Horror in Knoxville update: Victims families’ speak
Continuing to follow the Christian/Newsom murder story, local TV station VLT8 has a new video interview with the family of Chris Newsom. Watch here.
The events of January 8th, 2007 turned the lives of two families upside down…
A young couple, 21-year-old Channon Christian and 23-year-old Christopher Newsom were brutally murdered when five suspects allegedly carjacked, raped and killed them. Volunteer TV spoke with Christopher’s family on Monday who say even four and a half months later…losing their son is still no easier to deal with.
“He just really enjoyed life and that’s what hurts so bad that his life was taken away and he was way too young for that,” Mary Newsom says.
As Chris Newsom’s parents imagine what may have happened one fateful day in January…
“I sit in that chair at night and look over at that picture and I just cry… tears roll down my cheeks… I think of what they did to him… him just laying there burned,” Mary says.
They lean on each other… reading each other’s thoughts… finishing the other’s sentences…
“Both of them suffered… tremendously… they had to… in their last hours of life,” Hugh & Mary Newsom say.
As they support each other… they are also supporting a promise they both made to Chris in death.
“I would be present when any one of those animals made their appearance. I would be there to represent him and I intend to keep that promise,” Hugh says.
Channon Christian’s family also spoke out:
For the first time since their daughter’s murder, the family of Channon Christian is speaking out about their grief.
Police say 22-year-old Channon Christian and her boyfriend, Christopher Newsom, were carjacked, kidnapped, tortured, and murdered this past January.
That night the couple was having dinner and watching a movie at a friend’s apartment off Washington Pike. It is the last time they were heard from.
Channon’s father, Gary Christian, says he was the last one to speak to his daughter. She called home just after midnight, telling them she was going to be late.
“I said. ‘Alright, be careful, and I love you.’ That’s the last thing she said to me, that she loved me,” he said.
Gary and Dina Christian say life has been a living hell since that last phone call…
…The family has religiously attended every court hearing. Gary says it’s the only thing he can do now to honor his daughter’s memory.
He talked about how tense he gets when the accused killers are brought in. “That’s pure hate. That ain’t tense. I mean, they took our baby girl.”
He refers to the suspects as a pack of “wild animals.”
“It’s no different from hunting back in East Texas, sitting in a deer stand and looking at a pack of wild dogs. They just bring them in one at a time,” he says.
The Christian family says it hopes the prosecutor seeks the death penalty.
John Leo in the NYSun today covers the case, blog coverage, and the politics of news. John remembers the double standards in coverage of the awful Jesse Dirkhising case, which I also covered in 2001.
The Newsom family is requesting prayers.
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Video: Fox covers the Christian-Newsom murders on BYA
Covering the Christian/Newsom murders
The horror in Knoxville
Race, crime, and media taboos
La Shawn Barber: Media Blackout On Christian-Newsom Murders?
Newsbusters: PC at work?
Rob at Flopping Aces: Rape, Mutilation and Murder
Winona and the Wichita massacre
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The fact that even “conservatives” don’t care about this story answers your outcry.
If the MSM is ignoring this story, guess what? FOX News ignored it too.
Where are Malkin fans on this story? It’s been a month and nobody has commented on this story?
What does that tell you?
I have tried to follow this story. Almost nobody reported on it. John Gibson had it on Foxnews one time. CNN had this story, however they put a negative spin on it. Preston from Hotair.com did a VENT on this story. Other than that it’s hard to find details on it. Part of it is the media bias Mrs. Malkin points out. Another reason nobody covers this story is because of the nature of the crime. It’s horrible. I was a Marine in OIF. I’ve seen some pretty bad sh@$. Just reading about this story makes me cringed.
José
The powers that be don’t consider this news. It doesn’t fit into any of their templates. It’s sad, because everybody should be up in arms. Then, again most Americans would rather look away than to face something so horrible. I think if you tell people about this story, most will say, “Well that’s too bad, but it did not happen to me.” The attitude is “let someone else fix it.”
José
Hey, its a black on white hate crime. If it was the opposite it would be all over the news. Typical, no one wants to “offend” the african-American, blacks or whatever they call themselves. Where is jackson? Where is sharpton? Lowlife scum!!!!!!!!
“The fact that even ‘conservatives’ don’t care about this story answers your outcry.”
The fact? Don’t be ridiculous. This story incites painful reaction every time it sees the light. This is a story of man’s inhumanity to man. These people are inhuman.
Juan Williams insinuation that this was a drug crime gone wrong was absolutely disgusting and tells you everything you need to know about Williams. He is a black apologist.
I had to do research about this, and its true, I never heard about it on any news. Appararently, Britney Spears and the NBPP are more important. After reading how graphic the kidnapping was, how they were both raped in all aspects and possibilities, Strangled and Shot and Newsome set ablaze before he was dead or before, which doesn’t make a difference, with that type of trauma you’re dead inside already no matter what occurs next. Sickening.