Testimony in Vaughn trial offers look at Kimberly

JOLIET, Ill. — A routine neighborly dinner and a weekend-long graduation celebration were the subjects of scrutiny in the second day of the trial of an Oswego man accused of killing his wife and three children in June 2007 in Channahon.

Attorneys in court Tuesday in Joliet explored the interactions between those closest to Kimberly and Christopher Vaughn, including at those two events.

Christopher, now 37, is accused by the state of killing his wife and children early June 14, 2007, while the defense claims Kimberly committed a murder-suicide.

The state followed the testimony of Kimberly's mother on Monday by bringing her father, Del Phillips, also of St. Charles, Mo., to the stand. Questioning immediately delved into the weekend before the deaths, when he and his wife visited the family for her graduation from the University of Phoenix. He said she gave him the tour of the neighborhood clubhouse, where she worked part-time.

"She was proud of what she was doing," he said. " ... she was happy to be there."

Assistant State's Attorney Michael Fitzgerald asked about the last moments he had with his son-in-law before his daughter's and grandchildren's deaths. Phillips said there wasn't any notable difference in Christopher's demeanor the evening before he and his wife left.

"He was pretty civil, pretty congenial as usual," he said.

When Mills followed asking if Christopher was talkative, Phillips laughed.

"He's never talkative, but he was congenial and civil," Phillips said.

He did, however, recount a moment while leaving the Vaughn home to return to Missouri in which Christopher uncharacteristically gave them the cold shoulder as they left, not saying goodbye. Later, he brought it up to Kimberly, who gave plausible reasons for the brush-off and assumed the best in her husband.

"She always defended him," Phillips said.

In cross examination, Vaughn's defense attorney, George D. Lenard, also asked about Christopher's personality, asking if it was his nature to avoid discussing personal topics. He touched on stressful situations going on in Kimberly's life, including a neighbor with an off-leash pit bull, a registered sex offender in the neighborhood, and a co-worker hogging hours at the clubhouse.

Phillips said he knew about the situations, but her stress about them seemed minor and was indicative of her caring for her children.

"She was upset about that for the children," he said. "She was protective of her children. She had a hard time taking a splinter (from) their finger."

Lenard also touched on Kimberly's recurring migraines. He asked if the topic came up over the weekend the Phillipses had visited. Phillips said no, noting that the weekend was one of euphoria as a whole.

"That weekend she was exuberant, excited about grad school," he said. "She never said anything about headaches."

In the morning, Kimberly's twin sister, Jennifer Ledbetter, of McKinney, Texas, and older sister, Elizabeth Nicole "Nikki" Isemann, of Lincoln, Neb., testified.

Choking back tears, Isemann described the deep friendship she had with her sister, seeing her multiple times throughout the year and being in constant touch with her.

"Kim is my best friend and she's my baby sister," Isemann said, describing her connection to Kimberly.

Midway through her testimony, Judge Daniel Rozak called for a brief recess to allow Isemann to compose herself, as well as for the state to remind her to keep her responses relevant to questioning.

Her testimony was also halted when, in cross examination, Lenard asked if Kimberly had discussed fearing that she had AIDS, potentially from an unfaithful Christopher. The state's attorneys objected to Lenard bringing up the subject, stating that there was no evidence Kimberly had contracted the disease and that it could have nothing to do with Christopher if she did — revealing that Kimberly was date-raped at 17.

Rozak determined the speculation of illness could factor into her mental state and was admissible.

Isemann confirmed to Lenard that they had discussed it, and to Mills that her sister was never diagnosed with the disease.

Continuing the questions about Kimberly's headaches, Lenard asked if she knew about her sister's health and medications, which Isemann said she did. Isemann said her sister did have concerns about her medications not helping her migraines, but was not suicidal nor violent.

When asked how well she knew her sister, there was a quick, one-word answer: "Intimately."

"She was a bubbly, gregarious woman who made friends in every room she walked into," Isemann said.

Also on the stand Tuesday were Kimberly's manager at the clubhouse, and neighbors Hillary and Todd Andrlik, friends who were over for dinner the night before Kimberly and the children died. The Andrliks said the event as nothing out of the ordinary for the two families, who were good neighbors.

"This is the family we trusted with our garage code, so basically we were in and out of each others' homes freely," Todd said, describing their friendship.

The trial was to resume at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday. According to court officials, additional law enforcement and first responders from Channahon and Will County are expected to testify.