What happened in just a few gruesome hours at a rental home in Knoxville in January 2007 launched the city into a media frenzy, ignited furor from white supremacists and led to a 12-year courtroom drama that included a judge stepping down amid official misconduct charges for popping pills.
At the heart of the ordeal was a young couple, Channon Christian, 21, and her boyfriend Christopher Newsom, 23.
Christian and Newsom were kidnapped from the parking lot of an apartment complex on Washington Pike late Jan. 6, 2007, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported.
Hours later, a railroad worker discovered the burned remains of Newsom. He was barefoot with hands bound by a shoelace. His body had been wrapped in a comforter and set on fire. He’d been raped and shot.
An article in the Jan. 9, 2007, issue of the Knoxville News Sentinel reports on the disappearing of Shannon Christian after her boyfriend, Christopher Newsom was found dead.
More: 5 things to know about the Christian-Newsom torture slayings
Christian’s body was found two days later inside a trash can in the Chipman Street rental home. She’d been bound and raped before she was wrapped in trash bags and put in the trash can. She slowly suffocated to death.
Within days, police arrested brothers Lemaricus Davidson and Letalvis Cobbins. Soon after, George Thomas and Cobbins’ girlfriend, Vanessa Coleman, were also charged. A fifth suspect, Eric Boyd, was charged in federal court with helping Davidson flee.
The crime captured the attention of white supremacist Alex Linder. Christian and Newsom were White. All the suspects were Black.
Linder organized protests to decry “Black-on-White crime.” He was arrested at the first rally and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and assault on a police officer.
“I haven’t seen any evidence to indicate this is a hate crime, and I interviewed two of these suspects,” then-Knox County Sheriff Jimmy Jones said in a May 27, 2007, edition of the Knoxville News Sentinel. “I believe these people were evil. I believe it was a plan.'”
The house at 2316 Chipman Street where Channon Christian and Cristopher Newsom were taken after they were kidnapped in January 2007, was torn down years after their deaths.
Boyd was convicted in April 2008 in federal court for aiding Davidson. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Despite testimony at his trial directly linking Boyd to the murders, he eluded state charges.
In August 2009, Cobbins pleaded guilty to rape and facilitation and was convicted on charges of murder. He was given a life sentence plus 100 years. Months later, Davidson, who was known as the ringleader of the group, was convicted and sentenced to death.
Thomas was found guilty and sentenced to life without parole, and Coleman was sentenced to serve 53 years.
Just when the families thought the ordeal over, Judge Richard Baumgartner, who’d handled all four state cases, pleaded guilty to official misconduct for buying prescription pills from a probationer in 2011. A year later he was convicted in federal court of lying to protect his mistress’ role in a drug conspiracy.
Those charges raised a question: If Baumgartner was impaired during those trials, did the outcomes of those cases stand? When Baumgartner was indicted, he’d not yet certified the verdicts as the “13th juror,” opening the door for them to be retried.
Special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood ruled the cases should be retried. Ultimately, only Thomas’ and Coleman’s cases went back to court. Both were convicted again.
This time, Thomas was given back-to-back life sentences with the possibility of parole, plus 25 years. Coleman’s sentence was reduced to 35 years.
Channon Christian’s best friend, Kara Sowards, right, with Deena and Gary Christian, turns away as the judge reads the jury’s verdict during the trial of torture-slaying suspect Vanessa Coleman in Knox County Criminal Court in Knoxville on May 13, 2010.
Eleven years after the couple was killed, and much to the relief of the families, Boyd was indicted on charges of first-degree murder. With Thomas’ testimony, secured by a deal knocking off over half his sentence, Boyd was convicted in the deaths of Christian and Newsom. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus 90 years.
The case changed legal precedent and was the inspiration for two new state laws, one of which requires judges to certify a verdict immediately.
All five remain imprisoned in separate facilities across the state. Thomas is scheduled for release in 2053. Coleman is scheduled for release in 2034. Davidson remains on death row.
The Tennessean is publishing a Notorious Nashville story for each year from 2000-2024. Catch up on the series here.
Kirsten Fiscus is a breaking news reporter for The Tennessean. Contact her with questions, tips or story ideas at kfiscus@tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Notorious Nashville 2007: Knoxville couple kidnapped, raped, murdered