WEBVTT - 8. Reexamination 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:10.160 Murder in Illinois is a production of iHeartRadio. On September 0:00:10.160 --> 0:00:13.800 twenty first, twenty twelve, a Will County jury consisting of 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:17.200 eight men and four women deliberated for less than fifty 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:20.759 minutes before convicting Christopher Vaughan of killing his wife and 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:23.439 three children in the family's suv in two thousand and 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:25.759 seven in a bid to start a new life in 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:31.000 the Canadian wilderness. Over the course of five weeks, jury 0:00:31.040 --> 0:00:34.040 foreman Dan Lachet and his fellow jurors heard from nearly 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:38.480 ninety witnesses and saw more than seven hundred exhibits. Afterwards, 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:41.199 Lachet expressed his interest in writing a book on the 0:00:41.240 --> 0:00:44.240 case and told press there was no doubt in the 0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:48.159 juror's minds of Vaughn's guilt, and they never even considered 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:51.760 the defense argument that Vaughn's wife committed the murders. He 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:56.000 also referenced Vaughn's flat demeanor, saying, quote, if you watched 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:58.680 him throughout the trial like we did, I think you'd 0:00:58.680 --> 0:01:03.520 come to the same conclusion as we did. In this episode, 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:08.200 we'll break down the circumstantial and forensic evidence that possibly 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:11.800 led to a conviction based on what could be emotional 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:16.679 and confirmation bias. I'm Lauren brad Pacheco, and this is 0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:48.640 murder in Illinois. Let's start with two words. You've almost 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:52.680 heard more in this podcast than Christopher or Vaughn. Tunnel vision. 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:56.840 In legal terms, it's defined as a tendency fueled by 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:00.000 bias and pressure that leads actors in the criminal justices 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:03.560 to single mindedly focus on a suspect and build a 0:02:03.600 --> 0:02:07.600 case for conviction while ignoring evidence that points away from guilt. 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:12.000 Bill Clutter believes it was in play throughout the case 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:12.919 against Vaughn. 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:18.400 This really is a text book case of tunnel vision 0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:24.040 and confirmatory bias. Because each fact that they would discover 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:27.320 and learn about Chris his secret life of going to 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:31.320 script clubs, Aha, you know, just reinforces you did it 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:33.399 because he already started with that assumption. 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:37.960 Clutter characterizes the combination of tunnel vision and confirmation bias 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:41.760 as something Vaughn referenced in their first jail house meeting, 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:43.400 a perfect storm. 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:47.440 Every time they would find a new bad fact for 0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:51.560 Chris that you're spending thousands of dollars on script clubs. 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:55.200 You went to the gun range the day before. You've 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:59.120 got this fantasy of hiking into the Yukon and never 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:01.960 coming back and leaving your family. I mean, these are 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:07.560 all bad facts in terms of painting character. So it 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:10.160 was almost a piling on effect that every time they 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:13.799 would discover some fact like that, it just reinforced their 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:18.640 belief that he did it without really conducting the type 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:23.280 of objective investigation that the crime scene investigator Bob Deal 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:27.080 was urging them to do. Followed the evidence, followed the 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:30.519 CSI rather than your gut instincts. 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:34.600 You've also heard Bob Deel's name a bunch. The former 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:38.240 Illinois State Police crime investigator played a role in both 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:41.920 high profile cases that unfolded in the Will County Courthouse 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:45.160 in twenty twelve. So even as he was trying to 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:48.720 raise flags in the handling of Vaughn's case, Deal was 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:53.240 being maligned for his handling of the Drew Peterson case. Deal, 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:56.440 along with others, had initially ruled out foul play in 0:03:56.480 --> 0:04:00.680 the bathtub drowning of Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio. In 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:05.360 pursuing their case against Peterson. Prosecutors laid blame for that 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:09.360 ruling on the former Illinois State Police crime investigator, which 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:11.840 also made it easy to discredit Deal's thoughts on the 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:15.480 Bond case unfolding across the hall. Here's clutter. 