The MSM is finally starting, ever so modestly, to report on Tennessee’s Knoxville Horror, even as far from the crime scene as Denver! (A tip o’ the hat to Modern Tribalist.)
On May 17, Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner announced that the four defendants charged with having kidnapped, robbed, gang-raped, murdered, desecrated the corpses of, and stolen from Channon Christian, 21, and Christopher Newsom, 23, will each have a separate trial, each of which Judge Baumgartner foresees – perhaps a tad optimistically – as lasting two weeks. The state indictments can all be read here.
Newsom was anally gang-raped, and then murdered several hours after being kidnapped; Christian was vaginally, orally, and anally gang-raped, and murdered approximately 24 hours after the couple was kidnapped. At one point, one or more of the defendants allegedly also poured cleaning fluid down the presumably then still living Christian’s throat, but a false report by Michelle Malkin notwithstanding, none of the defendants has been charged with torture.
(Speaking of false reporting, 99 percent of the bloggers and Web sites I have read on the case, even Court TV’s usually reliable Crime Library, have been content to uncritically regurgitate an unsourced rumor that I traced back to neo-Nazi New York State radio host, Hal Turner, whereby the killers chopped off the living Christopher Newsom’s penis and at least one of the living Channon Christian’s breasts. The largely neoconservative bloggers in question, who claim to hate neo-Nazis, and who tar as a white supremacist anyone who is not racially correct, do not appreciate being told where they got their “facts” on the case. On May 18, after a four-month-long stonewalling campaign by law enforcement and justice officials, Knox County District Attorney Randy Nichols’ special assistant, John Gill, insisted that the Internet rumors of sexual mutilation are “absolutely not true.” Gill’s statement has so far had no effect on the bloggers, and authorities in Knoxville have still not released the autopsy reports on the victims.)
George Geovonni Thomas, 24, is charged with having shot Newsom to death and set his corpse on fire. Christian may have been strangled.
According to a February 1 report by Fox News’ Knoxville affiliate, WATE, at least one of the killers dismembered Christian, placing her body parts in five separate garbage bags and putting the bags in a garbage can in the kitchen of the apartment of defendant-brothers Letalvis Darnell Cobbins, 24, and Lemaricus Devall Davidson, 25, where police found the bags. Between the February 1 report and May 17, the dismemberment of Channon Christian was no longer included in any of the reports this reporter has seen; I only came into possession of the aforementioned report on May 17, thanks to a reader’s help. Coincidentally, that same day, a report on CBS’ Knoxville affiliate, WVLT, spoke vaguely of police “finding Channon Christian stuffed in garbage bags.”
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Dave Nalle
I find it incomprehensible that this story isn't all over the MSM. It's a real potential moneymaker. Are they just staying away because the perps are black and the victims are white?
Dave
2 - Nicholas Stix
Yup.
3 - Clavos
The backstory about Svengali Media is chilling (and until now, unknown) to me.
Thank you for bringing it to light.
4 - Dr Dreadful
Oh boy.
Just wait until Fox News gets hold of this one (if they haven't already - I haven't checked). It'll keep them happy for months.
5 - Clavos
In the spirit of full disclosure, a little searching on my part turned up a dispute between Mr. Stix and a blogger named David Mills, who writes under the handle of undercover black man.
In his blog, Mr. Mills alleges that svengali media is a hoax.
See this site for a further discussion of the controversy.
The Knoxville TV station Channel 6 WATE has removed all references (it had featured an article) to svengali media from its site; lending credence to the allegation that it's a hoax.
6 - Nicholas Stix
"#3 " May 29, 2007 @ 10:55AM " Clavos [URL]
"The backstory about Svengali Media is chilling (and until now, unknown) to me.
"Thank you for bringing it to light."
You're very welcome.
7 - Nicholas Stix
"#4 " May 29, 2007 @ 11:49AM " Dr Dreadful
"Oh boy.
"Just wait until Fox News gets hold of this one (if they haven't already - I haven't checked). It'll keep them happy for months."
Actually, Fox News got a hold of the story, and let it go. Seven days ago, a Fox reporter did a non-story on the case, in which he and a reporter from their Knoxville affiliate, Erica Estep (sp.?), agreed that the crime was "too gruesome" to provide details.
8 - Nicholas Stix
"#5 -- May 29, 2007 @ 12:13PM -- Clavos [URL]
"In the spirit of full disclosure, a little searching on my part turned up a dispute between Mr. Stix and a blogger named David Mills, who writes under the handle of undercover black man.
"In his blog [hit link at #5], Mr. Mills alleges that svengali media is a hoax.
"See this site [hit link at #5] for a further discussion of the controversy.
"The Knoxville TV station Channel 6 WATE has removed all references (it had featured an article) to svengali media from its site; lending credence to the allegation that it's a hoax."
Full disclosure? Really? It looks like your "thanks" and my "welcome" were premature, Clavos.
