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208.45.160.83 said "Who's to say that the American Renaissance is not acceptable? There is nothing wrong with it" You can have your own opinion but not your own facts
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</ref> and conservative commentator [[Michelle Malkin]], have said that this is due to a [[media bias]] that provides more coverage to crimes perpetrated by whites against black victims, such as the false allegations of rape against the [[Duke Lacrosse]] players.<ref>{{cite news |first=Duncan |last=Mansfield |title=Critics say news media ignoring Knoxville couple slaying |url=http://www.jacksonville.com/apnews/stories/051707/D8P6ED601.shtml |publisher=Associated Press |date=[[2007-05-17]] |accessdate=2007-05-17 }}</ref><ref>[http://patriotpost.us/alexander/edition.asp?id=531 Murder in black and white], The Patriot Post, May 04, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://media.www.diamondbackonline.com/media/storage/paper873/news/2007/04/04/Opinion/Not-A.Black.And.White.Issue-2820754.shtml Not a black and white issue], ''[[The Diamondback]]'', April 04, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://hotair.com/archives/2007/05/16/a-horror-story-the-msm-wont-tell Vent], [[Michelle Malkin]], Hotair.com, May 16, 2007 8:57 AM</ref> <ref>[http://www.webcommentary.com/asp/ShowArticle.asp?id=stixn&date=070517 WEBCommentary], Nicholas Stix, WEB Commentary.com, May 17, 2007 </ref><br />
</ref> and conservative commentator [[Michelle Malkin]], have said that this is due to a [[media bias]] that provides more coverage to crimes perpetrated by whites against black victims, such as the false allegations of rape against the [[Duke Lacrosse]] players.<ref>{{cite news |first=Duncan |last=Mansfield |title=Critics say news media ignoring Knoxville couple slaying |url=http://www.jacksonville.com/apnews/stories/051707/D8P6ED601.shtml |publisher=Associated Press |date=[[2007-05-17]] |accessdate=2007-05-17 }}</ref><ref>[http://patriotpost.us/alexander/edition.asp?id=531 Murder in black and white], The Patriot Post, May 04, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://media.www.diamondbackonline.com/media/storage/paper873/news/2007/04/04/Opinion/Not-A.Black.And.White.Issue-2820754.shtml Not a black and white issue], ''[[The Diamondback]]'', April 04, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://hotair.com/archives/2007/05/16/a-horror-story-the-msm-wont-tell Vent], [[Michelle Malkin]], Hotair.com, May 16, 2007 8:57 AM</ref> <ref>[http://www.webcommentary.com/asp/ShowArticle.asp?id=stixn&date=070517 WEBCommentary], Nicholas Stix, WEB Commentary.com, May 17, 2007 </ref><br />


The controversy started when, not long after the first newspaper reports, a mostly false story with the following headline began circulating on the Internet:<ref name="AmericanRenaissance">[http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2007/05/the_knoxville_h.php The Knoxville Horror: The Crime and the Cover-Up], [[American Renaissance (magazine)|American Renaissance]], May 14, 2007.</ref>
⚫
Some of the details have been denied: "Claims made over the Internet that the couple were sexually mutilated are absolutely not true," said John Gill, special assistant to District Attorney Randy Nichols. <ref>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070518/ap_on_re_us/knoxville_slayings_media_1</ref> According to the coroner, the victim did not live long enough to be raped for four days or even two days as other false reports stated. The raped-for-four-days false information "came from a deputy U.S. marshal in Kentucky, where three of the five suspects were arrested." <ref>[http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_5557685,00.html Slaying victims lost in the furor], [[Knoxville News Sentinel]], May 27, 2007</ref>


“White Couple Abducted; Both Man and Woman Were Raped, Beaten, Cut Apart and Killed. Five Blacks Arrested In Case. No Media Frenzy Over ‘Racist’ Attack.”

The report, with photographs of the victims and the suspects, continued as follows:

“The animals pictured below raped Christopher Newsom, cut off his penis, then set him on fire and fatally shot him several times while they forced his girlfriend, Channon Christian, to watch. An even more cruel fate awaited her."

“Channon Christian, was beaten and gang-raped in many ways for four days by all of them, while they took turns urinating on her. Then they cut off her breast and put chemicals in her mouth … and then murdered her.”