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:18.560 Let me say something about Bob Deal and his defense, 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:23.159 because this also runs along that same argument, because when 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:27.839 Chris is being tried, it's simultaneous to the Drew Peterson case. 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:34.360 And Bob Deal wasn't the only one that assumed that 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:39.440 Peterson's wife drowned in this bathtub. It was also the 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:44.880 medical examiner that determines cause of death. So it's not 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:48.960 like they can point to one case where he got 0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:52.440 it wrong and therefore disregard everything you say about this 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:53.159 other case. 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:57.200 In his initial crime scene report, Bob Deal listed Kimberly 0:04:57.240 --> 0:04:59.960 Vaughan as suspect number one and Chris Vaughn as suspect 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.720 number two. In his deposition, Deal contends his removal from 0:05:03.720 --> 0:05:07.000 the Vaughn investigation was because his processing of the crime 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:10.440 scene did not dismiss the possibility that Kim Vaughn may 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:13.520 have in fact killed her children, shot Chris, and then 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:17.080 committed suicide. Because Deal's opinion was at odds with the 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:20.400 Illinois State Police and the Will County State's Attorney, Deale 0:05:20.400 --> 0:05:23.400 believes he was removed from anything to do with the case. 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:26.760 In fact, he was asked to never process another crime 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:31.440 scene in will County. Deal felt investigators retrofitted the evidence 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:34.400 to fit their theory that Vaughan was standing outside the 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:38.040 passenger door when he shot his wife and kids, a 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:41.440 theory that Sergeant Gary Lawson came up with the day 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:45.440 of the tragedy. In his deposition, Deal says he told 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:49.480 Sergeant Lawson that based on the crime scene evidence, that 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:54.800 was quote friggin' impossible. Back to Bill Clutter, how did 0:05:54.880 --> 0:06:00.280 the jury react to Deal's allegation of tunnel vision an 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:03.240 immediate bias against Vaughn, Well. 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:07.400 They didn't get to hear that evidence. The judge wouldn't 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:11.360 allow a Deal to testify to the judge denied it. 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:14.760 The judge wouldn't allow him to testify about the call 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:19.279 he received from Ken Kopis, who was the commander of 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:24.520 the investigation unit of the only state police, that they 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:28.840 felt that the husband did it, and wouldn't allow Deal 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:33.719 to testify about his participation in the major case review 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:37.599 that included the entire investigative team, including the state's attorney 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:43.160 James Glascow, where Glascow offered his opinion that Kim was 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:45.479 an angel. There's no way she could have done this, 0:06:46.120 --> 0:06:52.080 and Deal told him that the crime scene evidence can't 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:56.000 eliminate her as having done this. In fact, much of 0:06:56.040 --> 0:07:00.520 the forensic evidence supports that she did, and they weren't 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:07.080 willing to listen to the objective, basically, the science based evidence. 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:12.520 It struck me when I was rereading Deal's deposition that 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:17.840 he claims that Sergeant Gary Lawson came up with the 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:24.320 theory of Vaughn standing outside the passenger window with the gun, 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:28.800 killing Kim and then the kids the same day as 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:29.400 the murders. 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:34.720 That's right, and Deal had him demonstrate his theory with 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:39.200 an unloaded gun, and then he went about demonstrating to 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:43.560 Lawson why the bullet trajectory evidence didn't support that theory. 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:46.400 And you know that's significant. 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:50.360 Looking back now. Was there an unwillingness to examine the 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:55.200 evidence objectively? And how does the prosecution's case against Christopher 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:59.480 Vaughn hold up. Let's start with Vaughn's time and money 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:03.520 spent its strip clubs, the first of multiple damning revelations 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:07.080 that would make headlines after the murders. Here again is 0:08:07.080 --> 0:08:07.720 Bill Clutter. 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:11.680 It's a tactic of the prosecutor. The goal is to 0:08:11.680 --> 0:08:14.360 get the jury to hate the defendant, and there's a 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:17.280 lot of ways they do this. In this case, they 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:20.760 did it over the fact that he had visited Scores 0:08:20.960 --> 0:08:24.800 strip club on two occasions dropped I think almost five 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:29.000 thousand dollars over the course of two nights. That was 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:32.840 a character assassination. And you know, there's millions of people 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:34.640 go to strip clubs. They don't go home and kill 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:35.760 their wife and kids. 