Horror in Knoxville update: Trial begins
Longtime readers will remember Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, the young couple brutally murdered in a racially-charged case in Knoxville, TN in 2007. My archives on the case are here.
The trial of the first defendant Letalvis Cobbins began yesterday. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports:
Earlier this afternoon, jurors in the January 2007 slaying of a Knox County couple ended their day with testimony about the grisly discovering of one victim’s body that had been burned beyond recognition.
Norfolk Southern engineer J.D. Ford told jurors he saw the body of Christopher Newsom, 23, lying near railroad tracks in the vicinity of the Chipman Street house where Newsom and girlfriend Channon Christian, 21, were taken after they were carjacked and kidnapped.
A photograph displayed movie-sized on a projection screen in Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner’s courtroom showed Newsom’s body burned from head to toe. His face was unrecognizable.
State arson investigator Robert Watson said an accelerant – likely gasoline – had been poured directly on Newsom’s body and ignited.
Authorities say Newsom was raped, bound, gagged and led to the railroad tracks, where he was shot execution-style.
Christian, they say, was kept alive inside the Chipman Street house for several more hours, repeatedly raped and then stuffed inside a trash can. She suffocated to death.
Today marked the first day of trial for suspect Letalvis Cobbins, the first of four defendants to be tried.
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I cannot even imagine a young person going through that kind of horror.
My their parents find peace in what ever faith they profess and the POC’s that perpetrated this nightmare be executed soon and while the parents/family can at least witness some minor bit of closure.
OY…
“my”=”May”
Will hate crime legislation apply?
Or will this just be called what it bloody well is: a heinous act of violence.
The death penalty would be too mild for the guilty.
Errah If they hurry up and try and convict this scum they might be able to have the execution as the halftime ceremony for the Vols opening game!
There are problems with the death penalty, but if it doesn’t apply in this case, then it never applies.
two innocent victims no longer with us, while the low life cowardly garbage are still alive. death penalty indeed the sooner the better.
The parents of these young people must be living in a permanent nightmare. To have to live with the knowledge that your child died in such a brutal and horrific way is worse than anything I could ever imagine. These monsters didn’t just brutally kill two young people, they killed the peace of mind of four loving parents. My heart goes out to them.
They should be convicted, based on the evidence and DNA, and not left to linger on death row with appeals.
These two animals should suffer the same fate as their victims. A lethal injection is too good for them.
Prayers for the victim’s family. I don’t know how they survived the details of their children’s murders.
I would not be opposed to going Medieval on his a$$. A public quartering would send a message to other dirt bags that society will not tolerate such atrocities.
This case profoundly sickened me…
nothing’s changed.
God help their families and let’s pray that justice is served in its fullest.
Good grief, this has taken a long time–the only place I can find news/updates on this is here on Michelle’s blog.
Thanks.
Hmmm, I wonder if AG Holder will “weigh in” on this case?
Like he did with the New Black Panther “poll watchers”. Maybe they were just “wilding…..”
Cue the Justice Brothers in 3 …2 …1
sorry Dex, you’re wrong. He has civil rights and you are stepping on them. /sarc off.
As a parent, I can’t imagine the pain this family is going through. And to have to re-live it in a trial where all the details will be shown in words and photos must be the worst torture for the parents. We’ve lost our way as a society when we do not stand up en mass and condemn, then dispose of this kind of garbage living among us.
That is horrible – condolences to the families.
It is an injustice that when the death penalty is carried out on these feral animals, it will be quick and painless. It should be long and brutal, and their last words should be a pain-wracked pleading for an end to their misery. Sorry, but that is exactly how I feel.
We can agree on this, at least. May they rest in peace.
The world will be a better place when it is rid of every one of the scum involved in the murders.
Here’s one from San Diego where they are desperately claiming it’s not a racial hate crime.
Holder…Holder…Bueller…?
So do you think this scum will get some end of life counseling? Or will the left spend kabillions of dollars telling us about the sanctity of life and it’s not the governments place to put people to death, in trying to prevent the execution of these animals?
My heart and prayers go out to the parents of these precious souls. May they rest in peace.
These monsters should be hanged, drawn, and quartered.
Unfortunately, the Holder “Justice” Department will probably retroactively drop all charges.
There is something to be said for medieval justice to warped degenerates.
Sounds like Tennessee needs Ron White’s death penalty express lane.