The earliest version of this story appeared around February 21 on the web page of Internet radio host and "race realist" Hal Turner. Most of the details, including the amputations and urination, have not been in other reports, nor have they been mentioned in court documents so far in this case.

⚫
Many of the details have been outright denied: "Claims made over the Internet that the couple were sexually mutilated are absolutely not true," said John Gill, special assistant to District Attorney Randy Nichols. <ref>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070518/ap_on_re_us/knoxville_slayings_media_1</ref> According to the coroner, the victim did not live long enough to be raped for four days or even two days as other false reports stated. The raped-for-four-days false information "came from a deputy U.S. marshal in Kentucky, where three of the five suspects were arrested." <ref>[http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_5557685,00.html Slaying victims lost in the furor], [[Knoxville News Sentinel]], May 27, 2007</ref>
Unfortunately, many of these false details made it onto this Wikipedia page for months and were read verbatim from Wikipedia by Michelle Malkin and repeated on many other blogs feeding the controversy. <ref>[http://hotair.com/archives/2007/05/16/a-horror-story-the-msm-wont-tell Vent], [[Michelle Malkin]], Hotair.com, May 16, 2007 8:57 AM</ref> Michele Malkin said that there were "unconfirmed reports" of the mutilations, but neglected to say that the "unconfirmed reports" were from "white realists" and not from authorities. <ref>[http://www.webcommentary.com/asp/ShowArticle.asp?id=stixn&date=070517 WEBCommentary], Nicholas Stix, WEB Commentary.com, May 17, 2007 </ref>

==See also==
==See also==
* [[The Wichita Massacre]]
* [[The Wichita Massacre]]

Revision as of 18:02, 6 June 2007

Template:Current court case

File:Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom.jpg
Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom

Hugh Christopher Newsom, Jr., 23, and Channon Gail Christian, 21, were a couple from Knoxville, Tennessee. They were murdered, and according to the grand jury both the man and woman were raped after being kidnapped early on the morning of January 7, 2007. Their vehicle had been carjacked.[1][2]

Five suspects have been arrested and charged in the case.[3] A Tennessee grand jury indicted four of the suspects on 46 counts of murder, robbery, kidnapping, rape and theft, while one suspect faces federal charges on carjacking.[2]

Crime

Christian and Newsom had gone on a date at a local restaurant on Saturday, January 6, 2007, but did not return home. During their drive, the couple was "hijacked, bound and blindfolded and taken back to Lemaricus Devall 'Slim' Davidson's rented house on Chipman Street."[4] Because the killers ditched Christian's SUV just a few hours after it was stolen, there has been speculation that the primary motives of the perpetrators was their desire to kidnap, torture, rape, and murder, while "Police and reporters have promoted the view that this crime was a simple carjacking that got out of hand."[5]

According to Officer Todd Childress, “Newsom's body was wrapped in a 'sheet and/or comforter,' and that the victim had been shot at least three times. He also notes that Newsom's shoes, socks, identification, and iPod were missing. His body had been burned."[6] Christian was strangled."[7]

Christian's parents found her abandoned Toyota 4-Runner two blocks away from the Chipman Street house on Monday, with the help of her mobile phone provider. An envelope recovered from the vehicle yielded fingerprint evidence that led police to Lemaricus Davidson and 2316 Chipman Street. When police went to the address on Tuesday, January 9, they found the home unoccupied and Christian's body in a trash can in the kitchen. According to the Grand Jury Presentment, Christian was raped vaginally, orally, and anally, and Newsom was raped anally.[2] Vanessa Coleman told police that "she witnessed Christian's mouth being cleaned with a bottle of some type of cleaner," in an attempt to remove DNA evidence.[8]Coleman also said that she had seen "clothes that were stained with blood and smelled of gas being put in the washing machine at the house."[8]Newsom's body was found adjacent to railroad tracks in East Knoxville the next afternoon.[4]

Gary Christian, father of Channon, said that although the victims had been tortured, 75 percent of the internet speculation surrounding the crime is untrue.[9] The police said that the couple were "carjacked, kidnapped, tortured, and murdered."[10]

Police Chief Sterling Owen IV said that there is no indication the crimes were racially motivated, and that the murders and assault "appears to have been a random violent act."[11] The parents of Channon Christian also do not believe the crime was racially motivated. [12] The father of Chris Newsom said he didn't believe the murders started out as race-motivated crimes. "I don't think it started out that way but from all indications we have, it developed into that," Hugh Newsom said.[13]

Victims

Christian moved from Louisiana to Tennessee with her family in 1997. She was a graduate of Farragut High School and a senior majoring in sociology at the University of Tennessee. [14][15] On January 12th her family released a statement to thank the Knoxville community "for all their prayers and everything." A candlelight vigil was held on the university campus January 25, 2007 in her honor. She is buried at Highland Memorial West Cemetery.

