Photo by J. Miles Cary // Buy this photo
Deena Christian, center, reaches to hug prosecutor Leland Price after Vanessa Coleman's sentencing on Friday. The prosecution argued that although Coleman was not convicted as a principle player in the slayings, she is a "dangerous offender" who showed "callous indifference to human suffering" and rated the toughest punishment possible. (J. MILES CARY/NEWS SENTINEL )
In less than six years, a woman convicted of helping carry out a January 2007 torture slaying could go free.
Senior Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood on Friday sentenced Vanessa Coleman to a 35-year prison term for her role in the kidnapping, rape and slaying of Channon Christian, 21. Coleman was convicted of facilitating those crimes in November in what was her second trial in the case. At the first, she was acquitted of any role in similar crimes committed against Christian's boyfriend, Christopher Newsom, 23, and was not retried in his slaying as a result.
Under Tennessee law, Coleman must serve one-third of her sentence before she is eligible for parole. She has already served six years behind bars, leaving a balance of less than six more years before she would become eligible for a parole hearing. There is no guarantee, however, that she would be granted parole, and the families of Christian and Newsom on Friday vowed to fight any early release of Coleman.
Coleman had received a 53-year sentence after her first trial — headed up by a judge who would later resign in disgrace amid a pill scandal. Because that now-former judge, Richard Baumgartner, admitted he was high on Xanax, a sedative, during Coleman's trial, the state conceded she was due a new one.
In that second trial, a Jackson, Tenn., jury cut Coleman a break on some of the lesser charges, which meant she no longer qualified for the 53-year sentence and, at most, faced 49 years.
Calling the torture slayings "the most horrible" murder case he had seen, Blackwood sentenced Coleman to the maximum prison terms of 25 years on the facilitation of Christian's slaying, six years as a facilitator of kidnapping and four years as a facilitator of rape. He stacked those three sentences one onto the other but declined to add more time for the three distinct acts of rape Christian endured.
Blackwood was bound in his legal decision-making to a set of factors prescribed by law and known as aggravators that tend to support harsh punishment and mitigators that call for leniency.
Prosecutor Leland Price urged Blackwood to consider as an aggravating factor the "exceptional cruelty" Christian suffered. Defense attorney Ted Lavit argued Coleman was a scared 18-year-old girl trapped inside the Chipman Street house where the couple were initially held captive with the real killers — her boyfriend, Letalvis Cobbins, his brother, Lemaricus Davidson, and Cobbins' pal, George Thomas.
Although Blackwood said Coleman's "youth" and lack of criminal history supported a lesser sentence, he opined those mitigating factors were outweighed by the fact that Coleman did nothing to stop the atrocities Christian suffered.
"The psychological torture of this unfortunate victim was immense," he said.
Thomas also has been granted a new trial because of the Baumgartner scandal, though a trial date has not yet been set. Senior Judge Walter Kurtz has refused, however, to grant Davidson and Cobbins new trials.
Follow Jamie Satterfield on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jamiescoop.
Vanessa Coleman sentenced to 35 years 
John Kerry through the years
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Comments » 40
Lookout1234 writes:
Some people are possessed by evil. You can see it in her face. I don't believe in the God of the Bible, but I believe a human being can be possessed by an evil force. This evil force manifests itself as a wanton disregard, in indifference, if you will, for the feelings of another human being.
It can also manifest itself as a total disregard for life. Any life. Be it human or animal or bird or any other kind.
You may find it unfathomable to think that another human being (or beings)could have caused the suffering of those 2 individuals. That is because you are not possessed by evil.
I don't believe that once possessed by evil you can ever free yourself.
It's like being a drug addict. If you are a drug addict you will never be free of drugs. It will always be in the background, waiting.
The only thing you can do with evil is destroy it. Eradicate it. If it is allowed to live it will try to express itself.