There's no dispute between me and David Mills. I wrote about svengalimedia, and he claimed that it's a hoax site. I was under no obligation to get into that here, because it's a separate story, and because Mills' allegation is baseless.
In fact, had you done the slightest digging, you'd find that I had already posted Mills' baseless charge and responded to it, at my own blog:
"Undercover Black Man: Svengali Media of Knoxville Horror Notoriety a 'Hoax Site'"
As for your second linked page, that provides no "further discussion of the controversy," but rather simply reprints the exchange between Mills and me, without any discussion. And far from the page supporting Mills' and your "full disclosure" contention, it is a svengalimedia page!
Svengalimedia responded immediately to Mills' contention by posting the exchange on a svengali page, and by saying that Mills is less Net savvy than yours truly -- my first compliment from a black supremacist!
As for your assertion that WATE's removal of "all references (it had featured an article) to Svengali Media from its site," far from "lending credence to the allegation that it's a hoax," that suggests merely that someone complained to WATE that Svengali is a black supremacist site that celebrates the murder, sexual mutilation, and dismemberment of people. Or are you saying that WATE only removed the Svengali references and article because it tolerates such like in the case of authentic black supremacist sites celebrating the murder, sexual mutilation, and dismember of people, but will not tolerate such like in the case of fake black supremacist sites?
9 - Clavos
"It looks like your "thanks" and my "welcome" were premature, Clavos."
In particular my "thanks," was premature, yes.
"There's no dispute between me and David Mills. I wrote about svengalimedia, and he claimed that it's a hoax site. I was under no obligation to get into that here, because it's a separate story, and because Mills' allegation is baseless."
I can't think of a more accurate word than "dispute," even basing the characterization on your "explanation" (quoted above) of the dispute.
You say it's genuine; he says it's a hoax.
Sure sounds like a dispute to me.
10 - Clavos
Since WATE doesn't say why they removed references to the svangalimedia site from their own site, we can't really know their reasons, can we?
Certainly is strange that a news organization would suppress a story with that kind of newsworthiness if it were genuine, though.
11 - Dr Dreadful
Seven days ago, a Fox reporter did a non-story on the case, in which he and a reporter from their Knoxville affiliate, Erica Estep (sp.?), agreed that the crime was "too gruesome" to provide details.
That doesn't sound like Fox's MO at all. Maybe it really is a "non-story".
12 - David Mills
I'm trying to get into this conversation, but the software won't let me. I keep getting "Error: [20] Banned word." Which is very frustrating, because I have things to say...
13 - Clavos
David, the banned words are to foil spam, and aren't words like expletives or political words, or even racial epithets.
The software can be circumvented by trying to figure out which is the offending word and replacing it with a synonym. You can also type it with spaces between each letter.
The trick, of course, is figuring out which is the right word.
14 - lumpy
seems to me that even if u ignore the bit about the website the root story itself is pretty sensational.
15 - Dr Dreadful
Clav, I wondered about that when it happened to me the other day. I've seen some pretty eyebrow-singeing comments on here, and I was pretty sure mine wasn't anything like as offensive. I can't think what would have upset the filter: I mean, I didn't use the phrase 'increase your penis size'* or anything like that.
*So if this comment gets through, I imagine the editors need to take their spam filter back to the store.
16 - Clavos
Dr. D,
OK, now we know that one will get through.
The only word I know for sure that's banned is the name for a large hall full of tables where people go to lose money; most of 'em are on reservations these days.
17 - MCH
"Chickenhawk" was banned for a while.
(the word, not the creature.)
------------------------------
Seems its usage struck a nerve with certain hierarchy...
18 - Dr Dreadful
Doesn't strictly have to be a reservation. One of our local tribes likes to buy up property downtown, call it 'tribal land' and then open one of those businesses full of the aforementioned tables and brightly-lit machines that make exciting jingly noises.
19 - Christopher Rose
The particular stopword impeding Mr Mills, who I reckon does have something interesting to tell us, is ". free". Without the space of course!
20 - Nicholas Stix
Free?
21 - Clavos
I DID want to hear what Mr. Mills had to say.
Hope he reads your comment, Chris...
22 - Christopher Rose
Nicholas, look more carefully, then think about spam.
Clavos, I have, you will, hopefully.
23 - David Mills
I think my insertion of a hyperlink may be the problem. But there is a webpage where the hoaxster himself labels svengalimedia as "cynical humor, more offensive than amusing."
You can click to it from the May 27 post on my URL.
Why Nicholas Stix would continue to describe this bit of Discordian mischief as a genuine "black supremacist" site is a mystery to me.
24 - Dave Nalle
My first assumption when I saw the site was that it was a highly developed sarcastic parody of some sort, perhaps that take was correct?
Dave
25 - David Lohr
I mentioned the "alleged" details and then we published this update last week.