WEBVTT - 5. The Arrest 0:00:00.960 --> 0:00:09.600 Murder in Illinois is a production of iHeartRadio. When the 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:13.240 bodies of the three Vaughn children and their mother were discovered, 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:17.480 the crime scene was so traumatizing that a police chaplain 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:21.120 was brought to the location to provide counseling for first responders. 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:26.759 All their emotions, their horror, heartbreak, and anger would have 0:00:26.760 --> 0:00:31.760 been intertwined with the need for an explanation and for justice. 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:35.120 As the lone survivor, Christopher Vaughn appears to have been 0:00:35.159 --> 0:00:39.080 eyed almost immediately as the prime suspect, and, according to 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:42.680 his mother Gail, in many ways after the tragedy, his 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:46.080 behavior and personality further implicated him. 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:50.560 Chris prided himself with in not showing a lot of emotions. 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:55.520 Even growing up. He tried to be very stuck, and 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:58.480 he would take everything in stride and he would smile, 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:01.440 you know, all and stuff, but he tried not to 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:05.440 show motion. I'm not sure where that came from, but 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:09.880 because as a child he was just happy and happy, 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:13.000 go lucky and smart alec and I'm a little boy. 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:17.680 But then after he got married, he decided he just didn't. 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:18.840 Want to show emotion anymore. 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:22.240 And you knew by his eyes a twinkle or the 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:28.080 crease or you know what. He was happy, sad or angry, 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:31.600 which he didn't really get angry that often, but he 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:35.440 did get angry. The evening before the funeral was supposed 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:37.200 to take place. 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:41.520 We had gathered on our back deck. Our other son 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:44.479 had a one son that was a toddler. I don't 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:46.119 even think he made it. He was a year old. 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:48.720 But he was walking around like. 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:51.320 A little bumblebee with his arms out and you. 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:52.600 Know, doing that stumbley thing. 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:55.240 And whenever Chris saw him. 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:56.840 Tears would come down his face. 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:00.560 He was really quiet around the case. As he'd sit 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:03.920 down and let him crawl over him or walk over him, 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:09.880 and he just cried. But the jinny went to the 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:10.639 fielder Roland. 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:11.519 That was it. 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:14.160 So did they let him bury his family? 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:15.799 No? 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:21.760 I'm Lauren Brat Pacheco, and this is murder in Illinois. 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:34.799 Crying out, okay, few the ground hold hold? 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:36.240 How you? 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:01.760 The Vaughan family was shot early morning of June fourteenth, 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:05.040 two thousand and seven. Chris was taken to the hospital 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:08.600 and interrogated for a period of the three days. Following 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:11.760 the deaths of his wife and children, Their bodies were 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:16.080 transported to Missouri for the funeral planned for Saturday, June 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:20.320 twenty third, as both sides of the grieving family prepared 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:23.639 to bury Kimberly and her three children. It was against 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:28.400 the backdrop of relentless media coverage that painted Christopher Vaughan 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:30.560 in an increasingly negative light. 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:34.320 Witnesses described Vaughan's family as happy and normal in the 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:37.280 days leading up to their deaths. Their bodies were found 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:40.200 in the family vehicle parked near I fifty five on 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:43.840 a narrow path near a cell phone tower. Vaughn's father 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:46.120 in law said he was troubled over how he left 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:48.880 for work one morning, stone faced and didn't say a 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:51.680 word to anyone. His sister in law said he talked 0:03:51.680 --> 0:03:54.520 to Kimberly Vaughan at least twice before her death, and 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:55.520 she seemed fine. 0:03:57.000 --> 0:03:58.440 Here's Chris's brother. 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:01.840 Eric, Well, I mean, it was portrayed that way on 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:06.080 the news, and it was like on every channel, both 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:10.640 local and up in Chicago area. You could find multiple 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:13.480 stations broadcasting their opinions on it. 