Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. The perpetrators attacked the couple in a parking lot near an apartment complex in Knoxville, TN. August 2009, Rome was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Channon & facilitation of murder in connection to the death of Chris; he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. "As soon as I reached the bathroom door, (Davidson) grabbed me and said, 'What are you doing?'" Another slaying suspect, George "G" Thomas, "was rolling a blunt," which is slang for a cigar-style marijuana cigarette, she said. Satterfield, Jamie. Performance & security by Cloudflare. [26][27][28][29] Efforts have been made to remember and honor Christian and Newsom. Knoxville investigators did not find Christian until the following Tuesday. Five suspects in total - Lemaricus Davidson, Letalvis Cobbins, George Thomas, Eric Boyd, and Vanessa Coleman - then assaultedand killed Christian and Newsom. [1][2][3] Four males and one female were arrested, charged, and convicted in the case. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Channon was tied up and removed to a trash can. 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. [82][103], On May 13, 2010, Coleman was acquitted of first-degree murder and found guilty of lesser charges. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. But Channon's hell was just beginning. His body would later be wrapped up in a comforter, doused in gasoline and set afire.. Assistant U.S. "Slim's brother and then Slim's pictures came up (on the screen) that they were wanted for questioning, so I asked what the hell was going on," she said. 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. [26][27] Erroneous early reporting made claims of dismemberment and mutilation of Christian's body. The front seats were pushed back, and Christian could not have reached the pedals. While Channon was forced to watch, her boyfriend was raped prison style. The floorboard was covered with mud, inconsistent with how Christian maintained her vehicle. Armstrong insisted he could not remember what they talked about if anything. Stone countered that he and Jennings must prove Boyd knew about Davidson's crimes in order to prove he was an accessory to carjacking. According to Boyd, Davidson, his brother and a friend needed a vehicle because they were being pursued by drug dealers to whom they owed money. ", "Medical examiner testimony wraps up state case, expected to rest on Monday", "Killer in torture-slaying case denied parole", "Boyd trial, Day 1: A burned body by the tracks, a final glimpse of the victims before the murders", "Focus on torture-slaying victims' items in Coleman trial", "Vanessa Coleman retrial: She admits in interview she checked Channon Christian's pulse", "Tennessee: Jury hears testimony on fate of convicted killer", "Death sentence for torture-murder ringleader", "Torture-killing ringleader Lemaricus Davidson facing trial in Pizza Hut robbery", "Vanessa Coleman denied reprieve in torture-slaying case", "Christian-Newsom Murders: Trial for one carjacker moved to 2009, others could follow", "Judge: Recordings can be used in fatal carjackings case", "Another death penalty notice in Christian-Newsom slayings", "Prosecutors say evidence links Davidson to couple's torture deaths", "GUILTY: Eric Boyd's Christian-Newsom murder accessory trial over", Accessory case deliberations to start Wed. in double murder, "Eric Boyd gets two stacked life sentences for his role in the Christian-Newsom murders", "Death Sentence in Christian-Newsom Torture-Murder Trial", "Convicted Christian-Newsom killer Lemaricus Davidson has petition denied", "Supreme Court: Death penalty for Davidson stands in Christian-Newsom killings", "Thomas found guilty of Christian-Newsom murders", "George Thomas guilty; Family: Thomas deserves death", "Knoxville torture-murder case: Coleman acquitted of first degree murder, guilty on lesser charges", "Autopsy: Ex-judge Baumgartner died from natural causes", "Ex-judge Richard Baumgartner's drug-addicted downfall makes national spotlight", "The redacted TBI file on former judge Richard Baumgartner", "A chronology of events in the Richard Baumgartner scandal", "How Richard Baumgartner a drug addicted judge stayed on the bench despite warnings", "Drug Addicted judge had sex during court breaks", "Four defendants in Christian-Newsom case granted new trials", "State's appeal bid in Christian/Newsom case shot down", "Judge in Christian-Newsom case throws out decision to grant new trials, delays recusal decision", "Judge nixes delay in Christian/Newsom torture-slaying hearing", "Appellate court upholds Vanessa Coleman's convictions, sentence", "Guilty again: