Murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom
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Both of them were
raped,
tortured, and
murdered.
[1][2][3]
Both Christian and Newsom were raped. Newsom is believed to have been raped inside Davidson's house. According to the testimony of the Knox County Acting Medical Examiner,
Newsom was sodomized with an object and raped by at least one of the perpetrators.
[41][42][43][44] He was then taken to a set of railroad tracks where he was forced to walk barefoot to the location where he was murdered.
Prosecutors believe a mangled dog leash found on a hillside leading up to the railroad tracks was used to force Newsom to walk to his death.
[41] When Newsom was murdered, his hands were bound behind his back, and his feet were bound together. He was blindfolded with a bandana and gagged with a sock. He wore only a shirt and underwear. Newsom was
shot in his neck and the back. Newsom survived this shooting initially, but later was shot again in the head. The fatal shot was fired with the gun's muzzle against his head above his right ear, and it severed his brain stem. After killing Newsom, the assailants wrapped him in a comforter, poured gasoline on him, and
set his body on fire.
[43][45][46]
After murdering Newsom, the assailants returned to Davidson's house where they beat and repeatedly raped Christian.
[49] The medical examiner testified that
Christian died after hours of sexual torture, sustaining severe head injuries and suffering severe injuries to her vagina, anus, and mouth due to sexual assaults.
[42][50][51][52] Her injuries were consistent with being raped with an object.
[50][53] According to the medical examiner, the sexual attack
Christian endured was "extreme" and "much more than a simple sexual assault."
[50] Prosecutors believe that Christian was tied to a chair and orally raped by Davidson and Cobbins.
[41][42][43] Christian was also anally and vaginally raped. She was also beaten, kicked in her groin, and beaten on the head. Christian suffered extensive hemorrhaging to her head and groin. Additionally, Christian suffered bruises and
carpet burns on much of her body.
[43][44][54][55] According to Davidson's confession, during Christian's captivity, she said she "didn't want to die."
[56]
While Christian was still alive, in order to remove
DNA evidence, Christian's attackers poured
bleach down her throat and scrubbed her body, including her bleeding and battered genital area, with bleach. Christian was bound in a hog-tied fashion with curtains and strips of bedding. Her face was tightly covered with a small trash bag, and her body was stashed in five large trash bags.
[57][50][58] Christian, who was naked except for her camisole and sweater, was tied in a fetal position, placed inside a residential waste disposal unit inside the kitchen of the home, and covered with sheets. The medical examiner testified at trial that there was evidence that Christian slowly
suffocated to death.
[57][50][59] Christian died between the afternoon of January 7 and the afternoon of January 8.
[60] As Christian was suffocating to death, Davidson left to spend time with his girlfriend and gave her Christian's personal items. Davidson also used Newsom's cellphone and was seen wearing Newsom's shoes.
[49]