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:18.320 So you felt like you watched your brother become a 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:22.719 suspect in the media long before he was formally charged. 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:29.440 Oh, most definitely, most definitely yeah, it's breaking news and 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:32.920 everything like that. But you know, within hours they had 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:41.600 released names, photos and everything that normally doesn't happen within hours. 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:45.560 It's usually half a day or a day stuff is 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:49.960 released to the press. It was almost like they were 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:52.880 released it before they really even did a lot of 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:58.000 stuff testing and forensics and stuff like that. 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:02.480 In the days following the tr tragedy, Christopher seemed somewhat 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:06.680 unresponsive to his family, though his actions were more in 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:09.840 keeping with those of a grieving father than a murderer, 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:11.720 even a remorseful one. 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:15.440 When I first saw him once he got back to 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:18.400 my parents' house, I definitely gave him a big hug, 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:21.240 a lot longer than I would normally give him a hug. 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:25.440 I mean, he looked just lost. This to look in 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:29.960 his eyes, he was shocked. I guess it's still in shock. 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:34.440 We talked a little bit, but nothing. We really didn't 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:37.719 talk about what was happening. We talked and chit chatted 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:42.479 about stuff, nothing related to what's happening with him for 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:43.279 the most part. 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:47.440 Did you ever talk to him about what happened that day? 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:51.040 Did you ever try to get answers from him? 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:52.760 Now? 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:58.720 I didn't ask any direct questions, and I really wasn't 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:02.839 sure if it was too soon to ask what happened? 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:06.960 According to him, what happened. If I would have known 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:09.520 a couple of days later he would be in jail, 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:14.520 I would have probably asked some questions, but I didn't. 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:19.000 What was he like? Emotionally and mentally had. 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:25.279 Head down a lot, just kind of that blazed, stunned look. 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:27.880 If you asked him a question or asked him if 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:31.000 you need anything, I mean he'd answer you and kind 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:36.120 of a very low enthusiasm is a kind of I'm okay, no, 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:40.800 I don't need anything. He definitely didn't have the sarcasm 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:44.479 like my family is is good for. I saw more 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:48.360 emotion in his body movement and the way he held 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:53.400 himself and walked, and the way he was I'd never 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:56.280 seen anything like that, you know, from Chris. I would 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:59.640 have been thinking of through my head trying to replay 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:04.440 every thing to figure out what happened. Yeah, I'm sure 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:07.040 there's some type of pain from being shot to the 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:12.280 leg or whatever he was tobbling around. Yeah. I would 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:15.200 have personally been more concerned with, Okay, what's going to 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:17.360 happen next? What do I need to do. What can 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:20.760 I do? I would have them clue. 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:24.400 In the days leading up to the funeral of Kim 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:28.680 and his children, the police focus on Chris intensified. It 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:31.760 was becoming clear to him and to his family that 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:35.720 he was the primary, if not only, suspect, in their murders. 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:37.440 Here's Gail Vaughan. 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:43.640 When Chris was still with us and the Illinois State 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:48.480 Police asked us to come back over for another interview 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:54.240 with Pierre and Chris separately. Chris had a bad feeling 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:56.920 about it, he says, Mom. They shouldn't be interviewing me 0:07:57.080 --> 0:08:00.920 over and over about the same thing. Already told them 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:07.080 all I know and what I know, and it just 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:14.520 we were getting different information feedbacks. We were reading what 0:08:14.640 --> 0:08:17.920 was happening in the paper against us, but we were 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:22.040 told not to make any comments. We did have reporters 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:26.440 come to our door and leave cards to get an interview, 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:28.680 and we were told not to talk to any of them. 