By Lisa Hurt Kozarovich
NEW ALBANY — David Camm may be behind bars, sentenced to life in prison for killing his family, but he refuses to go quietly.
Instead, the former state trooper and his defense team are gearing up for their biggest challenge yet — convincing the Indiana Court of Appeals to grant them a third trial.
Camm, 41, has spent the past 5 1/2 years in prison for the murders of his wife, Kim, and children, Brad, 7, and Jill, 5. The family was gunned down as they returned to their rural Georgetown home one September evening in 2000.
Three days later, Camm’s former State Police colleagues arrested him, and in 2002 he was convicted of the murders.
But in November 2004, the Indiana Court of Appeals overturned the decision, saying Camm didn’t receive a fair trial because jurors had been prejudiced by evidence of his numerous extra-marital affairs.
That ruling prevented the affairs from being admitted in the second trial, which ended last week in a guilty verdict, and also warned prosecutors in the next trial to tread lightly when it came to accusing Camm of molesting his daughter.
So when Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson told the jury in the recent trial that Camm killed his family because his wife discovered he had molested their daughter, he opened the door for a third trial, according to defense attorney Katharine “Kitty” Liell.
In the 2004 Court of Appeals decision, the judges said while they agreed the molestation could be proof of a motive, they questioned whether the state had enough evidence to back up the claim. Camm was never charged with molestation
At the time of the first trial, the only evidence was an autopsy report showing Jill Camm had injuries to her external genitalia that could have been caused by sex abuse or by a straddle fall, and that she had complained to her grandmother about irritation in the area.
“ ... In order for ‘other misconduct’ evidence to be admissible, there must be sufficient evidence from which the jury could reasonably find the defendant’s misconduct proven by a preponderance of the evidence,” the Court of Appeals wrote in its decision to grant Camm a second trial.
The decision went on to say, “We anticipate in the event of a retrial that Camm will object to the introduction of this evidence. If that is the case, the trial court will need to carefully consider whether the highly inflammatory nature of this evidence substantially outweighs the probative value of any evidence that Camm molested Jill.”
Henderson says new medical evidence presented at the second trial by two forensic pediatricians who testified Jill had been sexually molested before the murders, and therefore most likely by her father, was enough evidence to allow the information before the jury.
Afterward, jurors said one of the “key factors” in the decision to convict Camm was evidence that he had molested his daughter.
The defense plans to base its appeal on another main issue as well — that evidence pointing to another suspect, Charles Boney, as the murderer, including his criminal history of robbing and assaulting women at gunpoint, was not allowed.
Boney was charged in the murders in 2005 after DNA on a sweatshirt found at the murder scene was matched to him. Sentenced to 225 years in prison after his own trial, Boney told police he gave Camm the gun and was there when Camm shot his family, but didn’t know about the plan.
“For reasons we were forbidden to discuss at trial, the jury never heard about Charles Boney’s real role in these murders, or his violent foot fetish that I’ve always believed was the motive in this case,” Liell said. “I think the third jury will.”
Henderson doesn’t think there’s any reason to be concerned.
“There’s not going to be a third trial. (The defense) can keep telling themselves that, telling their client that, but it was a clean trial,” Henderson said.
Still, third trials, even fourth and fifth trials, aren’t unheard of, Liell pointed out. Of particular interest to Liell is the case of Christopher Allen, another Indiana man whose second conviction was overturned, and who is preparing for his third trial.
In 1990, Allen was a disgruntled drugstore manager in South Bend, fired for embezzling. He later returned to the store, robbed it and shot three employees to death.
Allen's attorney claims his client is innocent and says evidence about others who were involved, evidence not allowed at his 2002 trial, could make a big difference this time around.
His 2002 conviction was overturned by the Indiana Court of Appeals, partly because that evidence was not allowed. Liell believes that a similar argument can be made for the Boney evidence that was excluded.
The defense believes Boney came across Kim Camm somewhere in New Albany, became obsessed with her feet and legs and assaulted her before killing the family.
“Allen’s conviction was overturned within 24 hours of Dave’s (first appeal). All along I’ve felt an eerie
connection between these two cases,” Liell said.
The defense plans to file the Notice of Appeal, a two-page document stating their plans to appeal the
recent conviction, immediately after their client’s formal sentencing on March 28.
“We will probably be public defenders on the third trial because we’re so intimately involved. It would save Floyd County taxpayers a substantial amount of money. (The family) doesn’t have the finances,” she said.
