I bring this story up for a few reasons. First, it is one of the most horrible, gruesome, disgusting acts you will hear about. What's more shocking is the media for the most part ignored it.
Secondly, their trials have been moved to next year. They were supposed to have commenced already. One of the losers has already been found guilty.
Quote:
On the early morning of 1-07-07 Channon Christian and Hugh Newsom, a white couple from Knoxville, Tennessee, were on a date when they were carjacked, kidnapped, brutally raped and murdered by 4 black men and 1 woman.
Channon Christian was raped orally, vaginally and anally. Cleaning products were poured down her mouth in an attempt to get rid of DNA evidence. Forensic evidence showed significant trauma caused by an object to Christian's vagina, anus, and mouth and that she died slowly in the trash can, suffocating while wrapped in curtains, sheets and several trash bags. There was also evidence of blunt trauma to her head leading to bruising of the brain in addition to bruises found on her neck, arm, back and anal region. Her clothes had blood, semen and gasoline on them.
Hugh Newsom was anally raped, shot three times, wrapped in a blanket, set afire and dumped alongside nearby railroad tracks.
Christian's parents found her abandoned Toyota 4-Runner two blocks away from the Chipman Street house (where the rapes and murders took place) the following 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.
To make this horrendous crime even worse, the media, for the most part ignored it. This is the kind of case that is plastered all over the national news. Most of the major networks gave this case very little attention. Many believe that if this was white men who did the same thing to a black couple it would have been national headlines for weeks. Sharpton and Jackson would have been on every network screaming racism, etc...
The four suspects indicted in Knox County were originally scheduled to be tried separately at trials scheduled between May and August of 2000. However the trial date for the subjects indicted in Knox County was moved back to 2009 in February of 2008. In an apparent attempt to force the prosecution to try the case with the least forensic evidence first, the attorneys for Thomas filed a motion for a speedy trial arguing there was no forensic link between their client and the crime scene. Thomas has been granted the motion and is scheduled to go on trial on August 11th. Judge Baumgartner recently ruled that Thomas' phone calls made from the jailhouse to his acquaintances are admissible as evidence.
District Attorney Randy Nichols has announced that the state would be seeking the death penalty for both Cobbins (currently the first to go to trial) and Coleman if convicted. Davidson has also been indicted for a second robbery which was committed after the murders. The publicity against the accused led the defense to argue that a change of venue was required in order to ensure a fair trial. However, the state argued that an impartial jury could be found during voir dire, and the presiding judge subsequently denied the motion as "premature."
Here's a breakdown of the scumbags and charges.
- George Geovonni "Detroit" Thomas, 27, faces a total of 46 charges. Thomas was indicted on 16 counts of felony murder growing out of the 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 the same 46 charges as Thomas. Davidson had also 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) also faces the same 46charges as Thomas. 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 the 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.
On April 16, 2008, Eric Boyd was found guilty in Federal court of being an accessory to a fatal carjacking and for failing to report the location of a known fugitive. Boyd's was the first case to go to trial, and he was the only suspect not charged with murder. He faces up to 22 years in prison for the convictions.
Why must so many continue to be reminded, the media will only show TV news that gets viewers, this is something that won't boost ratings, so they don't show it, simple as that. No conspiracy to hide stories, just plain old neglect.
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what is there to know? it would be equally disgusting if the perps had been white and the couple black and obviously it wasn't so buried that you missed it huh?! do you live in TN? does Stoner?
The men and the woman who committed this crime should be put to death. Their crime isn't MORE disgusting just by virtue of the color of their skin.
is it more disgusting because the couple were white and the criminals were black?
Whoah, put the race card down and slowly back away.
Who the fuck said anything about it being more disgusting because they were black? It's disgusting what they did to these two innocent people. Savages.
__________________ Forward motion makes you sway like the ocean
The herb is more than just a powerful potion
I am not quite sure why we immediately needed to put up a whole bunch of other stories of people who had been raped and/or killed rather than simply discussing the issue that this thread was started to discuss.
Has this story not received major national coverage because the suspected criminals are black? Does the media not want to bring national attention to this for fear that it will hurt race relations or play to people's fears? Are they afraid of race-retaliatory crimes? Is it being downplayed because the concept of black on white crime is somehow less acceptable nationally? Or because its an election year?
I find this to be an interesting topic - and certainly not one that we need to pussy-foot around by bringing up completely different topics, like soldiers raping civilians or fellow soliders...which is a perfectly valid topic...just not for this thread.
