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Thread: Remembering Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, TN

  1. #1
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    Remembering Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, TN




    The Christian-Newsom Torture-Murders Five Years Later

    Five years ago, on the night and following morning of January 6 and 7, 2007, University of Tennessee student, Channon Christian, and her boyfriend Christopher Newsom were abducted at an apartment complex in Knoxville, Tennessee. The couple was about to drive to a party with friends when three armed men forced them into Channon's Toyota 4Runner and took them to a house about 3.5 miles away.

    At the house, both were raped, tortured, and murdered. Chris Newsom was anally gang-raped. Channon Christian was raped orally, anally, and vaginally. Both were brutally beaten and cleaning fluid was poured down Channon's throat in an (unsuccessful) attempt to destroy DNA evidence.

    According to the medical examiner, Channon Christian was found at the Chipman Street house in a trash can wrapped in five garbage bags. She was bound so tightly her knees were touching her cheeks. Christian was alive when placed in the trash can and died of suffocation. She had a plastic bag over her head. Her body had bruising and abrasions indicating rape with blunt trauma and an object. Her vaginal area had been kicked bloody.

    The attorneys for the supposed ringleader, Lemaricus Davidson, called this "consensual sex."

    Christopher Newsom, as described by the medical examiner, was raped with an object hours before he was killed. His bare feet were bound and he had been led or dragged to a railroad track a short distance from the house were Channon's body was found. Newsom's face was wrapped in a sweatshirt with a hole in it where he was shot in the head. His hands were tied behind his back and he was gagged with socks. Newsom was shot three times, the third to the head caused death. He was dead when his body was set on fire at the railroad track.

    When Newsom's body was found, his mother, a genteel lady, wanted to see it. The police would not let her. She put her arms around the body bag.

    The four suspects, Lemaricus Davidson, his half-brother Letalvis Cobbins, George Thomas, and Vanessa Coleman were arrested a few days later. Davidson was hiding in a house in Knoxville and was wearing Chris Newsom's shoes when the police found him. He took them off but they were found in a corner of the house. Cobbins, Thomas, and Coleman had fled to Kentucky. They were visiting Davidson that weekend and were at his house by chance.

    Davidson, Cobbins, and apparently Davidson's friend, Eric Boyd carried out the abduction. Boyd was convicted in federal court in 2008 of helping Davidson escape. There wasn't enough evidence to charge Boyd in the murders.

    It should be emphasized that the killers almost got clean away with it. Davidson's fingerprint was found on an envelope in Channon Christian's SUV. When run through the AFIS database, Davidson's name and address came up. Without this fingerprint, The police would not have gone to the Chipman street house and found Channon Christian's body.

    Each of the four suspects blamed the others and claimed not to have done the killing. There was overwhelming DNA evidence against Davidson and conclusive forensic evidence against Cobbins. Thomas didn't leave any DNA but admitted to being in the house at the time, claiming he was stoned on drugs. Coleman also admitted being in the house but claimed to be a prisoner herself. Cobbins was her boyfriend.

    There was also semen from two unidentified males found on Channon Christian' undergarments. The suspects said they were the only ones in the house, but they can't be trusted, to say the least.

    Each suspect was tried separately. Cobbins was convicted in August, 2009 and sentenced to life without parole. Davidson was convicted in November that year and sentenced to death. Thomas was convicted a month later and sentenced to life without parole. Vanessa Coleman, the only female, was found not guilty of every charge relating to Newsom and not guilty of murder regarding Christian. She was convicted of facilitation of Channon Christian's murder and was sentenced to 53 years.

    In 2011, it was learned that Judge Richard Baumgartner, who presided over all four trials, was addicted to prescription drugs that were provided by probationers in his court. Among other things, he had sex with one of his drug suppliers in judge's chambers during one of the trials. Baumgartner was eventually disbarred after resigning in disgrace from the bench.

    On December 1, 2011, Special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood, who took over Baumgartner's cases, overturned all four verdicts and ordered new trials for all four suspects. Judge Blackwood ruled "structural errors" made new trials necessary. This supposes that Baumgartner's drug addiction made him unsound and everything he did suspect.

    The Knox County District Attorney's office has appealed Blackwood's ruling to the Tennessee Supreme Court. There is supposed to be a hearing on January 12 to set the dates for the new trials. Despite the murders taking place place five years ago this weekend, the case is still undecided. We don't know how long the Tennessee Supreme Court will take to make their decision or whether there will be any trials in 2012.

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    No murder can be so cruel that there are not still useful imbeciles who do gloss over the murderer and apologize.

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    Christian, Newsom families remember daughter, son

    Early Saturday afternoon, friends and family came together to remember Channon Christian and Chris Newsom on the five year anniversary of their deaths.

