Investigating Innocence

On Jan. 8, 2009, defense investigation of the crime scene discovered key evidence that enabled reconstruction of the bullet trajectory. Crime scene investigator, Tom Bevel, retained by the defense, inspected the Ford Expedition. He discovered that the bullet that penetrated the abdomen of Cassandra Vaughn, passed completely through the seat and into the third-row seat. Using a dowel rod, Bevel was able to determine the bullet trajectory.

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Bill Clutter demonstrates for Dr. Phil the forensic evidence in the case of Christopher Vaughn.

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The Crime:

On June 24, 1989, at 10:06 p.m., 19-year-old Melisa Koontz left work at Cub Foods where she worked as a cashier on the Southwest edge of Springfield, Illinois. Her decomposed body was found a week later July 1, 1989, laying face-up in a cornfield approximately 1.5 miles away. She had been stabbed multiple times.

Multiple witnesses observed a suspicious young white male lurking in the employee parking lot around the time Melisa exited the store.

Less than an hour later, at 10:50 p.m., her vehicle, a black Ford Escort hatchback, was discovered abandoned on the Waverly Blacktop Road, a rural country road that led to her parent’s home in Waverly, IL, approximately 15.2 miles from Cub Foods.

There was circumstantial evidence of a sexual assault. The buttons of the victim’s shirt were torn off and the clasp of her bra was broken. Her skirt had been rolled up. DNA testing on the bra and shirt have identified a partial male DNA profile eliminating Tom McMillen and his co-defendants Gary Edgington and Donald Johnston as the source.

Tom McMillen was charged with capital murder on May 15, 1990, accused of the murder of 19-year-old Melissa Koontz. He was convicted in July 1991 and sentenced to life in prison. His conviction hinged on the testimony of Donald "Goose" Johnston, an alcoholic and intellectually disabled person who falsely confessed to the crime and later identified McMillen as the killer in a plea deal that resulted in Johnson serving less than 7 years in prison. McMillen was convicted by a jury based on the false testimony of Donald Johnston and was given a life sentence.

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David Camm, a decorated Indiana Police Officer, was wrongfully charged with the murders of his family, when forensic evidence proves that a career criminal actually committed the crime and has already been sentenced to 225 years for the murders.

On September 28, 2000, David Camm came home at approximately 9:26 p.m. and found his wife Kimberly, and his two children Bradley, 7, and Jill, 5, shot to death in the garage of their home in Georgetown, Indiana. His wife and two children were last seen leaving swim practice and heading home around 7:00 p.m.

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Listen to Jason Flom, host of the Wrongful Convictions Podcast

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Listen to the work of Investigating Innocence on I Heart Radio’s Murder in Illinois

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