Joy Allen and Lindsey Champion both attended and knew each other at Trigg County High School in Cadiz, Kentucky. Soon after they graduated they were married. Joy became a school teacher and Lindsey worked with the Farm Credit Services Office in Cadiz. The Champions had difficulty having children so in 1979, they adopted a son they named Ryan. Fortunately, a few years later they were able to have a daughter, who was born in 1983 and was named Emily.
The Champions were a well-respected family in rural Trigg County outside of Cadiz. Lindsey Champion was active in the farming community; his wife was a former Teacher of the Year in the local public schools. Emily Champion had graduated Western Kentucky University and had completed her studies to become a veterinarian at Auburn University.
On Sunday morning, October 26, 2014, Joy and Lindsey returned from church to their country home. Their two adult children had not attended church with them and were alone at their home.
Police authorities were called to the Champions' home shortly before noon on that Sunday. There, Emily Champion, 31, who had worked five years as a veterinarian in Louisiana; her parents, Lindsey, 62, and Joy, 60, Champion; and an apparent assailant, 22 year-old Vito Riservato, were found dead. All four bodies were found in or around the home, all suffering from gunshot wounds. Emily had been restrained by duct tape during the attack.
Ryan Champion told police he was home at the time of the killings, and Riservato was initially identified as the killer. Ryan was treated and released from a local hospital that evening. He later talked with a local TV station about the case, saying only that he was home when the killings occurred and that he had "turned the tables" on the killer, Vito Riservato, of nearby Hopkinsville.
Through their weeklong investigation, KSP detectives realized that the events given by Ryan Champion did not “add up”. By the end of the week, the Kentucky State Police arrested Ryan Champion, and formally charged him with the Sunday deaths of his sister and their parents. He was also charged with the death of Vito Riservato, 22, who police had earlier said was the Champions' suspected killer. Ryan had apparently conspired with Riservato on a “murder for hire” plot to commit the murders, but later turned the tables and killed him.
Ryan was held for trial for the murders, but prior to the start of his trial in December, 2016, Ryan avoided the possibility of the death penalty by pleading guilty to four counts of murder. He also pleaded guilty to kidnapping in an agreement that called for Champion to be sent to prison for life without the possibility of parole.
On January 27, 2017 Ryan Champion, was formally sentenced by his presiding judge to life with no chance of parole over the 2014 killings. He did not show any sign of remorse during the sentencing, and refused to speak when asked to by the judge.
Ryan Champion at his sentencing before the judge
LINEAGE:
(Emily Kathryn Champion was the daughter of Boyd Lindsey and Joy Madolen Allen Champion. Joy was the daughter of John Henry and Madolen Rivers Downs Allen, the granddaughter of James Orval and Daisy Pearl Bridges Allen and the great granddaughter of William Henry and Sarah Elizabeth Lancaster Bridges. Sarah was the fourth child of Drewry and Peachie Ann Tart Bridges. Drewry was the fourth child of William and Mary Thomas Bridges. William was the fourth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges. Mary Thomas was the fifth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)
I miss them daily.
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