CockrelltoGault writes:
Lookout,
With the exception of your statement about God, I concur with your post 100%. Also....I believe that evil will present itself even more abundantly as the year 2013 continues to unfold.
marbles writes:
It makes me sick to think Coleman is up for a parole hearing in just six years. Pitiful!
btw: That is a lovely picture of Channon. What would she have been doing in six years? We will never know now.
Mamagrizzly writes:
Taxpayers paid for the haircut and the eyebrow waxing.
its5oclocksomewhere writes:
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indigo26 writes:
Poor,poor Nessie. I think she thought she was gonna be able to get the judge to believe her story of redemption through prison therapy, fancy hair and thin plucked eyebrows. Truth is she is a monster who deserves nothing less than to meet the end via a trash can just like she watched and helped Channon suffer in....
ColtfanJ writes:
This means with time already served that she will only face another 29 more years in prison max and that is it. What scum of the earth.
cutebratt writes:
Too bad time starts from the start of incarceration while waiting for trial and sentencing. It should start after sentencing. It was her own fault she was in jail/prison to begin with. Leave her in there until her last breath, or someone takes her out of this world. I hope she never gets paroled.
ETfromBirth writes:
Sounds like the disgraced drug abusing Baumgardener was a better judge than Blackwood!
johgloh writes:
That nice, restrained hairdo didn't last long, did it? Back to the pokey and dyeing it with Kool-aid again.
beastieboy23#237568 writes:
Wow. If she were to get paroled at the first opportunity (very unlikely, granted) she would just be 30 years old. Yeah seems like justice to me. Even if she serves the remaining 29 years (35 years - 6 years already served) she would be just 47. Channon & Chris didn't get the opportunity to get to either age.
outsider writes:
It's a Joke a Joke of a Jury and Joke of a Judge.
coleman914 writes:
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knoxvette1 writes:
The taxpayers of Knoxville just coughed up about $355,000 dollars total to try this POS twice! No wonder the world is in the shape it is in. The truth be known about 15 ft. of rope and around $22.00 would have been much cheaper and certainly more appropriate. Sadly we get to pay for her health, meals, clothing, guards, housing, and everything else for 35 more years so she and 4 other POS can continue to breath and bleed the tax payers. I say put them out on parole under the custody of Gary Christian and let him try them in his court!!! This is ridiculous.
MerrieLong writes:
It's a messed up world we live in when you can do such a thing and be rewarded with free food, shelter, medical care, entertainment, gym membership, electricity, heated/running water, heat, air conditioner, clothing, toiletries, hair care, laundry service, library... Ah, yes, prison has become a reward and NOT a punishment. Our medieval ancestors had the right idea of how prisoners should be treated.
She and her buddies all deserved nothing less than EXACTLY what they gave Channon and Christopher!
NilesKnox writes:
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beckydoane2#1397649 writes:
Unbelievable! I really do not understand how this judge can sleep at night! I think he wanted them all to get less time! Thank goodness he was removed from the other cases of these evil thugs! I feel so sorry for the families because they have been living in hell for six years and it does not look like they will ever have peace! Only in America!
Kasey writes:
Just because she will be eligible for parole doesn not mean she will get it. I hope she doesn't get it for at leat 25 more years.
I hope the families can find some peace soon. They have had to relive the horror of their childrens deaths too many times.
Sir_Spanky writes:
Gosh, if they can figure out how to get her a 3rd trial she might be able to walk right out of court and straight into a parole hearing, and the attorneys would have even more money for their landscapers and cleaning ladies. Is this a great country, or what?
justjohn writes:
while your opinion of judge blackwood is accurate and agreed with,it's a miracle that all of these animals haven't walked out of prison free because of baumgardners antics.
blackwood,on some levels,did the only thing he could do.
i don't care for him of his methods but he did what he was required to do by law. something baumgardner disregarded.
blackwood was designated to clean up a hot mess created by baumgardner. so lets blame him not blackwood.
i also think that sooner or later the others will get new trials.
