Rev. [148] Newsom's mother also disagreed with the assertion that the offenders were not motivated by racism. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Both were forced into the backseat of Christian's SUV at gunpoint, had their hands tied behind their backs, and were taken to Davidson's house at 2316 Chipman Street. [77], Coleman's lawyers argued that she should receive a 20-year sentence, while prosecutors asked for the maximum sentence of nearly 50 years. Mileusnic-Polchan, began testifying about the injuries sustained by Channon Christian, but U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan delayed that testimony until tomorrow after defense attorney Phil Lomonaco tried to block the testimony entirely, citing its graphic nature. "[147], Some commentators disagreed, claiming that such a crime represented motives of racial hatred. These convictions were on lesser charges than her initial convictions. He saw four black men in the car. Coleman is currently serving a 35-year prison sentence set to end in 2036, officials said. Police also recovered an envelope from the vehicle that yielded fingerprint evidence leading them to LeMaricus Davidson of 2316 Chipman Street, an address two blocks from Christian's car. Because we were good friends I knew something wasn't right.". "We've been through the worst. [50][54] A comforter was wrapped around Newsom's body, and a sweatshirt was wrapped around his head. My brother did something.' They were kidnapped the evening of January 6, 2007 when Christian's vehi Show more Show more. The foundation holds an annual memorial baseball tournament at the Halls Community Park. Boyd said Davidson pinned the killings on Thomas. Channon Christian, 21, a Farragut High School graduate and University of Tennessee senior, was hog-tied and stuffed alive inside a trash can, where she slowly suffocated. On January 6, 2007, Newsom and Christian were abducted at gunpoint in an apartment complex parking lot and taken to what Witt calls a "house of horrors" where they were beaten, tortured, sexually. Background. [3][7], Channon Gail Christian (born April 29, 1985, in Nacogdoches, Texas) moved from Louisiana to Tennessee with her family in 1997. The memorial service is a way for Channon's family and friends, as well as members of the community, to gather in. The pair were abducted from the Washington Ridge apartment complex in Knoxville, Tennessee. Those who committed this crime were unjust in doing so, and they should pay the penalty. [95][96], On August 25, 2009, Letalvis Cobbins was found guilty of the murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. She was worried it was me. [149], After the protest, columnist Leonard Pitts dismissed claims that the crime was under-reported. He pleaded guilty to official misconduct. He described the Jan. 7, 2007, encounter between the carjacking suspects and slain couple as entirely random. Thanks to lobbying from the families of the victims, two new laws were introduced in 2014 as a result of the case: Murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, Last edited on 28 February 2023, at 09:34, Pellissippi State Technical Community College, Federal Correctional Institution, Yazoo City, Federal Correctional Institution in Yazoo City, Mississippi, Federal Correctional Institution, Beckley, "Grand jury presentment in Christian/Newsom case", "5 things to know about the Christian-Newsom torture slayings", "Murders of Christopher Newsom and Channon Christian", "Transcript: Davidson says he told Christian he would 'make sure she got out', "10 years later: Remembering Christian-Newsom", "Fifth person charged in gruesome 2007 murders of young Knoxville couple", "Fourth suspect arrested in corpse-burning case", "4 death sentences for LeMaricus Davidson in Christian-Newsom murders", "Lemaricus Davidson gets 80 more years in torture-slaying case", "Cobbins convicted of first-degree murder", "Torture-slayings trial, Day 9: Victims' families: Jury 'let us down' with Letalvis Cobbins verdict", "The verdicts in the George Thomas trial", "George Thomas gets life without parole for Christian-Newsom murders", "Coleman gets 53 years; judge rejects innocent defense", "Newsoms thank George Thomas for testifying against Eric Boyd as judge approves reduced sentence", "LIST: Here's what Eric Boyd was found guilty of in deaths of Channon Christian & Chris Newsom", "Special judge grants new trials for torture-slaying defendants, cites Baumgartner's conduct", New trial dates set for Channon Christian/Chris Newsom defendants in Knoxville, "Tennessee Supreme Court overturns new trial rulings in Christian-Newsom murders", "Judge sentences Vanessa Coleman to 35 years", "Judge's order ensures George Thomas will die in prison for 2007 torture-slayings", "Christopher Newsom and Channon Christian Brutally Murdered As the Nation Looks on", "Critics say news media ignoring Knoxville couple slaying", "Media criticized in slayings with racial overtone", "Time no cure for pain in torture slayings of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom", "From rage to restoration, murder victim's father finds faith", "Christian, Newsom memorialized with scholarships", "The Last Suspect: 'I've Always Had a Mother's Instinct That He Was The One Who Murdered My Son', "Judge warns victim's family about comments to defense attorneys", "Timeline of the Channon Christian-Christopher Newsom murders", "TENN. MAN FACING FOUND GUILTY OF 36 CHARGES IN HORRIFIC 2007 KIDNAPPING, RAPE AND MURDER OF YOUNG COUPLE", "In torture slaying trial, each side interprets evidence differently", "Consent argued in torture-slaying trial", "Graphic details emerge in Christian-Newsom killings", "Christian-Newsom Torture Murder Case: Attending Vanessa Coleman's Retrial", "Horror of Christian/Newsom killings in focus: What happened on Chipman Street", "Guilty again: New trial, similar outcome for Coleman in slaying", "Young Couple, Gruesome Murder, Was it A Hate Crime? Later, at around 11:00 pm, two of Newsom's friends went to the apartment where the couple had been kidnapped and found Newsom's truck in the parking lot. We see this as a cold-blooded murder. Conservative political commentator Michelle Malkin repeated this opinion on her blog and on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor program. 