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Old July 9th, 2007 #1
Alex Linder
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Default Christian-Newsom Update 7/9/07

Judge releases house in fatal carjacking of Christian, Newsom

Chipman Street address alleged site of torture of Knoxville couple

News Sentinel staff
Originally published 11:12 a.m., July 9, 2007
Updated 11:12 a.m., July 9, 2007



Photo by Jigsha Desai

The house at 2316 Chipman St., where the body of Channon Christian was found.


A Knox County Criminal Court judge today released a house where a Knoxville couple allegedly was taken after a carjacking and was beaten, raped and slain.

The house at 2316 Chipman Street was being rented by a suspect in the fatal carjacking and had been a crime scene since the alleged crime spree in January.

Judge Richard Baumgartner returned the house to its owner.

None of the four people charged in the kidnapping, rape and murders of University of Tennessee student Channon Christian, 21, and her boyfriend Christopher Newsom, 23, was in court for the hearing.

Awaiting trial are brothers Lemaricus “Slim” Davidson, 25, and Letalvis “Rome” Cobbins, 24, and alleged co-conspirators George “Detroit” Thomas, 24, and Cobbins’ girlfriend, Vanessa Coleman, 19.

The house on Chipman Street, in which Davidson had been living with a girlfriend, is where authorities believe Christian and Newsom were taken at gunpoint after the pair was confronted.

Court records allege that Christian and Newsom initially were the targets of a carjacking but wound up being held hostage, beaten and raped. Newsom ultimately was shot to death and his body bound, set on fire and dumped alongside railroad tracks near Davidson’s Chipman Street home, records alleged.

Christian was strangled, her body wrapped in trash bags and discarded in a trash can, records show. Authorities have not revealed whether she was already dead when stuffed into the garbage can or died while inside it, nor have they disclosed the exact cause of her death.

Cobbins’ trial has been set for May 12, 2008. The remaining trial dates, all in 2008, are: Coleman, June 16; Davidson, July 14; and Thomas, Aug. 11.

A fifth suspect, Eric Boyd, is awaiting trial on federal charges of trying to help Davidson escape.

More details as they develop online and in Tuesday’s News Sentinel.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/ju...king-slayings/









[WBIR]

Suspect's house in Christian, Newsom murders returned to owner

By: Katie Allison Granju, Producer

Date created: 7/9/2007 3:29:46 PM
Last updated: 7/9/2007 3:46:42 PM




The Chipman Street residence where the body of Channon Christian was found




The rental house where police say a Knoxville couple was beaten, raped and murdered is being returned to its owner.
Advertisement

Authorities believe murder victims Chris Newsom and Channon Christian were taken to the small house on Chipman Street in Knoxville after they were carjacked last January. At the time, the house was occupied by one of the suspects.

Investigators said in court Monday that they have now processed all necessary evidence from the Chipman Street residence, allowing the judge to return it to its owner.

None of the four suspects charged in the crime were in court Monday.

http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story...provider=gnews







Attorneys disagree about SUV in couple's double murder case

July 9, 2007

By HANA KIM
Good Morning Tennessee Reporter

KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- Attorneys disagreed about a victim's SUV during a status hearing Monday for the suspects in the double murders of a young Knoxville couple.

The 2005 Toyota 4 Runner that was driven by Channon Christian was found on January 9 near where police found her body in a house on Chipman Street in East Knoxville.

The body of her boyfriend, Christopher Newsom, was found two days earlier, near a set of railroad tracks. The couple was last seen by friends while they were on a date.

During the status hearing, attorneys for both sides argued over the 4 Runner, which was a rental car.

State prosecutors say invesigators have collected all the evidence they need from the 4 Runner. The state now wants to return it to the business.

But defense attorneys blocked that motion, saying they need more information from the state before the 4 Runner can be released.

The defense attorneys did agree to lift restrictions from the home on Chipman Street.

None of the four suspects, Lemaricus Davidson, Letalvis Cobbins, George Thomas and Vanessa Coleman, was in court for Monday's hearing. They're facing murder, rape and kidnapping charges in the case.

http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=6763152&nav=0RYv


Christian – Newsom murder suspects' attorneys in court

Posted: 12:06 PM Jul 9, 2007
Last Updated: 12:06 PM Jul 9, 2007

Knoxville (WVLT) - Attorneys for the four suspects in the brutal rape and murder of a Knoxville couple appeared in court Monday.

Lemaricus Davidson; his brother, Letalvis Cobbins; and George Thomas were indicted on 46 counts, including first-degree murder.

Vanessa Coleman was indicted on 40 counts, also including murder, in connection with the deaths of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom.