if they don't i think some savvy aclu lawyer will get their verdicts overturned. which shouldn't be too tough because they can absolutely prove that the presiding judge prevented them from getting a fair trial.
i'm not an attorney but i work with them on cases every single day. i do have a pretty good understanding of how its supposed to go and how it actually goes.
baumgardner did for these cases what pantyhose did for......well you know what i mean.
i would rather see them get new trials,unappealable trials and verdicts,now, than see them walk later like those west memphis guys did a little while back.
what really aggravates me is that all those people in the court system, civilians and sworn court officers, knew exactly what was going on with baumgardner and did absolutely nothing to try to stop it. therefore, they were condoning his behavior.
there is no way that nichols didn't know that baumgardner was f***ed up and hearing cases.
anyone ccould sit in his court and watch him and walk out saying that something is clearly wrong with this guy. he would regulary go to sleep during trials.theres tv footage of him being asleep during testimony.
his county court officers should've been interviewed by the sheriff and the sheriff and nichols should've called in the tbi to conduct an internal investigation.
certainly baumgardner would've caught wind of it and resigned.
this drug addiction was going on way before these particular trials.
so lets place the blame where it really belongs.
KnoxVegas88 writes:
Shame on you. You owe an immediate apology to sows for comparing them to the Loch Nessie Monster. Pigs would never do what she did.
knoxknothead writes:
lets just hope the parole board isn't as stupid as judge blackworm
CousinEasy writes:
The 35 year sentence would be adequate if she were to serve it in the gas chamber!
ArmFlailingTubeMan writes:
Perhaps some of this anger is misplaced. After all, the General Assembly writes the laws. A judge can only sentence within the confines of the criminal code . . . a Code which states that a Range I, standard offender is eligible for release after serving 30% of one's sentence. A Code that states that violent felonies are to be served at 100% (less 15% honor time) but does not label facilitation of those violent felonies as violent felonies themselves.
tiger_eyes writes:
Leland...keep pushing for no parole for her!
smokies_old_soul writes:
"She took a course on how to make "better decisions" because "she was ready for a positive change in her life. Coleman also completd a course in anger management."
i'm sure Vanessa did all these things completely on her own because she felt so badly about what happened to Chris and Channon and her part in their horrible murders.
i'm just certain that after a few years in prison, she reflected deeply on her life and decided that she wanted to be a better person.
certainly, we can be sure that her attorneys didn't tell her to get into some rehab programs before her next trial to put on the best face for the jury and judge.
while i have plenty of blame for Blackwood in these matters, i most of all blame BOTH juries, each of which were too lenient. all five of these evil sub-human creatures should have been found guilty of murder and sent to Death Row - that's right, i said five - Coleman, Thomas, Boyd and the two scrabble-bag named half-brothers.
homewrecker writes:
I doubt she ever gets parole unless she admits and takes responsibility. I did some sentencing math and here is a little more accurate numbers on when she will get out.
Sentence started March/07, she has completed 6 years and got 1 year already shaved off in sentence credits. She should expire her sentence in 18.676 years with full sentence credits. This will mean she will be released (regardless of parole or parole hearings) late 2031 early 2032. So in 19 years she will be on the street free and clear again. Parole wise she will go up for parole in the next couple of years..not 4.5..just watch for it..she won't make it and will get put off 5-10 years for her next hearing.
2032..she will be out and be about 43 years old.
E8_NAVY_41 writes:
lets hope the fat whorre dies in jail and never makes it out!!!!
yea_right writes:
I posted last week that she would be back on the streets in 5 years....looks like i was right as bad as i hate it.And yes she will get parole even with the victims parents there begging for her to remain in prison.Wake up this is no longer the United States we remembered.Pay close attention to the comments made by Eric Holder and ask yourself what he meant by the statements he has made since being in office.Laws are flowing from the top down not from the people up.
PetulantVol writes:
That was about the dumbest comparison I have ever seen. You sir are a numpty.
JasonRebar writes:
This country is so broken. And held in a fog.