If I understand it correctly, they will have to go through it four times, unless the other 3 have a plea deal.
I’m against lethal injection precisely because it IS painless.
There is no reason that monsters like the animals that murdered this couple should receive any more kindness than they showed.
I don’t approve of torture of anyone, including terrorists, but execution shouldn’t be like going to sleep.
Make the execution quick, efficient and public. Hanging fits the bill very well.
***
AN EYE FOR AN EYE AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH justice makes a lot of sense to me. “As you do to others shall it be done to you” seems appropriate.
***
Anyone of any race or ethnic background that commits a crime like this should pay with their life–it is all they have to pay with.
***
However, we don’t believe in vengeance. But a quick execution–within a year of the crime–one appeal only–is a good solution. Life in prison only gives them many chances to get out and repeat their crimes on new victims in the future. No Kalifornia style 40 years on “death row” stuff. No “rehabilitation” stuff either.
***
John Bibb
***
On August 18th, 2009 at 11:42 am, txvet2 said:
Unfortunately, the Holder “Justice” Department will probably retroactively drop all charges.
If this should be the case — and I hope it is NOT — wouldn’t vigilante justice be acceptable here?
C’mon, it could be a pay-per-view!
What, in God’s name, has taken sooooo long for this ONE person to come to trial?
The others still have to go to trial.
What next … credit for time served?
If it was my kid I’d be on this daily like stink on pooh.
Swift and justice … two words that don’t go together anymore.
there lays our societies problem with crime…we’re too soft, we’re too woosiefied, pussiefied and opraphied to dole out he punishment these animals deserve.
I don’t care what made these animals the animals they are, I didn’t make them who they are, the greatest country in history didn’t make them who they…the race baiter’s and racist’s of the minority communities have done that and will continue until this society wakes up to crime, as it is going on now with politics.
It’s shame these cretins are on earth and the lives they led has made them what they are, but let me say this, life is not perfect, now punish the bastards with the hardest measures allowable by law, then change the laws to make the punishment even pronounced, what ever that is.
There is research down authored by a democrat Dist. Attorney in Oregon no less, stating for every capitol punishment carried out saves 8 to 12 lives. This are cold, hard facts, not feel good crap about how the boys we abused when they were younger.
It’s shame they grew up that way, but they did, now remove them from society before animals like that take over our society. I’m so sick of all the left wing, feel good, bull $heet going on in this country.
These pieces of scum are nauseating!
I hope they do not have any offspring to pass on their “bad” genes.
Take them out of the gene pool and fast.
Anyone notice IHMC is off their meds…hurry, resuscitate
, more kool aid…stat.
Anybody remember what happened in Wichita a couple years back? That was not considered a hate crime but when you find out what happened – it sure was.
If the execution was harsh enough I’d pay to watch these scum be removed from society.
Yes, I remember. Not all the details, but enough. The poor woman survived, IIRC.
…and the horse they rode in on…
Dexter Alarius,
If I remember correctly, she had been shot in the head and walked nude through the snow about a mile to a house where the occupants called police.
Ever notice how your local tv stations and newspapers intentionally leave out these racial hate crime stories? But they have no qualm about publishing white on black heinous crimes such as murder, rape, torture 2,000 miles away? I always email and call my local news stations WCCO KSTP KMSP KARE Star Tribune and ask them “Why the double standard reporting?” You should too. And remember, PROSECUTORS are nothing but politicians. They often decide AGAINST hate crime charges when it’s black on white. They love tv news attention to prove how tough they are against crime. Call their offices and demand answers. BTW I disagree with hate crime & hate speech legislation… laws are already on the books. Criminals don’t read hate crime law then make informed decisions while perpetrating unlawful activities. Crimes like this should be permanent life or death, not 15-20 with parole… Liberal judges, Liberal prosecutors and Liberal jurors have destroyed the American court system.
May the family members of these two fine young people find peace, love and understanding to get them through their years of always being tormented by the actions of these sub-human pieces of scum.
stillontheroad,
Yes, I just refreshed myself on the massacre here. Unbelievable cruelty.
I sometimes think we need to return to the ways of the “Wild West.” One’s appeals ran out when a convenient tree branch was found.
Let those dirtbags hang by the neck until they are dead, Dead, DEAD!