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:40.920 During the trial, the prosecution leaned heavily on morality, portraying 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:43.480 Vaughn's visits to strip clubs in the weeks before the 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:47.880 murders as incriminating. Was the money spent on strippers anything 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:52.840 more than circumstantial? And was it utilized as character assassination 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:57.360 to sway a jury without hard evidence. Being unfamiliar with 0:08:57.360 --> 0:09:01.280 the field, I turned to an expert on the sub Chase, Kelly. 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:07.720 I have been stripping for thirteen years and working. 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:09.880 In strip clubs since two thousand and one. 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:13.000 I am pretty well versed in. 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:14.120 The strip club world. 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:17.760 I also coach entertainos for a living, so I pretty 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:21.960 much have spoken to somebody in every club in the 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:25.679 country and some internationally as well. 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:31.800 So from your experience in terms of working with your clients, 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:36.120 your regulars, what percentage of men and I know this 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:40.319 isn't a scientific answer, but in your opinion, what percentage 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:42.120 of guys who come in are married? 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:49.600 Let's say it's probably around sixty five to seventy five percent. 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:51.480 This is a married man sport. 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:55.760 While she's not involved in the Bond case, Chase is 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:59.400 an authority on the types of clubs he visited. Because 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:02.280 Vaughn had gone to strip clubs and he'd spent five grand, 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:06.080 they made this sleep that he wasn't a family man. 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:10.200 That somebody would suggest that because somebody is going to 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:12.440 a strip club that they don't love their family. That's 0:10:12.679 --> 0:10:16.600 crazy to me, crazy, and I have been working in 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:18.679 these clubs for twenty years. 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:22.800 The prosecution and press focused on the thousands of dollars 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:26.480 and time Bond spent at clubs as indicative of his 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:31.320 level of betrayal. To quote the prosecution, he's not serious 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:34.360 about working on his marriage. If he was, he would 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:38.280 be in bed next to Kimberly. Here are Chase Kelly's thoughts. 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:41.440 I think if a man wanted to cheat, he would 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:45.079 do it for free or cheaper. If a man wants 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:47.760 to sleep with somebody else, he's going to go and 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:50.800 do that. If you want to preserve your marriage, you 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:51.760 don't want to cheat. 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:53.520 You go to a strip club. 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:56.480 There's no cheating because there's no release, there's no physical 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:59.480 contact on that level. It's somebody to listen to you, 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:02.720 talk to you, somebody who make you laugh, a break 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:05.520 from your life. You know how many great husbands and 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:10.800 amazing fathers I've met that has spent five thousand dollars 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:13.200 on me with not a question. 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:14.640 To be asked about a five thousand. 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:16.560 Dollars is a normal amount of spending a club. Some 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:19.600 people might say, oh my gosh, that's crazy. That's a 0:11:19.600 --> 0:11:21.840 crazy amount of money. But somebody spends five thousand dollars 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:23.040 in my club every night. 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:24.760 How does that bill get wrung up? 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:28.800 That's two hours, five thousand dollars, two hours in a 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:29.400 private room. 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:34.079 Again, that money wouldn't be buying what many have assumed. 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:35.800 Contact is not allowed. 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:38.920 The lapdance is what twenty thirty forty dollars depending on 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:42.280 where you are, that you're just getting the boobs in 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:46.640 the face right when you start spending that bigger money. Generally, 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:50.040 what we see is that the clients become less sexual 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:56.760 and more pockative, comfortable, relaxed. They can melt into the 0:11:56.880 --> 0:11:59.400 chair and you can ask them questions, and that's how 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:02.319 you keep a guy m VIP for two hours. 