I have seen no opinion or point posted that seems to suggest that the crime is in anyway WORSE because the victims are white...rather, I think the thread is simply asking WHY this isn't something that many people nationally seem to know about. I watch the news daily...and saw nothing about this.
In contrast, look at the Duke Lacrosse Case...national news for a story that was far less sensational than this one...and, not to be crude, but if the media runs on "if it bleeds it leads," which many here think it does...than the story of this poor couple is FAR more "entertaining" than the Duke case or others that have received national attention.
So why hasn't this story been bigger?
__________________ "The less government we have the better." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
They'll ignore those stories, they have for so long they don't even remember when they happened.
Are you seriously going to sit there and make political jabs about "us" vs. "them" - trying to score partisan political points when discussing rape? If so, that is truly one of the more pathetic things I've witnessed on this board lately. I certainly hope I'm misreading you.
__________________ "The less government we have the better." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
I am not quite sure why we immediately needed to put up a whole bunch of other stories of people who had been raped and/or killed rather than simply discussing the issue that this thread was started to discuss.
Has this story not received major national coverage because the suspected criminals are black? Does the media not want to bring national attention to this for fear that it will hurt race relations or play to people's fears? Are they afraid of race-retaliatory crimes? Is it being downplayed because the concept of black on white crime is somehow less acceptable nationally? Or because its an election year?
I find this to be an interesting topic - and certainly not one that we need to pussy-foot around by bringing up completely different topics, like soldiers raping civilians or fellow soliders...which is a perfectly valid topic...just not for this thread.
I have seen no opinion or point posted that seems to suggest that the crime is in anyway WORSE because the victims are white...rather, I think the thread is simply asking WHY this isn't something that many people nationally seem to know about. I watch the news daily...and saw nothing about this.
In contrast, look at the Duke Lacrosse Case...national news for a story that was far less sensational than this one...and, not to be crude, but if the media runs on "if it bleeds it leads," which many here think it does...than the story of this poor couple is FAR more "entertaining" than the Duke case or others that have received national attention.
So why hasn't this story been bigger?
Best post I've seen on this forum to date.
__________________ Forward motion makes you sway like the ocean
The herb is more than just a powerful potion
is it more disgusting because the couple were white and the criminals were black?
aren't ALL rape and murder cases disgusting?
It would be just as disgusting if the couple was black and criminals white. Or if the couple was a black and a white the criminals 2 blacks and 3 whites.
It's a brutal crime and if these 5 people are guilty, max 'em out.
__________________ “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” - Edmund Burke
is it more disgusting because the couple were white and the criminals were black?
aren't ALL rape and murder cases disgusting?
The fact is if a black couple were kidnapped raped and murdered by 5 white people it would be NATIONAL news and we would be hearing how it was racist. THAT is the point.
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I never said that you had no right to have an opinion. I just said that it was, in fact, worth nothing.
The men and the woman who committed this crime should be put to death. ...
Oops- your forgot your liberal mantra. Repeat 12 times each hour for 12 hours for 12 days: 'They are victims of an unjust society. They should be pampered and rehabilitated.'
Oops- your forgot your liberal mantra. Repeat 12 times each hour for 12 hours for 12 days: 'They are victims of an unjust society. They should be pampered and rehabilitated.'
you assume to much glock. I'm not as liberal as you'd like to think.
I've always been in favor of the death penalty and always will be. If you murder someone in a cold and calculated brutal manner you deserve to die. In fact I think you should die in the same manner in which you killed your victim.
I think these suspects should all be raped repeatedly to know the fear and the anguish they inflicted on their victims. I don't think there is a penalty TOO HARSH for ANYONE who commits a crime of this nature.
There is NO rehabilitation for assholes like that.
This isn't national news though as disgusting as it is. Why would it be? did these animals go on a killing spree? if so then yes, it's national news. If this was an isolated incident, as brutal and horrifying as it is, it's a local news story pure and simple. What the hell does someone in Oregon need to know about a case that took place in TN? Is every crime of this magnitude a national story? no, it's not.
it's interesting to note that according to snopes, some of the details of the murder have been sensaltionalized, as is to be expected. They also note that not every crime of this nature makes national news and that usually there is a compelling reason for a local story to make a national news cycle They also point out that OJ Simpson, who is obviously black and who obviously killed two white people was the most media covered event in jurisprudence history.
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