    Mary Newsom said, mother of Chris, said it was nice to see that East Tennesseans were still supporting their family.

    "It makes me feel good that people haven't forgotten Chris, they still feel the need to come out and support us," Newsom said.

    Multiple motorcycle clubs showed up at Channon Christian's memorial. Christian's father, Gary, said his friends have him and his wife, Deena, get through the case.

    "Just one more opportunity that we can gather a bunch of friends together and remind people in this community of what happened to Channon," Christian said.

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    No murder can be so cruel that there are not still useful imbeciles who do gloss over the murderer and apologize.

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    UNREAL! All 4 should've been executed by now!

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    Good news!

    Supreme Court to judge: Review your rulings in Christian-Newsom cases

    The Tennessee Supreme Court halted Thursday a judge's decision to throw out convictions in the Christian-Newsom killings, turning back his ruling that the trial judge's conduct outside court was so bad that it affected the verdicts and also directing him to take a closer look at his own ability to serve as an independent, "13th juror."

    Special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood in December ruled that 2009 and 2010 convictions for Lemaricus Davidson, Letalvis Cobbins, George Thomas and Vanessa Coleman had to be tossed. The four were convicted for their roles in the carjackings and killings in January 2007 of Chris Newsom, 23, and Channon Christian, 21.

    In reaching his decision, Blackwood found that Judge Richard Baumgartner behaved with such gross misconduct during the time when the defendants were prosecuted that their trials were structurally flawed.

    Baumgartner, who has since resigned, was addicted at the time to prescription medications, a 2011 Tennessee Bureau of Investigation review showed. He doctor-shopped and scored pills from multiple sources, including court personnel and even two people who had been prosecuted in Knox County, the investigation showed.

    Blackwood found that Baumgartner had failed to fulfill a fundamental task of a judge: affirming the jury's verdicts as a 13th juror. Blackwood, retired from a career in West Tennessee as a judge and now hearing appointed cases as a senior judge, also ruled that he was unable to weigh in as a 13th juror himself in the convictions because Baumgartner's credibility was so doubtful.

    As a result, Blackwood ordered new trials Dec. 1 for Davidson, Cobbins and Thomas that were set to start this summer.

    Knox County prosecutors did not contest the possible need for a new trial in Coleman's case. Baumgartner appeared intoxicated when a jury foreman tried to return Coleman's verdict in May 2010 in Knox County Criminal Court, and the former judge has said he was under the influence of Xanax at the time.

    Taking the case on an emergency basis, the state's highest court found fault with Blackwood's reasoning.

    Justices said Blackwood was too hasty in finding that Baumgartner's conduct was so bad it rendered the criminal trials flawed.

    No proof has been offered to show Baumgartner acted so poorly in the courtroom or made such bad decisions in the trials that Davidson, Thomas and Cobbins were denied justice, the court ruled. No defense attorney raised such objections for the record.

    "We are aware of no authority holding that a trial judge's misconduct outside the courtroom constitutes structural error when there is no showing or indication in the record that the trial judge's misconduct affected the trial proceedings," the court's ruling states.

    Further, the justices found, Blackwood erred in citing credibility issues with both the witnesses who testified as well as Baumgartner's credibility in stating that he couldn't step up and decide as a 13th juror whether the verdicts were just.

    "We are aware of no authority holding that an original trial judge's credibility is an appropriate factor for a successor judge (such as Blackwood) to consider when determining whether he is able to perform the 13th juror review," the court said Thursday.

    Rather, the court said, Blackwood should have focused on witness credibility in deciding if he could step in as a 13th juror.

    Justices directed Blackwood to "expeditiously" decide whether he can weigh in on the verdicts for Davidson, Cobbins and Thomas.

    If Blackwood decides that he cannot, then he's obliged to grant the men new trials, according to the court.

    If he decides he can serve as a 13th juror and can consider the defense's motions for a new trial, "he may do so," according to the court.

    The state attorney general appealed Blackwood's decision on behalf of Knox County prosecutors, prompting the state Supreme Court's decision Thursday.

    "We are pleased with the Supreme Court's timely decision," said Sharon Curtis-Flair, spokeswoman for Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper. "We are confident that the court's guidance will assist the trial court in its reconsideration of motions for new trial in these cases."

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    No murder can be so cruel that there are not still useful imbeciles who do gloss over the murderer and apologize.

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    Coleman jury to resume deliberations on Tuesday

    Jurors serving in the controversial retrial of Vanessa Coleman went home Monday night after deliberating for about two hours. Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood charged the in the afternoon by reading through each of the 17th counts against Coleman.

    The jury is from Jackson in West Tennessee. It is made up of four African American women, two Caucasian women, three African American men and three Caucasian men.

