Editor’s Note: The family of David Camm was discovered fatally shot in the garage of their Georgetown home in September 2000 and he was arrested for the murders three days later. Two juries have convicted him, but each conviction has been overturned. Authorities have decided to try him for the murders for a third time. His alleged co-conspirator, Charles Boney, is serving a life sentence for his roles in the murders. Camm’s family, which has publicly fought for his freedom for nine years, includes his uncle and family spokesman Sam Lockhart. The following is part seven of a series of opinion pieces Lockhart has written to explain why the family vehemently believes Camm is innocent and how they believe the investigation and trial went wrong.
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For almost five years the investigators and two prosecutors told the public that David Camm acted alone when he killed his family. The possibility that anyone else was involved or responsible was ridiculed by Stan Faith and Keith Henderson.
Only when forced by the defense to run the unknown DNA on the Backbone sweatshirt in 2005 was Charles Boney identified. He was an 11-time convicted felon who stalked and attacked women he didn’t know, in the dark of night, who had a sexual obsession with women's shoes.
What happened with the “fresh eyes” team when they finally discovered this violent felon’s identity, criminal history, shoe obsession, whose property and DNA were at the crime scene? They polygraphed him. Boney failed that polygraph (kept secret for months). What next?
Henderson held a press conference and announced that Boney’s story about giving his sweatshirt to the Salvation Army had checked out. Four alibi witnesses Boney claimed he had weren’t interviewed (they didn’t alibi him), and they had no evidence supporting Boney’s Salvation Army story. Their story was still that David Camm acted alone.
Only after Boney’s left palmprint was matched to unknown prints on the side of Kim's car (in the precise location a right-handed shooter would place his left hand as he shot the kids in the car) did the prosecutors arrest Boney.
Boney’s interviews lasted almost 40 hours. After being told he faced the death penalty if he didn't incriminate Camm, he then claimed his only role in the crime was selling Camm a gun (he has told four different stories about the source of the gun). Wayne Kessinger, one of the “fresh eyes” investigators, suggested to Boney that the gun was untraceable and also suggested that Boney gave the gun to Camm wrapped in his sweatshirt. It was no surprise when Boney later claimed that he sold an untraceable gun to Camm which was wrapped in his sweatshirt. That became a pivotal part of the conspiracy charge.
How did the two allegedly meet? Boney said they met at a local basketball court during a 5-on-5 full-court game just two months before the murders. Of the 16-18 present, according to Boney, none have ever been found to verify his claim. It’s ironic that the 10 other basketball players with Camm at the time of the murders were not believed but 16-18 other players, never found, much less unidentified, were used to support Boney’s story.
Depending on at least six different stories (and now one more after his television interview), Boney claimed they met in front of a busy convenience store on at least two occasions, in the hospital parking lot, at Target, and also met for brunch. They just happened to run into each other without ever communicating with one another, either over cell or residential phones, about where and when to meet.
Boney said Camm wanted to buy a gun from him, but the guy who just got out of prison and was on probation agreed to sell a gun (no make, model, or caliber preferred by Camm) to a former cop even though he hated cops.
Boney claimed he followed Camm to Camm’s residence around 5:30 p.m. but he recently changed that time. He first didn't know what vehicle Camm was driving; he later said it a cream-colored sedan; and most recently he said a Crown Victoria. Dave only drove a white pick-up truck.
Boney said first he had been to the Camm residence one time; he later changed that to two times. He said he parked on the driveway but later said the grass, awaiting Camm to return from the house with the money for the gun when Kim and the kids arrived.
Boney claimed he heard three pops from inside the garage; Camm emerged and then tried to shoot him but the gun jammed. Camm, a former SWAT member, couldn’t un-jam the gun but went back into the house to get another gun according to Boney.
Boney, who thought his life was in jeopardy, didn’t flee the scene, but went into the garage and (last story) tripped over Kim, picked up her shoes, and placed them on the roof of the car. He then looked into the car “out of curiosity” placing his left palm on the door jamb.
It then dawned on him that Camm was going to return from the house and kill him. He then returned to his parked car and as he was driving away, claimed he saw a white woman driving a state-issued vehicle pull into the Camm driveway. That person was never identified nor interviewed.
Boney’s many different stories all had one central theme: he, too, was a victim of Camm. The 11-time convicted felon was a victim. His stories always changed as well. In order to escape the death penalty, he incriminated Camm. To try and have credibility, he used information known to the public. His last stories were built around information he obtained during the discovery process in his trial.
There is no evidence of a conspiracy; no witnesses, no phone records, nothing whatsoever that the two even knew one another, much less conspired together. Henderson was forced to admit there was no conspiracy evidence in Camm’s second trial, and the conspiracy charge was immediately dismissed by the judge. No conspiracy evidence and no molest evidence…a common pattern.
There was a “conspiracy” or at least an understanding between Boney and the “fresh eyes” team. Each understood that Boney was to incriminate Camm and he in return wouldn't face the death penalty. Boney did incriminate David, the death penalty wasn’t pursued, and even though his stories were nonsensical, they were the false foundation for the conspiracy charge.
Worse yet, the hard-core real evidence pointed directly at Charles Boney murdering Kim, Brad, and Jill. The “fresh eyes” had a choice to follow the real evidence or to fabricate a conspiracy between Boney and David. They chose the latter.
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LOCKHART: Addressing ‘conspiracy’ between Boney, Camm
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