could be consistent with suicide.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
If she was holding the gun as soon as the
bullet was fired, her blood would have been dripping down.
There's patterns of passive drops of blood on her left hand,
but that was never tested. But if that was her blood,
that would be strong evidence that she held the gun
(40:27):
and was bleeding onto the hands after the gun was fired.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
We've already really addressed the terry cloth. What would that
have possibly shown had that not been disposed.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
Of passive bloods gains? If those had been Kim's blood,
you know, that's again consistent with her having self inflicted
and bleeding onto the terry cloth as she was slumping
to the left. And so if we were able to
identify that pattern of passive drops of blood were her blood,
(41:04):
that would be very strong evidence that she self inflicted
that wound. The wound under Kim's chin that's completely consistent
with a self inflicted gunshot wound. The muzzle of the
gun wasn't firmly against the chin. It was raised up
to the chin, and there was enough of a gap
(41:27):
that allowed the gas that was ejected from the barrel
of the gun to darken and blacken her chin. And
that's completely contrary to the initial belief of the state's
attorney that the gun had been jammed under her chin.
For Christopher Vaughan to have staged this to make it
(41:47):
look like Kim self inflicted her own wound, he would
have one had to have enlisted her cooperation to stand
still while he placed the muzzle of the gun under
her chin. There was no evidence that he had held
her hair and she was trying to pull away. None
of that type of evidence that would suggest that there
(42:07):
was a violent, forceful struggle to put the barrel of
the gun under her chin.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
There's also physical size to take into account of both
the bond and the large suv.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
It was Sergeant Lawson's opinion that he had reached through
the passenger window. He had to assumed that it was opened,
because when they arrived at the scene it was rolled up,
but Lawson's theory was that Chris had reached in through
the window and killed Kim and killed the kids. Well,
(42:39):
he would have to have awfully long arms to have
reached all the way to the left side of the
passenger seat to make those shots that killed the children.
And you know, he's only five to nine. He's just physically,
as Bob Diale said it, that's an impossibility.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
Well, Vaughn's blood was found on his wife's retractor belt
and droplets by her feet. There is no evidence that
shows Vaughn ever stood outside that passenger door or evidence
he walked back around the vehicle to the driver side,
where a bullet was lodged with his DNA.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
The shot that penetrated his left leg. The barrel of
the gun had been thrust into the jacket, and according
to the ballistics, the shot was within less than six
inches from the leg when it was fired, so the
trajectory from the jacket pocket to the left leg would
(43:36):
pass just millimeters above the growing area When it penetrated
the top of the left leg right at the hip.
It just narrowly missed the femeral ar of the leg,
which could have been potentially fatal had that bullet been
lower and he had been shot in the growing, I
don't think he would have been charged, yeah, or alive
(43:58):
or alive.
Speaker 1 (44:00):
Clutter remains bothered by the criminal mastermind charge.
Speaker 2 (44:04):
Where's the evidence of that? We have to have evidence,
you know, they have to have some evidence that he
staged this crime scene, and there is not there just
simply isn't. There's strong reasonable doubt that he did this.
The forensic evidence suggests that this was a murder suicide.
The state concedes it appears to be a murder suicide.
(44:27):
But the caveat is they argue that he staged the
crime scene to make it look like it was. You
have to prove that. That's the concept of proof beyond
a reasonable doubt, and they didn't meet that test. Twelve
jurors were influenced by the emotional appeal of the crime
(44:49):
scene photos, the dead children, the strip clubs, the character assassination,
and that's why he's in prison today.
Speaker 1 (45:00):
But there are three major questions that have yet to
be answered on the next murder in Illinois. How did
(45:24):
Christopher Vaughan's blood get on the retracted safety belt, droplets
of his blood on the passenger side, and Kim's blood
on the back of his jacket.
Speaker 9 (45:33):
It is a manager revelation.
Speaker 1 (45:36):
Possible insight into these three unsolved mysteries in this case
come from an unexpected source.
Speaker 6 (45:43):
Oh my God.
Speaker 1 (45:46):
Murder in Illinois is a production of iHeartRadio. Executive producers
are Lauren bred Pacheco and Taylor Chicogyne. Written by Lauren
Brd Pacheco and Matthew Riddle, story editing by Matthew Riddle,
editing and sound designed by Evan Tire and Taylor Chaqoin.
Featuring music by Cicada Rhythm with new compositions engineered and
mixed by Evan Tyre and Taylor Chackoin.
Speaker 12 (46:25):
No Wow, Babe, Ye.
Speaker 15 (46:31):
Wall Wild.
Speaker 3 (46:34):
They By.
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