Then, God will judge them again!
there is a story today about the parents of a 15 year old who was raped and murdered by some wetbacks and they have been sentenced to some time, but the parents are suing the city/county for not enforcing the laws against illegal aliens. if these wonderful citizens were in and out of prison for these same offenses, then the families of these two should sue everything and everyone they can think of. if our judicial system won’t work to protect us from danger, then we need to hit them in the pocketbook. they don’t listen to anything else.
According to our local paper, Cobbins pled guilty to rape and facilitation of murder, but neither charge invokes the death penalty. His attorney’s focus is that Cobbins is not guilty of murder, which would.
The Christian and Newsom families deserve better justice than they will get from these trials.
God help me! If I were father of either of those two beautiful young people, I’d find it a difficult choice between allowing the wheels of justice to slowly squeak to some conclusion for these scum, or spend the rest of my life in prison for taking matters into my own hands.
I’ve been haunted by this story ever since Michelle first brought it to my attention. If this was white on black it would be all over the place and headlined as a hate crime. I truly hope that God took their souls before the killers took their bodies…I have faith that God wouldn’t keep them in their bodies to suffer through such a nightmare.
If the physical evidence and/or any confessions made are strong enough to convict all four, then no, NO plea bargains should be offered (for testifying against co-defendants, etc). If I lived in Tennessee, I wouldn’t want $1 tax dollar going to feed, guard and house these animals. Speedy trial, jury returns “guilty and death” for all four. In fact, move them to the front of the line. Period. If vengeance truly is the Lord’s (and I believe it is), then the state of Tennessee should exercise every bit of its power with the jury leveling diligent justice to put these bastards before the Lord ASAP. If they won’t do it, send them down here to Texas for trial. We’ll do it right. God bless and keep those poor kids and their families & friends. For the four that raped, tortured, butchered, and murdered them, may God have mercy on your souls.
Would that I be Atticus Finch, so that I may shoot these rabid dogs in the middle of the street. Their fate should not be in question.
at 12:39 pm, Dexter Alarius said:
There was a time, Dexter, when no jury of your peers would have convicted you for taking matters into your own hands.
No matter what a court and jury does to these monsters it will not change anything for the families of the victims..they have already been sentenced to life.
Inmates and prison guards are people too. There is one sure fire way to make absolutely make sure these people never have the opportunity to ever kill again.
My God, people should be storming the court and dragging these scumbags out to get real justice. These animals should be tortured for the rest of their lives. Crime is beyond horrific nowadays – it begs for brutal justice.
Everybody should be emailing all the usual selective news outlets (NBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, NPR, MSNBC, etc. etc. as well as print) to demand why this major story is not being covered.
Get everyone on your contact list (with requests that eveyone on their list do the same) to email too and keep doing it until they have to report it.
So very, very sorry for what happened to these two young defenseless people by monsters who are not fit to breath the same air as humans.
If only citizens who had served in the military could vote, what to do with slime that do this kind of thing would not need debating.
Rogue–stand up, your father’s passin’.
I have been waiting for this and to see if justice is carried out. They better hope these criminals are given the death penalty or someone from Knoxville will take care of it. What a horror and to not make it to national news is dysfunctional.
This has to rank as every parent’s nightmare.
Has Obama made a statement on this hate crime yet? When it gets appealed to SCOTUS will be be confident that a “wise Latina” will rule justly?
If ever circumstances warranted a death sentence this is it.
I just emailed FOX News and asked them why they had never posted anything about these grissly murders. I asked them if they were being to political correct.
Nice quote Spacey.
I was just in Borders the other day and saw a new edition of Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’. Somehow Atticus Finch just stuck in my mind. Back then some lawyers were men and fought for justice and rule of law. Now, not so much.
There is much better screening nowadays by the moral relativists to keep defenders of justice out of law school.
The SOP calls for two taps to the chest and one to the head.
As heinous as these crimes may be…
the real sickening aspect will be the defense the perps’ lawyers put up to try to get the scum off scot-free. The blame will surely be on the victims since they are as helpless now as they were that fateful day.
I pray someday that the law and its practioners welcome common sense and decency back into their lives.
But remember folks, lethal injection is “cruel and unusual” punishment, and by no means is this a “hate crime”. /sarc
I tend to agree with the late George Carlin in cases like this: “dip [these folks] in brown gravy and lock [them] in a small room with a wolverine who’s high on angel dust.”
