Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Christopher Vaughn got separate life sentences for the murders of his wife and three children.
Right before a Will County judge dropped four life sentences on Christopher Vaughn, his grief-stricken mother-in-law wondered aloud why he couldn't have abandoned his wife and three children instead of killing them all. "What a coward," said Susan Phillips, the mother of Vaughn's slain wife, Kimberly Vaughn. "If you do not want your family, divorce is always the first option, or even just walking away," Phillips said from the witness stand during Christopher Vaughn's sentencing hearing Tuesday morning. Christopher Vaughn, 38, wanted to shed his family so he could start a new life in the Yukon wilderness with an unwitting stripper. In June 2007, he packed his 34-year-old wife and their three children—Blake, 8, Cassandra, 11, and Abigayle, …
Monday, March 21, 2011
In this week's edition of "A Good Read on the Southland," we've got money for mommies, a slain gay sailor remembered in D.C., an elderly mom murdered in Oak Lawn, and recovering thoroughbreds. Oh yeah, more Chris Medina, too.
Wondering what you missed last week? Here are a handful of stories you shouldn't miss twice. 1. Can You Pay Mommies and Daddies to Be Better Parents? Patch editor Christopher Paicely reports on an interesting experiment in Chicago Heights that provides financial incentives to parents in the quest to help their children perform better at school. Renowned University of Chicago economist John List is betting $10 million of a billionaire's money that cash can make a difference to kids at the Griffin Early Childhood Center. The story went national on Aol News. The story prompted quite a reaction among Aol readers last week. Says Aol reader Pamela McKnight: What makes you think money is going to make a good parent? Look at the Goselins, Charlie …
Sunday, March 20, 2011
The state senator and former gubernatorial candidate spoke before the Bremen Township Republican Organization on Saturday.
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Sunday, March 20, 2011
State Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale), the man who lost the 2010 GOP nomination for governor by fewer than 200 votes, spoke before an excited crowd at the Oak Park Avenue Metra station in Tinley Park for the Bremen Township Republican Organization's Lincoln/Reagan Breakfast Event. Check out our coverage at Tinley Park Patch, including videos of Dillard's takes on GOP strategy, the death penalty, the recent 67-percent income tax hike and more.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Gov. Pat Quinn signed the ban on the death penalty Wednesday, and in the process he commuted the death sentences of the 15 prisoners now on Death Row.
Updated March 9, 11:23 p.m. Former Oak Forest resident Paul Runge and 14 other prisoners currently on Illinois' Death Row will spend the rest of their lives in prison but will not die for their crimes. As he signed the ban on the death penalty in Illinois, Gov. Pat Quinn also commuted their sentences to natural life in prison, without possibility of parole or release. “There are no words in the English language, or any language, to ease your pain,” reads Quinn's quote in the Chicago Tribune. “I want to tell them, it’s impossible, I’m sure, to ever be healed. But we want to tell all of the family members, the family of Illinois … we want to be with you. You’re not alone in your grief.” Now 40, Paul Runge was sentenced to death in 2006 for …
Monday, January 17, 2011
Judging by the chatter over the Green Garden Country Club story, it may be. Equally riling may be the fact that a local serial killer may never see the executioner's gurney. On the positive side, we know where you can get a good shoe.
Racism at the country club, what to do with Death Row, parking-ticket scofflaws, political shenanigans and a lead on where you can buy a good pair of shoes. And our Bears are playing the Packers in the NFC Championship, so you've got just a week to brush up on the lyrics to Bear Down, Chicago Bears. Every Monday, Good Read keeps you in the know with the Southland’s must-read stories, and then some. N-----s and Canadians? Is Country Club Racism Alive and Well? A former executive chef at Green Garden Country Club in Frankfort has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging he was demoted to line cook and subjected to racial slurs and other mistreatment because he's black. "During my employment, I was …
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Local government run amok. Death Row gets an undeserved favor. Teen-aged losers in the thrall of the Dark Side. Just a sampling of the commentary offered by readers on the Southland's Patches in recent days.
On "Oak Lawn Finishes Strong in 2010" from Oak Lawn Patch How can you paint the trim of a house when you can't afford your own medication or food? Is the village going to help? NO! They fine, impose and persecute instead of asking - "Hey - do you need some help?" Beautify??? Sure - after they make it really hard if you are on a fixed income or no income... Instead of writing tickets to those in need (retirees, unemployed) - why not ask - "Is there a reason?" or "Can we help you get this done?" We have youth in this village who need community service - why not use the resources and HELP your neighbor instead of STRESSing your neighbor??? I would love to have a village that REACHES out to help it's own neighbors instead of hurting its own…
Ricardo Harris gunned down two and wounded two in Oak Lawn in 1999. Cops say Oak Forest's Paul Runge went on a spree of rape and murder. Will a death penalty ban give them both a long life?
In the chronicles of Southland crime, there are few killers who rival Ricardo Harris and Paul Runge for cold-blooded depravity. Ask a local cop, and the details of their crimes come to mind readily, albeit not easily. The General Assembly has passed legislation that would repeal the death penalty. The governor has 60 days to sign the bill. The prospect that these men might escape Death Row does not sit well with those who worked to put them behind bars. In Oak Lawn, Harris gunned down two people in 1999 and wounded two sisters who miraculously survived. Division Chief Michael Murray thinks of the victims. “Just to have their justice pulled out from under them, I don’t know how they feel. For me, it’s a bit frustrating," Murray told Patch. …
Samara
3:07 am on Monday, April 15, 2013
JAIL.PRISON Please don't put him in P.C. I hope they throw this monster with the general population I wouldn't want to be him..u know what they do to child killers..for with this public pop, he'd wish an cry for the death penalty . leave him in there to rot. more ›