Oswego father’s murder trial opens
Prosecutors in the trial of an Oswego man accused of killing his wife and three children began their case Monday displaying graphic photos of the scene of the shootings.
With the photos in clear view of the eight men and four women on the jury, Channahon police Sgt. Steve Weiss described finding the Vaughn family SUV on June 14, 2007, with the bodies of Kimberly Vaughn and the children inside.
Christopher Vaughn is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths. Will County authorities allege the Oswego man pulled the SUV onto a frontage road off Interstate 55 near Channahon and shot his wife and children.
The 37-year-old Vaughn was arrested hours before a memorial service for his wife and children — Abigayle, 12, Cassandra, 11, and Blake, 8.
Weiss said he first saw Vaughn near the SUV and asked him what happened. He said the man told him that he didn’t know.
Jurors were mostly expressionless as images of the victims were shown.
Defense attorney George Lenard objected several times, saying the photos were on display too long. The defense also objected when prosecutors tried to show four photos of Kimberly Vaughn and the children alive and happy, but Judge Daniel Rozak allowed it.
Channahon paramedic Ryan Jandura testified that Abigayle Vaughn was found holding a stuffed animal and a Harry Potter book.
Vaughn showed little emotion during opening statements and testimony from the first few witnesses.
In her opening statement, Assistant State’s Attorney Debbie Mills told jurors Vaughn spent time at a shooting range the night before the slayings firing the gun used to shoot his family.
Mills said Vaughn killed his wife and children because he wanted to move to Northern Canada and be isolated from people.
“He intended to move to Canada, permanently, and soon,” she said.
A month before the killings, Vaughn took a “scouting trip” to Canada under the guise of taking a business trip, Mills said.
“He needed an exit scenario,” so he killed his family, she said. “This wasn’t just some fantasy for Christopher Vaughn. He had started to plan.”
Vaughn’s defense attorney, George Leonard, told jurors Kimberly Vaughn killed her children and herself.
Leonard described Kimberly Vaughn as “happy on the outside but troubled on the inside.” He also told jurors that medication she was taking for migraines, high blood pressure and anxiety could have put her at risk for suicidal behavior.
According to Leonard, she sent an email to doctors 20 days before the shootings voicing concern that she noticed a big personality change in herself.
The attorney said Christopher Vaughn was just “venting” when he expressed online his desire to escape Illinois.