(Granted, I don’t care for George Carlin very much, but I’d hate to throw the baby out with the bathwater.)
Sorry…practitioners…
more coffee, Grommit…
Fox has an article here. You just have to dig for it.
‘Justice’ is dependent on the level of skill held/executed by the prosecutors.
Ditto and ditto.
I hate, loathe and despise the term hate crime, but if others persist in proclaiming any crime against their own as a hate crime, then it most emphatically should apply here.
The reminder of this heinous crime isn’t something I welcome gladly, simply because it was so heinous (evil is one synonym – news flash to Harry Reid: this is what evil really looks like).
Even so, I echo the thanks to MM for keeping us informed, especially as it’s a reminder to keep the families of Christopher and Channon in our prayers. It has to be a living hell for them to go through, not just this one trial, but the trials of the other three defendants.
Rogue, that’s one of my favorite movies – one that is actually faithful to its source, Harper Lee’s great novel.
We have the death penalty so we do not have to live with these monsters on the same planet with them.
Cast them out from us.
I would like to have a little ‘Quality’ time with those 4 depraved pukes, but that job belongs to Someone else. God will balance all accounts in His own time and manner. They will pay.
This is why I think we should bring back public executions.
Yes He will. And yes they will. Their deaths will be like a summer picnic compared to what these pieces of filth will face for eternity.
WOW! I’m sure this is being prosecuted under hate crime laws… right?
Bruce said:
The black community does not have the power to hate, they merely survive in a racist world…don’t you get it yet?/sarc
sarc aside, to think of how much hatred someone must have to commit such terrible acts on another human being. I wonder what part of ’society’ those guys will blame for their hatred.
This case should serve as a stark reminder to anyone who is the victim of a violent crime such a carjacking.
Never allow the perpetrator to remove you from the scene. Never. Male, female, young, old, armed, unarmed, it doesn’t matter. If you can lift a finger, fight. The only reason a criminal wants to remove you from the scene is to take you a place he finds more comfortable or secure to do something, and it’s guaranteed that it won’t be something you’ll like.
Those of you who think you can’t fight are wrong. It takes no training to gouge someone’s eyes out or bite their ear off. All it takes is will.
Had these two poor souls fought back on the street they may have escaped. They may also have been shot dead on the spot. Either way they would have been immeasurably better off.
——————–
P.S. Please do not misinterpret my post as blaming the victims. The only blame in this case lies with the subhuman creatures who committed the crimes. My only intention is to draw a lesson from their tactical mistakes.
And yours was good advice. Thx
JF-
We can see that you’re not blaming Channon and Christopher.
Your advice is tactically sound and consistent with every self-defense class I took in the American TaeKwonDo Association and the military.
One of my instructors was a Grayslake Police Officer in 2004 and he stated that 9 1/2 times out of 10 if a perp takes you to another location, you are not coming back alive. His mantra was simple: Fight Hard!-Fight Now!
GSP
1st Degree Black Belt
Songham TaeKwonDo
There did not have to be any ‘hate’ at all. They did it for FUN.
That is the nature of that kind of evil. It ENJOYS tormenting and brutalizing and killing helpless people.
That is why any talk of mercy is just another form of evil.
I disagree. Certainly no blame attaches to the victims, but we all know there are probably dozens of people, probably including judges, in the lives of the monsters who did this who should have stopped them long ago.
This society is very, very sick. We have ‘mercy’ for all of the wrong people.
For instance, the FAMILIES of these monsters should be called to account, not pitied.
Well, the sad thing is that we no longer have a justice system….we have a legal system….there is a lot of money to be made here on both sides and the longer it takes……the more MONEY made…billable hours lots and lots of billable hours and in all the muck and carrying of piles of paper here and there these creatures, and creatures they are if guilty (non human} have a good chance a lot better chance than the victims or the families and friends of the victims……and they will be forever protected from bad people like me, who knows what to do with dangerous creatures. Every one involved with this legal game has to accept the possibility that these things will be set free………….
I won’t pretend to know what Channon and Christopher’s families are going through. Having children and a granddaughter of my own and thinking of something like this happening to them, it just really takes my breath away.
I will never understand from some of my own experiences, how our justice system seems to always be on the side of the criminials, and I will pray that it won’t be the case for the Newsom and Christian families.
All of the perps should be set free at a well-publicized time and place.