Judge drops conspiracy charge against David Camm

David Camm

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February 14, 2006

Staff reports The News and Tribune Tue Feb 14, 2006, 02:30 PM EST

BOONVILLE — After 21 days of testimony from more than 50

witnesses, the state on Monday rested its case against former state trooper David Camm for the murders of his wife and children.

The final witnesses included two doctors who specialize in detecting physical signs of sexual abuse in children. Both told the jury they believed that 5-year-old Jill Camm had been sexually molested within a day or two of her murder.

The girl, her 36-year-old mother, Kim, and 7-year-old brother, Brad, were shot to death in the garage of their Georgetown home on Sept. 28, 2000. David Camm was convicted of their murders two years later, but that decision was overturned in 2004 when a state appeals court ruled the defendant hadn’t received a fair trial.

The retrial was moved to Warrick County, where it continues this week with the defense presenting its case.

Monday, Dr. Betty Spivak, a forensic pediatrician with the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office, testified that the injuries to Jill Camm’s genital area were like those found in “relatively acute sexual abuse cases.”

“Sometime within a relatively short period of no more than a couple of days at most, and probably somewhat less, she sustained blunt trauma to her private parts that was by far and away the result of sexual abuse,” said Dr. Spivak, adding the injuries most likely occurred when Jill was undressed.

On a pain scale of 1 to 10 — with 10 being child-bearing pain — Jill’s injuries were in the 7 to 8 range, she said. The defense questioned how Jill was able to attend school and dance class on the day of the murders without any complaints if she was in that kind of pain.

Spivak and pediatric specialist Dr. Phillip Merk testified some activity would have been possible.

The defense theorizes Jill was molested at the time of the murders by Charles Boney, Camm’s recently convicted co-defendant. Boney told police he sold an untraceable gun to Camm, who then killed his family to cover up the molestation of his daughter. Camm denies knowing Boney.

Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson said it was “ludicrous” to think the person who molested Jill would have taken her from the vehicle, undressed her, molested her, then redressed her and put her back in the vehicle with her seatbelt on, as she was found.

Merk — professor of clinical pediatrics at Indiana University’s School of Medicine — told the jury that what he found “striking” abut Jill’s injuries is that they were on the interior, not the external area.

“There were no injuries, abrasions, tears of bruises in the external structure. Almost exclusively, a straddle injury is going to give more injuries to an external structure,” Merk said.

“We very rarely find findings like this,” he also said.

After the prosecution rested, defense attorneys Katharine “Kitty” Liell and Stacy Uliana asked Judge Robert Aylsworth to dismiss the conspiracy charge against their client because the state failed to provide evidence of conspiracy.

Aylsworth agreed, and dropped the charge. Camm remains charged with three counts of murder.

Today the defense was to begin presenting its case, expected to take about three weeks.

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