    Jurors are charged with making unanimous decisions on the counts against Coleman. The 17 counts have to do with the kidnapping, rape, murder, and theft of Channon Christian between January 6-7, 2007. There are dozens of verdict combinations the jury can come up with, which means it could take them some time to reach unanimous decisions on the charges.

    For perspective, it took the jury around 12 hours to reach verdicts in Coleman's initial trial in 2010. Then, the jury had to decide on 32 counts; 17 having to do with Christian's death and 15 having to do with Newsom's death. The jury acquitted Coleman on the Newsom counts. They found her guilty of the other counts; she is currently serving a 53 year sentence for those.

    Ultimately, in the retrial, the burden of proof is on the state, and much of the evidence is circumstantial. The defense has maintained that Coleman is a victim who was scared of the other suspects: Lemaricus Davidson, Letalvis Cobbins and George Thomas.

    Channon Christian's parents have sat through every day of the five day trial. They believe prosecutors effectively argued the case against Coleman's defense team.

    "If the jury is playing attention, there's no other verdict but guilty," said Deena Christian.

    "I can't get over the fact that in our justice system, we can sit in a criminal court room and listen to people lie all day long," said Gary Christian, referring to the defense's interpretation of some of the evidence and testimony prosecutors put forth in the case.

    Closing arguments

    Both sides in Vanessa Coleman's controversial retrial presented their closing arguments to the court on Monday, and the case will go to the jury sometime in the afternoon.

    Prosecutor TaKisha Fitzgerald laid out what happened in the days before and after Channon Christian and Chris Newsom were murdered on January 7, 2007.

    Fitzgerald told the court, "If she was not a part of it, she would have left."

    That's the essence of the state's case: that Coleman knew what was going down, had several chances to leave, and chose not to leave or get help.

    Prosecutors have presented one piece of evidence as central to Coleman's guilt. Police found her journal with her in Kentucky in the days after the murders. She had written about her "adventures in Tennessee." A handwriting expert told the court earlier this week that the writing in the journal for that entry matched Coleman's handwriting sample.

    Knox Co. Assistant District Attorney Leland Price read part of that entry to jurors today, a photograph of it was shown on a big screen in the courtroom.

    Price read Coleman's words, "Although a lot of this is new to me, life is a trip. It's amazing how things play its own role. Life is interesting now and full of surprises, even very unexpected. Things happen that you don't expect."

    Then Price asked the jury, "Now, does this sound like someone that's been held hostage and witnesses another one brutally murdered?"

    Prosecutors want the jury to believe there's no way Christian didn't scream during her rapes & there is no way Coleman didn't hear Christian.

    Last week, the state established that Coleman heard Christian pleading with ring-leader Lemaricus Davidson at one point after he kidnapped Christian, "No! Don't! Stop!"

    Defense attorney Ted Lavit argued that Coleman did not play a role in the murders other than being present when Christian was killed. He hammered to the jury that "mere presence" is not a crime.

    "I think she was a hostage herself...Any evidence that Vanessa watched that girl?," Lavit asked the jury.

    The defense wants the jury to believe that Coleman was a victim in the crimes, too, that Cobbins and Davidson were controlling and threatening her, too, and that she was too scared to try to leave when she may have had a chance.

    "Vanessa Coleman did not commit a crime. She didn't render substantial assistance because mere presence is no more than Tom Robinson's in the home of Miss May Ella," Lavit argued.

    Lavit argued the state doesn't have enough substantial evidence on Coleman to support its case.

    "The killers spoke in whispers. Cobbins and Thomas took turns watching and reporting to Davidson. They were look-outs for Davidson," Lavit reminded the jury.

    Closing arguments come after the state called 49 witnesses (that includes two pieces of reenacted testimony from previous interviews) throughout the first four days of the trial last week.

    The defense called its only two witnesses this morning, Coleman's parents, Greg and Linda, after Coleman told Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood she "refused" to testify on her own behalf.

    Coleman is being retried for facilitating the rape and murder of Christian. A jury previously acquitted her of 15 charges for her role in Newsom's kidnapping, rape, and murder in 2010. She cannot be retried for those because of double jeopardy. Coleman's retrial is a result of the judge in her original trial later admitting he abused prescription pills while on the bench.

    Jurors are due back in court Tuesday at 9 a.m. to continue their deliberations.

    Previous Story

    Update 11:20 am. The defense has rested its case. Prosecutor TaKisha Fitzgerald is presenting her closing argument. The jury is expected to the get the case this afternoon.

    Previous story

    Vanessa Coleman's defense team got their turn Monday morning to call witnesses to the stand in her controversial retrial. But, first defense attorney Ted Lavit asked Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood to dismiss the charges against Coleman due to insufficient evidence. Blackwood declined the Rule 29 request.

    Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood asked Coleman if she was aware that it is her right as a defendant not to testify on her own behalf. She acknowledged she understood. Coleman replied, "I refuse not to testify, Your Honor," when Judge Blackwood asked her if she intended to testify.

    Lavit's first defense witness was Coleman's father, Greg Coleman. He testified about bringing Coleman to Knoxville 10 days after the murders of Channon Christian and Chris Newsom. Coleman, and her mother, Linda, were subpoenaed to testify before the federal Grand Jury in Knoxville.

    Greg Coleman told the court that ATF Agent Bernard Waggoner, Knoxville Police Detective Todd Childress, and another law enforcement official took Vanessa on a ride-along around Knoxville. Officers wanted Coleman to identify locations associated with the murders; Mr. Coleman also on the ride. Mr. Coleman said Vanessa was unable to identify any of the locations officers drove her to, including the apartment complex where the car jacking and kidnappings of Christian and Newsom occurred.

    Most of Mr. Coleman's testimony was in regard to Vanessa initially being a federal witness in the crimes. Mr. Coleman did not take the stand in Vanessa's initial trial in 2010.

    During the state's cross-examination, Prosecutor Leland Price honed in on the days after police initially questioned Coleman in Kentucky about the crimes, before she was subpoenaed to Knox County.

    The defense also called Vanessa Coleman's mother, Linda, to the stand. She was subpoenaed to testify before the federal Grand Jury in Knoxville, along with Vanessa, and her oldest daughter. Mrs. Coleman was present for several interviews Vanessa did with law enforcement throughout January 2006.

    It is likely both sides will deliver closing arguments later Monday. Then the jury gets the case and will begin deliberations.

    Previous story

    After being sequestered during the weekend, the jury in Vanessa Coleman's retrial will be back in court Monday morning at 9:00 a.m.

    Coleman is being tried for her role in the murder of Channon Christian in 2007.

    The judge who presided over her initial trial in 2010 plead guilty to "official misconduct" during that time and has since resigned from the bench.

    Friday night, prosecutors rested their case which included testimony from 49 witnesses.

    The most significant piece of information to come out in court on Friday is Coleman admitting in separate tape-recorded interviews with authorities that she took Christian's pulse after Lemaricus Davidson choked Christian. Coleman also said in those recordings that Davidson made her do it.

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    No murder can be so cruel that there are not still useful imbeciles who do gloss over the murderer and apologize.

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    Knox prosecutor doesn't shut the door on future charges in torture slayings

    By Jamie Satterfield
    The Tennessean

    The Knox County District Attorney General's office is refusing to present to a grand jury evidence against a fifth suspect in the January 2007 torture slayings of a young couple.

    Hugh Newsom met with District Attorney General Charme Allen armed with a thick analysis of circumstantial evidence against Eric Boyd in the killings of his son, Christopher Newsom, and Newsom's girlfriend, Channon Christian, and asked her to present the case to a Knox County grand jury for consideration of charges, including murder. She refused.

    Boyd is serving an 18-year federal prison sentence for hiding out Lemaricus Davidson, convicted and on death row as the ringleader of the slayings of Newsom, 23, and Christian, 21. The couple was carjacked at an apartment complex off Washington Pike, bound, held hostage, beaten, tortured, raped and slain. Davidson's brother, Letalvis Cobbins, is serving life without parole in the case, as is his friend, George Thomas. Cobbins' girlfriend, Vanessa Coleman, is serving 35 years.

    All three men implicated Boyd in the crimes. Boyd's own statement to authorities was rich in details, particularly about the carjacking, though he denied being there. Since the case's inception, federal and state authorities privately have been at odds over the state's failure to prosecute Boyd for murder, though bits of it have surfaced in the 10 years since all five suspects were arrested. Also from the start, Hugh Newsom and wife Mary Newsom have been convinced it was Boyd who raped their son, killed and burned him.

    Allen contends she, like her predecessor, does not believe there is enough evidence against Boyd to allow a grand jury to review it, according to Deputy District Attorney General Kyle Hixson.

    "The decision was made in 2007 that there was not enough evidence to charge Eric Boyd with the murders of Channon Christian and Chris Newsom," Hixson said. "Nevertheless, General Allen treats this as an open investigation, and she continues to dedicate staff and resources to the case. Our extensive efforts have not revealed enough evidence to date that would alter the conclusion initially reached 10 years ago. The investigation is ongoing, however, and General Allen is dedicated to working every angle of this case and looking into new leads as they may arise."

    The statement did not address specific questions from the News Sentinel about issues raised by Hugh Newsom, including a comparison he makes to the evidence in another murder case being prosecuted by Allen.

