Ill. man charged in deaths of wife, children

JOLIET, Ill. -- A suburban Chicago man was charged Saturday in the shooting deaths of his wife and the couple's three children, authorities announced as mourners attended services in Missouri for the victims of what the pastor called an "unspeakable" tragedy.

Christopher Vaughn, 32, was arrested without incident at a funeral home in a Missouri suburb of St. Louis nine days after the shootings and less than two hours before a memorial service in a nearby church for his slain wife, 34-year-old Kimberly Vaughn, and their children Abigayle, 12, Cassandra, 11, and Blake, 8.

As a prosecutor announced the eight counts of first-degree murder in this Chicago suburb, the 75-minute service for the victims played out hundreds of miles away at New Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Charles, Mo.

Vaughn was charged with two murder counts per victim. One set of counts alleges he shot with intent to kill and the other alleges he opened fire knowing that it was likely to cause death or great bodily harm.

Authorities would not discuss a motive Saturday or say what evidence tipped the balance enough to allow them to seek an arrest warrant from a judge late Friday. The charges were built from numerous interviews, forensic evidence, computer files and phone records, authorities said.

Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow said he has 120 days to decide whether to seek the death penalty.

"We are hopeful that with the issuance of these charges that Kimberly Vaughn and her three beautiful children can truly rest in peace," said Glasgow. "Everyone who came in contact with this case was moved by what they saw."

Word of the charges circulated among the mourners as the service in St. Charles drew to a close, bringing some of the victims' survivors to tears as they huddled to hear what was called "breaking news."

"We should not be here today, but the events of this past week have been thrust upon us, events which are indescribable and unspeakable," said New Hope's pastor, the Rev. Christopher James.

The bodies of the mother and children were found on June 14 in a 2004 Ford Expedition parked on a service road near Interstate 55 in Channahon, about 40 miles southwest of Chicago and just 20 miles from their home in Oswego, the suburb they moved to about a year ago.

Kimberly Vaughn was shot once and the children were each shot twice, Glasgow told reporters Saturday in announcing the charges.

The bodies were discovered after police received a 911 call from a passer-by flagged down by a wounded Christopher Vaughn, authorities said. A 9 mm handgun was found at the scene.

Vaughn, who works as a computer forensic adviser, had superficial wounds in the left leg and arm, and was released from a nearby hospital later that day.

Police initially said he was not a suspect. But investigators kept Vaughn under surveillance as they obtained a search warrant, seized computer equipment from the family home, conducted interviews and waited for the results of forensic tests.

Before he was arrested, Vaughn had voluntarily met with investigators three times to answer questions.

The Vaughns, who once lived in Missouri, moved from Washington state to the Chicago area about a year ago. They lived briefly in Aurora before relocating to a spacious home in Oswego.

Authorities said the gun found at the scene had been purchased by Christopher Vaughn in Washington state.

Glasgow said Vaughn has indicated he intends to fight extradition. Authorities will seek a warrant from Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich "and physically deliver it to the Missouri court so there is absolutely no delay in the process," Glasgow said.

Phone messages seeking comment were left Saturday at the offices of Christopher Vaughn's attorney in Missouri. Vaughn was being held without bond at St. Charles County Detention Center, authorities said.

There were no caskets at Saturday's memorial service in Missouri. Kimberly Vaughn and the children already had been quietly buried in a cemetery near the funeral home to avoid media attention.

Reporters were barred from the service and the church's property, and sheriff's deputies -- some on motorcycles -- monitored the church's parking lot to keep the media at bay.

But James later told the AP that Wade Ledbetter, the husband of Kimberly Vaughn's twin sister, Jennifer, recalled the mother's and children's love for life was so strong that neighbors at their Oswego home near Chicago often called them a model family.

The church was a special place for Kimberly Vaughn and the children; she attended since its 1994 inception and it was the place the kids were later baptized. Kimberly Vaughn's parents still attend the church.

Kimberly Vaughn has been described as a doting mother who spent time as a Brownie and Girl Scout leader to her daughters, later serving on the Oswego school district's Character Counts committee.

Known as Abbi, Abigayle was considered a gifted artist and an athlete, recently invited to join a select soccer league as a goalie, the position her mom once played. She enjoyed stories of fairies and fantasies, often writing and illustrating her own tales when not learning to cook and sew.

Cassandra -- to her family, "Commander Sander" -- had a flair for drama, organizing basement plays performed for relatives. She loved animals but was especially partial to frogs, including the two with which she shared her room. She wanted to start her own business walking and caring for dogs.

And there was Blake, the kid whose absorbent memory was stocked with statistics of baseball's St. Louis Cardinals, past and present. He played Little League baseball and was a Cub scout, eager to be in a gifted third-grade class this fall and improving on his soapbox derby design.

Inside the church Saturday, four poster boards -- one for each victim -- were peppered with photographs, showing the kids at play and their mother's days playing volleyball. Only one of the roughly 100 pictures -- a small snapshot of the family -- showed Christopher Vaughn.

In a news release issued before the services, pastor James referred to Kimberly Vaughn only by her maiden name, noting that "this congregation has shown its true colors in the way it has cared for the Phillips' family during this time, and I am not surprised by that. That is who these people are and what they do."

The statement made no mention of Christopher Vaughn.

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Associated Press reporter Jim Suhr contributed to this report from St. Charles, Mo.