George Thomas sentenced in torture, murder retrial", "George Thomas loses appeal in Christian-Newsom murders", "Man convicted in Christian/Newsom murders wants US Supreme Court to review case", "George Thomas gets new plea deal approved, Newsom family thanks him during impact statement", "Trial set to begin for long suspected defendant in Christian Newsom torture slayings", "Judge: Eric Boyd to face Knox County jury in slayings of Channon Christian, Christopher Newsom", "Boyd trial, Day 6 Eric Boyd guilty of first-degree felony murder, kidnapping & rape", "Jury finds Eric Boyd guilty of grisly 2007 Knoxville murders", "Tennessee Supreme Court denies appeal in 2007 Knox County torture slayings", "Eric Boyd sentenced for his role in Christian-Newsom murders", "Judge denies Eric Boyd's bid for new trial in torture-slayings case", "STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ERIC BOYD - Articles", "Man convicted in Christian-Newsom murders denied new trial", "Coleman's parole denied in torture-slaying case", Vanessa Coleman's parole hearing rescheduled, "Vanessa Coleman's parole hearing eligibility pushed to December", "Vanessa Coleman to request parole next week", "Coleman's Parole Denied in Torture-Slaying Case", "Five involved in slayings of young Knoxville couple", "Woman convicted in Christian-Newsom murders denied parole", "Knox prosecutor doesn't shut the door on future charges in torture slayings", "City leaders say race not an element in Christian, Newsom murders", "Police arrest organizer at 'rally against genocide', "House linked to carjacking/slayings razed; memorial planned", "George Korda: Chipman Street: sometimes there just aren't enough rocks", "Chris Newsom, Channon Christian remembered 13 years after their murders", "Baseball tournament honors Chris Newsom, killed in 2007", "Gary Christian: From rage to restoration, a murder victim's father finds the faith he left", Extensive news coverage of the deaths in January 2007 of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom in Knoxville, TN, Newsom, Christian Family Reaction w/Video, "5th Suspect Arrested in Double Murder, Announcement Expected Soon", "Commentary: Where is the outrage when humans are abused? [153], The Channon Gail Christian Foundation and the Channon Gail Christian Memorial Golf Tournament were established in Channon Christian's memory to provide a scholarship for a Farragut High School Senior to attend the University of Tennessee. In the wake of the murders, a Knox County Grand Jury handed down multiple indictments in the case. The Horrific Torture & Murders of Channon Christian & Christopher Newsom | by Criminal Matters | Jan, 2023 | Medium 500 Apologies, but something went wrong on our end. He said he was scared. They are what they are. "[28][146] The foundation holds an annual memorial baseball tournament at the Halls Community Park. However, she wasdenied paroleat the hearing. The couple had only been dating a few months when they decided to go out on a date the night of January 6, 2007. Further, Mr. Newsom had been sodomized and was not wearing pants. According to Cobbins, Davidson took the woman into a bedroom once they arrived at the residence, and Boyd drove away with the man. She agreed. [49][50][51][52][53][54], Christian was held prisoner inside Davidson's house, mostly in the north bedroom. [5] Eric Boyd, who had been serving his sentence of 18 years at Federal Correctional Institution, Beckley, a medium-security prison near Beaver, West Virginia, was potentially eligible for release in 2022, but found guilty on charges of rape and first-degree murder on August 13, 2019. Sins and Secrets goes to Knoxville to examine the deaths of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom who disappeared shortly after they were carjacked. "Walking up and down main street of Ridgebrook (Apartments), just drinking, smoking and drinking and smoking weed, that's all I do every day," he said. She went to stay with a co-worker and her girlfriend. 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. I stayed away.". Over eight months, each was tried independently on 46 charges including the kidnap, rape, and murder of Channon and Chris. [30], Facing the same charges as in her first trial, on November 20, 2012, Vanessa Coleman was convicted by a jury of the facilitation of aggravated kidnapping, facilitation of rape, and the facilitation of the murder of Channon Christian, but not of Christopher Newsom. Starting on January 6, 2007, from a Saturday night until Monday (when Chris's body was found burned atop railroad tracks) and Tuesday (when police found Channon's body in a garbage can in the home), it was a chamber of so much violence even experienced prosecutors fainted when viewing the crime scene photos. Fifteen years ago today, a train conductor passing through Knoxville, Tennessee, made a shocking discovery on the railroad tracks on Ninth Avenue: the bound, burned body of 23-year-old Christopher Newsom. The assailants lit his body on fire to cover up their tracks. Based on crime-scene photos, he would not have been able to see the kitchen from the front porch doorway. Christian also did not attend work. "I told them when I left they were welcome to have whatever food I had," she said. The decision to hold retrials for them was affirmed in a two to one decision by the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals on April 13. 