    Hugh Newsom argues there is more evidence against Boyd than Thomas. But there is one big difference between the cases of the other four suspects and Boyd. Older than the others, he is a criminal from way back, and he beat the justice system once. The other four admitted they were in the Chipman Street house where the couple were held hostage. Boyd didn't.

    Boyd's violent history

    Boyd, 44, is a Knoxville native. He's also a Knoxville criminal. In 1994, Boyd embarked on a violent robbery spree that included the attempted murder of a witness and, once behind bars, assaults on other inmates and threats to prison guards. There was lots of gun play in the robberies. He was sentenced in 1995 to 20 years in prison. In 2002, he was set free. The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals ruled the state breached its plea deal with Boyd when it gave another defendant a better deal.

    Boyd made clear in court back then he believed his co-defendant in the robberies got special treatment because he was white and could afford a private lawyer. Boyd was black and too poor to hire an attorney, so he had court-appointed counsel, and he argued well before the appellate court ruled in his favor he was being denied justice because he was black. The appellate court didn't weigh in on the racial divide but made note of it.

    By early 2006, Boyd had met up with ex-con Davidson, and the pair were pulling off drug-related home invasions and robberies, testimony has shown. They weren't identified or arrested, though. In late December 2006, Cobbins came to visit his brother for the holidays at Davidson's Chipman Street house. He brought Thomas and Coleman. They, too, met Boyd through Davidson.

    On Jan. 6, 2007, Davidson, a drug dealer, needed a car and money, and he turned to his pal Boyd for help. Boyd borrowed a car from a relative. Hours later, Christian and Newsom were being held hostage. A garbage truck driver saw the car parked outside Davidson's house right alongside Christian's Toyota SUV.

    The case against Boyd

    David Jennings, a veteran federal prosecutor who now supervises an entire unit of prosecutors, has made no bones in court about his belief Boyd was with Davidson, Cobbins and Thomas when the couple was carjacked, in the house when the couple was forced inside, raped Newsom and helped drag him via a dog collar chain to his death. He does not speak publicly about the case.

    Jennings headed up the federal prosecution of Boyd for harboring Davidson. After a debate, the details of which have never been made public, the U.S. Attorney's Office decided to leave the prosecution in the slayings themselves to the office of now-retired District Attorney General Randy Nichols.

    Nichols refused to seek an indictment against Boyd. He argued he didn't have enough evidence.

    But Jennings offered Nichols a blueprint on prosecuting Boyd for murder in the case he presented to a federal jury on the harboring charge. Jennings and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Stone had to prove the couple was slain to prove Boyd knew the guy he was hiding out - Davidson - was a wanted murder suspect.

    The following is a detailing of circumstantial evidence against Boyd culled from testimony at the federal trial and hearings in the state court prosecutions of the other suspects:

    Boyd's relative loaned him her white Sunbird on the day Christian and Newsom went missing. Davidson had no car, so he would have had to walk from Chipman Street several miles away or hitch a ride to kidnap the couple. Xavier Jenkins, a driver for a garbage company located across the road from Davidson's house, saw that car parked next to Christian's vehicle outside Davidson's house after the couple were kidnapped. He was emphatic in his testimony that the Sunbird Boyd's relative loaned him was the same car he saw. He gave details on the car, including a pin stripe color. He also saw four men inside Christian's vehicle as it drove past him. The Sunbird was still outside the house.

    Not long after Jenkins saw them, another Chipman Street resident heard three gunshots coming from the area around nearby railroad tracks. Newsom was shot three times alongside those railroad tracks. His body wasn't discovered for several more hours. Testimony has suggested Newsom was tied up on the floor board of Christian's vehicle as it drove past Jenkins.

    On Jan. 8, 2007 - with Newsom dead but Christian still alive inside Davidson's house - Davidson's girlfriend said Boyd was sitting in the living room with Cobbins and Thomas. Coleman was nowhere to be found. Authorities believe she had Christian in the bathroom so Davidson's girlfriend Daphne Sutton wouldn't see her. Boyd said little, she recalled. Sutton has insisted she had no idea what had happened since she left Davidson two days earlier after a fight. He often beat her. She has been a star witness, not suspect, since the case began. There is no evidence of any involvement by her in the crimes.

    Soon after Sutton left, Christian was forced alive into a trash can in the kitchen, where she suffocated. Davidson called Sutton for a ride. She agreed. A day later, she would drop him off near a housing project off Western Avenue. He met up with Boyd at an apartment in the housing project. When Davidson's picture flashed on a television screen as a murder suspect, Boyd had no reaction.

    Boyd was arrested on his way to bring Davidson food after holing up his friend at a vacant house on Reynolds Street the pair burglarized. Davidson was nabbed a short time later. Boyd denied any role in the crimes against the couple. He had no alibi, and he had lots of details about exactly what happened in that parking lot where the couple was initially confronted.