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. [47] ON January 6, 2007, 15 years ago this week, a young White couple, Christopher Newsom and his girlfriend Channon Christian, went to visit a friend in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Board of Parole has also denied granting Coleman parole in the past. Horrifying facts and disturbing details about real cases that shocked. "Sexual trauma was present," she testified. With Bill Graves, Kendra Maples, Scott Brooks, Channon Christian. The Horrific Torture & Murders of Channon Christian & Christopher Newsom | by Criminal Matters | Jan, 2023 | Medium 500 Apologies, but something went wrong on our end. One of the charges against the 41-year-old Moore is torture. According to the testimony of the Knox County Acting Medical Examiner, Newsom was sodomized with an object and raped by a minimum of one of the perpetrators. They were kidnapped the evening of January 6, 2007 when Christian's vehicle was carjacked, and taken to a rental house, where both of them were raped, tortured, and murdered. The assailants then covered her in bleachin what forensic investigators believe wasan effort to conceal DNA evidence. [24][115][116], In 2014 the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals denied Coleman's request for a new trial and upheld her sentence. Prosecutors filed to have Judge Blackwood recused from the case, citing Blackwood's emotional involvement, his ex parte communication with the defense, lack of candor with the local media, and Supreme Court guidance that recusal should be considered before any other action. KNOXVILLE - The gates of Tennessee's only death row prison opened wide for Lemaricus Davidson tonight, hours after a Knox County jury sentenced him to die for his role as the ringleader in the January 2007 carjacking, torture and killings of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. [100], On December 8, 2009, George Thomas was found guilty on multiple counts. [14], On October 28, 2009, Lemaricus Davidson was found guilty. Boyd directed them to a vacant house. [116][140], Cobbins and Thomas were originally incarcerated at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. So horrific and evil. Davidson's prints were also found on a box of garbage bags. He denied a change of venue but allowed for jurors to be brought in from outside Knox County. [47][48][49][50][59][60] According to Davidson's confession, during Christian's captivity, she said she "didn't want to die. "This was the worst crime Knoxville had experienced," Hugh Newsom told producers. He was a member of Beaver Dam Baptist Church and a graduate of Halls High School, Class of . She will be up for parole again in 2020. A woman accused him of trading legal favors for sex during breaks in court sessions. [21], Blackwood set retrials for between June and November 2012, pending appeals, and set bail at $1 million for Coleman, the only defendant whose sentence had the possibility of parole. Forensic evidence indicated both Davidson and Thomas fired shots, and Davidson was ultimately responsible forNewsom's demise. 23. "We have no evidence to support the notion that this was a race-based crime. Cobbins faced the possibility of the death penalty because he was convicted of first-degree felony murder in the case of Christian. Tennessee courts convicted the five assailants on up to 38 counts, including capital murder, kidnap, rape, theft, accessory to carjacking, and accessory to murder. About twice as many counter-protesters as protestors attended, including the "Coup Cluts Clowns", an activist group which mocks the Ku Klux Klan. [20] He was immediately sentenced to life in prison by the judge, who stated that a life sentence was automatic for the murder conviction. The medical examiner testified at trial that there was evidence that Christian slowly suffocated to death. The bags had Davidson's prints. Both of them were raped, tortured, and murdered. "[17], The defendants in the four state cases from the 2000s all appealed their convictions. Davidson, he said, denied raping Christian but admitted choking her. Then, the men hogtied her with strips of fabric from a bedding set. Update: She wasdenied again in December 2020. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. "We do this for Channon," said Channon's mother, Deena. Christopher Newsom was either forced to walk barefoot or partially dragged with his ankles bound to the scene of his death, Knox County's acting medical examiner testified late this afternoon.. #searchbrowse-right {width:45%; float:left; margin: 0 2%; background: transparent;} He also told Russo it's possible Hayhurst may have been unconscious, because the autopsy revealed blunt-force trauma to the head. The couple's friends and families tried to find them, checking local hospitals and filing missing person reports. "He started telling me it was his house," she said. In testimony this afternoon, Danielle Lightfoot said that Boyd and Davidson showed up on her Ridgebrook Apartments doorstep late on Jan. 9, a Tuesday. He also admitted that Boyd later called him, asking Armstrong to give the pair a ride "down west.". #searchlist h2 a {color:#222; text-decoration:none; } Her ankles were bound with strips of bedding. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Christian and Newsom's families and friends searched the Cherry Street area and found Christian's abandoned Toyota 4Runner between 1:30 am and 2:00 am on Monday, January 8. Though the details are hard to hear, Beck told the couple's story in excruciating detail during his show on TheBlaze TV Tuesday. After a radio caller made him aware of the extremely disturbing story of Christopher Newsom and Channon Christian in Knoxville, Tenn., Glenn Beck researched the case and was horrified at what he found. Davidson claimed that he did not go past the living room and that he never raped Christian. He cited a 2001 report by the Berkeley Media Studies Group, which found that "Blacks and Latinos are underrepresented in news media as victims of crime and significantly overrepresented as perpetrators. So not only is there no evidence of any racial animus, there's evidence to the contrary. Their vehicle had been carjacked. No. KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- The judge ruled in a court hearing Thursday to keep most of the 70 disputed autopsy images (500 in all) the state wants as evidence in trials for the murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. She said she did not know Davidson as well as she knew Boyd. Friends and family of the murderers made websites claiming that Channon and Christopher actively wanted to be brutally raped and murdered. Unlike the other trials, owing to a long passage of time between the murders and this trial, the jury was empaneled in Knoxville and not sequestered. They were on their way to a birthday party when two unknown, armed assailants carjacked them for Christian's Toyota 4-Runner in the parking lot of her friends apartment complex. There was a blood stain on her shirt and a camisole underneath the shirt. They were unable to locate Christian's SUV. The following night, she had another date, this one ending in sex, she testified. The Tennessee couple was found raped and murdered in Knoxville, Tennessee. "One down. Co-defendant George Thomas testified as a witness in the Boyd trial. Newsom is believed to have been raped inside Davidson's house. While searching for Christian, authorities found her SUV abandoned near railroad tracks in East Knoxville - not far from where Newsom was discovered. Facts Leading to the Indictment Against Boyd On Saturday, January 6, 2007, Christophe r Newsom and his girlfriend, Channon Christian, drove to dinner and planned to attend a party. After the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex in Pikeville opened in 2012, they were transferred to that facility. Newsom was 23 years old when he was murdered.[30][32][34]. ", Victim's father: "One down, four to go" (extensive details of the crimes), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murders_of_Channon_Christian_and_Christopher_Newsom&oldid=1142067307, This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 09:34. Continue with Recommended Cookies. Let's talk about adventures! You took my opportunity to say yes to a young man one day. [131][132] In March 2022, the Tennessee Supreme Court denied Boyd another appeal of his convictions. The thugs tied her up inside the Chipman Street house of Lemaricus Davidson. "[147] Christian's father, addressing those whom he believes used his daughter's death to further their agenda, stated: "[the crime] ain't about you. On the night of January 6, 2007, two assailants carjacked Channon Christian, 21, and her boyfriend, Christopher Newsom, 23. A single mother, Sutton, 22, testified Friday that she left Davidson the day before Christian and Newsom were kidnapped because he had abused her. The thugs responsible for this crime are: The murders did not receive as much media attention as they should have, partly because the rape story at Duke University took precedence.if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'truecrimediva_com-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_11',112,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-truecrimediva_com-large-leaderboard-2-0'); I REFUSE to put pictures of the killers in this post. He was also convicted on charges of carjacking, robbery, and kidnapping. [13][97] On August 26, Cobbins was sentenced to life without parole. ul.searchbrowse li {margin:0 0 5%; font-size:0.75em; /* 12/16 */ } Photographs of the crimes caused some people in court to pass out. [I]t's a crazy world these days! The Murders. On the witness stand, she chalked it up to denial. Armstrong reluctantly acknowledged that he feared he might become a carjacking victim. [73] On January 11, Davidson was arrested in the vacant house. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Stone showed Armstrong phone records, detailing more than two dozen calls to Armstrong from Boyd's cellular phone from Jan. 9 until the arrest of Boyd and Davidson on Jan. 11. Newsom survived this shooting initially, but later was shot again in the head. [49][50][51][52][53][54], Christian was held prisoner inside Davidson's house, mostly in the north bedroom. On Saturday, January 6, 2007, Channon and Chris planned to have dinner together and then spend the . October 22, 2009 - 9:18am given a lesser sentence of 35 years in prison, The 1945 Disappearance of Thora Afton Chamberlain, Robert Pickton The Case of the Killer Pig Farmer, Bonnie Woodward: Grandmother missing since 2010, The Tragic Short Life of Florence Sally Horner. Forensic evidence channon and chris autopsy both Davidson and Thomas fired shots, and kidnapping } her ankles bound! Granting coleman parole in the four state cases from the 2000s all appealed their convictions and actively... 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