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:08.000 So the two women that Vaughn met in clubs, a 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:10.560 woman named Maya and a woman named Crystal. I've had 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:13.559 a lot of trouble tracking them down because of the 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:18.079 nature of the crime, but they testified and they both 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:22.320 said he was an absolute gentleman and that he just 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:23.079 wanted to talk. 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:25.640 Don't see why they would have any reason to lie 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:30.040 about that. It's very, very common for a guy to 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:32.840 go into a club and just have a laugh and 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:36.560 leave it behind for a minute, although many people do 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:40.440 use clubs as therapy because of the amount of anonymity 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:41.280 that they are granted. 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:45.160 Anonymity played into the case against Vaughn with the strippers 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:49.160 as well as Willett. Vaughn's wilderness pen pal Chris did 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:52.040 not share that he was married or had children, but 0:12:52.200 --> 0:12:55.320 that too can be viewed through a different lens. Back 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:58.480 to Chase, do you think that it's odd that he 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:02.720 told one of the women that he wasn't married and 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:07.200 he didn't have kids. No, in what sense. 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:11.960 It's a fantasy world, right, So he gets to, you know, 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:14.720 dissociate from his wife for a little bit and get 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:16.680 to be somebody else. When I go into the club, 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:20.040 I change my name, I change my voice, I changed 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:22.160 my hair, I change the way that I walk, I 0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:25.880 change the way that I smile. It's a fantasy. Some 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:29.800 people need it as escapism and some people need it 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:33.680 as a space of acceptance. Right, So both are valid. 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:35.880 So we create a place. 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:43.080 It's harmless fun. We are performers, and honestly, I think 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:46.959 if more wives knew how we conducted our business, they 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:50.840 say thank you to us instead of quilifying us so much. 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:54.280 I really do agree or not. 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:58.679 This does offer a perspective the places what was circumstantial 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:02.559 evidence in another life. Another focus of the prosecution was 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:05.959 the Wilderness Forum Vaughn joined. There is a specific quote 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:09.240 from Henry David Throw that Vaughn posted. If you are 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:11.720 ready to leave father and mother and brother and sister 0:14:11.840 --> 0:14:14.840 and wife and child and friends, if you never see 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:17.840 them again. If you have paid your debts and made 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:20.840 your will and settled your affairs and are a freeman, 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:24.760 then you are ready for a walk. This was presented 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.920 as evidence Vaughn was ready for that walk but held 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:31.360 back by his family. In addition to the forum posts 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:34.600 and emails to Steve Willett, focus was placed on a 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:38.720 storage locker that Vaughn had rented and filled with camping equipment. 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:42.480 The locker wasn't registered to Chris's home address, but rather 0:14:42.600 --> 0:14:47.520 a private PO box, and the alternate contact was Larry Vaughn, 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:51.800 not his wife. To the prosecution, this was more evidence 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:56.720 of murderous intent. Here's reporter Erica Wurst's recollections. 0:14:57.160 --> 0:15:02.040 Fantasizing that was and I described before is maniacal. He 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:07.720 was of set the storage unit like not in the 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:09.640 fact that he didn't store any of it in his 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:14.000 empty basement while you're clearly hiding something. That whole thing, 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:18.160 I mean, if you're looking for motivation. In his emails, 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:21.400 he was sending to his little homeboy talking about wanting 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:24.400 to leave all of his obligations and take the walk, 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:27.640 and he had to tie things up at home first. 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:30.360 And you could look at all that both ways though, 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:32.680 if he wants him to have the money, or it 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:35.880 could just be like I'm going to tie things up 0:15:35.880 --> 0:15:40.400 at home first. You gotta look at it all. 0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:44.960 But if one's decided someone is a murderer, everything they 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:49.600 do can seem like a sinister act. That is confirmation bias. 0:15:49.960 --> 0:15:53.240 So let's suppose just for a minute that the storage 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:56.400 locker full of equipment wasn't for Chris to run off 0:15:56.440 --> 0:16:00.160 into the wilderness. Then why did he have it? I 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:03.880 wanted to know what Chris's parents thought. Can you guys 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:08.680 explain to me your understanding of why Chris had that 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:10.600 storage facility? 