    He said the carjackers saw the couple standing near Christian's vehicle. They were kissing and, therefore, distracted, and Boyd said that made them perfect targets. According to Boyd's statement, the carjackers only intended to take the Toyota but pushed the couple inside when headlights from an approaching vehicle spooked them.

    But Boyd insisted every detail he had came from Davidson while the two spent time together in the vacant house. There was one other bit of circumstantial evidence on Boyd's phone. DNA made clear it was Davidson and Cobbins who raped Christian. But the burning of Newsom's body destroyed DNA evidence in his rape. Boyd had images of gay pornography on his phone.

    Deal #1 derails

    The Newsoms pushed Nichols to prosecute Boyd in the killings. Under U.S. Supreme Court rulings, Nichols could not use the statements of Davidson, Cobbins or Thomas against Boyd. Nichols insisted he needed one of them to testify, and the only way he could get that testimony was to make a deal with one of them. He had already filed a death notice for each.

    Hugh Newsom was amenable to some sort of deal for at least one of the suspects. Not a get-out-of-jail-free card, the father said, just an agreement to take the death penalty off the table. Christian's father, Gary Christian, was opposed to any deal. Hugh Newsom said Nichols tried to sway Christian's father by saying a life without parole sentence meant the killers would be alone in a cell for 23 hours a day.

    The families wanted to see exactly what life was like for maximum security inmates in Tennessee's prisons. A visit was arranged at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution just outside Nashville. What those families saw shocked them, Hugh Newsom said. Inmates were milling around, playing sports and games.

    "They were having a good time, laughing, telling jokes," he said.

    The warden told the families even maximum security inmates are given freedom outside their cells each day. There is no 23-hour lockdown - unless an inmate gets in trouble or is in need of protection. Hugh Newsom said Gary Christian was incensed.

    "Before we got out of the parking lot, Gary was on the phone with Nichols," he said.

    There would be no plea deals.

    Deal #2 collapses

    The Newsoms began writing letters to Cobbins not long after he was convicted. Cobbins was the only suspect who took the stand. The Newsoms said they figured he might be willing to take it again - against Boyd. Last year, the Newsoms finally got a chance to sit down with him, albeit separated by plexiglass. Hugh Newsom made his appeal to a man who helped torture and kill his son.

    "He was very cordial," Hugh Newsom said. "He was going to testify against Boyd."

    But Cobbins dashed the Newsoms' hope soon after, claiming prison guards had been beating him up ever since he met with the families of the couple.

    "Unless he got a reduced sentence, he said he wouldn't cooperate," Hugh Newsom said.

    Once again, Gary Christian balked at a deal. None was offered.

    A while back, a stranger from California reached out to the Newsoms. He had been following the case and reviewing every public detail. He had a background in investigation. He presented them with a report outlining the circumstantial evidence against Boyd. Hugh Newsom held on to it for a bit, but then he saw a story in the News Sentinel about another murder case built entirely on circumstantial evidence.

    Grand jury review rebuked

    Norman Clark was accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend and their unborn son in December 2011. The only forensic proof was a fingerprint his defense attorney easily explained away. An expert put his phone within a mile of the killing around the time it was committed, but no witness saw him near the scene on the night in question. Clark had a partial alibi, and he denied the slayings. The state's strongest evidence was motive, arguing Clark was the only one with reason to kill his girlfriend.

    Under the direction of current DA Allen, Clark was tried in the murder. A jury voted 11-1 to acquit. Despite that, Allen last year announced her office would again prosecute Clark. A second trial is set for later this year.

    Hugh Newsom said he grabbed that file from the California man and asked for a meeting with Allen. She was flanked, he said, by two other prosecutors he did not know and Leland Price, one of two prosecutors in the trials of Davidson and the others.

    "We kind of begged her, please prosecute Eric Boyd," Hugh Newsom said.

    Allen asked for time to review it. Unlike a trial in which a unanimous acquittal bars the state from trying a suspect anew, if a grand jury rejects a murder case against Boyd, the state can try again with a different panel for as long as Boyd is alive. But she refused to present it.

    "We just run into a brick wall, trying to convince them," he said. "Take it to a grand jury. If they say no, we're satisfied."

    Boyd is serving his federal sentence at a low security work camp in Mississippi. Hugh Newsom said he's in protective custody. The News Sentinel could not confirm that. His freedom is guaranteed in 2022, though he could shave some time off for good behavior.

    http://www.tennessean.com/story/news...ings/96237052/

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    Prosecutors look to Eric Boyd's past in future trial in Christian, Newsom torture slayings

    By Jamie Satterfield
    USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

    Prosecutors want to use Eric Boyd’s violent past against him if he testifies but haven’t yet said if they’ll seek his life if he is convicted in the January 2007 torture slayings of an innocent Knox County couple he didn’t even know.

