Illinois Man Had $1 Million Life Insurance Policy On Wife He's Accused Of Killing

Saturday, December 22nd 2007, 2:25 pm

By: News On 6

YORKVILLE, Ill. (AP) A man charged with fatally shooting his wife and children was the beneficiary listed on her $1 million life insurance policy, according to testimony at an estate hearing.

Christopher Vaughn, 33, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife, Kimberly, and the couple's three young children. Authorities found their bodies June 14th in the family's sport utility vehicle parked on a service road about 40 miles southwest of Chicago, after a wounded Vaughn flagged down a passing motorist.

Phone messages left by The Associated Press for Vaughn's attorneys Saturday were not immediately returned.

Vaughn was to receive $1 million from a life insurance policy on his wife, according to Friday's testimony in Kendall County civil court. But Illinois law has prevented him from collecting the assets of his alleged victims.

Judge Tim McCann ordered that an uninvolved third party should handle the estate until Vaughn's criminal case is resolved. A bill of more than $30,000 for four funerals is the only money that can be removed from the account, McCann ruled.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Vaughn.