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:15.840 We are going to try to go to Canada, Pierre 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:20.200 and I and Chris and his family, and he was 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:24.360 starting to accumulate the stuff the family and he was 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:29.880 going to need, and we were starting to talk about it, 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:33.880 and we weren't going to do it until the following August, 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:39.840 sometime after between when the black flies start and cold 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:40.240 weather in. 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:41.720 We hadn't really. 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:44.120 Penpointed it, but he figured he'd just start getting things 0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:46.400 together so that. 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:49.760 When we said, okay, this is what we're going to do, 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:50.680 he would have it. 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:55.240 Okay, did he have that storage facility before they moved 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:57.840 into the house. Is it something they had when they 0:16:57.960 --> 0:16:58.920 were in the apartment. 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:02.280 I don't know when he got it, actually, but he 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:04.600 did tell us that he was starting to put stuff 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:09.760 in the storage facility units so that I would get 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:11.879 mixed in with the basement full of stuff. 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:15.960 There's a photo of Vaughn wearing a cowboy hat standing 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:19.560 outside that storage facility. There's snow on the ground, and 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:21.960 it's not a selfie. He appears to be holding his 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:24.800 cell phone and or his BlackBerry in his hand. 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:27.080 And we don't even know where this picture came from. 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:29.480 Somebody had taken but. 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:30.160 We don't know who. 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:34.280 They didn't know who Larry Vaughn was either. When I 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:38.520 emailed Chris for clarification about the storage facility, he referenced 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:43.439 that picture without prompting quote. The storage facility was rented 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:45.760 after we moved into the house. We did have extra 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:48.280 storage space in the apartment, but that was moved into 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:51.080 the basement at the house. The plan was to sort 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:53.600 through the basement, get rid of stuff, and place the 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:57.640 remainder in the new facility, which was smaller. Needless to say, 0:17:57.640 --> 0:17:59.480 it was a task that was easy to put off 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:02.520 to next month, so I had not gotten around to it. 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:05.399 Kim had been at the facility with me. There's a 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:07.639 picture on the website she'd taken of me in front 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:12.920 of the Orange Doors. Unquote, Vaughan explained the po box 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:16.680 belonged to the company he'd started in Washington Stonebridge because 0:18:16.720 --> 0:18:18.920 he thought he could write it off as a business expense, 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:22.080 and that Larry was a name he made up on 0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:24.760 the spot when the worker at the facility insisted he 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:28.640 provide an alternate contact, not living in the same residence. 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:34.520 If all that's true, the storage facility wasn't a secret stockpile, 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:37.959 but a mixture of things from previous and future camping trips. 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:40.760 Keep in mind, Chris definitely came from a family with 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:45.240 an unusual passion for extreme outdoor activities. Here's Pierre. 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:50.240 That's one thing Chris wanted to do is show his kids, 0:18:50.400 --> 0:18:53.439 you know, how well they have it by taking him 0:18:53.480 --> 0:18:57.639 out in the wilderness and having them experience the wilderness 0:18:57.680 --> 0:19:04.879 life versus everything served to you, my inconveniency, a lot 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:06.440 of modern conveniences. 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:09.240 They made a big deal of the storage unit in 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:13.000 the trial. Did the defense ever explain it the way 0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:14.399 you guys just explained it to me? 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:19.240 No, there was all one side of the defense never 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:20.280 defended it at all. 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:21.400 As far as I could. 0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:26.720 Recollect, I have obtained both the pobox contract and the 0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:31.040 receipt from the storage facility. The Oswego PO box is 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:35.240 in fact clearly attributed to Stonebridge and was used for 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:39.879 mail forwarded from Bond's Washington consulting firm. In addition, it 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:43.800 was specified to receive items addressed to both Christopher and 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:47.960 Kemberley vonn and the contract is dated December twenty ninth, 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:52.359 two thousand and five, coinciding with the family's move to Illinois. 