This sentence is to be served consecutively to the death penalty, while the death sentences are also consecutive. #searchbrowse-right {width:45%; float:left; margin: 0 2%; background: transparent;} Over eight months, each was tried independently on 46 charges including the kidnap, rape, and murder of Channon and Chris. [1][2][3] Four males and one female were arrested, charged, and convicted in the case. The Knoxville News-Sentinel reported, As Christopher lay paralyzed on the ground, the muzzle of a .22-caliber gun was placed against his covered head and fired. The front seats were pushed back, and Christian could not have reached the pedals. Tipton and McKnight pressed him for an alibi. 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. "We have no evidence to support the notion that this was a race-based crime. 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. The perpetrators attacked the couple in a parking lot near an apartment complex in Knoxville, TN. Cobbins is the first of four defendants to be tried. Waste Connections demolished the house in October 2008. [22] Due to double jeopardy, the defendants faced at maximum the sentences they had already received, and thus only Davidson was eligible for capital punishment. [3][51], Several items were missing from Christian's vehicle, including a teddy bear and photographs Christian kept there and her phone charger and iPod. "Starting a petition to indict Eric Boyd for his part in those horrible murders of Channon Christian and Chris Newsom, I thought it was the right thing to do," said Cowans. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . The judge immediately sentenced Boyd to life in prison as this was automatic for a murder conviction. [76] Coleman admitted to being present in the house during the crimes, claiming that she had been held hostage by the other defendants.[77]. The state argued that an impartial jury could be found during voir dire, and the presiding judge subsequently denied the motion as "premature". 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, they reportedly shot himmultiple times. Chris was tied up and removed to the train tracks. 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.. When they arrived, they saw an SUV with a female in the driver's seat. This will be the gruesome autopsy photos. CHRISTIAN, CHANNON GAIL - age 21 of Knoxville, passed away Sunday, January 7, 2007. He is greatly missed by his family and many friends. "I had a car," he said. About twice as many counter-protesters as protestors attended, including the "Coup Cluts Clowns", an activist group which mocks the Ku Klux Klan. [43][44][51][67][68][69][70], When police went to 2316 Chipman Street on Tuesday, January 9, they found the house unoccupied and Christian's body in a trash can in the kitchen. The thugs tied her up inside the Chipman Street house of Lemaricus Davidson. [11][99] In June 2010, Davidson was sentenced to 80 years for other charges related to the murders. [85] Judge Richard Baumgartner allowed Thomas and Cobbins to be tried by juries from Davidson County (which includes Nashville). By Jamie Satterfield of the Knoxville News Sentinel. "She said, 'Oh, my God, Daphne, they found a body in your house.' That afternoon, Christian went to a friend's apartment to get ready. On January 6, 2007,Channon Christian, 21 years old, a graduate from Farragut High School in Knoxville, TN. That's all he'd say.". Christian's and Newsom's mothers and Christian's father gave statements to the board opposing parole. [40], After Christian and Newsom did not show up at the party, the couple's friends began calling and texting them and received no response. "They told me thank you, gave me a hug and left," she testified. Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom were raped, tortured and killed on January 6, 2007 (Image: CBS) Inside Newsom was repeatedly sodomized with an object and then blindfolded, gagged, arms and feet bound and his head covered. Cobbins was sitting on a couch with "his head down." The medical examiner had just begun to describe were the most significant injuries located in the vaginal region when Varlan delayed her testimony. "The guy was wantin a ride," Armstrong said. Davidson's prints were also found on a box of garbage bags. Christian was bound in a hog-tied fashion with curtains and strips of bedding. [78], The four suspects indicted in Knox County were scheduled to be tried separately at trials between May and August 2008. Dr. Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan testified that Newsom, 23, was shot and would have been dead when his body was set on fire. On June 4, 2013, Judge Kurtz sentenced Thomas to two life sentences (consecutive) for the murders and 25 years (multiple concurrent) for the rapes. He was also sentenced to another 90 years for other crimes, including especially aggravated kidnapping, robbery and rape. [151][152] A memorial to Newsom and Christian was created at the location where the house once stood. During sentencing, Judge Baumgartner said the crime was "one of the most incredibly outrageous, cruel and inhumane cases this court has ever seen." Cobbins faced the possibility of the death penalty because he was convicted of first-degree felony murder in the case of Christian. [148] Newsom's mother also disagreed with the assertion that the offenders were not motivated by racism. [47][48][49] Christian was also anally and vaginally raped. Boyd was transported from a Federal Correctional Institution in Yazoo City, Mississippi, and booked into the Knox County Jail, where he was held on a $1 million bond. [72] Shell casings found at Davidson's house matched the bullets used to kill Newsom. With Bill Graves, Kendra Maples, Scott Brooks, Channon Christian. [47][48][49][50] He was then taken to a set of railroad tracks where he was forced to walk barefoot to the location where he was murdered. Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom in Knoxville, Tennessee. [50][54] A comforter was wrapped around Newsom's body, and a sweatshirt was wrapped around his head. They were met by more than 300 law enforcement officers. Although Christian sustained multiple blows to the head and other trauma, she ultimately suffocated after being placed in the plastic bags. The forensic expert began her testimony this afternoon in the trial of Eric Dewayne "E" Boyd, who's charged with being an accessory to carjacking for hiding out suspect Lemaricus "Slim" Davidson, the alleged ringleader in the carjacking, torture and slaying of Newsom and his girlfriend, Channon Christian, 21, in January 2007. #boydtrial" [10][51] Though there was semen inside of Newsom's body, DNA in the semen had been destroyed by the fire. Background. [16], Vanessa Coleman, the last defendant to face trial,[102] was granted immunity by federal authorities for testimony in the federal case of the carjacking, but the state courts ruled that the federal grant of immunity could not extend to the state charges of murder and rape. Kicking her time and christopher autopsy report or at this world right above my comments are not edit took the weight. Four to go," said Gary Christian, father of Channon Christian, referring to the four suspects who face trials in state court for the killings of Channon, then 21, and her boyfriend, 23-year-old Christopher Newsom. [51][53][54], On January 7, Christian failed to answer calls from her mother and friend. [7][33][34] A foundation has also been established in Newsom's name. But I love the fun adventures [and] lessons that I've learned. Newsom and Christian were later found brutally carjacked, raped . The Knoxville murders didn't get national attention, but did make people question why - and how - this happened, and whether or not Christian and Newsom were victims of a hate crime. The Horrific Torture & Murders of Channon Christian & Christopher Newsom | by Criminal Matters | Jan, 2023 | Medium 500 Apologies, but something went wrong on our end. Hugh Christopher Newsom, Jr., 23, and his girlfriend Channon Gail Christian were both brutally murdered after being kidnapped early on the morning of January 7, 2007. One of the charges against the 41-year-old Moore is torture. 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. 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. A journal was recovered after the arrests of Thomas, Cobbins, and Coleman. She said she did not know Davidson as well as she knew Boyd. Update 2/10/15: One of my readers commented below that Coleman had a new trial and was re-sentenced. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. So horrific and evil. She will be up for parole again in 2020. Channon was sitting in the driver's seat and Chris was standing in the open door of the vehicle, kissing her, when they suddenly found themselves staring at the barrel of a gun. Tennessee courts convicted the five assailants on up to 38 counts, including capital murder, kidnap, rape, theft, accessory to carjacking, and accessory to murder. "I was shocked (to see Davidson) because (Davidson's) house was on the news," Armstrong said. His sentence ends in May 2053. Baumgartner ruled that Thomas' phone calls from the jailhouse to his acquaintances were admissible as evidence. 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