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:33.320 The Vaughan family's decision to grieve privately and to avoid 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:36.319 the press seems to have fueled the impression that they 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:40.600 were either aloof or elusive. Christopher's family now has the 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:44.199 benefit of hindsight. I wondered what they would have done 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:48.280 differently if they'd have remained as quiet in the public eye. 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:49.440 Here's Gale. 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:54.280 I would definitely not fly under the radar. We were 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:58.280 told not to talk to any press by our lawyers. 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:04.120 We were not to talk about this to anybody about 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:08.280 our case or our feelings anything. We were not to 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:09.960 say anything to anybody. 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:12.880 I think we should have. 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:15.920 Just gone right out there and just started telling everybody 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:18.520 that this was not true. It was just not right. 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:21.040 Here's Adam, Chris's brother. 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:25.120 You read about these types of tragedies in the news, 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:28.960 you see them in the news, but you never you 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:33.080 never expected to actually happen to someone you know, let 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:38.960 alone your family. But it was a very surreal situation, 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:44.000 and I can remember wondering why the police kept bringing 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:48.480 Chris back into questioning. From the little bits and pieces 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:52.080 that I heard between my parents and Chris, they weren't 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:56.280 very consoling for an individual who had just lost his family. 0:09:57.040 --> 0:10:01.000 The feel right from the beginning was that the police 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:05.240 were trying to wring anything out of him. But they 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:08.360 released him, and he came home to my parents' house 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:12.200 and we were able to set up the funeral. 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:17.160 Adam remembers watching his eldest brother begin to slowly unravel 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:18.960 in the days leading up to the service. 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:20.320 He was hurting. 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:23.080 I mean, that was very. 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:24.760 Evident in his demeanor. 0:10:25.120 --> 0:10:28.760 Wee bon mails are not overly demonstrative, but I absolutely 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:33.240 saw him crying. I saw him trying to hold it 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:40.559 together around people, but you could just see pain emanating 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:45.319 from him. I mean, just the emotional pain and trauma 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:50.079 is beyond what I could imagine. And then on top 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:53.680 of that, he had physical pain. He had gunshot wounds 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:55.560 that he was attempting. 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:57.520 To heal from as well. 0:10:57.800 --> 0:11:00.600 Arrangements for the service and burial had to be made 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:05.040 in tandem with Kimberly's family. Needless to say, they likely 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:08.280 had a different perspective on things than the Vaughns. What 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:12.160 the Vonns didn't know is just how involved law enforcement 0:11:12.200 --> 0:11:16.800 had become in the background, and because of the existing dynamic, 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:21.000 there was already strained communication between the two families. 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:26.240 When we went to make the arrangements for the funeral, 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:30.840 we had the Phillips there and I think their daughter Jinny, 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:36.040 and really the first out of Susan's mouth was, where's 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:37.080 Kimberly's jewelry? 0:11:37.240 --> 0:11:38.079 I want it. 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:42.240 Somehow, Chris had anticipated she was going to want that, 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:46.240 so he had put together a jewelry box full of 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:50.160 everything he had purchased for Kimberly and gave it to her. 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:53.400 And she stilled it out on the table at that 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:56.360 point and went through it and says, well, where's her 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:59.880 wedding ring, where's this? Where's that? I want it all? 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:02.520 And we just shrugged our shoulders because we weren't sure. 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:05.440 I told Chris it was his, that he should have 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:08.440 kept it, but he said, no, Susan would want it 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:11.880 or make his life terrible, so he just gave it 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:17.720 to her and then we went ahead with the funeral arrangements. 