Channon Christian & Hugh Newsom, Jr. carjacked,raped,tortured & murdered in 2007/Convictions of Davidson, Cobbins, Thomas, Coleman & Boyd have now been set aside after presiding Judge pleads guilty to misconduct/Coleman again found guilty

Murder In the Heartland - TN

Just so you know - Here in Knoxville TN - it locally is known as the Heartland. I am in no way referencing this website. I will admit it was a bit catchy though. LOL - gotcha ugh?

I wanted to share w/ each of you one of the most gruesome murders here in this little town.

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The above link, if you read, will give you an idea of what these young adults went through before their untimely death. As you read, you will discover why it never made national news, too much controversy.

I will also tell you that the defense at this time is trying to have DNA evidence thrown out and a change of venue.
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What the news does not tell you is that most people in this town want to publicly hang the individuals that did this. Also, there are armed guards protecting these men and woman. There are so many in the courthouse when a hearing is going on, the judge ruled that all law enforcement will wear plain clothes due the courtroom looking like an army camp, 'so to speak.'

Just thought I would give you all a little second reading if you choose.

If you are interest in keeping up w/ this case, let me know and I will post updates as they occur. If you are not interested then of course I will not.

I am still sick to my stomach from reading your above link. I am horrified and just about speechless. How could something like this happen? How could a car jacking go so horribly wrong. Were the perps hell bent on attacking whites when they went out that evening or was it a crime of opportunity?? So awful to read.

OMG I read the whole article. I think it was a crime of hate and a racial crime. Probably because they dated white people too? In this day and age people of all races should be equal and accepted for a human being. Of course I would like updates. My question that I can't figure out is where the accused white or what nationality? Is that why this case has not made national headlines? They don’t want to fuel the racial crime that it seems to be? Thank you for posting this story.

That is horrific and what a horrible way to die especially the women. PLEASE be aware that this story is a HORRIFIC act of violence and if you have a weak stomach, I would advise you NOT to read it!!

CritterFan1 wrote:I am still sick to my stomach from reading your above link. I am horrified and just about speechless. How could something like this happen? How could a car jacking go so horribly wrong. Were the perps hell bent on attacking whites when they went out that evening or was it a crime of opportunity?? So awful to read.

from my point of veiw a crime of both

lindamarie wrote:OMG I read the whole article. I think it was a crime of hate and a racial crime. Probably because they dated white people too? In this day and age people of all races should be equal and accepted for a human being. Of course I would like updates. My question that I can't figure out is where the accused white or what nationality? Is that why this case has not made national headlines? They don’t want to fuel the racial crime that it seems to be? Thank you for posting this story.

I cannot believe it!!!!!! Cannot, yes this is why the crime is so controversial - all of the accused are black (african american) IMO there is another word for them but I choose to not offend anyone here, and two of them are brothers. Unbelievable that they did not say this in the news. LOL Their pictures are posted on the local sites sometimes. You can watch for them as I update w/ links. Note: not sure if you know but the two victims were white (caucasian).

So the victims dated both with out a problem. I can see why this was kept out of the national spot light. Please do post more.

oh yeah! i had read this story a lil while back! sickning! please post updates...

I will have to wait to read your thread, Lady..when my stomach can take it. I have no problem with actually seeing (and have seen my share) of dead bodies..but for some reason...reading horrific crimes keeps me awake at night.

I am a strange bird!

Jury for carjacking trial will come from Nashville

Judge Richard Baumgartner is hoping to find a jury in Nashville for a controversial case in Knoxville.

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i havent read the article yet cause im not ready, but LadyJ, i didnt even connect this heartland with that heartland lol, so no worries.

oh how horrible!! I read this stuff all the time, but every time it is like even more hearbreaking then the before. I just cant believe how many mean horrible heartless people there are!

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Davidson asks for Knox Co. trial, jury in Christian-Newsom murder case.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- In an unexpected move in a Knox County courtroom, Lemaricus Davidson, one of four people charged with killing Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, has asked the judge for a Knox County trial and jury, Volunteer TV's Mike McCarthy reports from the courtroom.
All four defense teams were expected to ask the judge to move the trials outside of Knox County.

P.S. This is entire article and we in the county of Knox are a bit happy if this happens.

Cobbins judge tosses portion of DNA evidence, allows appeal

Some DNA evidence--which points toward two brothers accused in the case but does not specifically identify which brother--will not be allowed at their trials for the carjacking, sexual torture, and murder of a young Knox County couple.

