BY MIKE CETERA
Did he do it? Did she do it? It was the watercooler question of the week.
The mystery apparently is solved. That won't, however, keep all the rubberneckers from continuing the speculation.
Chris Vaughn had to have shot his wife and kids, some said. His wife hated guns. Chris' story just didn't make sense. What kind of man would run away -- practically cowering in fear -- when his children were in danger? Wasn't it obvious he shot himself in a lame cover-up attempt?
But others -- myself included -- thought it more likely Kimberly Vaughn killed her kids and then shot herself. Publicly, police just weren't sending the read-between-the-lines signals to suggest Chris was a suspect. And he certainly seemed cooperative enough. Perhaps she just cracked. It's happened to moms before.
Yet the way the kids died didn't make sense. Experts say moms who kill their kids usually don't do it with a weapon. It apparently should have been clear.
If police and prosecutors are right, we have one mystery solved. But we still don't know why. Even if the motive becomes crystal clear, that will never explain how a parent could kill his children. There is no acceptable answer to that.
he deserves the death penalty - as quick as it can come.
I have to say that my parents lived a few houses away from Kimberly and we never knew her to be that kind of person that her husband wanted everyone to beleive she was.We are so happy that he was caught.We always knew that he had done it , it was just a matter of having enough evidence to prove it. I can only say that she and her little angels can finally have some peace and justice. We have no sympathy for what awaits Chris but we hope that the court will have no mercy or take any pitty for what he has done to Kim or the children. Now all of the people(including his family) that spoke and stated what a wonderful and caring man Chris was, they can finally take the blindfold off and see himfor what he really is a " COWARD" and a "COLD-BLOODED KILLER".
I can't imagine what Kimberly Vaughn's family was going through with her husband blaming these brutal murders on her. I'm glad to see they get some peace knowing she was a victim and not a murderer.
Death's too good for this guy. He's only 32--he can rot in a jail cell for 50 years remembering the beautiful family he murdered!
I hope Chris gets the death penalty. I would love to be on the jury. I knew he did it. He thought he was too smart to get caught. Too bad the police didn't arrest him before the wake. What a creep - to be planning a "romantic anniversary get-away" with his wife to trick her and then shooting her and his kids. He is a coward. He deserved to die.
Christopher Vaughn is evil. Are there evil people living amongst us? The answer is probably yes. Are we in imminent danger? Probably no. The chances, statistically, of being the victim of someone so sinister and diabolical are extremely low--but it does make one wonder about the dark side within. What about that neighbor who is reclusive or mean? Most people have an occasional dark thought--it passes as we acknowledge its worthlessness. Recently I heard a poignant message---Hating someone is like ingesting poison everyday and hoping the recipient of your hate will die. Most mature people who possess good critical thought processing do realize what is wrong and understand the concept of advancing beyond adversity and charting their destiny through wise choices.
It is because of this that I don't live in fear. It is rare that this aberrant behavior is displayed in society, relatively speaking, when one considers there are approximately 300 million people in the U.S.
As for Christopher Vaughn. I never once thought him to be a victim. I was fairly certain he was the perpetrator.
While some women have killed their children, they have almost always, if not absolutely always--had very troubled minds prior to the incident. In each case I recall--Marilyn Lemak, Andrea Yates, Susan Smith, there was a common thread preceding the act, of depression and mental fogginess. I saw no evidence of that at all in Kimberly Vaughn. And when women kill, usually it is not because they hated their children--quite the contrary-they were doting loving moms, therefore they killed in more humane ways, such as suffocation or drugs.
This murder was very violent. Nothing in Kimberly Vaughn pointed to that. No mental illness, no depression. She had just finished her studies related to criminal justice. She had every reason to be upbeat and in love with life, and it appeared she was, and her children had been infected with her passion for life.
Mr. Vaughn took their lives just before Father's Day. Is that relevant? It may be. When I look at their family picture where the family was featured in the home section of the Sun Times, I see a detached person in the photo. Perhaps he couldn't reconcile the contrast of the appearance of the "perfect family" with the loathing he had for the family life--the responsibilty, the financial demands, the genuine empathy that is required of a good parent and husband. I am fairly certain he wanted no ties, and absolutely no child support to pay. His thinking was so skewed that he probably believed that everyone would believe his story. Many narcissistic souls believe they are smarter than other criminals.
In the end, he was tripped up by himself, and for that--society is better off. But he has wreaked havoc on countless individuals, many of them children, as they deal with this horrific injustice. May those who are righteous and good recognize the blessing of not being in Christopher Vaughn's skin, for it is an awful place to reside.
Jill couldn't have expressed my sentiments any better! I too thought from the first time I layed eyes on the front page of the beacon that horrible day..HE DID IT!!!!!