Illinois man charged for killing wife and kids

 Posted on November 25, 2012 in Criminal Defense

Kimberly Vaughn and her three children were fatally shot by her husband and their father and was recently convicted to life in prison.

Since the murders in 2007, Kimberly’s family had not seen Christopher Vaughn, until they publicly confronted him, crying and telling him what he had taken from them. Her mother asked why he could not have simply just left them and started his life over and it was shared that her father struggles to play with his other grandchildren.

After the both parents and Kimberly’s twin sister, Susan Ledbetter, shared what they had to say, The Will County judge sentenced Christopher Vaughn to four consecutive life prison sentences.

Throughout the entire process, Christopher Vaughn sat silently, displaying a lack of emotion that had become his only facial expression since the time the crime was discovered by police and through the 5-and-a-half week trial.

Investigators reported that Vaughn woke his family up on the morning of June 14, 2007, claiming he has a surprise trip to a water park planned. After piling into the family’s SUV in their home in Joliet, they pulled over after being on the road for only a short time. He first shot his wife, then each child twice: 8-year-old Blake, 11-year-old Cassandra, and 12-year-old Abigail, still while buckled into the back seat. He then shot himself in the leg and wrist, in an attempt to blame his wife for the shootings.

Susan Philips said as soon as she saw the SUV with the sticker from a Wisconsin state park on the news; she knew her daughter and grandchildren were dead. She made it clear that, had Christopher Vaughn left his family, Kimberly would have made a good life for her children. She said the murders were the acts of a “coward.”

Kimberly’s father said, “He is, in effect, in a death penalty now. It’s just a question of degree,” when answering how the family felt about the death penalty being abolished in Illinois.

If you or your family member has been the victim of a crime, even something more minor that the Vaughn case, contact a criminal lawyer for help. Kathryn L. Harry & Associates, P.C. in DuPage County, IL can help to protect your family and get the law on your side.