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:21.080 But during the funeral arrangements there was a lot of tension, 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:27.280 I mean because missus Phillips Susan, I mean, she wanted 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:28.839 to direct everything and have it. 0:12:28.800 --> 0:12:32.840 Her way, and it pretty much turned out to it 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:35.360 pretty much turned out to be because they had to 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:39.360 buy the grave sites and everything like that, and Chris 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:41.800 said that he would like to have a grave site 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:42.520 there too. 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:44.960 And at first she was not going to let them 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:46.720 let him have a grave site there. 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:47.679 Susan. 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:50.880 Finally she admitted that she would let him have a 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:55.200 grave site there. Oh, and they wanted to keys the 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:58.840 house too, because they had already assumed that they were 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:01.760 going to get the house and everything with it. 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:02.840 Yeah. 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:06.960 I mean, it was not a good scenario being in 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:11.959 the same room with those people. But Chris handled it 0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:16.040 pretty good. And when I started to get a little upset, 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:20.480 he put his hand on my arm and just sort 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:23.160 of patted it and said, no, let it be, it's 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:23.880 not worth it. 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:29.559 This is how the Vaughns remember these interactions. The Phillips 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:34.559 family has declined our multiple requests for comment. Given this situation, 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:38.720 it's hard to fault anyone's reactions or actions during such 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:42.720 a tumultuous time, though the Phillips likely saw Chris as 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:46.319 the person who'd taken away their daughter and grandchildren. Not 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:49.959 only were they dealing with grief, but also intense anger. 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:54.319 But Chris, on the other hand, murderer or not, whether 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:58.680 driven by guilt or grief or both, was visibly affected 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:02.120 by his loss. Here's Rachel Vaughan, the wife of the 0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:03.760 youngest Bond brother, Adam. 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:07.080 When we arrived at the funeral home the day before 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:10.440 the funeral, so for the visitation, we all came in, 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:15.280 but then Gil and Pierre took Chris in by himself first, 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:17.800 and I remember that because I was standing right by 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:20.440 the door watching him go in, and he was still 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:24.200 walking with a cane because of his leg injury, and 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:27.760 he walked in with him and then as soon as 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:32.000 he got in the door he crumpled. I remember because 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:34.800 Pierre had to kind of hold him up and get 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:38.160 him into his seat. There was a room designated in 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:42.960 the back so we could get out of the crowd essentially, 0:14:44.840 --> 0:14:47.840 and he pretty much stayed in there the whole time. 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:53.320 And looking back now, I can see how that probably looked. 0:14:55.120 --> 0:15:00.400 But he was not fit for greeting people. He just 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:04.440 was not in any kind of shape to be interacting 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:05.400 with people. 0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:07.280 Can you expand upon that? 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:13.200 I mean the greeting area where we were supposed to 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:16.000 be to greet people that were coming in to see us, 0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:20.760 was literally right in front of their coffins. So he 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:23.440 was expected to either sit or stand in front of 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:31.760 his family open casket and talk to people. He was 0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:35.800 not While he was in that room, he was not 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:40.560 saying words that made sense. Like he was broken essentially, 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:45.920 And once they got him out he was able to 0:15:46.040 --> 0:15:50.400 kind of collect himself. Chris could not go back in 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:51.360 that room again. 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:57.800 And the next day was the funeral. It was already 0:15:57.920 --> 0:16:02.440 an emotionally daunting event for both families, but for the Vonds, 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:05.640 it was about to get a lot worse. Here's Pierre. 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:06.880 The day of the. 