In a May 27 story, however, the Knoxville News-Sentinel's Jamie Satterfield, who has reported on this story since the very beginning in early January, insists that Channon Christian was not dismembered, rather that "The fact is, Christian's intact body was wrapped in five trash bags." Satterfield reported early on that Christian's "battered" body had been found in a garbage can in Cobbins and Davidson's apartment.
Jamie Satterfield has done an excellent job, as long as she has stuck to the physical facts of the case. However, in her May 27 article, she engages in a great deal of stealth editorializing that is contradicted by the facts of the case. Satterfield promotes the twin notions that the crimes committed against Channon Christian and Chris Newsom were not racially motivated, and that only a "white supremacist" would see them in such a light.
Au contraire.
And as long as the Knoxville authorities refuse to release the autopsy reports on the victims — something this reporter tried for weeks to obtain — honest people will not know whom to believe, regarding the condition of Christian's corpse.
Ex-con Letalvis Cobbins, alias Letalvis Davidson, is scheduled for trial on May 12, 2008. Cobbins is indicted on 46 Tennessee state felony counts, including aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, aggravated rape, felony murder, premeditated murder and theft. Cobbins was previously convicted of felony third-degree attempted robbery on May 19, 2003, in Queens, NY – he just celebrated his anniversary!
Cobbins’ girlfriend, Vanessa Coleman, 18, was indicted on 40 state felony counts, including aggravated rape, felony murder, and premeditated murder. In a touching courtroom moment on May 17, according to WVLT reporter Gordon Boyd, Coleman “mouthed the words, ‘I love you’ as she was led out.” Coleman’s trial is set to begin on June 16, 2008.
Coleman was referred to in initial reports in January as a “witness” rather than as a suspect, and was a source of much material that eventually went into the case against her and her fellow defendants. An able defense attorney would try and spin Coleman’s cooperation into a mitigating factor at trial, and if she is convicted, during the sentencing phase. (Although Tennessee is a death-penalty state, Knox County District Attorney Randy Nichols has inexplicably refused to reveal whether he will seek the death penalty.) How loving Cobbins is presently feeling about Coleman’s cooperation with federal agents and local police may be another matter entirely.
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.