Newsom, a former baseball player for the Halls High School Red Devils, graduated in 2002. He was interred at Woodhaven Memorial Gardens.[16]

Suspects

File:Channon Christian accused murderers.jpg
Suspects in the case, from left: Boyd, Thomas, Davidson, Cobbins, and Coleman.

District Attorney General Randy Nichols has not indicated whether or not he will seek the death penalty, but he does say the state will seek conviction for all charges filed in a 24-page indictment from the Knox County Grand Jury.[17]

The five suspects are:

  • Eric DeWayne "E" Boyd, 34, arrested in connection with the fatal carjacking, only faces federal charges as an accessory after the fact for helping his "friends" get out of town. He was not indicted by the Knox County grand jury. Boyd was accused by Thomas and Cobbins, below, of rape and muder, and a search warrant was obtained for Boyd's DNA. [18] The accusations have not panned out into charges.
  • George Geovonni "Detroit" Thomas, 27, faces a total of 46 charges. Thomas was indicted on 16 counts of felony murder growing out of rape, robbery, kidnapping, and theft of Christian and Newsom, 2 counts of premeditated murder, 2 counts of especially aggravated robbery, 4 counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, 20 counts of aggravated rape, and 2 counts of theft.
  • Lemaricus Devall "Slim" Davidson, 25, (b. June 13, 1981) faces a total of 46 charges. Davidson was indicted on 16 counts of felony murder growing out of rape, robbery, kidnapping, and theft of Christian and Newsom, 2 counts of premeditated murder, 2 counts of especially aggravated robbery, 4 counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, 20 counts of aggravated rape, and 2 counts of theft. Davidson had completed serving a five-year sentence in Tennessee on a previous felony conviction for carjacking and aggravated robbery on August 5, 2006.
  • Letalvis "Rome" Cobbins, 24, (b. December 20, 1982) faces a total of 46 charges. Cobbins was indicted on 16 counts of felony murder growing out of rape, robbery, kidnapping, and theft of Christian and Newsom, 2 counts of premeditated murder, 2 counts of especially aggravated robbery, 4 counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, 20 counts of aggravated rape, and 2 counts of theft. In 2003, Cobbins was convicted of third-degree attempted robbery in New York state. He and Davidson are brothers.
  • Vanessa Coleman, 18, was arrested by police in Lebanon, Kentucky. She faces 40 Tennessee state charges. Coleman was indicted on 12 counts of felony murder growing out of rape, robbery, kidnapping, and theft of Christian and Newsom, 1 count of premeditated murder (of Christian only), 1 count of especially aggravated robbery (of Newsom only), 4 counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, 20 counts of aggravated rape, and 2 counts of theft.

"The number of counts of rape has no correlation to the number of rapes that necessarily occurred. It just outlines each and every way that a rape might be possible or might have occurred. They won't be able to convict on all of those counts but they will have a selection from those counts to choose from," Attorney Bosch said. .[19]

The four suspects indicted in Knox County will be tried separately, beginning in May of 2008 and concluding that same August. Davidson has also been indicted for a second robbery which was committed after the murders. The state has not decided whether to seek the death penalty.[20]

Controversy

Despite the horrific nature of these murders, they received virtually no coverage in the mainstream media outside of the Knoxville area in which they occurred.[4] Some observers, including country musician Charlie Daniels[21] and conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, have said that this is due to a media bias that provides more coverage to crimes perpetrated by whites against black victims, such as the false allegations of rape against the Duke Lacrosse players.[22][23][24][25] [26]

The controversy started when, not long after the first newspaper reports, a mostly false story with the following headline began circulating on the Internet:[5]

“White Couple Abducted; Both Man and Woman Were Raped, Beaten, Cut Apart and Killed. Five Blacks Arrested In Case. No Media Frenzy Over ‘Racist’ Attack.”