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Please post updates to this case. I never read anything about it and I voice my sentiments that this crime was horrific. I hope if they are convicted they will get the death penalty. Its interesting that the one defendant
doesnt want a change of venue - looking for an appeal possibly up the road when he is convicted.

The dealth penalty is on the table for all of them.

I wish they would call me to be on this jury. First one I have ever really, really wanted to be on.

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Another defendant in a high-profile double murder case is asking to have his trial moved. Defense attorney Thomas Dillard filed a motion to get George Thomas' trial moved out of Knox County.

Cobbins jury update: 3 potential jurors excused after emotional responses to graphic pictures
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Judge Richard Baumgartner went into more detail about the crimes with potential jurors as the final phase of jury selection began.

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Jury chosen in Davidson County for torture-slaying suspect

His fate will be decided by five black women, two black men, two white women, two white men and one Asian man.

Trial is running live stream if you wish to listen/watch.

(Cobbins)

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So, IMO, recap of the day. I listen to pretty much all of this live stream.

Cobbins defense attorney is stating that Cobbins is guilty of alot of things and should spend time in jail but for rape only, and that he had nothing to do with the murder.
Prosecution in opening statement said his sperm was located on her thigh and in her mouth.


Other than that, the day was spent questioning, mom's, dad's, friends, people that were looking for them, etc.

Quite sad

Just a note - if you wish to hear the link I posted above should direct you. I will try to remember to send you links at the end of the day so you can keep updated on the trial.

I have been listening to this live every chance I get.

I have made a personal decision to not discuss the graphic details of this crime on this site or any other.
They are much more horrific than what has been leaked to the media. I will leave the research to you.

You need to know, it is not the details that bother me however, I have so much inner anger regarding this crime, I cannot post an unbiased opinion to my fellow crime friends, so I decline to do so at all.

I will keep you updated to the outcome of the trials.
if you wish to remain updated throughout and in details you can go to:

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lv

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verdict (for Cobbins) will be read in the next little bit if any of you are interested.

!

Letalvis Cobbins found guilty in Christian - Newsom murders

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Life in prison, no parole: Cobbins sentenced

The jury has sentenced Letalvis Cobbins to imprisonment for life without parole for the murder of Channon Christian.

(IMO, I am happy for the eve, yet I will never rest. I am not allowed to hop out of my vehicle and walk into the grocery store anymore, without worry or being on offense/defense. sounds like football, ugh?)

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lv

I am tired.
lj

Lemaricus Davidson

Letalvis Cobbins

Chris Newsom and Channon Christian

A crime is a crime, regardless of the race of any of the people involved, and it should be covered. I bet Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would be on every talk show in America if this act of hate and violence had been committed against a black couple. Just my humble opinion.

BJ in OR wrote:A crime is a crime, regardless of the race of any of the people involved, and it should be covered. I bet Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would be on every talk show in America if this act of hate and violence had been committed against a black couple. Just my humble opinion.

This is pretty much our thoughts in TN also.

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Update: Victims' families outraged previous carjacking barred from trial
excerpts
Judge Richard Baumgartner said he will not allow the state to use Lemaricus Davidson's prior carjacking conviction against him if he decides to take the stand during his trial.
"If they wouldn't have let him out early, my daughter would be standing here with us, but they let him out early for carjacking, and now she's dead, and they won't let them talk about it in court," Channon Christian's father Gary said.

"It went from carjacking to murder, so you tell me why it's not relevant. Every time he gets out of prison, he gets more violent," Channon Christian's mother Deena said.

New DNA results could delay Lemaricus Davidson trial

The state ran additional DNA serology tests after Letalvis Cobbins' trial. Cobbins was convicted for first degree premeditated murder of Channon Christian and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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Mystery DNA IDed as lab tech's, Davidson defense wants delay
Unidentified DNA at the center of a defense request to delay Lemaricus Davidson's death penalty trial for the carjacking, kidnapping, rape and murder of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom came from a lab technician, prosecutors told the judge in court Thursday.