0:19:52.880 --> 0:19:56.399 The storage facility receipt is marked with the address of 0:19:56.480 --> 0:20:06.399 that PEO box in our emails. Here's how Chris characterized 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:10.600 his communication with Willett and the Wilderness website quote, Hiking 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:13.840 and camping was a hobby I truly enjoyed. In Washington, 0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:15.679 the kids and I spent a lot of time hiking 0:20:15.720 --> 0:20:19.199 the nearby trails. We loved our outdoor adventures. I had 0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:22.240 hiking trail books for western Washington. The kids and I 0:20:22.280 --> 0:20:25.080 spent nearly as much time selecting and planning trips together 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:26.040 as we actually did. 0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:26.480 Hiking. 0:20:26.960 --> 0:20:30.119 Camping in Washington was regulated to the backyard, but we 0:20:30.160 --> 0:20:31.800 spent a lot of time in the tent or the 0:20:31.840 --> 0:20:35.359 treehouse we built out back. Kim occasionally came hiking, but 0:20:35.440 --> 0:20:38.320 never joined us camping in Illinois. The kids were more 0:20:38.359 --> 0:20:41.640 occupied with school and their own activities, so hadn't got 0:20:41.680 --> 0:20:45.320 back to hiking yet. Plus it was Illinois. I continued 0:20:45.320 --> 0:20:47.520 to take time here and there to get outside, still 0:20:47.640 --> 0:20:50.439 very much interested. My trips grew in scope, but I 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:54.440 was never serious about wilderness survival. That was online boasting 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:57.440 among other enthusiasts. I liked I could take a trip 0:20:57.480 --> 0:20:59.720 to the woods and then return to my comfortable life 0:20:59.800 --> 0:21:05.560 with modern conveniences. If Vaughn's desire was to escape those 0:21:05.600 --> 0:21:08.800 modern conveniences and his marriage, he also seemed to be 0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:14.200 making contradictory efforts to salvage it. During Vaughn's initial interrogation, 0:21:14.680 --> 0:21:17.760 he was asked multiple questions about his relationship with Kim 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:21.879 Chris never spoke disparagingly about her, and in fact spoke 0:21:21.960 --> 0:21:25.840 actively about their future plans. He also mentioned attempts to 0:21:25.840 --> 0:21:29.440 reconcile things with his wife. You've heard this exchange during 0:21:29.480 --> 0:21:32.400 the police questioning before, but it bears repeating. 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:37.199 Let's take there on a honeymoon this weekend. We're going 0:21:37.280 --> 0:21:40.040 to go back to Herman where we had our first honeymoon. 0:21:42.560 --> 0:21:43.720 Two things all over again. 0:21:44.000 --> 0:21:45.240 Who's going to launch kids. 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:56.280 My mom and her sister heaven out on Friday, So yeah, 0:21:56.840 --> 0:21:58.720 they're coming to the house to watch the kids for 0:21:58.760 --> 0:22:02.880 the weekend. Believe Kim and I, it was a surprise. 0:22:03.000 --> 0:22:04.439 I didn't want her to have to worry about any 0:22:04.680 --> 0:22:08.960 details or anything like that. So I set up and 0:22:09.000 --> 0:22:11.840 I told her parents. I told my parents to kind 0:22:11.840 --> 0:22:13.119 of coordinate the details. 0:22:13.760 --> 0:22:16.200 But uh, I was gonna take her cause. 0:22:16.040 --> 0:22:20.159 So your mom and your sister, No, my mom and 0:22:20.240 --> 0:22:25.280 my aunt her sister. Yeah, we're gonna come up Friday. 0:22:25.600 --> 0:22:28.680 When were they supposed to show up around dune or 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:31.359 so maybe something? And and Kim had no idea they 0:22:31.359 --> 0:22:31.800 were coming. 0:22:32.359 --> 0:22:34.520 I was gonna tell her later today. 0:22:36.600 --> 0:22:41.359 What if she would have said, I going ain't gonna happen. 0:22:41.359 --> 0:22:43.600 I don't know why she would have said that, Like 0:22:43.800 --> 0:22:45.680 this is it was gonna be good. 0:22:49.240 --> 0:22:55.800 Do you think one the weekend of sex with your 0:22:55.840 --> 0:22:58.840 wife is gonna make her forget that you've been having 0:22:58.880 --> 0:23:00.000 sex with all these other women? 0:23:00.160 --> 0:23:02.760 You think it wasn't all these other world cup it's 0:23:02.800 --> 0:23:06.360 just one time of Mexico and it was a start. 0:23:06.840 --> 0:23:09.560 Well, we do know Vaughn did make those herman reservation 0:23:09.680 --> 0:23:13.399 and plans. Kim apparently had found out about something because 0:23:13.400 --> 0:23:15.560 she had put in for time off from her pool job. 0:23:16.080 --> 0:23:19.080 That was used against Vaughn, but others knew and could 0:23:19.119 --> 0:23:22.480 have tipped her off as to the surprise. The marriage 0:23:22.520 --> 0:23:25.040 and the last minute nature of the water park trip 0:23:25.400 --> 0:23:28.680 also came up in Vaughn's initial questioning over the. 0:23:28.680 --> 0:23:31.600 Last couple of months, I've been trying to work to 0:23:31.640 --> 0:23:33.879 make things better than that was what the honeymoon was 0:23:33.920 --> 0:23:40.520 all about. And you know, I'd looked into Emmy. She'd 0:23:40.560 --> 0:23:43.440 mentioned spend more time with kids. Were off for summer break, 0:23:43.600 --> 0:23:46.440 and I thought, well, we're gone on Friday, We're not 0:23:46.480 --> 0:23:49.320 going to be back until Sunday, and the next weekend 0:23:49.480 --> 0:23:51.720 her parents are coming up, and then a couple of 0:23:51.720 --> 0:23:53.119 weeks after that, the kids are going to be in 0:23:53.160 --> 0:23:54.160 Saint Louis for. 0:23:54.119 --> 0:23:54.760 A couple of weeks. 0:23:54.800 --> 0:23:57.400 So we didn't we don't have any like the five 0:23:57.560 --> 0:24:00.960 less family time. So I said, fine, you know, let's let's. 0:24:00.800 --> 0:24:01.640 Go to a water park. 0:24:02.400 --> 0:24:05.160 And you know, one of the things that had come 0:24:05.280 --> 0:24:07.960 up is one of the water parks that we passed 0:24:07.960 --> 0:24:14.800 in Springfield when we met her parents there, and you know, 0:24:14.960 --> 0:24:16.520 and I said, Dad, and She's like. 0:24:16.680 --> 0:24:20.840