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. [36] Christian was 21 years old when she was murdered. What happened to nine-year-old Serenity Dennard? Cookie Notice Another witness who lived around one block from 2316 Chipman Street heard three pops from the direction of the train tracks at about 1:45 am. [77], Coleman's lawyers argued that she should receive a 20-year sentence, while prosecutors asked for the maximum sentence of nearly 50 years. 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. "He started telling me it was his house," she said. [78], The four suspects indicted in Knox County were scheduled to be tried separately at trials between May and August 2008. Channon's abandoned vehicle was found nearby. A single mother, Sutton, 22, testified Friday that she left Davidson the day before Christian and Newsom were kidnapped because he had abused her. However, before Lomonaco objected, Mileusnic-Polchan testified that Christian was found in "a forced fetal position" inside a trash can. All four men denied culpability in Newsoms death. He was also convicted on charges of carjacking, robbery, and kidnapping. CHRISTIAN, CHANNON GAIL - age 21 of Knoxville, passed away Sunday, January 7, 2007. The car slowed down for about 20 seconds as if the occupants were "checking him out". Davidson then drove the stolen SUV - with the couple in the back - to Davidsons nearby house. You took my opportunity to say yes to a young man one day. [20] He was immediately sentenced to life in prison by the judge, who stated that a life sentence was automatic for the murder conviction. "One down. Prosecutors believe a mangled dog leash found on a hillside leading up to the railroad tracks was used to force Newsom to walk to his death. For more information, please see our Newsoms killers had stuffed a sock in his mouth and bound his ankles with his belt. There was a blood stain on her shirt and a camisole underneath the shirt. It snowed a lil bit but it's already melted. His sentence ends in May 2053. Davidson claimed that he did not go past the living room and that he never raped Christian. Judge Thomas T. Woodall wrote in his opinion: "The facts at trial showed that (Coleman) was in the (Chipman Street) house for nearly two days where (Christian) was confined and brutally raped before she was tied up, wrapped in five plastic trash bags and stuffed into a garbage can, where she died from asphyxiationIn journal entries (written after the slayings, Coleman) described 'one hell of an adventure in the big T.N.' On the witness stand, she chalked it up to denial. "This was the worst crime Knoxville had experienced," Hugh Newsom told producers. You took my opportunity to hold her child, my grandbaby. The assailants then covered her in bleachin what forensic investigators believe wasan effort to conceal DNA evidence. [71][72] Christian's body was stashed in five large trash bags. He said Boyd kept quiet during the 20- to 30-minute conversation. "[61], Before killing her, to remove DNA evidence, Christian's attackers poured bleach down her throat and scrubbed her body, including her bleeding and battered genital area with it. [104] On July 30, 2010, she was sentenced to 53 years in prison. [56] While the retrial was conducted in Knoxville, the jury for the retrial was selected from Jackson, Tennessee, more than 300 miles west of Knoxville. When Newsom was murdered, his hands were bound behind his back, and his feet were bound together. [89][90], Davidson was also indicted for the Pizza Hut robbery committed the day after the murders. He had been shot three times; the killers delivered the final shot execution-style. Several of the victims' belongings had Davidson's prints. "It may have started out as a carjacking, but what it developed into was blacks hating whites. She did not mourn the broken relationship long. On January 6, 2007,Channon Christian, 21 years old, a graduate from Farragut High School in Knoxville, TN. 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