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News
Burden eased for Kimberly Vaughn’s parents : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisBurden eased for Kimberly Vaughn’s parents
| Had not slept through the night in a week, spokesman says
| by Tony Scott
| 6/28/2007
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Kimberly Vaughn’s parents and siblings slept through the night for the first time in more than a week last Saturday.
Earlier that day, Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced murder charges against Kimberly’s husband, Christopher, in connection with the June 14 murder of Kimberly and the couple’s three children.
Clayton, Mo., attorney Joe Jacobson, hired as a spokesman for Kimberly’s parents, Susan and Del Phillips and other members of the Phillips family, said Monday that the charges announced against Christopher Vaughn, in some ways, relieved a burden.
“I understand from talking to them, that the night after his arrest - Saturday night - was the first night anybody in the family managed to sleep through the night,” Jacobson said. “They had not been able to sleep at night, they were all exhausted. And this took one burden off them.”
Jacobson said the family hopes that now that an arrest has been made, the media will shift its focus away from them to the legal process related to the murder charges. Local and national print and broadcast media had been camped out in front of the Vaughns’ home on Mansfield Court in Oswego since the murders.
“The idea that I had was, if we gave the press something, that they would leave the family alone,” Jacobson said. “Everyone respected that and stayed away, which was really a nice thing, to not have people camped outside their house like they were outside the Vaughn’s house.”
“But now that there’s an arrest, they’re hoping that everybody’s attention will focus on that and leave them alone so they can return to grieve in the anonymity they had before all this,” he added.
Jacobson said the Phillips family was “relieved that the police investigation concluded so quickly, and very grateful to the authorities for putting in the resources that they did to bring this to a rapid conclusion.”
The attorney acknowledged that the family had sought the advice of those who had been affected by murders in their own family, and were glad that the investigation was wrapped up so quickly.
“They’ve spoken to other people who had been involved with family murder (cases), and some of these things took months or years to be resolved, and they were dreading a long, slow onslaught,” Jacobson said.
Early media reports had claimed that Vaughn initially told police that Kimberly had shot the children, then shot herself. Jacobson said her family believes the charges against Vaughn have essentially cleared Kimberly’s name of being somehow involved in the crime.
“They were also relieved that Kim’s name was basically, officially, cleared by the police,” Jacobson said. “They all knew that she had nothing to do with her children’s murder, but it certainly is important for them to hear it from the authorities. They view this as a clearing of her name and of the accusations that were made against her.”
Jacobson explained that his law partner is a friend of Kimberly’s father, and that his firm offered to help the family in any way. He recalled when he first heard about the murders.
“It’s the worst thing you can imagine,” he said. “When I heard the news initially, I thought, what worse thing could ever happen to you, as a parent?”
Jacobson said despite the initial relief related to the charges against Vaughn, the family is “exhausted” and has a long way to go to heal from this tragedy.
“It’s a long road to healing; getting some sleep certainly is a step towards it,” he said.
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