Judge denies bid to question police in extradition fight

ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- A Missouri judge Friday rejected a murder suspect's bid to question an investigator who signed a complaint that could send him back to Illinois to face charges in the shooting deaths of his wife and three children.

Christopher Vaughn's attorney sought to depose Illinois State Police Sgt. Gary Lawson as part of an effort to block extradition. Defense attorney David Waltrip argued that the complaint Lawson signed fails to meet Missouri's legal requirements to link Vaughn to the killings.

But St. Charles County Associate Judge William Lohmar sided with prosecutors, who said Missouri law allows defendants only to challenge whether extradition papers are in order, not to dig into the underlying charges.

Vaughn is jailed without bond pending a July 25 hearing on whether he should be returned to Will County, Ill., to face eight first-degree murder counts in the June 14 deaths of Kimberly Vaughn, 32, and their children, Abigayle, 12, Cassandra, 11, and Blake, 8.

Waltrip argued Friday that the Illinois murder complaint uses only boilerplate language and provides no evidence that Vaughn killed his family, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

St. Charles County prosecutor Jack Banas told Lohmar that Illinois authorities have identified Vaughn as the killer.

"That's the guy who shot his children," Banas said, pointing to Vaughn. "That's the guy who shot his wife. That's the guy they want."

Waltrip, who could appeal Lohmar's ruling, said he will decide his next step after talking to Vaughn.

"We have some avenues that are still available to us," Waltrip told the Chicago Tribune.

Vaughn, 32, of Oswego, Ill., was arrested Saturday at a funeral home in this St. Louis suburb just hours before a memorial service for his wife and children.

They were found dead in the family's parked sport utility vehicle along a service road near Channahon, about 40 miles southwest of Chicago, after a wounded Christopher Vaughn flagged down a motorist.

Vaughn, a computer security consultant, had superficial gunshot wounds in the leg and arm. Kimberly Vaughn was shot once and the children each were shot twice, and his 9 mm handgun was found at the scene, authorities said.

Illinois authorities have not divulged a possible motive for the slayings, saying only that numerous interviews, forensic evidence, computer files and phone records led them to conclude that Christopher Vaughn killed his family.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt on Monday signed off on having Vaughn returned to Illinois, but a St. Charles County judge honored defense requests for time to prepare a written challenge to the extradition.

Waltrip said Thursday that a written challenge -- called a writ of habeas corpus -- likely won't be filed until just days before the July 25 hearing.

Vaughn is being held without bond in the St. Charles County Jail.