Christopher Vaughn Case Summary

The Christopher Vaughn case is a popular case in which ballistics and blood spatter aided in solving. Vaughn pleaded not guilty in court, and the defense stuck to the case that it was a murder-suicide case involving his wife. Paul Kish, a blood spatter expert assigned to the case, said that the evidence found at the crime scene did not correlate with Vaughn’s story. Vaughn’s blood was found in many different places; the center console, on his wife’s shorts, on the front and back of her seatbelt, and on the carpet between her shoes. Vaughn’s original statement did not mention the blood present on the seatbelt. When investigators at the crime scene unlatched and then re-latched her seatbelt, the wife’s chin was directly above the bloodstain. She was shot under the chin, therefore it was previously concluded that it must have been her blood present on the seatbelt. However, the Illinois State Police crime lab proved that it was in fact Christopher Vaughn’s blood on it. His wife’s blood was also found on the center console, but it was disturbed before it began to congeal. In addition, it appeared that some of her blood on the console was wiped towards the passenger seat from the driver’s seat. Kish concluded that someone had come into

Three computers were collected. These computers gave evidence that Christopher Vaughn had the desire to leave his family behind and enter the Canadian wilderness. In addition, there was a PI magazine also found inside the house. This interested investigators because the cover story was about staging a crime scene. A fingerprint analysis was done on the magazine. There are different ways that prints can be developed in crime labs; by the use of traditional powders, fluorescent powders, chemicals, and superglue. They can be viewed under laser and UV lighting. When the finger print analysis was done on the magazine, Christopher Vaughn’s fingerprints did not show