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:10.480 Funeral, Chris knew something was up, but he wasn't talking 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:12.880 to us because the police told him not to and 0:16:13.320 --> 0:16:18.720 he was protecting us. But in the meantime, he went 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:23.840 through paperwork and he found a life insurance policy, he 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:27.040 signed a title over on his jeep to us, and 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:32.040 he was doing other things, and you know, and I said, Chris, 0:16:32.040 --> 0:16:35.520 why are you doing all this? And he says, Daddy says, 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:37.400 he says, I got to feeling there out to get me. 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:40.720 And you know, that way things were protected. 0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:57.560 As mourners arrived for the funeral, the Vaughn family sent 0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:02.880 something was deeply a mess. Here's Gail's younger sister, Rose. 0:17:04.040 --> 0:17:08.360 Felt like something was going on that day. There was 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:12.439 just a lot of tension in the air with the 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:16.880 people that worked there and everything. And I remember our 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:22.160 family being sequestered into a big room until we couldn't move, 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:28.439 We couldn't leave. We were put in that room. And Chris, 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:31.399 I believe they told him he needed to check on 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:32.080 her rings. 0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:40.000 Here's Pierre, the funeral director person was there. And the 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:46.760 big deal was that the Phillips family wanted all her jewelry. 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:49.679 They came, you know that she was supposed to be 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:51.359 buried with, but they didn't want her to be buried 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:54.440 with it. They wanted they wanted to take it home 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:54.800 with them. 0:17:56.920 --> 0:17:57.879 She said that. 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:04.680 We had go downstairs to sign the papers. 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:07.720 For the jewelry, which struck me. 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:12.119 His ode and everything like that. So we walked downstairs. 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:14.240 And she only wanted Chris to go down and Pure 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:15.360 went with him. 0:18:15.359 --> 0:18:18.399 Anyway. She let us downstairs and walked in there like 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:21.520 a conference room down there, and when we opened the door, 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:26.480 there was fourteen different policemen standing there and they immediately 0:18:26.560 --> 0:18:31.000 handcuffed him and writing his rights and telling him his 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:34.560 being arrested for the murder of his family. And I 0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:38.760 was totally in shock. They had to have Saint Charles 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:42.680 County police arrest him. This Illinois State police were there 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:46.879 and Chris just back over his shoulder at me as 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:51.040 they were walking him out, and he just had a 0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:52.200 look of shock on his face. 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:54.520 He didn't say anything, and. 0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:57.520 I told him just hang in there. We'll get this 0:18:57.560 --> 0:18:59.320 taken care of. And then I had to walk back 0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:01.880 upstairs and talked to my family. 0:19:03.680 --> 0:19:04.680 Here's Rachel Vaughan. 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:12.159 Pierre came back in. I will never forget this moment 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:15.560 as long as I live. He went up to Gail 0:19:15.680 --> 0:19:19.320 and put his hands on her arm and he said, 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:26.920 they just arrested Chris, and she just she had been 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:32.200 like a rock the whole time, and she fell apart 0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:35.600 and her first words were, but he didn't do it. 0:19:36.720 --> 0:19:38.399 Here's Rachel's husband, Adam. 0:19:39.560 --> 0:19:42.040 And then it became very apparent that there were no 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:47.560 Phillips family in the room with else and it quickly 0:19:47.600 --> 0:19:54.240 became obvious that the Phillips were part of those who 0:19:55.560 --> 0:19:57.919 were supporting the police in their arrest. 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:00.520 Here's Chris's brother Eric. 0:20:01.280 --> 0:20:05.560 They didn't even let him be there present when they 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:06.080 were buried. 0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:13.719 I can't imagine watching your sibling being taken away like that. 0:20:14.240 --> 0:20:17.520 Under those circumstances. 0:20:16.560 --> 0:20:21.119 It was very difficult just to even concentrate, yeah, to 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:24.159 do simple things. I mean, I was one of the 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:30.680 pall bearers that was up front with him, and it 0:20:30.880 --> 0:20:36.400 just felt not taking four people out, you know, from 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:42.800 one family. I looked like a little waterfall. Standing up there. Now. 0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:46.080 Granted I wasn't the only one, and all the people 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:49.240 that were pall bearers were pretty much in the same boat. 0:20:50.320 --> 0:20:53.280 Chris Vaughn was arrested at seven fifty am as he 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:57.320 prepared to bury his family afterwards. His brother and father 0:20:57.520 --> 0:21:01.000 served as pall bearers. At the center of Chris's criminal 0:21:01.080 --> 0:21:05.440 charges and the driving forces behind the funeral arrest were 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:08.800 the Illinois State Police and the Will County States Attorney 0:21:09.000 --> 0:21:13.479 James Glasgow. Here's Chris's initial defense investigator Bill Clutter. 