DukeDeLuca2 writes:
When Coleman is paroled, here's hoping that she moves next door to Judge Blackwood.
fedupntn writes:
Judge Blackwood is a disgusting excuse for a judge much less a human being. He and most other judges should be replaced with real judges. The recent shooter in Webster, NY killed his 92 year old grandmother with a hammer and served less than 30 years so others ended up dead. She will be out in less than 10 years because all these people think alike. Just recently it was reported the TN parole board was supervising a number of "deceased" inmates. The whole system is broken and none of our great leaders will even try to fix it!!! There is NO justice for law abiding citizens!!!!
iluvhim2death writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
therightstuff writes:
She's still angry cause her pig self got caught....
her journal spoke very very loudly....
sandrapurdue627#1410459 writes:
FOR VANESSA COLEMAN I BET SHE THINKS SHE HAS IT MADE SHE MAY IF SHE GOES TO KENTUCKY.WE DON'T NEED THE DEMON IN KNOXVILLE TN.THIS IS AWFUL TO PUT THESE FAMILIES THROUGH THIS OVER AND OVER IF IT HAD BEEN THE JUDGE'S DAUGHTER I BET HE WOULD NOT HAVE DONE 35 YEARS FOR VANESSA COLEMAN.SHANNON CHRISTIAN,S LIFE WAS AS SPECIAL TO HER AS VANESSA'S IS HER WATCH GEORGE THOMAS LET OFF EASY ALSO THEY NEED TO KEEP THESE THUGS IN PRISON.IT IS ASHAME OUR SYSTEM HAS NO COMPASION FOR SHANNON CHRISTIAN. HER FAMILY IS HURTING SO BAD AND BROKEN HEARTED OVER THE MURDER OF THEIR ONLY DAUGHTER BUT WHO CARES ABOUT THEM JUST LET LITTLE VANESSA BY WITH MURDER
SHE IS AS SORRY AND GUILTY AS HER THUG FRIENDS.SHE SHOULD HAVE GOT 99 YEARS FOR STARTERS BEST BE GLAD I WASN'T THE JUDGE SHE WOULD STILL HAVE 53 YEARSTO THINK ABOUT THE OTHER 99 I WOULD HAVE GAVE HER AND SMILED AS I LET HER NO THE OUTCOME.GOD BLESS THIS FAMILY
coleman914 writes:
You're right of course. I do apologize. Sows are far more civilized than the Loch Nessie monster and, I might add, far more pleasing to the eye. Everytime they print a photo of Nessie, it should be with an Eye Bleach warning and give the reader the option of either clicking on a link to see the beast or not.
I still think sending her letters in jail telling her of all our lovely activities in the free world would cause her to freak out regularly and get put in isolation/lockdown as it would make staring at the bars on it's cage even more unbearable. Would also ruin that chance for any "good conduct" cutting time off it's sentence.
trat writes:
one bullet would have been faster and cheaper!
LilBitOfSunshine writes:
This makes me sick! I agree with you one hundred percent and that is too good for the likes of her. God Bless these families. I hope they know how much people out here care.
tnvols84 writes:
How many people knew about ex Judg Richard Baumgartners drug problems? I can't tell you how many times I have read or heard tha during the trip to seekk out jurors for the Georg Thomas trial he took his mistress and pill supplier Denna Castleman with him. The prosecutors were in he car behind the judge and noticed him swerving in his car. They Knew she was wit him. His on secretary said he was visited in chambers by Ms. Castleman. How many people knew whar was going on and did nothing aqbout it? Judge Baumgartner is to blame for these retrials and pain these families are suffering. But lets face it, if people would havespoke up we wouldn't be going thur these trials again. I'm sorry if my daughter was brutally murdered like Channon was and I found out how many people knew including the prosecutors, I don't thingI would be hugging Mr. Price. I would be demanding to know why no one spke up sooner. Lets not thro all the blme on the disgraced ex judge, there are many others who are to blame.
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