    Boyd, 46, was charged in March via a sealed 36-count presentment with crimes including first-degree murder in the kidnapping, torture, rape and killing of Christopher Newsom, 23, and his girlfriend, Channon Christian, 21, in January 2007.

    Knox County Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee has set a status hearing in the case on Wednesday. Prosecutors Leland Price and TaKisha Fitzgerald have not yet filed notice of whether they will seek the death penalty against Boyd.

    Past is new

    But the duo are making plans to use Boyd’s history as a lifelong criminal against him should he choose to testify.

    The pair have filed a notice on defense attorney Clinton Frazier that should Boyd testify, they will bring up his convictions in a 1994 violent robbery spree that included the attempted murder of a witness and, once behind bars, assaults on other inmates and threats to prison guards.

    Newsom and Christian were standing in a parking lot of a North Knoxville apartment complex when a group of armed men confronted them, pushed them inside Christian’s SUV, bound, gagged and blindfolded them, and forced them inside the Chipman Street home of Lemaricus Davidson.

    Newsom’s burned, bullet-riddled body was found alongside nearby railroad tracks the next day. Christian’s battered body was found inside a trash can in Davidson’s kitchen two days later.

    First arrested, last charged

    Boyd was the first person to be arrested — accused of hiding out Davidson in a vacant house in Northwest Knoxville. He gave authorities vivid details about the kidnapping but insisted Davidson supplied his information. He denied any involvement.

    Davidson, on the other hand, conceded he saw some of the crimes committed against the couple but insisted he had no direct role. His brother, Letalvis Cobbins, likewise placed himself inside the Chipman Street home when the couple were being held. So, too, did Cobbins’ girlfriend, Vanessa Coleman, and his friend George Thomas.

    That quartet’s confession of presence during at least some of the crimes led to murder charges for each. Davidson was later sentenced to die. Cobbins and Thomas were convicted and sentenced to die behind bars. Coleman, convicted of lesser crimes, is serving 35 years.

    Boyd, though, escaped that round of state charges. Instead, federal prosecutors mounted a case against him for hiding out Davidson and lying to authorities. Chief U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan in 2008 ordered Boyd to serve 18 years in federal prison.

    He was still behind federal bars when Knox County District Attorney General Charme Allen decided earlier this year to authorize the murder charges filed against him in March. The office hasn’t yet said what new evidence, if any, against Boyd led to the decision to charge him more than 11 years after the killings.

    Pushing, waiting

    Newsom’s parents, Hugh and Mary Newsom, have long pushed for charges against Boyd and even visited Cobbins in prison after his conviction in hopes he would testify. He refused — without a deal that would allow him freedom.

    Cobbins and Thomas implicated Boyd in their statements to authorities, but those statements can’t be used as evidence against him. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled defendants have the right to confront their accusers via the witness stand, not through unchallenged statements of co-defendants.

    The witness list in the presentment against Boyd suggests his own words will be used as evidence against him. A Blount County Sheriff’s Office technology director, two BCSO corrections officers and a former BCSO jail investigator are listed as witnesses.

    Boyd was housed in the Blount County Jail soon after the murders, and remained there until he was convicted in federal court.

    https://eu.knoxnews.com/story/news/c...ngs/668579002/
    In the Shadow of Your Wings
    1 A Prayer of David. Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

  8. #8
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Hearing for accused Christian-Newsome killer delayed

    By Bridgette Bjorlo
    WATE 6 On Your Side

    A status hearing for the man accused in the 2007 double murder of Chris Newsome and Channon Christian has been rescheduled to July 31, bringing another delay to the decade-old crime.

    "We've been pushing for 11 and a half years to bring it to this point," Hugh Newsome, Chris Newsome's father, said. "We never gave up, but we went through a lot of problems in getting [here]."

    The Newsomes want a murder conviction for Eric Boyd. They believe he killed their son Chris in 2007, when police say Boyd and a group of friends carjacked Chris and his girlfriend Channon Christian before kidnapping them.

    Boyd is the only one out of that group who has not been convicted for the rape and torture killings of the young couple.

    "He was just as guilty as the rest of them and should have been tried like the rest of them were," Mary Newsome, mother of Chris Newsome, said. "I don't see how anybody would feel he wasn't guilty and there for the whole thing. It was his car that started the whole thing. If it wasn't for his car, there would have been a crime."

    Boyd spent the last decade in federal prison for hiding his friend and ringleader Lemaricus Davidson, the man sentenced to death for his role in the crime. But Boyd never faced murder charges in the case until this year.