0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:19.480 This is a classic case of tunnel vision where Sergeant 0:21:19.880 --> 0:21:23.159 Lawson locked in on his theory that he did it, 0:21:23.640 --> 0:21:27.679 and everybody rallied behind him, including the state's attorney, and 0:21:28.680 --> 0:21:31.560 you know, they were full steam ahead Ray Road and 0:21:31.640 --> 0:21:37.760 Chris Vaughn without really conducting the type of investigation that 0:21:37.840 --> 0:21:41.080 should have been done before you charge a citizen who 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:45.919 has the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. But in 0:21:45.960 --> 0:21:49.320 this case, they just threw the constitution out the window 0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:52.720 and just declared that he was he did it, and 0:21:53.080 --> 0:21:56.720 we're going to fuck with him, and by arresting him, 0:21:56.800 --> 0:22:01.040 depriving him of grieving for his family. The funeral was 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:02.760 one of those ways they did that. 0:22:03.680 --> 0:22:07.960 You heard former Illinois State Police sergeant Gary Lawson interrogate 0:22:08.000 --> 0:22:11.760 Christopher Vaughan hours after his family was shot, still clad 0:22:11.800 --> 0:22:15.160 in a hospital gown and bleeding. In our last episode, 0:22:15.640 --> 0:22:18.600 Lawson's testimony in front of a grand jury would be 0:22:18.840 --> 0:22:23.679 key in securing Bond's indictment. We will revisit the significance 0:22:23.800 --> 0:22:27.480 of that testimony later in much greater detail. 0:22:28.280 --> 0:22:32.000 You look at the timeline from when this happened on 0:22:32.359 --> 0:22:37.480 Thursday morning, June fourteenth, and in about a week's time 0:22:38.160 --> 0:22:43.239 they had already secured his arrest. The obvious thing is 0:22:43.280 --> 0:22:49.480 that it was just another way of inflicting punishment on 0:22:49.600 --> 0:22:53.600 a person that they presumed was guilty and never gave 0:22:53.800 --> 0:22:57.560 the benefit of the presumption of innocence, which is supposed 0:22:57.600 --> 0:23:01.119 to be ingrained in the constitution that w sists and has. 0:23:01.720 --> 0:23:04.320 But in this case, they jumped to the conclusion that 0:23:04.400 --> 0:23:06.240 he did it from day one. 0:23:06.240 --> 0:23:09.320 And actually the decision to arrest him the morning of 0:23:09.359 --> 0:23:15.479 his family's funeral ends up making Vaughn look worse. In 0:23:15.520 --> 0:23:18.960 other words, it makes it look like he's one hundred 0:23:19.000 --> 0:23:23.000 percent guilty if you're going to arrest him at the funeral, 0:23:23.000 --> 0:23:23.679 of his family. 0:23:24.160 --> 0:23:27.240 Well, yeah, that certainly came across in the. 0:23:27.200 --> 0:23:30.359 Media, and this is the moment that locked in the 0:23:30.400 --> 0:23:33.840 new reality for Chris and his family. They were no 0:23:33.960 --> 0:23:37.200 longer just a family grieving a loss. They were now 0:23:37.200 --> 0:23:40.800 a family fighting for their son, and they were increasingly 0:23:40.840 --> 0:23:42.560 alone in that effort. 0:23:42.840 --> 0:23:45.919 After that, the world just became a blurb. This couldn't 0:23:45.960 --> 0:23:50.280 be happening. We knew Chris didn't do it, but it 0:23:50.800 --> 0:23:53.760 fell on death airs. I so wanted to make a fuss, 0:23:54.040 --> 0:23:59.560 but because I believed in law, I did what I 0:23:59.640 --> 0:24:03.160 was told. It was like a never ending dream, getting 0:24:03.240 --> 0:24:10.320 worse by the minute, and I couldn't wake up. I mean, 0:24:10.640 --> 0:24:15.119 my grandchildren were dead, my daughter in law was ted. 0:24:16.320 --> 0:24:19.920 My son was just arrested and accused of being a murderer, 0:24:20.880 --> 0:24:25.440 later convicted. And I know he didn't do it. He 0:24:25.520 --> 0:24:29.040 was innocent and in pain from his loss, and nobody 0:24:29.080 --> 0:24:30.040 cared about him. 0:24:30.720 --> 0:24:34.680 It was devastating for the Vaughns. While Kim's family probably 0:24:34.720 --> 0:24:38.920 had a different perspective. They likely felt Chris's arrest dispelled 0:24:38.960 --> 0:24:41.959 any speculation that their daughter could have played an active 0:24:42.040 --> 0:24:46.000 role in the tragedy, but Chris's family felt bundled into 0:24:46.000 --> 0:24:50.400 the accusation by association. Here again is Rachel Vaughan. 0:24:51.200 --> 0:24:58.719 It was cruel because, regardless of anything else, there were 0:24:58.720 --> 0:25:01.200 two things. First he was that was to be presumed innocent, 0:25:02.040 --> 0:25:05.840 and someone presumed innocent should have the opportunity to attend 0:25:05.920 --> 0:25:13.359 his children's funeral. If that cannot be the case, regardless 0:25:13.359 --> 0:25:17.120 of what he did or did not do, his parents 0:25:17.400 --> 0:25:25.199 still lost their grandchildren and their daughter in law, but 0:25:25.280 --> 0:25:30.160 they were robbed of the opportunity to grieve them because 0:25:31.359 --> 0:25:34.600 they just took him all at once. And in that moment, 0:25:34.640 --> 0:25:36.760 we were so shocked by what was happening with Chris. 0:25:38.359 --> 0:25:44.760 The actual burial and everything was a blur. And I 0:25:45.000 --> 0:25:50.760 understand that Kim's family believes that he is guilty. I 0:25:50.800 --> 0:25:54.720 get that. I cannot imagine what that is like to 0:25:54.840 --> 0:25:58.080 feel that a man that you led into your home 0:25:58.760 --> 0:26:02.879 took your daughter from you. I understand that. But what 0:26:03.080 --> 0:26:08.800 happened was right after we found out, the woman from 0:26:09.160 --> 0:26:12.240 the funeral home went out and notified the Phillips, who 0:26:12.240 --> 0:26:17.520 were standing right outside our window, and they were celebrating. 0:26:19.880 --> 0:26:22.840 And I do not begrudge them the celebration because I 0:26:22.960 --> 0:26:28.119 understand from their perspective Kim was vindicated that their daughter 0:26:28.359 --> 0:26:30.760