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It appears there may be more than the 4 that have been accused.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Last-minute testing turns up more new DNA evidence in Lemaricus Davidson's double murder trial.
A new motion filed Thursday show that DNA testing on Channon Christian's undergarments reveal DNA from sperm not linked to any of the victims or suspects in this case. The semen apparently comes from two men not already associated with this case. That means it does not belong to Davidson, Letalvis Cobbins, George Thomas, Eric Boyd nor her boyfriend Christopher Newsom.
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Another motion filed Thursday alleges Knox County detention officers intercepted a letter Davidson wrote to his defense team and turned it over to prosecutors.
Davidson's defense attorneys are also targeting the the felony murder law Davidson is charged under in several counts of the 46-count indictment against him. Attorneys allege that the provision in Tennessee state law that allows for felony murder to be punishable by death is unconstitutional, infringing on Davidson's Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment and his 14th Amendment right against deprivation of life, liberty or property without due process of the law.
Davidson is on trial for the January 2007 carjacking, kidnapping, rape and murder of Christian, 21, and Newsom, 23.

Davidson gets death penalty

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:clapping:

I just recently read this thread, and was shocked & sickened by it! These men that tortured & killed these two beautiful young people were worse than animals!! I can't imagine what pain & horror the victims must have endured before they died. I do hope & pray that justice will be served to all those monsters that had a part in their deaths!! And, my prayers go out to the families of the victims... for peace, comfort & healing.

I am wondering if there are any updates on the murder trial?

Rainbow,
I am not sure that 'justice' can be attained here.
Your thoughts are felt and needed for them. I most sure.
lj

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After three days of individual questioning, Judge Richard Baumgartner reached, and slightly surpassed, his "magic number" of 54 potential jurors for the Vanessa Coleman jury pool. The final 16 will be selected on Friday.

The judge was hoping to reach that number to make sure there would still be enough jurors and alternates available for the trial even if every challenge was used.

The jurors are being selected from Davidson County because of the extensive coverage and attention the case has received in Knox County.

Coleman, 21, is charged with murder, rape, kidnapping, and theft in connection with the carjacking and murders of Channon Christian and Chris Newsom in January 2007.

Over the past few days of jury selection in Nashville, the majority of people who were excused left because they said they could not personally impose the death penalty.

Thursday morning, both the judge and defense attorneys pressed the potential jurors harder on their opinions, to see if they could be swayed to consider death as an option, if Coleman is convicted of first-degree murder.

The first man questioned Thursday could not be swayed on his opinion. Defense attorneys pressed him hard, saying they needed "intelligent" jurors, citing his graduation from a prestigious midwestern college. In the end, he would not budge and was excused.

Later, another young mother expressed concern about imposing the death penalty, even though she originally said on her written questionnaire that it could be an appropriate punishment in some cases. Judge Baumgartner dug deeper into her opinions and questioned why she had changed her mind. He told her he was worried about the size of the jury pool so far, which, at that point, stood at around 40.

Meanwhile, another man was quickly excused after he told the judge that he felt the death penalty was appropriate punishment in all murder cases. He said he believed in the Old Testament, saying punishment should involve "an eye for an eye."


click on the link to read more........

LJ

I no longer live there, but this crime will always be within my soul. To think that another human being could do something as this.................. the most wild animal in the world would not/nor would try to do this to it's own.
I leave this eve knowing........ after this crime occured, I had to grow up a bit. There are crimes/violence that has occured much more unspeakable than this one, but this one, well, they were so young. My heart actually hurts over this one.

LOL, too bad I am not a prison guard hanging around the facilities..... might just fall asleep one eve and not have any idea what may occur.

much lv & friendship to all

Sorry, I have been away a bit but here is new link and news and new trial.

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I should not ask but I will.... please keep this family in your prayers.................. I am quite sure they think God may have forgotten them while they endure this pain and the things here/thereafter.

lj

Thanks for the update, lj... and I will keep this family in my prayers. I could not imagine how I would be able to handle having any of my family members (or friends) killed in such a brutal manner. Such a tragic & senseless crime!!

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Vanessa Coleman trial news.
lj

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First day of deliberations ends with no verdict in Coleman trial

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Coleman won't face death penalty after lesser charge convictions

ladyjustice37 wrote:

lindamarie wrote:OMG I read the whole article. I think it was a crime of hate and a racial crime. Probably because they dated white people too? In this day and age people of all races should be equal and accepted for a human being. Of course I would like updates. My question that I can't figure out is where the accused white or what nationality? Is that why this case has not made national headlines? They don’t want to fuel the racial crime that it seems to be? Thank you for posting this story.

I cannot believe it!!!!!! Cannot, yes this is why the crime is so controversial - all of the accused are black (african american) IMO there is another word for them but I choose to not offend anyone here, and two of them are brothers. Unbelievable that they did not say this in the news. LOL Their pictures are posted on the local sites sometimes. You can watch for them as I update w/ links. Note: not sure if you know but the two victims were white (caucasian).