    "I'd like to get it started to where we can get it done and put Eric Boyd behind us," Gary Christian, father of Channon Christian, said.

    At his scheduled status hearing, the court said Boyd recently came down with an illness that requires treatment, only slowing down the case. But the victims' families hope the delay is not for long and the trial date stays on schedule in September.

    "The reason I would like it to be September is Chris' birthday is September and that would be a good birthday present for him," Mary Newsome said, "to get some justice for him."

    After more than 11 years, the Newsomes and the Christians said justice will never truly be serviced until Boyd pays the price for the pain and suffering he caused.

    "There are two concerns... one, that we get a guilty verdict on Boyd for Chris' death and also so that he never puts his feet on the streets again, because he'll hurt someone else," Christian said. "There's no doubt in my mind."

    Still to be decided is whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Eric Boyd's case. Christian said he would be okay with either option, because Davidson did get the death penalty and yet is still alive to this day.

    "Whether they put him away for life without parole or the death penalty... the way Davidson's case is going... might as well be life without parole," Christian said. "I'm just hoping I live long enough to see the day that they execute him."

    http://www.wate.com/news/local-news/...yed/1222503178
    In the Shadow of Your Wings
    1 A Prayer of David. Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

  9. #9
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Trial date set for one of suspects in 2007 Christian/Newsom Torture Murders

    By Fuzzy Slippers
    Legal Insurrection (blog)

    Eric Boyd is currently serving a federal sentence for harboring ringleader Lemaricus Davidson.

    The heart-wrenching, tragic final hours of Channon Christian (21) and Christopher Newsom (23) haunt me even today, almost twelve years after they endured an almost incomprehensible level of abuse, rape, and torture before finally dying at the hands of their brutal killers.

    On the ten-year anniversary of their horrific ordeal, I wrote:

    On January 7, 2007, the young white couple—Channon was 21, her boyfriend Chris was 23—was abducted, beaten, raped, tortured, and murdered. Chris eventually shot to death before being set on fire, and Channon left to die with a plastic bag over her head in a trash can. The perpetrators were all black.
    Here are Channon and Chris:

    Eric Boyd, pictured in the featured image, has been convicted of harboring the ringleader Lemaricus Davidson, also pictured above, and is currently serving his sentence for that crime.

    In March of this year, the Knox County DAG “sought and secured murder and kidnapping indictments against Boyd” and was eventually granted a January 3, 2019 trial date.

    Boyd has now been granted a new trial date—August 5, 2019—on 36 counts, including first degree felony murder.

    WBIR reports:

    The man long suspected of helping kidnap and murder a young Knoxville couple out on a date in January 2007 is getting a new trial date.

    Authorities have long suspected Boyd, a friend of Davidson’s, took part in the kidnappings and killings. In March 2018, the Knox County district attorney general sought and secured murder and kidnapping indictments against Boyd.

    Eric Boyd will now face trial in Knox County Criminal Court on Aug. 5, 2019, in what will likely be at least a two-week trial. He had been set for a January trial, but considering the complexity of the case and the fact that he was just indicted in March 2018, the case likely was going to be put off.

    Judge Bob McGee agreed to delay the trial Wednesday and also set several check-back dates in the interim.

    McGee also agreed to hold off on sending Boyd, who was present Wednesday, back to federal prison in Yazoo City, Miss. Boyd is serving a federal, 18-year sentence for harboring the ringleader in the 2007 killings, and has been shuttled back and forth several times to court while in federal custody.

    According to Knox News, Boyd hadn’t been indicted on kidnapping or murder charges earlier due to a lack of a confession and/or of evidence.

    Boyd was convicted in April 2008 of hiding Davidson in the days after the slaying. Chief U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan sentenced him to the maximum 18-year prison term for harboring Davidson. State trials led to convictions in the slayings against Davidson, Cobbins, Thomas and Coleman. But Boyd remained uncharged.

    . . . . A serial robber with a penchant for gun play, Boyd was quickly implicated in the entirety of the crimes committed against the couple by Cobbins, Coleman, Thomas and Davidson. But their statements could not be used against Boyd under the law without corroborating evidence.

    Boyd himself recalled vivid details of the couple’s carjacking when interviewed by investigators soon after the slayings, even though he insisted he wasn’t there and instead heard an account by Davidson.

    He said the couple were kissing and therefore distracted when the carjackers surrounded them. He also said the carjacking turned into a kidnapping when the carjackers were surprised by headlights as a car approached. Boyd was the only suspect to offer that kind of detail.

    According to an earlier WBIR report, “Prosecutors said that they will not seek the death penalty in the case.”

    https://legalinsurrection.com/2018/1...rture-murders/
    In the Shadow of Your Wings
    1 A Prayer of David. Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

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