Monday, a judge instructed the suspects to next appear in court on July 30th, with a formal hearing now set for October fourth.

Separate trials are set for next year, beginning with Cobbins on May 12th.

Prosecutors have not said yet whether they'll seek the death penalty.




http://www.volunteertv.com/home/headlines/8391002.html
 
Old July 10th, 2007 #2
Alex Linder
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This just in 14 mins ago from our gal pal Jamie over at Knoxville News-Sentinel...

Judge releases crime scene
House where couple killed returned to owner; SUV held

By Jamie Satterfield (Contact below)
Tuesday, July 10, 2007


Photo by J. Miles Cary

Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner questions defense attorney Tom Dillard during a motions hearing Monday in the carjacking, rape and murder of a young Knox County couple.


Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner questions defense attorney Tom Dillard during a motions hearing Monday in the carjacking, rape and murder of a young Knox County couple.

The scene of the rape and murder of a young Knox County couple is no longer a crime scene.

Six months after Channon Christian, 21, and boyfriend, Christopher Newsom, 23, were kidnapped, robbed, raped and slain, both police and defense attorneys are done probing whatever proof of the double murder might have remained inside the Chipman Street house where authorities say the crimes occurred.

On Monday, Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner signed an order releasing the rental house to its owner. Both Assistant District Attorney General Leland Price and attorneys Tom Dillard, David Eldridge and Kim Parton and Russell Greene agreed that neither side had further need of examining the house.

Eldridge represents Lemaricus “Slim” Davidson, the 25-year-old man authorities contend was the ringleader in the January carjacking that turned, instead, into a kidnapping, rape and murder.

Parton is defending Davidson’s brother, Letalvis “Rome” Cobbins, 24, while Dillard represents suspect George “Detroit” Thomas. A Kentucky law firm is handling the defense for a fourth suspect, Vanessa D. Coleman, who is Cobbins’ 19-year-old girlfriend. Greene, a Knoxville attorney, is assisting the Kentucky lawyers.

All four suspects face a host of charges ranging from first-degree murder to theft. A fifth man linked to the case, convicted serial robber Eric Boyd, is accused in a federal indictment of being an accessory to carjacking by helping Davidson hide out after the slayings. Boyd is not charged in the slayings.

None of the four accused slaying suspects appeared at Monday’s hearing. Their attorneys each had waived their presence for what was a quick and minor hearing.

Also discussed at the hearing was the status of forensic testing on the Toyota 4-Runner that Christian was driving the night the couple was kidnapped. That vehicle was later found abandoned near the 2316 Chipman Street house where Christian’s body was discovered dumped inside a trashcan.

Authorities believe Christian was strangled. Newsom was shot and his bound body set afire along railroad tracks near the Chipman Street house. Court records indicate that both were repeatedly raped. Newsom was killed first, while Christian was held several more hours before she was slain, records show.

Price said not all test results have yet been received.

“There are three tests that are still out there,” Price said.

Although Price said he expected testing being done by the Knoxville Police Department to be finished within a few weeks, testing on hair taken from the vehicle’s seats is being handled by the FBI.

“That could be months,” he said.

Baumgartner set a July 30 hearing to get an update on the status of the forensic testing and to decide whether the defense may need the Toyota to do its own testing. Price is trying to get the vehicle released back to the Christian family.

The judge also pushed back one week the deadline for prosecutors to announce whether the death penalty will be sought. That deadline now is Oct. 4.

Jamie Satterfield may be reached at 865-342-6308.
[Post to her through this link: http://www.knoxnews.com/staff/jamie-...field/contact/

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/ju...s-crime-scene/
 
Old July 10th, 2007 #3
Booher
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It will take a **YEAR** before it goes to trial?? Perhaps longer?? And if the death penalty is given, it will take another **15 YEARS** before it is done.

Fucking sad.

Should take no more than a year to try and execute.
 
Old July 10th, 2007 #4
Jessica
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Booher View Post
It will take a **YEAR** before it goes to trial?? Perhaps longer?? And if the death penalty is given, it will take another **15 YEARS** before it is done.

Fucking sad.

Should take no more than a year to try and execute.
Actually the judge said that they can't hold the trial during football season. Can you believe that bs?
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Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. Jer 6 16

 
Old July 10th, 2007 #5
Bob DeMarais
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Booher View Post
It will take a **YEAR** before it goes to trial?? Perhaps longer?? And if the death penalty is given, it will take another **15 YEARS** before it is done.

Fucking sad.

Should take no more than a year to try and execute.
It merely means the current government and system must be replaced before there is justice.
 
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