Man accused of killing family drops extradition fight

ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- A Chicago-area man accused of shooting his wife and three children to death in the family's sport utility vehicle abruptly dropped an effort Tuesday to fight extradition to Illinois.

Christopher Vaughn, 32, flanked by his attorneys and dressed in an orange jail uniform, told Judge Terry Cundiff he consulted with attorneys before consenting to the transfer during a brief appearance in a St. Charles County courtroom.

Vaughn's attorney, David Waltrip, said his client elected to end his fight against extradition from Missouri after losing a related court hearing Friday and because an appeal of that decision would be time-consuming. Vaughn made the decision after he and his parents were briefed on legal options over the weekend.

Vaughn "is ready to go back to the state of Illinois to defend himself," Waltrip said.

Vaughn arrived Tuesday night at the Will County Adult Detention Facility, according to Will County sheriff's spokesman Pat Barry.

Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow said his office was prepared to move quickly to bring Vaughn to trial. The earliest he could appear in a Will County court was today, Glasgow said.

"I am pleased that we will not have to go through a lengthy extradition battle that would have only served to delay Christopher Vaughn's inevitable return to Illinois," Glasgow said in a statement.

Vaughn was being held without bond on eight first-degree murder counts in the June 14 deaths of Kimberly Vaughn, 32, and their children, Abigayle, 12, Cassandra, 11, and Blake, 8.

Vaughn, of Oswego, Ill., was arrested June 23 at a funeral home in the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles just hours before a memorial service for his wife and children.

"It's been a tough time for Chris. He's had to get some backbone," Waltrip said. "I told him he has to be strong. I think he can do that."

St. Charles County Assistant Prosecutor John DeVouton said he wasn't surprised by Vaughn's change of heart.

"We always felt he should go to Illinois and start the legal process," he said.

On Friday, a judge rejected Vaughn's bid to question an investigator who signed the complaint to send him back to Illinois.

Waltrip wanted to depose Illinois State Police Sgt. Gary Lawson as part of an effort to block extradition, arguing that the complaint Lawson signed failed 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 only allows defendants to challenge whether extradition papers are in order, not dig into the underlying charges.

Kimberly Vaughn and her children were found dead in the family's parked SUV along a service road near Channahon, Ill., 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 9mm handgun was found at the scene, authorities said.

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