It's known as the Knoxville Horror, one of the most gruesome racially motivated killings in US history.
In January of 2007, a young white couple was on a date in Knoxville, TN. Their names were Channon Gail Christian, 21, and Hugh Christopher Newsom, Jr., 23. They were attacked by three black males. Newsom was gang raped and tortured to death in front of his girlfriend. His body was then mutilated.
Channon was gang raped and tortured for hours at a home. Her body was then mutilated and chopped into pieces.
The couple was targeted because they were white. The media gave the story very little coverage. This prompted outrage online. A few pundits, like Michelle Malkin, attacked the media for censoring the story. Eventually the media was forced to reluctantly cover the story. Some outlets even blamed "racists on the Internet" for forcing them to give the story some attention.
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Since 2007, numerous major media bosses have confessed to censoring black crime. This includes the creator of the TV show cops, and editors from the LA Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and New York Times.
Nearly two years later, the UK Daily Mail blasted the US media for hiding the story from the public. They published the statement "Ironically, the case has now generated more publicity surrounding the furore over whether or not political correctness was behind the US media’s decision to largely ignore the story than it did for the murders themselves."
The trio faced 46 charges each. One was sentenced to death, the other two go life. Another black male accomplice was sentenced to 18 years. Another black female accomplice was sentenced to 53 years.
The trials took four years and put the families through hell. They were forced to look at photos of their children's mutilated body parts.
Just when the families thought it was all over, lawyers began clamoring for new trials. Today Special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood granted four of them new trials. This includes the trio who gang raped and tortured the couple to death, and the female accomplice.
The reason for the new trial is that the original judge, Baumgartner, has been convicted of abusing prescription drugs. He was abusing the drugs while the trials took place. The four can not be given harsher sentences or convicted of extra crimes in the new trial. They can only be convicted and sentenced to equal or less than what they got the first time around.
News has sparked a wave of anger in Knoxville, who though they had put the Knoxville Horror behind them. The original four trials cost taxpayers $1.1 million dollars. Attorney fees alone cost $570,000.
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