The report, with photographs of the victims and the suspects, continued as follows:

“The animals pictured below raped Christopher Newsom, cut off his penis, then set him on fire and fatally shot him several times while they forced his girlfriend, Channon Christian, to watch. An even more cruel fate awaited her."

“Channon Christian, was beaten and gang-raped in many ways for four days by all of them, while they took turns urinating on her. Then they cut off her breast and put chemicals in her mouth … and then murdered her.”

The earliest version of this story appeared around February 21 on the web page of Internet radio host and "race realist" Hal Turner. Most of the details, including the amputations and urination, have not been in other reports, nor have they been mentioned in court documents so far in this case.

Many of the details have been outright denied: "Claims made over the Internet that the couple were sexually mutilated are absolutely not true," said John Gill, special assistant to District Attorney Randy Nichols. [27] According to the coroner, the victim did not live long enough to be raped for four days or even two days as other false reports stated. The raped-for-four-days false information "came from a deputy U.S. marshal in Kentucky, where three of the five suspects were arrested." [28]

Unfortunately, many of these false details made it onto this Wikipedia page for months and were read verbatim from Wikipedia by Michelle Malkin and repeated on many other blogs feeding the controversy. [29] Michele Malkin said that there were "unconfirmed reports" of the mutilations, but neglected to say that the "unconfirmed reports" were from "white realists" and not from authorities. [30]

See also

References

  1. ^ Details of double slaying emerge, Knoxville News Sentinel, January 13, 2007
  2. ^ a b c Grand jury presentment in Christian/Newsom case, Knox News, May 3, 2007
  3. ^ Female suspect arraigned in Channon Christian, Chris Newsom murders, WBIR-TV, April 18, 2007
  4. ^ a b c Christopher Newsom and Channon Christian Brutally Murdered As The Nation Looks on, Court TV/Crime Library, April 03, 2007.
  5. ^ a b The Knoxville Horror: The Crime and the Cover-Up, American Renaissance, May 14, 2007.
  6. ^ Katie Allison Granju (January 12 2007). "Released documents reveal new details of Christian, Newsom murder investigation". WBIR-TV. Retrieved 2007-04-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Slaying victims lost in the furor, Knox News, May 27, 2007
  8. ^ a b Four suspects charged with murder in Knoxville double slaying WATE 6 News, February 1, 2007
  9. ^ http://www.wbir.com/news/regional/story.aspx?storyid=45412
  10. ^ Channon Christian's parents speak out about brutal double murder, Crime Library, May 20, 2007.
  11. ^ Watson, Kay (2007-05-17). "City leaders say race not an element in Christian, Newsom murders". WBIR-TV. Retrieved 2007-05-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=6547308&nav=menu7_2
  13. ^ http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=45445&provider=gnews
  14. ^ Memorial to be held for loss of student, The Daily Beacon, January 25, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-4-20
  15. ^ Channon Gail Christian,Knoxville News Sentinel from January 12, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-4-20.
  16. ^ Chris Newsom, Knoxville News Sentinel from January 12, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-4-20
  17. ^ Duncan Mansfield, Associated Press, Fox News from February 02, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-4-20
  18. ^ [1], Knox County, Tennessee from January 12, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-17
  19. ^ Katie Granju, WBIR, WBIR from February 20, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-5-21
  20. ^ Granju, Katie Allison (2007-05-17). "Trials set for suspects in Christian, Newsom murders". WBIR-TV. Retrieved 2007-05-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ Bet You Haven't Heard, Charlie Daniels - Soap Box, May 7, 2007
  22. ^ Mansfield, Duncan (2007-05-17). "Critics say news media ignoring Knoxville couple slaying". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-05-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  23. ^ Murder in black and white, The Patriot Post, May 04, 2007.
  24. ^ Not a black and white issue, The Diamondback, April 04, 2007.
  25. ^ Vent, Michelle Malkin, Hotair.com, May 16, 2007 8:57 AM
  26. ^ WEBCommentary, Nicholas Stix, WEB Commentary.com, May 17, 2007
  27. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070518/ap_on_re_us/knoxville_slayings_media_1
  28. ^ Slaying victims lost in the furor, Knoxville News Sentinel, May 27, 2007
  29. ^ Vent, Michelle Malkin, Hotair.com, May 16, 2007 8:57 AM
  30. ^ WEBCommentary, Nicholas Stix, WEB Commentary.com, May 17, 2007
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