As my Dad used to say when we were kids regarding the riots and crime in DC- where he grew up and only 40 minutes from where we gre up...my grandparents still lived in my dads boyhood home- "SOME PEOPLE HAVE NO RESPECT FOR THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE." Its true..the thugs in B'More and DC and even Montgomery County, MD just point and shoot, walk away, no big deal. WTF is wrong with them? Is living in the projects and being in a gang member the reason why they can kill for a car, a few dollars, drugs, etc and think nothing of it??

HippieChick

A woman convicted of facilitating the kidnapping, rape and killing of a young Tennessee woman in 2007 will be retried next week.

Vanessa Coleman has a second chance to beat the charges because her original conviction was overturned when the presiding judge admitted that he might have been under the influence of Xanax during the trial, the Knosville News Sentinel reported.

Coleman was found guilty along with three other men in connection to the slaying of Channon Christian, 21 in Knoxville. The three men were also convicted of the abduction, rape and killing of Christian's boyfriend, 23-year-old Christopher Newsom.

The crime was one of the most graphic in recent memory in the state. Those details will likely be replayed next week in a courtroom in Jackson. Jury selection was expected to wrap up tomorrow, WBIR reported.

The couple was carjacked and kidnapped after a date. They were taken to the home of Lemaricus Davidson where they were tortured. Coleman, then 18, was present with her boyfriend Letalvis Cobbins. The crime ended with the discovery of Newsom's bound and burned corpse lying along railroad tracks the day after the abduction. It took three more days before Christian's dismembered remains were located in garbage bags at Davidson's home. Prosecutors contended that Coleman was an equal player in the crimes.

Three men were found guilty of first-degree murder, while Coleman was convicted of facilitating the attack. She was serving a 53-year sentence but last year was granted a new trial, because former Judge Richard Baumgartner pleaded guilty to official misconduct, WATE reported.

He had bought prescription painkillers several times a week for nearly a year from an ex-felon who appeared in his courtroom.


The retrial was moved to western Tennessee because of the high profile nature of the crime. Coleman's attorneys sought to bar photos of Christian in court, fearing that they would sway the jury. Prosecutors say the pictures are necessary for pressing their case.

Lemaricus Davidson, Letalvis Cobbins and George Thomas -- the three men whose convictions were also overturned -- will be retried at later date.
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Channon Gail Christian, 21, and Hugh Christopher Newsom, Jr., 23, were a couple from Knoxville, Tennessee. They were raped, tortured and murdered after being kidnapped early on the morning of January 7, 2007. Their vehicle had been carjacked.[1][2] Five suspects were arrested and charged in the case, and the fact of the suspects all being black gave rise to public speculation on the possibility of racial motivation for the attacks (see "Reaction and accusations of racism," below). The grand jury indicted four of the suspects on counts of capital murder, robbery, kidnapping, rape and theft (a fifth was indicted on the federal level).
Of the four charged at the state level, three (Letalvis D. Cobbins, Lemaricus Davidson and George Thomas) had multiple prior felony convictions. After a jury trial, Lemaricus Davidson was sentenced to death by lethal injection and Letalvis Cobbins and George Thomas were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Vanessa Coleman has been convicted of facilitating the crimes and sentenced to 53 years in prison, and Eric Dewayne Boyd has been convicted of federal charges as accessory after the fact to carjacking and sentenced to 18 years in prison.[3] The state convictions had since been set aside because of misconduct by the presiding judge, who has since been disbarred; retrials (pending appeals in all except the Coleman case, whose retrial is not being contested) had slated for the summer and fall of 2012, until in May 2012 the Tennessee Supreme Court vacated the motion for new trials.
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KNOXVILLE (WATE) - Jury selection will begin Friday in the trial against one of the defendants in the Christian-Newsom murder case.

The jury selection in the case against Vanessa Coleman will take place in Jackson, Tennessee in Madison County.

Jurors are being chosen outside of the Knoxville area because of the high-profile nature of the case.

Prosecutors have asked the judge to inform jurors of the verdicts in Coleman's original trial. No order has been granted in those requests.

Vanessa Coleman was convicted in May 2010 of facilitating Channon Christian's murder, kidnapping, rape and theft.

After trial irregularities were alleged against Ex-Judge Richard Baumgartner, a new trial was ordered for all of the defendants.

Coleman's retrial will be held in Knoxville beginning on Tuesday, Nov. 13.
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Video at link

The Torture Murders of Channon Christian and Chris Newsom
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