A Will County jury deliberated for less than an hour this afternoon before convicting Christopher Vaughn of killing his wife and three children in the family’s SUV in 2007 in a bid to start a new life in the Canadian wilderness.

The jury of eight men and four women got the case about 3:30 p.m., after six hours of closing arguments without a break for lunch, and told the judge they had a verdict at about 4:15 p.m.

Vaughn, 37, was charged with killing his wife, Kimberly, 34, and their children, Abigayle, 12, Cassandra, 11, and Blake, 8, inside the Oswego family's Ford Expedition in 2007.

Members of Kimberly Vaughn's family cried softly as the verdict was read, but Crhistopher Vaughn showed no emotion, only rubbing his mouth with his right hand as the judge finished reading the guilty verdicts on four counts of first-degree murder.

Vaughn didn't say a word as he was shackled and led from the courtroom, as Kimberly's family embraced each other.

After the verdict authorities led the family to a different room down the hall for a moment of privacy.

The family issued a short statement thanking investigators for their hard work on the case.

David Butsch, an attorney and spokesman for Kimberly Vaughn's family, said the jury's quick verdict "speaks volumes" and offers some measure of closure to her parents, Del and Susan Phillips.

"They've been through a horrible ordeal, but they are people of faith, and that is what has gotten them through this," Butsch said.

He said Vaughn's claims that Kimberly was the killer "sort of added insult to injury." The family is still wondering how Vaughn could have committed such an unspeakable act.

"There are a lot of unanswered questions," Butsch said.

Chuck Pelkie, spokesman for Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow, said her family did not wish to speak to reporters. They were going to have dinner at a bar and grill across the street from the courthouse, he said.

The jury foreman, Dan Lachat, said in a brief news conference that there was no doubt in the jurors' minds of Vaughn's guilt, and they never even considered the defense argument that Vaughn's wife committed the murders.

He also said jurors were struck by Vaughn's lack of emotion during often gruesome testimony.

"If you watched (Vaughn) throughout the trial as we did, I think you'd come to the same conclusion," Lachat said.

Glasgow said the quickness of the jury's deliberations showed there was "little doubt in their mind" as to Vaughn's guilt.

He also said the case was one of the most brutal he'd seen.

"This case is not just a murder, it's an atrocity," Glasgow said in remarks outside the courthouse. "To annihilate your family -- I can't think of a more horrific crime."

"He'll spend the rest of his life staring at the cold walls of his prison cell, then he'll meet his maker for his real punishment," Glasgow said.

Vaughn faces a life sentence. The judge set sentencing for Nov. 26, the same date as sentencing for the defendant in another recent high-profile murder trial: Drew Peterson.

Closing arguments in Vaughn's trial began this morning after jurors spent five weeks hearing from dozens of witnesses, viewing horrific crime scene photos and watching hours of police interrogation videos.

Christopher Vaughn’s story about what happened the day his wife and three children were shot to death in their SUV is “so ridiculous” that it alone proves his guilt, Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Chris Regis said in closing arguments.



Regis took jurors point-by-point through Vaughn’s statements to the police in the hours after the killings, saying Vaughn purposefully fed police "a back story" to try to get them to think his wife had shot and wounded him, killed the children and then committed suicide.

With his family slain, Vaughn claimed he couldn't remember what happened, yet offered up unsolicited details about problems he and his wife, Kimberly, were having in their marriage and the plans they had to visit a Springfield water park.

“His story is so contradictory and so filled with holes that it completely reeks of guilt,” Regis shouted.



Regis said that a few hours into the first interview, when police detectives confronted Vaughn with information that his family had been killed, his response was almost laughable. The prosecutor likened one part of Vaughn’s statement to a bad, 1980s-era Chuck Norris film, clunky dialogue and all.

“Think about the worst movie you’ve ever seen in your life and how bad the acting was,” Regis said of Vaughn expressing disbelief over what the police were saying. “This was worse.”

Vaughn’s assertions that he had panicked and bailed out of the SUV after noticing his leg was bleeding were equally implausible, Regis said.



“He’s a hunter, he’s an archer, he’s a sportsman. And he’s going to panic at the sight of blood, freak out and leave his family? That’s ridiculous,” Regis said.

Regis said that Vaughn’s lies alone were enough to convict him. But he also noted for the jury the other evidence he said pointed to Vaughn’s guilt, including forensic evidence from the scene and the detailed plan he had to leave his family behind.

And he said only Vaughn had the motive, the means, and the skill with firearms to pull off the murders, particularly the "forehead shots" to each of the children.

"There is not one other person on the face of this earth who wanted those people dead," Regis said.



Vaughn had a “secret crush” on a stripper, kept a “top-secret storage locker” filled with survival gear, exhibited “bizarre behavior” by going to a gun range the night before the killings, then sleeping in his clothes, Regis said.



“There is no question as to this man’s guilt -- none whatsoever,” Regis said.



During his closing argument, defense attorney George Lenard agreed that Vaughn wanted to leave his wife and three children for a life in the Canadian wilderness, but Lenard insisted Vaughn is no murderer.

In fact, the evidence proves that Vaughn’s wife was the one who shot and wounded him, then killed the kids and turned the gun on herself that morning in June 2007, Lenard said.



Lenard said prosecutors had “put on a strong case” that Vaughn wanted out of his suburban family life, but they failed to prove first-degree murder.

“Christopher is not on trial for planning to leave his family,” Lenard said. “And there is a big difference.”